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Konoe Kanno      The Forest of Magic

     Not a place normal people wanted to be. The forest had a notorious habit for devouring the unaware. Literally and figuratively. But for even the average Elite, the threat wasn't quite as pronounced.

     Today was the agreed upon day.

     Fake Miko vs Doll Creep. Round Two!

     ...Or it should have been.

     Instead, there stood a cat eared youkai, dressed in a red Miko outfit, standing on Alice's front lawn. ...Waiting....waiting.....waiting....and waiting.

     Still like the statue, the girl stood. The only sign of life from her was the occasional swish of her tail and the odd twitch of her ears. The only sounds to be heard was the gentle breeze running through the forest, and the rustle of the treeline.

     ...

     She was bored.

     "Where IS she?" Konoe finally grumbled, expression souring into a frown.

     Someone was late.
Alice Margatroid     Meanwhile, inside the house.

    Various dolls are hard at work preparing the living and dining area for guests, the smell of freshly baked cake and brewed tea wafts from the open cottage windows and through those windows, Hourai and Shanghai can be seen. "Come on now, Alice will be back shortly!" comes Hourai's voice, Shanghai however stops in front of the open window and stares at Konoe. "Oh. She is here...."
Tomoyo Daidouji     As Konoe complains, an approaching blue speck appears over the trees! Has she finally deigned to show up? But as it approaches, it does not seem to be the form of the dollmaker. Rather, it looks like... a flying blanket? One with two passengers riding on board.

    It descends onto the lawn of Alice's home, the two passengers climbing off the blanket before it neatly folds itself! Tomoyo, the first passenger, currently clad in the dress Alice made for her, kneels down to pick up the square of folded fabric and tuck it into a bag, extracting a camera at the same time. The other is a tall woman in a black suit and sunglasses, her reddish-brown hair brushed to her right. She sticks very close to Tomoyo as the young tailor looks around, spotting Konoe.

    "Hello there~" she says to the cat miko with a warm smile. The older woman just regards Konoe cooly. "Are you here to watch the danmaku duel too~?"
Maxine Sandberg Maxine had heard about the other dollmaker in Multiverse, but hasn't had a chance to meet her yet. Hopefully the rumors about humans being eaten in these parts weren't true. Still she found a woman made out of gears to lead her to Alice's house. She nods to Tomoyo before noticing the cat woman waiting impatiently for something, has she picked a bad time to show up?
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako followed along after Konoe! After all, she was curious as to what exactly danmaku was. Hearing about what it is and actually seeing it for yourself are two different things! And so she's here, dressed in her witch outfit and sitting side-saddle on her floating broomstick close to the ground.

    "Hmm? Is she late?"
Konoe Kanno      "....."

     Konoe eyed Shanghai, having heard her voice, but didn't offer any reply. ...Honestly, those dolls confused her. They almost seemed sentient, but they probably weren't. How should she even talk to them? Weren't they tools? But sometimes they seemed rather real. In the end, she just looked away, deciding not to address the doll, rather than give herself a headache.

     At about that time, people started to arrive. She spotted a blue speck on the horizon and almost thought it was Alice, but after a second, she realized that was wrong. ...She'd never seen this person before. Was Alice entertaining visitors on the day of their duel? "....." More silence was Tomoyo's answer as the miko eyed her attendant momentarily. Once she determined neither were problems, she managed a small smile. "Um...I'm the opponent." Konoe finally spoke, her annoyance lessening a tad.

     Maxine's arrival is met with a look, and a slight tilt of the head. "....?" Another one? Konoe sighed inwardly before speaking again. "...Are you here to watch the duel too?" How many more people were going to show up? Did Alice really make this into some kind of tea party?

     The cat turned to Ayako after and shrugged. "Well, she's not here. And her dolls are taking care of things inside so...she seems late to me."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa has head about the duel and had to see this it hadn't taken much effort with the help of a local yokai for her to find her way there. She's dressed pretty casually too as she followed in and one would see a few hints to her nature but she's in a very good spirit and she looks to Tomoyo with a grin and move to greet her.

"Good to see you."

then Ayoko and Maxine arrive and Kotone's smile gets even larger this was going to be fun.

"Maxine! Ayako!"

She's really in good spirit and then turns to Konoe.

"Hello again and I'm curious to see this Danmaku in action."
Maxine Sandberg "Duel? I was just curious about the dollmaker that lives here." Maxine's a bit surprised but that would explain the huge gathering. "Good evening Kotone, it's been a while." She smiles upon seeing her friend. "I guess I might as well stay, it would be a good chance to see the dolls in action." Plus, it would be safer here with other people around, she's unfamilar with these parts after all.
Konoe Kanno      Konoe turned towards Kotone upon her arrival. "...Hello Kotone-san. Good to see you're fine after yesterday." She smiled a bit at that.

     A bit.

     Maxine's response earned her an arched brow. "...You want to see Alice-san? Well..." She glanced towards the house. "...She's not in right now." A frown. "In fact, she's a bit late."
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako waves hello cheerfully to Tomoyo and Kotone. "Hello Tomoyo and Kotone! Curious about danmaku too?" She waves hello to Maxine too. "Huh... so... this Alice makes and uses dolls, huh?" Her head inclines to the side gently. "Well, this might be fun to watch then!"

    "Well... once she comes back, anyway." Ayako smiles brightly and... then lies down on her back on top of the broomstick. Lazy.
Tomoyo Daidouji     Tomoyo blinks as she stares at Konoe. "Oh! Well, good luck to you then~ I hope it will be an exciting match. I'm sure Alice will be here soon~" She says it with such unbridled sincerity too! She holds up the video camera in her hands and shows it. "I'll be recording too, so feel free to ask if you want a copy~"r
    But now, other people are arriving! Maxine gets a polite bow, as the two have yet to properly meet. But Ayako gets a cheerful smile and gentle wave. "Hello Ayako~ It's been a while." Kotone also gets a wave! "It's good to see you too."

    And now, the setup begins. A collapsed tripod had been brought along with the carpet, and the bodyguard has set it up! Tomoyo affixes the camera and cheerfully says, "That just means I have time to make sure everything is working." She pans the camera around to get everyone in a shot.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa grins for a moment as she looks ocver to Maxine and she tilts her heaqd.

"I'm curious about the doll maker as well but this fight has also got me curious as well."

She looks back to Konoe and bows a little bit to her.

"That was certainly interesting yesterday and Ayako? Yes I am!"

She pauses for a moment reaching into a pocket pulling a rather bland looking sandwhich...
Maxine Sandberg "What happened yesterday?" Maxine looks over at Kotone a bit concerned, she seems to be in a good mood so it couldn't have been too serious. "It seems like she does from, from what she said." She has no reason to disbelieve Konoe, "What exactly are you two fighting over?" She's still in the dark about what's going on here other than some kind of duel.
Konoe Kanno      Konoe blinked, watching Tomoyo and her bodyguard set up the tripod and camera. "...Um..." She was really bad with technology. A copy? She wouldn't know what to do with a copy! The miko just stared cluelessly as the camera panned over her. Then she glanced at Kotone and Maxine.

     "...Well. If you want to call it interesting..." Konoe grumbled, frowning and looking away in the process. She still wanted to strangle Uriel. But she'd leave that alone for now. Maxine's questions got her to look back. "Um...Some demons invaded a foreign world. We went to check it out. Nothing bad happened, but they were annoying." So she said. "As for the duel...Doll Creep annoyed me. I challenged her to a duel." That was it.

     She looked away, stretching her arms above her head, and thinking nothing of the silly reasoning. She was tempted to turn into a cat and join Ayako in lazing right about now.
Maxine Sandberg "I see, I have to admit I'm not that familiar with the supernatural." They don't exist on Maxine's world after all. "That seems like a bit much just for annoying you." Then again she hasn't really familiar with how this world works. It couldn't be that serious though if all these people are gathered here to watch and not intervene.
Tomoyo Daidouji     Tomoyo is quiet for a long moment, having plugged headphones into the camera and rewinding the recording to ensure that the microphone is picking everything up okay. "That all seems fine~" she decides, yanking the headphone jack out.

    Just in time to hear Konoe call Alice 'Doll Creep.' "Well now... I'm sorry that you had a bad first impression, but Alice is really nice. She gave me this dress, for one thing!" She gives a little twirl to show it off. "I think you two could be wonderful friends if you wanted to be."

    That's all she has to say on that subject for the moment. Instead, she seems to be focussed entirely on Konoe's outfit as she stretches. "That's an amazing miko uniform..."
Alice Margatroid     A familiar figure is flying in from the direction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, though, this one seems to be dressed a bit differently than normal. "It's like her to make me late..." she muttered, "But at least Flandre's entertained for now. And I need to thank Koakuma..." she shakes her head a bit, seeing the gathering around her house. She recognizes Tomoyo at least... and the Fake Miko... who's senses of devils may have been tripped upon her arrival.

    She lowers herself towards the ground, before entering a stride on the way towards the cottage's door, not saying 'Hi' to anyone at the moment before unlocking the door and turning around. "Hourai. Shanghai. Is the dining room ready?" a pair of voices come from inside, "Everything's ready, Alice!"

    She turns around, a content look on her face. "Welcome." she starts, pulling a few cards out of a pocket from underneath the white blouse under the black vest, as if she was dressed in a certain devil's clothing. "Konoe, how nice of you to come. SOrry to keep you waiting, the Scarlet Devil had need of me and... it took a lot longer than normal."
Konoe Kanno      "........"

     Konoe stopped and began to sniff the air. Sniff sniff. Then she turned to look in the direction Alice was coming from. Aha! There she was! Konoe remained silent, watching the uncharacteristically dressed dollmaker land. Once she checked on her house and made sure she was ready...

% Konoe approached and leaned quite close, nose sniffinf at Alice.

     "You smell." Wow rude. Maybe se was referring to the scent of devils. "Also you're late." She went on to say, stepping back and frowning. "What were you doing? Dusting off bookshelves?" While she asked, her body lifted into the air, floated back a ways, and then landed. She then pulled out several cards.

     "Are you ready, or do you have to sit down and have tea and crumpets too?"
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako sits up quickly once Alice arrives dressed in... not in her usual clothes. I mean, Alice usually dresses like one would expect an 'Alice' to dress in, or approximately, anyway. To be dressed in something that would normally be worn by a small devil in a certain Scarlet Mansion is definitely different!

    Nonetheless, it looks like it's about to start! Ayako flies off to the side. To Tomoyo's side, that is. And makes sure she isn't blocking the view of the camera!
Alice Margatroid     Alice smiles, "Does the smell disgust you? Make you want to exterminate me?" she questions with a mocking tone, shaking her head some, "The tea and crumpets are actually for our guests here. And maybe you if you would like, Fake Miko." a pause, "Ground duel, three cards if I remember correctly?" Alice adjusts the tie a bit and smiles, "Hourai, Shanghai. Bring our guests some refreshments and ready the shield dolls."

    Alice soon makes her way over towards Tomoyo and offers a small hug, "You'll get to see danmaku today, perhaps one day I might be able to teach this to you. And do you still have the doll I made for you?" she questions, knowing the answer to this obvious question.. Though, she takes a look at Ayako, tilting her head, odd to see a water youkai around these parts. "Ah, I never expected a water youkai to be interested in this, make yourself at home, all of you." A wave is given to Maxine and Kotone too, "Good to see you two as well."
Tomoyo Daidouji     As Tomoyo fiddles with the camera, her bodyguard pats her on the shoulder and indicates towards Alice's arrival. Tomoyo gasps, and zooms in to record it! As the dollmaker lands, Tomoyo waves. "Hello Alice~ I came to watch and record your duel, if that's okay."

    She peers critically at the dress Alice is wearing... before putting her thumb and index finger under her chin, an approving smile on her face. "That dress and tie really suit you~ Did you make that yourself?" Again, totally genuine in her praise! It almost seems out of place in Gensokyo.

    She huffs a little at Konoe's rudeness, but smiles and returns the hug Alice offers. "Of course!" she says, pulling the doll from her bag to show Alice. "I actually have something for you too... but it can wait until afterwards."

    Following this cryptic statement, she fiddles with the camera, zooming out to capture the miko and the dollmaker in one shot. It's about to start!
Maxine Sandberg Maxine's not sure how Alice usually dresses, since she's never met her before. Making sure she's not in the way of the duel is a good idea though. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Maxine." She settles for a simple greeting since the dollmaker is busy at the moment. "Shield dolls?" The term has the scientist interested before she turns to see Tomoyo remove the doll.
Sarah Parsle Over the river and through the woods, to Creepy Doll Girl's House we go...

No, wait, that's not right.

Whatever. Either way, this is about wen Sarah Parsle arrives, having been given directions from a convenient sign-holding doll. She pokes her head out of a bush and shuffles in closer, looking over the situation as the Pre-Danmaku Standoff begins.

"I feel like there should some excessivly cute tumbleweed rolling through between them." Sarah comments as she arrives to stand next to the other onlookers. "So we have this danmaku thing going down, huh? Some kind of fighting?"
Konoe Kanno      "I don't want your tea and crumpets, Doll Creep."

     Wow, ruder. Still, they were about as ready as they were going to be. Once Alice was in place, Konoe stared at her, and a silence fell.

     "......."

     A leaf fluttered from above, slowly landing to the ground between them. As if using that as a cue, the miko suddenly dashed forward and started off the battle with a flame infused palm strike to the midsection. Ground duels allowed melee attacks inbetween cards and danmaku. This was legal!

     Totally legal.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa looks over Konones uniform and she nod sin agreement about Konoes outfit and then she replies to Maxine.

"A odd incident on a very strange block like world. It worked out well enough."

She pauses as Alice arrive and she bows a little bit to her smiles a little bit.

"So Alice we meet, it's good to see you."

she's going to make sure to keep clear of the fight she pauses for a moment.

"Woah eash I don't think she's a doll creep in my world's context..."

Alice hasn't got all creepy on her after all!
Alice Margatroid     "Alright, Tomoyo. I'll show you a colorful battle." as she readies her place. Then the silence. Then the leaf. And suddenly flame palm on her midsection causes her to grunt out just a bit and skid back. The one thing about ground duels, melee was totally legal, and for this, Alice rushes back into the Fake Miko's face with kicks delivered by heavy boot wearing feet, three kicks to the stomach and then a surprise downward punch!

    Meanwhile, twenty dolls of unnamed origin float out of the house and walk around the ground, holding shields in their hands, Hourai and Shanghai move between them and then rest near Tomoyo. "I don't know what has them two always at each others throats. It's almost as if an incident is going on between them. I wonder why and how." Hourai says, shaking her head, "Oh well. Shanghai, be ready. YOu know she'll use us."
Konoe Kanno      "Kh!"

     Konoe grunted in turn at Alice's surprisingly swift counterattack, skidding back a ways. She didn't take the Doll Otaku to be that fast. The Dollmaker was a youkai however, so she didn't discount her strength. In response, Konoe pulled out a set of ofuda and they immediately lit on fire.

     Not taking the same direct approach, she leapt into the air, taking care not to actually fly, as per ground duel rules, and threw them outwards. The fuda, which numbered about eight, flew off and converge on allice from multiple angles.
Maxine Sandberg "That does sound unusual." Maxine nods in agreement with Kotone. Noticing the group of dolls gather near Tomoyo she can't help but to be a bit curious. The scientist leans over and carefully examines one of them wondering how they function. She would certainly have to ask Alice for more detail later.
Tomoyo Daidouji     Well now; this wasn't very colourful at all! Tomoyo winces as the two go at each other with bare-handed blows. But, the march of the adorable dolls totally gets her attention, panning the camera a little to catch them coming out of the house. "So cute~"

    She waves to Hourai and Shanghai, listening as they talk. "Oh, I'm sure they'll become friends eventually," she whispers with quiet confidence. "Sometimes two people don't get along at first, but eventually they really warm up to each other." She has experience with such things, after all!

    Ah, but now things are getting exciting, as Konoe whips out flaming ofuda. "Fighting like a true miko!" she declares, nodding in approval.
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako blinks her eyes and looks down at all of the dolls that floated out of the house and are walking around on the ground. Huh. Guess she really does make a lot of dolls. She turns back to the fight and...

    Ouch! Those two are fighting in close quarters combat! Ground danmaku battles can get pretty physical too, after all. Ayako makes a note to make sure to offer healing to the two after this! And then she curiously looks at the flaming ofuda. So the miko clothes weren't just for show!
Alice Margatroid     Alice's spells and danmaku usually aren't TOO colorful, unless it's an aerial based danmaku, but, in this case, she'll make an exception. Alice moves to graze through some of the homingfuda, a few of them pelting her and stopping her assault, but this is where she just tosses a doll into the air and another one and a third one too. "Skill. Doll Placement." Alice slowly starts walking backwards, her right hand moving forward as if it was moving string and her left arm clutching her grimoire tightly. "Come on."

    Meanwhile, the doll is examined, it looks like it has doll joints, it looks like it's not connected to anything.. but then Maxine might see a glimmer of something that seems to extend to the dollmaker. Suddenly, the doll turns around and stares at Maxine and gives a bright smile before moving to sit on her shoulder, holding the shield tightly. It doesn't say anything but it's definately not hostile.

    Hourai gives a soft smile before its drowned out by Shanghai's loud cheering, "GO ALICE! BEAT THAT FAKE MIKO TO THE GROUND! YAY! GO ALICE!" Hourai gives a soft sigh and whaps Shanghai on the back of the head, "No disrupting them..."
Sarah Parsle Sarah watches them both fight and tilts her head a bit. "So, uhhhh. This is looking a lot like kung-fu, not danmaku." She comments. "What's so special about this other than that Alice is going to dogpile the shrine lady with animiated dolls?"
Konoe Kanno      Konoe's eye twitched at Shanghai's loud chatter. ...Ignore the doll. Ignore the doll. Ignore the doll.

     She lands back onto the ground after her danmaku find purchase, and then she eyes the dolls Alice has placed out. "....." How suspicious. A dollmaker setting up dolls. Now what were those going to do? She wasn't going to wait to find out.

     Deciding to hold back and prepare as well, Konoe spreads her arms, focusing spiritual energy. Soon after, a set of grey ying hang orbs form, revolving around her figure. But they did nothing just yet...

     "What's with the dolls? Planning to play hide and seek?" The miko asked, narrowing her eyes. Nevermind the fact that she was doing the same sort of setup herself.
Maxine Sandberg Maxine notices the glimmer leading to Alice, wondering if the dollmaker personally powered her dolls now. She doesn't resist as the doll climbs on her shoulder and she smiles back at the figure. She gently pats it on the head as she watches the fight. "Hopefully, it won't get too brutal." She notes the punching and kicking.
Tomoyo Daidouji     Tomoyo smiles as the two dolls cheer for their master. She kind of wants to as well, but it might be distracting. She tilts the camera carefully to properly catch the arc of the hurled dolls, all while listening to the other members of the audience.

    "You don't lash out with your best attack right away. That would be doing your opponent a disservice~ You start small, feel each other out and then fight with everything you have once you've gotten a feel for them!" she says to Sarah. Seems that all that WMAT commentating has given her some opinions on this kind of thing.

    "I really hope so too," she responds to Maxine. "But they're youkai, so even if it does, they'll be okay~" But now it looks like Konoe is playing it safe since Alice seems to be up to something. "Ooohhh, building up for a big swing."
Alice Margatroid     Hourai turns towards Sarah, shaking her head, "While she is capable of using a spellcard that can do that, she has other plans. Her style is keep away." she comments, turning her face towards Konoe and Alice, "I've seen that card before... Hopefully it's not as powerful as the actual owner..."

    "Really? Fantasy Heaven? It's okay, I will live through it." she comments, staring down the CopyMiko. "YOu did, however, take hers so... Perhaps I should start the fun then." Shanghai floats over and in front of Alice, her sword pulled out and pointing directly at the CopyMiko. "SPellcard!" Declaration one of three. "Curse Sign, Shanghai Doll!"

    Shanghai spins around and grins, before that sword pulses with red energy, "Shanghai!" comes that cute cry from the doll as she fires off a thick red beam directly at Konoe, swinging it from side to side to try and nail the cat with it. "That's it, keep her away, Shanghai."
Konoe Kanno      "Fantasy Heaven?" Konoe asked, arching a brow curiously. That's not what this card was called! ...Was it? Well, it wasn't for her! It should be noted that while the original had seven orbs, this one only had four.

     "Tch! More keepaway..." Konoe growled as Alice declared her first spellcard, and the red beam came barreling right for her. She dashed forward, weaving left and right to graze through the beam, but right before she could reach Alice and Shanghai, she got caught in the beam directly, and was send flying way back to her original position.

     "Mgyah!" She let out an oddly cat-like cry as she skid across the ground. But she didn't let it be, she lurched upwards onto her hands, and launched herself into the air. While airborne, the miko pulled out a card, ready to declare.

     UNKNOWN RELIC - FLAME SANCTIFIER ORB

     The card burned up, leaving behind an orb of flame. Konoe grasped that orb, closing her fist over it...

     And then she vanished. As if she were never even there, Konoe disappeared from sight.

     "Up here!" Came the cat's voice from behind and above Alice. Konoe descended from the air, holding a large, flaming ying yang orb behind herself. "Haaaaaaaaah!" And then she thrust it downward, aiming to send it crashing right into the dollmaker.

     Well, Alice should have already know that she'd stolen a certain someone's border hax as well.

     One of the grey orbs surrounding the girl lit up bright red...
Maxine Sandberg "Well, I certainly would get hurt if I tried to battle like that." Maxine's a scientist not a fighter. "The punching and kicking that is. I can't do anything like they are right now." She doesn't have any kind of magic. "I'm not sure if I'm even capable of it." It seems like it would rather be difficult.
Sarah Parsle Tomoyo supplies some information, so Sarah shrugs. "I guess. I'm not much of a fighter. I mostly do puzzles and figure things out. It doesn't matter whether I go all out or set something up, it'll basically be the same thing in the end."

the swing of the attack causes Sarah to emit a low grunt. "Laser doll? That's different... But hey, when you have a fireball, every problem looks like it's in formation."

She snerks at Maxine's comment. "Last time I Strifed with a person who could huck fireballs, I would have died if they didn't also happen to be a Goddess of Life."
Tomoyo Daidouji     It's Shanghai's time to shine! Tomoyo politely applauds as the doll spams sword beams, wincing as Konoe takes one and goes sliding back. "Oh, I would too!" Tomoyo comments to Maxine. "And I can't do anything like this. No magic in me at all~"

    Looking back to Sarah, she adds, "Well, I'm not a fighter either. But don't you just... feel it? When you see people putting everything on the line, isn't it more satisfying if there's been some build-up. No one likes to see people charge in, only to be immediately swatted aside."

    Konoe starts a counteratta-where did she go?! Tomoyo gets up, ready to pan the camera the moment she becomes apparent, tilting it up to see the massive blast being hurled!
Alice Margatroid     That card... she /always/ opens with that. And Alice /always/ gets hit with it, it's almost like clockwork. But clocks are for maids and that is not what either of them are. The flame orb and Konoe dissapear and she looks around, "Wait... where did she go?" she blinks slightly and rushes towards her placed dolls, pulling out a couple more. "Skill. Doll Archers." And a few more get placed, this time they have bows.

    A quick look up as the cat descends from above, Alice didn't know she borrowed Yukari's power. "Your mimicry knows no bounds, do they!" as the flaming orb crashes into her and knocks her back. However, this leaves Konoe within place of her dolls. "Nngh, ow. This outfit's on loan, by the way!" she shouts as she pulls out another black card... "Skill, Doll Activation!" The archer dolls fire three arrows a peice in a wide arc while the already placed dolls from before start spinning around with razor blades attached to them. Meanwhile, she pulls out a couple more black cards, "Magic Pot. Sacrifical Doll."

    One of the shield dolls dissapear and Alice seems to start glowing slightly. "Come on... cat."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa says "There's no real sense of showmanship if you go all out from teh start and this looks like it's an art form relaly more than anything."

She looks over to Tomoyo for a momenbt tiling he head between the exchanges of magic btween the two duelists.

"I am not much of one my self unless it's to stay alive to be honest nad laser doll? That's certainly different."
Maxine Sandberg Laser doll? Why did they have to put it like that? Maxine cringes as she hears the word laser, she thought of it as just a red magical beam. "I don't have any magic either, it doesn't exist where I'm from." She tries to take her mind off the thought of lasers. "That's what would likely happen if I charged into battle."
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako blinks her eyes quickly. Laser beams from a doll?! "Whoa! Didn't expect that of all things!" And then Konoe teleports and smashes downwards! "Eep! They both sure are keeping things moving!" And then she watches Alice's placed dolls activate. "It's all sort of hypnotic, almost, huh?"

    She looks back towards everyone else. "I... I'm not much of a fighter. I just hide behind those that can and take care of their wounds, really!" Ayako smiles awkwardly. "Maybe a barrier once in a while too."
Konoe Kanno      As Konoe landed, she immediately threw a fuda forward. It enlarged and grew translucent, turning into a simple barrier. One of the volleys was blocked by the barrier. The second volley destroyed it, but the miko was already dodging, the third and fourth, she weaved through, recalling skill she /must/ have been borrowing.

     "Is that all you've got, Doll Creep!?" Konoe demanded, diving forward and preparing to strike. She produced a set of persuasion needles in one hand and a set of fuda in the other. Both immediately burst into bright flame and she struck. The needles were thrown forward first, all lancing after Alice in a straight line. The fuda followed, arcing out and converging on the dollmaker from the sides. A two pronged attack.
Sarah Parsle "Sure sure, it's more interesting narratively." Sarah says with a wave. "Very dramatic. People are gonna do what they're gonna do though, and my opinion doesn't mean jack. Everything's already been figured out. Everything is going to happen how it's going to happen, and trying to stop it just makes sure it's going to happen."

She pauses and watches the assault and response. "That's looking more interesting I guess. Do all danmaku attacks follow arc and patterns like that?" She says curiously, watching the double-pronged assault.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa says "No magic either unless you count science is hitting the point it might as well be in some area. Hey you managed to patch my body up with your magic before Ayako I still don't know how that works but I'm glad it did."

She looks to Sarah tilint her head a little bit.

"So you don't think freewill is a thing, Sarah?"

She does seem to be enjoying the duel that much is clear and the company, it's so much of a needed change from the crawling horror that's going on in her life right now.
Tomoyo Daidouji     "Like a furious dance," Tomoyo concurs with Ayako, a little mesmerised by the exchange of blows. But, what Sarah says snaps her out of her funk.

    Tomoyo bites her lower lip for a moment before addressing Sarah. "I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry... sometimes it is a good thing to go all out right away. If you're doing something important and can't afford to wait around." She offers the other girl a placating, apologetic smile.
Alice Margatroid     Hourai looks towards Maxine and Kotone "Danmaku is an art form and it's not a laser like you would think of back in the worlds outside of Gensokyo. This is a common way to resolve disputes as well without any lasting injury. Some youkai just do this for fun too and some use it to defend others, like the hakutaku in the Human Village." Hourai turns back towards Konoe and Alice. "One card each..."

    Meanwhile back at the battlefield, Alice dashes froward, grazing the needles but the flaming ofuda crash into her and send her tumbling backwards. As she tumbles, she swings her hand forward, a doll shooting out of it and sending various colored spade bullets towards Konoe as another one lands and sends out a laser towards Konoe. "Just because you grazed that doesn't mean that's all I have!"
Sarah Parsle "You're asking a complicated question." Sarah replies to Kotone. "My reply is that it doesn't matter if it exists or not. You can think what you want. The future has already been decided by the past. Just see how this fight plays out. The attacks earlier in the battle are going to give one side or the other more and more momentum and force people into specific battle tactics, until all their options are exhausted and one of them has been laid out on their butt."

Sarah shrugs. "It's not that free will doesn't exist. It's that you're already made your choices, you just don't know it yet."

She shakes her head to Tomoyo. "Don't worry about it. I know where my weaknesses are. It's why I get combat vagrants or other people who can fight to do it for me. I'm better at figuring out the bigger picture." Sarah's emotional expression can be best expressed as 'evenly gloomy'. She hasn't seemed to budge from this since she arrived.
Maxine Sandberg "Is it possible for those outside of Gensokyo to learn it? It looks like an effective non-lethal way of fighting?" Maxine would rather battle without causing serious harm if possible. "Or would it be pretty much impossible without magic?" She's still not sure if she's capable of learn it after all.
Konoe Kanno      "Gh!" Konoe dodged left and right as the spread of danmaku came right for her. She managed to graze a few, but a bad move left her in the wake of the majority of the array. Rather than be thrown back, she swerved to the side, landing, rolling and skidding to her feet.

     Another orb lit up.

     "So you can do something other than just throw dolls around." The cat commented. "So where's your Marisa-san doll? Are you going to save that for last and use it for your final card?"

     A smirk appeared on her face as she said that. And at the same time, she leapt into the air, producing two sets of fuda. She threw them out, but they didn't go for Alice just yet. Instead, Konoe produced ANOTHER set of fuda and threw those out as well. "Let's see how you handle this!" And then Konoe spread her arms. The seals spread out and took on a white glow. "Go!"

     And all at once, those numerous seals let loose a barrage of spiritual danmaku, all firing downwards at the dollmaker as a veritable rain of bullets.
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako inclines her head to the side gently. "Hmm... without any lasting injury, huh? That sounds pretty nice way to resolve disputes." She smiles softly. And notes the colorful spade bullets that Alice's doll shoots out, as well as the danmaku that rains down on Alice. "Colorful too!"

    "Hmm... I wonder if I could learn it? Well... to do it for fun, anyway."
Alice Margatroid     It probably doesn't help she's wearing the garb of a devil from Makai, the spiritual danmaku, those ofuda burn into the outfit causing the dollmaker to wince and groan. "Oh, so you want to meet Golaith again? I can arrange that!" she chides back, stomping forward towards Konoe. "I'm not in the air, so there, my ground danmaku isn't the best compared to Marisa."

    She really has to hide that Marisa Doll...

    Alice eyes those orbs. Two up, two down. She has to finish this quick. "You're not bad but..." she lifts herself up and smiles, a large spellcircle enshrouds the magician as multicolored orbs start encircling her and are absorbed by the dollmaker. "Spellcard! Knight! Dolls of the Round Table!"

    Suddenly, a tight ring of dolls fill the edges ofthat spell circle, Alice floating up just a bit to give all the dolls room before the rush forward, lances extending, only to leave the dollmaker summoning up more colored orbs and more of those lance rushing dolls.!
Tomoyo Daidouji     Tomoyo is re-mesmerized by the colourful danmaku, applauding as Alice manages to avoid most of them... but oh no, her dress is ruined! She'll have to patch it up after the fight is over.

    "I'm sure you could all do it if you tried!" she says to the others who were considering learning danmaku. She doesn't say if she thinks she can do it, but... she's resigned to that kind of thing now~

    She gasps with delight as the Dolls of the Round Table come forth, clapping softly. "So adorable..."
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa looks back to Hourai and seems to get what she's saying for the mot part.

"So a way to blow off steam without it turning to all out war? I think I get it.

She gets an answer from Sarah but not the sort of one she expected It's an interesting one.

"An interesting take on it, I have to admit Sarah."

She really does have to wonder about this but well it's something to simmer on for now.

"Very Adorable."
Konoe Kanno      The other two orbs lit up.

     Konoe frowned after the smoke cleared. It looked like Alice managed to graze most of those shots. Despite there being so many of that. Bother. "Don't worry about the outfit. You can just fix it, can't you?"

     And then she began her descent, diving downward to meet with Alice's spellcard head on.

     "I'll show you my best spellcard, Alice-san! I made it just for you!" Weathering the assault of Alice's dolls, and her danmaku, Konoe pulled out a card, grazing left and right, getting hit here and there. Her outfit was beginning to tear and get worn and singed here and there. But danmaku ultimately wasn't lethal, despite how flashy it looked.

     And then suddenly, Konoe vanished again.

     Border hax!

     "Here I go!" She called from high in the sky, directly above the Dollmaker with her spellcard raised.

     KARMA - GREAT FIRE OF MEIREKI

     The orbs revolving about Konoe suddenly began to rapidly spin faster and faster until they became a blur. They then shot out and embedded themselves in the ground roughly around Alice. Streams of flame burst upwards to the heavens, and Konoe, who floated in the middle, produced a single fuda, and raised it to the sky. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

     The ground broke apart, and torrent of flame and earth, taking on the shape of a great oriental dragon burst upwards, maw opened and aiming to envelop Alice and 'devour' her whole. The streams being produced from the orbs also likened themselves to smaller dragons, curving around the main pillar and aiming to converge upon the Dollmaker to complete the assault.
Maxine Sandberg "Yes, I would prefer if they weren't wielding weapons though." Maxine would rather not see dolls be used for combat if possible. She gasps as shes Konoe's attack. Even if it's not that harmful it still looks dangerous. "I think I would have to learn basic magic to begin with first, if I'm even capable of using it.
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako claps her hands softly as she watches the dolls and then the dragon of fire erupting from the ground. "Oohh ohhh... this... this is reminding me more of a fireworks show instead of anything else." A pointer finger than scratches her cheek. "Well... a very aggressive fireworks show."
Alice Margatroid     "This one... I can't." she comments, she's gonna have to visit Mom again.. "How do I explain this to the tailor... I got into a fight with a rabid cat..." she comments, bracing herself. "Sacrifical Doll!" another one of those shield dolls dissapear and Alice glows again, "You finally took my suggestion and created one of your own, didn't you? Show it to me, Konoe!"

    And that border hax again. Where is she learning this?! She's gonna have to talk to Marisa on this one... and to get a couple things from her. "What in..." Alice stares at the card and takes on a defensive stance, a shield doll in front of her. Maybe she can block this as another card pulls out of her sleeve... She'll have to use this one.

    The great oriental dragon bursts from the ground around her and envelops the dollmaker in it, knocking her into the sky as those dragon streams come and crash into her as well, bouncing her around in the pillar and converging in for that one final strike, slamming her into the ground. A white spellcircle, a guard circle envelops her, making sure that she's not completely knocked out as she takes knee, getting up from the small crater the attack left behind. "Nnngh, th.. that was a nice strike. How long did it take you to make that original one?" she questioned, a cough coming to her as she lifts her spellcard.

    "Final card. Spellcard!" she coughs again, and Hourai and Shanghai join her. "Testing..." was it Goliath again? No, the giant spellcircle isn't there, however Hourai and Shanghai start to grow to immense proprotions and float around Alice, who floats herself. "Level Titania." She shoots forward in flight, chasing after Konoe, the two now giant dolls, set out a laser line as big as they are both behind and in front of the doll maker, all making sure not to hit the house and the denizens in front of it. Meanwhile, she throws out quite a few dolls who throw out colorful bullets in every direction and some just plain explode when near Konoe!

    "I can do so much more..."
Tomoyo Daidouji     "Alice!" Tomoyo cries out with horror as the flaming dragon erupts from the ground. As supposedly 'nonlethal' as these battles are supposed to be, that looked very lethal. But, she's still okay, much to Tomoyo's relief. A hand is placed over her chest as she sighs in relief.

    But now both Shanghai and Hourai are joining Alice... and getting bigger? "Oh my goodness, they can become kaiju..." she whispers, eyes alive with delight.

    This day is so wonderful.
Konoe Kanno      "I spent a while thinking about it since after I challenged you!" Konoe answered, and then panted a bit after her last spell card finished. Well, technically, she only used two, but at this point...she hardly cared. "Whoa....uh..." She watched as Hourai and Shanghai grew to large proportions and then began to chase after her. "Hey! Wait! Time out!" Konoe cried as she began to fly around herself weaving and grazing to avoid the giant laser line continuously putting her into the line of danger.

     "Gah! Hey! Pffff-!" She managed to avoid most of the smaller distraction bullets, but at the lest second, the big laser struck her in the back and sent her sailing out of the sky and crashing back into the ground. She left a slight crater. "....Ow." Konoe grumbled, sighing and then sitting up. "....." She stood back up to her feet and wiped her cheek of soot, looking up at Alice.

     "Hey, Doll Creep! Want call this a draw? I'm kind of satisfied already now that I tried out my new card!"

     A draw? Huh. Well, it's not like they needed to knock each other out now.

     "...And you never told me those two could get so big!"
Alice Margatroid     As Shanghai and Hourai return to normal size, Alice moves in close, holding a single doll... and tosses it behind her. It explodes. She moves to offer her hand to pick up the fallen feline, "Draw." she nods, "I got to use Level Titania, so I'm content too. Good job, though, the most unique card I've seen to date." a pause, "And I've seen my own cards used against me before." Hello, Satori.... "You did fight well, perhaps you might be a good replacement for Reimu if she ends up not coming around.

    If she does take her hand, she'll lift her up but if not, she heads towards Tomoyo and the rest, a light smile, "I feel refreshed, so who would like tea? And Tomoyo, you said you had something for me?" she questioned, Hourai and Shanghai moving to attach to the Tailor's side while a couple of the other dolls lean into Maxine, Sarah and Kotone. "Come, let us go inside, it'll be easier to talk and have tea that way. Just don't' mind the dolls. And Konoe. Don't go into my room or I will exterminate you."
Maxine Sandberg "Those make the promotional Fundroids we had look small." Maxine wonders how much energy those would take to power without magic. "That might be a good idea, there's no sense in wrecking everything." Even if no one got hurt, there's still the matter of Alice's house." "You must have a great deal of magic at your disposal." She's not a mage, but she can figure out that much. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea." She nods as makes her way inside of Alice's.
Tomoyo Daidouji     Tomoyo bursts into genuine applause once the draw is declared. "That was so wonderful~ The both of you should be very proud of yourselves!" She's smiling as she turns off the camera and removes it from the tripod.

    Leaving them with her bodyguard, she nods to Alice and goes up to her, pulling her aside for a moment. "On the day when I was duelling Jack... you came to try and help me. And even though you were told you shouldn't, you stuck around anyway. I never got the chance to tell you, but I really appreciate it."

    And so, she fishes into that bag once more and pulls out... a knitted doll! One that looks just like Alice... well, not as she is right now, but how she looks in her usual dress. It even has a little Shanghai and Hourai on its shoulders! "This is for you, for coming and being the one to finish Grey Boy. You did a... great thing that day." She didn't say /good/ thing. Still uncertain about that.

    And with that, she gives Alice a quick hug before gesturing at her bodyguard to come inside with the others.
Konoe Kanno      Konoe takes the offered hand. She didn't dislike Alice enough to blow off a courtesy like that! However, she frowned to herself, and looked down, mumbling lowly.

     "...I don't want to be someone's replacement."

     And with that, she stalked off to follow the others inside...

     ...And then immediately, she turned into a cat, in the blink of an eye, and casually wandered over towards what was likely to be the door to Alice's room.

     Curiosity killed the cat?
Ayako Hasekawa     Ayako claps along with Tomoyo as the match ends in a draw. "Oohh! That was a wonderful thing to watch!" And then notes the doll that Tomoyo pulls out. Huh. The clothes are different! Oh well. It's not like Alice only has one outfit. Right? She smiles softly and follows after the group. Even if she really doesn't drink, she is curious!
Alice Margatroid     There's suddenly an explosion near Alice's room to which Alice actually pays no mind to. She takes the knitted doll and looks at it curiously, a smile gracing her lips. "I couldn't let you get hurt. Your bodyguard would have my head if I did." she takes a look at the bodyguard and gives a brief smile. "I still mean what I said, miss." she looks at the doll once more and nods, clutching it into a hug. "Come Tomoyo, you get to sit right here next to me at the table. Everyone else, sit where you like."

    A whisper is given to Tomoyo as well, "Something is bothering you... we can talk later after the festivities."

    About thirty other dolls come flying in at this point and place a pot of tea in front of everyone along with a saucer and a teacup and another ten bring out a large plate of biscuits and other snackfoods. "Shall we?"