The apocalypse is nigh!

[mieudesuno.livejournal.com]

Asch agreeing to a drink with Emperor Peony? Luke studying more or less willingly? Asch chuckling? Uncle Jade?

It would appear Abyss Dressing Room has inexplicably stumbled upon the four signs of the apocalypse. This must explain why there is suddenly a horde of monsters poised to attack. Redheads! Denizens! Defend your nexus!

...Just be careful with those artes. Looks like the apocalypse is a lot fuzzier and noisier than anticipated. As such, every arte used spawns at least two dozen cheagles. And Mystic Artes spawn about fifty.

Good luck. And welcome to Luke's Asch's anyone who isn't Tear or Ion's hell.

Comments

[hymnotic]

I'm fine, I'm fine! [ But, as for where they came from... ] Your guess is as good as mine about that, though.

[ Not that the whole not knowing where the monsters came from bit is going to stop him from fighting, of course. Unfortunately, after a quick combo, he goes right into a weaponless Swallow Fury.

...Which means a few cheagles just pop into existence with each hit to the Ligan he's attacking.

Luke is unimpressed with this development for so many reasons. ]

1/2

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

[Wh-What the hell, cheagles. Anise stares, wondering just where they all came from - because she denies they just appeared from nothing - then decides to do what Asch does best, blame the replica. She gives the Ligan another good bash, Tokunaga already littered with claw marks, blood, and tears, before turning over her shoulder to yell.]

Luke, stop playing around! This is serious!

2/2

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

[And after another combo of her own, Anise orders Tokunaga to do an arcane arte. One of her favorites.]

Soaring blast! [But instead of fonons being thrown into the Ligan's face, it's a mound of round, furry cheagles. ...At least they make good meat shields.] Wh-Whaaaat?! What the hell was that?!

[hymnotic]

Now who's playing around?

[ But he doesn't really have time to say much more as the Grimza takes a swipe at him, forcing Luke to backstep and defend himself. But it's only for a moment before he rushes forward again to land a kick and a good uppercut on the damn thing. ] Seriously, is this some kind of punishment for how I treated Mieu back then?

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

Boo, shut up, Luke!

[This isn't funn anymore! During her momentary lapse, that Ligan managed to pounce onto Tokunaga's arm, and was beginning to rip out a fair amount of his stuffing. God damn it! She pries the thing off and effectively hurls it at the nearest solid object. Stupid thing.]

Well why the hell am I being punished, too?! I was nice to Mieu! Boo, I knew this was your fault! Keep your crummy curse to yourself!

[hymnotic]

H-hey, I was joking! If I was going to really get punished for that, it would've happened years ago.

[ Whoops whoops whoops, apparently focusing more on defending himself against Anise's words was a bad idea; he has to make a hasty guard against the Grimza as it takes advantage of his lack of attention. But then Luke gets the upper hand, anyway, with a neat combo that sends it flying back. ]

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

Boo, boo, boo, then why is this happening?! These things are hard enough to wade through, let alone not step on!

[Ugh, and Tokunaga was sustaining some damage, too! Hnngh, she's going to have to resew him at this rate. Time to bring out the big guns, then...if strike artes don't work.]

O' twisted door of distortion, open wide!
Negative Gate!

[But, of course, the moment the arte appears, instead of the swirling black hole sucking up the Ligan, it instead starts spitting out dozens upon dozens of the furry creatures.]

OH, COME ON! THAT'S JUST NO FAIR!

[hymnotic]

[ And one of them nearly smacks Luke right in the head. ] Hey, watch it!

Ugh, what is this... [ Despite that complaint, though, Luke seems oddly enthusiastic about the fight, recognizing there's clearly nothing for it but to just give it all he's got without using any artes. Which means getting in some good, hard hits to more lethal areas on the Ligans. ]

Ugh, whatever, we'll figure it out later. For now, let's get rid of these things. [ What's surprising is that he's taking care to avoid stepping on the cheagles. ]

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

S-Sorry!

[No offense, Luke, but to quote your bratty, long-haired self what a pain! Anise can't exactly be as considerate to the poor, furry creatures as her companion. Tokunaga is large, and his swipes are forceful, and cover a bit of space. Anything in her way - even though she is trying not to hit them - is going to get hit or trampled.]

Jeez, the least these things could do was help out! I mean, breathe fire or something! FIRE! [Maybe they'll do it if she commands them?]

[hymnotic]

Do you think they can understand us? [ He's honestly curious; he never did bother to understand whether Mieu could understand them without the Sorcerer's Ring. ]

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

Boo, doesn't look like it! [Mainly that when she ordered the cheagles to attack, all they did was jump, squeak, and scatter to get away from the bigger, scarier monsters.] Boo, this is such an inconvenience! I'm gonna smash whoever let these dumb things into the town!

[But first she'll smash on that Ligan a bit more. It's wobbling from all the force it's been dealt already, so just a bit more should knock it out for good!]

[hymnotic]

[ There's a pretty sickening crack as Luke finishes off the Grimza he'd been facing. ] Heh. And here I thought you didn't mind Mieu.

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

Hey, boo, I never did mind him! [Tokunaga's fist comes crashing down on the ligan's head, and Anise brings up her doll's arm and shakes off the, uh...ick.] But he never got in the way so much, especially when we were fighting! Jeez...how and why the heck did these things pop up anyway? Do you think they'll be okay on their own?

I dunno if we can keep them all...

[hymnotic]

Well, they're more or less alone in the Cheagle Woods, right? You'd want to keep them all? [ Of course, he'd sound way more convincing if he hadn't just picked a blue one up and kind of, sort of hugged it. ]

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess...so they should be okay if we let them go or something. They are wild animals, after all. N-No, of course not! [She just wants the little guys to be okay, that's all! Anise doesn't want them to go off and get eaten or--...hugged to death.]

...We can't keep just one or two? [Anise is eying a cute pink one waddling off a few steps.]

[hymnotic]

Well, I guess if you really wanted to, you probably could... [ Hell, Luke looks like he doesn't want to let this little blue guy go, himself. ] I mean, they're kind of like pets, right?

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

M-Maybe...but I dunno if I could take care of it all on my own, y'know? [She'd have to play with it, feed it, clean up after it...a pet is a lot of work, after all!] And I dunno, Luke. I don;t think 'sacred beasts' are supposed to be pets.

[hymnotic]

Eh, why not? Mieu was kind of like a pet, wasn't he?

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

W-Well, I guess so...but he liked you the best. Plus he was repaying a debt to you or something, wasn't he? I dunno if it's really right just to take them out of their homes like this. Cheagles are still wild animals, after all. A-And I wouldn't be able to understand it without the sorcerer's ring!

[She wants to keep the little thing, but...eh. She can't. Anise knows she wouldn;t be able to properly take care of it. So she just gives the pink one some extra cuddles before letting it roam off somewhere.]

[hymnotic]

[ Luke, on the other hand, isn't letting go of this little blue guy. If only because he's reminded of Mieu. ] How's that any different from any other animal people keep as pets? I mean, it's not like anyone can understand dogs or cats, right? As long as you take care of the little thing, I don't think it's that much of a problem. Maybe... [ Or at least he hopes. ]

[soaringblast.livejournal.com]

Well...I guess if they're sacred beasts, then, uh...they should be treated like it, right? I-I dunno, that's just what I think. [Even though the cheagles really weren't what she imagined when she thought of a sacred beast or whatever.]

And I know that, Luke but...I dunno. I guess I just don't have the time to take care of the little guy. Plus, what if it accidentally sets something on fire? Remember Star? That thing would shoot off flames all the time, boo!

[hymnotic]

Huh?! Oh, well... I guess there is that...

[ Luke frowns, looking down at the little guy he's still holding. ] But there's got to be some way to help them realize just randomly setting things on fire's bad, right? I mean... Mieu kind of picked it up maybe by the time everything was all said and done, and I don't think any of the other cheagles really just spit fire out all the time. They would've burned their whole woods down. [ Keep trying to justify your desire to keep the damn cheagle, replica. Go on. ]

Then again, if you really don't want to, it's not like yo have to.