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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 9, 2022 19:38:35 GMT
Bella took in a deep breath and let out a happy sigh. "I needed this. Fresh air feels so good after being stuck in class all week, know what I mean?"
"Definitely," Utena agreed. And she felt like she and her sister had lucked out on the weather too. It wasn't terribly hot, but still enough sunshine to improve her mood. The park wasn't too crowded either, leaving enough room for the two of them to walk around with ease. Some kids ran around playing tag, others were playing fetch with their dogs or taking pictures of the flowers or trees.
Something interrupted the peaceful atmosphere though. Utena stopped when she felt it. It was a light thud and she felt the ground tremble slightly beneath her feet. "Hey, did you feel that?" she asked.
"Huh?" Bella turned around. Utena felt another thud though, and from the look on her sister's face, she'd felt it too. There was another one, and people were starting to stop and look around. Utena did the same. Where was that coming from?
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 9, 2022 20:31:27 GMT
The day was absolutely perfect, and Riku figured meditation to keep the shadows at bay would be better in the sun. After all, what beset darkness than light? And apparently he wasn’t the only one with this idea. The park was packed with people enjoying the day.
Now came the tough part. Finding a quiet spot to meditate. He found an unoccupied stick of a tree. Not shady, but he preferred that. Shade would rile up his shadow powers, and the last he tried possessing the tree’s shadow to help align his root chakra, it worked a little too well.
He sat as straight as he could against the tree. Inhale. Exhale. Hands on the base of the spine. Relax. Let whatever tiny anxieties flow, so the root chakra can sit.
Boom.
Wait. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Heck, rather than connect to the earth, Riku shook. As did others, who were mumbling to themselves.
“What was that?” he asked himself.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 10, 2022 20:51:52 GMT
There was one final boom, and then somebody cried "Look!". Utena and Bella whirled around to see what looked like a stone giant thud onto the scene. It seemed to be made entirely of square-shaped rocks and had beady little red eyes. It definitely didn't look natural. Had some mad scientist made it and let it loose on the town? There was no time to wonder about that though, as it let out a roar and people started screaming. Without much provocation, it started attacking anything in sight, plant or person.
"Shit, shit, shit," Utena cursed as she pulled out her sword, not that she was sure if it would do anything. "Bella, come on, we gotta move!" she cried. She started to run, but skidded to a halt when she saw her sister wasn't behind her. She turned to see Bella frozen in fear, her eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Bella, snap out of it!" she shouted as she ran back, pulling on Bella's arm.
"Huh?" Bella blinked, coming out of her state of shock. But the cinderblock monster swung an arm in the girls' direction. Thinking fast, Utena jumped backwards, pulling Bella along with her as the monster's arm missed them by a hair. They both plopped onto the grass, safe for the moment, but now wondering what the heck they were supposed to do now.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 11, 2022 1:32:55 GMT
One word came to mind when the cause of the booming appeared; ugly. What was that? A super art project gone wrong? A cursed museum artifact? Either way, the only thing Riku registered was danger.
People were fleeing all around. He was not among the masses running. Instead, he stood up. Two pink haired girls were in his line of sight, and the stone giant was gaining fast on them. Heck, one had been petrified until being goaded by the other to move. The creature almost grazed them. Riku could buy them some time. Distracting it would be easy.
The only object close by was a metal trash can. His green eyes narrowed as he concentrated on willing the shadows to work. Black energy coated the object and he lifted it with absolute ease before chucking it to the side of the creature’s head. As he released the shadows, the can resumed its usual metal form. The beady red eyes of the creature turned to glare at Riku, who just casually picked up the trash can with the shadow forces again.
“Now that wasn’t nice. If you want to play, you need to use to your words.”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 12, 2022 1:02:25 GMT
Bella and Utena's futile attempts to come up with a plan were interrupted when something metal crashed into the stone giant's head. They saw it was a trashcan, and a boy had somehow thrown it without touching it. He seemed pretty cool and confident when staring the beast down. Utena had to admire that. Bella could see what her sister was thinking, and she shook her head.
"Utena, no, we need to find a hero or something and get help."
"That could take ages," Utena replied. "Come on, the three of us can take on this thing if we're smart."
Bella opened her mouth to argue, but she just gave a squeak as Utena pulled her along and unsheathed her sword at the same time.
"Odds are a bit more in our favor now, dontcha think?" she asked the boy. Three against one would surely give them an advantage, right? The stone giant gave another roar and swung his fist again, almost as if trying to prove Utena wrong.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 12, 2022 1:42:50 GMT
Luckily the monster stopped its attack. Unluckily, the pink haired girls were coming back. To stand by Riku. One of them was drawing a sword, and inwardly he kicked himself. Of course he didn’t bring Braveheart with him. Then again, a sword plus meditation hadn’t been on his plans. That and fighting a golem.
The creature swung at then, and Riku exhaled, releasing a black shield that barricaded the trio from the arm swing. The stone arm bounced off it, and it looked confused at what had happened. The distraction was long enough for Riku to transfer the shadow energy to the actual shadow of the stone Goliath.
Both Riku and it were frozen where they stood, connected only the shadow. He turned to the pink haired girls, straining to keep his mind clear so he could keep focused on locking the shadow.
“I just bought you five minutes. Don’t waste it!”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 13, 2022 1:45:24 GMT
This guy had some impressive powers on his side, although Utena felt like they were a little hard to describe. It was almost like he could control shadows themselves. That was something she hadn't seen before. But she needed to focus. Whatever this guy was doing, he had the stone giant frozen in place. Now was the time to do some damage.
"Bella, distract it. I'm coming up behind it."
"Wait, what?" Bella got flustered for a moment as Utena started to run towards the giant's back. She shook her head to clear it. Now wasn't the time to freak out. Wimping out wasn't an option. Looking around her for a second, she got an idea and shot her hands upwards. A spray of grass burst from the ground and smacked into the giant's face. It didn't really do anything damage was, but now it couldn't see, giving Utena the element of surprise.
Jumping as high as she could, Utena managed to land on the monster's back and climb up. Even though it was made out of rock, it was sort of shaped like a person. So maybe it had the same weaknesses as a person, like the head being a vulnerable spot. Gripping her sword, she thrust it into the neck as hard as she could. But instead, her sword just bounced off like she'd hit, well, a rock.
"Utena, what are you doing?" Bella yelled. "Do something!"
"I can't, my sword doesn't do jack shit against stone!" Utena yelled, frantically bonking the monster on the head with her weapon a few times before stopping. It wasn't doing any good, and her blade was going to get bent if she kept this up.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 13, 2022 3:15:06 GMT
Luckily the pink haired girls were able to follow Riku's cue. The bolder one took off with her sword, telling the other girl, Bella, to distract the weird gym wall golem. Bella's way of distraction was slapping it with grass. Okay, points for using her powers, but maybe something with some more girth might have been more handy. But her sister or cousin or however they were related, if even that, only said 'distract. Riku did have to give her kudos. Distraction was working because the stone man didn't even feel the other girl climb onto him. Only to not be able to so much as tickle him with her sword.
"Can you move any tree roots? Or call upon them?" Riku asked Bella. "If we pin him down with those, I can release my grip on his shadow and then I'll have more time to focus on moving more weapons towards us."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 14, 2022 1:54:57 GMT
Tree roots, of course! Bella felt dumb for not thinking of that earlier. Lucky for them, the park was full of trees and it was almost like she could feel them pulsing under her feet, ready to go. "Okay, don't fail me now," she muttered before reaching way, way down with her powers. She raised her hands up and thick roots started to sprout from the ground and twine around the stone giant's feet. Even the branches of the trees extended and grew longer to hold him in place.
"Yeah, get 'em Bella!" Utena cheered, glad to see her sister being a little more bold on the battlefield though. She felt the giant start to stir under her though. He may have been stuck, but he was still raring to fight. "If you're gonna hit him, do it now!" she shouted before jumping off, rolling on the ground as she landed.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 15, 2022 1:14:44 GMT
Riku felt the ground beneath him rumble. If she was calling up plant life, it was working. That or some other superhero was causing earthquakes and it was collateral damage of aftershocks. Either way, something was coming. Riku shifted as it grew, moving him and the stone creature slightly to the right as a root ripped through the ground.
As more roots popped up, the giant was forced down at the feet. Thanks to the shadow sever, Riku’s feet were pulled down. But not for long. He exhaled and his attachment to the shadow was gone. The other fighter yelled that there was an opening.
With more plants tying him up, Riku had more wiggle room with shadows. He moved the shadows of several branches near its face. A shady hand appeared, and he thrust it forward, smacking the giant. Hard. A crack appeared from the continuous pummeling.
“We’ve got a crack! Your weapon should get in!”
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 16, 2022 18:18:05 GMT
Bella struggled to keep the stone giant in place. She could feel him fighting against the roots that tied him down. The boy landed a hit on him though, making a crack. Maybe it would be enough for Utena to wedge her sword in there.
Utena nodded and hopped up from root to root, getting close to the crack. She jammed her sword in there as hard as she could. The stone giant roared in what Utena assumed was pain. At least they knew now it could feel that sort of thing. But it looked like the pain gave him the final push he need to start breaking free of Bella's plants. One hand became free, breaking the roots with a snap.
"I can't hold him, he's breaking free!"
Utena's eyes widened. She pulled her sword out. Thanks to her attack, a chunk of stone popped off. That made her think for a second. If the giant was just made of rocks put together, maybe they could take him down by taking him apart.
"We have to take him apart!" she yelled. "Separate everything!" That was the most she could get out before the giant's hand came towards her. She jumped up to dodge the attack, landing on his arm. With his other one still held by Bella's vines, the giant tried to shake his arm in an attempt to get Utena off. All she could do was hold on for dear life.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 17, 2022 20:07:22 GMT
The roots were beginning to snap as the giant began to struggle. Just as Riku feared. The plants were enough for Bella to hold him at bay for her sister or cousin or friend to dig her sword into the crack Riku was able to create. The monster yelled in guttural pain as blade entered a vulnerable spot. Finally, with a pop, he broke free from the root trap and took off with the swordswoman still holding on. The last thing she said was that taking him apart was the answer. Riku didn't know what to do. Taking him apart would be easy with his powers, but not while someone was holding onto him. It would risk hurting her.
But then he saw the one arm caught in the vines. With one arm gone, it would make him lose his balance. Riku focused on the tangled arm. The plants turned black as their shadows bend to his will. They snaked to the joint where the arm met the torso and with a flick, they began slicing into the stone like a knife cutting through butter as the inner darkness of the stone met with the plants.
Finally, the arm fell free, becoming nothing but a pile of stones. Stones Riku and Bella could use to their advantage. But first, to save the others. Riku grabbed the vines again, but this time, they braided into a rope that he tossed to the pink haired girl on her joyride. "Catch!" he called out to her.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 20, 2022 23:09:02 GMT
Bella watched as the boy stepped in, his powers making the shadows of the plants slice the cinderblock up. That was one way of taking him apart. It looked like the monster was realizing what was happening though and started thrashing around in a last attempt at breaking free. Bella kept some roots steady, but others started to break and snap.
Just when Utena's grip started to slip, the boy threw her a proverbial lifeline. Whatever this guy's powers were, moving stuff, controlling shadows, he was good with them. But Utena would have to save any admiration for later. She grabbed the vine, which was enough to stop her from falling towards the ground at full speed. She thumped against the grass, but slow enough where she could get to her feet.
"Bella, follow his lead, slice this thing up!" she called out.
Bella looked at the giant. Going straight through the rock itself was probably a no-go. But what if she aimed wherever the remaining joints met? Those might be a bit weaker. Her roots slackened while she called on something else: sharp, thorny vines. She made them shoot at where the legs and remaining arm met the torso. Sure enough, it was enough to get through.
"We need to finish this thing off, it's now or never," she said.
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Post by zuyuri on Jul 21, 2022 21:10:05 GMT
As the swordswoman grabbed his makeshift lifeline and was safe, Riku released his focus and went back to the giant. Bella had stopped rooting him in place and was focusing on something else. A new set of vines, these ones barbed with thorns, snapped into place to aim for the weaker joints. Riku had to let his impressed smile show. She was tearing it down where the rocks would be weaker. But then he took notice of the ripped arm. Sure, it looked slack now, but there was a chance that, unlike Humpty Dumpty, this beast had the chance of putting himself back together again if his body was close by.
"There's a risk that he could fix himself," he looked over at the swordswoman, "Bella and I can focus on taking him apart, you can scatter the rocks so they can't re form. Better to be safe than sorry."
Bella's thorns gave him even more shadows to work with. Small ones that would take some time to knit together, but it was like having an extra weapon.
"Now which limb do we go with?" he asked half to himself, half to Bella.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Jul 22, 2022 23:32:55 GMT
The limbs of the stone giant fell apart and he suddenly got quiet. It looked like he was finally taken down for good. The eyes went from red to black as it fell to the ground with everything else following and lying in a crumbled heap. The boy had a point though: This thing wasn't 100% like other living beings. Just because it was taken apart didn't mean it was dead. Better to be safe than sorry.
"Oh, I call the head!" Utena cried, pulling out her sword again and hurrying over.
"Guess I'll take the legs," Bella said, rolling her shoulders once before summoning more vines. Now that the stone was in smaller pieces, it was a bit easier to hack up.
Utena gleefully sliced at the head down the middle, splitting it in two. "Ha ha, take that!" she gloated. She was still riding the high off of any adrenaline that was left in her. Plus, why shouldn't she celebrate? This was really the first monster she and Bella had taken on. And the worst she got was maybe a few bruises from her rough landing earlier. She considered that a success.
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