To yellow 14: Considering everything Viperion has seen, he would argue that he is being exactly as protective as necessary!
Alongside the others, Bengalia sprinted toward the spot in the forest from which Hato Gozen had appeared above the trees. She had heard the roar – her heart had frozen, her breathing stopped, when the sound thundered through the forest and shook the ground beneath her feet. Hato Gozen's startled cry as she flew through the air had mingled with the sound, a cacophony of sound. What could it possibly be that could have made that sound, that could have thrown Hato Gozen in that way?
"Wind Dragon!" Ryoku's gust of wind caught Hato Gozen and launched her upward, over the mountain peak, into the clouds. Bengalia let out a breath she hadn't realized that she had been holding. The forest in front of them began to thin, revealing a twisting river that meandered through the forest. The trees on the opposite side of the river had been torn up, the ground churned into a muddy abyss. A gaping hole in the ground could be seen along the riverbank. And suddenly, with a thunderous crack, two trees fell over. An enormous golden head emerged above the tree line for a moment, shaking its mane in the wind. Bengalia's eyes widened in shock. The Beast's head dropped below the tops of the trees and it let out another roar, stopping Bengalia's heart though she continued to sprint alongside Ryoku and Miss Pinky. "That – that wasn't the Bat…" she whispered, dumbfounded.
"Not unless he's gotten a hell of a makeover," agreed Miss Pinky, blinking in shock.
"Um… did you just see that?" Ryoku asked into her communicator. She leaned over and put on an extra burst of speed. A step behind her, Bengalia and Miss Pinky hustled to keep up.
"Unless we all just had the same hallucination, yes," Viperion confirmed. "That… that was a giant head."
"What even is that thing?" Bengalia demanded, eyes widening.
"Whatever it is, it's pretty angry!" Miss Pinky shot back, drawing her rake from her back.
"How close are you?" demanded Ryoku, not taking her eyes off the Beast. The Beast appeared on the edge of the clearing, still partially obscured by the trees at its back. Bengalia stared intently at it, trying to identify it. Almost as tall as the trees, with a dark mane and tawny fur, the teeth visible in its mouth sharply pointed, it resembled nothing so much as a Lion.
There was silence for a moment, then Viperion grunted. "We're on our way. Ready for me to start it?"
"Do it!" Ryoku slashed through the shrubs blocking them from the clearing, and the Lion beyond, and charged out, Bengalia and Miss Pinky right behind her. Bengalia glanced over at Miss Pinky, whose eyes were narrowed, a look of intense concentration on her face. Bengalia forced herself to breath, to focus on the task at hand.
Viperion was quiet for a moment. He sighed heavily. "Be safe. Second Chance!"
Bengalia set her jaw firmly, eyes narrowing in on the enormous beast directly in front of them, cataloging every feature. Each of its legs was close to the thickness of the trees which it had torn from the ground and thrown aside in its rampage. Its eyes shone bright, almost glowing with flames. The beast rose up on its back paws, its head emerging above the trees, and brought its front paws down on the sides of two trees on the edge of the forest, deploying its claws and tearing them into kindling. Bengalia glanced at the others nervously. Ryoku had already drawn her sword, twirling it above her head, her eyes alight with anticipation of the coming battle. Miss Pinky clenched her rake tightly, her mouth set in a thin line. The Lion finally caught sight of them as the distance between them and the river halved.
"Pinky… go right!" ordered Viperion. Miss Pinky dove, moments before the Lion batted a fallen tree right at the spot where she would have been. Miss Pinky rolled to her feet in a single fluid motion, only a couple steps behind the others.
"Let's take it down!" Ryoku roared, her eyes alight with battle rage, twirling her sword around one-handed. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
Bengalia let out a breath. This was not what they had expected, but they were the Heroes of Paris: facing the unexpected was nothing new. They could do this. She drew her arm back and clenched her fist, deploying her claws. In step, she and Ryoku jumped across the river together, shortly followed by Miss Pinky. The Lion stood in the midst of a scene of utter devastation, surrounded by shattered trees, enormous paw prints dotting the landscape all up and down the bank, interspersed with Hato Gozen's smaller footprints. The water lapped at the river's banks, leaving the ground muddy and soft. They were almost within reach of the beast. Bengalia tensed. This might be an enormous lion, but it still had to have tendons: if she could sneak around behind it, she could hobble it. It turned in their direction, its eye drawn by the light reflecting off of Ryoku's sword blade. Bengalia opened her mouth–
"Not gonna work, sis."
"Do you have a better idea?" she demanded, jumping back just in time to avoid the Lion's front paw. The Lion's claws bit into the dirt, throwing up clumps of soil that clung to her hair and stuck in her mouth. She made a face, spitting out dirt and grass, and sprang backward through a handstand, just out of its reach. The Lion glared at her, letting out a roar that shook the ground.
"One more," Viperion told her.
Following Viperion's instruction, Bengalia continued through a second handstand, bringing her feet together against the trunk of the tree directly behind her, moments before the Lion swiped at her, catching the tree behind her and breaking off the top.. She bent her knees on impact, coiling to spring. To her left, Ryoku spun around the lion's other paw, dodging out of its way before bringing her sword around in a slash at the Lion's front leg. The Lion bellowed in a rage, swiping its paws back at Ryoku, who evaded them, before rising up on its hind legs to get away from her attacks. At the same moment, Bengalia leapt from the tree with a shout, claws outstretched in front of herself. The Lion's front legs left the ground, exposing its chest, and Bengalia punched it right in the throat with all three of her claws. Bengalia's eyes widened in shock: her claws deflected off the Lion's skin, and she fell to the ground between its paws, landing on her stomach and rolling over to look up at its rage-filled face. The Lion roared, glaring down at her. Finally its paws started to come down and Bengalia flinched, covering her face with her arms.
"Pinky, get her!"
The paws were less than a meter from Bengalia's head when Miss Pinky reached under the Lion and grabbed Bengalia's arm, pushing both of them out of the way of the Lion's paws, only to push them further under the Monster. Bengalia tumbled over to land on top of Miss Pinky directly beneath the Lion's belly. Miss Pinky collapsed back to the ground, letting out an exhausted breath. Bengalia planted a quick kiss on her lips in gratitude as the Lion shifted above them, stomping its paws, extending and retracting its claws. One paw landed less than a meter from Bengalia's head, and the Beast jumped into the air and came down again, shaking the ground beneath her, each time dropping lower and lower above them. Seeing the danger, Bengalia grabbed Miss Pinky under the armpits, scrambling on all fours to extract them both from under the Lion's belly just before it dropped to the ground, flattening the ground right where they had been moments before. "What the hell are we supposed to do?" she demanded, not letting go of Miss Pinky's shoulder, staring up at the Lion's flank. The only target visible in front of the Lion was now Ryoku. Ryoku held her sword in a relaxed grip, staring impassively at the Ox.
"Close your eyes," Viperion instructed Bengalia and Miss Pinky. "Ryoku, Hato… hit it now!"
The Lion let out a snarl and pounced on Ryoku. But at the same moment, Ryoku whipped her sword up to point into the sky and shouted, "Lightning Dragon!" Lightning rumbled in the sky above them and struck the sword blade. Ryoku twisted her sword to aim straight at the Lion, redirecting the lightning into the monster's head. Just then Hato Gozen appeared in the sky behind Ryoku. Bengalia could see the attack coming, and clenched her eyes shut just as Hato Gozen clapped. The insides of Bengalia's eyelids glowed brilliant white from the light that bathed the forest around them, emanating from Hato Gozen. Thunder rumbled and over it Bengalia heard the sound of sizzling. Something struck the ground in front of her, and Bengalia dove on top of Miss Pinky, pushing her to the ground and covering her with her own body. The Lion bellowed again as the light passed. Bengalia opened her eyes to find the Lion lying on its side right next to them, moments before it lifted its head and glared down at her. Its mouth opened. Bengalia tensed, her claws deploying unconsciously. The Lion leaned over, fixed her in its eye, and opened its mouth, rows of sharp teeth visible.
A sling stone struck the Lion in the side of its head and it swung around in shock to stare at the source, rising slowly from the ground and letting out a low growl. On the far side of the river, Onça Feroz fitted another stone into her sling and flicked it at the Beast's head. The Lion shook its head and charged, lowering its head to bring its horns to bear.
Hato Gozen dropped from the sky to land on the Lion's back. Grabbing a fistful of the Lion's mane, she pulled with all her might, directing the Lion back toward the open chasm in the ground alongside the river to their right. Onça Feroz struck the Lion with a third sling stone.
"Water Dragon!" Ryoku sprinted between the Lion and the river and swung her sword in an arc. The water from the river flowed out of the riverbank in a looping arc over her head to crash down over the Lion's head. Hato Gozen took flight away from the Lion at the last moment, just before its front paws fell into the chasm, followed in short order by the rest of it. The water poured around the Monster, pushing it down, flowing around it and into the ground. The Lion contorted itself around, clutching desperatelyat the ground around the opening, desperately trying to claw its way back out.
The moment the water flow had eased, Hato Gozen dropped to hover in front of the Lion, holding her naginata in front of herself, keeping the Lion at arm's length away from her. The Beast let out a growl, shaking its mane to shake off the water. She tensed. "Calming Breath!" she shouted, placing her hand on its head and exhaling. The Lion let out a howl as it slipped back down, releasing its hold on the soil and falling down inside of the ground.
Bengalia stared at the spot for a long minute, waiting for it to reemerge, but nothing happened. Finally her shoulders sagged in relief Miss Pinky let out a triumphant whoop and threw her arms around Bengalia's shoulders. On the far side, Viperion strode across to the hole, stopped next to Ryoku, and threw his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, joined quickly by Hato Gozen. Bengalia took Miss Pinky's hand, and together the raced across to the others, embracing them in a group hug.
Viperion squeezed Bengalia's shoulder gently and hugged both her and Miss Pinky close. "We did it…"
Bengalia raised an eyebrow at him in concern. "How long did it take?"
He grimaced. "Actually, only about a dozen resets this time. Oh!" He turned to Miss Pinky in surprise. "We're not done yet. Reseed the ground over the chasm to pull it back together," he instructed her.
Miss Pinky broke away from the others and ran over to the chasm. Twirling her rake over her head she called, "Cornucopia," and dragged her rake along the dirt alongside the crevice. Vines started sprouting immediately, their roots spreading across the chasm and working into the soil on the other side. Quickly the hole was completely covered by new green vegetation.
Bengalia wrapped her arm around Miss Pinky once she returned, and rested her head on her shoulder. "We really did it!"