User:NekoRex/MagicForest6

	With the sun setting, Marisa Kirisame rises up on her broom from under the trees once again, intent on spending another night making sure youkai stayed out of her and Alice's neck of the woods. At least it wasn't dark enough she'd need her spotlights yet. 	(Say, Marisa, I'd just thought of something else I could do. How would you like the idea of sending me off to get into someone else's head for whatever intents you might have?) 	(What d'ya mean? I thought yer point was to mess with my head 'till you got bored.) 	(Well, that's just it. I am feeling like moving on soon, and I was just wondering if there's anyone in articular you might want to point me to~) *	Marisa_Kirisame looks around, surveying the area as the ambient light in the area begins to darken. She briefly wonders if Patchy ever came back, surveying above the canopy of the forest for any stray floating people. 	(In addition, I doubt this will be the last time we meet, so I might have a secret or two to share of the people I hop into during that time. What you would do with that information is up to you, of course, but I could get a hold of some...interesting details~) 	(Hmm....) Marisa thinks to herself, although Tenki would probably notice a stream of mental images of people she's seen 	((Patchy would probably come up a lot since she's actively looking for her at the moment) 	(...Oooh, you're already being quite helpful. Quite a selection from what I'm seeing~ ...This one in particular seems to be popping up often. Might it have to do with that little squabble from earlier?) 	(Yeah, and I hope she didn't come-) Marisa thinks to herself before actually spotting the magician, near what predictably looks like another fire in the forest she's set. (...back.)  *	Marisa_Kirisame starts flying less-then-casually over towards Patchouli_Knowledge, digging out her mini-hakkero out of a random dress pocket.  *	Patchouli_Knowledge drifts further out over the forest after thoroughly burning that first patch of dead, twisted trees. She doesn't seem to be necessarily aware of Marisa yet, focusing a bit more on her own current work of cleaning up the forest.  	(Bleh, there she is again, thinking she can light stuff on fire. I'm almost tempted to rush right past her towards the big spooky mansion she lives in, but I don't want her burning things.) 	(From what I heard of that mansion, wouldn't you be picking a fight with more than one person than if you were to stay here?)  	(Odds are more in your favor here, from my point of view~)  	(I have a few tricks up my sleeve.) Marisa thinks, although said tricks are a bit more guarded as far as thoughts go.  	(Patcholi has a big library fulla books I borrow on occasion. Getting in there's been getting tougher, though.) *	Marisa_Kirisame obviously wants an easy way into The Voile, or an easier time with the defenses of The Voile, although she doesn't think it to herself directly  	(Your definition of "borrow" is a little bit suspect, but I think I may have a little side project to help you out if I get the chance~)  *	Patchouli_Knowledge finally seems to realize that she's not alone, gazing up after she's done incinerating this second thicket of vegetation. Her expression turns grim, and she makes a ragged, long sigh.  	(Hm? What's your plan then?) Marisa thinks, getting closer to where Patchouli is flying. Her expression forms into a grin as she sees the magician has noticed her. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Have you nothing better to do?  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	It's become evident that no, you do not.  <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(Oh, I'll have to think on that. If a fight breaks out, it's not like I'll just be able to hop from one body to the next. Simply entering or exiting one's body takes quite a bit of energy, you see, but in time, perhaps I can...relax that library's defenses, if you're wiling to wait~) <Marisa_Kirisame>	(Sounds like fun.) Marisa thinks back, before giving her spoken reply. "I'm out making sure nothing threatens my real estate. And I found one of those threats." Marisa says, crossing her arms and continuing to grin.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Yes, your real estate that poses a danger to itself and everything around it by being left as it is.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Does the fact that "it's mine!" make it that much more important than everything else, even if it's riddled with festering pustules?  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"You don't think I'd know about the health of the forest better then anyone? There's nothin' wrong here, and certainly nothin' to be gained by burning it all."  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Age, study, and first-hand experience put me far above you on understanding a forest's health. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Yes, simply leave the rotted, twisted trees that provide no health, that take up space that providing plants could so easily fill... <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Heh, how, by hiding in that library of yours all day?" <Patchouli_Knowledge>	It's brash of you to judge my life, isn't it? <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Speaks a lot of you. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"You can't know anything about the forest unless you live in it, hermit." Marisa retorts. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	My written material, experiments, and overall knowledge of it says otherwise. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	You cannot know nothing of gods unless you are one, you cannot know nothing of humans unless you are one.. yet such indepth material and truths are written of them by others! <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Well I actually fly around here, and I have plenty of experience and experiments I do too. You're not the only magician, but I'm the only one who actually looks after it." <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Arson as a solution. Hah!" Marisa laughs. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	You say you know of forests, but you don't realize that natural wildfires happen for a reason that affects the forest in healthy ways. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	You really are quite stupid. *	Patchouli_Knowledge finally grins quite impishly, the air flickering and sparkling a bit around her. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Maggots and mushrooms don't grow on ashes, pajama-pants." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Trees and shrubs and vegetation devour ashes like you devour mushrooms, though.. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	And they provide the forest for the mushrooms and the maggots. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"There's a whole buncha things that only grow on dead stuff. And look what you're burnin'." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Everything is interconnected to everything else, including your own foolishness. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Dead stuff that so viciously rejects what tries to grow on it. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	And so it is useless. <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(Wish I had a snack or something, this is quite entertaining~) *	Marisa_Kirisame pulls out a mushroom out of her dress. It's slightly corrupted from whatever it grew on, but it seemed rather hardy anyway. For a mushroom fanatic like Marisa, one could tell it had a strange sort of energy to it. *	Marisa_Kirisame promptly tosses the mushroom at Patchouli_Knowledge. *	Patchouli_Knowledge catches it, looking it over, squeezing it and checking the underside of its cap for spores, and.. not being terribly amused. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	This doesn't look like something you should ever try to eat. *	Marisa_Kirisame gives her a look that says "You don't eat it, moron.", then actually says "This forest is hardier then you think. Stuff adapts pretty quick." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	I doubt it would be very beneficial for the environment, either. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	If the corruption passes through the environment such as it has into this mushroom, then we've essentially got that whole incident from before all over again. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Because of you. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Heh, if you're looking for something like that in here, you may as well torch the whole thing down." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Then why haven't I ever decided to burn down "your" forest before? <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Probably because I live in it.' <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That would be a reason for me to burn it down.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Probably because I can beat you in a fight, then."  *	Marisa_Kirisame grins extra-wide for that.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	More because you're a nuisance who needs to remove herself from my life. Permanently would be a nice option.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	A nuisance, competition, a thief, fodder for the steaks served for dinner. Why haven't I burned the forest down? Because it would be killing needless plants and unique life, and that's worth more than your death.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	You act like I would burn the whole forest down in cleaning it, but it's only little details. Everything done on something you vaguely care about is suddenly a personal attack...  *	Marisa_Kirisame stifles to contain her laughter at this next insult. "At least I'm better then an arsonist." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That's barely even the correct definition of "arsonist". I would call this work "environmentalist"'s work. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	... And, if you're going to start acting like you're stronger than I... remember that you are lucky. *	Marisa_Kirisame downright laughs at that 'retort'. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Lucky to have been born healthy. You take your luck for granted, it's a miracle you're still alive. *	Marisa_Kirisame is still laughing, not really caring. "Ahahaha! Enviromentalist! That's a good one!" <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Ahahaha! Someone! Like you! Liking nature? Ahahahaha!" <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Oh! Oh! Let me guess! This is the first time you've been outside, and you were SO taken aback you had to 'protect' it?" *	Marisa_Kirisame laughs some more. *	Patchouli_Knowledge rolls her eyes. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	I'm not even sure if you're being serious or not. It makes it a lot less funny. *	Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku on a whim makes an attempt to make Marisa accidentally bite her tongue in the middle of this laughter. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	What would a person like me want to live outside for? Nature is fundamentally important to the world and all things, but it's quite possible to know the importance and value of something without utter immersion. *	Marisa_Kirisame is distracted enough by her laughing to actually bite her tongue on the whim, suddenly crying out aloud "AGH! My tongue! That's a mean trick, you!" apparently talking to herself. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	If you love nature so much, why don't you just live in the middle of a forest, without a house? <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Yes, we'll see how long you enjoy that. *	Marisa_Kirisame still giggling, but interrupted, says, "My house already got destroyed. But it's still funny how much you think you can protect nature without living in it. Heh heh heh heh... You don't know anything at all!" <Patchouli_Knowledge>	I'm sure I've done far more for the environment and nature as a whole than you ever have. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	After all, trees and plants grow at my fingertips, provided by earth, water, and necessary metals. Can you do that? <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Do you have that understanding? <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Let me guess..." Marisa says, snickering quite a bit more again. "By burning it all down?" <Patchouli_Knowledge>	It's funny, you always seek to oppose me, but you.. don't seem to have any idea of all that I can do. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Well, so far you've burned down one forest, and now you're tryin' to burn down another. I sure don't see you working all those so-called talents of yours if you had more of 'em." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Only to plan to supplement the future forest afterwards... <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Do you think I've no foresight? <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Moreso than you. <Marisa_Kirisame>	'That's because the forest I'm living in is perfectly fine as-is." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That has nothing to do with me or what you just said.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Now.. this is getting boring, because you're far too thick-headed to be able to even carry a conversation with me without it dissolving into you arguing "It's this way because I believe it is! I can't even give any solid proof!" <Marisa_Kirisame>	"I just threw proof at you!" Marisa reminds her.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	If you're going to attack me for genuinely trying to help the environment, then let's see you try.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	No, that's not proof.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That's an example of the fact that, yes, the corruption will move between the trophic levels and contaminate everything.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That's evidence against you.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"So what? It'll adapt. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. This whole forest is fulla my research, and it's my intent to keep things nice and magical." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	And who's to say that it won't kill....  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Well, stuff's growin' on it, so it can't be that deadly."  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Evolution is not immediate. It takes its time.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	How long has it been? A few months? The forest cannot adapt in time, and it will die.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"So your solution is to, what're those fancy words you use.... cull the population and destroy the pool? How will stuff breed?" <Patchouli_Knowledge>	...  *	Patchouli_Knowledge laughs.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	I only look to remove that which is already dead.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Your perception and understanding of others is, also, terrible.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"And like I said, that'll just kill all the litchens and fungi."  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	How did you ever manage to woo Alice? With how poorly you grasp words?  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	No, not all of them. Only the ones that cluster around the dead trees that have been affected by corruption.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	They reproduce quickly, the lichen and fungi, and they will happily eat other dead things. The corrupted, lifeless trees are not all of this forest's dead biomass.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"You can't force anything to adapt by burning it."  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That has nothing to do with what I just said.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Don't try to change the subject, it's not helping your case...  *	Marisa_Kirisame isn't really even trying to debate, she's just trying to annoy Patchouli. "Yeah? Well your case is weak. Why should I buy your words? There's nothin' spreading that you were burning, it's just more weird forest. Like the rest of the woods." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	What makes my case weak? <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(I think we've gotten to the point where you two are talking in circles. Just saying.) <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Unfounded arguments. <Marisa_Kirisame>	(She'll get fed up eventually and fight me or leave or something.) <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Your case was weak when your solution was to burn it." <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Garbage in, garbage out." <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(I think you'll chase me off in the same manner, honestly.) <Patchouli_Knowledge>	That's also unfounded. <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(It's stopped being entertaining for me.) <Patchouli_Knowledge>	You can continue talking to me when you know how to debate properly. <Marisa_Kirisame>	(She was never too entertaining in the first place) <Marisa_Kirisame>	"I'm not going anywhere until you stop setting fires in the Forest of Magic." Marisa says, crossing her arms. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	So you're going to stay right where you are, then? I'm okay with that, you can catch cold from the spring rain. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"I don't catch colds. I'm a heat magic specialist." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Sure you don't. Then you'll eventually get singled out by a mob of youkai, or perhaps you'll starve. Staying right where you are until I'm done with my work might take time. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Oh, you're not going to get any more work done over here." <Marisa_Kirisame>	"It's funny that you think youkai will attack me, though." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	What's stopping me, then? <Marisa_Kirisame>	"I am." <Patchouli_Knowledge>	How sad, beating up a sickly person. Resorting to violence so soon.. I've tried to be civil. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"...Civil by starting fires." Marisa reminds her. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	With good intent and with no meaning to harm anyone. <Marisa_Kirisame>	'Heh, good intent my ass." *	Marisa_Kirisame shrugs, unfolding her arms again. "Are you gonna leave or am I gonna make you leave?"  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	There's no point in backing down from you.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Fine then. I challenge you to a spell-card duel." Marisa finally says, getting bored of trying to annoy patchy into attacking her. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Spellcard duel? Sticking to such rules are boring, aren't they?  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Would you rather I send you back well-done?" Marisa offers.  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	If that's an invitation to do the same to you.  <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Heh! Good luck with that!" Marisa says, summoning out a wide-angle spray of star danmaku, before while charging her mini-hakkero with something nasty. (And now the fight begins.) <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(Ooh, no spellcard rules? This could get rather dangerous...I think I should slip away then. We'll see each other again sometime, Marisa...Ah, but where are my manners, I just realized I never gave you my name, did I?)  *	Patchouli_Knowledge closes her eyes, chuckling softly before drifting back. Bluish-white danmaku start forming themselves out of the air, easily created from the moist atmosphere of winter.. it becomes almost ridiculous how any there are, idly drifting through the air and whirling towards Marisa. At the same time, she starts summoning them up from the ground, as well, forming little diamonds and bursts from the snow  <Patchouli_Knowledge>	It's an unfortunate battlefield for you, isn't it? *	Marisa_Kirisame blasts downwards, making a wide circle and spinning around on her broom like a drill and keeping up speed to force Patchouli to make more danmaku to target her, manically avoiding what whips towards her She starts summoning large magic circles in pairs, which begin to spin against eachother and shoot out large lasers, slowly moving towards Patchouli on chains of large star danmaku along with the spray of smaller stars <Marisa_Kirisame>	It's one of her spells, Love Storm "Starlight Typhoon", and almost a mocking improvment of a spell she stole from Patchoili. <Marisa_Kirisame>	(I never did get you're name, you're right.) <Marisa_Kirisame>	(Maybe you can gimmie a few distractions if you're gonna get outta my head, eh?) *	Patchouli_Knowledge drifts back a little more when Marisa suddenly zooms downwards, and she summons a massive flurry of spherical and diamond-shaped danmaku that she takes almost directly from the snow before. Watching the magic circles, her expression grows irritable when they start to look somewhat like her own formations... *	Patchouli_Knowledge seems quite persistant to keep her ground, however, without yet resorting to spellcards. She doesn't cease creating in swarm after sharp-edged swarm of ice and water danmaku from the air's moisture and the ground's snow, and, keeping carefully between the lasers, she cautiously grazes the smaller stars. <Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku>	(My name is Tenki no Tsukaitsuku. You may by chance come across a woman in the village bearing that name if I'm not tormenting someone else~ I'm afraid you'll be on your own for this battle, however, as I'd rather not draw more attention to myself as needed. It's also not my fight, so I have no place interfering with it~ Bye now~) *	Tenki_no_Tsukaitsuku with that hastily exits Marisa's body as a wisp of blue fire, nimbly swerving around any stray danmaku and slipping down into the forest before floating off for her next entertainment source. *	Marisa_Kirisame frowns, almost having gotten used to a snarky buddy in her head with her. But it's for a mere moment, as she focuses on dodging danmaku, abrubtly stopping and flying forwards as the situation demands. She doesn't stay in one spot for too long to keep the danmaku from accumulating around her. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Meanwhile, she summons two more pairs of magic circles as before, the lasers rotatiing as the circles do as they all drift towards Patchouli on their chains of stars. The spray of little stars hasn't stopped either. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Too lazy to come up with your own idea for a spellcard, I see. *	Patchouli_Knowledge arcs up into the air when Marisa starts to put on the pressure here, focusing rather on the lasers rather than the small danmaku -- which she's really not worried about all that much at all. Some of it strikes the edges of her robes, which don't seem to take too much wear or tear from the small strikes.. *	Patchouli_Knowledge finds a moment to be able to strike back, however, and she starts doing the very reverse of what she had before. Gesturing with her hand, she immediately changes the state of the danmaku that drift lazily through the air, and much of the airborne moisture with it-- a rather massive sheet of snow suddenly plummets downwards towards Marisa, at least ten feet by ten feet. *	Marisa_Kirisame quickly halts and backpedals, doing a large spiraling loop as she flies downwards and upside down under the treeline, arcing back upwards out of the trees and out of the way of the sheet. She flies towards Patchouli with her hakkero cooking up another spell, quickly emiting it's own rainbow magic circles as the circles of Starlight Typhoon drift past Patchy and dissipate. *	Patchouli_Knowledge looks almost disappointed that the sheet of snow didn't hit Marisa, rather looking forward to that happening.. but she doesn't worry too much about it. As soon as it smashes into the trees below and disappears, she starts scattering around elementless danmaku that surge at Marisa when she approaches, and, trying to buy time, she moves back a little more. *	Patchouli_Knowledge glances down, catching a glimpse of darkened trees and plant life below-- and a smile crosses her face. In moments, the dead trees splinter into massive pieces and surge up into the air, debris flying everywhere as she aims these pieces and splinters and shards at Marisa. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	And you said you would stop me. *	Marisa_Kirisame suddenly jumps onto her broom in a standing position, apparently content to surf 'the wave' of large tree branches and bits that get flung at her from below. Some of the smaller splinters tear at her dress as she continues to fly upwards, dancing about to dodge the elementless danmaku, but she doesn't care. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Her hakkero emits larger and larger rainbow magic circles, stacked on top of eachother as the telltale thin laser bursts forth from the center, before the very air itself shakes as the laser erupts into Love Sign "Master Spark" *	Patchouli_Knowledge realizes something now, her eyes going wide-- and a smile crosses her face. She almost gestures to take another piece of material into the storm of branches and pieces, but a particular signal for her to get out of the way hits her as soon as Marisa holds out the hakkero. With a bit of panic about her, she suddenly arcs much further up into the sky to avoid the laser's girth. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Various large colorful star danmaku echo out from Marisa's hakkero and all around her, absorbing up some of the danmaku that get too close as the laser dies down, Marisa cutting the beam to adjust her aim. *	Patchouli_Knowledge can thankfully focus on only the danmaku now that she's managed to reel out of the way of the spark, moving peacefully through them as she starts violently lashing tree debris around again. Now, of course, she gets that chance-- with a sudden jerk, Marisa's broom, also made of wood, breaks in two, then practically starts ripping itself into pieces. The resulting splinters join the whirlwind oftree material, but being quite closer, they prove a lot more dangerous. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Gah!" Marisa yelps, apparently 'slipping' off her ride as it starts to break under her. She tries to get as high in the air as she can before her broom splinters up completely, trying to close in on Patchy as much as possible. Frantically, her mini-hakkero begins emitting even larger and more plentiful magic circles, shimmering with color, as Marisa is forced to shield her face against the debris as she apparently begins to fall towards the ground. *	Patchouli_Knowledge smiles to herself, keeping a keen eye on all of the magical circles that emerge-- but focusing mainly on offense for now. Drifting away to make a bit of space between herself and those circles, she then ups the ante perhaps even further-- a crackle of flame courses across the largest of the airborne debris, lighting it up but not devouring it immediately. *	Patchouli_Knowledge sends all of these branches and splinters towards Marisa as she starts to apparently fall, the burning tree trunk grazing about with the other debris and lighting them up, as well-- and it may as well have become a literal version of Fire and Wood Sign Forest Blaze. She makes sure to keep it all aloft, however, not wanting the trees below to light up... <Marisa_Kirisame>	The huge magic circles jump out and spin in random directions as Marisa falls own towards the ground, the stars which surge forth from the hakkero not doing enough as her back is needled by splinters. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Suddenly, an even larger gigantic laser bursts forth from the center of of the hakkero and all the magic circles. slamming Marisa downward even faster in her freefall as she fires Magicannon "Final Master Spark" <Marisa_Kirisame>	The Master Spark tears through the flaming wood shooting down from above, aiming to oblitherate whatever is in it's path *	Patchouli_Knowledge makes a sound like a bit of a startled yelp when this starts to form, swiftly reeling away from where Marisa fell into the trees. It's far too risky to even dare to stay close, she makes a wide berth.. leaving quite a bit of the flaming debris behind to drift about and eventually fall into the trees below. *	Marisa_Kirisame stops herself from dropping to her death after she gets below the treeline, her falling of course a feint, and her Final Spark cutting short. Grabbing a tree branch on the ground, she switfly jumps back into the air again, bursting forth from the trees riding a gnarled branch, aiming her deadly Final Master Spark for another massive blast. *	Patchouli_Knowledge watches from afar as the laser disappates, and she starts to fuss about with the trees already on the ground, eager to make them overgrow as to hopefully trap Marisa-- but that doesn't necessarily work. Turning on a dime as she sees something rise back into the air, she doesn't cease moving, knowing that stopping would probably mean death in this case. <>Ambiance<>	 The flaming debris doesn't cause any further fires -- as it all drops to the ground, the flames go out, sizzling softly in the snow. *	Marisa_Kirisame surges forwards on her stick, standing in the 'surfing' position again as she prepares to get up close and personal to shoot down the magician, stars flying about in dazzling spirals. *	Patchouli_Knowledge has those same, living trees reach for the sky as she moves about, though-- accelerating their growth, having their limbs reach out for Marisa or just posing a threat in the form of being ran into. One of them is torn from the ground entirely, ripped apart as it flies into the air to create even more troublesome debris, lit aflame as soon as it does. Burning leaves fall every which way. *	Patchouli_Knowledge definitely notices how Marisa starts aggressively tailing her, however. She speeds up, moving as fast as she could, and amidst the flames, she draws up water from the forest floor below. It surges in a violent stream before exploding into danmaku to try and disarray Marisa even further. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Ufufufu! You better run!" Marisa shouts, rushing forwards with her magic circles spinning and hakkero shaking with energy, her spiraling danmaku making a trail of stars behind her, recklessly jolting back and forth as danmaku and wood rip and shred her dress and tear off her hat, but narrowly avoid hitting her skin each time. *	Patchouli_Knowledge pays no mind to the trail of stars, or even the foreign danmaku-- she's much more concerned with the charging laser. As the water danmaku surges everywhere, she quickly reforms it into what look like sharp-edged shards of icicles, which almost seem to thrive in the ever-changing temperature... when Marisa gets particularly close, she lashes out with the icicles in a near point-blank attack befbefore making a very sharp left, starting to ascend quickly. <Marisa_Kirisame>	The huge laser erupts from her hakkero once again, destroying the obstacle as the recoil causes her to come back to a halt, but it quickly peters out as Marisa curses at the miss. *	Patchouli_Knowledge takes advantage of this miss and the recoil, raining down more of the icicles and the stray danmaku burst or two that she throws into the mix. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Humans are fragile creatures, you know... you're only going to push yourself to your own death if you keep up. *	Marisa_Kirisame quickly launches forwards yet again, charging her hakkero one more time. Her dress is in tatters and she's sweating heavily, but she seems determined to drive the magician out. Not making the left that Patchouli did, she flies forward to dodge the rain of danmaku, beginning a wide enclosing spiral as she slowly ascends and circles. *	Patchouli_Knowledge doesn't take too long to catch onto the whole pattern Marisa has going, and knowing that it'll probably be a bit exhausting to keep the battle going on any further, she decides to do her best to end things here. A radiant golden light starts to surround her, spreading out through the air in circular, curling motions, light moving like threads.. <>Ambiance<>	 With a violent heat, these threads of light suddenly light up in a searing golden flame, danmaku bursting from them-- and that aura of furious sun, like one of Utsuho's attacks, starts to eminate. Patchouli herself is surrounded in light as the source of it all, sending these cycling threads-become-flares all about in swift, searing curls. *	Patchouli_Knowledge is utterly unfazed by the sudden intense heat, her robes staying perfectly as they are as they billow somewhat. A grin born of anxiety and hate and hope for obliteration forms on her face as the Sun Sign Royal Flare forms, new outwards-curling flares of sun surging from just around her. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	I won't let you best me, you impudent little child. I'll happily nurse this grudge as long as it takes to see you suffer as you've done to me. *	Marisa_Kirisame stopss, not quite having to aim when Patchouli is staying still, as her hakkero brims with magical power once again, ready to fire. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Nothing can beat my Master Spark!" Marisa laughs. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	And yet.. *	Patchouli_Knowledge sighs softly, creating a great circle of flame around Marisa now that she's stopped, having the curls of sun move outwards from their first position before starting to turn back in on themselves-- effectively creating a great spherical trap around the magician, perhaps even a blinding one. *	Patchouli_Knowledge lets her posture loosen a little as she does, getting ready to move on a dime. She's not certain exactly when Marisa's going to fire, or what she'll do to escape the inward-turning sun-curls and the many trails of sun and danmaku beyond it, however, and that uncertainty is a little distressing. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Oh? Is that your game?" Marisa says, with a big smirk. "You think a little heat is gonna stop a magician of light and heat magic?!?" <Patchouli_Knowledge>	But not of sun, the ultimate culmination of light and heat and atomic restlessness. <Patchouli_Knowledge>	Your youth and inexperience is your downfall, you know. I've had the time to understand everything I do on a molecular level.. there's absolute understanding of how everything works. You simply fire blindly. *	Patchouli_Knowledge pours even more of her power into this spellcard, quite determined to, if she doesn't manage to snuff Marisa's life out, leave her quite without any will to fight back or argue anymore. The light emitted from the waves and danmaku grows even brighter, turning white from the cycling flares of heat, that resemblance to nuclear manipulation growing even stronger. <Marisa_Kirisame>	"Shooting blindly? I'll show you shooting blindly!" Marisa yells, squinting at the blinding light. *	Marisa_Kirisame turns around and aims her hakkero backwards, magic circles quickly enveloping her and shining with their own blinding light as Marisa shoots her Final Master Spark backwards and blindly shooting herself forwards into the fake sun, as Marisa becomes a Blazing Star of light *	Patchouli_Knowledge definitely expects a laser to be aimed at her position, and she starts to move in anticipation of that-- but instead, she's met with something quite different. In those fleeting seconds before an inevitable impact, she quickly draws back every last flare and searing danmaku, creating a massive wall of hyper-heated light and flame before her, a slight gravitational pull starting to form.. *	Patchouli_Knowledge creates the closest thing to a miniature sun as she does-- it's impossible to see where she floats now, and the heat starts to take a toll even on her flame-resistant robes, which start to crackle at the edges. She grins, teeth grit as she forces herself to ignore every iota of pain from impact, the crunch of her own bones, and she digs her hands into Marisa's clothes, pulling that sun energy close around herself to try and fry the witch alive. Blood starts seeping from her lips, but she's become so hellbent on standing her ground now that it doesn't matter to her. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Marisa's magic shield is doing little to protect her as her clothes burn away and her skin begins to cook, openly showing the aftermath of what already looks like scar tissue from her major burns covering her body. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Marisa grits her teeth at the literally searing pain as she rockets into Patchouli, her shield absorbing the impact, but not the wrath of the magician who has plastered herself against Marisa's shield trying to claw away at her skin. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Yelling at the top of her lungs flying blindly through the fake sun, with her boiling blood burning through her veins, she reels back her free hand to deliver a single punch to the purple-robed magician with all her might. *	Patchouli_Knowledge isn't affected quite as much by the intense sphere of sun and heat and flame that she's created, the lace on the edge of her robes still burning.. but the damage she's taken to her body more than makes up for it. One of her arms hangs broken, her chest half-crushed inwards, every breath a spluttering bloody cough. Yet she clings tenaciously, digging in her nails even further. *	Patchouli_Knowledge attempts to tear and rip away at Marisa's shoulders, not blind but having exerted nearly all her remaining energy now, leaving her with little option. In her hazy thoughts, which start opening up to overwhelming pain, she even considers biting at this point, anything to cause more damage.. *	Patchouli_Knowledge is beaten to any possibility of this, however, when Marisa's punch rings true, smashing her upside the jaw and cheek with a sickening crack. She makes another spluttering, plaintive gasp, her breath too gone to scream.. before her grip loosens with her grip of reality, and in moments, she breaks off the grip, falling away. *	Marisa_Kirisame runs out of energy first, having wasted a lot of is already with her lasers, her spell and shield sputtering away, her skin burning and boiling as the throttle stops, her comet now refuced to a burning trail streaking though the sky, her branch she was riding on long gone. <Marisa_Kirisame>	As she plumets towards the ground, she fires off one last spell - a smoke-trailing sphere of magic, that flies off towards the center of the forest and erupts with a loud bang after it too dives below the trees. <Marisa_Kirisame>	Any magic Marisa has left goes towards slowing her fall and maintaining her magical impact shield as she slams through trees, and eventually, the ground, charred and beaten. *	Patchouli_Knowledge falls slowly, still capable of sustaining magical flight despite her failing sense of consciousness. She drifts far away from Marisa before finally dropping down between the trees, landing quite peacefully in the snow. She touches down on her feet at first, but it's only seconds before she collapses to her knees, then falling over onto her side, gasping for any breath she can get. *	Patchouli_Knowledge lifts her usable hand, however, and starts drawing together a dome of snow and ice, effectively creating an igloo around herself that would hide and protect her fairly well. Clinging tenaciously to her awareness as it recedes, she starts up a small fire from fallen debris that she pulls close, and, satisfied with these arrangements, she starts to work on her damages.. but doesn't get so far. *	Patchouli_Knowledge manages to cease the internal bleeding and such awful damage as that, but she puts the last of her power towards preventing what would eventually be lethal. Soon afterward, she passes out, curling up slightly beside the fire in that desperation to live.
 * Patchouli_Knowledge drifts out over the forest once again, quite a bit earlier this time, with the sun just beginning to set. She looks back and forth every now and then, obviously watching for a threat of some kind, before settling a little lower in the air. Lighting up a flame in her hand, she ignites one of the dead trees below, and starts to spread the fire about to envelop other dead trees around it.