Sparring Field [STORM]

[Gravity]

The pioneer anomaly that came after the small boy would soon find themselves dispersing into the red mist to which they had come from. All but one of the pioneers had been defeated; the last of the them had been sent into a wall by the work of the female shinobi.

But what of the Bouguer? The flaming beast had turned around as it missed the ninja, remaining stationary as it contemplated its next move. As the duo finished off their lesser foes, the large anomaly began to rush at Cree from both his and Yuffie's blind side. It rammed into the child, sending him backwards as the anomaly continued to charge.

The anomaly then proceeded to throw a fireball at Yuffie, roughly the size of an apple. Hopefully, it would be able to ram into the ninja and take down the pesky human...

Cree: -4 HP
Yuffie: -3HP if Hit

[hp=32/32]
[hp=0/8]
[hp=3/8]

[hp=0/8][/right]

[The Bilby Guy]

"Woah! Sorry pal!" Yuffie yelled to Cree. She had planned to stay as the beast's main target by sliding toward it but the Anomaly used its speed to attack in a completely different manner. Luckily the ninja herself was still twice as speedy as she usually was. Yuffie hopped to her feet and cast Fire on the remaining Pioneer but halted it with her Delay Spell

As she did so the Bouguer launched a Fireball at the girl. Not in any mood to be burned twice in one day the ninja used her doubled speed to run away again, in the opposite direction of the Anomaly and Cree. As she did so the ninja ran up and along a wall to leave the fireball crashing below her, then jumped off the wall and across the floor, spinning around as she did so. The main reason for her retreat was not to avoid the Anomaly's magic but to get herself into an optimal range(Approximately 10 feet away) to launch and assault with her Rapid Shot technique. As she spun rapidly Yuffie releases three Throwing Stars from each hand twice, resulting in a total of 12 Ranged Weapon Student-enhanced projectile attacks flying through the air at the large target. They spread a little out in case the thing's already-displayed speed tried to dodge to the side so all of them wouldn't it hit even if ti stood still. By the same token Yuffie also knew where Cree had landed after being trounced, so he angle of her throws were meant to stick into the ground before reaching that far should any fly past the Bouguer and toward her new partner.

When she landed Yuffie and Cree would both be on opposite sides of the main Anomaly. o that be an advantage they could utilize without knowing anything about one another, or was it going to cripple their potential teamwork Well Yuffie could handle it either way, she figured.

[HP=95/100]

[The Mysterious Mr. Jameson Q.]

[hp=46/50]

Cree cried out as he was knocked to the ground, and rolled to the side. Breathing deeply, his chest rising and falling in quick, panicked gasps, he realized that he was alright. He wasn't about to die, and he wasn't freaking out. He could do this. In fact, he would do this. He would face this scary monster.

As he gathered himself up and looked about, his body emitted a weak radiant sheen ( Light Soul Lv. 1 ). "I'm sorry..." He lifted his shield, and looked at it for a second, it gained that same sheen, though brighter now ( Light Infusion Lv. 2 ). "But it is wrong of you to come here and hurt them as you do." With a spin he sent his shield sliding across the ground at a decent pace, it's razor-sharp edges glinting greedily as they hungered for the beasts ankles.

Then, forming again the shape of a gun with his hand he whispered another phrase. "Understand why we do this." A thick beam of light shot forth from Cree's finger toward the Boguer's chest ( Light Beam Lv. 2 ).

[Side Note: Pryth told me one time that Infusions benefited from mageries. You might want to ask him whether or not Light Soul would add to that as well.

[Rocket!]

Yuffie... well, this would be interesting.

First and foremost, the wide spread of the attacks against the relatively stationary Bouger Anomaly meant two of the thrown stars met the floor. The other ten met their mark, hitting the fiend in one fashion or another, one right after the other.

However.

Something about the smoky flame-like aura surrounding the foe seemed to bear down harshly on the throwing stars. Maybe they were slowed down, maybe their angle was thrown off a bit. Regardless, the creature clearly wasn't as wounded as Yuffie might have hoped.

Now, about that flamey exterior.

The Bouger Anomaly immediately stepped back following the barrage, the arms of the monstrosity thrown back in shock and mild surprise... not pain, but still.

And then Cree's double dash of damage was packed quite the alliterative punch. The Bouger Anomaly took yet another step back, still partially saved by this natural defense of sorts, this time showing some small signs of wear and tear here and--

Fwoom.

As swift as lighting a candle, the Anomaly was suddenly swamped in a massive magical fire made up of the same clouds from the Storm far above. It was a sheer blaze of crimson, flapping in the corridor like a warrior on a mission.

And a rage beset the Bouger Anomaly.

It did not look before acting as follows. There was no possible warning.


The first second.

Three footsteps. Each one two feet forward. Each one sending out a four-foot high wave of fire and destruction across anything within 25 feet of the point of origin. _{[8 damage per wave if hit]}

Its arm reached back.


The second second.

Two more footsteps, to accommodate for any attempt made to flee, dodge, or move out of the imminent attack. Two more lashings of speed forward in two feet each. One more shockwave per. By this point, the red carpet below was nonexistent, the white and blue marble tarnished by ashy waves of black soot.

The fire blazed to what seemed in that quick second impossible intensity. _{[Activating Fire Soul Lv1, Fire Mage, and giving a reminder of the still going Flame Infusion]}

The backstretched arm shot forward.


The third second.

A furious, blazing, stone fist slammed into Yuffie's shoulder with a speed and intensity beyond anything Yuffie has witnessed to date. _{[Yuffie takes 14 damage, and is burned-- take 3 burn damage each turn, over the next 3 turns]}


The fourth second.

It turned for Cree.

[hp=15/32]
[hp=3/8]

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[ Congratulations! You hit it just one too many times in one go, and now you've gone and made the freaking Fat Body/Berserker of the Anomaly go stark raving mad with power and insanity and yeah.

Long and short of it: the Bouger Anomaly is probably the biggest fighter you'll see in the average ranks of the Anomaly. By attacking it all at once for massive damage, you've sent it into an unstoppable rage which dramatically increases its power, speed, and another little surprise you'll find out about soon.

My condolences-- I really didn't expect anyone to gang up on one of these quite so soon. >>;; [/is just following the script]

Also, I've added the Bouger Anomaly to the Encyclopedia, as per Yuffie's Scan Lv1. Regrettably, it won't detail any abilities until a Scan Lv2 sees it, but it's a start.

My only word of advice against the titan here, if only while it's in rage is... run.

G'luck, and I'm sorry about the massive autohit! ^^;; ]

[The Bilby Guy]

[Way to pile on the OOC chatter and ruin the mood, Rocket. =/ You should work on not doing that. Besides, things finally got interesting. ^^]

The Pioneer Anomaly had done nothing, possibly in reaction to it's ally's sudden outrage. regardless, whether anyone noticed or not, a certain spell would suddenly cease to be delayed and damaging flames would appear upon its body. Hopefully Cree would notice and take the time to finish the little thing off before it became a nuisance... but admittedly there were more interesting sights to behold.

Yuffie was glad to have landed and been a bit distant from the beast when the waves of flame started blasting forward from its footsteps. Unfortunately for her opponent the ninja was still under the effect of Cree's Haste spell, making her twice as slick as any other Acrobat. Kisaragi leaped above the waves as they came, jumping backward with her enhanced speed to keep distance and timing on her side. The creature stepped forward to compensate. If it weren't for Cree's magic Yuffie would be completely blindsided, but as it was she was confident she could Aerial Do-WHAM!

Yuffie felt the hard, burning fist pound into her with staggering intensity. Her mind reeled, not fully understanding why, with her sped up perceptions, she had missed her cue to use her evasive ability. Looking back on it she would have to chalk it up to a fluke. A shame that her impromptu partner's gift of speed that could have helped her was wasted by mere chance... but hey, a Great Ninja can recover from anything rig-Crash!

Yuffie slammed into the wall after the punch and hit it with enough force to lay against it for a moment before falling to the ground. Luckily the waves of flames from its steps had passed, but using her ninja training to push past the searing pain in her arm and focus she quickly realized more would come as soon as it walked again. The Bouguer was turning, toward Cree. Had he made it through the onslaught of shock waves? If so he was about to have something much worse upon him(As she knew first-hand now).

Ice

Yuffie had enough sense to land on her feet and was leaning her back against the wall she had fallen from, several feet form the Anomaly after being sent flying from mid-air. Her right hand was motioning toward the Bouguer with a small paper tag marked with strange symbols. it glowed faintly blue as shards of magical ice formed on the back of the Bouguer's head while it faced away from Yuffie.

"Who do you think your opponent is?" the girl said, but faintly. One eye was closed as her vision fully cleared itself. The sad thing was, time was starting to go back to normal for the Wutai Clan heiress. 'I hope he can do that speed-up trick again because I just might need it right now.'

Yuffie's teeth grit down hard together as a fresh wave of pain seared through her. As if the punch wasn't bad enough now her left shoulder was burned(Not to mention dislocated, but that at least she knew how to fix if she had the time... which she didn't). The ninja certainly hoped that wouldn't last too long.

[HP=78/100]

[blazingTactician]

Elliot had been interested in this world from the moment he stepped through the portal. A castle rivaling Radiant Garden's in majesty! Who would have known that wonders like this existed outside of his world?

Grasping his spear, he gazed about the hallway he had emerged in. Ominously, the marble glowed red, and the sounds of battle from all over echoed throughout the keep. He went at a run, ready to face the enemy whereever they appeared.

Turning a corner, he saw a back door, of sorts. Opening it, he beheld the training field, and the battle taking place within it and the barracks. A surprisingly agile girl and one other were fighting valiantly against a ferocious opponent. Elliot recalled seeing her about his home- Yuffie, wasn't that her name..?- and she seemed to be giving a good account of herself.

However, the one of the two remaining beasts appeared far more powerful than any he had seen before. His aid would not go out of place here.

Bellowing out a challenging roar, he charged the Bouger Anomaly, the end of his spearpoint crackling with electricity. Rushing across the distance in between them, he struck at it with two swift stabs.

"Face me, monstrosity!"

[Rocket!]

On a note absolutely no one will care about, the Pioneer Anomaly flustered about randomly as it was seemingly randomly lit on fire. Ow. Count that one down 2 Health Points.

Now, more pressing matters.

The monstrous Bouger Anomaly's massive firey aura completely melted away Yuffie's attempt to hit it with an Ice spell before it had a chance to even tickle its toes. Yuffie can't be blamed for a failure in logic here-- normally, Ice would be quick enough to get a hit in before that fire was a problem.

But this burning air surrounding the Bouger Anomaly wasn't just a sign of enhanced power or rage.

On a related note, Cree would be thanking Elliot for years to come for saving his life, assuming Elliot lived that long.

Elliot's quick jabs would meet fire, and fire alone. The massive fire eating away at nothing around the Bouger Anomaly tangibly shifted the long spear aside with such a force that it was nearly ripped from Elliot's grip.

And the Bouger Anomaly turned for Elliot, who had now forcibly distracted it from Cree.

Whuh oh.

It pulled its fist back, the flames gathering in intensity and mother of it's a fireball.

Elliot had about a second before the Bouger Anomaly fired off the Fireball, empowered by Fire Soul and Fire Mage and this rage. It'd be at least eight damage if it hit, not counting the burn damage for 3 points down once a turn over the next three turns.

And then something completely different happened.

FWOOM

At a speed beyond sight, a red blur appeared as fast as it left, viciously slamming into Yuffie along the way.

Yuffie had a split second where it was visible-- where, when hit by the Anomaly, she could get the breifest of glimpses at the identity of the attacker.

It looked... like one of those tall, taffyish Anomaly that appeared at Radiant Garden.

And then it was gone, and the side beneath the left arm where the club-arm-thing had hit at light speed or something was very seriously smarting. There goes exactly 22 HP, down the drain.

Ow.

Time to play it smart and safe.

[hp=15/32]
[hp=1/8]

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[ Three quick things!

aforementioned little surprise = temporary invincibility

Burn status also speeds up the burned char slightly, just reminding. It's not at Haste's level of speed increase, but it's better than nothing.

And got some kinda word from Brezz-- he's officially on a vacation/leave of sorts, but forgot a Goodbye thread. We're temporarily retconning Cree by diverting attention away, but we can't ignore him forever. Hope he gets back soon.

Also, remember to have Yuffie send the hospital bill for that injury to the nice folks over in the Colonnade! ]

[The Mysterious Mr. Jameson Q.]

[Sorry. I was visiting my little brother, who lives a state over. I only get to see him a couple times a year. I'll cover the ret-con business, and thanks for being understanding Rocket. I don't know how you got word from me. xD

Also, thanks to Elliot for saving my poor little boy.]

Cree's shimmering eyes widened, and not out of fear, but out of preparation (and the uncomfortable lacking of a shield), he ducked into the hole in the wall through which they had come. He did not go far enough over to drop out of it, but stood in the area where the thick brick walls would provide him some cover. The lea would be enough to provide him some protection from those huge waves of fire, seeing as he couldn't quite jump like Yuffie. He was no athlete.

Instead, he was going to lay low and take a breather for the next few seconds, only peripherally registering the presence of a new ally, armed with a spear and a foolhardy dosing of courage. Cree watched in awe as the man ran straight into the fray, unafraid of death. Cree drew in a deep breath before peeking around the corner of his hidey hole, and looked over to Yuffie, it would be about now that her enhancements would be wearing off. What to do, what to do?

"My shield! Use it!" He shouted over the din of combat. It still glowed with white energy, enhanced with the power of an average light ability, along with his light soul and light mage affinities. And if it couldn't damage the thing covered in fire, at the very least it would serve to protect them.

Then with tireless abandon he stretched his arms wide once more. "Don't give up!" And simultaneously fired off two spells. Haste, once more, and a new one from his playbook, Barrier, both aimed at Yuffie. Hopefully he would provide her just the leverage she needed to turn this back around. As for Elliot, well Cree didn't have any spells strong enough to help him, but Cree moved out from his hiding place despite that. Elliot would not be a casualty.

[/blockquote]

[hp=46/50]

[The Bilby Guy]

[Seriously Rocket, what did the mood do to you to make you hate it so much?]

Yuffie forgot to get the number of that bus that just ran her down. Funny that she would be in anything's path leaning on a wall, but it looked like one of those flappy-ish things from the last Invasion... only red? Yuffie's mind was almost lost in this fresh wash of pain when a familiar sensation came over her again. It was that boy again, using some magic to make her faster. When she felt this and heard Cree's voice her training returned Yuffie to the present. Whatever slammed into her was gone for now, but the Bouguer was still right there. Now was the time for action, which began with a super-fast snapping of her arm back into place.

'Ow!'

In a flash Yuffie dashed forward. The hulk had turned around right after attacking her so the distance between them was short. Cree's glowing Shield was indeed lying on the ground near it's feet. The girl swiped it up and Frisbee-tossed the thing with her left hand into the forming fireball just as it fired so it would go off in the Bouguer's face instead, grabbing the newest entrant into their little tussle arounfd his waist in her right arm and hauling him along with her. The escape would be extremely tight, but Yuffie felt even faster than the last time she had Haste. She would chalk that up to adrenaline pumping extra hard due to the pain of her new burns. Whatever the cause of it she was grateful for its help in dashing away from the blast zone. It became apparent to the ninja right away though that his larger man in armour was too heavy to actually pull away in time, so she instead used her momentum to forcibly launch them both with a powerful jump out of the way, riding the force of the Fireball's premature explosion if it was still close enough to do so to boost them out of harm's way.

The last Pioneer Anomaly, poor little thing that it was, was apparently floating around aimlessly since the Bouguer started taking charge of the fight. It was flustering now from her last Fire spell, but since it was kind of pitiful now Yuffie's super-enhanced speed of thought spared a moment to gesture another Fire spell its way as she and Elliot flew past. Where exactly were they flying? Why, Cree had the right idea she thought. Back out the hole in the wall that lead to the Sparring Fields. She and the armoured man might land ungracefully and tumble a bit as they returned to the grass, but at least they'd have some (very)temporary cover.

'I wonder if that useless lady who was all talk is still around?' Yuffie thought as her wound burned with a noticeable spike of pain once more.

[HP=53/100]

[blazingTactician]

This foe had an incredibly powerful shield of fire around it. Elliot was loathe to admit this, but it would appear that his attack had been for naught- at least, until he noticed that he had saved the life of the Light mage who was about to become this abomination's next victim.

He saw the fireball incoming, eyes widened. But still, there was no fear. He would face this creature's attack head on and defeat it. Defiantly he taunted his foe.

"There are no second chance! All of your blows must be fatal!"

His lecture to the beast was interrupted by Yuffie hauling him out of the danger zone, forcibly. With a whirling thud he landed on the grass outside after she had flung them both. Quickly he rose to his feet, holding his spear at the ready. Elliot gave his savior a quick nod.

"My thanks to thee. I would join you in crushing that foul creature."

[hp=30/30]

[prythian]

As quickly as the sudden rage had occurred, it died down, the Bouguer Anomaly's aura dying down. It began walking slowly towards them, stomping as it did so to release more shockwaves of flame about it. The shockwaves weren't likely to hit anything, it almost seemed as if they were being released only for the destruction they caused. It winced a bit as it was struck by the flying shield, but continued forwards.

The only person visible to it at the moment was Cree, and it responded to him by throwing its third and final fireball at the now-shieldless child.

The Pioneer Anomaly, meanwhile, simply burst into red mist upon contact with Yuffie's spell, flying up into the sky.

And then, suddenly, another quick blur, this time slamming into Cree to deal three damage. It was still barely visible, here in one part of a second and gone the next.

[hp=8/32]

[hp=0/8]

[The Bilby Guy]

From her place on the ground Yuffie looked over to see her other ally in the fight assaulted by what seemed to be the same fast-moving force that had slammed into her earlier. She knew first-hand that wasn't pleasant, and now the large Anomaly was back to launch another Fireball at him on top of that.

'Wait... the big guy's back to normal!'

This realization put a smirk back onto Yuffie's face. To think she had actually worried there for a second. No time for that, now was the time for action.

"Yeah... join me. One sec," she said to Elliot and his offer.

With her speed still enhanced by both Haste and the burn dealt by the Bouger Yuffie flipped to her feet and dashed toward Cree, tackling him safely out of the Fireball's path and beyond the range of the Anomaly's now much less fearsome fiery footsteps.

"Thanks for the boost," the ninja would say quickly to the one who graced her with his support magic. "Be right back."

Leaving Cree behind Kisaragi returned to the large Anomaly and began to run, strafing back and forth at high speed in front of it. As she went the ninja unloaded thrown Rising Sun chakrams at the beast, one from each hand at each end of her line of motion. Haste had let her snap her dislocated arm back into place, but using it to attack caused fresh surges of resistance from her body. (3 actions remain in turn, 2 throws per attack, 6 ranged weapon attacks total. 1 out of every 2 throws is affected by lowered accuracy from Yuffie's arm injury).

Yuffie also felt the sting of her burn once more. There was a sense of relief following it, though. Her adrenaline would die back down but perhaps this also meant that her wound was healing, at least.

[HP=50/100]

[blazingTactician]

He nodded an affirmative to her ally, before she dashed off to save Cree from being burnt alive. He admired her courage. Elliot was determined that they would all survive the battle against this foul beast. Grabbing his spear, he rushed forward, his thoughts focused to a single point on the massive foe before him.

Crackling with electricity, the bladed weapon stabbed viciously at his opponent as the knight crashed back into the barracks. He was showing the prowess of a Bladed Weapon Trainee, his focus unwavering as he struck twice with the spear, before bringing it around for a Wounding Impact with the handle on the Bouger.

[hp=30/30] Abilities used: Focus Lv1: Bladed, Wounding Impact

[mrcrazycakes]

Five of Yuffie's chakara struck true to their target, but if the great behemoth even felt the blows, it showed no sign of slowing its approach, launching a ball of fire at the young Ninja before it was ultimately felled by Elliot's swift spear strikes. With its defeat, a deep bellow emerged from the beast as it was split back into the red mist that was the Storm, defeated...

But there wasn't any time to rest; the clouds of the Storm had yet to disappear as they had over Radiant Garden when it had been repelled, which meant the fight wasn't over. Could they win the next battle, too? Their next battleground; the only visible way to continue, up a sloping hallway into the castle.

[hp=0/32]

[Nice job, folks, you got yourselves a bit of a breather! But not for too long; you guys'll have a continuation thread up later today! A note; any purchases in the shop you make WILL NOT be put into effect the next Storm thread, but you will go back to full HP for the next one! Your patience is appreciated, and the thread should be up soon! Post up an exit and we'll get into the next area!

This thread hijacked by:
~Bob-Omb]

[The Bilby Guy]

[Does that mean we're not supposed to join the Collonade?]


The last remaining energy of her ally's Haste magic allowed Yuffie to avoid the monstrous Anomaly's last fireball with her sidesteps before it was finally felled.

"Hey, you stole my kill!" Yuffei said accusingly at the spear-wielding boy. Despite his apparent lack of self-preservation skills he was apparently useful for something, she figured. "After I did most of the work too. Fine, but you won't get the next ones!"

The ninja stole a glance toward the other guy who'd come to help. His spells were a great aid in taking down that Bouguer, but he seemed out of it. Well, this area was clear so she couldn't stick around. Hopefully he'd pull himself together, and if not there was always the portal home.

Speaking of his support magic, Yuffie used the last of her Haste effect to zip around the field and inner hallway collecting up all the weapons she'd thrown about during the battle. No sense to rush into the next encounter without reloading her ammunition! Thankfully the spell made this take only a fraction of the minutes it would have otherwise so the ninja didn't feel like she'd wasted any time.

"OK, that's enough down time! We've got Anomaly to exterminate!" she declared(To herself if no one else was around) and took off down the hall in search of more invaders.

[PS: Please remember that FLASHY/lights probably isn't coming back to make an exit post or join the next thread]