Scene #9602: Beast Breaking

Owner	Pose
Skipper	Welcome to Bramble Hollow, which unificationally landed here in Fall. The inhabitants haven't yet really realized what that means seasonally yet - on one hand, eternal harvest season is great for growing crops, but on the other hand the lack of snowmen and snowball fights is a great cultural loss. The only warpgate in this area (so far) drops visitors in the town of Thorn, the largest settlement in the region - by modern standards it is technically barely a town, but for local standards it might as well be a megacity. Everything's charmingly rustic with lots of integrated flora, like one might expect out of a Redwall-esque picture book, albeit with anachronistically modern appliances here and there. (Although the aesthetic there is more akin to late last century - the sort of toaster ovens and washing machines one might get from the Sears catalogue.) It's also full of animal people. There's a more cartoonish aesthetic to their features and proportions than, say, the Windswept Continent's animal people, but they're still quite clearly people. Here there's mostly mammals, birds, amphibians, with the occasional rare reptile or bug person. (Travel Tip: Everyone refers to themselves species-wise as 'Critters' and won't understand if you call them a 'mouse person' or the like.) New arrivals get curious glances but are left alone - one month into unification there's been just enough human traffic coming through that nobody's making a big deal about one showing up. Today happens to be a market day - it's hard to miss, given that it's taking place in the same square that the Warpgate has appeared in. There's the usual fare - breads, baked goods, crafting materials, tools, books (mostly secondhand paperbacks), gigantic strawberries that are the size of volleyballs... Actually all of the fruit and vegetables on sale are massive. It doesn't take much further investigation to find out why: it's not that the animals here are people sized, it's that the people here are animal sized. Looking out past the town borders confirms it - thick brambly bushes that would be knee-high annoyances anywhere else are instead major terrain features that the dirt roads need to route around. There don't appear to be any trees (which at this scale would be hundreds of feet tall), just tree-sized bushes and the like (To be clear: you haven't shrunk, it's just that everything in this world is massive.)
Skipper	When any shopping or other sightseeing is done, Skipper is waiting at the town's entrance. The animal people here are average to human size in terms of height, and the mouse person waiting for you is no exception, but... they're towards the lower end of that scale. Just under four feet including the ears. As they've been waiting they've been checking over their gear (small pack, shortsword, bow with quiver) but look up on approach. "Hello! I'm Skipper Whiskersmith," they say. "Thank you for coming." "I'm out here - I mean, out there..." they gesture towards the warpgate that's still visible in the center of town, past the street fair. "Though obviously I'm not out there literally right at the... moment..." "... Let me start over? I left home to find help. There've been Beasts regularly attacking villages and people. They've always been a problem for longer than I can remember, but they've gotten worse recently. I'm trying to fight back with the help of my friends, but... well, I'm just one critter. And I'm, well... what I mean to say is I'm sure all of you are pretty far ahead of me in every way you can name. I've only been doing this for a month now." "So I wanted to get you out here to take a look at what we're dealing with... maybe I can pick up a few things, if you don't mind me watching you fight, too?" They look anxious at that, as if there's a chance you'll demand that Skipper wears a blindfold while the battle's going on so as to preserve your Combat Secrets. "I already did some scouting, there's a Shard Tuskcrawler a little ways out. It's not threatening any villages yet, but all the more reason to deal with it before it does. I've fought one on my own before, so I figure with all of you here it'll be even easier." "Um... any questions? Otherwise we can get going once everyone's ready."
Riku Asakura	Riku arrives on cue with his normal outfit. Jean jacket, orange shirt with space logo on it, jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes. He also has a plastic case on his belt loop and a red device on the opposite side of it with a trigger on it. Arriving in this world gets him a few stairs, but he has a few stairs back to give. Especially at the large produce! Oh my god, look at how big it is! He'll have to buy a strawberry on the way back home to show Pega and Lala, and maybe they can share it like a watermelon! He also takes time to look around and notices that things are just bigger here, which must have been a strange thing for Skipper and his friends when they entered the multiverse just the other day. "Hey, Skipper," Riku says when he makes his way over to them. He nods along to what the mouse was saying. "So you want to look at us fight one of these beasts and see what we can do? I guess it's worth a shot, and we get a view into what your beasts are like. You know, in case one does attack a city and we happen to be nearby." He scratches his head on the thought of any more questions. "Yeah, is there anything we should know about the Shard Tuskcrawler? Any special attacks or dangerous moves that it knows that we should watch out for? Other than that, no, being out in the field means I can cut loose a little more than in a city."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Maddie's clothes are in pristine condition - no mud spatters or patches of dirt from running around the woods chasing cryptids. No, this is her day off! When she's not tracking strange monsters she spends her time tracking strange monsters. And posting about them on her blog. "I'm sure all of you are pretty far ahead of me in every way you can name." Hands on hips, Madeleine flashes the mouse a cheeky grin. You're god damn right. "Um... any questions?" Maddie leans forward, looming over the four-foot mouse at a mighty five foot four. "How giant?" What? "The monsters. How big is a Tuskcrawler?" Her tone is hopeful, eager. "And are we driving it off or actually killing the thing? You can tell me what you know about it on the way, but I wanna psych myself up in the right direction." She bounces from foot to foot, nearly jogging in place. "And is that your gear? You're gonna need more than a barbecue skewer and a slingshot to take on a real behemoth, you know." If left unchecked she's gonna eat this novice monster-hunter alive!
Skipper	> Yeah, is there anything we should know about the Shard Tuskcrawler? "Avoid the claws... oh, and you'll probably need to shatter its legs to get a clear path to the vital core." > "And is that your gear? You're gonna need more than a barbecue skewer and a slingshot to take on a real behemoth, you know." "Um. You... think so?" Skipper looks self conscious. "It's worked so far... but... I guess you're right since you're the expert here... I should find something else..." The trip takes about two hours, going over dirt roads before hoofing it into the ridiculously oversized underbrush, before emerging into a large clearing, in which is presumably the Shard Tuskcrawler. (https://i.ibb.co/fYZZZmtw/Screenshot-2026-03-19-183024.png) It's big, first of all. Skipper would describe it as 'bigger than most villages' and while they might be exaggerating a bit, it's still bigger than most buildings by a wide margin. (Visual reference of a different Beast, for sense of scale. (https://i.ibb.co/JWv01C66/reference.png)) It's made entirely out of angular crystals, coming in three flavors: pale translucent glass-like 'shards', shining ruby-like 'cores', and finally dark green 'shell' sections. The cores tend to be in the middle parts of the Beast, protected by one or more tessellating layers of shards, which are in turn partially (but not entirely) shielded by the shells. The whole assemblage looks like something out of a stained glass window (albeit painted in only three colors). It's also disconnected. There's a thorax, head, legs, claws, that all move as if they were one bug-like being... but each part is separated from each other. The legs are pressing into the dirt as if they actually were supporting the rest of the crystalline creature, despite having no connective tissue linking them to the thorax, head, and claws that are all floating in midair. (It's Rayman-ing, in other words.) ("There in the head, that's the Vital Core,") whispers Skipper. There is indeed a ruby-red core that's larger and more saturated than the other cores. ("That's the part you need to destroy.") The Beast is at the moment just wandering around the clearing, aimlessly, currently turned away from the bramble. There's a chance to get a drop on it if the party moves soon.
Calvin Nash	Two vehicles come through the Warpgate and into the center of Bramble Hollow. The first is a white light pickup; in terms of its silhouette, it's probably more contemporaneous with the days when people called PCs 'home computers' than the Sears catalogue. The rumble-whine of the engine is assuredly unfamiliar--and the inverted pentagrams of the livery on the doors--'SOUTHEAST ASSEMBLY DEMON MARSHAL'--is all the more so, if not perhaps a little unsettling to boot. The man at the wheel looks like some kind of government employee, in browns and beiges reminiscent of a state trooper--the aviator sunglasses and patrol hat do little to dispel that comparison, either. A heavy looking scrap-metal computer is around his right wrist, and a shotgun rests on a rack behind him in the cab. Trailing behind the pickup is something altogether less idyllic--which is an impressive feat, considering the truck is rocking those inverted pentagrams. The rumble of a motorcycle engine is distinct from the unusual bass-growl-tenor-whine of the truck. More distinct from the truck is the fact that the motorcycle's tires are made entirely of flame that don't (yet?) seem to scorch their surroundings. The rider wears black motorcycle leathers circa 1970s, complete with a long red scarf that blows behind him in the gentle fall breeze. Where a face should be, or even the sinews behind it, there's only a bleached white skull beneath the helmet, set into the permanent, ghastly smile of the grave. The slope of Hell Biker's brow gives his eyeless sockets a malevolent, almost smugly-so quality, taken with that smile. Calvin rolls down the window (manual-style, hand crank) and motions with a thickly-corded arm for Hell Biker to pull over to the side with him. Hell Biker responds with the universal gesture for 'get bent,' but does it anyway. Calvin's the first to approach, dropping the pickup into park and stepping out to march up. "Skipper," Calvin says with officious matter-of-factness, holding out a hand for them to shake and bending the brim of his hat with the other. "Calvin Nash," he says, with a firm shake. "And that there's Hell Biker." Hell Biker extends his middle finger at Skipper in greeting. "Don't let the shit he was sayin' on the radio give you the wrong idea. He's an asshole, but he works for me." "Now." Calvin nods towards the horizon past them. Yeah, is there anything we should know about the Shard Tuskcrawler? Calvin chortles. "Shit, boy, you got me here, don't you?" He pats his COMP confidently, then finger-gunning at Riku. "Analyze program'll tell you whatever Skipper here can't."
Skipper	"It's nice to meet you, Calvin." > Hell Biker extends his middle finger at Skipper in greeting. Skipper coughs. "Ah, um. Hello. Do you, I mean, I'm sure you're aware that's... kind of rude..." They end up leaving it at that.
Riku Asakura	'Analyze program'll tell you whatever Skipper here can't.' Riku nods at Calvin, forgetting he could do that. "We'll be counting on you then, Calvin. But we do know where its main weakness is..." the head and the legs to get to the head. Walking across the field is where they spot the creature first, and Riku is pretty surprised by it. "It doesn't seem connected, but it still seems to move as if connected. Wow..." he says, trying to keep his eyes on the prize. Alright. He ignores Hell Biker because the guy was just too much to deal with all at once, and especially with a monster on the loose. To Madeleine, he squints as she gives constructive criticism on his equipment. "Well, according to Skipper, they were able to defeat one of these monsters with just what they had... "Well, standing around doing nothing won't get us anywhere..." he says and then runs at the creature. He brings out both the device on his belt, called the Fusion Riser, and two of the capsules from the plastic case on his hip. "You go!" he says and activates the capsule by pushing a button on it. What looks like a giant of light manifests to his right. He slides it into a new device that seems to hold the capsule. "I go!" he repeats this, but this time a giant of darkness appears on the other side, all with nasty shaped claws and dark red eyes. "Here we go!" He says again, this time scanning each capsule with the Fusion Riser, before he holds the Fusion Riser up, and says, "Time to get ready!" he says this as he brings the Fusion Riser down across his chest again. He pulls the trigger on the device, before a burning blue fire starts to pour out from his body, "GEEEEEEEEEED!" ULTRAMAN ULTRAMAN BELIAL ULTRAMAN GEED PRIMITIVE The two giants are gone, replaced by a new giant of light, Ultraman Geed, as he rushes at the Beast and attempts to tackle it from the side, before aiming to lift it and flip it over on its back so that others have a shot to nail its legs.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	"Hey Calvin-- Oh shit, it's Hell Biker!" Madeleine exclaims, hustling over to the pickup. "What is up my dude! Calvin's finally got ya on the roster, huh?" She doesn't go for a fist bump, she knows that'd be pushing her luck. "Oh, speakin' of demons, Calvin, that Mothman deal's been paying off in spades. I haven't got my own eyes on all the data, but the folks at the lab are awful pleased to be in touch with such an... energetic fella. 'Least when they keep him filled up on off-world sweets, haha!" She gives Calvin a hearty slap on the back. Damn, she's in a good mood today. Maddie's happy to hike down the trails out of town and even through the enormous grass. There's a definite joy to feeling big, but an entirely different joy to being (relatively) very small. She thinks back that Christmas party Kale threw, when she had to fight a nutcracker while miniaturized. There's so much clambering and scampering to do when you're itty bitty! Good times. When the Tuskcrawler comes into view, Maddie whistles softly. "He's a big 'un alright," she says. "Alright, kid, watch 'n' learn! Calvin, keep me up on whatever that COMP of yours says to look out for!" With that, she sets off through the undergrowth, staying near grass tall enough to mask her position. As she hustles around to get into a position, she thinks about how to approach this. Crystalline, but not homogenous in composition - a curious pairing. The legs themselves are heavily protected, as makes sense for something whose main body is so high off the ground, but... there! A seam between crystal and shell, where only a thin layer of protective coating defends the 'core' that must be what keeps the leg moving and attached to the body. Geed makes his move, and Madeleine immediately rushes in to capitalize. While the giant of light has the Tuskcrawler's attention, she leaps, scrambles, and shimmies up one of the enormous shelled legs on the opposite side of the beast. With a rock-solid composition and what she for now assumes is the brainpower of a beetle (even if a very large one), it may not even notice her latched on to the top of that limb, striking repeatedly with her spear to wedge apart shell and shard to go right for the core.
Calvin Nash	Calvin's truck is well suited to off-roading, and where its wheelbase would normally work against it, such as in the brush, he still manages to fight his way through it with precise, deliberate approaches and careful minute adjustments. Hell Biker is as unbothered as Calvin is, which is preposterous given his particular choice of vehicle. Still, he navigates, not by carefully thought out strategizing, but by blazing through in high-speed bursts and making split-second reactions to unexpected obstructions or divots in the earth. "(Whoa-ho-hoa, shit,)" Hell Biker marvels upon breaking the clearing ahead of Calvin. He leans back on his seat and cracks his knuckles. "(Doesn't look like it's doin' much, but hey, uh, you're the expert. Heh heh heh.)" Calvin drops the truck into park upon entering the clearing, killing the ignition. Unbuckling his seat belt, he shakes his head. "(Ain't the biggest I've seen but it damn sure ain't the smallest neither. Hold on,)" he says, stepping out of the truck to flip the screen on his COMP open. "(I wanna get a read on 'im. Gonna call in another demon here to set y'all up for a big opening swing, too.)" .load analyze Analyze v. 2.3.2 developed by Trina McElwain 'Shard Tuskcrawler' Affinity: Shard Threat: Moderate Notable Techniques: None Observations: Favors simple but effective attacks--charging forward, swipes, and stomping with the legs. Most attacking power is concentrated in the claws. "(Aight'ch'all.)" Calvin says. "(Shard affinity... one second.)" Tap-tap-tap. "(So. Compared to the usual for them things, it's gonna take more of a beatin'. Don't gas yourself out, watch out for them front claws and don't get caught underfoot. It ain't real smart, but it's real strong.)" Another demon is summoned. A floating skull the size of a human torso, with a large snake woven through the eye sockets. "Loa, get these folks in fightin' shape--get 'em hittin' hard and one step ahead of that sumbitch. Then get into the truck bed and keep 'em in one piece. Hell Biker, gimme a headstart and then haul ass and let's flank it." Loa's spread of magic is as colorful as it is easy to intuit. Orange artificial sinews pulse overtop the arms of Riku, Madeleine and anyone else who attacks primarily physically; faint green circuit lines flow beneath them along the arms of any primarily magical- or energy- based attackers. Finally, tracing along the circuit lines of the magical empowerment are arcs of golden-yellow lighting. There's an intuitive sense that you'll hit harder and react faster.
Skipper	> Doesn't look like it's doin' much, but hey, uh, you're the expert. "(Cross my heart, it seems fine right up until it's got a village in its sights, and then it's nearly too late.)" "Good luck!" calls Skipper, hanging back as everyone moves in. Geed transforms and rushes in, going to grab it and flip it. The Beast is fairly light, relative to its size - the crystals each have some heft to them, but obviously there's huge Rayman-esque gaps between each limb and the main body. Madeleine starts wedging it open - and as soon as she pries apart some shards from the shell, the shards shatter and the pieces vanish, disappearing into the aether. This seems to be effective, especially with Calvin's enhancements backing her up. She just about has a direct line to the leg's core, she just needs one more strike- She doesn't get it. The Beast roars, and then it repositions itself. The cores, shards, and shell of the flipped-over Beast all fly apart into a swarm of angry polygons, and then reassemble in a right-side-up orientation, though the bits that Geed has a hold onto remain where they are and constrain how far the Beast can go in its new position. "Oh right sorry it can do that too!" calls Skipper sheepishly from the sidelines. "You fight these for so many times and you just sort of gloss over some things..." Worse, the opening Madeleine has pried open is filling itself back in - the pieces of broken-off shard are slowly regenerating, filling in the wound. "Oh, uh - sorry, yeah also forgot to mention, if you don't break the core, the shards around it will regrow. I think that's everything I forgot, though! You're doing great!" The beast lashes out - trying to stomp with its four legs, and slash at Geed with its claw. The massive beast, with its limbs floating semi-freely, has a large reach with each attack that might make dodging hard unless people can move or block quickly!
Riku Asakura	The claws tear into Ultraman Geed, crushing and piercing the giant of light with its power. Sparks rain down from where the terrible blow lands and stagger the giant. This puts Ultraman Geed on the back foot as the monster roars and gets ready to actually start defending itself. Ultraman Geed gets control of the situation by flipping back to his feet and getting into a crouching position. He notices it's regenerating, which is bad, and trying to pin the creature isn't going to work very well. The best he can do is try to control its movements, giving those who aren't giants a better positioning on the beast's weak points. So he throws himself against the beast again, aiming to shoulder check it before aiming to grab its head and shove it towards the rest of it. He's trying to provoke it into protecting its head and leaving its other weak points undefended. It's a bit of a gambit, but he can't protect everyone from attacks either; this thing is just too large to do that.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Skipper calls out his warnings all too late, and Madeleine is nearly tossed free of the leg she's on. She does her best to hold onto the limb, but by the time she's regained her orientation it's starting to regrow its shard coating. What's more, post-reconfiguration she's holding on upside down! Something more than distributed brute force will be necessary here. <J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia says, "If this thing's just gonna grow its armor back, I think we should focus on one core at a time!" Around then is when Loa's magic reaches the up-high huntress. "Now that's what I needed! Let's do this!" she calls. As Geed grapples with the Tuskcrawler's head, Madeleine acrobatically hurls herself around the limb, onto the topside. Holding on as best she can with one hand and two legs, she drives her spear into the crystalling plating again, smashing away the slowly-regrowing portion to expose the core. "Calvin, shoot it!" she shouts, waving to get the Demon Marshal's attention.
Calvin Nash	EARLIER . . . What is up my dude! Calvin's finally got ya on the roster, huh? "Gargle my balls, crackpot," answers Hell Biker. He remembers her! For better or worse. NOW . . . Calvin climbs back into the truck and shuts the door firmly with a whump as Riku transforms. Madeleine and Geed are both on top of it, with the latter going for a takedown and the former capitalizing on it. Calvin nods. "Good," he says, checking the rear view as he buckles up to make sure Loa has floated into the truck bed. "Get 'im on the ground, boy," he quietly cheers on Ultraman as if he and the Tuskcrawler were having a back alley fistfight instead of a kaiju-scale throwdown. Calvin opens the glove compartment, fishes a mix tape out and pops it into the radio console. The volume is already where he wants it, and so the wailing guitar intro of an up-tempo Lynyrd Skynyrd track is the preface to the truck peeling out and pouncing into action. The suspension rocks as the chassis dips up and down, Calvin wheeling a clockwise circle 'round the Beast, left hand out the window and holding a shimmering ball of hoary wintry cold, lining up a shot, until-- The Tuskcrawler pulls a kaleidoscopic recovery, righting itself. "Shit." Hell Biker, having been ordered to give him a headstart, point-laughs with the kickstand still down at what he imagines is soon to be Calvin's injury or death-- "Sukukaja." Only for the same reinforcing magic to pulse over the truck's chassis, allowing it to weave through a row of angry stomping legs with the grace of a low-to-the-ground hatchback rather than a light pickup, arcs of lightning dancing across the hood, panels, doors, tires and bed. "GOD dammit," Hell Biker groans, shoulders lifting and head rolling in bemoaned annoyance. He irritably kicks the kickstand back with the heel of his boot, rights the bike and guns the throttle, cutting counterclockwise and making good time catching up to Calvin, leaving blackened grass in his wake. <J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia says, "If this thing's just gonna grow its armor back, I think we should focus on one core at a time!" "Heard," says Calvin into the truck's CB, knee on the bottom of the wheel. "I'm on the same side as you. You go 'head and give it a good whack then lean back for me so I don't shoot over your shoulder, hear?" Click. Calvin drops into a lower gear, turns hard left, and brakes, sending the back end whipping around with Loa in it--the torso-sized skull keeps trained on Geed and Madeleine all the while, making the pickup seem like some kind of bizarre arcane technical. As Calvin and Hell Biker form a flank with Madeleine, in the center, they each attack. "Bufudyne!" Calvin with a lance of piercing, freezing cold that leaves quickly-melting motes of snow in its wake-- --"CHOKE ON IT!" While Hell Biker drifts counterclockwise, brakes and pops a wheelie on the front wheel, the exhaust of his bike quickly burning over into a bona fide flamethrower that superheats the opposite side of Madeleine's core.
Skipper	Feinting for the head (and its all-important Vital Core) is incredibly effective. The Beast puts all of its focus on Ultraman Geed now, bringing up both claws to attack and try to ward him off, while it crouches down to block attacks from the sides using the tough shell plating of its legs - which in turn exposes its legs and leaves them immobile as it hunkers down. Ultra Man Geed feels a momentary itch on his back, and then something on his shoulder. "Okay, neat!" says Skipper, who has their dollar store notepad and a pencil out, and is writing things down. "If you press in on the head, it reacts like that... though I'm not big enough to try that myself..." Madeleine comes in with the spear stab, breaking through multiple layers of shard, each shattering apart like a crystalline balloon as the spear breaks through, leaving a gaping hole with the ruby red of the leg's core exposed. And Skipper's there too - having clambered down the side of Ultraman Geed and ran across the top of the Beast to get over to her. "Oh, nice, nice - the downward stab! That's something I think I can try myself," they say. "Neat, thanks!" "Oh, you might want to jump off before this next part happens," they add to Madeleine, and slide down the angled shell of the Beast's leg to reach the ground just before the combo fire and ice simultaneously cools and heats the core... ... the temperature differential causing the otherwise-rigid core to warp slightly, and then at first slowly but then rapidly develop a fault line running top to bottom, along with a loud CRACK noise. And then one at a time, in rapid several-per-second succession, each of the remaining shards on the leg shatters and disappears, the large shell shatters as well, and finally the core itself pops out of existence. It's like a series of fireworks going off. If Madeleine hasn't gotten clear yet, she wouldn't be injured by the shattering, but gravity would still take hold of her after with nothing more to stand on. The Beast roars, and the pieces shift around to accommodate its lack of a limb, effortlessly taking on a tripedal configuration. And incensed, it's attacking more fiercely now - perhaps realizing that it's actually in real danger. "Hey!" calls Skipper through Calvin's window, running alongside his truck effortlessly. "Can you teach that? The thing with the ice?"
Riku Asakura	The explosion of parts causes Geed to fall back, sparks raining down from his body again as he takes the brunt of the assault. It appears, in this form, Geed is about offense and not defense, and right now it's causing him some pain. Still, it's a long way from causing his crystal to start flashing red, but it's no fun either. <J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia from the bed of Calvin's truck (where she must've landed after the leg blew up), "Then we've gotta get that head core dealt with! Geed, can you give me a lift up to there?" <J-IC-Scene> Riku Asakura \|Ultraman Geed says, "Yeah!" Riku reaches down to give his hand to Madeleine, and once he has he lifts her so that she has a shot at it's head, after placing her down on it. It's not very comfortable, as it's like picking a doll up with your hand and placing it down on a set of moving legos, but he can get it done without much effort. "Get ready, Madeleine, I'm going to blast it hard too!" What happens now is that black and white energy charges across Ultraman Geed's entire body. It surges like a black and white crackle of dangerous-looking energy, surging throughout his entire body, from head to toe before he focuses that energy into his arms. He leans forward again, getting into that wrestling position, and lets loose a roar. Then, the energy transfered into his arms starts to spark dangrously, before he brings both arms into the shape of a T. "WRECKING BURST!" he shouts, before a blast of energy errupts from the T-shaped crossed arms and fires right for the head of the beast, aiming to blow the protective coating away and attempt to get at the gem inside of it before it can regenerate again.
Calvin Nash	Can you teach that? The thing with the ice? Calvin does a double-take, both with his hand, reaching for the CB receiver, and his head, looking out the window. "Fast one, ain't'cha?" he calls over the snarl of the engine. "We'll talk." Success? Shards from the exploding core zip towards the truck, as Madeleine is flung from the point of detonation. "Oh, shit, Madeleine--RAKUKAJA!" Calvin drops the truck into reverse, purple magic flowing from his hand into the shifter. The shards strike the truck only after passing through a screen of purple scales that blunts their impact, peppering the chassis with dings that otherwise would've ripped straight through. Flooring it and backing up at-speed to catch Madeleine in the bed of the truck, Calvin swears when the suspension rocks with her impact as a heavy 'thud' sounds. "Loa," he calls, whipping the wheel around left-handed to maintain momentum through a 180 whilst hurriedly shifting back into drive to stay in motion. <J-IC-Scene> (NPC) Loa says, "Hunter, are you injured?" <J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia says, "Might've sprained something on that landing, now you mention it..." <J-IC-Scene> (NPC) Loa says, "I see. One moment, for a brief petition..." The torso-sized skull in the truck bed angles its cranium towards Madeleine, jaw setting and resetting as the snake looks to the heavens. Her physical form, defined as a sort of earthly anchor to the metaphysical concept of 'Madeleine Cadresteia,' as authored by herself and others' perception of her, is returned to a state of wholeness. Sprains and bruises mend themselves according to the template of 'Madeleine,' rather than any defined medical maxim. It's probably fine. "It seems the powers that be have an interest in your victory. Good hunting."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Calvin and Hell Biker give the core a one-two, to great effect. Madeleine however is not quick enough hopping off, and is blown free of the explosing limb to land roughly right in the bed of Calvin's truck. Something in her leg twists wrong and she staggers to her feet. <J-IC-Scene> Skipper says, "Oh right! If you smash all the legs it can still get around. Trust me I've tried!" <J-IC-Scene> Riku Asakura \|Ultraman Geed says, "How does it move around then without it's legs..?" <J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia from the bed of Calvin's truck (where she must've landed after the leg blew up), "Then we've gotta get that head core dealt with! Geed, can you give me a lift up to there?" <J-IC-Scene> Riku Asakura \|Ultraman Geed says, "Yeah!" <J-IC-Scene> (NPC) Loa says, "Hunter, are you injured?" <J-IC-Scene> Madeleine Cadrasteia says, "Might've sprained something on that landing, now you mention it..." <J-IC-Scene> (NPC) Loa says, "I see. One moment, for a brief petition..." Loa's healing magics wash over Madeleine, to great effect - Madeleine's metaphysical being really wants, nay demands to assert itself, in a way that makes it difficult to turn her into something other than what she is. This also makes her highly receptive to magic that is, in effect, transmuting her into a more realized image of the huntress. The demon receives a gentle thank-you pat on its enormous skull, then another for the snake as well. Ultraman Geed reaches down to pluck Maddie from the moving truck-bed, and she readies herself for a final assault on the Tuskcrawler's head. The first part is in fact finding a little cover: Geed's Wrecking Burst will shear away many a layer of the shard coating, but it would also do a number on Maddie herself! No sense in letting Loa's healing go to waste, so she hunkers behind the ridge of shell on the center of the head. She grits her teeth and weathers the storm of energy, relying on the erosion of the crystal underfoot to cement her position behind the shell-ridge. Once the core is exposed, she shouts to her spear: "Drogrung, now!!" The eye on the weapon snaps open, glances around to take stock of its situation - was it asleep this whole time? - and narrows gently in acknowledgement of its part to play. With both hands on her spear-haft, trusting in her balance and the Loa's imparted strength to keep her upright, she inverts the weapon and thrusts straight down, Shadow of the Colossus-style, into the Tuskcrawler's exposed core. Drogrung's ghostly dragon-jaws gape wide as she swings her weapon, latching onto the surface of the core and thrashing like an alligator.
Calvin Nash	Driving parallel to Geed's lowered arm to give Madeleine an easier jump, he slams the pedal to the floorboard once she's clear. Calvin's got another spell readied in his left hand, as Madeleine makes her ascent and Geed charges up his Wrecking Burst. Jaw set in determination, he pulls up beside Hell Biker. "Wait 'till I cast this here then throw a haymaker." "How about I throw you outta that truck for old times?" "I'll crack you open like a wishbone. Now get, you sumbitch. Blockin' my sight lines." Hell Biker stands up, hands down the throttle and abruptly falls back into the seat, gunning the accelerator and taking off clockwise to Calvin's now-counter. Of course, he leaves a big cloud of exhaust for Calvin to drive through, which he solves by muttering, "Peckerhead," and cutting right to drive an inside line. The spell readied in his hand is like a dark yellow stormcloud, shot through with flashes of black. Leaning his head out the window to watch the Tuskcrawler's motions and react if need be, he furrows his brow. An opening is reflected in duplicate, over the lenses of his sunglasses. "Got you now. "Paraladi!" A streak of dark yellow lightning flashes out from his hand, striking the Tuskcrawler's head. The spell is, as the name would suggest, one meant to induce debilitating paralytic tremors, making a counterattack or escape from the tandem haymakers about to come much more difficult for the sheer uphill battle of the Beast needing to fight its own body as well as the rest of the team. "YEE-HAW!" Pulling into a rear-wheelie, Hell Biker heads straight for the Tuskcrawler's nearest shell-segment, impacting it and then riding up the sheer surface onto its body. Ramping off of the leg, Hell Biker pulls the bike into a backflip, burning a ring of fire into the air. The ring keeps burning as he descends and lands on the head with seconds to spare ahead of Ultraman's attack, one hand lifted high. He lowers his hand as he tears down the Beast's head, sending the ring of fire crashing explosively down onto it just in time for him to make the jump off and avoid the Wrecking Burst.
Skipper	There's a big attack coming at it, but the Beast is prepared. Both claws go up, ready to sacrifice both limbs to buy it a few more moments to fight. > "Paraladi!" It shudders, its claws falling back down and its whole body slumping. The angular shards and cores and shells making up its body seem to be even slumping themselves, as if it's having to put extra effort into merely maintaining its form now. And of course it is entirely unprepared for what happens next. Ultraman Geed's energy blast washes over the Beast's head, stripping away the shard layers a bit at a time, leaving it exposed! Exposed at least for now. The Beast is still regrowing its shards, a bit at a time. However... and while this is not a fact that's going to matter for now, the eagle-eyed may take note: Once it lost one of its leg cores, the speed of shard regrowth has gone down slightly. Perhaps something to keep in mind for future Beasts. It doesn't matter: because Madeleine is up next. The Drogung spear thrusts downward, piercing straight through the massive core, boring a hole directly into it along with several fracture lines radiating out along it. The Beast shudders. Then, one by one, all of its remaining shards shatter, then the cores, several seconds of rapid-fire popping noises in an array of light and sound, like a victory fireworks display going off. And then, finally, the massive Vital Core shudders again, and then splits apart in dramatic fashion, breaking apart into several pieces before each of those pieces pop and vanish. (Madeleine once again will have to contend with gravity if she's not ready to jump off beforehand.) There's no body left behind, no shattered remains. The Beast is simply gone... ... aside from a few little fluttery things, hovering a few inches above the ground where the Beast was standing a few seconds ago. They look kind of like slightly-abstracted butterflies in a variety of colors and animated patterns. "Oh! Motes!" Skipper bends down and picks one up gently, cradling it in their hands as they hold it up to show the others. "Motes. Little bits of magic. They used to be all over the place, though that was before even my parents were born. Now you hardly ever see them." "... Oh, right. Good job! You did great," they add. "Thank you."
Riku Asakura	Ultraman Geed reaches out a hand for Madeleine to grab onto so that she doesn't fall to her death or injury. Slowly, he puts his palm on the ground so she can jump off before Geed stands back up and looks at the battlefield itself. Right about now, Geed would be ready to fly off into the sky, away from the battlefield in a heroic gesture. However, today, there is a massive release of energy, and where the Giant of Light once stood is Riku. Slowly putting the capsules away and reattaching the Fusion Riser back to his belt. "Wow, that was something else, no Kaiju I ever fought before fought like that beast!" he says, getting some experience on the field was something he needed. Also, the motes of magic catch his eye. "So they're made of magic? Or that magic makes them go? They're very different than the Kaiju back home."
Skipper	> So they're made of magic? Or that magic makes them go? "That's a good question!" says Skipper as they blow gently on the mote and send it flying off like dandelion fluff. "... I don't know."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	This time Madeleine is ready for the creature's head to blow up, and jumps free of the shaking, destabilized core to land on Ultraman Geed's helping hand. Rather than relax immediately, however, she hustles toward the 'Motes', unsure if they'll try to flutter away. "Huh," she says, finally slowing to take a breath. "Big bug's got lil' bugs in it. Reckon they're so rare these days 'cuz they're all wrapped up in Beasts? Do they eat 'em, or is something turning those-" she gestures to the Motes in Skipper's hands "-into that all," she says, gesturing broadly around her to suggest 'the giant Tuskcrawler'. "... Oh, right. Good job! You did great," "Hoofh. We did!" Maddie says with a grin, more genuine than the grin Skipper saw before the group set out. When Calvin comes around, Madeleine waves enthusiastically with one hand, her other supporting an already-snoring-again Drogrung. "Great work, chief!" she says to the Demon Marshal. "Loa's really something - I feel like I've had a spa day! We should get in fights together more often." Indeed she seems fresher after the application of Loa's magic than she was before the two-hour hike to get here! they blow gently on the mote and send it flying off like dandelion fluff "Woah, hey, woah!" Maddie exclaims, hustling after the flying Mote. "You don't keep these? Not exactly much else to take home to prove ya handled the monster!"
Calvin Nash	The beast's explosion sends shards through Hell Biker, who, while capable of surviving them, isn't necessarily pleased with having suffered them in the first place. "What the FUCK! ASSHOLE!" he shouts, as they disintegrate. He hits the ground and pulls up besides Calvin's decelerating truck. Purposefully, Hell Biker lets the front faring collide with the truck's hubcap. Calvin whips the seatbelt off, hurls the door open, flies out of the seat and jabs a finger through the air at Hell Biker, all but guaranteeing that this will happen again. "Don't you play games with me, shithead." "Whaaat? That'll buff out." "That's Assembly property. It takes a lotta people to get one of these old bastards runnin', and a lotta people to keep 'em that way. It'll take about 30 minutes to pull out with the rest of them dings if we're lucky. Which is exactly what your daddy shoulda done." "HEH." Hell Biker rocks on the bike, hands resting on his thighs. "It ain't funny," Calvin bluntly says, arms crossed. "Credit where it's due, hick. That one wasn't bad." Calvin gives Hell Biker the Point of Imagined Authority's Watchful Eye, and then turns to approach Skipper, Maddie and Riku. "Nice work, y'all," he says, one hand lifted. Settling both thumbs into his belt loops once he stops, he nods. "Happy to help." Loa's really something - I feel like I've had a spa day. "Yes ma'am, sure is. I worked with 'em for a good while now. Glad to hear that fall didn't slow you down none." "Now," he says, turning his attention towards Skipper, "You pick up any pointers from that you figure you can use for next time?"
Skipper	> "You don't keep these? Not exactly much else to take home to prove ya handled the monster!" "... Why?" Skipper frowns a little bit. "Even if I wasn't the only one out here fighting these things, meaning its not really in question who's taking them down... I don't really want to start collecting... trophies? Or trying to prove anything?" "I'm pretty sure Granny would tan my hide if I started getting all boastful, anyway." > "You pick up any pointers from that you figure you can use for next time?" "Mmmhmm! Mmmhmm! A couple of things!" says Skipper, excitedly. "I want to try a few of those moves out, but mostly it was interesting to see stuff from worlds that aren't my own?" "I mean... a few weeks ago I hadn't gone more than a few miles away from where I was born and grew up, and now... well!" They gesture at everyone. "Now, all this." "So it's worth it even if I beat mine faster when I fought- er, that doesn't matter!" they add quickly. "So thank you."