Keine Quest (Part 6): Broken History (Complete)

[DracoOmega]

>Keep firing on, take to the air and try to stay in its way.
>"Just do it!"

>You continue to fire on the shadow while doing your best to stay in front of it. It swerves to one side, you dash back and shift back in front of it and the two of you dance like this while you retreat towards Maribel. In the corner of your eye, you see Marisa's Master Spark dissipate, while Mugetsu continues firing upon the second shadow.
>Maribel stumbles backwards. "I- I don't-"
>Suddenly the shadow's form grows hazy and it lunges into you. You barely have a moment to react before you feel an entirely unnatural and gripping sensation flood through you. Your vision and hearing dims and you feel your sense of place falter.You're dimly aware that you've stopped moving. Maribel cries out.

[Hello Purvis]

>Pause.
>Stay calm. Mugetsu told us we can't be hurt by things if we don't let them.
>Do we still feel our familiars?

[DracoOmega]

>Pause.
>Stay calm. Mugetsu told us we can't be hurt by things if we don't let them.
>Do we still feel our familiars?

>You pause and try to gather yourself, reminding yourself of Mugetsu's words. Although they were more specific to the matter of drowning, it seems like a reasonable generalization.
>You can still feel your familiars. And you can still see and hear, for the matter. Your senses just feel a little muted and hazy, but they already seem to be recovering. You still feel an incredibly disconcerting sensation throughout yourself. Not exactly pain; something less physical. You feel like shuddering.

[Hello Purvis]

>It seems the thing is passing through us.
>"I'm okay!"
>Would it be plausible to generate some danmaku while it is doing this and hit it from the inside?
>Fly the equivalent of a step back.

[DracoOmega]

>It seems the thing is passing through us.
>"I'm okay!"
>Would it be plausible to generate some danmaku while it is doing this and hit it from the inside?
>Fly the equivalent of a step back.

>It certainly seemed like it may have.
>"What happened?" you hear Marisa call back.
>You feel well enough to generate danmaku, although you're not sure how to go about hitting it from the inside, or if it even has something that could be called that.
>You fly a step backwards. This doesn't appear to accomplish anything in particular, and you still can't see the shadow. You hear footsteps behind you.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Firing up!"
>Try to generate some danmaku so that it originates from as close to our skin as possible, and thus would harm anything engulfing us. Direct them upward so we're less likely to hit an ally.

[DracoOmega]

>"Firing up!"
>Try to generate some danmaku so that it originates from as close to our skin as possible, and thus would harm anything engulfing us. Direct them upward so we're less likely to hit an ally.

>You shout out a warning, then try to fire danmaku as close to your body as possible, aiming them upwards to avoid hitting anyone else.
>You see Marisa turn to look past you, then grimace. She thrusts out a hand and a tight burst of danmaku streaks past you.
>"Dammit, stop moving!" she yells.
>You hear something hit the ground, and Maribel lets out a short yelp.

[Hello Purvis]

>Look toward Maribel.
>How are we feeling?

[DracoOmega]

>Look toward Maribel.
>How are we feeling?

>You turn around, and see Maribel face-down on the ground, a several feet behind you. The shadow hovers no more than a foot or two away from her, ragged and partially dispersed. If it had limbs in the conventional sense, you would say it was limping.
>You're feeling somewhat better, although still unpleasant and a bit impeded.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Stay down, Maribel!"
>Give the encroaching one as many shots as we can reasonably give without worrying about friendly fire. Try to ignore personal oddities for now.

[DracoOmega]

>"Stay down, Maribel!"
>Give the encroaching one as many shots as we can reasonably give without worrying about friendly fire. Try to ignore personal oddities for now.

>You call out to Maribel. She doesn't acknowledge you, but she also doesn't get up. Hopefully that's not a bad thing.
>You launch as much danmaku at the shadow as you feel you safely can. Given its proximity to Maribel, and the fact that it is descending over her, this is rather difficult. Still, you land some fire on it, and Marisa adds some more of her own. It starts to scatter under the assault and dissipates just as it reaches out to her.
>"There's more of them!" Mugetsu shouts.

[Hello Purvis]

>Turn to assess more of them. Fire on the nearest.
>How are we feeling? About the same?

[DracoOmega]

>Turn to assess more of them. Fire on the nearest.
>How are we feeling? About the same?

>You turn around. One of the shadows is not more than a few feet ahead of you, looking a little ragged. Mugetsu is currently firing upon it. Two more are approaching from 10 or so feet away, while Gengetsu herself has also closed several more feet. You add some of your own fire to the closest shadow, and Marisa sweeps a laser through it. It continues to close.
>You continue to improve, although you still don't feel quite right. You don't think it'll be enough to seriously interfere with anything you do, however.

[Hello Purvis]

>Stay in its way. Make it have to go through us to get to her; if we've taken one we can take more.
>Does Gengetsu still seem to be generating them?

[DracoOmega]

>Stay in its way. Make it have to go through us to get to her; if we've taken one we can take more.
>Does Gengetsu still seem to be generating them?

>You do your best to keep yourself in front of it, trying to repeat a similar dance to the one you performed on the first shadow. It is in far better shape than the first shadow was, however, and evades more quickly. You continue to fire upon it, and Marisa and Mugetsu attempt to, but with you keeping practically on top of it, you give them few opportunities. You graze uncomfortably past a few of Mugetsu's yellow spheres as you move to block. You think Maribel is only a couple more feet behind you, at this point.
>You think you see some vaguely churning forms in the void alongside her, but none are near to fully materialized yet.
>The other shadows continue to dash forward. Marisa spins around and launches a wide wave of slowly spreading stars in their direction, which the should probably collide with in a few moments.

[Hello Purvis]

>Hope that Marisa and Mugetsu can hold off the rest, and keep interfering with and taking potshots at the one we've claimed.
>Does it seem to have any especial reaction, or lack thereof, to being hit in certain places?

[DracoOmega]

>Hope that Marisa and Mugetsu can hold off the rest, and keep interfering with and taking potshots at the one we've claimed.
>Does it seem to have any especial reaction, or lack thereof, to being hit in certain places?

>You leave the other two shadows to your companions and focus on dealing with this one as best you can. You land several more solid hits on it while your dance forces you backwards. Glancing out of the corner of your eye, you see Maribel has righted herself, but is still dangerously close to the shadow's grasp. If it passes through you at this point, you are certain it will reach her. You don't think the current rate of damage you're inflicting will dissipate it before that point, either.
>It does not react obviously differently to shots that have hit any part of its body. The area closest to the impact wavers the most immediately afterwards, but you haven't noticed a difference in long-term damage inflicted as a result of this.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Be ready to draw back a bit, Maribel. Don't run, but be ready to draw back a bit. In the meantime, just think about that moon being full. Will it to be so!"

[DracoOmega]

>"Be ready to draw back a bit, Maribel. Don't run, but be ready to draw back a bit. In the meantime, just think about that moon being full. Will it to be so!"

>"I- I'll try," she says, shifting back a few steps, while you continue to tangle with the shadow, sending more danmaku through its form.
>The third shadow rams through the wave of stars Marisa fired, pieces of it wavering and contorting. Marisa lays adds more direct fire on it, while Mugetsu sends out another wave of yellow orbs. Gegetsu closes another foot or two. You think you can see a fifth shadow start to emerge from her.

[Hello Purvis]

>Not much we can do about the other shadows, got to keep this one occupied. Try to concentrate fire on it; but not so much we lose some of our roadblock ability.
>Don't worry too much about stray fire in the direction of the other shadows, though.

[DracoOmega]

>Not much we can do about the other shadows, got to keep this one occupied. Try to concentrate fire on it; but not so much we lose some of our roadblock ability.
>Don't worry too much about stray fire in the direction of the other shadows, though.

>You continue to attempt to impede the shadow, being forced backwards a little at a time. Its form grows more ragged as you continue to pelt it with what danmaku you can, but you think it's still got a bit more fight in it before it stops moving.
>Suddenly you feel something change. The moon! The moon is full! You feel the transformation start to grip you, making it difficult for you to move properly.

[Hello Purvis]

>If possible, shout, "Thank you!"
>Try to keep firing, if possible, and targeted on the shadow.

[DracoOmega]

>If possible, shout, "Thank you!"
>Try to keep firing, if possible, and targeted on the shadow.

>You try to force out a few words as the sensation floods through you. "I- I did it?" Maribel says, glancing up at the sky. "Really?"
>You try to fire, find you cannot muster the focus to do so. Your limbs feel electrified and your breathing is heavy. The transformation is always a little overwhelming for a few moments; you have a hard time paying attention to your surroundings. You senses are consumed with the change flooding through you, and the power in its wake.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Cover...Maribel!"
>Try to keep an eye on the shadow.

[DracoOmega]

>"Cover...Maribel!"
>Try to keep an eye on the shadow.

>You manage a few more words. "Can't be everywhere at once!" Marisa yells back.
>With you unable to stall it, the shadow dove past you and is essentially on top of Maribel. It's motion breaks her out of her momentary fascination with the moon and she tries to back up; however, it's apparent that it will catch her any second unless she bolts.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Fall! Back!"
>Be prepared to blast it the moment we can.

[DracoOmega]

>"Fall! Back!"
>Be prepared to blast it the moment we can.

>"Falling!" Marisa says.
>You see Mugetsu flickers into existence near you and fire a ray of thin blue bolts, tearing through the shadow nearest Maribel. Maribel tries to dash to the side and put some more distance between her and it; its pursuit is slowing notably.
>You stagger another step as the power suffuses you. You feel your eyes shift and sharpen and the air about you seems to grow more crisp as you awareness heightens. You cry out almost involuntarily as you feel your horns burst from your head. Deep breath. Your eye darts towards the shadow, and you waste not a moment in unleashing sweeping streams of danmaku through it. It shudders and contorts violently and then is no more. Another deep breath. Crisis or no, it feels good!

[Hello Purvis]

>Ragged laugh.
>Assess the rest of the situation.

[DracoOmega]

>Ragged laugh.
>Assess the rest of the situation.

>You allow yourself a little satisfied laugh. This is more like it!
>You glance around the rest of the battlefield. Marisa is falling back like you said, firing at the two shadows nearing her as she retreats. One looks a bit the worse for wear, while the other has only minor damage. Gengetsu continues her approach, standing about where Marisa used to be when this started. Mugetsu is near you, and is turning her attention back towards the front. You see a fifth shadow is rising out of Gengetsu's side.

[Hello Purvis]

>Focus fire on the damaged one, get it out of the road.