Shadow smirks in response to his strategy working, and the smirk boldens upon seeing that Sonia is becoming winded.
"You've been doing well so far! Haven't had a duel like this in quite a while!"
He steels himself as the vines begin flinging debris at him, batting away the smaller chunks and leaping out of the path of the larger ones. He then gestures with his hand, and said chunks of debris slowly begin to rumble where they fell. Shadow takes this opportunity to trace a pattern in the air with the Black Blade and then thrust forward with it, causing a mobile barrier of energy to fly toward Sonia.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker"Same to you. I haven't had a duel like this since I tried fighting Thaddeus." , Sonia remarks.
She immediately jumps up to evade the energy barrier, landing on a roof and, still a bit winded, isn't able to attack back this time.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay."Oh, really? Interesting...and, thank you! This is a fine way to keep one's instincts sharp in the face of complacency."
The chunks of rubble then rise into the air as directed by Shadow, and begin to launch one-by-one at Sonia's location. Shadow also sends a line of smaller energy bursts in a crescent-shaped pattern, which fans outward the further it flies.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerSonia lets her spear spin in front of her to shield herself from the attacks again. She then lets two vines grow some distance away from her, coming together in a knot before they lay down on the roof they're on.
She stays on the defensive for now, keeping her spear spinning.
Odd. What could she be plotting?
Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 31st 2020 at 11:46:54 AM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Kyoko doesn't notice the Kyubey, or if she does, she doesn't remark on it. If observed closely - hey, she don't got a Soul Gem!
"McDonalds? Madoka told me about that place... I think. Was it WcDonald's?"
Edited by Rbade on Mar 31st 2020 at 2:56:20 AM
/\。。/\Shadow continues to launch the rubble, which...flies over Sonia's head and begins to land with a thud on the other side. It begins to pile onto itself in a haphazard fashion, with two blocks of stone masonry and several battlements and spires landing in the courtyard of a ruined cathedral, knocking over more rubble on top of the heap. Shadow then tilts his head in response to the vines.
"Huh. This should be interesting..."
He too takes on a defensive stance, manifesting a protective aura around himself, arm still raised.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerNoticing that her spear isn't targeted anymore, she glances back at the debris that falls somewhere behind her.
She doesn't trust this one bit.
Regardless, with attacks on her direct person ceased, her spear stops spinning, and she holds it in her hand again. She then kneels down, putting one hand on the ground.
"Final preparations..." , she thinks to herself.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The hail of rubble finally ceases, and the last chunk lands with a large shockwave. Shadow then grins, and clicks his fingers....
...but nothing happens other than a spire of the rubble shifting just an centimeter. Shadow takes on a puzzled expression, clicking his fingers several other times, then shrugs, and launches a large fireball at Sonia through the barrier.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerSonia jumps over the shockwave, then notices the rubble's slight movement. She raises an eyebrow, then looks up at Shadow...
And doesn't move, letting her spear spin again to block the fireball, using this opportunity to replenish more stamina.
Should Shadow have something bigger planned though, this may be the perfect opportunity to strike.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow lobs a few more large fireballs, then suddenly launches into flinging entire volleys of them, which noisily explode on contact. While he does this, the rubble twitches again intermittently between volleys...then, suddenly...
it gets up.
◊ Rising slowly, and surprisingly quietly, for a massive construct formed of marble masonry salvaged from a cathedral, up on its four literally-pillarlike legs, it reaches its full, looming height, casting a vast shadow over Sonia just as Shadow, who had hopefully been keeping her attention on himself by having her parry his fireballs, grins teasingly and slowly points behind her. The newly-formed colossus then attempts to whack her with its spire hand.
Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Mar 31st 2020 at 5:37:20 AM
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerWell, to be fair, rising rubble wouldn't exactly be silent, and it'd cast a shadow. As such, Sonia notices it, turning around when she hears it.
Her spear being stuck on defending from fireballs though, and with her still tired, she isn't fast enough to evade being slapped into a house.
A few seconds later, she bursts through the roof, landing on it and actually looking wounded now.
"This is the game you wanna play? Alright." , she grins, her eyes glowing a slight green as she raises her hand.
Multiple vines start appearing around the house's foundations, then suddenly pull the house up from the ground, holding it, then throwing it right at Shadow's colossus.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The colossus, being essentially a moving fortress, isn't exactly the fastest entity, but it swings its angel-arm like a battleaxe, attempting to chop the oncoming threat in half with the statue's wings, which, if it occurs, will likely scatter a lot of shrapnel. Shadow takes the opportunity to provide some cover fire by launching a series of good-sized stalactites at the flying house as well.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerThe house breaks into pieces as it's attacked from two sides. Sonia, however, raises two more houses with vines, throwing them both at the colossus too, despite knowing the giant can handle them, and sending no attacks Shadow's way.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow tilts his head, narrowing his eyes.
"What's your game, eh?"
He sweeps his cloak, sending a swarm of energy constructs in the form of shadowy vampire bats at Sonia, which, if not dealt with quickly will flock around her just out of reach, and make it rather difficult to focus by quickly diving in to pester her with their draining bites. Meanwhile, the colossus hacks the first house in half in the same way as the first one, and then pulverizes the second by rapidly rotating its spire-arm like a drill, boring straight through the airborne building. It then raises one of its front legs, and gives one defiant stomp.
Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Mar 31st 2020 at 6:06:28 AM
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerDebris is yet again all that remains of those two houses.
Sonia now acts again, having recovered a bit of stamina, and leaps above the constructs, sending a few scythe blades down to hack them to pieces. It seems that, if only a few blades are created, the spear doesn't have to be given up for them.
Vines then appear around the colossus, but instead of trying to attack or restrain it, they grab all of the debris and toss them straight at the earlier-placed vines, the ones tied in a knot.
Another vine pushes all of it into those vines, and Leander's eyes widen.
"Thaddeus, let's move!", he quickly says, after which he flies a good distance away, with Thaddeus following, though the latter never takes his eyes off of the match.
Then the vine stops pushing, and a bunch of debris worth three houses is launched at both Shadow and the giant at breakneck speed, the knotted vines serving as a giant catapult.
Shadow will likely be fine, but with the speed they're going at and the amount of them there are, the colossus may be outright obliterated.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.A large number of the bats are shredded, dissipating into mana, while the small remainder of the flock gives one last defiant nip each at Sonia before winking out of existence as well. Shadow then watches the catapult be primed, and his eyes go wide as his suspicions are confirmed by the other Shinigami's reactions.
"Woah-hey!"
He hastily causes a thick rock wall to spring out of the earth between the debris, but some it slips through before the stream is cut off, sandblasting part of the arch that stands in for the head of the massive creature, and causing it to thrash blindly for a few moments, making Shadow dive for cover. Freshly polished and now quite enraged, the colossus charges forward with the bullheaded tenacity of a castle-sized elephant, drilling through the wall and attempting to smash Sonia, catapult, and building alike into dust with all of its appendages, flailing with its legs while rapidly spinning its torso at its central axis while having both arms extended, serving as a giant stony blender. Shadow blinks, staring at the rampaging construct.
"...welp, so much for collateral..."
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerSonia, barely able to get her spear spinning in time to prevent the drilling itself to do major damage to her, ends up getting slammed through a few buildings from the impact itself.
Her vine catapult is torn to shreds though. As for the other vines, they retract back into the ground.
Shadow will then be able to sense a strange, otherworldly energy, and right when he does, vines start springing up out of the ground everywhere on the battlefield. None of them attack Shadow or the colossus though. Instead, they all seem to start forming something big, something that puts the colossus' size to shame as the battlefield trembles.
Within the swirling vines floats Sonia, her eyes glowing a full green and a dark aura surrounding her.
Before it can be fully formed though, blades of water suddenly slash all through the vines, cutting them up and making an opening to Sonia, who, when looking in the direction of the attacks, suddenly finds herself kicked in the face by Thaddeus, who, for the first time ever, is NOT smiling. Instead his expression is that of pure neutrality, but there's this odd, almost disturbing strain to it, as if Thaddeus is trying with all of his might to stay calm and sane.
Sonia smacks the ground hard enough to actually bounce back up a little, and before she can hit the ground again, Thaddeus' spear floats above him and sends out a ton of chains to wrap around her and trap her, similarly to how he'd once caught Leander with them.
Sonia, dazed and still getting back to her senses, is easily caught as Thaddeus lands.
"I think that'll conclude the fight.", he says, glancing at Shadow. "Since Sonia broke the rules, that means you win. Can you recall your golem?", he asks.
Leander, meanwhile, descends as well, but noticeably keeps his distance from Thaddeus, even going towards his sister instead, trying to see if she's doing alright.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Hub Centralis, Not Dark Hour
The Kyubey approaches Kyoko, deeming them to be a possibly suitable contract target, although... didn't this human already make a contract? The Kyubey walks into view of kyoko, before telepathically delivering the message Hello there! to Kyoko. The Kyubey begins to act in an endearing way, rolling onto its back.
Shadow is surprised at the sheer strength that the colossus demonstrates in flinging Sonia, and said surprise elevates elevates as the vines begin to weave together.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...?!"
Shadow continues vocalizing this through the ensuing events, including Sonia appearing within the vines, said vines being chopped open, and Thaddeus kicking her in the face, Sonia hitting the ground, and her being chained up like a prisoner, his voice only rising in pitch to meet every escalating event. The colossus looms over Sonia, but doesn't take any action. Shadow stares, but, in response to Thaddeus' question, raises a hand, and the Colossus raises its arms to the sky, giving a deep, resonating bellow, a sound delivered in a booming, gravelly tone like that of a great earthquake or landslide. However, it then slowly slouches forward, deactivated, and then begins to sink into a portal which forms in the ground.
"Yeah, but, since it's proven its usefulness, I'm taking it home with me, since I never know when I might need it. Lots of crazy things happen in the multiverse, and a giant construct can't hurt to have as an ally. Might even end up summoning it in the Arena if the situation calls for it, who knows?"
He then moves over to Sonia as well to check on her, and gestures to her, frowning.
Now, if I had to guess, I'd say that the whole vine-building thing had something to do with her Divine Guardian, yes? And that's why you knocked her out?"
His frown then deepens as he notices truly how off Thaddeus seems, and Leander's reaction to it.
"And are you feeling alright? You seem pretty rattled, too..."
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker"Alright, then I won't have to destroy it.", Thaddeus says. While his words may sound oddly sinister, his tone of voice is actually relief, indicating that he didn't really mean to come off as threatening.
Sonia shakes her head wildly for a moment, getting back to her senses as Thaddeus nods at Shadow.
"She was about to summon it. But if she'd done that, she'd have given up control to the guardian until either she or the enemy fell. I had to break her concentration, and a hard kick seemed the easiest way to do so."
He then looks slightly confused, but his eyes are still giving off a strained vibe.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"Well, there's no reason for any of us not to be fine right now, right?", Leander says, looking pretty nervous. He then turns to Sonia, taps her on her head to get her attention, then seems to gesture to Thaddeus with his eyes. Sonia looks at him, notices the strained expression...
And suddenly looks really nervous too.
"Ah, yeah. The battle's over, I've had my fun, so now we can relax. I'm sorry for breaking the rules, I went with my instinct."
Thaddeus looks at her for a moment. Then his regular smile forms again, and his eyes seem to calm down.
"Then everything is truly fine.", he happily says, the chains disappearing and his spear returning to his side. Both Sonia and Leander look subtly relieved as Thaddeus turns to Shadow.
"So, what do you think? Even without her guardian, Sonia is no pushover, huh?"
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow shakes his head.
"Nah, that's not needed. I could've deactivated it whenever if it went fully rampant, but it didn't go out of bounds, at least. Sorry for how hard it tossed Sonia, though, that landing looked like it hurt."
He grimaces, letting air out in a strained hiss.
"That would not have been good...certainly wouldn't stay within the boundaries of our agreement, at the lightest..."
He then raises a finger, about to point out Thaddeus' crazy-eyes, but lowers it just as quickly once he sees how freaked-out Sonia and Leander are, figuring the source. He nods, smiling, though it takes a moment for him to regain his own composure.
"Heheh, yeah!"
He rubs the back of his neck with one hand, and gives a thumbs-up to Sonia with the other.
"You did great! Going toe-to-toe with someone who actually gives me that much of a workout is something I haven't really experienced lately. Certainly going to remember this one!"
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker"It's alright. Thaddeus' kick hurt way more." , she says as she cracks her neck, no longer nervous now that Thaddeus is back to normal.
"Well, that's good. It'd be unacceptable if I ended up being a complete joke in comparison." , she says. "Anyhow, my boredom's finally been relieved."
"Does this mean you're finally in a good mood again?", Leander asks her, to which she grins.
"Definitely."
"Good, I was getting worried you were becoming a bitter soul.", Thaddeus says, causing Sonia to look at him, comically annoyed.
"What did you say?" , she asks, causing Thaddeus to just laugh happily. Leander, meanwhile, looks back at Shadow.
"I'm grateful you kept your promise. Things are finally a little more lighthearted again."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.

Shadow's plan works really well. The blades are blocked, vanishing and reuniting into the spear, then Sonia gets blasted against a wall by the waterspout.
She still gets back to a fighting pose rather quickly, but, as Shadow may notice, she's starting to look a little exhausted. She may not be used to a lengthy battle. Nevertheless, she doesn't look willing to give up quite yet.
She summons vines again, but this time to pick up the debris and chuck it all at Shadow, presumably so she can catch her breath while still keeping him busy.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.