Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 4, Part 4

[Oldmansour]

>We can't wait for Reisen. All of us that are together now, fire! For all the people that will be jeopardized if we fail. For all the people he has already harmed. For the people we love!

>Drawing on the will, support and power of Lily, Rin and Kiku, you unleash a truly massive surge of power at the damaged biker. You are tired and hurt, and your friends are tired and hurt. And the more this fight drags on, the greater the odds that someone else will get hurt with all the flying around. This has to end NOW.
>But Motormaster has other ideas. He is strafing to his right, on those wheel-like power energy projections he employed earlier, but this alone will not be enough, and he knows it. Your blast travels over the arm and sword Reisen severed from his earlier. With a wave of his arm, Motormaster makes the severed limb detonate in a cloud of poisonous energy. This blast takes some of the sting off your blast, but it continues on. Motormaster then sends forth a cloud of toxic smoke from his body to form a barrier between him and your Violet light. Again, your blast weakens as it pierces Motormaster's defences, but does not stop. Finally, with a defiant roar, knowing he can't completely outrun your blast, Motormaster raises his hands and calls down the lightning upon himself, enveloping himself in a blinding shell of electricity. This, too, fails to stop your attack, and even though your Violet light doesn't hit him square, even though he defended himself well, he failed to escape the touch of your Violet energy.
>Lily's wings sag. "Did that do it?"
>"It better have..." Rin groans, now back on her feet. Reisen groans as well, trying to get back up.

>And then Kiku swears. "I don't believe it!" she exclaims. Motormaster is STILL standing.

[DracoOmega]

>Appraisal of Motormaster's condition

[Oldmansour]

>Appraisal of Motormaster's condition

>Visually, he's whole again. Beneath the surface, while it is hard to see the splinter's corruption at this distance, that's partly because there's a whole lot less to see. The splinter survived your attack, but by the looks of it, not by much.

[DracoOmega]

>The splinter is nearly gone! We can still end this!
>Even if we don't have much energy left, neither does it. Let's try one last time to excise this corruption once and for all.

[Oldmansour]

>The splinter is nearly gone! We can still end this!
>Even if we don't have much energy left, neither does it. Let's try one last time to excise this corruption once and for all.

>Neither Lily nor Rin has the ability to join their powers with you at the moment. They can't fire shots like back to back just now. You can barely manage it yourself. But Kiku is still with you, and you lean on her strength. Literally and figuratively, as the tiger youkai uses one arm to help keep you upright, and the other to help you aim. With her strength fueling yours, you unleash your Violet light one more time.
>But the biker is ready again, and he unleashes a trio of those vertical blades of lightning again. The first blade dissolves upon your violet light, and the second one shatters as well. But when your beam hits the third blade, the two attacks cancel each other explosively, sending up a multihued cloud of steam and superheated air.
>Then the cloud turns black as Motormaster exerts his power upon it, turning it into a mass of poisonous air before the biker sends the cloud roiling forwards towards your entire group.

[DracoOmega]

>Do we even have enough juice left in us to purify that cloud like we did the last one?
>If not (or barely so): Can anyone else handle that? I'm almost empty, and I need to land one more shot on Motormaster directly.
>Though if push comes to shove and no one else can handle it, and it gets close to us, find some reverses within ourselves to purify it ourselves. Can't let anyone here be harmed if we have even an ounce left to give.

[Oldmansour]

>Do we even have enough juice left in us to purify that cloud like we did the last one?
>If not (or barely so): Can anyone else handle that? I'm almost empty, and I need to land one more shot on Motormaster directly.
>Though if push comes to shove and no one else can handle it, and it gets close to us, find some reverses within ourselves to purify it ourselves. Can't let anyone here be harmed if we have even an ounce left to give.

>"I have this." Kiku says boldly, stepping forward. The tiger youkai produces another ofuda, but instead of hurling it at the cloud or using it to cast a spell, her hurls it into the sky. When it reaches a point over Reisen, Kiku snaps her hands and the ofuda's magic enacts. A soothing rainfall drops down on a broad area around Reisen, and the first thing you notice about this spell is the soothing effect it has on your wounds. It doesn't really heal your injuries per se, but the pain ebbs a bit , your vision clears the rest of the way, and it even feels as though your reservoir of power refreshes a little bit. The releived sighs that escape Lily and Rin tell that they feel the same thing. And the rain also has the effect of dispelling Motormaster's cloud of gas as well, the smoke dissipating into the air. Kiku seems to know Water magic as well.
>But as the cloud fades, Motormaster unleashes another blast of shadowy energy at you, the same shot that chained off you the last time it hit you.

[DracoOmega]

>If we get out of the way in time, would that expose anyone else behind us who might be less mobile?
>If so, deploy a Sapphire Lotus in place and suggest Lily to shield with us
>Otherwise, try to get out of the way

[Oldmansour]

>If we get out of the way in time, would that expose anyone else behind us who might be less mobile?
>If so, deploy a Sapphire Lotus in place and suggest Lily to shield with us
>Otherwise, try to get out of the way

>There doesn't seem to be anyone directly behind you, unless Hatate's back there. But the beam is tall enough that it's very likely to hit Lily if it doesn't hit you. So as much as you'd prefer to save your energy for offense, right now shielding is the safer option for all parties concerned.
>So you deploy your Sapphire Lotus in front of the two of you, and the broad blue barrier blocks the beam. Mostly. The beam still chains to another target, in this case, Kiku, who had been standing in front of and to the side of the beam and shield. The tiger staggers under the attack, but its weakened chain does not take her off her feet.

>Pressing the attack, the black-clad biker charges forward, rolling on those wheels of his while invoking the lightning, and he surrounds himself with a quartet of massive orbs comprised of pure electricity.

[DracoOmega]

>Is Reisen still out for the count?
>Let's get out of the way and try to get airborn

[Oldmansour]

>Is Reisen still out for the count?
>Let's get out of the way and try to get airborn

>She's on her feet again. Groggy and a little wobbly, but upright.
>Reeling your Sapphire light back in, you use it to at least try to get some air. Motormaster seems to have other ideas and he sends a slashing wave of poisonous-looking energy at you.

[DracoOmega]

>Try to reshape the shield out from us to block this while getting airborne from the charge itself

[Oldmansour]

>Try to reshape the shield out from us to block this while getting airborne from the charge itself

>You have to sacrifice a little upward speed to generate a thick enough shield to block Motormaster's attack, but this is a fair trade compared to eating that blast. So you alter your Sapphire light to absorb the power wave headed towards you. All things told, this blast wasn't an especially powerful one. Whether this is due to the hasty nature of the attack or a sign that Motormaster's running low on power, you're not sure.
>If he is running low on energy, he's certainly not running low on strength. The rolling biker delivers a stiff clothesline to the back of Poppy's as he charges past her, the impact putting her in the dirt once again. Chrysanthemum, still off-balance from that chain shadow blast she took, is unable to evade the kick the big biker aims at her. Motormaster's charging boot impacts with Kiku's jaw, sending her spinning through the air, landing stomach-first on a broken tombstone.
>And then there's those lightning orbs, two of which are heading in your direction. They're not especially quick, but they changed course to track you when you got into the air. They must have homing abilities.

[DracoOmega]

>If the lightning orbs moved one direction and Motormaster moved another, does that mean we have an open shot at him now?
>And are the orbs moving slow enough that we could take that shot without getting hit by them in the process?
>In which case, do so

[Oldmansour]

>If the lightning orbs moved one direction and Motormaster moved another, does that mean we have an open shot at him now?
>And are the orbs moving slow enough that we could take that shot without getting hit by them in the process?
>In which case, do so

>You do.
>Yes. Though not by much. You have time for a quick shot, but not a sustained one.
>Which Light do you wish to employ?

[DracoOmega]

>Violet, as per usual
>And make sure to actually get out of the way before we get hit again

[Oldmansour]

>Violet, as per usual
>And make sure to actually get out of the way before we get hit again

>Taking advantage of the momentarily-motionless Motormaster, you unleash another burst of Violet light at the big biker. The blast catches him in the right chest and seems to stagger him, but he manages to stay on his feet.
>You then have to turn your attention to the two lightning orbs headed your way. Heading up and away from Motormaster, the orbs chase you still. You hope they have a limited range, otherwise you'll have to either block them or shoot them down, and you're not entirely keen on either option right now. As you go evasive, you see Lily and White Rose, now back on their feet again, join hands and powers.
>"Spring Lily Petal Cyclone!"
>"White Retainers' Guarding Ring!"
>The two women send a spiralling column of flowers petals out at the evil biker, each petal surrounded and connected by an aura of grey-white energy. This attack strikes one of the other two lightning orbs and detonates it in a cloud of electricity. The column then encircles Motormaster in a vertical cylinder of flower petals. "Stone walls and iron bars cannot hold us." Motormaster bellows as he starts to spin his 'wheels', generating a toxic-looking cloud of smoke that the Petal Cyclone contains, for now. "Your succeed at nothing!"
>As Motormaster continues to roar his defiance, his exhaust cloud now concealing him as it fills his prison, the two orbs chasing you flicker and fade out of existance.

[DracoOmega]

>How are Reisen and Kiku? Do they look like they'll be back on their feet in the next moment? And are they close enough together to reach at the same time?
>In fact, how close together are all five of us, if we wished to assemble in like... the next two seconds?

[Oldmansour]

>How are Reisen and Kiku? Do they look like they'll be back on their feet in the next moment? And are they close enough together to reach at the same time?
>In fact, how close together are all five of us, if we wished to assemble in like... the next two seconds?

>Around thirty feet apart. That kick put some distance between the two of them. Reisen might be, but probably not Kiku. No.
>Not close enough to assemble in that time frame, even if Kiku wasn't sprawled over a tombstone. And the more immediate problem is the last lightning orb, headed towards Reisen.

[DracoOmega]

>Throw out a Sapphire Lotus to block the orb heading for Reisen, then hurry over in that direction.
>Everyone, together! Before he breaks free.

[Oldmansour]

>Throw out a Sapphire Lotus to block the orb heading for Reisen, then hurry over in that direction.
>Everyone, together! Before he breaks free.

>Not certain that Reisen would be able to defend herself before it's too late, you point your scepter at the rabbit and surround her with your Sapphire light. The lightning orbs detonates against it in a fierce eruption of electrical energy. You're glad you only had to block the one. Any more than that would have been a difficult trick to pull off.
>Reisen is back on her feet by the time you get down to her. The rabbit is not in good shape. The blast Motormaster shot into her back penetrated her armor and blood trails down from the sizable wound. She's also bleeding from her nose and mouth and an ugly welt is starting to come in over her left eye. Yet her expression is as resolute as it was when this throwdown started. Lily and Rin aren't ship-shape or Bristol-fit either but neither one of them complains as they move around either side of Motormaster to rendezvous with you. But they barely manage to get around the big biker before their combined spell fails. The exhaust Motormaster is kicking up dissolves the column of flower petals as though the gas was a powerful acid and begins to spread over the battlefield in all directions.

[DracoOmega]

>Everyone as one - let us make this the last shot it takes to end this!
>With our friends at our side and our powers joined together, let us pour all the strength we can still muster into one more Violet Lotus. There has been enough pain and suffering and darkness today. No more!

[Oldmansour]

>Everyone as one - let us make this the last shot it takes to end this!
>With our friends at our side and our powers joined together, let us pour all the strength we can still muster into one more Violet Lotus. There has been enough pain and suffering and darkness today. No more!

>Can we do it without Kiku? Lily asks, noting that the tiger is beyond the range of your power-joining ability.
>We have to. White Rose answers as she lays her hand on yours. Her bleeding hand, you note. As if you needed another reason to defeat Motormaster. And so, with Lily, Reisen and Rin by your side, you focus your energies once more and bring forth your Violet light in a several feet-wide cannonblast of power. Your light easily pierces the cloud of poisonous exhaust Motormaster had been emitting, wiping it out in a burst of light, but the corrupted biker isn't entirely out of power himself. He raises his hands, one wrapped in electricity, the other in a polluted-looking swirl of wind, and unleashes his power. A twisting, twisted mix of lightning and toxic air flies forth from his hands, meeting your Violet light in mid-flight, the collision of energies sending sparks of shards of light and dark energy flying over the battlefield.
>"Try all you want!" Motormaster taunts, his evil voice resonating even over the terrific sounds of conflicting energies. "Our power is as older than the stars. We are more powerful than mortality. And we will drink of the pleasures of this world as we stand on your bones!"
>And then you feel Kiku's power invoke, and a basketball sized orb of metallic energy slams into Motormaster's back, exploding into a cloud of sharp flower petal-like shrapnel, and then collapsing in on the biker's body, blasting him with the power of Magical Chrysanthemum. You don't know if Motormaster could have held your attack off forever, but he definitely can't after absorbing the impact of Kiku's spell. His assault of air and lightning falters, and your blast pierces through to wash over Motormaster's body, suffusing him entirely in your purifying Violet light.

>When the light fades, your heart sinks briefly when you see that Motormaster is still on his feet, until you see him waver, hear him emit the faintest of moans, and fall forward to the ground.

[DracoOmega]

>Did we... did we do it?
>Please say we did it.

[Oldmansour]

>Did we... did we do it?
>Please say we did it.

>He sure looks down for the count.

[DracoOmega]

>And can we sense any sign of the corruption left at all?
>If not and it really does seem to be over, let's turn around and give our friends a heart-felt hug. Heaven knows, we've earned it.

[Oldmansour]

>And can we sense any sign of the corruption left at all?
>If not and it really does seem to be over, let's turn around and give our friends a heart-felt hug. Heaven knows, we've earned it.

>Not as far as you can see. The biker's prone body shows no outward sign of the malign power you'd been fighting, and if there is anything of that splinter left in Motormaster's body, it must be so small as to be no bigger than a normal splinter. Neither your eyes nor your extra senses give you any further cause to believe that the biker has not been purified completely. It does indeed appear to be over. And none too soon, either.
>White Rose gratefully returns your embrace while Lily does a little victory hop, fanning her wings. "We did it!" she cries victoriously, flashing a V for victory sign before joining you and Rin in a group hug.
>But Poppy does not. The rabbit still looks rather grim and she walks apart from the three of you, over to the fallen biker. Poppy actually jabs Motormaster in the ribs with the tip of her sword, and none too gently. Motormaster doesn't seem to react at all.

[DracoOmega]

>Walk over to Reisen and put a gentle hand on her shoulder
>It's over. The corruption is gone now.
>But be just a little ready to intervene on the off chance Reisen is not content with just this

[Oldmansour]

>Walk over to Reisen and put a gentle hand on her shoulder
>It's over. The corruption is gone now.
>But be just a little ready to intervene on the off chance Reisen is not content with just this

>"Is that it?" Reisen asks, her voice hoarse and hollow as she stares down at Motormaster. "We just leave him here?"

[DracoOmega]

>The Motormaster you knew may have been a hateful, violent person, but with the splinter cleansed from them, that may no longer be true. The change of heart that Satori experienced when we freed her from her corruption was profound, and hers was not nearly so... consuming as Motormaster's. That person who menaced the racing circuit may already be gone.