A girl with large black wings would be flying over the woods to reach the mansion. The look on her face was a somewhat strange mix of anxiety and refinment, or at least trying very hard to look refined. "A letter like this is strange but if someone needs help then it's my duty to try and do so. What did they mean by the moon vanishing though? That seems pretty troubling..." Once the mansion was in sight the girl would land as close as she could without tresspassing. Her presence...merely feeling it would be terrifying, as if the very concept of fear oozed from her unwillingly. Despite this, a bird would fly to her shoulder and sit upon it, not bothered by her presence at all.

*Minerva would arrive at the mansion. She would raise her mask, covering her face, before stepping from her surroundings into the open.* This better be worth my time.

Suddenly waking up from her slumber, Meiling heads for the front gates of the mansion where two guests were already waiting. "Hmmm... You guys are a bit early. I'm really sorry, but I can't let you in yet. The mistress' orders are absolute. But I'm glad to see some people actually have the guts to come. After what happened last time, I didn't actually expect anyone to trust us again. Anyway, feel free to chat or something. If you need me for anything just holler. I'll be sleeping right here." Or so says the young woman as she points to a spot hidden by high brick walls.

A Girl with a most unusual set of scrappy armour from head to toe. She would have made a long travel but meets at the designate location the message specified. Taking a gander at this mansion was giving her unpleasant feelings in the back of her mind like she knows this can only somehow end poorly. “A moon disappearing is quite beyond the scopes of my radar. Dealing with maybe a erasing Fissure or person sure I can work with that. A moon is a whole mother level of poaching and I have to be the one shipped out and pitch in with this.” Sh would make note of the other three present in the area. Company is always nice should help speed what ever this endeavour is quite along. She would walk over near to the gate and just taps at it monetarily while observing the Mansion to pass time.

Twilight came up, however she was alone, which was unusual do to her being in her uniform or costume, whichever you rather, her eyes were cold and blue and her hair was long and brown, her dark purple shorts and matching muscle shirt made her look a little scary, not to mention the black gloves and mask and a hooded cloak, a new addition to the deadly beauty, the hood fell over her already masked face, keeping her identity almost completely hidden, "I received word of an unexplained event, one that was so unique I came alone, this better not be a trap..." Twilight would say Her eyes narrowed, then locked onto the other two, "Seems even though I came without my team, I am to work with others" she thought

"Well. It's time." Meiling stood back up and walked solemnly towards the gate. Taking out a small key from a hidden pocket on her dress, she unlocks the gates. "Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for you to meet Remilia Scarlet. Please follow me. I will bring you to her." Having said that, Meiling sets off towards the doors of the scarlet devil mansion. She swiftly navigates vast corridors that shouldn't fit in the house yet somehow do. WIthout bothering to check whether someone got lost on the way, she pushes open the doors to a sumptuous throne room in the middle of which is seated a young girl in a white dress. "Miss Remilia, the guests have arrived." The gatekeeper gestures you to go inside.

Twilight seems suspicious, walking cautiously into the room, she watched her surroundings carefully, getting herself ready for anything,

*Minerva glances around at the others that answered the call as they pass through the manor's halls. She would subconsciously drum her fingers against the rapier hanging by her side.* Hmph. *When gestured by the maid, Minerva would then walk inside, uncaring if the others followed her or not.*

Faye's wings would seem to just fall apart into a flurry of black feathers that just burned away. For once, she would take to the ground and begin walking forward on foot. She seemed nervous on the way there, especially now that so many others were around. Her anciety only made the aura of fear worse, by now making anyone who got too close to her incredibly uncomfortable. Her anxiety would only seem to die down upon entering the throne room, where her discontent would be replaced by formality. "Hello, you are Remilia Scarlet I take it? My name is Faye Knox, the current head of the Church of Knox. I have come after receiving your letter. Would you mind telling me more about what is currently going on?"

"Oh, and I am Twilight, leader of the Masquerade," Twilight said She stood steadily, naturally her right hand wraped around her knife, while her left rested on her gun,

A fiery animal blazes through the scenery accompanied by the mansion, bolting over the lake and rushing through the mansion gates. He jets through the halls, jumping over that which may obstruct his path. After asking about where the group that went in ahead was located, he busts through the door by jumping into it from above. Landing in front of the aforementioned throne with the letter and toast in his mouth, the creature confidently boasts "Sorry i'm late, I stayed up all night watching this super awesome anime series and just woke up."

Mara would follow along without much questioning for now. She would check her armour and equipment to keep her mind from panicking to far astray but recenter it when the door opens. “My thanks to you Madame.” She would give a small thanks and a kind smile to Meling, at least there was some kind hospitality in the midst of this unnerving circumstances. With that mental comment she would follow along inside and keep herself a bit more attentive and observant.

Remilia sips her favorite blend of tea as her guests walk in. She sets her tea down before smirking "Excellent. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I'm sure you have many questions, but please do save them for after my explanation of our current situation. Now, the Moon Harvest Festival is coming up soon, and our moon isn't acting right. The light it shines is a fraud, and while this may not mean much to those of normal origin, to those of us who are supernatural in nature, it is a grave problem. I have called you all here not just to investigate this incident, but to find our usual incident solvers. They have gone missing while investigating. Of course, I'll make sure to compensate you for your troubles, this is a slight risk of being unconscious for the rest of the night after all. Will you accept this task?"

Twilight nodded, her close friends knew she loved the moon, she enjoyed it's sweet light when all was dark,

Faye would seem to grow passionate suddenly as she responded. Her eyes seemed to glow brightly with something similar to moonlight. "I understand, the moon is of great importance to me as well. A night sky without a moon...that's barely a night sky at all. I accept this task, whole heartedly."

*" Somethings off with the moon? They say the moon affects gravity. I wonder how it will affect my abilities if it is damaged." Minerva nods* I'm in. We need more details though.

Flareon nods solemnly, eyes closed with his right paw stroking his chin "They took the moon? They must be coming for the sun next! Alright, it's decided then, I will delve into this matter and bring those responsible to justice!" Flareon's eyes widen passionately as he raises his right paw into the air, thrusting it back and forth powerfully.

While it isn’t the best explanation to understanding the situation Mara would still nod ready to commit as otherwise there was no point in even coming. “Seeing how i’m usually called to fix errors and this impedes the natural orders of the world i’m obliged to help. Just give us some more info and some time and I will be much willing to help you good madame.”

"Splendid. To start, you shall need these." Remilia snaps her fingers as a few bags of odd marbles and four small crystals appear in front of everyone. There are three marbels in each bag. "The bags contain Life Orbs. If held on your person when you are knocked unconscious, you shall be brought back to full consciousness at the cost of one of them after some time (one round of combat). The crystals are Essence Bombs, powerful attacks shaped by the essence of the ones who created them. They should come in handy, but i must caution you that these should be spent wisely. I have my maid, Sakuya, extending the time that the night shall last, although it shall not last forever. Your task is simple: find one of the investigation teams, investigate the incident, find the culprit, and bring the true light of the moon back. I suggest heading northward into the forest like the others did. You may find a lead as to where they went. Now, any questions?"

"None that I can think of" Twilight replied

A jobs a job. Haven't needed to know everything before. Don't need to know. I'm ready. *Minerva would take the bag and inspect the items. "Hmm. Healing crystals. Nothing too out of the ordinary here. Shame. Out of the ordinary may help me get closer to getting her back. But as it stands, these are useless for that goal. May come in handy later though." She pockets the bag of healing supplies.*

"Ah, one thing about the bombs i forgot to mention, they are currently empty. It would be easier to locate a team with their essence, and which essence you choose will have a different effect on what these bombs shall do. I shall let Sakuya explain before filling them with the essence of your choosing." Remilia snaps her fingers once more, calling her maid to do exposition in her stead.

"Thank you for the offer of the supplies but I don't believe I'll actually need any of those things. I'm quite confident in my survival abilities. Still, I suppose it would be rude to outright refuse them." She'd wave her hand as a crow seemed to fly in and grab one of the bags before flying away. "So, the forest is the ideal starting place. How fortunate, I happen to be well versed in gathering information in locations like that. As for questions, I believe for now everything seems clear. If I later have one though I'll be sure to send a messanger pigeon back to this location. Unless of course, I have other methods for communication available."

Mara would take hold of her bag and observe the items found inside. Quite useful indeed in case she keeps getting trashed around. She would stash it in her armour compartment and make note to use it in murky situations but sparingly. “These are quite helpful I must thanks. Do they work to the individual owner or can they be shared may I ask just for emergency sake? Other then that thank you for imparting what you have i’ll make sure to scrap the culprit in heaps and get that moonlight back exactly like you ask!” She would let a sigh out and give a confident smile now feeling a bit more ready to venture off with the supplies given. The task would probably not be easy but it would make for a good test against a rusty combatant like herself looking to improve and get a job done right.

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! Suddenly, from behind, A blue hair that the Scarelet Mansion residents might possibly recognize appears and hugs Remilia from behind. Yooo! It's been so long since we kicked you guys's butts! How is? What's the sitch?

"As you wish Milady." An emotionless voice suddenly resounds close to the party. "As explained previously, two groups have gone out to solve the incident. The first group was lead by the shrine maiden of phantasy of the Hakurei Shrine. She was accompanied by another youkai. Since we didn't get any news from her, the thieving Magician, along with some friends of hers left to search for them but they too have disappeared. Your party now has a total of four Essence Crystals at your disposition. In order to activate them, I need to know which group you'd like to search for. The other group will have to find their way back on their own, if they're still alive. Of course, these crystals are of great benefit to you. If you smash a crystal on the ground, it will create a strong burst of energy that will mix with the essence residing inside of it. It will grant you one full turn of invulnerability to each and every one of you in addition to a specific effect that depends on whose essence the crystal contained. Let's say, you have a crystal with my essence, and you smash it, it will give you invulnerability and my powers to stop time will manifest, essentially allowing you to stop time for a short while. Did your pathetic brains understand all of this? Now which team will you look for? Team Hakurei or Team Kirisame? Know that if you choose team Hakurei, the Young Mistress and myself will give you our essence to power the crystals. As for your question Mara, yes they may be shared, though this will of course deplete your own stock."

Remilia is startled by the blue hair. "Wha-get you hands off me you dodging buffoon! Go stand with the others!" Remilia shakes her off, remembering her embarrassment from not being able to land a hit on the girl.

* Minerva would drum her fingers on her rapier again. " If I didn't want to tick off the boss, I'd have her arm removed for that tone. Whatever." Minerva would sigh.* Someone choose. I'll go along with whatever is decided.

"Welcome back miss Nana."

Faye would listen intently but that last insult seemed to change something in her eyes. For a moment she thought of biting back but the idea of confrontation made her anxious. "Right. I'll search for team Kirisame. If they vanished more recently than my divine power should be able to track them easier." She didn't have much to say, there was more coldness to her tone as if she was growing more reserved. Her aura of fear seemed to return as well in full effect as she began distancing hersefl from everyone else.

Yes Ma'am! Nana jumps over the two and stands with the others. As for who we should go with... She covers her mouth with her hand in a thinking position. We should probably go for team Kirisame. Right? They're the less powerful of the two teams, so they'd be the ones who'd need our help the most. Plus... I have a good idea about this.

"Right then thanks for answering my question, most of this makes sense so I should able to roll with it. With that said I would reckon..." She stopped for a moment and thought about which group be more beneficial to give chase and comes with a similar idea. "Yes I would agree following Team Kirisame would make the most sense if they disappeared more recently their the hot trail. Find them first and maybe you can even get a lead on where to find the second group its like following a chain of events which works quite well for us."

*Minerva nods.* Very well. I vote Kirisame too.

"Very well, I'll take that as a unanimous agreement on team Kirisame." Suddenly the four crystals are now in in Sakuya's hands and shine a dull light. I had our magician activate them while you weren't paying attention. The Yellow one is imbued with Marisa Kirisame's power. It will allow you to unleash a devastating attack. The Blue one will create explosive decoys of yourselves. The Green one will deal damage over time while the Pink one will strengthen your spirits. Now you have everything and know everything. Head out the way you came, circle behind the manor and venture into the woods. I'm sure you'll find something there.

"Well, safe travels, and best of luck. Hopefully, this shall be solved before night's end."

We shall return with the thief and her lo- I mean... the other girl in tow! When we get back we GOTTA do that tea party we talked about earlier Remi-chan! Saku-chan! Nana takes the blue crystal and heads out, not waiting for the others until she arrives at the specified woods LETS GO SLOWPOKES! WHOO!

Very well. I'll deal with this as quick as I can. Not a moment sooner. *Minerva snatches the yellow crystal before following Nana at a slow pace, soon arriving at the woods. She draws her rapier, slashing at the air a few times in preperation before lowering it to her side.* I don't usually work with others. Just don't slow me down to much and we'll be fine.

"Well someone is certainly buzzing with energy, gonna need all we can get to cover this forest. I give my thanks and take my leave as-well for duty calls." She'd give a small bow and take the Pink Crystal deeming it as an important item as well for harsh situations. She'd trail right after Nana and Minerva with a good smile on her face and armour clanking ready for some good old fashion crusading, she'd raised her staff she'd carry high almost like a declaration of a journey starting and hums her way to the specified woods to meet up with the others and gets searching.

Twilight nodded, picking up the green one, "You will not regret asking for my help, for I would die before I gave up" she said as she walked out

You've arrived at the woods. The night has barely set but the woods already give off an eerie feeling. By your side resound the numerous cries and noises of insects and birds as they tend to do when night falls. There's no real path to guide you, but the crystals seem to resonate somewhat with the place. Will you delve deeper inside the forest? What do you do?

*Minerva would look towards the forest entrance and hum lightly.* We need a Canary. *She would look over at Twilight.* You there. Girl who thinks this is a fancy dress party. Go first.

"Hey now may we shouldn't send someone so...unprepared ahead up first, i'm much more armoured up and tank allow me to try move a bit ahead." Mara would take the lead and move first deeper in the forest she'd draw her special staff and carry it by her side. Caution and defence was always her first instinctual choice so she made sure to be alert with every step she took before calling back. "Yeah seems about normal so far no signs of danger thus far to worry about don't lag behind!"

Yeeeeah... This place is probably the last place you wanna send someone unprepared. I say we go as fast as we can! Nana follows Mara closely, looking out for any Youkai that may be close.

As you make your way through the forest, more and more critters can be heard... and felt. Along Mara's leg crawls an enormous spider. It's actually almost unnatural how many insects there are. Spiders, worms, larvae... But also flying ones. Many butterflies and fireflies make their way around the party decorating the atmosphere with their myriad colors.

Twilight was already somehow well ahead, her running shoes were very well fit as she obviously was extremely fast, she looked back at the group, "Lets continue onward, we aren't playing a game after all" she would speak She continued onward, smirking lightly, she was well armed, a keyknife around her neck, a sword on her back, a knife on her right hip and a gun on her left, not to mention the small crossbow strapped to her arm, and the fact that she had a persona, she smiled as she continued onward

Hmmph *Minerva would shake her eyes, her expression hidden behind her wolf mask, before following a few paces behind Mara just in case. She would look past them, watching Twilight's silhouette in the distance. "Looks like that girl really is destined to be a Canary after all." As she kept walking, Minerva would glance around at the insects. Behind her mask, her eyes would narrow slightly as she grips onto her sword tighter.* This place feels off somehow.

Mara would stare at the crawling spiders on her leg and kneel down to let it crawl off. Not the hugest fan but these buggers mean no harm. Though the mass of them is a mysterious spectacle to her giving her a sense of awe it also makes her she have conscious choice to try and step around them as much as possible as she presses forward. "Probably the harshest yet nicest thing I expect to get flung my way. Now then do be wary of the insects they large and may bite if you piss them so mind your every step less you wish to be fodder for them all."

As Twilight runs ahead, she would suddenly feel completely immobilized. It wouldn't take long to notice that her feet weren't touching the ground either. As she slowly got lifted up, she would finally see the many thin yet solid threads of spider silk spun around her. Stuck in this web, she is unable to take any action until freed by her allies, as even magic or spiritual powers seem to have been sealed by it. Slowly, huge spiders crawl along the threads with the obvious intent to feed, and perhaps create a new mating nest. "Hahahahaha !!!! I got some sweet pray this time ! Those previous fools may have been stronger than expected, but you fool seem right up my alley!!" The voice is boyish and reverberates all over the forest. It'd be quite hard to figure out where it came from right now.

(Quick reminder on fighting rules in my threads. Each player has the right to perform one action every turn. The turn ends when all players have performed an action or too much time passes. The next turn begins when all enemy characters have done something and the message -player's turn- shows up. You are free to talk as much as you want at any time. You may even agree with other players on what to do and act in teams. Good team work will probably help in fact. In order to make things easy for me please clearly label what your action for each turn is with the tag : -Action - thank you in advance. And on this note: -player's turn. - Current Boss theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSVqHVfaz8w

...... Hey guys we can just leave them there as bait, right? Onwards! Your sacrifice will not be forgotten! Nana begins marching onward dramatically, completely ignoring the trapped teammate. Though she's not in any hurry to leave, so it'd probably be easy to stop her. Sorry, I was using the wrong account earlier.

*From behind her mask, Minerva would smile slightly, happy that her plan worked.* I knew a Canary would work. They wasted their ambush on one of us instead of the entire team. Now we have the advantage. I suggest we rescue our Canary before she dies, however... I don't know your name, but person who's leaving. She can trigger more traps for us. *Minerva would slash the air before raising her sword to the sky. A chunk of the earth would lift from behind her. Minerva would then thrust her rapier forward, sending the boulder hurtling through the air at one of the spiders.* --Moves-- Graviton: Throw Boulder: Heavy Earth damage to 1 foe

Twilight was freaked out, which was abnormal for her when in uniform, she was trying to get loose, but to no avail, she starts to growl at the spider,

-Action- Flareon lays down on the floor and begins yawing softly, blinking a few times and snoring slightly

Suddenly, a teenage girl makes herself known in the fray, carrying a bunch of wonder balloons in one hand to help her fly and a cute-looking dog in the other. Due to this, she actually forgot to keep her skirt down. She landed next to the Flareon falling asleep, releasing her balloons and lettting down her dog. "Oh, wait, how did I get here? Why did I get here? Ah, whatever." The girl flipped her hair, shuffling through a deck of cards and putting them into her Duel Disk™ before even bothering to look at her own surroundings. "I'm pretty sure this is where my tour guide said the field trip would be. Unless I'm mistaken, but they were interested in friendship, so why would they be? Friendship is like, the best thing ever."

"What did I just say about rushing ahead without watching where you step. Its gonna be one of these days isn't it" Mara would take her staff out and it would glow a bit with a white sparkle to it. She would use it to try and carve a path to Twilights location and try to get her free but takes her time expecting some other form of trap.

The rock flies straight into one of the spiders, squashing it on hit. "Wh- Hey! You'll pay for that ! But if that's all the resistance you guys are putting up to save your teammates... This is gonna be a cinch , haha !" The voice once again echoes all around you before suddenly becoming quite clear. "Firefly Sign「Meteors on Earth 」!!" The spell card shout is immediately followed by a small figure drop kicking both Mara and Twilight in the face for some serious damage. Having come from the canopy, Wriggle fell back onto her legs. "That's two down, now for the rest of you !! C'mon little spiders ! Make more webs !" All around you, spiders scuttle along. it seems that if you're not careful and move around three turns in a row, you'll be caught in one of those spider webs ! "The name's Wriggle Nightbug, and you'll regret coming onto my territory at this time of the day!" ~~~~~~ Meanwhile, Gardener suddenly finds a small bag with three orbs inside and a small handwritten note. "take these. they will bring you back to life if the worst comes to pass." - player turn -

......... ..... .. For a second, Nana stares at the Bug Youkai, before.. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Squealing, Nana dashes towards the Nightbug. LITTLE SHOTA BOY! HE'S SO CUTE! AAAAAA! Upon reaching Wriggle, Nana tries to pick her up and run off with her. I WANNA KEEP HIM! CAN I KEEP HIM!?

Twilight sung something to keep herself calm and rationalize her thinking, she focused on their surroundings, looking for more traps, and telling her teammates where there weren't any

-Action- Flareon rolls on his backside, snoring more intensely as snot begins to form into a bubble as it does when one sleeps.

*As the rock hits the ground from hitting the spider, it would split apart.* So you're the target? I know from experiance that children can't be underestimated in combat. No-one hold back. *Minerva swings her sword behind her. The shards of rock rise up from where they broke and fly back towards her, threatening to cut at anything in it's path. Though she initially aims at Wriggle, Nana's sudden appearance causes her to frantically move her sword, causing the rock shards to part around her inital target. Though they would still hit the bugs around them, they would avoid Nana and her allies, and by proxy, Wriggle. When the shards return to Minerva, they would begin orbiting her as a ring floating slowly around her. Behind her mask, she would grit her teeth, annoyed by Nana's actions.* Idiot. What do you think you're doing? -Moves- Graviton: Bullet Storm (x2-x7 light earth damage to all foes. Ignores Wriggle.)

ooc: I'll update in two minutes anyone who hasn't posted will simply be left as asleep.

The puppy that accompanies her yips, facing Tea and barking out loud to where she is. She immediately goes to where the puppy is, patting it on the head and grabbing the bag with the three orbs. "Oh wow, who knew I was coming here? I bet they came...because of the power of friendship." She makes anti-climatic exploding noises by herself while the dog just follows her, taking the bag with her too.

Mara would get hit and fall to her knees before getting back up and shrugging it off though the hit does ache. "Not...what I was expecting. Note to self someone watch my clumsy back next time." Mara would pull out her barrier absorption shield and it would deploy over her left arm a little bit fearful of getting overwhelm by damage so taking the extra cautious measure. She would move her way again to Twilight but if a threat appears she would try to bash or jab at any threat that even approaches her.

Wirggle unable to forsee this turn of events gets swarmed by a wild Nana. They both fall to the ground. "Wh-Hey ! S-Stop this! I'm not a shota or whatever ! I'm Wriggle Nightbug and I'm the strongest around here !!! Aaaaaaahhhhh !!!! I'll teach you to disrespect me and my babies !" Suddenly, countless centipedes swarm the ground. Colors flood the earth as many species, some more dangerous than others begin to crawl amongst you all. However thanks to Minerva's rocks violently flying around and Knox's birds having a grand old feast of the bugs crawling around, the effects are somewhat mitigated. Same goes for Mara and twilight who are protected by their shield. Still, the amount of critters is so grand that everyone still gets bitten a few times for damage ranging between low to medium. There are also a dew poisonous species crawling about so if you're unlucky you may even get poisoned. Having liberated herself from the raving Nana thanks to the bugs submerging the girl, Wriggle stands up and elevates herself a few centimeters above the ground, her cape floating behind her back. "Do you see now the power of insects? Now just lie down and become our prey !!" -player turn-

Faye would remain in the air, avoiding the bugs though her reation to them seemed a bit...off. She seemed somewhat freaked out by them, even flying higher to avoid them as best she could. "T-they're so...gross..." ~action~ Faye would look down, her eyes glowing brightly as she began to scan Wriggle, trying to look into her mind and see her fears if any existed.

Hey! You're supposed to come home with ME! I Won't let you get away! Rather upset by this turn of events, Nanaka doesn't bother trying to remove the bugs that are currently biting her, giving her welts and small wounds on her body, instead, she casts a short spell before she bursts into flames and self-immolates, instantly incinerating any insects on or near her. She then begins walking towards Wriggle, threateningly. Her red eyes glowing in the night, and the fire raging around her body. You have two options. Come with me and be my friend... OR I'LL BURN THIS FUCKING FOREST TO THE GROUND!

Power of insects? I couldn't come up with a better analogy if I tried. *Minerva would jump in the air, pointing her rapier at the ground. The ring of rocks would freeze in midair before forming a single flat surface and slamming down into the ground, crushing any bugs trying to nip at Minerva's heels. Minerva would land on the slightyl elevated rock platform, hopefully safer from the poisonous bugs, though having lost her ammo to do so.* Pathetic creatures that swarm around uselessly only to get crushed underfoot of stronger predators. Indeed, that is the power of insects. No matter how many times you multiply Zero, you will not get a higher number than Zero. And even if you are a one or perhaps an even higher integer, using an army of Zero's just makes you a Zero. Perhaps you should just Wriggle away to a hole in the ground like your name suggests, bug. -Moves- Minerva creates a small stone platform to lift herself from the forest floor, crushing the bugs beneath her and attempting to protect her from future attacks somewhat due to the new elevation differance. (I couldn't think of a move name, so have a more detailed description instead)

"Really attacking us with bugs? I don't want to just massacre a bunch if I don't have to...no well darn." Mara would use her staff to carve a circle around her with the strange energy emitting from her staff it would make a fissure like safe space for her and block out any critters from trying to get in unless the bugs enjoyed getting erased. This would buy her some time to rest up and recharge her equipment for the next turn.

"Woah, this doesn't look like a field trip!" She immediately picks up her pooch from off the ground and looks at the scene, gasping at the utter sight. Though, she is moreso shocked, her eyes light up immediately when she notices Nana. The teenage girl was very pleased at the scene she's making, giggling like the schoolgirl she is. "Wow, that burning gingerbread girl sure looks like they know a thing or too about friendship." She draws a card and puts it on her duel disk, summoning a ladybug that was actually a bit larger than all of the others that are currently biting everyone else. It had a skull-mark on it. She then puts a card face-up, now summoning a weird device that looked similar to a space satelite. "Let's use...Skull Mark Ladybug. And also a spell card...Magic Reflector. Perfect!" The girl muttered to herself as she summoned these things seemingly out of nowhere, the skull mark ladybug moving towards where Wriggle and Nanaka is. It was also covered in a weird magic energy, giving off a strange aura. Once it was where it was, standing right next to Wriggle, a message was seeming to come from it in the girl's own voice. "I wanna be friends too! That girl with you knows what's up, so I wanted to try too. That's all." And so, the ladybug fucking dies, and the machine breaks down. Attention was now probably being drawn towards her, but she just wanted to relay a message. Though, the only good thing that seemed to come from this was that after the ladybug became deceased, her "allies" now felt rejuvanated, healing them from the bites of the bugs that Wriggle brought out.

-Action- Flareon's snoring causes his chest to puff up, the excess air igniting and raising his body temperature. The heat would affect any bugs that landed on him, potentially causing them their organs to burn from inside out, quickly ending their life within the time it would take for them to swarm him.

Faye's analysis would reveal quite useful. Wriggle is, when all is done, just a bug. Her fears are primal and natural in nature: predators and harsh elements are the bane of her existence. "Geh... First these birds... Now the crazy chick's on fire... This can't be real ! You guys were supposed to be easy pray ! Why does this always happen to me????" Wriggle suffers from a mental breakdown, the insects scatter, afraid of the hungry birds, the roaring flames, sudden falling rocks and erasure, albeit the insects don't quite understand that last phenomenon. Wriggle falls to her knees, sobbing all the while. -player turn-

*Seeing the bugs leave, Minerva would relax her guard slightly. Seeing her foes will to fight drain completely, she would relax the grip on her sword and step down from her platform. The rocks would crumble immediatly after she steps off them, no longer being manipulated so returning to their natural form as rubble. She would walk past Wriggle but stop just pat her and turn her head to Nana.* What are you going to do with them?

Yay! You gave in! I'm taking her home with us! That's what! Nanaka runs over to Wriggle and picks her up like a kid, hugging and comforting her. It's ok.. shhh.. shhh.. you're safe now... You're safe now... I'll make sure nothing hurts you.. I didn't WANT to scare you. But you were so rebellious that I had no choice. You would have gotten yourself hurt! And we can't have that.. now can we cutie pie? Nanaka continues to carry Wriggle as she walks onwards. Loli secured! Lets move on and make more "friends"!

Faye would just be...weirded out. She wasn't sure what to make of the odd blue haired girl but something about her already made Faye uncomfortable. Her aura of fear would strengthen as she stayed flying above the rest of the group. "Maybe...it wasn't a good idea to come along."

Hmm. *Minerva would turn her head away from Nana.* If that's what you want, I won't stop you. But if she acts out and tries to attack us again, She'll be your responsibility. Still. I suppose she could be a useful bargaining chip for down the line. *Minerva would smirk before looking aorund at the rest of her allies "Well. The Canary is down for the count. But..." She would turn and look at Tea. "We got someone else to replace her. No point using the Canary trick again. I doubt it'll work twice. That being said..." Minerva would watch Nana walking off, the mind broken bug commander in her arms. " She's no Canary. She's more of a Bear. Or a Demon." She would look back at the others.* We shouldn't stay in one place for too long. I'd suggest we move. We've wasted enough time as is. If you slow us down, I'm not gonna wait on you. Drag the Canary with you if she doesn't wake up or leave her to the insects. Either way, she's served her purpose. *With those cold words, Minerva would begin to head forwards again, following behind Nanaka a few paces away. Just in case.*

Don't worry! If she tries to attack again I'll crush her tiny bones and burn her alive! Nana skips, happily singing violent things without a care in the world.

Tea would now look over to Minerva, chuckling a bit before snapping her fingers, giving her an awkward finger gun motion. "Haha, I get it! I think I have a card like that too." Any normal person probably wouldn't know what she was talking about, even the dog that she was carrying which tilted it's head in confusion. "I'm not gonna summon it yet, though..." She proceeds to follow the rest of the group.

Ah D... um... g-good to know. *Thankfully for her, Minerva's face slightly shifting in unease and slight fear is hidden behind her mask. She extends the gap between her and Nana by another few paces. Just in case. "I don't think I should get on her bad side. Or her good side either, now I think about it."

Mara would have her equipment reset and brushes herself off. That encounter went poor perhaps she should implement a different strat next time for such a predicament like this. "As I said. All the optimism we need will helps in getting through this, and thank god it did cause I rather not have to kill some poor bugs today. So then I guess we move forward?" Mara would follow along trying to move to the front of the pack to carry on leading this time with her shield at ready this time now recognizing that its crucial to keep a good shield up since she has a sense she will be getting bashed a lot.

"gh-... You're all mocking me... No one's taking me seriously ! None of you are scared of me! You all think that I'm already dead ! And you killed so many of my friends.... I hate you all... I HATE YOU ALL !!!!!!" The bug struggles to free herself from Nana's grip, to no avail. " I don't want to die ! I HAVE TO AVENGE MY FRIENDS !!!! I'll do whatever I can to do it ! Lamp Sign「Firefly Phenomenon」" Suddenly, a flash of light disrupts the penumbra of the early night. The contrast blinds all who are present, causing them to miss their attacks more easily. Insect noises become more present again as Wriggle takes this occasion to break free and hide amongst the trees and their thick foliage. Her voice resonates again "I won't stand for this.... Everyone... Prepare to attack ! This time we'll take them all down in one fell swoop!" The insects become restless. Meanwhile, fireflies still fly around, flaring up their lights to blind the players whenever they can, keeping their accuracy low. -player turn-

Rebellion is useless. Hey. Do what you said you were going to do. *Minerva would point her rapier at Nana. As she does, the rock pile, still in the range of her control, flies for upwards as shards of rocks. She would slash the air multiple times, commanding the rocks. The rock shards would fly into the air. Some would aim at the fireflies to try and stop them but most would fly towards the trees, attempting to pierce the foliage to strike at Wriggle.* You did tell her you would burn the forest down, did you not? -Moves- Graviton: Graviton: Bullet Storm (x2-x7 light earth damage to all foes.)

-Action- Flareon rubs their eyes in their sleep, tossing and turning away from the source of the light

.............. Fine. Fine. I TRIED to be nice. But no. You don't wanna be my friend. Fine. Nana closes her eyes and lifts a finger, which burns like a lighter. She then swings her arm in the general direction of Wriggles voice, and a small flame jumps from her finger off into the distance, however far Nana thinks Wriggle is. Upon making contact with the first thing, whether the ground, or a tree, the small flame expands into a huge burst of explosion, burning grass, lighting trees on fire, and generally scorching anything within close radius of the explosion. I SAID I'D BURN SO I'LL BURN! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS BE A GOOD GIRL AND BEHAVE!

Faye would be especially vunerable to the light though her distance to the rest of the group at least gave her time to move a little higher, trying to recover her sight. "Ow! Why! Why! Why! Darkness head my call, shield my eyes!" ~Action~ The area directly around Faye in roughly a ten foot radious would begin to darken as pure pitch blackness seemed to surround her and block out any light.

Mara would activate her shield again to shield her eyes and ready to bash the unwanted for If anything were to touch it it would meet a fizzle end due to it’s deadly effects. But at this rate she was getting more annoyed then anything like a helpless soldier on the field perhaps a different approach was needed. One that calls for reasoning with this feisty small being. “Um excuse me Mame? We not trying to disrespect you but we are acting’s so peaceful because we rather not want to kill all the bugs here. You seem rather pissed at the work of someone else not us I can tell you that much, and I must apologize for the evil doings of whatever has hurt you, these insects and your friends so uh... Tell you what? “ She stops for a moment trying to come up with some bargaining point to win this thing over. Surely their was a reasonable explanation that could benefit both parties as well...bingo! “We’re trying to catch a shady culprit who’s been disrupting the natural order perhaps its also your culprit as well. If you could let us go not only will we spare and be extra careful of all these small life forms that make up your forest, but we can maybe also find our common enemy and seek out justice as it must be served for this entire plane!” She says that last line with great enthusiasm and determination to win over Wriggle’s faith. But she would also grip her shield ready to hold of a harsh swarm cause she wasn’t born a diplomat.

The girl, tries as she might, shielding her eyes from the supremely bright blindness with her arm, the dog facing the other way and burrowing itself into Tea's chest. "Wow, the sunset's pretty epic right now. I can't see anything, is there somebody mooning us?" -Action:- Tea's dog had dropped to the ground, digging a litttle hole in the ground. Whether it'd actually help is questionable, but either way, it's underground. Tea, now noticing the dog is now not in her possession, took this opportunity to draw a card from the deck placed in her Duel Disk™ and place it face-up. "I am now hospitalized Serenity Wheeler! Windstorm of Etaqua!" The girl shouts, immediately summoning a large green bird onto the field. While it also had gotten blinded by the fireflies, it wasn't there to actually attack. Using it's wings, it flailed them around, now creating a horrible windstorm equivalent to that of a tornado. This made it so Wriggle, who was taking cover behind the trees, would now have nothing left to use as a hiding spot. It also let Faye have a perfect catalyst...if she could see it.

As Nana screams with rage, the team starts firing spells in all directions. Some of it does in fact hit the little bug, but her determination and slight insanity keep her from screaming in pain. Instead, she focuses on amassing as many insects as she can. Between the shouting, the magic and that concentration, Wriggle barely hears Mara speaking. Her hiding spot revealed due to the sudden winds, wriggle decides to make the most of it: She jumps to the ground and, braving the rocks and fireballs thrown randomly around her, gives the order to attack. "Wriggle Sign 「Nightbug Tornado」!!" At this point, the air has grown black with insects of all kinds such as harvest mites (insects so small they are normally invisible to the naked eye), swarm locusts, bees, wasps, and many more. The whole forest and it's immediate vicinity is devoured by bugs. "I told you not to underestimate insects... One may not be much, but get an army, and we'll be unstoppable !!!" The bugs bite, sting, scratch and devour their foes and any living creature they can find. the swarm is so thick around wriggle that it creates like a protective layer of living armor, therefore shielding her of further attacks that wouldn't penetrate it. the players meanwhile suffer a continuous assault of minor wounds that rapidly pile up. Even Faye, up in the skies, nor the birds she commanded, were not spared of some stings and bites of flying insects. In this instant, simply opening one's mouth was like an invitation for critters to feed and mate inside the fleshy folds of your body. "and don't even think that I'm done yet... i'll beat you all to death !!!!!" Wriggle's voice, a quiet echo in the night when you first heard it, was now a roar of desperation and hatred. -player turn-

........................ With a snap of her fingers, Nana again bursts into flames, burning any bugs that get to close to her. Once she's safe from the bugs, Nana opens her mouth again and sighs. I try to be nice and this is what I get. Fine. She raises her arms and begins chanting, and the flames from her explosion circle around Wriggle, making a magic circle around her bug armored body that seemed to be glowing brighter with every second passed. --Action-- Self Immolation and Charging a fire based spell on Wriggle's location

Faye would reel in pain as the insect bit and stung her. In her void of light she had created she would recover her site but as she opened her eyes, the glow of them would even be enough to cause a small amount of light to form in that black void of shadow. She seemed to finally have enough of this. Rage would fill her as she stared down at the girl. Her voice suddenly seemed to echoe throught the dark, attempting to keep it from opening too much while trying to be heard clearly "You brat, you and your insects. Don't you dare disrespect a Godbound of birds! I'll swallow you whole!" ~Action~ The shadows surrounding Faye would suddenly begin to shift and change. They would eventually shape themselves to the image of a large bird but would still be meraly shadows in disguise. Specifically, she would target Wriggle with a spear that seemed to simply be made from pure fear, something could not simply be blocked by a physical coat of bugs. She'd throw it down, aiming for the girl's head, in order to let the power of fear sink in. If her attack was successful it would begin to make the bird of shadows seem much more real than before. The sound of screeching could be heard and the wind of its wings flapping could be felt, as if some great predator had been summoned forth.

More bugs? Zero multiplied by zero is stil zero. One million multiplied by zero is stil zero. *Minerva manages to keep a cool head, despite the minor cuts her clothes and skin were begining to accumulate. She would raise her sword up straight. A number of nearby objects would come towards her. Shards of rocks. Burning branches. Even the corpses of the dead and dying bugs. She would then impale the ground with her rapier. All at once, the object began to orbit around her, spinning faster than the rocks had before. This would create a protective barrier of fire, rock and wind. If her plan was a success, any bugs flying in her direction would get caught in the orbit, joining the shield, or die from the sharp rocks and burning pieces of wood encircling her.* Bug bite strategies don't work if a target has a unlimited source of supplies. Supplies to keep health and morale up. A shield of limitless stamina. One Million multiplied by Zero equals Zero. Even the lowest dice roll can beat that. -Moves- Field: Burning Orbit (Grants a shield that deals fire based contact damage to foes)

"I hate my luck on a consistent basis! Damn you cruel way!" -- Action -- Mara would try to cast the fissure spell again making her incomplete dome but this time would try to aim her shield up ward as a little roof. She would try to hold out extremely defensively[ over the swarm but not sure what else to do afterwards.

Tea, still being blinded, just decides to end her windstorm instead of trying to make it any trouble for everyone else. The dog that burrowed itself underground is still underground, not really doing anything. "I am now Nicholas Cage, and I hate this windstorm!" The trap card would end, making the windstorm vanish. -Action- The girl decides that the best course of action would be to summon another card. But this time, it's helpful. Probably. It wouldn't matter, because she puts it face-up on the field anyway. "Let's try Pumprincess, Princess of Ghosts!" Now a pumpkin with one eye would be on the field, pretty little bows wrapped around it too. It's mouth was carved open and it had 5 vines to support it's figure. It threw itself into the vicinity of the flies, making all of the flies who were to devour the pumpkin instantly die. Once it's rotting corpse would stay on the field, all the damage from the every bug's bites would now be reduced, but it doesn't mean that the bites from before would not go away.

While Mara and Minerva hunker down to protect themselves, thus minimizing damage, though not without still taking some stings and bites, Tea, Faye and Nana go on the offensive. Tea effectively manages to cull the critters' numbers, but only for a brief second. The insects that died are replaced by new ones as the cycle of life is magically accelerated by wriggle's powers. Through all of this however, two attacks have some serious effect, and this without physically touching Wriggle. The fire energy concentrating around her and the illusion of a voracious bird ready to swoop down on her are enough to give the poor girl a new breakdown. Completely lost and unsure, she ends up burrowing into the ground. But then, a sudden ray of moonlight pierces the darkness. The sudden shift in Wriggle's mental balance gets accentuated by the fake moon's mysterious influence. Insanity takes once more ahold of the girl. "Hidden Bug 「Endless Night Seclusion」" She utters the word, as though in a trance. She hears nothing, sees nothing, feels nothing. Her mind is blank and her movements are pure instinct. A madness unlike any others has grasped her mind. Her grip on the bugs is stronger than ever, and these nasty creatures swarm again in full force. She uses them to dig through the ground, safe from fire and birds and heads for her target. With a strength no one would expect her to have, she briskly pulls her hands out of the ground and seizes the enemy's ankles. Her hands burn but she cares not: her sole desire is the annihilation of the enemy. She pulls with all her might to submerge Nana under the ground where all the insects of the ground have gathered to eat her alive. Ants, mantises, scarabs, any insect that burrows of lives close to the ground has gathered for this funerary feast. Even those who normally have no desire for flesh have come to please their lord and master, Wriggle Nightbug. - player turn -

Faye would panic at the sudden change. She wasn't too tired yet so she would quickly activate one of her greater powers. The power would spread to each member of the group quickly as Faye herself began to float closer to the ground. ~action~ Everyone in the ground would find wings sprouting from their back. They would have natural knowledge of how they worked and be immediatly aware that they were far stronger than usual, empowered by Faye's influence to be able to travel much faster. "I-if you want to save her, now's you chance!"

Hm.. Somethings wei-AH! Nanaka is pulled underground by the hands, still flaming, singeing the dirt as she's pulled in. Before anything else happens, Nana closes her eyes and channels the Magic inside of her, expanding it out in an explosion centered on herself, powerful enough to leave a crater in the earth she was dragged under. -Action- BIG BOOM

"Wow, that's a lot of bugs. Time to make like a train. When did I ever say that, oh my god." -Action- Due to all the bugs that literally died from the pumpkin, Tea now gets to give out a little smirk. She flips a card face-up, now revealing Wonder Balloons in their full glory. "Rules don't matter, friendship matters more!" Suddenly, a bunch of wonderous and colorful balloons appear in her hand, now letting her fly upwards. Because of her dog being underground, it's actually in the path of the Nanaka-hungry insects and instantly dies when they all pass by the dog. Thankfully, it appears right in Tea's grasp once again. "Hey, little guy! We both don't feel like falling a horrible death to shuffle my deck, so uh, we can just watch."

“No need to tell me twice i’m diving in please and we’re getting her back save now!” — Action — Mara should shatter her dome barrier and savour what energy she has charged in her equipment. Using the wings granted by Faye she would try to dive towards Nana’s position. She would try to expend the last of her charge to reform the Fissure dome to keep Nana protect and give her a chance to react. This would leave Mara open to many attacks as she focus in keep Nana save in a dire attempt.

What on earth..? *Watching through her orbiting shield, Minerva would watch as Wiggle goes crazy and tunnels herself under the ground. She wouldn't notice at first as Faye embues Minerva with wings, but would slowly rise a bit off the ground, her orbit still spinning around her. She would begin to move to help Nana, but the Nana would explode. Minerva would sigh.* I'm not sure she really needs us to save her somehow. Still... *Minerva's orbit would stop spinning before all the objects in it would form a large rectangle of debris, all pointing the deadliest ends they had towards where Wiggle was. Soon, they would all fire. Minerva would conduct this mass attack of random objects, trying her best not to hit Nana in the process.* Now that's over I can... Wait a moment. *Minerva would look down at the ground, only now noticing she was flying above it.* These people who I'm fighting with... have strange powers indeed. -Moves- Graviton: Bullet Storm [Random] (Deals X2-X7 light attacks of random attributes from Earth, Fire and Physical to all foes. Chance to hit Nana.)

Thanks to Faye, everyone gets a pair of magical wings that lets them fly. Though Akamoto is being devoured alive and Tea is using her balloons to fly, Mara and Minerva both use them to get some more height and movement. Meanwhile, Nana is preparing to go nuclear when suddenly Mara envelops the fiery girl with a protective barrier. This not only shields Nana from Minerva's attack along with wriggle who is immediately underneath Nana, but also contains the explosion. Because of this, however, Nana is still stuck underground, though thanks to the shield, insects no longer get to her. Wriggle, meanwhile, has simply ceased functioning. Her grip on Nana's ankles is so to speak non-existent at this point. All that remains is the vast swarms of insects that still surround you as they try to fight for their lives since their overlord has seemingly died (don't worry, she's simply unconscious, actually but bugs are stupid). - players turn -

Farewell. *Minerva swings her sword in a horizontal slash. As she does, the pieces of wood and stone stuck in the seem to expand and detonate, damage those nearby by an explosion of shrapnel and part the earth. If enough of these small mines were near her target, the ground would part revealing her.* -Moves- Graviton: Gravity Mines (Deals Medium almighty damage to nearby foes)

....... Dangit. I wanted to keep her willingly.... Stupid bug. All you had to do was behave... Nana crosses her arms and pouts inside the shield, snuggling the now charred and exploded Wriggle gently. Maybe I can get someone to brainwash her into being obedient...

"Oh, shit." -Action- Now noticing that she has grown wings on her back, Tea instantaneously giggles with joy. She flaps them a little to make sure they work, and lets her dog hold the ballons so that it'd get to fly too. "Alright, have fun with that! Now, to shuffle my deck..." Since the amount of insects that died are more than enough to give her a lot of balloons, the absurdity of all the balloons made the dog just fly straight upwards, sending it towards the sun. Since all the balloons popped before the dog did, all the bugs would have a reduced amount of attack once again. The dog died though, but it went back in Tea's arms. Tea now gets depressed because she has to shuffle her deck again.

“Why does everyone else get to sit comfy while I have to be bug bait. Come on this swarm has to die out eventually...can’t keep this going on forever!” — Action — Mara would continue to hold the barrier down pushing herself a bit to the edge more then usual as she was being pelted by bites and would probably get barraged even more but she wouldn’t let up defending Nana and that small bug as well with the giant swarm putting them in such a dangerous spot.

Light beams would strike the bugs away from Mara, a pair of blue glowing eyes shining, along with a pair of white glowing wings with blue highlights, Twilight would emerge from the burning forest, the fire having freed her, her persona floated behind her, "Miss me?" Twilight asked

(Okay, well then pretend I just appeared surrounded by light, everyone seemed to think I was dead after all, my comeback should be amazing, and also it was so creepy, I was doing my outdoor night chores and there were a lot of bugs making noise and I kept getting caught in spiderwebs, just like my character)

*Minerva would glance over at Twilight. Behind her mask, she would roll her eyes.* Good Morning, Canary. Did you sleep well while we did the hard work of protecting your useless behind from killer insects? You woke up just in time to walk ahead of everyone when we set off. I thnak you ahead of time for your co-operation.

Faye would simply move over near where Nana and Wriggler were. She'd be worried about getting to close but from the shadows she would form a small black knive. She'd toss the knive towards Wriggler and try to bury it within her head. The knive would cause no physical harm buth rather would simply pass through her skin harmlessly. "A bit of night in your head should keep you asleep for now. I should manipulate her dreams too but...what to do. I'm not used to this stuff."

"Hey, you shoulda got me loose instead of just letting me hang there! I was awake trying to get loose for several minutes and the fire is what got me free but it hurt me pretty bad!" Twilight hissed She had burns on her body, they looked pretty bad,

Lying is bad. *Minerva would turn her back on Twilight.* They cut you down earlier. *Minerva nodded her head towards Mara* You then began to sing for a bit and then went unconcious, possibly due to a halucenegenic or delirium inducing toxin applied to you by the spiders. The fires would have burned you while you remained unconcious on the forest floor. Besides, I've seen worse burns. Just use one of those healing crystals on yourself. That should heal the burns. Word of advice: Stop trying to sound more badass than what you actually are. Status doesn't mean anything to me. *She would then walk over to Faye's side and look down on Wriggle.* What are you going to do to them?

(I don't remember seeing that someone got Twilight loose, I remember Mara trying to get to her but don't recall Mara getting Twilight loose before she started singing, or after)

(Then perhaps you should have been paying more attention)

(Don't know how I could have missed that... normally I wouldn't) (Okay I see what threw me now, I went up and checked and remembered why I didn't think Twilight was loose, Mara said try to get Twilight free, so I didn't think she actually got Twilight free, so I ain't becoming an idiot, good)