698/Nutcracker Suite!

Nutcracker Suite!
Date of Scene:	11 December 2015
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Toymajin begins his attack on Tokyo! Can Christmas be saved in the St. Nick of Time!?
Cast of Characters:	Gaofele Doiru, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Misa Sakagami, Mikoto Nakajima, 128

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Toymajin (128) has posed:
The lake in Penguin Park and everyone is ice skating on it, as there's no surcharge to skate on it like an actual ice rink! The lake is nice and thick and it's perfectly safe! Kids play tag on ice skates, adults and teens skate hand in hand. Karou has setup his truck nearby and is being enterprising- selling coffee, hot chocolate AND those heart-holed donuts of his. It's an idlyic setting.

Then a giant dark garish portal spits a big fat nutcracker solider onto the ground nearby. Stepping out next to it is Toymajin, someone who appears to be a giant robot with a cape. He floruishes it DRAMATICALLY. Then he does it again. /FOR EXTRA DRAMA/.

"FOOLS WHO 'LOVE' CHRISTMAS! IT IS PRACTICALLY TOY MURDER! HEATENS!" he calls out. "SANTA CLAUS WILL BE INDISPOSED TO ATTEND TO YOUR CHRISTMAS WISHES THIS YEAR, INSTEAD, YOU WILL ANSWER TO ME! TOYMAJIN!" he says.

He throws the GREEN DATA DIAMOND towards the forehead of the giant nutcracker and it comes to LIFE! Circuitry seething out across it for a moment before it flashes into animation, looking hilarously stop motion. "GET CRACCCCCKING!" the newly formed Nakewameke screams out, before it raises it arms and two giant walnuts rocket out of it's mouth rolling towards the ice rink!

Panic on the ice! Uh oh!

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     Panguin Park! Ice skating! Contrary to all of her protests and issues with the idea, Misa had been convinced to go out ice skating! ... She's really bad at ice skating. And a lot of things that require good coordination. Her parents were /really trying/ to get her to ice skate! ...She was trying too! It wasn't going that well, but she was trying!

     And then there was a dark portal. And a monster. Her parents grabbed her and started to run -- and then she ended up 'myseriously' separated from her parents. Accidentally on purpose. And then... a nutcracker?!

     Misa looks around quietly, trying to figure out the best way to handle things. Uhm. Uhm... she couldn't let people get attacked! She begins to walk forward, her knees trembling slightly. "I... I'll stop you! P-people aren't murdering toys on christmas! P-people just get more toys to love..!" She might be credible if she didn't sound terrified, and she wasn't wobbling on her ice skates.

Gaofele Doiru has posed:
Skating might not be as common in Waldia as it is on Earth, but it's not unheard of for people to rig up methods of traversing the ice during winter, and things like sled runners have proven to be moderately effective.

But Gao is always interested in how Earth-based equipment differs from Waldian items, and ice skating sounded like something interesting. So the forester is here, slowly skating along, a collapsible pole in his hands to help steady his balance. "This... isn't... too bad," he says to himself, feeling more confident in his footing the longer he skates.

The arrival and subsequent announcement of Toymajin catches his eye, as does the suddenly monstrous nutcracker. Gaofele braces the pole under one arm, then reaches for the bracer he always keeps nearby, calling out "To protect the lands, I am Guardian Gao!"

There's a pulse of green, and Guardian Knight Gao takes his now-transformed quarterstaff in hand. "Vine Rush!" he calls out, holding the quarterstaff out sideways. Plants erupt from its length, shooting forward to try slamming one of the walnut-rockets away.

There's just one thing he forgot about ice and impact recoil...

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto wasn't skating at the moment. She was just sitting on the sidelines, enjoying a mug of hot cocoa, watching Amy and Vicki skate. The pair of them seem to have been racing when the monster showed up, and now they're headed straight towards it. "Oh, crap." It's enough to make anyone swear.

That's enough to set her into motion, discarding any notion of immediate safety or propriety. Her cocoa discarded, she races out towards the ice, her hand held out towards them.

((Protection)) Labyrinth Architect's shield springs into existence, the rune-circles moving in to push the two girls out of the path of the monster just in time.

"Thank you," Mikoto whispers, and ducks into cover for a moment to emerge in Tessen's barrier jacket, ready for action.

"Toy ... murder? You make no sense. I like to think of it as giving my toys little brothers and sisters."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Perfect place to set up for more egg-snatching! He'd already turned in more than his quota today, and intended to continue that trend. It would make Director-san think he'd had a change of heart. And that would let him worm into Easter's inner circle... which would let him take Easter down himself. No involving others in his problems.

No more like Mamoru.

However, just as he'd opened his violin case, darkness appeared... and all hell broke loose! Ikuto growled. Toymajin, Moytajin-- whatever! It was interrupting his business here. He put the violin back in its case and closed it. And then his cat ears and tail appeared. But he didn't immediately fight, though. He leaped up to a building nearby and placed his violin down upon the roof in a safe place.

Yoru, his feline Chara, followed. Ikuto straightened then, his feline features disappearing. He gave no warning to Yoru. He merely spoke.

"Ore no kokoro...UNLOCK!"

His body began to glow, as Yoru disappeared into his black-and-white egg and merged with Ikuto through his chest. A tail and cat ears grow slowly out of that glow. Then the glow resolves into a cropped shirt with a pair of long tails in the back and a loose neckline, a pair of pants with a long leather strap between them, and leather breacers. Finally that wickedly sharp claw appears on his right wrist and the last of the glow gathers into a cross-shape on his chest. Then the glow shatters to reveal a large silver cross on his shirt.

CHARA NARI: BLACK LYNX

Ikuto leaps down where the Toymajin's creation is, though he stays off the ice-- he doesn't have any skates, after all. He doesn't bother trying to push the walnut rockets out of the way. He just dodges out of the way. The thing will land where it will he doesn't care. His expression is flat and unreadable. For a moment...

Then it draws down in a deep scowl, teeth bared. And he leaps across the distance, trying to claw the nutcracker across its face viciously. Ikuto is NOT PLAYING around here. He'll cut some of Gaofele's vines if he has to, even!

"I'll show you 'TOY MURDER'...!" he all but hisses, his ears laying back, flat against his head.

Toymajin (128) has posed:
Toymajin points dramatically at Misa to reply...... then does a series of hard blinks. "Hey!? What are you doing out there little one!? You should be by my side, helping me smash these humans!!! Do they even play with you!?" asks Toymajin with wide eyes and a genuinely caring tone for a long moment.

One of those Walnuts gets knocked away by Gao moving to send it flying off into the distance and exploding in midair harmlessly.

The other walnut races for the ice and skitters across it---BEFORE EXPLODING! Luckily, everyone is off the ice by now thanks to everyone.

Toymajin looks back towards the other. "Children discard thier toys for /new ones/ all the time." he says scatchingly. "My entire kingdom of abandoned toys says much otherwise to your own view! NO MORE!" casts out Toymajin.

The Nutcracker screams out. "DON'T SCRATCH THE WOOD." it calls out before it's whole body rotates as Mikoto pushes some kids out of the way.

The nutcracker swings for Ikuto, trying to catch him!

"ROCKET PUNNNCCHHHH!" it calls out as it's two fists rocket out. One at Ikuto, and the other at Gaofelle! Misa and Mikoto seem to get a repreive for now as Toymajin begins cackling madly and obviously.

"Ahaahahahhahahah!"

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     Misa was pointed dramatically at, and then... Toymajin ... blinks at her!? And asks her why she's not at his side. Misa blinks black at him thoughtfully, beginning to make her way over towards toymajin. "Y-yes, they do!" She says. She could pretend to be a toy! It wasn't that wrong anyway. "B...but... humans don't murder their toys..."

     Elsewhere, there was a certain Doll, who was listening to Toymajin. Oh my. Now /that/ was an interesting being. She was off just watching for now though. To see what happens with Misa, among other things. But also to see what he was /doing/.

     "...I guess they do... but a lot of the time, abandoned toys are given new homes though... l...like I gave an abandoned toy a new home too!" Of course that toy had been a horrible monster that did evil things to her, but she didn't really /hate/ her. She was afraid of her, of course, but she wasn't afraid of her! ... Misa wasn't attacking just yet though. She was taking advantage of the fact that he didn't hate her, so she could get in close! "...What's your name? I'm Misa." She asks towards Toymajin.

Gaofele Doiru has posed:
Guardian Gao yelps in surprise as he goes sliding backwards from knocking one walnut away. "Right, ice is slippery; can't brace," he mutters to himself as he catches his balance. He gives Misa an odd look, but most of his focus is on the Nutcracker and Toymajin.

The forester Knight starts skating perpendicular to the line towards the Nutcracker, trying to size up the foes. When the fists are launched, Gao turns around, sliding backwards as he summons his bow and aims an arrow at the approaching rocket. "Tumbletrap!" he shouts, releasing the arrow.

As the arrow flies towards the rocket-fist, it deforms into a tangling tumbleweed, slowing in mid-air as it widens and becomes more air resistant. Hopefully, the rocket will explode on that, and not on Gao!

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Tessen hits the ice, skating not on metal blades, but on little rune-circles, reminiscent of the ones she uses for her shield spell. It's a nice little improvisational spellwork, and she's glad of the maneuverability as she sees the monster pull off a 'rocket punch'.

Kamis, that's a stupid move. She isn't terribly impressed, even if it is something of a classic. It's not like he's even going to... hit... Ikuto.... Oops. Toymajin has made a serious mistake. Carnwennan's hilt is in her hand before she can think another moment, and the full rapier-blade springs into being.

She darts from side to side, in order to dodge any possible attacks, but it really doens't seem necessary at the moment. So she slices down with the blade. At mid-air.

((Flakschrecken!)) She doesn't bother stacking up a wall of Flicker Shots. She just hurls a burst of mana vortices, sending them spinning off of Carnwennan's blade, lashing straight out at the monster.

"Don't you DARE touch him!" she screams, leaping into the air to take flight and hurl herself towards it behind the phalanx of spell-bolts.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto emits a grunt as the rocket fist hits him square in the torso. He hadn't even tried to dodge. The fist throws him back onto the ice and he slides across the entire pond, before coming to rest at the other side. He's not out, though... after a few moments he does get back up. Though it looks like it's more that he's pulled up by something rather than standing up by himself.

He doesn't look to see if Gaofele's all right or not. He doesn't try to get Misa out of range of the crazy toy youma master creator dude. He doesn't stop to greet Mikoto. He just leaps to the side, so he can see the nutcracker in profile. Then he draws back his right arm, and the claw on that arm begins to gleam. "SLASH CLAW!" he calls out, and swings the claw forward. Three arcs of silver energy leap from the blades, aimed at the nutcracker. It looks like he's trying to chop off an arm.

Toymajin (128) has posed:
Toymajin seems to know what Misa is! This is strange. How does he know!? Well he knows. Because you know, 'Toy Magic'. However, this means he doesn't see Misa as 'human'. She is just a big doll. "So you gave a home to an abandoned toy!? We are much alike! You should come with me little one! It shall be marvelous! We can show these worthless humans what happens when they abandon toys like you or me!" he says , shaking his fist at Misa 'joyfully'. This dude is tall and scary in many ways but these's something /strange/ there. He doesn't seem like he's going to hurt Misa though. There's no reason to. Right?

The Nutcracker's fist Gao hits gets flung back into the air and hits the nutcracker square in the chest. This isn't probably what Gao was aiming for- but it happened.

Mikoto's mana blades slice into the nut cracker and cause deep gashes into it's wood, blackness seeping off it.

Ikuto succeeds in lopping off an arm. It cleaves off. It appears to be heavy wood. More darkness seeps out.

The Nutcrackers giant mouth opens garishly wide, then it's head tilts out.... then it launches a barrage of walnut rockets. Because of course it does.

"WALNUT BARRAGEEEEEE!" it calls out. "GET CRACCCCKKKINNNNG!" it follows up as rockets look to fall across the wintry battlefield!

Toymajin peeks back at the fight. "HEY KICK IT UP A NOTCH, NAKEWAMEKE!" he shakes his fist at the nutcraker youma.

Gaofele Doiru has posed:
Gao blinks at the unexpected bounciness of the tumbleweed, then nods in approval at the blade-assault on the Nutcracker. He's still not sure what to make of Misa, but Toymajin's comment about giving homes to abandoned toys does catch the forester Knight's attention.

However, the Walnut Barrage demands his attention with more pressing urgency. There's too many to swat away, and not enough solid ground to summon a Forest Wall -- at least, not without shattering the ice. How do you stay safe in that kind of situation?

By making a safe space.

"NETTLE BARRAGE!" he shouts, firing an arrow upwards and forwards. The shaft splinters into a swarm of narrow arrows, peppering a cone of the incoming walnuts in an attempt to detonate them in mid-air -- hopefully resulting in the space beneath them being safe from direct hits! Gao doesn't wait to see if the shot works; he's already skating for what he hopes is a safe zone large enough for everyone.

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     Misa was moderatly uncomfortable with the fact he seemed to realize she was a doll. Dangerous! She takes a small breath as she continues towards the Toymajin. "Well... I did... yes..." She thinks on that quietly, trying not to look horribly traumatized by that. "...But... a...are you sure that they're worthless? I mean... there might be a lot that abandon, but what about the ones that don't?" She asks softly. "I...is it really fair to punish the good ones as well as the bad ones?" She asks again as she makes her way closer still! Possibly actually at Toymajin's side.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Tessen howls defiance at the monster as she hurtles towards it, silver-gleaming Flicker Shots forming around her as she flies. By the time she gets close there's easily a double-dozen... except...

BANG! the first Walnut rocket hits her, knocking her off-course.

BANG! BANG! BANG! More detonate on her shield. The shield she left defending Vicki and Amy, over by the side of the frozen pond. The shield that isn't protecting her.

BANG! She reels out of the smoke and flames, Barrier Jacket ripped in several places, her cheek reddened from the heat. Her head rises, silver eyes glaring up at the creature, and the Toymajin beyond. "NO FURTHER," she growls, and bounces off the ice to resume her course towards it.

The Flicker Shots she's been gathering alter their own course, zooming towards her all of a sudden. Each one slams into Carnwennan's blade, wrapping around it, encasing it in silver light as she thrusts it deep into the Nutcracker Monster's chest.

((BLITZSCHRECKEN!)) The energy thus gathered is released all at once from the gleaming blade, directly at the monster - if she can penetrate its shell, directly into it.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Walnut rockets everywhere! Ikuto puts on the speed, leaping up and back in a backflip that would hopefully take him out of the area of effect before any of the rockets hit him. There is a very distinct look of worry as Mikoto takes several of those rockets. But Ikuto visibly forces the expression off his face. Now's not the time.

Ikuto might be a little help at the penetrating the shell, though. As the rockets die down, he runs closer to the nutcracker beast and slices at its legs. Not just once, either. He'll be trying to run past it and slash at its legs several times.

Toymajin (128) has posed:
Toymajin throws an arm out dramatically, his cape flourishes on purpose. "Then these humans shall have a small place in my oncoming regime! There will need to be some token acts to prove thier worth. This will be acceptable. The others. I will abandon...INTO THE DUSK ZONE!" he laughs manically. "W

He throws his arm back. "Nakewameke! Show these jerks who's booooossssss around here!"

"TOYMAJINNNNNN!" screams the youma. "THAT'S RIGHT!" calls out Toymajin in glee.

Walnut Rockets get pounded by nettles as Gao tries to play some messed up version of 'Missile Command', he gets some of the walnuts! Not all! But he seems to get the ones that'd come down on some shocked bystanders who haven't gotten the picture to scram yet---- oh that is definitly Masuko Miyo with a camera video taping this from a tree branch she managed to climb in an adorable hat. "Awwww Yea! This is GREAT FOOTAGE!" she screams out. The actual footage will look all blurry because she forgot to clean her lens. Whoops. It'll still be able to convey an awesome fight though.

Mikoto cracks through with a powerful blast as it shatters into the youma, Ikuto slashes at it legs, and between the strike, and the loss of one arm, the youma topples over.

Really, it's pretty much gone---

In fact, it is gone! The Data Diamond on it's head shatters----and then the giant youma goes with it, splintering into dust.

"Ugh! That stupid fat beard jerk! He promised me that was his best work! WELL HE LIED! I'LL MAKE MR. CLAUS BUILD ME SOMETHING BETTER! YOU'LL SEE!" he says shaking his fist. He turns down to Misa, though after his yelling. "We'll meet again , little one~" he says delightfully.

Before dissapearing into some sort of weird dark teleport.

Misa Sakagami has posed:
     Well! That was actually an improvement! Humans that showed some token acts to prove their worth would be spared! Diplomacy victory! ... Well, that was uh... strange. But it went pretty well all things considered! She distracted the Toymajin while the others took care of the Youma! She gives a small smile towards the Toymajin as it begins to get going, waving towards it as it began to leave. "O...okay! Uhm... I'll see you again!" She says, a bit unsure what exactly to do from now on. Uhmmmmm. She looks towards the others quietly and thoughtfully, and then she decides, very quickly, to begin to hurry off in the general direction her parents just went.

     Meanwhile, Maeko makes note of this strange amount of bravery from Misa... how strange...

Gaofele Doiru has posed:
Between the near-misses and the debris from the intercepted walnuts, Gao is rather turned around and finding it hard to see for a moment. His sight finally clears up... just in time for him to bump into the shore while going backwards, lose his balance, and fall into a snowbank with a yelp.

After a moment, he sticks his arm out of the snowbank with a thumbs-up. "I'm okay! I think..." he calls to the others. "Just... going to rest for a while. Maybe a couple of minutes."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto glares after the departing Toymajin, lashing out with Carnwennan's blade to send a few more spirals of mana after the teleport matrix. Pointless fury, really, as the dark entity is already gone. The attack spirals through the cloud that remains, then smashes into the shoreline, leaving a small crater in the rock.

"Damn your eyes!" she shouts at it, slicing at the air, then finally returning the blade to its place at her back. "Ikuto!!!"

Once again she hurtles into the air, uncaring of her own wounds, racing after the Black Cat. "Are you alright?"

At least she trusts in her shield, dissolving now to release her friends. But she worries about that damn cat.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto leaps back as the nutcracker falls over, prepared to attack the one responsible! But before he can, the strange thing just... disappears. "...Che'," he huffs as he straightens. He turns a look at Misa-- their gazes might meet a moment. On the one hand, his look isn't judgemental. On the other hand... it's flat and unreadable. Gaofele gets a look too, and then seems to be dismissed.

And then Mikoto comes over to him. One ear twitches in her direction... but he forces himself not to look at her. The other ear flattens back, as if irritated. "...Would have to disturb my collecting," he says flatly.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
Mikoto doesn't seem to be buying it, but then, she's not been feeling herself lately. "Disturbing your collecting is the entire point of the game," she reminds him, careful not to tip her hand with anything that someone reporting to Easter might pick up on. "We need to have a little talk about that."

She hovers there in front of Ikuto, one hand held out to him. She has no clue what he's been through lately, the tragedy that struck him and so many others so recently. It's what she gets for being out of touch, focusing on her own projects.

"Come on. Pizza?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto pauses. He regards her hand with a flat look. Then he raises his gaze to hers. And when he does, Mikoto might almost wish he hadn't. the look is just too devoid of emotion to be him playing. Besides, she's part of the game, isn't she?

...Isn't she?

He turns away again. "...I'm going back to work," he announces. He's keeping his voice carefully flat, but a bitter edge bleeds through despite his best efforts. Probably why he's keeping his replies short. "...Don't follow me unless you want a fight."

And then he leaps up again, heading for where his violin had been stashed on the roof of the building. He loops the strap over his left shoulder-- his right still has the claw-- and then makes to head away. It's not possible for him to hide or outrun Mikoto, though... she's a flyer, he isn't.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
And fly after him she does... but perhaps not as quickly as she might. A familiar set of cat-ears springs to life on her own head, recognizeable to anyone who's seen her around Ikuto at his worst... she's got mischief in mind.

Or so she wants it to appear. That's the Great Game, after all.

Once she's out of sight of the park, it's time to get a little serious. "Carnwennan... send text message to contact: Ikuto. Message: Summer Garden. Send."

There's an electronic little 'ping', and the Device complies. ((Message sent, Meister. You should upgrade your cellular device. Its bandwidth is limited.))

"... later. I'll think about it."