1597/Starbreaker

Starbreaker
Date of Scene:	28 May 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Stellar confronts Sunset of Sora. But she actually has a plan?
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Hinoiri Kirara
Tinyplot:	Sunset of Sora

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Early evening, the sun staining the horizon a deep orange-red in a clear sky. Tokyo bustles, cars and streetlamps and the lights from buildings casting everything into a bright backlight despite the deepening night.

    Amidst the traffic, someone is driving recklessly. A red-haired young woman, all in white and gold, weaves between traffic on a white-and-gold motorcycle, driving at speeds which can only be described as Unsafe, yet aside from a few honked horns or momentary shouts, the other drivers hardly seem to notice her.

    She's following a scent- the scent of a powerful magical concentration. So powerful that she can smell it from a much longer distance than normal. And, considering that Sunset of Sora isn't really trying to hide, the closer she gets the more obvious the signs that she's on the right track.

    She screeches to a halt outside a small public park. Trees and bushes obscure the interior of the greenspace, though the light of path lights and streetlamps filters through the trees. Parking her bike, she steps off of it, taking a moment to shake off her long coat. She takes her phone out, taps out a message, then puts it away again before walking down the path and into the cover of the trees, towards the source of that strong (and growing stronger) source of magic.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunset of Sora was standing amidst a small group, all collapsed. Only three of them had any burns, but fortunately the burns were a lot less severe than the other victims of hers had been. She had one held in her hand, who she dropped to the ground only moments after Stellar's arrival. All of the magic was so loud. The emotions, the people. She could hear it when she didn't shove it aside.

Her breathing was raspy, achy. Angry.

She turned towards the biker's direction, though she couldn't see her yet.

She was all but feral, now. At least, in appearance and movements.

It was all so loud, and it only seemed like it was getting louder. Everything she could feel. But she could hear it. More magic. Coming to her. Something... powerful. Another victim? Perhaps. She hunched down onto all fours, turning towards the approaching Stellar... and... the moment she saw her? She'd sigh.

"Ah... you. I remember you... you're late. Are you here to make pretty lights again and gesture at me ineffectually? If you'd like, I'll even give you a free punch... but you couldn't do anything with it last time, I doubt this'll be any different."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    The sky is cloudy. Wasn't it clear a moment ago? There's a distant rumble of thunder as Stellar steps into the clearing. Grey eyes sweep over the collapsed forms- noting them, but dismissing them a moment later. It's not that she doesn't care. She doesn't want people to get hurt. But there's nothing she can do for them right now, and it's going to take all that she has just to keep herself from ending up like them.

     She tosses her head slightly, pushing red hair back out of her eyes. Those eyes settle on Sunset of Sora, taking her in. A lopsided smile forms slowly on her lips. "Well, aren't you just a monster." She says, her tone dripping with amused venom. "I suppose you'd have to be. You know, you've hurt some people I care about very much.. enough that I'm willing to do some pretty stupid shit in order to make sure you regret it."

    She stands across the small paved plaza from where Sunset of Sora crouches, but makes no move to come closer- yet. "Are you sure you want to offer that to me? You called yourself Sunbreaker, but not all stars are created equal." Her head tilts slowly to the side. "You really want to see why they call me Stellar, kid?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunset of Sora gave a shrug. "Probably. I was never really human to begin with, so I might as well be a monster. Really? I have? Oh noooooo. I'm soooooo sorry. If I had known that they were important to.... whoever you are? Stellar? I'd have totally... not cared," Sunset of Sora said with a shrug.

"I'm Hinoiri Kirara, the Sunset of Sora. I'm done with that. Playing nice. Being kind. Gentle. It gets me nowhere. But... why not?"

She disappeared in a flash of fire, reappearing in front of Stellar. "Do it. Show me why they call you Stellar. Sunbreaker was a foolish name from the onset. I was hiding... I believed myself worthy, I believed I could gain the attention of the stars if I just earned it. But... that was then. This is now. There's nothing for me to earn. Nothing for me to be worthy of... so show me, Stellar. Sh-- SHUT UP!" she yelled, suddenly moving her hands over her ears. "WHY WON'T ALL OF YOU JUST BE QUIET?! I'M DONE CARING!" she screamed, before turning back to Stellar. Her narrow, cat-like eyes burning with the flames. "SHOW ME! HIT ME! HIT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE! SHOW ME A STAR WORTH SNUFFING OUT!"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Hinoiri disappears, and re-appears right in Stellar's face. She doesn't flinch, but rather... she vanishes. Even as Sunset of Sora is ranting at her, she's simply not there anymore, and instead is standing on the other side of the plaza, not too far since it isn't very big, but opening up the distance between them again. "Alright, then." Her expression is grim, her cockiness replaced with a businesslike stoicism. "I guess it's time to make the play."

    Her lips move, but what she says isn't audible across the distance. It's a low murur. "Balance. Do it." A voice rings in her ear, audible only to her. "You have four minutes. Make them count."

    The clouds overhead roil violently and an enormous, ear-splitting crack of thunder seems to make the ground vibrate underfoot, the branches of the trees shivering in a wind that doesn't exist. An instant later an enormous bolt of lightning strikes the ground directly in front of Stellar, the column of light as thick as her body, the pavement cracking and hissing from the explosion of energy. When the glare of light fades, something is standing there, carried down by the bolt. A weapon- a polearm, as long as Stellar is tall. It's shaft and blade are both pure white, like snow... or bone. Intricate carving, jagged lines and sworls decorate its length and it smokes, lazy drifts of grey wisping up from it into the ionized air.

    "Hey baby. It's been a while." Stellar says to the weapon before she holds up one of her hands. The naginata, for that's what it is, the curved blade thrust down into the pavement, lifts up as if drawn by some invisible force, spinning around in the air seemingly of its own volition before snapping back into Stellar's grip like drawn by a magnet. She twirls it once, twice, the long weapon seeming to flow over her and between her arms before coming to rest gripped in both hands, one just below the blade, one lower down the haft.

    When Stellar looks up again, her grey eyes glow like suns themselves, a bright golden light that roils with the fury of stars, little lightningbolt-flickers crackling at their edges.

    "Remember. You asked for this."

    And she comes. Closing the distance between them so quickly she hardly seems to move, a trail of glowing, crackling light left in her wake along the pavement as the weapon whips around, its curved blade now glowing with its own intense light, leaving a golden arc of afterimage lingering a half-second behind its movements.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunset of Sora cocked an eye and then began to, very slowly, laugh. A hand moving up to her mouth. "Oh. Oh this is what it's all *about*. Finally! Proper showmanship! Proper displays! The weather, the lighting, the blade! This is what I've been wanting! This is what I've been imagining since I came to this stupid *rock*. Instead? I get these annoying monkeys talking about friendship and love!" she yelled, laughing...

And she had asked for it. And were she just Sunbreaker? Were she as she had been? She might have been ended, right then and there.

But she wasn't. Instead, the dirt was kicked up, the air was electrified...

And when the dust was gone? The naginata blade would be stopped, inches from Hinoiri. Her left hand was up, and three blades were there. Just like Sayaka's. Except two of them had been cut in half by the blow, the third having a deep cut into it.

Yet, Hinoiri's eyes had dimmed slightly. "I see. Your star really is... dim... isn't it? Sora would have been able to cut me down with such ease." Despite her words, though? There was more to it. She, admittedly, hadn't expected one of the blades to get cut through. Let alone three. Was this really what the woman was capable of? Still, despite the power, she refused to see the shining star in front of her. Her own anger and grief refused to let her.

She flicked her right hand and more swords materialized around her, beginning to slowly spin, wielded in her magic. "But if we're going to play with weapons... I hope you don't mind if I use the weapons I've seen the most. I really was expecting you to be more punchy."

Three of the swords dashed out, but they were all in a straight path from her, aiming to pierce and likely easy for Stellar to avoid, while the three that had been cut up? Were quickly regenerating.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    If Hinoiri expected Stellar to be surprised that her cut had stopped short of shearing through everything in its path, she might be disappointed. Whether or not she is, she doesn't show it. Her face is one of grim determination as she holds there for a moment, the glowing blade of her naginata embedded, locked with that third sword, hissing and spitting like a live wire.

    "Cut you down with ease?" Stellar asks, her tone mildly sardonic. "Where would the fun in that be? You've made my friends suffer. The least I can do is repay the favor."

    Swords materialize around Sunset of Sora, and Stellar is tracking them, even if the movements of her eyes are hard to see with them glowing like they are. When three of those swords fly towards her, she rips her naginata free and spins to the side, two of them missing her entirely while the third scrapes down the length of her naginata, her hand whipping it away to send the sword spinning off into the night.

    She doesn't pause though, turning the dodge and deflection directly into attack. Swing after swing, she sends that glowing blade at Hinoiri's head. She moves like a snake, years of experience fighting monsters, years more of good, solid mundane training lending her a fluidity of motion that is only amplified by the raw, chaotic stellar magic coursing through her like it hasn't done for years.

    But it's more than just the naginata. As she swings with it, bolts of lightning suddenly begin to drop from the clouds overhead, striking in concert with her blows but never in the same place. She swings her weapon in from the left, a bolt hits the ground to the right, aiming to catch Sunset of Sora as she dodges backwards. She swings the weapon overhead, a bolt spears down directly behind. Over and over, attacks from multiple directions, fast, coordinated, without a break. The ferocity of the assault is breathtaking, the sense of overwhelming fury behind the strikes echoed in the snarl curling Stellar's lip.

    Keep the pressure on. Don't let her catch her balance. Strike, and strike, and strike until you hit the heart. The pavement is becoming a cracked, glowing mess. There are trees on fire, maybe from Hinoiri, maybe from the lightning. Car alarms are going off on the street from the repeated, unnatural cascade of thunder.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunset of Sora sighed when the girl pulled back. "Ah. Vengeance. So another one of your little hit squads, then? Where's the rest of you, ready to cut me down when--"

AND THEN SUDDENLY ALL THE BLADE!

Hinoiri yelped, moving back as the blade came at her, fast and wild. Her blades were parrying it, but they kept getting cut down. While there were ten of them, it often took two or more of them to parry the blade away.

But then there was lightning. She turned towards it and actually smiled, lifting her hands up...

And the lightning she knew. She understood that. As the magic descended on her, her own swords flashed like fire, attempting to strike at Stellar while they were cut to pieces. However, as the bolts flew down at her, she whipped her hands around, seeming to catch them and Stellar could feel that twisting, terrible dark magic as the bolts were redirected, being sent at STELLAR! The two in a deadly glame of magical blades versus blades, lightning flashing around them, Hinoiri avoiding some, redirecting others...

But then, her blades were just too slow, just once. And the naginata drew, just a little, against her right hand. She blinked in awe as a little blood dripped from the small wound. Shallow. Tiny... but definitely a true mark. The magic was much easier for her to keep track of. The blade? Not so much... That really was her greatest weakness. She had gotten better, but not good enough.

She held out her right hand then, and then blades retracted suddenly. "Jacket jacket jacket beam." ... Wut.

A beam of magic, similiar to the Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber beam, erupted from her hand. An imitation, mind, but a pretty destructive one, its presence tearing a gash through the ground as it went.

And she followed it up by charging, her right arm back... then lunged forward, taking the form of a metal claw. The same one Black Lynx had tried to use against her.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Afterwards if you asked her, Stellar would admit to being surprised by Hinoiri being able to redirect some of her lightning strikes. In the moment, she doesn't show it, even as lightning flashed by her. Almost hitting, never quite. One bolt she actually catches with the blade of her naginata, the bolt striking, then coiling around it like a snake before she whips the weapon around and fires it right back again.

    The plaza is devastated, and only the fact that Stellar is consciously drawing the fight away from the unconscious bodies on the ground on one side of it is saving them from much worse injuries than even what Sunset of Sora had inflicted. There's no breaks in the back-and-forth, because Stellar doesn't have time to allow breaks, even if it means pushing herself past what is wise. What is safe.

    "Two minutes." A voice in her ear, warning her that half of her time has elapsed. Amidst the magical maelstrom of the battle, it seems both moments and hours since it has begun, making the reminder very welcome.

    The blades vanish, and Stellar whirls into yet another attack, whipping the shaft of her naginata around just as Hinoiri fires that massive, destructive beam. Stellar throws herself to one side, and her naginata actually breaks apart, segmenting in two, the two halves of bone-white shaft linked by a crackling tether of golden light that curves over the beam to keep the blade on its trajectory towards Hinoiri's arm even as Stellar herself tumbles to the side, rolling back up to one knee.

    It seems like, for just a moment she hesitates, as if she's unsure what to do, as Hinoiri charges her. It's out of character- never once before this did she hesitate. But the brief moment of hesitation before she starts to dodge is enough.

    The claw catches her in the upper arm, stabbing her through the muscle and jerking her to a stop.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunset of Sora didn't, at this moment, carethat there were civilians in danger. One day, she might thank Stellar for that. One day. At the moment, though? At the moment, she only saw this fighter. This warrior. The blade tore in half around the beam... and kept coming at her. As the blade twisted through the air, Hinoiri began to sing...

"A baroque that shuts away light becomes beautiful noise..."

A black stage formed around her as she pulled her arm back...

Blocking the blow.

"The whisper of our dark trap cradles you. Sleep forever."

The stage disappeared, a moment later trying to appear around both of them. To trap Stellar in with her. In a small, tiny space. A space where the naginata would struggle to even move, let alone actually swing.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    The claws are yanked back out of Stellar, causing her to grit her teeth and curse under her breath, stumbling a few steps forward. She might go on the attack again but before she can, Hinoiri is singing... and the walls close in.

    She finds herself face-to-face with Sunset of Sora again. Close enough to feel the heat. Her own body crackles with energy, but it's heat of a different kind. The energy of creation, rather than destruction. The light of stars, shining in the dark. Even in this dark.

    But she can't get away. There's nowhere to get to.

    "Three minutes."

    "I guess time is up." She says, out loud.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunset of Sora was in and... she reached out, her tail coiling around the other girl as she, forcefully, tore her magic from her. Fire and darkness enveloping Stellar, she ripped it out, bit by bit, draining it so powerfully, fully...

Adding more imitations to her repetoire. More knockoffs. More parodies. Taking, and then shoving Stellar away, her song ending before she turned.

Then she clutched her head, growling, trying to silence the voices. "Gnnnnng..." she grumbled, before a hand moved over her mouth. "Urggg..." It was so loud. She could feel everyone. She could taste it. Hear it. It was all conflicting. It was all surging inside her. Just a little more. She just. Needed. A little more. She was. Almost. There.

When she teleported away, Stellar might be able to appreciate... while it hurt? It wasn't nearly as destructive as it could be. Fuyuko had gotten it much worse. Maybe it was the fact Stellar had seemingly surrendered in the end. Or maybe it was because Stellar didn't mean as much to her... Or maybe it was just luck. But Hinoiri was becoming, with every drained person, a little stronger... And a little more *wrong*. As everything coiled and writhed within her.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar can feel that awful suction, as her magic is being drawn from her, and though she struggles against the coiled tail, unable to break the hold, she manages to gasp out, "You want my magic so bad... fucking choke on it."

    And it might seem to Hinoiri, if she can tell such things, that Stellar is actually forcing her magic through the connection, shoving it out of herself and into Sunset of Sora willingly, no matter how wrong it felt to do so. Maybe just to make it end faster.

    She is shoved away, and she stumbles, henshin breaking, tumbling to the broken pavement. It was quick, at least, so compared to a lot of the others, she is not badly burned. Scorch marks across her clothes, some reddened, blistered patches of skin where the tail was in contact with her, but nothing like the full-body burns Fuyuko ended up with.

    As Hinoiri teleports away, Stellar levers herself upright. The naginata is gone. Even if she hadn't been drained, it would have been gone. Her time is up.

    But it was enough.

    "Choke on it." She mutters again, as she unsteadily climbs to her feet and makes her way back towards her parked bike.

    She had even brought burn cream with her in her bag.