Match of the Millennium

Description: Five teenagers with attitude receive a golden ticket, their invitation to the Golden Angel finals as the highest-scoring participants. However, rather than their promised chance to get a wish granted, our heroes are instead made privy to the dark secrets behind the tournament! Faced with a terrifying horror wrought by science, can they prevail? Just who was Kintoki Aho, anyway? And did they ever get that shower they asked for?!

[FREI]
The Golden Angel Hippodrome. After the fashion show in the second week of the tournament, it had been largely forgotten as a venue for things to do that weren't tournament-related. If the company running things, Oudoukou Chemical Concern, actually gave a damn about using the building, it doesn't show. No more parties, shows, or anything of the sort; even the cafe and gift shop have been running on reduced hours. The waterpark's business hasn't stopped, but it's definitely slowed down. And while the somewhat controversial final round of the tournament (there's at least one lawsuit pending from a family-oriented media watchdog group) is over, there's been nary a peep about the tournament's results.

Until now.

Hotaru Futaba. Kazuki Kirigana. Makoto Nanaya. 'Pukai'. Clio St. Jeanne. Each of them, at whatever contact address they gave on the entry form, receives an honest-to-god "golden ticket" in the vague shape of an angel, inviting them to the Hippodrome at a specific date and time. Roughly two days after those arrived, the email blast and internet marketing began. Oudoukou invited the public to the MYSTERY FINAL(tm) of the Golden Angel tournament, where the winner would be determined once and for all, and they would get their wish from either Angel or Alma depending on their preferences.

And so, the concert venue becomes lively again. The stands are full of people who... well to be honest, who probably just wanted something to do on a Saturday when spring's outdoor weather hasn't started yet, but it's not wintry enough to justify being stuck inside all day. When the five competitors arrive, they are shown to a well-stocked green room while the show gets ready to begin. Meanwhile, OCC employees bustle about, getting things ready. There is the occasional sound of hydraulics being tested in the distance, suggesting that perhaps there's going to be some flashy moving stage thing going on? Given how this tournament has gone so far, after all, anything is possible.

And somewhere in the backstage area, getting dirty looks from the Concern employees who can't ask him to leave because he's a sponsor representative, is Rei Hazuki, watching all this go down with a not-oft-seen frown on his face. Every now and then he'll glance up toward the control booth, where he spent the fashion show, or around the backstage area itself, squinting at people. But he says nothing.

Eventually, a production assistant comes to collect the five competitors, and in the actual theatre the house lights go completely dark, shrouding the entire room in a darkness so heavily even night vision seems murky, before spinning spotlights of gold and blue flash on. At the center of the stage stands Kintoki Aho, wearing a brilliant gold suit, arms up in a Y-shape to address the roaring crowd as glittery confetti rains from above. "HELLO EVERYBODY! Welcome to the GRAND FINALE of the GOLDEN ANGEL TOURNAMENT! Are you excited? I'm excited!"

The crowd shouts their affirmative response, and Aho nods enthusiastically before sweeping an arm toward the backstage area. "Right! Let's not wait any longer than we have to! First, let's bring out your finalists!"

Behind the black curtain near the hanamichi-esque route to the stage, another production assistant gives an encouraging nod to the five competitors, nudging them onstage. Leaning against a nearby wall, Rei watches them go, stealing occasional glances back at Aho.

When the fighters appear, of course, the audience loses their collective shit, cheering wildly. It appears these folks got some fans out there today!

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto wasn't sure what she was expecting for the end of the tournament, but recieving an actual golden ticket in the mail wasn't it.

She actually hadn't thought she'd placed highly enough to get a chance at anything even resembling the grand prize, and thus hadn't thought about what she would ask for it she got it. Part of her kind of hopes she doesn't so she doesn't have to think about it. That part of her was not loud enough to avoid showing up, because hell, it might be fun. And she's still establishing her presence as a fighter, something that she was not expecting to enjoy quite as much as she did when she first suggested it to Intelligence staff.

The net result is that Makoto Nanaya is here on a sunny* Saturday for a good time** with a big grin*** on her face. She particularly grinned at Clio, and looked a little thoughtfully at Pukai. No reason was given for either.

(* not sunny)
(** hopefully)
(*** this one is real)

When the gang of finalists are guided out, Makoto is one of the first; she has a tendency to barge into any room she enters and she isn't checking it to be polite. She is not wearing anything from Golden Angel but her own fighting outfit, complete with the big metal 'tonfa' that are strapped onto her wrist for the looks of things.

Unfortunately for the family-friendly watchdogs, Makoto's preferred combat outfit doesn't have much more coverage than a Golden Angel suit would. Sorry.

Makoto waves energetically at the crowd, or more accurately where she's pretty sure the crowd is, because with the lights in her eyes she can't see a damn thing. She is mostly hoping she is pointed approximately the right direction.

[CLIO]
Gaudy really should've been expected by now. A ticket in gold, made to only sort of resemble an angel. Known as an NOL officer from the beginning, to the point where she was in a way there to represent them, Clio St. Jeanne had her ticket from work. This 'vacation' was nearing an end and Clio could not be happier.

About the only thing she was happy for was the fact that it was in fact NOT a sunny day. That made the travel to the hippodrome all the better. A second thing to be happy for was seeing Makoto Nanaya there and seeing actually gets a real smile from the woman. Though, for no apparent reason that can be seen as obvious since they definitely don't work together.

She isn't in the Golden Angel goop. She isn't even in a bathing suit. Today Clio has on some casual, off duty clothing. And it's a hoodie, purple, and one that sits baggy and goes down to her thighs. Though the fact her shorts don't reach as low does technically mean she has a good deal of leg to have on display. That and the oversized collar attached to an also oversized chain that wraps like a belt around her waist. This time it's not going to be bare knuckle that Clio shows up to fight.

"Great, they brought an artificial sun," Clio mutters, hands over her eyes to deflect from the house lights, squinting at the crowds all around and the collected fighters on the ground.

"I watched your match last round," she adds to Makoto, leaving things at that and that alone.

[PUKAI]
F-Fans? That would be nice if they had some. Initially, however, the arrival of the ticket to the Sacred Order seemed a bit confusing. It was only her interest in joining to assist - not, in particular, to make a name or to do anything of the sort beyond 'help darkstalker awareness'. It helps she is small, somewhat cute, and not a giant horriffic blob. The last can very, honestly.

Why she joined? That was it. There were no immediate amazing answers that come forwards. The ticket was provided to her and with them as busy as they were, the Sacred Order needed everyone - so it's surprising, perhaps, that a member of the Sacred Order, in her ordained clothing, would stride out. A dress on a 'dress' it is as rediculous as it may sound, though one of the two looked more like it was attached than the other. A slight spear, simple in nature save for the three point ends at the tip, is held in her hand as she would walk on - and then skip to her spot - on stage. It seems the skipping is almost easier than not, due to the way her dresses shimmy.

Bowing over to the crowd, while Makoto waves and talks over with Clio, Pukai can 'see' just fine despite the light. Bowing forwards, over and over, she would smile to the competitors and the crowd, though with so much light directed at her, it is a bit too easy to notice that some parts of her seem to fade away under extreme light - or rather, become 'see through'.

Which explains the heavier clothing, really.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki Kirigana had figured he was done with the spectacle that was the Golden Angel tournament. He had, honestly, been glad for it. Between the outfits that the horrifically (in his opinion) misnamed product had insisted on, and the premise of the third round that he had somehow managed to get around, he had /hoped/ he was done.

Then the invitation arrived.

Nothing for it, really, he supposed. He showed up, and was... perhaps a bit surprised by what he found. Namely, that he was the only guy listed in the match's participants. He had shown up in that old stand-by: the Gedo High uniform with the longcoat, the wooden sword tucked in his belt.

He didn't know anyone here, and the songs coming from them were... diverse to say the least. He actually looks a bit uncomfortable by all of this, even as he knows that the only way out is through.

[HOTARU]
Convinced that her path to recognition by her far more dangerous family members, Hotaru Futaba never failed to show up for events she was able to qualify for, however unorthodox they seemed to be. Fighting against other opponents who seemed out to try and make a name for themselves or advance their own self-improvement, the event had been an entertaining one to participate in for her, all things considered.

And of course she wasn't going to whatever finals she had earned her way into, showing up to the event on time, dressed in the outfit she normally used for fighting appearances that didn't have required 'dress codes' - white baggy pants and a blue Chinese-styled blouse with puffy white sleeves. With a quick, energetic step, she follows the others out onto the stage, requiring nothing in the way of encouragement to do so; she'd grown accustomed to the fanfare that can accompany fighting events some time ago.

With a ready smile, she waves her hand toward the crowd, trying to fight back the urge to squint her eyes closed against the stage lighting to only minimal success. She wishes she was better prepared for whatever events were ahead - some kind of run off, maybe? A chaotic free for all? Just how would the final winner be determined?

A quick scan of the other four winners revealed neither Haru nor Hayley, her opponents in earlier rounds, were part of the invite list, leaving her a bit disappointed. But here were four new interesting people she could get to know through the crucible of combat if that's what was ahead!

[FREI]
It is definitely a sensory overload experience, being on the stage with Aho, who is both dangerous to look directly at if you want to keep your corneas intact, and who seems entirely at home as he claps enthusiastically for the finalists. Eventually, the tide of sound ebbs and the entire venue looks to the host for cues on what's going to happen next.

Taking a step toward the edge of the stage, Aho gestures with one arm toward the fighters, keeping his body tilted so that the audience has him at one angle, and the five competitors on stage at another, visible to all, proving he knows the basics of stage presence. "Now, the grand prize of this tournament was that the winner would be able to ask our lovely 'prizes', Alma Towazu and Angel, to grant them a wish!" An obligatory cheer, here, but it's a bit subdued, because of one pretty important fact: neither Angel nor Alma are on stage right now. Seemingly knowing their thoughts, Aho grins at the crowd. "We've got them backstage in isolation, sipping chammpagne and watching our finals here on closed circuit television until our winner is decided!"

On cue, the crowd applauds, mollified. The keen eyed, however, might notice the red-haired sennin watching from backstage frown slightly, then push off the wall and disappear farther into the wings.

Back on stage, Aho throws both arms wide. "These five competitors represent the top scorers in our little tournament, but make no mistake: only one of them can get their wish granted! FIRST, however," he says, with a wild smile, "we want to show our appreciation to all five of you for your skill and determination. So we've got a little surprise planned. Are you READY FOR IT?!"

The question is directed at the crowd more than the competitors, but at the very end, he turns and gives a big, knowing wink to the top five.

MEANWHILE, BACKSTAGE:

A large and surprisingly heavy metal door lies under the sign EXECUTIVE GREEN ROOM, TALENT ONLY. Rei gives it a brief knock, and then decides to try his luck. "Al... Towazu-san? Miss Angel?"

Silence. He tries the knob. Nothing.

"Hmm."

As the metal door goes flying INTO the room at a considerable velocity, crashing loudly into the opposite wall, the new entrant has a look around. The monitor does indeed show the current on-stage events, and there are two flutes of champagne poured.

A drinking bird with the Golden Angel logo on its top hat bobs up and down into and out of one of the flutes. Otherwise, no one is present. Well, except...

"Oh, COME ON!" shouts Rei Hazuki, exasperated.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Before they went out, there was a bit more of a conversation.

"Oh yeah?" Makoto grins at Clio. "I'm not surprised," she says, and also leaves it at that.

Well, clearly she isn't talking to a coworker there. You can't get away with that to a coworker. No NOL here... well, okay, one, but it's Clio. Clearly.

But now, they're /on/ stage. Makoto's eyes adapt to the lights about as much as is physically possible to; she's still dazzled, but she's not quite so overloaded. Aho isn't helping matters any, so she doesn't look at him, trying to stare into the relative darkness of the crowd. She'd like to find someone to wave at out there, but she still can't see anyone in the crowd as anything but a vague shape of dark blobbiness. Unfortunate.

What she can see is the stage, and she sees exactly six people on it: four normal-ish humans and two Darkstalkers, counting her with the tail and Pukai with the... Pukai. Six, and not, say, eight, which is what you should have with five competitors, Aho, Alma, and Angel. Makoto is not practiced enough for the stage to not look momentarily concerned, but it passes. Of course Aho and the staff have a plan. ...of course they do.

It's a real plan, right?

...right?

"I am totally ready," Makoto says, though if nobody thought to clip a microphone to her outfit it might be inaudible. Though at least it has a collar things can be clipped to.

[CLIO]
Clio's laugh is a quiet one. She wants to talk more, about a number of things, but for now she has to follow out into the limelight and curse a the false sun for being even more of a nuisance than the real thing is.

Hard to see the audience, hard to see much else on the stage. A great mass of light and darkness isn't very interesting but it does a damn good amount to cover stage fright.

With her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie, she stands on the stage in a nonchalant manner, looking lazily at the others. There aren't other people here that should be, but maybe it's part of the presentation. Give those two hosts from the opening ceremony the grand entrance with the prizes and what not. Wouldn't be totally out of question. Though it isn't like Clio has experience with this sort of professional fight set up.

A yawn escapes from her before she clamps down on it and starts to rock back and forth, toe to heel, just a little fidgety as she looks out into the distance. She can't even really size up the competition from this angle. Not without looking too 'stare-y'.

"Let's do this thing," she says, grinning to cover the fact that she really was wondering what this all was leading toward.

[PUKAI]
What an amazing set. They would have to have a wish, would they? If they won. There's many a thing that she could wish for! Though Pukai is silent about what that specifically is. She has more than a few decisions. More than that, a few issues to win. There's quite a few others present! It is unlikely that such things may come to pass...

Though it's worth trying, anyhow, isn't it?

A 'top scorer', Pukai is silent as she idly twirls back and forth in place, translucent dress spinning with her half way, stopping, and returning backwards.

Idly, Pukai twirls back and forth, a tad short, as she glances to and fro. Well, it was certainly a new experience! Another, and yet another, join! The Sacred Order Knight closes her eyes and calms herself, remaining still - or as best she can try to remain still. It's exciting, but it ... it doesn't really fit with what she had planned. "I do hope it is not the spectacle they are seeking..." Irrelevant, though. She had signed up.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki, for one, is not /entirely/ used to the spectacle of these things. Makoto and Pukai get more than cursory inspection from the young man; you'd think he'd never seen a Darkstalker before. (Truth) However, the young man is way too polite to stare too much.

He frowns when Kintoki starts his thing, and Kazuki shoves his hands in his pockets. He manages to not look surly, but he does look a little bored, judging from his posture.

[HOTARU]
The Futaba girl seems to be quite at ease on the stage, lifting her right hand to wave out to the crowd occasionally as if spotting people she recognizes out there, even if there is basically no chance she can see anything at all. When she moves, it's with excitement that is almost palpable, a perpetual grin at her lips as if she's having the time of her life. What's not to enjoy, anyway? This may not be as prestigious as World Warrior, but gosh darnit, she fought hard in her matches and these people are here to celebrate that fact with her!

When not waving, she clasps her hands together tightly near the base of her neck, seeming to have a hard time keeping still, giddy with enthusiasm. She listens to the announcements with rapt attention, only then considering that there is actually a shot at a prize at the end of this. What could she possibly ask for? Well, she'll cross that bridge when she gets there.

She waves again to the crowd when attention comes back the five finalists, nodding her head eagerly at the mention of a surprise, "I definitely am!" she declares as to being ready, hands back to clasping tightly in front of her. Breathing in then exhaling, she glances to the side to notice Pukai, looking over the short statured girl, eyes widening just a little. "That is such a pretty dress," she whispers loudly to her fellow finalist.

Her focus shifts back toward Aho, trying to resist the temptation to lift her hand to her forehead as if to shade her eyes from the sun. What could possibly be in store for these final five, anyway?!

[FREI]
The first sign that everything might not actually be Legit is fragmentary, fleeting. It takes a fraction of a second, and it comes just as Hotaru signals her readiness at the last. Kintoki Aho, consummate showman, actually looks AWAY from the fighters, up at the catwalks. It would be impossible for anyone on stage, including those with supernatural senses, to see what he was looking at. It's not even clear that *Aho* sees what he's looking at.

On the catwalks, someone nods a curt nod.

The entire thing takes maybe 1.5 seconds, total. But once he gets that nod, Aho turns to the fighters and raises his hands. NOW his back is to the audience, and this is the SECOND sign that something is wrong. Unless you're doing theatre in the round, you NEVER block, and you never turn your back to the audience. "I'm sure you're going to love this," he purrs to the five finalists, before snapping his fingers.

With the dull roar of hydraulics, the bridge leading backstage from the stage begins to retract. The swirling patterns of gold and blue spotlights return, making psychedelic sweeps across the room, to the 'ooh!' and 'aah!' of the audience. And the stage? Well. The stage is *lowering into the floor*, which itself appears to be pulling back from the aquarium base.

If the fighters look down, they will see... well. What they're being lowered toward is, in contrast to the 90s themepark-esque architecture of the park itself, a sleek, shiny, and entirely too modern laboratory and chemical production floor. "We thought we'd show you just how the sausage is made!" Aho says enthusiastically, as the stage continues to lower. "You were good little girls and boys and so we're going to visit the factory! And that's where you'll get your chance to FIGHT FOR YOUR DREAMS(tm)."

Third sign: he actually says 'trademark' out loud at the end of that sentence.

But the stage is moving very fast, now, almost down into the underground lab of chrome and black. In various vats, the dread substance known as Golden Angel appears to swirl and churn.

MEANWHILE:

Krizalid closes his cell phone and nods with satisfaction. Everything's going to plan so far.

Then the emergency exit stairwell door behind him bursts open with a loud slam, revealing Rei Hazuki -- breathless and doubled-over -- staring with surprise at a person he didn't expect to find.

For a moment, Krizalid and Rei lock eyes. And then, Krizalid turns and runs.

Leaning against the doorframe, Rei slumps into the room. "I swear to god I am going to turn Alma inside out with my BARE HANDS," he growls, before taking off in pursuit of his quarry.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto is a lot of things, but she's not actually the kind of person who has previously been on stage a whole lot (well, this tournament excepted) so she's not entirely sure of what you're supposed to do or not do on it. When Aho looks up, she does too, and actually manages to dazzle herself even worse.

Blinking the spots out of her eyes, Makoto does not spot Aho turn away from the crowd at first, but she sure hears and feels the bridge start to retract. Is that right? she thinks to herself. Makoto is... okay, she's not always that bright, and sometimes she /seems/ kind of oblivious, but other times she has a remarkable ability to read the situation and something feels off. She can't place what it is. Maybe it's stage fright, she thinks, just before the stage starts to go down.

Oh. So not stage fright, then.

Makoto's first instinct is to - okay, Makoto's /first/ instinct is to punch Aho, but she doesn't do that. Makoto's second instinct is to find a way out in case she makes like a squirrel and run like she's nuts, and the primary method of doing /that/ seems to be finding a way up...

...oh, wait, she has, like, four more fighters here, at least one of which is absolutely on her side and one more of which is probably inclined to be friendly. Well, at least she's not going to be stuck down here alone.

"Hey, wait!" Makoto takes a couple steps toward where the bridge was, but stops as she realizes the stage is going down pretty quickly. "I didn't want to visit the factory! You never look at how the sausage is made, that's how I didn't eat hot dogs for like a whole WEEK! Point this elevator back up!"

[CLIO]
Botched production isn't really a crime, just an aggravation. Though Clio has to wonder if it's something that should get her curious. After all, the size of the park, the number of people, the place must have some deeper pockets than apparent to do all this work. It would be a little strange for this to all go down hill at the finale. The unrehearsed finale.

At the same time, Clio had to think about the opening ceremonies and what happened there. That she slept through. And then there was the whole gaudy design of the water park. And then that lawsuit over the final round. And Aho himself. So maybe things going belly up is just par for the course.

All of it pales in comparison to the fact that the ground is opening up to a laboratory. And one where they're making the Golden Angel goo. Now this is information. Important information. Psychoreactive liquid was something that Clio was growing more and more concerned with as the events happened.

"What in the. . .?" she mutters, eyes widening at the sight of the vats all around her and the others. Just what kind of dreams were they talking about here?

She looks to Makoto, trying as if she could make some form of psychic contact that things were getting more important than just punching each other for fun and profit. And as the world unfolds like a music box, Clio finds the only thing she can think of is how now of all times does she want to talk about work.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki takes a deep breath as the stage lurches, pulling the wooden sword free of the belt as things... become clear to him. There was way too much /sound/ coming to his ears from below to be justified by what the park appeared to be during his earlier visits.

A hidden lab, with all the people and experiments going on, would explain a lot of that. His eyes go wide as he sees the massive vats of Golden Angel being brewed.

"That," he says softly, "That cannot possibly be good." Understatement, certainly, but the young man masks his fears and worries behind the usual mask of calm politeness that he normally wears. He knows he cannot jump clear at this point, but he's not sure he will be able to fight or talk his way clear of it, either.

[PUKAI]
The dress, that Futaba may not know, is only half real. The other half is a translucence that is gained from being, of course, a 'freak'. A monster. A Darkstalker. Not that she would admit it was. She would likely do the same until death. Though it is with cursory inspection that she realizes that she knows exactly what she wants if she wins. It was likely not the smartest choice. Yet it was her duty, her mission. As a member of the Sacred ORder - and simply for herself, she would ask nothing else.

If she won.

The ground begins to move, Pukai flailing a bit upon realization, hands pinwheeling thought the spear stays pointed upwards. Her gaze falls down - and she stares. Wha? Huh? "Oh! Why, thank you so very much!" She responds to Hotaru, eyes already open from the sudden movement settling upon her. "It w... Oh, it is! I am oh so glad you like it... I have spent so much time making it look nice!" Not even remotely a lie, though. To make her 'monster'ness cute, like the craze for monster girls has done. Is it such a crime? To conform? She does not think so. "Your hair and your outfit is super cute as well!" She pips right back.

It is, however, a tad bit of a deadly weapon. Hotaru may have told her a sword looked very pretty! It is to be seen, however. With them all going downwards, Pukai glances - her eyes going wide, glossy, as she somewhat stans there. More and more they are lowered, the bright lights swallowing up the darkness that surrounds them and more-so enveloping them in a kind of nothing ness that they all share together. Pukai's realization is none. Simply, she doesn't seem to notice, stuck in a stoper until it all ends.

"Huh. . ." She remarks, eyes changing from blank staring to pupils once more. "This is quite a change..." Oh it certainly is! The woman glances all around, taking int he shiny, clean, monsterous, machinery. The mix of colors is ... interesting. There is a deafning silence to Pukai's understanding of this. "By the goddess . . . this was all here?" It's not a thought of fear, but rather surprise. Mute surprise.

[HOTARU]
As the production continues, Hotaru's smile never wanes, her excitement for being here maintained at a steady, high level. The prize is, admittedly, an afterthought for her. She had never subjected herself to the pro-fighting world in pursuit of what kind of winnings she could get out of it. It was definitely not a way to make a living, but a means of proving something to herself and to her family in absentia...

"Wha-" Hotaru responds to an offer to see how the lotion at the center of this spectacle is made. Not that she isn't grateful for being included in the finalists, or for the work the event hosts have put in to make this insanity possible, but she couldn't possibly care less about the 'science' behind it all and the offer of seeing some boring chemistry in action is the last thing she expected at this point of the show.

She recovers quickly, smile replacing her moment of confusion, and she does a convincing job of forcing the expression, "Oh, that sounds great!" she declares, because that is her part to play, she figures. She wouldn't want to get a reputation for being a difficult participant after all.

As the stage plunges down, her twin-pigtails flap up along the sides of her head like beribboned antennae. "Oh wow, it really shows," she acknowledges Pukai's efforts and then answers, chirping "Thanks!" with a grin. If she's realized that the dress is part of the girl's nature and not just a really nicely made outfit, she shows no signs of it as of yet. "This event really is something, yeah?" she remarks as they drop lower at an alarming speed. "I guess they want to show off a little for the audience..." she continues conversationally with Pukai.

After all, the entire tournament did seem to be promoting a product... one that will be on the market soon, perhaps? One looking for investors or distribution partners? She really has no idea, but she can entertain the diversion until things get to the whole fighting side of being a finalist, never losing her polite tolerance for the insanity that is the Golden Angel spectacular.

[FREI]
The entire trip down takes practically no time at all, considering the speed of the lift. It's for the best that nobody really attempts to engage Aho in more than light conversation, either, because as the group descends he looks out at the approaching lab and murmurs, "Are the fires of hell a glowing? Is the grisly reaper mowing? Yes! The danger must be growing for the rowers keep on rowing. And they're certainly not showing any signs that they are slowing..."

Of course as he says 'they are slowing' the stage comes to a stop, so maybe he's just a filthy liar.

The room is chilly and quiet in the way that most semi-sterile labs are, but other than the competitors and Aho, there appears to be nobody here. Aho's foosteps echo as he walks to the foot of one of the vats, which -- from this angle -- is actually quite tall. The entire room is suffused with the sussurating background noise of liquid churning in vats.

When he reaches the base of the vat, he turns and faces you. "Competitors! Let me ask you a very important question." He throws his arms wide. "Is your wish for Alma or Angel that you be subjected to terrible experiments that may end with your battered, disfigured form thrown out as medical waste, while we use your biometric data to create a race of super soldiers we will sell to warring nations for a massive profit, thereby allowing Oudoukou Chemical Concern(TM) to rise as a global economic superpower?!"

He actually says 'trademark', again.

Without waiting for an answer to his question, Aho screams: "THROW THE SWITCH!" And that's when it happens.

C4 placed on the bases of EVERY VAT of Golden Angel go off. Simultaneously.

EVERY VAT in the room suddenly bursts, pouring its contents our like a burst dam. Simultaneously.

As the wave of honey-gold liquid comes for you all, Aho manages to shout, "DON'T FORGET TO SIGN THE WAIVER," before he is swallowed up.

And then there's the five competitors, who have about 2 seconds before they, too, are entirely awash in Golden Angel themselves.

Welp.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto Nanaya prefers to engage Aho in spirited argument (read: yelling at him) than conversation. It doesn't change anything, but it makes her feel a little better.

"Literally no part of that is my wish!" Makoto has good volume. She /projects/. "I want to make that very clear right now that it has nothing to do with any of that, and just for that you don't get to know what it is!" There, she thinks, now she doesn't have to think of it.

At the sudden explosion, Makoto leaps! She actually makes it high enough, improbably, that she is over the wave of Golden Angel. For, like, a half second. Then gravity does its thing and she lands more or less on top of the wave with a sound best characterized as 'gloop'. There is nothing for her to hang on directly overhead within reach. Damn you, vertical clearance!

As the wave passes, Makoto is revealed to be absolutely covered in the stuff, and it seems to have taken a moment to figure out what it wants to be on her - maybe it's because she's already got clothes on, maybe it's because she has started to really not like Golden Angel and it's picking up on it. It forms an almost paint-like layer all over her before shifting into the outfits everybody knows and loves:

Sentai. In red and gold. There is even a helmet, though the visor appears to have not formed, so her eyes are visible even if the rest of her face isn't.

"This is the dumbest outfit it has /ever/ made for me," Makoto whines, and inaccurately to boot. She attempts to pull the helmet off, but it's an integrated part of the suit and isn't going anywhere.

[PUKAI]
Doop.

They all come to a stop! Pukai tilts her head. "Oh." O-Oh. Chilly as it is, Pukai's form ripples. Even the dress ripples a bit. It's not like she can shiver as much anymore, and her flesh, or what makes up it, does detect hot and cold still. With Aho stepping forwards towards the vats, Pukai, still unmoving, stares. "I am not sure what, but it is certainly something." She agrees, nodding her head. "I have not been apart of many. Maybe this is what they are all like?" Then again, she might be a fool to think so!

Looking around once more, Pukai moves a step forwards. Only for Aho to stop and then claim that it is 'the plan'. Eyes widen. Then she is awash with the VAT of Golden Angel. She can breath, but she doesn't want to breath in this. Her breath is held, her body - the spear is slammed against the ground, her body wrapping around it. The cap on her head, the dress around her, and some of the ribbons. They all, apparently, wrap around the base.

She can't let it just all wash backwards. The trail of them would likely have lead a meter or two behind her from the wipe-out. With a cough once it all goes. Her costume is all GOLD. The sentai is a bit different, however. A skin-tight suit for this dark-stalker wouldn't work so well. Somehow the object knows it. The golden trimmed suit covers her cap, making it like a helmet. It aligns her dress to make it like folded wings, and the sacred order outfit and dress around that, is armor-like.

"I do not know if it worked correctly..." Well, at least she is not some sort of witch!

[CLIO]
Clio runs her fingers along the length of her chain, small violet firelight crackles underneath the etching. The poem is ominous to say the least. Particularly given the clear and obvious reference. Another quick look to Makoto Nanaya. At least Clio is here with an ally at her back. Just in case things go wrong.

And then things go wrong.

Clio can't help but wonder if this guy is serious about just spewing these kinds of plans, and, well, doing so when at least one known NOL operative is literally right there. Further, wasn't there that German guy who went online and called his big bruiser throwdown? Would that not literally have been better super soldier fodder than the group here? Clio cannot help but find the lack of ambition in this plan a little disappointing.

And then things blow up. The dam bursting torrent of fashion hell flows forth. Damn.

A tidal wave of goop. Clio reaches to unlatch her chain. The wave splatters all against her. This time her usual speed isn't going to help her where she is.

"I really fucking like this hoodie," she mutters, standing for a moment and dripping in the aftermath of the wave. The dripping goo is already slithering, sliding and wrapping about her. "Wait, wait, god damn it!" she shouts as if verbal demands mattered at all in this moment.

Skin tight, suctioning against Clio, and colored a brightly saturated purple edged with silver from top to toe. A thick helmet covering her head, seamlessly attached to the rest of the body. "Seriously?" Clio's voice echoes out of the helmet. She looks over to see Makoto through the unfinished visor. Okay, that gets Clio to laugh at least.

What Clio doesn't see is that her helmet appears to have little ear like fins poking out of it. Something may have been on her mind.

[KAZUKI]
There were things Kazuki was prepared for going this. A battle royale given the odd number of participants, maybe some kind of round-robin thing where everyone fights everyone once to determine a winner. Some kind of bracket that would give preferential treatment to one fighter.

The Golden Angel washes over him, knocking him on his back. It was one of the MANY things he was not prepared for. He forces his way to his feet, shaking his head. He hasn't had a chance to check himself out yet. He's still wearing black, still wearing the student longcoat. However, he also has a masked helmet and /everything/ has golden trim or detailing, to include the wooden sword which seems to have gained decorative additions like a crossguard and flaring blade.

He wasn't ready for what can only appear to be some kind of boss battle in a dark lab with his life on the line, given Aho's dark speech and issued threats of medical experimentation. He grips the sword, a scowl behind the mask as he readies himself for whatever is coming.

[HOTARU]
"Huh?"

Hotaru loses her stage smile as Aho starts spouting off his creepy rhyme, eyes blinking, her arms dropping against her sides. Did she miss a cue card? Was someone supposed to get her a script before she got here? Already, she's starting to blush lightly, easily convinced that she's the one that's maybe made a misstep somewhere and not the obviously trustworthy people behind the Golden Angel event. She starts looking around quickly for a stage hand or something to give her a bit of direction. Hopefully someone figures out a way to quickly bring her up to speed!

The platform stops hard at the bottom of its rapid descent and she steadies herself with a swing of her arms as the fast talking MC continues right along, posing a question that has Hotaru's attention once more. The problem is that as he continues to rattle it off she only finds herself more bewildered by the confusing non-sequitur of it all.

"Huh?"

Abject confusion has set in by now, the poor girl reduced to monosyllabic grunts as her only means of communicating just how lost she is.

He screams to throw the switch and Hotaru recoils, eyes widening, arms lifting as she takes a literal step back. "Wait, what?"

Two syllables, she's progressing! The explosions go off and the tidal wave of the all too familiar lotion comes spilling over the contestants. By now, she's scrambling backward with no where to go, and as the wave crests overhead, all she can do is plant her hands over her mouth and nose, close her eyes, and hope for the best.

The best is that she survives the flood, at least, though as she wipes her eyes clear and bats them open, she finds herself wearing a uniform of white and azure. Her pants are still white, though now they're skin tight. Her shoes are still blue, though now they're boots that reach up to just below the knee. Her top is still blue and white, but now it's more of a tunic-like jacket with long, white sleeves and white gloves, rather than the Chinese styled blouse she had. A blue helmet with small portholes for her pigtails to dangle out of covers her head, dark visor and all.

Shaking her head, she staggers forward, hands reaching up to try and wrest the helmet off but all she succeedes at is twisting it to the side by ninety degrees, rendering herself blind.

"What is this?!"

Up to three syllables now!

[FREI]
While our heroes are having a Very Golden Angel Experience with the sudden tide of the substance, there is the other consideration of Kintoki Aho, who was ALSO swallowed up in the golden tide. As the competitors emerge, clad in their new... outfits?... there is another, more sinister process happening at the base of the vat where Aho was standing. The Golden Angel substance swirls and bubbles at that spot, churning like a stormy sea, bubbles forming and popping with a gloopy *blub*. Until... well. Until a very particular sound starts.

Basically it's the sound of someone attempting to get the very last dregs of a milkshake out of the cup, using a straw.

There was a LOT of Golden Angel, and apparently the lab floor has drains for this purpose, meaning that after the initial flood the substance is slowly draining out of the room. But very suddenly, a lot of is swirling across the floor to Aho's former location. Gathering. Becoming a blobby, wobbling mass of the bikini-creating substance that forms a kind of cocoon of liquid gold, drawing in the Golden Angel around it the larger it gets.

And when at last the substance has either drained out or been absorbed, the five newly minted Power Fighters(?) can just sort of... watch the world's weirdest Velveeta sculpture hang there in the air, making gurling sounds.

But then it bursts and frankly the result may make the simple, quiet gestation period of what was inside seem preferable.

With an inarticulate roar, a beastly humanoid, easily taller than the vats themselves, throws its arms wide and greets the world. Slowly, it turns its head down toward the competitors, and that's... when shit gets really weird. It has a head, or at least a head SEGMENT, but what actual face is shown there seems to change from minute to minute. At some point, practically every competitor in the tournament so far passes through the lineup, meaning there's a good chance someone in this room staring at it will see *their own face* staring back at some point.

The hound-like beast that slithers out of the cocoon's remains, twice the size of a normal wolf, is almost a relief by comparison since it doesn't turn into random other stuff. Hotaru won't have to kill Giant Velveeta Itokatsu, for example.

The giant menaces, but doesn't make the first move. Maybe our heroes are lucky, and it's got summoning sickness?

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh has started a fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
                                  >  //////////////////////////////]
                                  |-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh

[A SLIME APPROACHES]
[COMMAND?]

COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh

COMBATSYS: Clio has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Clio             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Hotaru has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Clio             0/-------/-------|======-\-------\0           Kazuki
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh

COMBATSYS: Kazuki has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Clio             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Pukai has joined the fight here on the right meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0            Pukai
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Clio             0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Pukai has joined the fight here on the left meter side.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Pukai            0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"Well /you/ look good at least," Makoto jokes with Clio, spotting the little ear-flaps on her helmet. It's impossible to tell if Makoto is grinning because the mask covers her face, but, well... it /would/ be just like her to grin in the face of a crappy situation.

As for Makoto's tail, it is not covered. The one thing about Golden Angel that Makoto really likes is that it is exceptionally kind about accomodating it. She doesn't have to tailor for it or anything!

Makoto sees that everybody is dressed more or less the same, or at least similarly. "Hey, we make a team," she says, as the Golden Angel starts to drain. "Now all we need to do is work together to find a way... out..." The milkshake-straw noise is getting really annoying.

And, worse: it's left something at the bottom of the Golden Angel shake that can't be drained away: a horrible monstrosity AND its bad dog!

"Oh, come on!" Makoto may sound annoyed, but honestly she feels pretty okay. This is a problem she can solve. This is, in fact, a problem she is /very good/ at solving. And she still has her tonfa, even if they are painted red and gold too. Which means, Makoto being Makoto... well, she tries to solve it.

She does this by throwing herself at the beastlike monster, crouching low, and delivering an uppercut that looks set to launch it straight out of the lab area. ...Well, maybe not that high, but she's certainly going to give it a good attempt. "SPOON!" Makoto yells, because it is the first vaguely sentai, superhero-ey thing she can think of right now.

[CLIO]
"I'm glad we don't look ridiculous," Clio's voice is somewhat muffled by way of wearing what is more or less a motorcycle helmet grafted over her head. "I am going to be so glad when we're not. . .," Voice trailing off, Clio's helmeted face tracks the giant cheeseball of doom as it roils and wobbles like the inside of a lava lamp.

"Anyone got any nachos?" she deadpans before the roar signifies the arrival of the bestial mass of. . .stuff that emerges from the golden angel cocoon.

Clio's chain slithers and winds about her left arm, tightening around the purple catsuit brought up by Golden Angel flooding. The spiked end dangles toward the floor, swaying like a plumb. "Big guy, five of us, not impossible," she says, assessing the situation ahead of her, planning. She is, after all one of the NOL. This sort of thing is her job.

And then a second thing, smaller at least, clambers out from the remains. "Two against five. Four legs, probably faster. Harrier and a hitter."

Attention draws to Makoto. She doesn't want to break her friend's cover, even if this really is probably a good time to do it. She announces in a steady, assured voice, "I am a Knight of the Azure Flame, Lieutenant Clio St. Jeanne."

Her voice drops to a more personal level, "And I was getting bored."

She crouches and tears forward like a dart. Her target: focus fire alongside Makoto. A snap and the spiked end of her chain is in hand. The sigils and glyphs carved on the spike sputter and spark with arcane fire.

[KAZUKI]
It's at this point that Kazuki... perhaps breaks character. His eyes go wide behind the mask as he stares up at the massive... goop... thing.

"The ****..." he says in a hoarse whisper. It's safe to say we are /well/ outside the Aikdoka's wheelhouse. Then Makoto charges, and the woman from the NOL announces her presence. They seem to have at least SOME grasp of the situation here, as he flounders just a bit.

Kazuki falls back to training. Watch. Listen. Observe. Act. He pays attention to the four-legged creature, watching its reactions to the incoming attacks, listening for changes in the rhythyms of its movements. Waiting for his moment to act.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki focuses on his next action.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Pukai            0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

[PUKAI]
Blurblyblurbleblurble. What a wonderful sound. It's terrible, actually. Which is why there becomes a living mass of blobbery, Pukai nearly checks out. "What sort of simulacrum is this?" She wonders aloud, looking towards the others, all dressed up as well. It is an interesting situation. A perspective switch that she isn't ready for. The monstrous form that is before them seems to stand against them, and only them. Makoto's declaration is shared from her own, the girl bobbing her head. Oh. How clearly strange this all is.

With Makoto the first to react, Pukai watches as she moves towards the monster, yelling a word that comes to her mind. Pukai titls her head. A .. ha! Yes. It makes sense. Clio declares she is hungry. That is quite the thought! The Sacred Order, decked out in a bit of 'gold'ar- or is - a knight still. "I do not understand...." Not at all. Not even remotely. With Kazuki falling back and the others charging forwards, Pukai is left with a horror with undulating faces. Frightening. Tendrils about the outfit move to lash around - but how can she even grip it? There's nothing much there to touch. Chi based poisons likely unable to affect or bother the creature. So Pukai simply does what seems reasonable at the time. A surge of water tosses her upwards - but it isn't quite normal water, either way, tinted a far different color as she rockets upwards - and then back downwards, spear leading the surge of chi water surrounding it in a 'dive'.

[HOTARU]
As everyone talks and shouts around her and giant goo things make very unpleasant sounds, Hotaru staggers around a couple of steps, both hands planted firmly on her helmet, the girl still trying to wrest it off or, at the very least, turn it back around so that she can see what's going on.

"Is this part of the show?" she asks confusedly, not having even seen what horrors the viscous liquid has wrought. That was just all a bunch of sound effects, right? She saw the sentai costumes produced by the lotion, after all.

While the two NOL officers start to take care of the implied threat of sentient goo with coordinated, tongue in cheek professionalism, the blinded pig-tailed girl stumbles forward quickly, having given up on her helmet and waving her hands looking for the nearest wall to orient herself by.

"I think something's gone horribly wrong." she comments with a muffled voice, managing to drastically understate the situation she is only partially cognizant of.

A slip on a puddle of draining goop sends her careening off to the side toward the far more gargantuan thing, her feet slipping out from under her, heels, now covered in cheap plastic boots, slamming into the base of the shin of the towering monstrosity as Hotaru lands in a seated position on the ground.

"Ack. Sorry! Er, that felt weird."

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh just-defends Hotaru's Aggressive Strike!

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Pukai            0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Pukai successfully hits Goo-gamesh with Bathyal Drop.
- Power hit! -

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0         Enki-goo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo blocks Clio's Fierce Strike.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0         Enki-goo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya successfully hits Enki-goo with Power Strike.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////        ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0         Enki-goo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

[FREI]
Showing their professionalism when it comes to fighting Monstrosities Unknown By Man, Clio and Makoto leap immediately for the gooey wolfhound. As Clio's flaring spike comes for it, the wolf suddenly... turns a broad side to her, and while the strike hits true, the thing actually momentarily hardens its own skin, shrugging off a good deal of the blow's force. Problem: it shoulda done that over its whole body, because Makoto "The Tick" Nanaya clocks it right in the JAW, sending the thing flying end over end. She doesn't get her satisfying Smash Bros. launch, due to the thing's deceptive mass, but it does go flying. Other problem: now she's made it mad, and with a loud and wet *HRPH!* sound, the wolf spits a... well. A giant blob of Golden Angel at Makoto. Which is fine and all, but it ALSO BURSTS INTO FIRE midway through its trajectory, because of course it does.

The huge blob, on the other hand, is set to by Hotaru and Pukai. Well... more accurately, Pukai attacks it willingly, and Hotaru attempts to pratfall it to death. The result is that Hotaru kinda... slides into home? But the titan reflexively alters the density and surface tension of its form, much as the wolf did. Rather than harden, however, Hotaru basically has a bouncy castle experience, where her accidental drop kick is rebuffed and she lands on her backside... while sliding across the floor.

There's also a comical *BOING!* noise because that's obligatory.

Turning its attention to the incoming Pukai, the Order member may be disconcerted to see her own face looking back at her from the thing's head, which it actually *brings up to meet her* so that her impact would happen that much faster. This is a questionable maneuver, however, as Pukai apparently has more mass and force than it expected. With a roar, the thing swipes a massive flailing arm through the air... one which takes on the appearance of an all-to-familiar tentacle that tries to slap Pukai right into the ground, Ultros-style.

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo successfully hits Makoto Nanaya with Energy Blast.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|-------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Pukai interrupts Fierce Punch from Goo-gamesh with Upwell Spiral.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[    \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Makoto's secret: she doesn't have any more grasp of the situation than anyone else, she's just acting anyway. She's never regretted making a bad decision as much as she's regretted not making one at all.

Makoto manages to bowl over the strange globby beast (?) even if she didn't launch it right out, which now that she thinks about it is probably for the best (who wants to throw this thing at the audience?) Then something else occurs to her: Is the audience watching? They probably can't see directly because of the angle, but... are there cameras on her? Are they judging her RIGHT NOW?

"Right!" Makoto raises her voice. "We can take on these things, you can punch them!" Pause. "Or sword them or whatever! Let's beat them up and get out of here, I don't like the whole faces thing it's doing and I'm /really annoyed/ with the people that dropped us down here right now!"

Annoyed or not, she has to deal with return fire. Literally; when she thought it was just a glob of Golden Angel, she was annoyed but not worried, but when it ignited the shot, that's a whole different ball game. Makoto recoils from the impact, actually slightly glad for the 'armour' suit she's wearing, if only because it means her stomach did not face the... stuff directly.

"Trade!" Makoto isn't directing anyone in particular to, but she /is/ warning them that she's now far enough away from the wolf thing that the bigger monster is presenting an obvious target. Especially because it doesn't appear to be looking at her right now.

So not one but three different Makotos throw themselves at the bigger target. One runs low, in a crouch with fists raised; another makes a low arcing bound; the third leaps up high, descending on the thing from almost straight up. She's hoping this confuses the wolf out of shooting her again.

The two jumping Makotos vanish some moments later. The real one, which came in low, delivers a long flurry to the larger monster's back, right-left-right-left-right with almost no pause between them. "Coming... THROUGH!"

[CLIO]
Focused pressure seems to be proving effective. Even if it's defenses kept it more or less safe from her spike, the creature's attention was off Makoto for long enough to let the lady in red get her licks in. Wolf pack tactics against a target, simple but effective.

The wolf thing goes back. Clio calculates the approach and she's off. The beast fires off a blast but it isn't at her. She has to trust Makoto can deal with the attack while Clio tries to take advantage of the wolfhound's distracted focus.

Turning in the air, Clio's heel comes to crash down toward the 'neck' of the beast, a burst of arcane flame flaring upward when the heel comes to it's downward, torquing arc.

[PUKAI]
"It may have went horribly right." Pukai argues, or rather presents an opposing statement, as she drives the spear down towards the monstrocity blob.

She can see her own face.

That's what she looks like. That's what she is. The monstrocity doesn't make it any better. It 'steals' her face, yet, it looks just as much as she does - as 'human' as she does. The spear is twisted in the impact. It doesn't do anything, due to the blobby mass, it simply just is done.

Slamming into the form, Pukai rebounds off of it.

The tentacle swings down towards her. One of her 'tendrils'. It may look questionable to others that it is octopus, squid, jellyfish style and not normalish. Yet Pukai knows why for certain. It's also why when it slaps Pukai towards the ground, it seems that it had done so flat. That is not entirely true. As she slams into the ground, the echoing impact damaging some of the 'golden' armor like scheme from 'Pukai-dar', the woman vanishes into the ground. Into a pool of something that wasn't there before. Rebounding off the floor? underneath, tendrils sticking out of the pool and simply anchoring on random parts of the blob, a chruching surge of sickly water, of a somewhat odd smell and curious haze, impacts into the 'tendril' as Pukai erupts upwards like a geyser, drilling through the limb and towards the 'face' that had been made of her.

"By the Sacred Order... I cannot let such a creature exist!" It is of course telling that it is her face in the creature that she seemingly is drawn to strke spear impacting first as the chi laced water crashes into and disperses. It's not 'clear' nor is it 'salty' it just is.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki watches, keeps track. Pukai announces her own affiliation. He's aware of the existence of Dizzy, had been following the news. He was well aware of the... tensions between the Sacred Order and the NOL. And the fact that he did not try to turn Dizzy in for the bounty on her head, though not too many people know about the fact that he even knows about that.

Kirigana brings the sword high, chi swirling around the blade as he focuses his efforts on the wolf-dog-goop creature. He takes a single breath, and brings the sword down hard. A crescent of wind slews off the hideously gauche-looking sword, slicing towards the monster. He's not sure how or even IF this will work.

[HOTARU]
Hotaru is currently enjoying, or not enjoying, the inside view of her helmet, seated and sliding across the floor, a confused, aimless air hockey puck. "Ah hah!" she exclaims in triumph, finally twisting the helmet back to placing the dark visor in front of her. The plastic is tinted dark enough that even though the lab chamber is lit, her own view of it is far dimmer.

"I never wondered about the dark visors before," she muses on the mystic arts of sentai heroes idly as she spins slowly to a stop and comes to rest facing the commotion playing out in the cavern of mad science. "Wait, what?" She's staring at the giant thing Pukai has taken head on, throwing caution to the wind. That it has flailing tentacles is less a byproduct, in her mind, of it copying the somewhat disguised Darkstalker and more just because of course it does.

"Huh!?" She really has lacked for a lot of insightful commentary on the entire situation, just now scrambling to her feet. "Why are there giant slime monsters here?!"

She gets a look around by turning on her feet, her helmet not actually designed to move much with her head's movement, causing her pig tails to get tugged on or yanked by the holes they're dangling out of. Nothing about this getup makes any kind of sense.

Seeing the examples the others are setting, however, she resolves to get involved as well. "Well, whatever gets us out of here." Hotaru breaks into a sprint toward the smaller slimebeast, darting in close, reaching out to seize it with gloved hands and convert her forward momentum into a flurry of rapid, stomping steps up into a launched backflip!

COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Enki-goo with Shinjou Tai.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////             ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=======\==-----\1         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Kazuki successfully hits Enki-goo with Fugue.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////                 ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\====---\1         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/-------|
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo fails to interrupt Power Strike from Clio with Energy Geyser.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////      ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|=------\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya successfully hits Goo-gamesh with Asteroid Vision.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

[FREI]
Apparently, nobody likes a wolfhound-like monster made entirely of psychoactive mystery fluid. Who knew? A crescent energy blade and a Hotaru both crash into it at the same time despite the thing's attempts to evade; it may be that since the thing was only just 'born', it hasn't figured out its own body entirely yet? It would certainly explain the somewhat stop motion-y jerky motions. And then Clio is up in its grill, also looking to attack, and the wolf kinda... well. It tries to absorb the woman's heel into its body, which it almost kinda succeeds at (taking the hit in the process), and then it... explodes?

Yeah it explodes. It INTENDED to take Clio with it but, and this is the important thing, fluid dynamics and physics intervene, and the entirety of its hyperaccelerated, exploding body flies BACKWARDS, AWAY from her, leaving a probably confused by otherwise unharmed Clio, as the wolf's gooey parts slowly flow back together.

MEANWHILE:

Makoto Nanaya can hit a stationary target the size of a small barn, to the surprise of no one. It looked like the monster tried to flow around the strike, so that its amorphous body avoided the blow, but without a way to know which Makoto was 'real,' there was little hope.

And then, well... Makoto is faced, in the way of her blow, with a giant gold blob wearing her face. And in fact, as it cocks an arm back, its former tentacle even takes the rough shape of one of her tonfa. This might be a good clue as to what happens next, viz: it attempts to ram that viscuous knockoff right into the squirrel girl's jaw with a loud, wordless roar.

COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya blocks Goo-gamesh's Gooey Impact.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
"I think because the guy who made the Golden Angel is a jerk!" is Makoto's answer to Hotaru.

What? She asked.

Anything else Makoto might want to say is delayed because she appears to have gotten its attention. Just because you /can/ hit something the size of a small barn does not mean you will always like it when it hits you back; Makoto's eyes widen as it swings its giant fist back at her, complete with tonfa. Her tonfa; the cross-bracing is distinctive enough that she can recognize it purely on silhouette. With her face.

Okay, no. It doesn't get to get away with that, Makoto decides. That's just rude.

Makoto brings up her arms to form a rough X-shape and lets the simulated tonfa drive into them. She feels the impact all the way up her arms, rattling her bones, and it literally slides her back several steps under the force of the blow; the floor is coated and slippery and she can't quite brace. Her tail swings this way and that, adjusting her balance. (See, it is good for something.)

And then, abruptly, she /does/ manage to brace, digging in. "Nuts to you!" Makoto yells at it. She draws her fist back, tensing her entire arm - her entire upper body, really, as she prepares for a seriously painful blow. One is all you need if you hit hard enough, and that appears to be what she's trying to do - a single blow with enough force to cause a shockwave to radiate out from the impact point. Of course, shockwaves are a little more dangerous when you're, say, made of gel.

Hopefully someone is dealing with the wolf... Makoto got distracted.

[CLIO]
Three on one now. Good. "Once this thing is down, dogpile the big one!" she calls out to Hotaru and Kazuki. "Don't look the face thing in the eye. Just creepy," she says, standing in the remains of the goopy geyser falling all around her.

She laughs under her helmet. For some reason this makes her head bob to suggest communicating or the laughter itself. "Time for some fun."

Clio runs her thumb over the sigils on her chain. A burst of glyphs. An after image of a circle of hermetic symbols in the air as Clio is off like a shot toward the wolf-like beast. She's almost a blur as she streaks by it, slicing along its side before whirling around and with a sharp flick of her wrist, sending a sharp, staking rune-marked spike toward the giant globbery thing.

COMBATSYS: Clio blitzes into action and acts again!

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Pukai            1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/=======|
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

[HOTARU]
Landing on her feet after having successfully stomp-climbed the gooey quadruped without getting her feet stuck in it somehow, Hotaru lands out of her backflip, hands raised, palms open, visor-concealed eyes focused fiercely on the creature. "They seemed fine until now." she comments under her helmet in response to Makoto's answer. Her sense of what 'fine' is might be off. Then again, she was in a cage match with a BEAR for her second public fight venue ever, so maybe nothing Golden Angel has thrown her way has phased her in the slightest until /now/.

She still looks hesitant about charging into the things, especially now that she has a chance to actually take in the situation with her own eyes. But Clio's instructions seem to snap her to attention, the helmeted girl pivoting slightly to glance toward the young woman with the mystical chain and nod her head sharply, "Okay!" she exclaims, confirming she's got the message and is happy to follow the example of those that seem to at least have AN idea in mind.

Sucking in her breath, Hotaru draws her right hand back, a surge of bright azure energy coursing along the limb. A half-step forward followed by a sweep of her arm sends a swirling blue sphere of concussive energy hurtling toward the energy beast.

If she can help drop it, then they can all focus on the giant shifting horror thing!

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki frowns a bit, wincing as he hears Clio pushing herself perhaps a bit too quickly. But the advice is good. The woman charges in, and Kazuki follows in her wake. The sword, held at the ready, is brought forth in a slash that takes him /past/ the wolf creature.

He slides to a halt, not even waiting to see if the thing fell before turning to face the larger creature.

[PUKAI]
Nuts to you, says the Squirrel Darkstalker. Pukai does not have that go past her head.

Dogpile the big one, they decry. Specifically Clio. Pukai is left out. It's fine. Her purpose is a holy, selfless one. Even if her acts, selfish as they are, happen to align with the rest at this time.

Yet then she stands, after landing, simply standing there. The impact before had apparently stunned her, at least caused her to stagger. Now, she may be feelign the effects. Empty eyes watch the others lancing forwards, lunging towards the creature. Pukai's movements do not come quickly - until her eyes blink. "Oh...? OH!" Flailing, realizing where she is, what she is doing, the girl starts to stab, rapidly, randomly, towards the creature. It may be all that she can do - but at this point, she is exhausted already. Pushing herself oh so far for ... she can't remember.

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo dodges Kazuki's Fierce Punch.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Enki-goo with Hakki Shou.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh blocks Makoto Nanaya's Impact! EX.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////            ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Goo-gamesh with Spike Throw.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh counters Power Strike from Pukai with Cambiare Appiccioso.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo dodges Clio's Medium Strike.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1         Enki-goo
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Pukai            0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

[FREI]
A lot is going on right now. A lot. If this were a game of Smash Bros., the wolfhound would be screaming right now about people ganging up on it, and how that's not fair. Thankfully, however, it's just a hound made of Parasite Eve-esque goo, so it can't SAY anything. What mostly happens is that three of Our Heroes(?) lay into it like it's a piñata. Sadly, despite all the abuse heaped on it as it tries to slide and slither out of the way (and fails), there is no candy inside. Just goo.

In fact, in its death throws, this is exactly what it becomes: a living goo missile that hurls itself at Kazuki, body erupting into unstable fire as it travels, and if it hits him, well... you know Nickelodeon Gak? Like that. Only on fire.

MEANWHILE:

The other goo titan gets its comeuppance from Makoto. Well, sort of. She delivers a mighty blow indeed, but it's a bit like punching a stress ball in that you can exert force but there's always this degree of counterforce. Unless you're Clio who, with a magical spike chain throw that Medusa (Rider) would be proud of, literally blows a hole right in it, through its torso. It's... visually impressive, in the sense that the giant thing actually begins to contract afterwards as some of its mass is diverted to fix the hole. But then there's Pukai, flailing away, and she gets the brunt of the thing's... anger(?). A gooey arm sweeps down even as its face morphs into a hideous, End of Evangelion-like approximation of Kazuki's. Her flailing strikes end up getting... uh. Caught in the goo, which instead of hardening, actually increases its gel-like stickyness. Trapped as she is on the end of the limb, she's then hurled through the air away from the giant, pelted with blobs of fiery, chi-infused goo.

COMBATSYS: Enki-goo can no longer fight.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/=======|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Kazuki dodges Enki-goo's Energy Cannon.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Kazuki           1/-------/=======|=======\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/=======|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    1/-------/=======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Nickelodeon Gak (tm) is like the third worst thing in the world. Fortunately, Makoto isn't the one getting splattered with it. Hurray!

Makoto is getting progressively more upset with this /thing/. Actually, no, that's not quite true; she's generally upset with this whole situation and the goo titan is just something she gets to take it out on. But she's not so distracted that she doesn't spot the other one exploding: "Yeah! Not too much more now! And then... we get to climb out..." That part doesn't sound nearly as fun.

But before they can do that, they need to deal with this monstrosity. Makoto isn't the target, and that's probably a bad thing (for it) because it lets her wind up. Makoto windmills her arm, apparently preparing for an uppercut of some kind.

This takes an increasingly awkward amount of time as Makoto keeps speeding up her arm until it's moving so fast it's hard to see clearly; it's just kind of a blur in the air.

"ONE!" Makoto steps forward, finally unleashing all the charged force up at the titanic goo monster. She leaps up afterwards, whether or not she's launched it or merely put a dent in it and, flipping in midair, delivers an equally powerful strike right back down, hopefully splatting it along the ground. She'd settle for just splattering it in general, though. "TWO!"

As Makoto lands, she turns, taking a surprisingly costume-appropriate pose, snapping her punching arm down and to the side and sending goo bits splattering away from it, leaving it clean(er, it's still red). A scarf flutters dramatically behind her, barely visible around her tail.

She did not have a scarf before, but an extra glob of Golden Angel got stuck to her at one point and apparently just decided to turn into something.

[CLIO]
One down. One to go. And a bunch of gunk flying all over the place. Clio St. Jeanne, for her part, is completely unscathed by the showers of gunk falling all over the place and firing themselves this way and that.

Her attention snaps as she sees the squid girl. The one that called herself Sacred Order, going in for her own striking. At one time, Clio was scouted by the Order. Offered a place among their number. But she turned them down and remained with the NOL for her own reasons. She wonders for a brief moment what it would have been like if the wheel of fate had turned in yet another different direction than what had happened.

She thinks about Jubei and what the cat swordsman may be up to at the moment. Hopefully something far sillier than this.

Then again. This was proving pretty fun.

Chain taut, Clio grins under her mask. She bobs side to side on the balls of her feet. The sigils burst and once more does Clio move like a shaded blur. She launches herself like a bullet toward the giant goo monster. Now it's her turn to join Makoto and the Sacred Order knight to fight the giant. She takes a flying leap and turns in air. Bringing both of her feet kicking out with a burst of arcane glyph's and pyrelight as she spears at the goo creature with a fiery missile dropkick

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki hears the slime blast coming, diving to one side to evade the goop. He doesn't even turn to regard the results; the noise of the thing told him all he needed to know. Instead, he turns to face the remaining pile of sludge.

He brings his sword to a ready position and listens for a moment, trying to find something like a vital point in the mass. After deciding that he probably will not find any, the Aikidoka charges in, driving another slash on whatever part of the beast presents itself. He skids to a halt past the thing, using subtle shifts in his own weight to face the thing once more.

[HOTARU]
Unsurprisingly, belting the goo-beast with non-stop attacks seems to have yielded the prize of... More Goo. Hotaru braces for the worst as it goes flying toward Kazuki, but the other student deals with it with apparent ease and she exhales with relief. One monster down, and one... gigantic one still standing!

Turning toward the towering menace that Clio, Pukai, and Makoto have been throwing themselves at, Hotaru clenches her hands, sucking in her breath. She can do this. No reason for that effectively coordinated group to take all the risks here.

"I'm starting to think they have no intention of granting any wishes after all," she mutters under her helmet as she pushes off into a sprint of her own. Right now, she's hoping the helmet is good at absorbing goo-force blows as she willingly rather than accidentally enters the reach of the colossal thing.

The uniform the Golden Angel solution gave her is accommodatingly flexible for her own range of motion, in spite being tighter than anything she'd normally wear, and she takes to the air with ease. Spinning near the apex of her jump, she aims to level a solid kick directly into the center of the goo-monster's mass.

"Kiya!"

[PUKAI]
The giant, as it is, manages to pick up Pukai as she hurridly tries to stab it.

The solidification on the limb causes Pukai to take the brunt of the assault. She doesn't let go in time, she doesn't understand the happening of it. Everything goes wrong all at once. Specifically the goo giant deciding that she is, and should, be remedied. Remedied she is. The impact scoops up Pukai, sending her flailing rapidly across the battlefield. Tendrils uproot from the ground, from around her, and from atop herself as she spirals awkwardly through the air - splatting agains the wall, the second time that she is left to splat on some sort of horizonal surface. Of course, the lab wall is a bit different from the lab ground.

Pulling herself up, Pukai should fight - she should throw herself at it once more. Instead, the woman hangs back as the slushy body peels itself off the ground, off the wall, and rises with the remains of the spear besides her. The heroic nature of the rest fighting. They can. She should, she knows. It doesn't /really/ call for it. Yet that thing had her face. It was her. Part of her. Knew something of her.

That's enough, isn't it?

The woman pushes off the ground, body rippling as the clothing has to reform around her as well. The golden shade continues to hold, but as the rippling body shoots up across the laboratory due to the influence of 'water', Pukai's human form shows that it is a mask, or at least, a thinly controlled veil. The Sacred Order knight's impact against the gel monstrocity may not be quite clear. The impact is lead with the spear to have a point to hold onto, if she manages to pierce against it. Because her body shares nearly the same consistency. Atop it's 'head', Pukai latches on like a nightmarish cap. Tendrils trail down from the body of the knight around to wrap it together, squeezing it, as energy pulses through them all, 'stinging' whatever she comes in contact with..

Afterwards, she would topple off, form returning more 'human' - at least human-like.

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh dodges Makoto Nanaya's Meteor Dive.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh dodges Clio's Strong Kick.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////               ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\0       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh endures Kazuki's Syncopation.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Kazuki           0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/------=|

[FREI]
You might almost expect a comical cartoon smokecloud to erupt, after all five of the combatants converge on the goo titan with a bevy of attacks. Some big, some small. For such a massive being, it can move with surprising speed when it wants to; Clio and Makoto's big, sweeping strikes see the monster literally flowing around them, shifting its mass into whatever contorted shape is necessary. The movements make it hard to see what happens with Pukai and Hotaru's attacks. Do they land? Do they strike full? Nobody REALLY knows, but the result is that, as the blob leans into Kazuki's strike at last, its mass is slowly shrinking. Perhaps there's a route to taking this thing out after all?

With a roar, the monster turns its attention to Hotaru, and then BECOMES Hotaru, before making a gesture with its 'hands'. A flick of a massive finger across its palm lets fly a wobbling blob of goo, which instead of flame, erupts bright cerulean blue. Maybe the Futaba daughter will find this attack familiar? Especially if she's had a nightmare where, instead of her trademark blue energy, her attacks fired off incandescent processed cheese food.

What? Nightmares are weird, it could happen.

Goo-gamesh falls asleep.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki frowns as he watches this. The beast shows no sign of wear or tear, no sign of wavering, aside from some shrinkage. Just rage, and a sort-of murderous intent. What is needed here is something big. He may have just the thing.

He brings his sword low and to one side, winds spinning and swirling madly around it as the weapon starts to wobble and waver for a moment. Super-Science Golden Angel Black lets out a fierce and sudden kiai as he sweeps the blade upward at a diagonal.

A second blast of wind screams across the floor on a collision course with the massive Goop Monster for what is hopefully a finishing strike!

[FREI]
Goo-gamesh wakes up.

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh successfully hits Hotaru with Nensei Shou.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Kazuki           0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[          \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           1/------=/=======|

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Punching a weird blobby thing is not nearly as effective as Makoto would like it to be.

Makoto just delivered some strikes that would have launched and then laid out something normal, but all she managed to do was get her fist half-engulfed in what feels like Silly Putty. "Ergh..." So much for posing dramatically; Makoto breaks her pose to shake her fist again and get the feeling off it.

And it's going after someone else, which isn't great. Makoto knows Hotaru and Pukai are fighters, too, and probably don't need to be protected, but habits die hard. Plus, in the case of Pukai... Darkstalkers gotta stick together, right?

"Hey, ugly!" Makoto punches - thin air, a few feet away from the titanic Golden Angel. A bright point of light appears just past the 'impact' point of her fist, appearing in midair like a tiny star; it expands, surrounded by a corona of violet-hued chi around it that ripples and churns.

"Catch!"

Makoto swings her other fist directly at the ball of chi she's formed in midair, and it goes flying. Fast, given she's just punted it as hard as she can right into the core of the globby monstrosity.

[HOTARU]
With her leaping spin kick delivering only passable success, Hotaru lands back on the ground with a soft grunt, hands coming back up to press against the visor in front of her face, trying to push it up in hopes of giving herself a better view of what's going on around her. She's definitely never fought with this kind of getup before.

With her hands pressed against the plastic face protection, she is once again oblivious to the ever shifting visages of the amorphous creature. Even worse, she's oblivious to the incoming slimey variant of her own signature projectile.

The 'Nensei Shou' splashes against Hotaru, knocking the featherweight off her feet and sending her sliding on her back over the still uncomfortably slick floor before she comes to a stop.

"Ugh!" the girl gasps, scrambling back up and holding her arms out at her sides, viscous Golden Angel sloshing off her arms and hands to splatter against the laboratory floor at her feet. Slowly, she lifts her glove covered hands to wipe the visor clear enough that she can see again through the shrouded dark plastic.

It's then, covered in oozing, dripping solution, that the young fighter reconsiders any idea of getting the helmet off or opening the plastic over her face. Now that she's given it some serious thought, she's entirely happy with the full body protection this ridiculous garb is affording her. Entirely happy indeed.

"Right."

Resolving to commit to the battle alongside the others, the Futaba girl bursts forward into an headlong charge toward the slightly dwindling monstrosity, azure chi gathered around her hands. From two meters out, she springs into a low hop, aiming to batter the shin of the Goo Monster with her imbued palms, skipping into a second hop and second round of battering palms.

The moment her feet touch the ground again, she's taking to the air, her whole body covered with cerulean power as she dives right back in, knee first, to try and finish scattering the goop composing the creature's leg entirely!

[PUKAI]
It does... nothing?

Pukai finds herself, having expended every inch of her ability to 'fight' as it were, to find that the tendrils slide off, the 'chi' melts away, and her attempt to impact is rebounded. Sliding off the top of it, she gets a break in time from when Makoto strikes towards her, and Hotaru manages to be the beasts target.

Slipping off the giant monster, Pukai's human form solidizes once more, 'flesh' reforming around the golden colored suit as she crashes backwards to the ground. The impact is heavy, but she slooshes to a stop as she falters, rolling backwards.

The others are already after the monster too - and Pukai, exhausted, takes a breather in the corner as she moves to fight.

Her spear, stuck away, broken - her energy, already expended. It might be better for the others to continue to fight without her. The reforming, and recomposing herself, into a human form is thusly priotized as the tendrils and tentacles are tucked back where they should be - the camera can be focused on the others, instead, for now.

COMBATSYS: Pukai takes no action.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////                  ]
Kazuki           0/-------/----===|=======\==-----\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

[CLIO]
For a giant, this thing is awfully flowing and fast. Clio scatters against the remains of a vat, flips over the side, and uses the weight of her chain dug against the ground to stop her momentum from her own kick. She should probably remember that most of the time when she kicks like that it's against more solid opponents.

However, the thing being distracted by the collective effort of the other fighters gives Clio time to start a wind up. Around and around the spike end of her chain spins and whirls.

The tip strikes the floor of the lab, sparking like flint on steel. A second whirling pass sparks even more. And on the third go around, the spike strikes the ground and a gout of violet flame springs up from the chain. A geyser rolling and roiling bursts upwards toward the gooey giant. Arcane flame in a shortwave. "Dodge this!" Clio calls out to the thing, maybe a taunt will work out in her favor. Or at least distract the creature.

COMBATSYS: Kazuki successfully hits Goo-gamesh with Sforzando.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////                      ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=======\====---\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya successfully hits Goo-gamesh with Break Shot.
- Power hit! -

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////                          ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh blocks Hotaru's Soushou Tenrenge EX.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///                           ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=======\=====--\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/------=|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Clio successfully hits Goo-gamesh with Whipflash.
Grazing Hit

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  /                             ]
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|=======\======-\1       Goo-gamesh
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|

[FREI]
Wind blades, energy balls, straight up punches and kicks... there's an awful lot of it, and despite a few momentary successes by the monster at altering its surface density to adapt to the attacks on the fly, the truth is that the team (minus Pukai) basically go at the giant mass of Golden Angel like a wood chipper on a particularly meaty log. Blobs and flecks of it fly everywhere, its already-diminished size being reduced again and again until, with a last final *GLOOP!* it bursts, losing a coherent shape, becoming a splattering of the fluid across the lab floor.

There is enough time for the obligatory horror movie moment where one of Our Heroes can ask "Is it over?" aloud before something else bad happens, at least.

All at once, the various puddles and blobs and other remnants of the fight surge upward from the ground. The result is... well. Every fighter in the tournament so far, more or less, that's ever worn Golden Angel. A mass of clones made from Cheez Whiz, their motions jerky and incomplete.

And then, zombie-like, they charge the five competitiors en masse. Looking to just sort of... dive into them, one after another, drowning people in a wave of gooey nonsense.

COMBATSYS: Goo-gamesh can no longer fight.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Makoto Nanaya counters Adaptive Morphology - Host of Angels from Goo-gamesh with Space Counter EX.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[             \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-------|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Pukai endures Goo-gamesh's Adaptive Morphology - Host of Angels.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[                          \\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-======|
[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             0/-------/----===|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Clio interrupts Adaptive Morphology - Host of Angels from Goo-gamesh with Bad Moon Rising.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[                          \\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-======|
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             1/-------/=======|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           0/-------/-----==|

COMBATSYS: Hotaru interrupts Adaptive Morphology - Host of Angels from Goo-gamesh with Tanshou Shin.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[                          \\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-======|
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             1/-------/=======|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           1/-------/<<<<<<<|

COMBATSYS: Kazuki blocks Goo-gamesh's Adaptive Morphology - Host of Angels.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[                          \\\\  <
Pukai            0/-------/-======|
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             1/-------/=======|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           1/-------/<<<<<<<|

[PUKAI]
Too focused on putting herself back together, more of a human trait of vanity than anything else, Pukai had already expended her efforts to fight against the blob. Her best attempt, her strongest assault, had seemingly bounced off the creature. Exhausted, beaten, and perhaps a bit dizzy, the darkstalker knight would put herself together just in time for the creature to surge upwards - before the swarm of fighters crash against them. The zombie-like horde lunges towards Pukai, and though she is able to put up a defense - she instead attempts to charge through. She doesn't make the dress any stronger than it may need to be. It is, perhaps, a mistaken choice. Simply trying to push through it, one foot after another, Pukai manages, just barely, to step out of the onslaught - a shakey knee and weak footing as the broken handle of the spear crashes against the ground for a moment to hold herself up.

Moments later, Pukai collapses on the ground, a different kind of blob or goo, as the darkstalker finds herself unable to keep going. A poorly thought out choice drawn from a poorly planned decision, leading into the amount of pain - and the succumbing to the pain - as the golden specked Golden angel atop her is sheared off from the beating. Mainly, because the outer later of her 'skin' is managed to damaged enough that it would need to regrow and repair.

She collapses.

COMBATSYS: Pukai takes no action.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             1/-------/=======|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           1/-------/<<<<<<<|

COMBATSYS: Pukai can no longer fight.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Kazuki           0/-------/--=====|
[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Clio             1/-------/=======|
[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Makoto Nanaya    0/-------/---====|
[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Hotaru           1/-------/<<<<<<<|

[KAZUKI]
The... Thing, despite all expectation, goes down. There's... nothing for a moment. Kazuki lowers his weapon ever-so-slightly, looking around. "It..." he says after a moment. "This is over, right?"

Of course, that clearly is not the case as the Goop Monster decides to send in the clones. Kirigana goes slack-jawed for a moment at what he was seeing. He's been out of his depth for this entire fight, and this? This was just that little bit too far.

It gives the clones time to close in on him, and the Aikidoka has to go into full defensive mode to keep himself from being swarmed. Hopefully he can last long enough for someone to bail him out of this mess.

[CLIO]
Brought low by a collective assault. A giant felled by the colorfully suited sentai squad. A monster defeated. Clio swings the chain back around and the metal slithers up around her arms and locks into place in her arms. Hidden behind her darkened visor, she smiles with satisfaction. A fight brings out the best in her, and to do so with a group against something clear and obviously dangerous. No moral complications and issues. Just a good brawl.

And then a goopy legion rises from the wreckage. Yellow blobs of gunk slinging themselves at the collected fighters. Looking like allies and unknowns. The faces and bodies of those she's seen and fought and talked with over the past tournament. Dopplegangers ganging up to even the odds against the color-coded "sentai".

Clio crouches low as some head toward her, running through the pyreflame lingering from her tidal assault. She flips backward, splatting the head of a duplicate of a former contesting that she, well, she doesn't recognize that one. And when she lands, it's a hardened brawl against the remaining assault until, battered but standing, Clio finds herself still able to hold herself together. Though she's still coated in Golden Angel wear.

[MAKOTO NANAYA]
Sadly, Makoto cannot just will her chi star to explode... no matter how much she wants to. All she can do is just kind of slam it in there, which she does as the same time the rest of the team gets to bludgeoning. Which means she is actually kind of surprised when it bursts anyway. She supposes that counts as a victory, right?

"Is everyone all right?" Makoto asks, a moment after Kazuki says the expected thing. Even Makoto knows that you shouldn't tempt fate like that, and she frowns, stepping toward Pukai, who looks the worst off of anyone.

But then... clones. No, not clones, Makoto decides: silhouettes. There's nothing to them but the Golden Angel; they don't have a core of anything but goop, as best she can tell. She brings up her arms, catching blow after blow on the bars of her tonfas, hammered down and back. Always down and back, as more of them swarm her...

But that just means they're where she wants them.

Makoto is damn near buried in Golden Angel duplicates before she explodes out of them with a battle cry. She literally leaps out in an uppercut, bowling several over and launching a bunch more up with her; she spins in midair, driving her fists against a couple of the airborne ones and eventually lands with a slightly gloppy 'splut' because of all the mess on the floor.

Broken, formless silhouettes from the Golden Angel duplicates rain around her. They go 'splut', too, though for different reasons.

[HOTARU]
Springing back from her combination assault, Hotaru lands lightly on her feet then skips backward several more steps, clearly not wanting to be close to the thing incase it decides to: step on her, fall on her, explode, or, well, do anything at all in her direction. Distance is good.

Kazuki's question gets no response from the Futaba girl as she keeps her focus on the residue of the combined assault and when Makoto asks if everyone is alright, she nods her helmeted head a couple of times. Bewildered? Yes. Still confused about what even happened? Absolutely. But she's all in one piece and though she's covered in goo that was part of some kind of sentient amalgamation moments ago, and aching from the impact she did end up eating to the torso, she's otherwise quite all right.

"Now, how do we-" she starts to ask, still very interested in how to not be there any longer. But the horde interrupts the inquiry, the surge of familiar figures rushing out swarm the five. The young Kenpo artist braces, lifting her arms in front of her. The first figures that smash into her are either too ill-formed or people she doesn't recognize.

But then there's Hayley, bolting at her with reckless abandon. "Oh, hey-" Hotaru starts to reply before reminding herself that no, this is just angry lotion and not the friendly Australian. Deciding enough is enough, she bends her knees and launches forward into a hopping shoulder slam, taking her out the other side of the now scattered figure.

As her feet touch down, she looks up just in time to see a familiar young man's visage trying to flop onto her. "Sorry, Haru!" she winces, converting all of her forward momentum into a one-handed palm strike, scattering the viscous solution away. It's nothing personal, honest!

In the end, she's still standing, panting for breath, and feeling quite the worse for wear for the number of minor blows she had to break through. Stumbling forward, now covered with so much of the stuff she almost looks like one of the clones herself, she starts wiping furiously at the visor to try and clear her vision again.

"Okay, t-that's it, right? Everyone okay?"

[FREI]
And then... silence reigns. No more goo monsters, no more frantic, witch cauldron-like sounds of bubbling. Apparently whatever terrible will drove this awful super-science monstrosity to kill, it's come and gone. The fighters are given a moment of true safety and peace upon which to reflect. Probably because they can't see the final two goo clones that formed on the slightly raised platform of the stage. Goo clones of... the prizes. Alma Towa-goo and Angel Viscosita, shambling forwa--

A hand taps the goo beasts on the shoulder and a pleasant voice says, loud enough to get everyone's attention: "Hey, just a sec."

Inexplicably, the final clones turn and discover a red-haired man standing behind them, who smiles and then snaps his fingers, instantly encasing both melted-cheese monstrosities in blocks of ice, which then topple forward and shatter on the ground.

"Huh," says Rei Hazuki, watching them. "I very legitimately did not expect that."

Hopping down off the stage, he looks around at the winners(?), giving a little wave. "Hey there. Congratulations on your win. Sorry about the man-eating slime beast." He seems in good enough spirits, though one might notice a slight... strain on his smile, as it were. Something at the corner of his eyes, the set of his expression, seems a little forced. "Oh right. My name's Rei. I'm technically one of the sponsors, though you're just gonna have to take my word for it that the Young Fighters Initiative didn't know about aaaaaaaaaany of this."

Considering the SYFI building is a restored fire house in a trendy part of town and this lab looks directly out of the Death Star, that statement is at least credulous, on the face of it.

"Security's working on fixing the mechanism. We'll get you out of here in a bit. I just, uh... you know. You got attacked by, uh... I very genuinely don't know what the hell it is, but it attacked you."

[PUKAI]
Managing to pull herself up, barely, recovering due to the odd nature of herself, the Sacred Order Knight has a good view of the others managing to fight themselves out of a corner and in many circumstances come out victorious. Pukai, being naive, agrees. Clearly, Rei did not intend for this to happen! Of course, beaten and bruised as she is, and in need of rest, the Sacred Order knight moves to wait for the rest of the secrurity personnel to arrive and then pull them out.

It is perhaps best to focus on recovery, as well as to allow bygones by bygones.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki shoulders his blade as he watches Rei's entrance. The man... Well... most people are like a genre or a specific band to Kazuki's ears. Rei Hazuki, though... There's too many /different/ kinds of music coming off of him. Kazuki's eyes widen, then narrow behind the mask.

And then Kazuki does something... very not Kazuki. Perhaps it's the events of the tournament as a whole. Perhaps its this man who seems to defy anything like an expectation. "No shit it attacked us," the young man says, letting a little of that Gedo defiance in the face of... well... everything into his tone and his posture. "Can you get us some water at least? I would like to get this crap off of me."

[CLIO]
Clio looks up, watches the man fall, and already has a lot to consider when it comes to returning to work. With the visor to hide her glance to Makoto, she still has a hard grip on her chain with this new arrival announcing himself. Names and positions memorized, the NOL officer in Clio settles back down to the more annoyed and tired Clio as the adrenaline from the fight starts to ebb.

"The same crap that's covering all of us attacked us," she responds with a shortness in her tone. "At this point I'd like to just get the hell out of her and into a shower."

While waiting is a thing, Clio still looks to the sides leading up to the stage level. Already considering using her chain to get herself up to the top. But she's not about to leave Makoto down here on her own.

[HOTARU]
Hotaru keeps a wary eye on the residual lotion slathered all over the chamber, clearly suspecting that it might decide to come back with a vengeance the moment everyone lets down their guard. That doesn't mean she isn't also making a conscious effort to wipe as much of the stuff off her as well, not believing in the 'keep your enemies close' theory to warfare in the slightest.

She glances over the others as soon as her visor is clear enough to allow sight once again, checking to see everyone on their feet only to start when she notices Pukai on the ground. She's just about to hurry over when the Sacred Order knight pulls herself to her feet as well and Hotaru exhales with a breath of relief.

She might be the last to notice the spectacle up on the stage and the arrival of a new face who seems entirely unlike just about everyone else she's interfaced with during all of Golden Angel. No shouting. No sparkles. No sequins. Is this guy lost?

"Hello Rei!" she lifts a hand to wave, more Golden Angel splattering off onto the ground at her sides as she does so. "I think there is something really wrong with your product!" she adds helpfully to the points raised by the other finalists.

[FREI]
Everyone seems to be in a hurry to get the costumes off, but Rei can't stop himself from cracking a smile over it. After all, compared to the various bathing suits and such, you'd think full body coverage in an array of pleasing colors would be a nice change. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to get that stuff off once we get out of here," he says mildly. "Look at it this way, if you ever wanted to break into tokusatsu, you've got the world's best demo reel already waiting for you."

There's a loud sound from above, and then the red-haired man's cell phone suddenly buzzes. He takes it out, nods at the screen, and then gestures to everyone else. "They say they got the goo out of the hydraulics, so hop on and we can get out of here. But, uh... I want to say something, first."

Looking around at everyone gathered here, Rei clears his throat. "The people behind this... well. Let's say that in the end I found out who the culprit was. I'm sorry I didn't find out in time to prevent this from happening. I promise, you'll all be compensated for your win in the tournament and your time and trouble. But..."

For a second, his words to someone else, scant moments ago, play back to him inside his head. You owe it to them.

"...please, if anything else weird happens, come to me, okay? I'll do what I can to help you. I -- WE -- owe you that much."

[CLIO]
Still a little longer down in the hole. Clio shuts her eyes and sighs, shaking her head. She starts to fidget with her chain, bored and sleepy and restless all at the same time. Her attention passes over the others who fought, and she gets an idea when she looks at one in particular.

The NOL Lieutenant crosses the aisle as it were and walks toward Pukai. She puts her hand out to the woman and under her helmet bares a smile. "Thanks for the help. Good to have one of the Order here. How're you feeling?" she asks Pukai. It wasn't hard for Clio to think of a time that may have happened when she was on Pukai's side in the rivalry that seems to be growing between the two organizations. But Clio didn't see a reason for them to be at odds in the way they were. Not when their mission was ultimately so similar.

[KAZUKI]
Kazuki regards Rei. His posture, despite the costume is clear: he is not happy with this, and while Rei may be claiming innocence, he's the closest person to someone responsible. After all, the man knows who did this.

"Who was it," he demands. "You may feel like you owe us something," something in Kazuki's tone suggests /exactly/ how much regard he holds in that debt (none at all), "But they have some things to answer for." Kazuki seems like he might want to be the one getting those answers. "And if you don't tell us," he says, and levels the sword at Rei. "Then you're actually doing /worse/ than them. Your silence would protect them."

[HOTARU]
It's impossible to make out Hotaru Futaba's expressions behind her helmet. She does make an effort of trying to tug at it again but doesn't want to risk having it twist to the side, blind her, and leave her staggering around in the underground secret lair while everyone takes the elevator out of here. These are legitimate concerns, okay!

She needs no encouragement to step onto the stage elevator, however, continuing to listen to Rei's apology and caution as she moves closer to him. "Well, thanks for getting us out of here, all the same," she replies, not sounding too sore about the whole incident, lifting her hand to try and rub at the side of her head only to have to settle with rubbing the side of her helmet instead.

"Are we, um, supposed to sign a non-disclosure agreement or anything?" Not that she imagines anyone would even believe her if she tried to explain what just happened down here. "Or, um-" Her rambling fades out as Kazuki cuts into the conversation with pointed questions and equally acute demands. He does have a good point, she supposes, glancing back and forth between the apologetic sponsor and the offended student.

"What WAS the point of all this?"

[PUKAI]
Rei continues to talk, Pukai places herself against a wall, broken spear to the side, body reknitting itself into a somewhat human form. It is perhaps faulty that she had let herself be swallowed up. It is perhaps a mistake that she had even attempted to do something that revealed herself. Now, she has done something that she would not get over so quickly. Even worse, it is a form that she accepts - and now she cannot move away.

Of course she is generally smiles, and kind. At the moment, she is far more worried about herself - small things that still plague her, little things that do not ever go away.

A member of NOL catches her attention - or rather, has her attention caught. The cap slides down somewhat over her face - 'head' gear her actual head, squishy - and it seems to have come-off somewhat. It probably shouldn't. With Clio striding forwards to ask how she is feeling, the woman nods her head. "As the goddess wills it, I am alive." The darkstalker states, "Haaaaaah, it's a good thing others were here, I don't seem to be very effective against something like that." She answers, exhausted, wounded, all in all not the most of cheerful moods. "I imagine it falls under unnatural, so it was at least a part of my duty." Perhaps. "It is not important to worry of me, it is the Goddess' choice that I am still here."

With Rei over there, apologizing, Pukai doesn't speak up. Honestly, she was happier to have the creature gone than she was to fight it. If it could have hurt anyone, would they not be here anyhow? She would. It is doubtful if Hotaru or the other man would, that she doesn't recognize.

Eyes stare at the hand, blank. . . .

. . .

"Oh." A hand that is half formed, translucent, extends out to Clio.It does not take it - maybe she cannot grip yet. "It shouldn't sting. Probably."

[FREI]
With a loud groan, the stage-elevator finally comes all the way down to the ground, so that it can be boarded. Of course, Rei is standing with his back to it, and someone is pointing a sword at him. It looks like a gaudy prop sword and he's not particularly afraid of it, but the sennin does at least try to acknowledge the meaning of the *gesture* more than the trappings.

"Just like the black ranger."

The operative word here was 'try'.

"Sorry, you're... Kirigana-san? Yeah? Well, you're not wrong. Not telling you all the details does protect those people. But it also protects you, and more importantly it protects all of YOU way more than it protects THEM. So that's a trade off I'm willing to live with." His words are reasonable enough, but something about the direction the conversation has gone in is making the cracks in Rei's genialness show, a tiny bit.

Thankfully, Hotaru is there with a distracting question at the right time. "Oh, I doubt it. The only people you'd be protecting are Oudoukou Chemical Concern and I just... have this feeling that it won't really matter what you say about them, after today." He does not say: there is an almost 100% chance that after the end of the week there won't even BE an Oudoukou Chemical Concern. "As for what the point of this was, well... I don't really know." Mentally, he curses the half-lie. He doesn't KNOW. But Rei can GUESS. It might not be pretty. But that's tomorrow, and it's his problem, for now. Not theirs.

Stepping backwards onto the stage, he gestures to the rest of the group. "Well, let's get you all that shower, I suppose."

Log created on 18:27:36 03/17/2018 by Frei, and last modified on 11:06:35 03/19/2018.