World Tree MUSH

    Through the various channels set up earlier, Raylene has requested help with 'a unicorn infestation.' This is an unusual enough request as it is, right? She's also, where possible, provided the cash for bus or train tickets to get where she is. That is, the outskirts of... Natsuto City. Oh dear. That's not going to be a fun story, is it?

    Raylene is waiting on people to arrive, and as soon as a good number have gathered, she immediately launches into an explanation in a hurried and... worried-looking manner. Almost panicky? "Thank you all for coming, we have a real problem here. A unicorn seems to have wandered out of isolation and into a city, and offworld to boot. This is a crisis situation, but given my peculiarities I cannot safely approach a unicorn. So this is where you all come in. You must find the unicorn as soon as possible and capture or kill it. If it has already bonded to a maiden, capture will be considerably more difficult as you will need to capture both the girl and the unicorn and bring them to me. If it has bonded it is likely that death is the only alternative, and you should not hold back in killing the unicorn to save the girl. She will likely react badly, but the shock of a broken bond will weaken her enough for subdual, if not knock her out entirely."

    Raylene fidgets with the dress she wears. "It is imperative that this be done quickly, before the unicorn can form a bond, or at least while the bond is still new. Otherwise it is likely that the city's entire government will be dead within a few months. It would be very inconvenient for everyone, I imagine, and would ruin the girl's potential." Priorities.

    "UGH. A Unicorn. The fucking judgmental virgin Incels of the magical monster community," Shin complains as he keeps his hands in his pockets. For censorship reasons, he has a lollipop in his mouth rather than a cigarette, but he still looks like a pretty cool guy. 

    "Oh yeah. I'm a fucking magical recluse creature that judges any other species that can get laid because no one understands my purity and magical sanctity. Oh yeah, and I'mma kill anything that doesn't fit my standard for a magical and pure being. Oh yeah, and I'm sick of all these Chads out there deflowering maidens and ruining their potential. I'm such a nice animal, why don't women like me?! Jesus christ, it's like reddit was personified into a spirit animal," Shin continues his rant as he adjusts his stance and boredly browses his phone while only half-listening as Raylene outlines the mission. 

    "Just fucking point me at it and I'll crush your unicorn with my superior chad bone structure."

    Magilou seems super appreciative about the whole getting a hand from Raylene the other day thing! ..Or at least, she's shown up. She doesn't seem too worried about the girl seeming panicked, though she'll at least listen in on the explanation.

    Bienfu seems to be nowhere to be seen at the moment, but she presumably still has him.

    The witch will let Raylene give the full explanation, at least, before she'll interject with anything. "Is this a normal unicorn? I'm not really sure I'll be of much help, either." This is probably not terribly surprising, even if Magilou doesn't quite look her full age. Whatever that is. "Maybe we can work together to herd it somewhere, if it flees from adults. And witches."

    Vania has not had the (dis?)pleasure of encountering a unicorn before, though largely she'd come along for the chance to see a modern city. As she floats next to Raylene, she nibbles on a corndog, while a bat is holding onto a hotdog next to her, and another a slice of thin crust pizza. The bats are trying very hard not to drop their princess' meals.

    "Oh, oh! Aren't their horns worth a fortune? I heard some places they can cure anything!" Sometimes it's their feathers and sometimes it's their tears. Vania wouldn't know for sure, and admittedly has little interest in money.

    "I've never had unicorn blood before, I wonder if it's good," she also ponders. Does Raylene still think the tiny blonde is a succubus? That might help. Or make things worse.

    "Wark?"
    It is not one, but two chocobos that approach the ourskirts of Natsuto City. Chirping and twittering to one another amusedly at the... Exchange between their riders. Rydia of Mist grips the reins of her avian steed in an easy grip, guiding the bird in the proper direction after consulting maps and stopping to get directions- and probably a few stares at several points.
    "I TOLD you, you shouldn't be coming with me. You should be in /bed/. Resting." The girl is pretty vehement about this to her companion, nose scrunched with irritation as she leads the way, casting repeated glances over her shoulder to make sure her erstwhile travel partner hasn't keeled off the side of her bird and died.
    It's been slow going.
    "Raylene."
    Rydia recognizes the other girl easily enough, and when she had heard the call for assistance, she had nothing better to do, so here she is. "Huh? Wait, why can't you go near it?"
    It's a blunt curiosity she wields, making a face at the terms of the job. She's hoping it won't devolve into having to kill anything, but if it happens... Well, it happens.
    "--hold on did you say the entire government will be dead?"
    This just sounds BAFFLING.

  It takes a lot of balance to ride a chocobo, when one is used to riding a horse. The centre of gravity is completely different, and their locomotion is much more pronounced when there are two strong legs instead of four.

  Princess Zelda of Hyrule has threatened to slide over the edge of her saddle more than once this trip, as much out of exhaustion as out of a saddle that feels awkward. She bites her tongue on most of her instinctive retorts, which lends an extremely false illusion of patience. The princess does not feel very patient. She wants to get this over with and go back to Kaipo so she can curl up in one of the inn's beds and die in peace, or something.

  "Rydia. I have told you, it is not that simple. I have been asked for help, and I cannot ignore that. It is... complicated." The young woman sighs unhappily. "Every woman in Hyrule's royal line has--oh, never mind. It will take much too long to explain, so perhaps I can tell you the details when we return to Kaipo." Zelda squints through her hood and frowns. There's Raylene, up ahead, so she reins the bird up and glances over her feathered steed's neck to the girl.

  She's wearing her hooded mourning robe to conceal herself, but the fabric looks like it's been mended recently, stitched back together at the shoulder, one side, and roughly one hip. She herself slumps in the saddle in the manner of one exhausted. She does manage a wan half-smile to Raylene, lifting a trembling hand in greeting.

  "Miss Raylene." The smile fades when she hears the same evaluation; that this thing will kill the entire upper echelon of the government. Or all of it. Even her tiredness fades in light of there being people to save. The princess is all duty, now, and the shadows under her eyes be damned. "What? Please, tell me how I can help. I am not familiar with such creatures, but I will do everything in my power to assist you."

    Nodding her head, Raylene distractedly thanks or acknowledges the others. "Right, other worlds. Yes, well, ah..." She eyes the others, but it seems she's figured out Vania is not a succubus, but some kind of vampiric creature. "I would not recommend drinking the blood, but Vania is correct. They are worth quite a lot in exotic ingredients, and if you do kill it, bring me what is left. If you capture it, then I will likely just collect some sheddings and draw some samples before letting it go. Forcibly taking a horn is bad karma."

    Taking a breath, she explains, "Unicorns are like horses, though slightly smaller than most... larger than ponies, just small horses. They have a single, spiralling horn on their head. Normally, they are dangerous due to the horn and trampling and sometimes teeth in battle, especially to supernatural evil such as demons. However, the... crude summary provided to us -" she gestures to Shin " - is somewhat accurate."

    Raylene gestures to the city. "Unicorns sense goodness and evil, an seek out maidens with magical potential. You and Rydia would be excellent candidates, Zelda. They then bond with them, providing them magnified powers of magic and durability, and as a team seek out and destroy evil. The problem is in places where little supernatural evil exists, they steadily broaden the definition of evil. And never stop."

    She pauses, and then considers the city. "It should be in a large park, if one is available. See that building there? The one slightly darker and almost as tall? That area."

    "Huh? Why not?" ponders Vania, shifting her stance ever slightly in mid-air to look at Raylene confused. "It's just blood!" The blood of a holy creature, admittedly. But that doesn't really register as bad for her. Maybe after she tries it!

    Wait hold on.

    "Hey! How come I can't be a magical maiden? I'm really nice, magical, and a princess!!" None of that is individually false. "What if -I- wanna befriend the unicorn and ride it? Then I can take it somewhere with nobody and we can put it down!" That's probably not very nice though.

    "Well, anyway, couldn't we just recruit them and give them evil to hunt down? That way they're always busy and never have to do weird definition bending? I know a few places with enough jerks to keep a hunter occupied for a few years." Probably too easy.

    "Oh yeah, that's one way of fuckin' puttin' it!" Shin shouts in relation to Raylene. 

    "If you want the layman's terms, its a shitlord neckbeard magical creature that goes out and tries to woo beautiful m'ladies. It tips its fedora at them, tries to find women with 'Pure potential' and then creeplords at them," Shin says, waving his hand a bit and saying, "And then it becomes a fuckin' keyboard warrior-ass white knight defending its beautiful m'lady against any awful chads or corruption like tattoos or sex with guys who haven't memorized all 193 episodes of Inuyasha in glorious original nippon." 

    Shin wags a finger, "Fuckin' sick of seein weeaboos around Akiba all shittin' up the place and speaking your shit-awful broken Japanese at me, tellin' me how I come from a nation of culture because you like japanese cartoons and you just wanna fuckin' move here." Shin's ranting has taken a bit of a digression here as he bites down on the lollipop. 

    "Fuckin' Unicorns."

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> He's just gonna be ranting like this for a while.

    Magilou will drum her fingers along the side of her leg, and shift her weight from side to side, almost dancing in place. She certainly seems like a woman possessed, which would be a close enough description, really.

    "Oh, clearly you're just meaning I'm not eligible because of a preexisting bond. I could maybe take another, but he's too much of a pain as it is.." Magilou will make an extremely exagerated sigh, before looking at Rydia and Zelda. "I guess this is you two's show, then. At least you can be the opening act. Warm up the unicorn, maybe tell a few jokes to get it to start drinking, and then... BAM! The rest of us will drop in to help, just before you get eviscerated by the horn! Or maybe right after, but don't worry, we'll surely avenge you!"

    "You could have said 'Sorry, maybe I'll help next time'. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have grudged you staying in bed to... I don't know. Not bleed to death because your injuries re-opened." Rydia bites back at the princess, her own patiences for the royal stubbornness wearing thin. "Sounds pretty simple to me."
    Nevertheless, her barb complete, the Summoner recognizes several other faces- there's Shin- and she remembers Vania. And ... Oh. Magilou is here, too...
    "I'd prefer not to mess with the horn." She says to Magilou. "Anyway, if that's what they do, what are we waiting... f...or...?"
    Rydia trails off and just... Stares at Shin, utterly perplexed.

  "She would't be the problem," Zelda retorts, a little tonelessly. "I am /compelled/ to act as an exemplary leader, regardless of what I want to do. Whether my own people or others who are in need of help, I cannot refuse them. It is not a matter of pride or honour; it is a matter of divine mandate." Her voice drops into a tone of resignation. "Believe me when I say I would much prefer to be sleeping right now. I hurt, and I am exhausted."

  At the explanation of the unicorn, the Hylian's brow furrows under her hood. These things sense goodness and evil, and they seek out those with magical potential? Then they go on a rampage against what they consider to be evil, relaxing that definition when true evil isn't around to fight against?

  That sounds worrying. It also makes her a little nervous, because nothing says magical potential like 'princess with divine sorcerous powers descended from a goddess.'

  She might as well be wearing a big red and white archery target, shouldn't she? Zelda shifts her weight in the saddle, suddenly uncomfortable, though not without a flinch of pain. Ow, her everything.

  She sighs, and regards the others uneasily. All the angry ranting goes mostly over her head. So she reaches up, makes sure her hood is firmly over her face, and waits in the saddle.

  Might as well get to it. Zelda nods to Raylene; a respectful dip of her chin. "I will go to meet the creature, then, but I do not know if I have the strength to attack it."

  "I will leave the rest to you." Zelda gives a chuck of the reins and turns her chocobo toward the park in question, giving the creature a pat on the feathery neck. Rydia can go with her or go on her own; it might be more useful to cover more ground.

    "You worry too much, Rydia," Raylene says gently. "With the others here, Zelda shouldn't need to get involved. And if she does reopen her wounds, she can stay at my home to convalesce. I do have some skill in healing, though I think a hospital would be far better."

    She eyes Vania. "I somehow doubt you qualify, and bonded unicorns also get territorial," she points out. "It will attempt to clear out this city first. I suppose evacuation would work," the witch muses, then shakes her head. "Please hurry. And be careful, all of you. They are durable, dangerous creatures even when not bonded." She pauses. "And this world seems new to the... rest of the Tree. You may want to leave your riding beasts behind and just take the bus."

    Speaking of which... there is DEFINITELY some kind of commotion at the park near where Raylene indicated. It doesn't seem panicked though... which if a unicorn were there it- "Oh, you'd best hurry," Raylene adds. "Most mortals cannot see a unicorn for what it is, but if it starts attacking in public, it certainly will be a problem."

    At least the commotion in the park does seem to largely be just people looking on curiously at the 'horse' in the middle of the cluster of trees. A horse that is nuzzling a young girl's hand by the time the group gets anywhere near it. A girl in her teens, with springy hair and a cheerful demeanor.

    Okay, first off. Shin took an Uber to get here. It was pretty uneventful until he arrives. Then... 

    "YOU!" 

    Shin points at the horse dramatically as he walks into the park, "What have you... done!" Shin looks angry. Like... really angry, "I won't... let you... get away... with this... RRR.... RRRR...." Shin clenches his fists and heaves with anger. 

    Energy starts to swirl around Shin as his ki rises. The ground crackles and the wind kicks up. There's a corona of ki before Shin coils back his head, "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" 

    Shin's normally blonde hair stays blonde. It starts to spike itself upwards and then... it folds itself back into a perfectly combed-back hairstyle that looks like it should be gelled in place. Shin's heterochromatic eyes begin to shift, slowly turning a piercing ice blue color as he stares down the creature. 

    Shin is trying to catch his breath, keeping his hands clenched at his side, "I was hoping... to never have to use this form..." 

    He points at the Unicorn, "It's over. You don't stand a chance against me in this form. I've ascended to the legendary Super ChadShin."

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU5EMlT3Uzw

>> GAME >> Shin Tokuyama spends an Edge for: Super Chadshin

    "Well I don't agree! I'll be the best magical maiden in this party!!" Vania says, stomping her feet. In mid-air, so it doesn't really work. She needs to work on those tantrums.

    That was the plan, anywya, until Shin started radiating pure Chadness. Chadergy? Chad Ki, the forbidden counterpart of God Ki?

    Vania pauses, looking at Shin, then at the would-be horse, then back at Shin. "But it's just kind of standing there, it hasn't done anything yet." One of her two companion bats gets a bit closer to Vania, and she snags the hotdog from it. Nom.

    "It looks pretty harmless."

    Rydia is already hopping off her feathered steed. 
    "Stay." She commands.
    "Kweh!" He chirrups agreeably.
    Though she glances back at Raylene over one shoulder, looking positively steaming, the girl holds herself in check. "You don't know the condition I found her in." Muttered petulantly before... She turns to ZELDA'S chocobo.
    "Fine. You stay too. The only place you're taking her is home, got it?"
    "Wark!"
    Which means if Zelda wants to go anywhere other than back to Kaipo, she's going to have to do it under her own power, "Right, because you can be an exemplary leader to anyone if you're DEAD."
    Oh dear she's already storming off toward the park in a childish huff. "Come on, Whyt, we're going."
    Whyt? There's no sign of anything other than the chocobos with her. ... Except for perhaps the thin mist that has begin lingering around the Summoner. 
    When she gets to the park... Shin is... Already going for the unicorn. Rydia uses the blatant distraction the martial artist will no doubt definitely cause as an opportunity to try and take the girl by the hand. "Hey? Come with me, this isn't safe alright?"

    Magilou is going to be a little behind the others in getting to the park, because she tries to get free bus passage by claiming witch's perogative. This being about as successful as one might expect, she ended up walking, though she somehow made it not terribly far behind the bus..

    "...I'm just going to keep my distance for now and then swoop in when this blows up in his face, I think." She'll decide, watching Rydia and Shin and potentially others try to actually help. Magilou is more curious to see if the unicorn and girl will end up dying or not; it wouldn't do to get actually involved and change the results prematurely.

  "Is that so?" The princess exhales in slight dismay at having to leave the chocobo behind. It isn't such a big deal to ride, but walking will definitely tire her out too much to get involved. She'll have to depend on the others for defense. "Very well. I'm afraid I'll be moving a bit slowly, in that case."

  Sliding from the saddle with a visible flinch, she ties the reins to the nearest thing that will support them, pats the chocobo with quietly-voiced thanks, and starts off towards the nearest bus stop.

  Fortunately, Zelda still has some change left from the money she had been told to go use for a hot meal, and since she has nowhere permanent to put it, she's been carrying it with her. With a little help from the bus driver to help the weird offworlder tourist count it out correctly, Zelda's quick to arrive at the park in question.

  She spots Rydia, flinching as she walks faster to catch up to the girl. "No, I can't," she agrees in belated answer to Rydia's parting shot. "I am not doing this because I want to; I am doing it because I am /compelled/ to do it. I will explain later, back in Kaipo."

  Her eyes turn back to the park. The creature looks familiar enough to her, at least until she reaches the vicious skewer of a horn at its brow. That looks like a nasty edge, and she doesn't want to know what kind of damage it could do by charging.

  Well, she's supposed to distract it, so she does what she thinks will get the most interest form it.

  Zelda falls to her knees on the grass. Although at first it might look like she's collapsing, her hands are raised to clasp before her heart, her head bowed. She's murmuring quietly -- Rydia might be close enough to hear her soft entreaties to Din, Farore, and Nayru, and someone she addresses as 'Your Grace.' Those must be Hyrule's goddesses.

  It might also register to the unicorn, if it has any sensitivity at all. Her presence is already strongly one of divinity, of something sacred and righteous, touched by the gods; now, actively pleading to them for guidance, it's like someone flipped a floodlight on in a room full of candles.

  YES HELLO THIS IS HOLY.

  If Rydia glances into the hood, though, she'll see Zelda prays with her eyes closed, but she watches the beast with one eye half-open. She might need to move fast if this thing decides it's not happy about competition.

    What's with the crowd? A wandering swordsman like Yahiko is still trying to adjust to all these HUGE BUILDINGS, but he's been around long enough to know he's probably in some kind of future Tokyo or- apparently a different city on the same continent. Well, that works, at least he knows the language. It doesn't get him any closer to home, though.

    Seeing a crowd is vaguely interesting, but for Yahiko it is the sudden glow and shouting. What is up with that? And he can see the horn, even if others are ignoring it. This looks pretty dangerous. "Hey!" The youth calls out to the crowd, waving his arms. "Can't you see it's dangerous here? Clear out while I go get the police!" That likely won't work for everyone, but hey.

    It's a murmur in the crowd when Shin does his... thing. Is it from the weird special effects? Do they think it's a movie?

    "What is he saying?" "I don't know, I only got about every other word." "That many? How?" "I have a teenager..."

    When Yahiko yells at them, the crowd is starting to respond though. This is getting a little weird, and some people do linger thinking it might be a movie or something to watch, but most actually have some SENSE. There's a big crater in the middle of the city that says 'hey, maybe we shouldn't hang around when things get weird' so the call to clear out of danger's way is more effective than he might guess!

    So there aren't a lot of people to see the response. "What?!" The girl turns about, staring at... all the weird people here. "No! You have it all wrong! I've been chosen as the messenger of good and I can't let anyone stop me!" Oh great, she's already a little wild.

    Especially when Zelda drops to her knees, and Rydia takes her hand. She YANKS Rydia behind her, and calls out to Zelda and Rydia, "Don't worry, I'll protect you from this horrible BOY!" Great, the unicorn picked a girl who just went through a rough breakup. The transformation sequence she's going through is already spewing... bubbles at Shin?

    The unicorn chuffs and stomps a hoof, narrowing eyes. He shifts, turning to eye everyone with a look that says /he/ knows how to fight, and intends to do just that. Vania is who he locks on to, shaking his mane out and lowering horn dangerously with a flare of brilliant white light around it, to match the flare of impressive power that the girl is emitting. VERY impressive.

    By the way, Shin, when one of those lazily floating bubbles pops near a tree, it causes it to CRUMPLE And several branches to snap off. Might not want to touch those.

    Shin takes a stance and adjusts his footing, "Excuse me. I'm not a boy. Bonelaw says I'm a perfect specimen of manhood. Just look at this bone structure..." Shin runs a thumb along his jawline, "And try not to get weak in the knees." 

    "Listen babe," Super ChadShin says confidently as he looks at the newly transformed magical girl, "You can stick with the Unicorn and get stuck cleaning its Pure Maiden Asuka Dakimakura for the rest of eternity, or you can come hang out with a real man." 

    It's kind of a good thing Kiyohime isn't here, admittedly. 

    "And we'll go watch a movie. And loiter too long outside of a store without buying anything. And laugh at single people." 

    He steps to the side smoothly to avoid a few of the bubbles, his perfect bone structure in this Epic Powerup Mode allowing him to move in a way that would make Ayn Rand write about Trains and the Nature of Individualism for fifty or sixty pages. 

    And then he holds out a hand towards the newly-minted magical girl, "So just come with me, babe."

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Super ChadShin tries to defuse the situation.

    The unicorn is looking right at her!

    Vania puffs her cheeks, hands on hips and all. "Hey! My name is Vania and I'm here to prove to someone I'm a perfectly good choice to be your next magical maiden!"

    This goes horribly south when the unicorn's response is to shine its horn at her, emitting ~holy light~.

    This, predictably, seems to burn Vania. Her two bats fly to her rescue but don't fare much better, reduced to ash by the blinding light. The slice of pizza one was carrying hits the floor, the greatest victim here.

    "Ow ow ow! Not fair, not fair!"

    Using one arm to cover her eyes, she uses the other to... vaguely swipe in the unicorn's direction. She is officially not having any of this anymore.

    Blood pools under the beast and suddenly rushes upward like a blade, trying to skewer it through. Sadly, she's covering her eyes, so her aim isn't great. But you can consider that fight picked.

    Magilou will see Yahiko moving to help, and try to defuse the situation and bail the crowd out, and she'll take at least a little bit of pity. Or, alternatively, she'll see a way to excuse herself for not getting involved in fighting the transformed girl and unicorn.

    "Hey, kid." She'll say, in spite of not looking THAT much older than the teenager. "I don't know that you want to involve any of the police; this is a creature that's wondered in from out of town, shall we say? There's every chance it would just eat them alive, and then it'd just have more energy. Probably. We didn't really get a great explanation about this thing..." She'll sigh, keeping an eye on the unicorn and newly magical girl, just in case they decide to go after a sidelined witch all of a sudden.

    Rydia squeaks out in surprise when she finds herself yanked to a place of 'safety'. "What?"
    Protect her from... Shin?
    Oh no, that means the girl has probably already pacted with the unicorn, if she transforms and sends bubbles everywhere. Whatever Zelda's explanation is, it's going to have to wait. This is going downhill fast. Rydia recognizes the signs of an agitated animal readying to...
    "Vania! Look out, it's going to charge!" She calls out a warning, while trying to tug the girl for some attention. "No no no, we don't need protection from Shin, you need protection from that unicorn!"

  The Hylian doesn't move from where she kneels, hands still clasped before her and hooded head bowed. Neither does she falter in her prayers, voice faint but fervent, beseeching them to be shown the correct path to dealing with this creature and doing what's best for the people of this place far from home.

  Consequently, she doesn't see that the unicorn is readying to charge. This probably won't end very well; she might have the reflexes to draw a weapon, but by the look of her she absolutely won't have the strength to use it.

>> GAME >> Yahiko Myojin spends an Edge for: Attempt a Horn-Catch

    Yahiko hears Magilou, and nods, "Yeah, I gathered that. I should probably make sure that they don't need help," he says, pulling out one of the two blades he carries. The wooden shinai, in this case. Assuming a stance, he tries to get an idea of what to do, and who to protect. He has gathered that something is up, but right or wrong is a little hard to follow when he doesn't know anyone.

    That question is answered when the girl with the weird costume and bubbles seems to be shrugging off what Rydia is saying. Zelda seems to be a peaceful sort praying, which is weird but westerners are pretty strange sometimes.

    Not important, because the unicorn-thing is charging! He doesn't know how tough Vania is... she's a loud girl with bats eating strange food, getting charged. While she is summoning blood spikes, he's already moving, dashing to intercept the attack himself in a suicidal move.

    Or it would be, if the young man didn't have a plan. Arms cross as he leaps, catching the horn between his wrists and using his inertia from the dash to leap and twist, forcing the horn downward and to the left while his wrists scrape along the sharp spiral in a bloody but shallow slice, trying to use the unicorn's own momentum to hurl himself onto the back.

    Shin sidesteps the bubbles... which is easy! They weren't really aimed anywhere. A few smaller ones zip toward him, and while they aren't as deadly as the one that just exploded, they are still dangerous! Powered up with ki and memes as he is, it's a more even match between the newbie but empowered Magical Girl and the wandering martial artist, but her constant feed of energy from the unicorn is really starting to have some side effects already. Some very interesting side effects.

    "You stay away and stay safe!" she yells shrilly at Rydia, yanking herself free and hurling a bubble at HER! This one doesn't explode though... it attempts to envelop the young girl in a soapy, pliant prison that gently floats her away. It's breakable by real attacks, she's assuming Rydia is just a girl.

    "I'll protect all of you!" What a weird thing to say! At least Zelda isn't in the line of fire, but she can't seem to decide if the princess is friend or foe. But with the crowd screaming and clearing out now, she catches sight of Magilou... eyes darting between Shin and the witch with a desperate glare and a lift of her wand, lowering it toward Magilou-

    And the unicorn gets a blood spike erupting upward as it charges, slashing along its flank in a sudden sparkle of blood! It's a somewhat deep wound, but Raylene forgot to mention that they regenerate, the equine flank already starting to seal up. What it doesn't expect is Yahiko, letting out a bleating whinny of shock as the boy manages to catch its horn with his bare wrists, and use the unicorn's own momentum to guide its head, forcing it to thunder past Vania and Zelda both while almost staggering thanks to the angle of its horn toward the ground. Yahiko will have no trouble landing on its back, either. It might be a rough ride, but he's also technically eligible.

    That's when the girl lets loose her attack! A spiralling stream of tiny bubbles that is like a SPIKE toward Magilou. Yet it has barely left her wand when-

    Reality splinters, briefly cracking like a giant mirror. Everything slides and shifts, in a rummage of unintelligible parts, only to reassemble an instant later. Everything is EXACTLY as it was before, but the girl is facing the opposite direction, her stream of bubbles exploding a park bench behind Rydia instead. "Huh?!"

    "You're leaving me no choice!" Shin says as he slowly powers down out of his Super ChadShin form and then takes a slow breath, panting, "I can't hold that form for long... I haven't learned to regulate its power yet." 

    Shin stands up a bit and raises his hands into a fighting pose, "I'm going to free you from the influence of that Unicorn the only way I know how..." 

    Shin reaches into his pocket and pulls out... his cell phone. And then turns his back to her. And then starts talking, "Yo yo yo out there Japan. It's Shin Tokuyama here in..." He looks around and then says the name of the city a moment later, "Natsuto City. We got some crazy girl goin nuts in the park talkin' about bein a magical girl and throwin' bubbles." A few bubbles hit him and burst, "Ow. OW." 

    "Anyway, check it out. This girl thinks she's a superhero. It'd suck if someone found out her real identity and like... totally outed her at her school. If you know who this girl is, retweet at me. Hit me up with hashtag-Natsuto-Nobody. Hashtag-NEET-Otaku. HASHTAG-Laaaaaaaame." 

    "Anyway. Smash those like, comment and subscribe buttons for more of my sick adventures in exposing posers. Shin Tokuyama out!" 

    And then Shin puts his phone away, "SO! I'm postin' that right now. What's your play? Magical Unicorn Powers or social acceptance? Can't have both."

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Shin invokes: 'A Teenager's Need To Be Accepted In Their Social Group'.

    "-id you hear? There's something going on in the park at-" "-bunch of tweets saying it's offworlders-" "-some kind of big fight just broke out-"

    Yumi Tachibana is running before she realizes her feet have started moving.

    While quite a few people are running /away/ from the fracas by now, there's a scant handful of crazies that are headed towards it, and a certain orange-haired girl is one of them. "Oof- excuse me- ah, sorry, I've got to- pardon me, I'm heading for- excuse me-!" Her new school uniform doesn't exactly impede her upstream crowd-swim, but neither does it assist, with the result that she's arriving just about the time reality chokes on itself and sends the magical girl's attack at a random bench. She's at least smart enough to stay at a distance, looking the whole mess over (with a brief, incredulous stare at Shin), until-

    "...Zelda?!"

    And now she's running straight for the Hylian as fast as she can move.

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> I am amnesiac and what is thi- ZELDA! *zoom*

    Attempting to blow her up with a wand of bubbles, even if they suddenly somehow miss and go in the opposite direction?

    Magilou disapproves.

    "Alright, then, it is -on-, little girl!" Magilou will call over to the confused teen, clapping her hands together. There's a visible glow around her, red and fierce.

    Still, Shin seems to be dealing with the girl, so she'll actually direct her ire towards the unicorn. The witch doesn't actually care if she goes overboard on it, or the girl, but hurting Yahiko would be a bit churlish.. And so it's just a smaller attack that will go out, a trio of icicles, sharp and pointy and flying stright for the mystical being. "You had to cross the line and treat me like I was evil? I'll show you how evil a witch is!"

    "Why are you so STUBBORN?" Rydia demands, snapping as the girl prizes free of her grasp. But for someone trying to protect her, that bubble is sent Rydia's way. Even if it's different from the others, she saw what happened to the tree- what the magical girl had wanted to hit Shin with, and Rydia doesn't really want to be present for one sent HER way.
    Rydia throws herself aside in a tumbling roll, coming to a stop on her knees when-
    A park bench behind her explodes.
    Rydia slowly turns her head to stare at the wreckage; not quite sure what happened. Not quite wanting to know. This is turning to chaos though- now there's a young man riding the unicorn after tanking the horn, and the Summoner is quickly getting a little overwhelmed by the situation. So she tries to change it. Her hand reaches for her belt, and in the next instant there's a sudden CRACK... As she tries to loop her whip around the girl's magical wand and rip it from her hand with a flick of her wrist.

    Oh no it's charging! Rydia is right!
    And Vania still half-blind.

    Luckily, all princesses can count on their natural charms and good nature to attract protectors and knights. A new face enters, accomplishing a rather badass feat of unicorn-deflection as if it was nothing.

    Vania ooohs, sparkly-eyed. "That was awesome! A dramatic entrance and a cool secret technique all in one!" Yahiko probably wasn't doing it to get a new fan but he has one anyway.

    "Be careful mister, it's still up!"

    She should help her protector! Without noticing what the blazes just happened with reality and direction-changing magical girls, Vania spreads both of her arms, a dozen bats materializing out of thin air. "Go, bloodkin!"

    Then the bats turn into pink, red and blue lasers all headed for the unicorn, to hopefully stop it from charging again.
    This time her aim is actually decent, too!

    Vania, Vampire Princess: inflicts 1 damage whenever a bat enters play. She is a meta onto herself. Pew pew.

    Many schools of kenjutsu have a blade catch technique, but only Yahiko's allows him to keep hold of his weapon. He still has it, even in his precarious perch atop a unicorn that will doubtless try to throw him off. "It can't attack what it can't see, it can only aim where it is looking! Watch the eyes!" A quick analysis of the unicorn's weakness in technique. Not that it matters when everyone else is using ranged attacks...

    Icicles and lasers are headed his way, so Yahiko opts to leap off the unicorn right away! Whipping his shinai around, he jabs it at the side of the throat, trying for a stunning or knockout blow and simultaneously sending him tumbling to a skidding halt on one knee near to Yumi and Zelda now, his shinai held at the ready... but with a visible crack along it. It wasn't meant for sustained battle, even if it's sturdier than the simple bamboo ones he practices with.

    "Are you two okay?"

  Blue eyes snap wide as Zelda throws herself sideways with a yelp, narrowly avoiding the majority of the beast, but she still gets clipped by a heel. The blow sends her sprawling, sucking a breath in through her teeth as she takes the landing on her wounded shoulder.

  That hurt. Everything hurts. Zelda lies for a moemnt and reorients herself with some difficulty. Which way is up? That way? Yes. Good.

  She rolls over, stiff and slow, to lie on her back and stare at the sky. Everything hurts and she thinks she hates unicorns and magical girls and yes, even Triforces, for a fleeting moment. Ow.

  "Tachibana Yumi." Suddenly Zelda finds herself blinking up at the schoolgirl she had met here the other day. What she can't figure out is why there are two of the girl. They slowly resolve into a single Yumi as she frowns and focuses. That's better. "You should not be here. It is not safe."

  Pot. Kettle. Sort of.

  The princess doesn't move to get up, though. Aside from the fact that her body decided now is a great time to broadcast incapacitating pain from all the half-healed bullet wounds, it's probably safer on the ground over here away from that volatile beast. Maybe.

  ...Really, with her luck, she's probably in exactly the wrong place.

    Shin powers down from the impressive display. Those bubbles HURT but they aren't anything like the attempt that the girl tried on Magilou. That may change in a moment... or will it? Even with her growing obsession, the girl freezes at the threat. "What? NO! You can't! YOU'RE EVIL!" Which... means she's probably going to try to destroy Shin HARDER now!

    Except that no, there is in fact a distraction caused by the threat. Raising her wand, the magical girl fails to notice Rydia is still free. The whip snags the wand and YANKS it aside, throwing off her aim at the very least, and making her stagger as well! It's an instant, an opening that others can use to take her down safely.

    The unicorn is now the remaining threat, but just got a triple hit. The icicles and batlasers blast it and dig into the flesh, making it stagger as it tries to get bearings. A stagger that leaves it open to the poweful jab fro Yahiko's shinai, cracking the side of its neck and skull. It isn't knocked out, but that does succeed in staggering it. Regenerating or not, the 'holy creature' is seeing stars and shaking its head, now lowering horn and trying to decide on a target. Yahiko is possibly the greatest threat, having identified its fighting style and also gotten the best of it twice now...

    But of those present, Magilou is likely the one registering highest on the evil scale, with Vania second. The single-minded creature has no room for tactics, and starts a lurching charge!

    She's distracted! 

    "Hey new guy! Drop that incel and show him who's boss!" 

    Shin dashes in towards the girl once Rydia takes her wand and puts her off-balance. Shin isn't... actually all that into the idea of hitting a girl, even one that's been trying to murder him. 

    That's why once he gets in close, he raises a hand and says, "Just take a nap. We gotta handle your Nice Guy magical friend before he gets out of hand." 

    And then Shin tries to KO her with a karate chop to the back of the neck.

    Huff huff huff. That much running is tiring. But Yumi's here! She's here, everything will be fine. She's now crouched down right next to Zelda, in fact, her face a mask of worry only barely concealed between an affected 'brave smile'. "Hey, I could say the same thing about you... jeez, what happened-" Oh right, there's a /fight/ going on. "I'm alright," Yumi insists, nodding to Yahiko. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I'll try and get her out of here- LOOK OUT!" It's charging, so Yumi yells in Magilou's direction.

    Other than 'yell warnings', pretty much all she can do at this point is 'try to hoist Zelda's arm over her shoulder and help walk her to safety. "Come on, y- Zelda, we should get you clear..."

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> Attempting to move Zelda to safety, also yelling a warning.

    Magilou certainly won't miss that she's about to be charged by a unicorn. This is not something she'll see as optimal, but she's not going to try to outrun a horse. Or horse-adjacent thing. No, there's only one way to handle this! She'll wind up another cast, this one rather more.. heated than the earlier one, and clearly a more intense effort.

    "Ready, steady... KABLAMO!" That's hardly a traditional incantation, but it seems appropriate to Magilou, and it's got rather more alarming of an effect, an explosion of flames and heat and pressure blasting out under the unicorn. Hopefully without catching any of her theoretical allies in the blast.

    If it doesn't actually STOP the unicorn, the witch is about to have a bad time, though. She casted instead of dodging.

    It's charging again! It doesn't help Vania still has trouble looking at the unicorn in all its splendor. Cheating holy monster!

    Vania doesn't summon more bats, because the lasers did their work. Instead she swings her arms, causing the spilled blood so far to pool about and once again surge up in spikes and blades towards the unicorn!...'s legs. Its legs. Her aim isn't perfect (it's moving, the legs are small targets, she's still kind of blinded) but if she can pin just one of them down it won't be able to charge. Or at least it'll slow down before it plows into the friendly, energetic and absolutely innocent witch up ahead.

    "I know, I'm watching it, just get her to safety!" Yahiko yells to Yumi. He's braced for an attack, that was his intent... but it didn't work. Instead the unicorn charges Magilou, and Yahiko is on his feet and dashing in an instant. He doesn't have the godlike speed of Kenshin, but he's still pretty fast!

    He's not going to make it... but then the explosions and spikes fire up. Is it enough? To provide an opening? After conferring with the GM it is! Yahiko gets close enough to take advantage of the rearing unicorn's exposed underbelly to bring his shinai up and HURL it-

    "Kamiya Kasshin Style Forbidden Technique: CURSE ON THE DESCENDANTS!"

    -aiming the wooden practice sword in a trajectory toward a very, very sensitive portion of the unicorn.

  Climbing to her feet with plenty of help from Yumi, the hooded princess throws an arm over the girl's shoulder, staggering with a grunt of pain. Fortunately, she's not hard to support. She can't weigh very much. She's probably fragile as a deer under that heavy robe.

  "Thank you. I am fine." This is given to Yahiko, along with a respectful bow of her head as the two hobble away from the field of battle. Park of battle? Something like that. Zelda lets Yumi steer her and support her, trying to walk as quickly as her exhausted body will let her. "Thank you for your assistance, as well, Tachibana Yumi. Come. We had best get away from here... this beast is dangerous, and I believe the others have it well in hand, for now."

  She risks a glance back, just in time to see Yahiko leaping for the unicorn, wooden practise sword aimed...

  ...Zelda turns back around and attempts to hobble away faster.

    "HEY! Let go of my-" The girl starts to protest at her wand being yanked away, and before she knows it, the martial artist is there. Eyes widen just before-

    *WHUMP*

    The girl hits the ground.

    And the unicorn? The explosion causes it to rear, attempting to leap up only to encounter blood spires lancing back. It doesn't want to cripple its legs, just like any horse, so a sudden rearing and staggering back leaves it momentarily open. Flailing hooves would keep it safe from most predators, but a hurled weapon is not something simple hooves can knock away when it isn't expected, causing a well-aimed strike to impact with a THUD that causes every ranch and farm in a 30 mile radius to go silent in sympathy pains.

    The unicorn's eyes go wide as saucers before it just... *WHUMP* ... lands on its side. It's not out yet, but there's a precious few moments where it isn't thinking about the battle of good and evil.

    Yumi is, for the moment, smart enough not to get in the way. She does, however, stop briefly when Zelda does, turning to look as Yahiko yells out a sword technique just like someone out of a story-

    "...W-What kind of sword technique is /that/?!"

    Yes, Zelda, let's get you off to one side, quickly. "They... they have it pretty well dealt with, yeah." She sounds just a smidge torn. On the one hand, that disabled the thing pretty soundly. On the other... well, that was quite literally a low blow. "Come on, over here. Sit against this wall. What are you doing here? You're all beat up, you'll just make it /worse/..." Fuss fuss bother bother.

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> I approve of your goals but question your methods >:|

    E-even Rydia winces when the shinai aims so low. But with the magical girl handled and the unicorn felled, there's precious little time before it regenerates, gets back up, gets angry, and tries again-- or just gets killed. Rydia is stricken with a thought. A solution as she ignores the magical girl now and rushes in.
    "Stop, don't kill it!" She makes sure everyone is on the same page there as she approaches the stunned unicorn, whip in hand. She stands over it.
    Clasping her whip and holding it taut in front of her as she looks down at the injured beast she meets its gaze. This is a solution.
    "Unicorn." She says, trying to keep her voice firm and strong. She does a decent job of it save for a slight quaver of nervousness, but it fades.
    "I bind you by the ancient contracts forged between the Summoners of Mist and the Eidolons. You will come to my side and fight evil, wherever it may be, when I call you. That is what I offer. If you do not accept, your other choices are *very* limited, so I suggest you take it, if you want to not die."

>> GAME >> Rydia spends an Edge for: Welcome to my Summon pool, Unicorn

    Yahiko rubs the back of his head. "I really don't like using a technique like that, but I couldn't just let him run you girls over," he says apologetically, his face a BRIGHT red. "Huh, looks like I lost my shinai too. I wonder how hard they are to get around here?" He doesn't seem to consider the /actual sword/ on his back.

    "Is everyone all right? Sorry for jumping in there," he apologizes. "I'm Myojin Yahiko, a wandering swordsman. Could someone explain to me exactly where I am and what was going on here? I'm not from around here." At least he doesn't seem to be panicking, so he probably isn't just now displaced.

  "I don't know." Zelda shakes her head as she lets Yumi steer her towards the wall, easing herself down with a sigh, unaware that she's shaking like a leaf until she stops moving. "I came at the behest of an acquaintance, to respond to a plea for help. Yes, I am wounded. No, you needn't concern yourself over it. I will be returning to a safe place to rest after this."

  She looks back around at the sound of Rydia's impassioned plea. Is Rydia negotiating with that beast? Yes, she is. That's quite a clever solution. Is that the power of the Summoners of Mist?

  The princess blinks owlishly before glancing back to Yumi.

  "As to what happened to me, there is a violent lunatic who seems intent on tracking down those who display supernatural ability and murdering them. I was ambushed while travelling through Hyrule. How he discovered my kingdom, I do not know, but I fear for my people." The princess thins her lips unhappily. "I do not think that you are in any danger; I have not seen you use anything like magic, but those of us who do are in danger."

  Curiously, Zelda cocks an eye up at Yahiko, and for a fleeting moment he's rewarded by a glimpse of a blue eye and the half-hidden features of a pretty young woman's face. She's frowning a little in concern. "Worry not. I am not from this place, either. Tachibana Yumi may be able to explain better where you are." She'll sit on the wall and catch her breath in the meantime while Yumi explains, hooded head drooping a little.

    "Myojin," Yumi repeats, addressing the swordsman with a polite nod. "Tachibana Yumi. This is Natsuto, I live here. I don't know what's going on, but it... it /looks/ like some kind of supernatural creature wandered in, and... made a magical girl? I'm not sure," she adds with a frown. Aside to Zelda, the girl adds, "Yeah, I haven't suddenly sprouted any psychic powers or anything, so..." She gives the princess a last, worried look, but stands up straight again, turning to look in the direction of the unicorn's victim.

    Light shimmers around the unicorn, and it accepts the contract as a last resort. Rydia is pure enough... but it isn't a pact, so she won't have the downsides there. Nor will she have the constant stream of power, though! Just a simple summon attack.

    The magical girl groans, rubbing her head and deciding the ground is good. Her transformation fades, but when Yumi says that the unicorn made her. "Um... y-yeah, that's what happened."

    A few moments later, the sound of shoes on the nearby walkway sounds. Raylene has arrived, tsking. "Not the solution I expected nor hoped for, but certainly far better than alternatives. I know how squeamish most of you are about killing things." A curtsy to the new people. "Apologies for the mess, but I can't very well control the wandering beasts from my world. We are fortunate there were no casualties. I'll look at the girl and see if I can break the bond, but it may take some exotic ingredients. I may need to call on your help again."