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[@Gentlemanvaultboy]'s Linkle and [@Delta44]'s Minako vs Junpei Iori
[b][color=darkred]Word Count:[/color][/b] 6,154

[sub][b][color=darkred]Blonde or Brunette?[/color][/b][/sub][/center]
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Minako was just about ready to rush into an engagement with Junpei when Linkle came to her aid. Having lost her focus and determination from her words, a sea of self-doubt began to swell within her, only able to half-listen to Linkle as she gave Junpei a proper examination.
He looked... shocked. Like he was holding his breath, muttering to himself. He wiped his eyes and continued gawking. There was absolutely no way...

[color=darkred]"Leader is fine."[/color] She kept her response short and simple, seeing as she was still thinking. About Junpei, about Linkle, about how to make this whole situation [i]work[/i]. And yet for the life of her, even while in her element, she couldn't quite get down a game plan. Undoubtedly, Junpei's presence had thrown her off, even if she tried to focus and change her state of mind. The fact of the matter was that so long as they stood as enemies, Minako's resolve was shallow, no matter what she told herself, no matter how hard she tried. [color=darkred]"Look, I..."[/color] She sighed, starting to get the jitters. [color=darkred]"I don't quite have a plan right now. I've never had to... fight a friend."[/color]
She bit her lower lip and gave Linkle a nervous look. 
[color=darkred]"He's stronger than he looks, so be careful, that longsword isn't all for show. He can summon his own Persona, Trismegistus, who fights with fire and strong attacks that slash like a blade. They come from his wings, you'll see it if he summons him."[/color] 

That's right, it was starting to come back to her, now. He had a special healing ability which recovered him after every attack, even if it missed. Considering he had 3x his normal strength, that meant Agidyne and High Counter, so physical attacks would be difficult. Engaging him at range was their best option, and with Eurydice recovered, fire attacks were less of a-

[color=lightsalmon]"Minako, w-wait a minute!"[/color]
His voiced snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up. He was smiling and waving his arms around like a fanatic, ecstatic. It was only now that the realisation truly hit her:
[i]This was Junpei.[/i]
[color=lightsalmon]"Mina, I'm so glad you're alright! I've been lookin' everywhere for ya!"[/color] A goofy grin surfaced on his face once he got the recognition from her he was waiting for. Her surprised gasp helped him come to the same realisation: even if she seemed like her spirits were down, she was still the same Minako who he first introduced himself to a year ago. She was still his leader, still the person who helped him deal with his issues at home, and still the same person who confessed to him. But if that was the case, why did something feel... off?
Of course, there was an easy remedy to that:
[color=lightsalmon]"Maaaaan, you gotta introduce me to the hot blonde beside ya! She's a real cutie, y'know! Are you pickin' up girls without me?"[/color] 

Stunned into silence, Minako couldn't quite put words into her mouth to respond. But she looked about ready to cry! Perhaps to Linkle it would look like some kind of mental torture...

Linkle turned her gaze from the boy  toward Minako, getting a look into her eyes. Right into her eyes, which was weird. Every other time she had had to look down at her, but now...

[hider=For Linkle][center]Spirit Devoured:
[b]Rabbid Luigi[/b]
Linkle has shrunk to 3/4's her original height and a pair of long white Rabbid ears now spring up from the top of her head. This Spirit confers the Strength [i]Ranged Proficiency[/i], imparting an instinctive understanding of the use (and effective use) of ranged weapons, particularly firearms, essentially removing the need for basic training with any new ranged weapon. It also confers the Strength [i]Rabbid Warfare[/i] - a new understanding of movement on the battlefield. Fine-tuned self-control and reflexes let Linkle team-jump her allies, propelling them or herself to greater heights. She can also slide across terrain morre easily and for longer. However, having Rabbid ears in addition to her own inflicts the Weakness [i]Four-Ears[/i], which makes Linkle sensitive to sound and gives her a weakness to sound-based attacks and really loud noises in general. [/center][/hider]

She shook the though out of her head. No, no, she could worry about that little detail later. The important thing was how much pain Minko was clearly in. Linkle frowned. She really had no idea what the girl could be going through right now. She'd never had to fight a friend of hers before either. To put a point on it, she'd never really had a real friend to fight. He didn't look like he was interested in fighting right now though, so she at least had time.

Sheathing her bows she reached over and put her steady hands on Minako's shoulders. "Minako. Hey!" she raised her voice to snap her at least slightly out of her weird headspace. "He'll be okay. He'll be fine. I told you, I promise, that we're going to save him and the one thing a hero never does is break her promises. Him saying stuff like that, all that means is he's just like that Kid or the fat guys or any of us. So you can introduce us once we've had our buddy Tora clean all that black gunk off him." She said, trying her best to reassure the girl she could swear she felt trembling under her fingertips. "But if you can't fight him, I won't ask you to. That rabbit's part of me now, so even if he brings out that fire monster you told me about it'll still be like he's fighting two people at once."

The snapping of fingers was effective in drawing Minko's attention, though she only gave Linkle the briefest of glances. Even so she listened, and lucky she was to do so, given how hopeful her tone was in the two getting Junpei back. It helped the teenager come to a realiztion as to why Linkle was so easy to get along with, despite their differences: her kindness and empathy were unlike any others. Perhaps greater than any heroic feat she could accomplish, Minako felt that her inspiring spirit was one of Linkle's greatest qualities. While she didn't completely stop shivering, the hand was comforting to the leader, encouraging. Even if she doubted herself, Linkle believed in her. Unable to help it now, the girl's eyes began to well with tears, though even as she cried, it was clear she was far from sad. 
[color=darkred]"He's alive...! L-Linkle, he's... h-he's alive!"[/color]
While it was hard to respond to all that her supporter had said, with Minako barely registering the height difference that the girl beside her hd undergone, she did her best to respond, even with eyes full of liquid.

[color=darkred]"I-I hope Tora can... can do it. H-he's my... best friend..."[/color] She was kidding herself if she couldn't even admit that much. Junpei himself took a concerned step forward but, by command of the Master Hand, could not step further. His programming prevented him from doing so. [color=darkred]"I'll... I'll try. I can't say I can do much, but I... I have a new Persona which can keep us a-alive. It can heal you up if you're injured, so I'll try to use it to protect you. B-but please..."

"Be careful... OK? B-both for him, and for yourself. I'll be with you, better three people than two."[/color]

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cqj_6I6fGo[/youtube][/center]

Linkle nodded along as Minako affirmed her will to fight. That was good. She knew she'd be able to pull together, at least a little. It still looked like this was mostly Linkle's show, but it was good to have someone at her back. "You got it, Leader." She said, turning resolutely back toward Junpei and pulling out her crossbows. 

"Okay buddy, this isn't going to be easy for you either."Linkle called over to the boy, stepping forward just enough to make herself the more tempting target without putting herself into range of that sword of his. She left a good distance between him and her. "That black stuff is going to make you do some things you're not gonna like, but I'll make sure you don't do those things to her." 

She pointed both of the bows in Junpei's direction and was shocked at how steady this felt. She had never gotten the hang of aiming at distances like this, something about how the bolt didn't just fly straight had never clicked with her. Now, though, she just sort of got it. She smiled at that, almost imagining she could feel that rabbit guiding her hands. She let the spirit guide her to aim for his legs.

No bombs, not yet. She couldn't risk that. So she pulled the triggers and let the bolts fly, again and again, sending bolts flying toward his legs to try and incapacitate him before he got over to them.

[color=lightsalmon]"Man, I hate to do this to such a pretty lady, but..."[/color]
With a kick and a step, Junpei began to push into a run. Normally he wasn't the most dextrous or agile of people, but he showcased a significant increase in mobility, likely a result of that black aura that surrounded him, Crimson eyes honed in on his target, the boy careful not to run off too far to the side in case they tried to slip past him. 
[color=lightsalmon]"PERSONA!"[/color]
He stopped in place, having gotten closer to the two girls but not too close to give Linkle a clear shot at his legs just yet. Her improved aim put a lot of pressure on him to keep back, knocking down his mobility would prevent him from doing anything, so he knew not to get reckless. As she shot at him further, her arrows would [i]'Ping!'[/i] off of the crystal-like diamonds that were appearing in front of him, which took shape to reveal a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/1/15/P3-Trismegistus.png/revision/latest?cb=20090209133520]strange humanoid creature[/url], using the same technique as Minako to summon it. The wings of the summoned beast caused the air to shift somewhat, and parts of it seemed to briefly light aflame. 

Without the compassion to complain, he immediately followed up with a dangerous fire attack, the fire seemingly appearing all around Linkle, as opposed to being shot out of anywhere in particular. Its area-of-effect was minimal, however, so if she was quick to notice she could duck and roll out of the way before getting incinerated. 
Minako had her Evoker on-hand, ready for immediate use if Linkle needed it. An Agidyne would hurt like all Hell, but at least she had the versatile summoner's newfound power to counteract it. The leader was well aware that Junpei could only use his fire so many times before running out of stamina, and any physical attacks he used would eat into his health. However, letting him be and not attacking at all would put the both of them at a severe disadvantage, due to Trismegistus' innate ability to self-heal. What an annoying fight this would turn out to be...

Linkle growled with frustration as the monster she'd been warned about sprang to life in front of him, just when he gotten close enough for her shots to actually start connecting, and her bolts bounced harmlessly off of it. She was getting real tired of running into things that wouldn't get hurt when she shot them.

She was about to attack again when fire suddenly sprang up all around her. The image of the ice attack that had been used on the robot earlier jumped into her head. Maybe if she just had her normal reflexes she'd be hit by that, but that rabbit was suddenly with her again. She ran towards the flames in front of her as they closed in, ducking at the last second and going into a slide as she felt a wave if heat from behind her as the flames collided. 

Coming directly out of the slide into a dead run, she took a few more steps forward and raised her bows again, the tips glowing red as Junpei's eyes. Sweeping them upwards like she was under handing a ball she pulled the triggers and tried to launch of pair of bombs over the top of the creature at the boy behind it before jumping back and away from the both of them.

[color=darkred]"Thanatos!"[/color] Where Linkle charged ahead to try and press an advance, Minako also pushed to try and keep up the pressure. She wasn't sure if Junpei knew any attacks to target groups of people, but she was banking on her own knowledge at this point; if she woke up with her Persona only knowing base-level skills, it was safe to say Junpei simply got the advanced versions of his base-level skills upon powering up. It only made sense, considering Eurydice' agi would eventually grow into maragi, then agidyne, making the skill 3x as powerful. Junpei's use of agidyne helped justify this train of thought, though if she was wrong...

As Linkle approached, Junpei used his Evoker again, firing off another shot into his temple to keep his Persona summoned. The winged humanoid turned not to Linkle, but to Thanatos, who was now charging with its blade. Trismegistus charged the opposing Persona head-on, slashing the death avatar with its wings, causing it to disappear as it had after the fight with Bastion. Pushing forward, it charged for Minako, who made the choice to summon her new Persona in an effort to block the attack. [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/6/65/Orpheus_female_render_by_misachanchibi-d347r8n.png/revision/latest?cb=20110524224532]The resulting Persona took the form of a woman with a harp[/url], who used said harp to block the charge of the winged humanoid, though not before taking a swipe that one-shot it as well. 

On Linkle's side, the bombs she had thrown had taken Junpei by surprise, and even as he rolled forwards to avoid much of the blast, he was still caught in it marginally. The effects of the blast, however, would soon disappear, as a soft blue glow enveloped the teen's body, removing any sign of the former injury. He wasted no time in rushing her, longsword swinging like it was almost weightless, though his form was unlike anything she would have seen in Hyrule. [color=lightsalmon]"Heh. Thanks, Chidori."[/color] He muttered to himself, aiming a slash across her body. 

Linkle saw it! She spotted it when the boy brought that guy up to his head to pull the trigger. There, that was the time when he was vulnerable. 

Not that that did anything to help her right now. The monster shot off toward Minako, tearing apart the thing that had torn Bastion to pieces with ease and doing the same to the second creature Minako pulled out of her hat to defend herself. All this as Junpei charged in, swinging that sword of his with the strength of a full grown moblin.

Oh goddess's he was so much taller up close than she'd expected.

She couldn't run though. There wasn't a way to hurt the guys monster, so she had to make him call it off somehow. So in the face of his oncoming charge she held her ground and spun, bringing her leg up as it was set alight and planting her burning heel directly into the boys wrists to divert his swing to the side.

Linkle could feel something building up in her. That vibrant energy she got in every battle, as though the momentum of it was being converted into fuel for her to use. It was still small, but she could feel it there. "You'd better call your pet back fast, because there's no way you're beating me like that!" She said, continuing her rotation intending this time to bring her boot into his skull.

WIth his slash diverted, Junpei's force carried him low, however the added strength meant he was quick to recover. The flame on Linkle's boot that would do harm to pretty much anyone else did very little in this case, barely leaving a mark on him, though the force of the kick with his momentum still did the trick of diverting his blade. He was about to send it back at her in another wide-swept arc, but found a foot kicking him clean in the jaw, interrupting his swing. Yet, in spite of the force of said kick, Junpei didn't stumble, using the opportunity to catch her outstretched leg with an iron-like grip.
[color=lightsalmon]"Nah, I think I'm good."[/color]

With the strength of a titan, the teen pushed Linkle's leg up and back, trying to trip the significantly shorter girl to send her on her back. His Persona used agidyne on Minako, who couldn't escape the blast in time, sending her further from the battle. As his Persona started to de-summon, Minako summoned her own new Persona, Eurydice, to try and heal herself up.
With his Persona returned, Junpei attempted a quick summon on Linkle, giving her precious time to react. It only really gave her two-three seconds, but perhaps that would be enough to get a good hit in.

As Linkle was pushed backwards she jumped with her other leg, letting Junpei's amazing strength push her over entirely. She landed on her hands, bow points digging into the ground, before pushing herself backwards to land back on her feet. Behind hershe heard an explotion and grit her teeth. She would actually be having fun if this guy hadn't just gone and made a liar out of her.

She didn't have time to turn around and check her teammate as Junpei brought the Evoker back up to his head to summon that thing again. As he fired she spirited forward, sliding under the crystiline diamonds that marked where the Persona was coming into being while firing her bow in a sweeping motion in front of her.

As she came out of the slide she didn't let up on her attack. She thrust her bows forward one at a time, left, right, left, right, as though throwing punches, like she thought that that would multiply the force behind every arrow she was now firing right at him. As she fired she moved closed and closer with every thrust. If he broke, she needed to be close to captalize on it.

Finally, as though to put an exclamation mark on her assault, she thusrt both forward at once and launched another pair of bombs.

The assault was fluid in its motion, enough-so that it put pressure on the capped boy to not die. As soon as the first of her arrows weged itself into his hip he stumbled, and that was nothing to say of the second and third, which all had a noticeable impact. He winced, unable to quite take the pain of being shot that many times without feeling something, knowing full-well that if he failed to act his life could be forefeit. While no master ninja, Junpei knew his way around a bat and ball, and his added physical strength truly shined as he prepared a misdirection of his own. With a step to the side, groaning from the pain, he swung his sword with the flat edge running parallel to her arrows to thwart them. Though it didn't do much to those that were shot wide, bolts that came directly at him were passed on to the left or right of him, helping him avoid extra damage save for one stray arrow which left a mark in his shoulder. He couldn't help but growl in frustration, seeing the two bombs headed straight for him.

This time, Junpei let them.
Another gunshot as he tried to summon his Persona again. Though the bolts were quick, the forming crystals seemed like they deflected oncoming fire as a means of protecting the summoned spirit as well as the summoner, some kind of shield that deflected frontal attacks. The bombs bounced harmlessly off of the Persona, which took shape quickly, completely immune to the explosion which came after. [color=lightsalmon]"Brave Blade!"[/color] He ordered, his Persona rushing forward and draining the life from its' host, visibly weakening Junpei even as his body glowed that healing aura. Now Linkle had to face the charging wrath of his Persona, who aimed a much more precise slash than Thanatos, opting for a downwards cut followed by a heavy advancing slice from the side.

Meanwhile, further back in the battlefield, Minako had recovered herself enough to start getting closer once more, using Linkle's distraction to try and rush Junpei with Thanatos. While losing stamina over summoning him would hurt her in the long run, making sure he wasn't also going after Linkle was a priority. Her Evoker fired to reveal the embodiment of death once more, whose coffins flipped open to reveal that chilling wind which drifted around the enemy. Shivering, the young man started to freeze-over, his skin turning blue from the ice. [color=lightsalmon]"D-d-da-am-n...."[/color]

Linkle smiled as he brought out his Persona, even if her smash was denied to her again. She had no idea if he could see her through the monster but she stuck out her tongue anyway. "Told ya so!" She shouted at him even as the Persona charged in. 

It brought its blade down in an overhead slice as Linkle jumped to the side, and ducked down as it continued its combo with a horizontal slice. "Told ya you'd need your monster to GAK!"

Whatever taunt was about to leave Linkles tongue was cut off by the sharp pain she felt flowing down from her head. At first she thought the monster had scalped her, and her hands flew up to the top of her skull to check. But what she found there wasn't a bloody hole, but two furry tubes she hadn't even known were there. As her fingers traced up the length of the protrutions she felt light fur becoming slick and matted, before they abruptly plateaued into wet littles marches. She pulled her hands down and saw they were spattered with fresh blood.

She didn't realize it, but she'd just gotten her new ears trimmed to half length.  

Whatever injury she had wasn't important, though, because the monster was still right in front of her. More than that, though, she heard the crack of the Evoker again and the chill cracle of ice forming. Looking around the monster she could make out Minako, having moved in to attack while she had Junpei's monster districted. She beamed with pride at a job well done. There was no way he could take on Minako's monster without his, so the only thing she had to do now was try and keep this things attention. Pushing through the pain she dived to the side to try and get around it, holstered one of her bows, and pulled the Bwah Blaster from the hem of her shorts. 

Maybe they ignored bolt, bullets, and bombs, but she had no idea whether they were immune to light blasts! The mouth of the gun flared to life as she lined up a shot at the Personas head and fired.

The mouth flashed as the bolt of light shot out and exploded directly on the monsters face. Unfortunately for Linkle it turned out to be just as immune to that as it was to everything that came before. Linkle marvaled for a moment, trying to figure out what these things were made of. She was about to try it again, but she somehow knew it'd be useless. Not because the monster wouldn't be hurt, she just knew that for some reason she had to wait between shots with this weapon.

Figuring it must be that helpful rabbit on her shoulder again, Linkle decided to cut her losses here and starting dashing back toward Junpei and Minako.

[color=lightsalmon]"T-Trismegistus!"[/color]
Without an option, Junpei's Persona turned on himself, fire appearing all around Junpei to shatter the ice around him. While he was unharmed from the fire, he did get knocked around a bit, sending him to the floor. Thankfully, this was just enough time for Thanatos to close the distance, drop-kicking the capped teen and sending him back towards the bridge. As soon as the hit connected, Minako closed in on Linkle, before bringing out her new Persona once more. It's gentle, beautiful melodies began to heal her wounds, though it probably wouldn't help Linkle grow her new rabbit ears back, at least not completely. Unlike Blazermate, this creature seemed to really tire out the user, with her partner panting visibly, struggling to keep up. [color=darkred]"L-Linkle...! Y-you OK....?"[/color] She asked, careful not to get too distracted. Junpei was already getting back on his feet again, more annoyed than hurt, it seemed.

"I don't know." Linkle replied, befuddled even as the healing notes of the harp renewed her body and spirit. She wondered if the melody she'd heard about from the legends was anything like this. "What's on my head?"

She didn't get her answer before Junpei interrupted them.

[color=lightsalmon]"Y-you two [i]really[/i] tick me off..."[/color] He muttered to himself, his Persona having faded between the two of them. Knowing he would have to get a bit more reckless, Junpei shot his Evoker again, only this time he wasn't going to give them a chance to react. They'd see just what he was capable of. [color=lightsalmon]"Sick 'em, Trismegistus! Brave Blade!"[/color] His orders were loud and clear, but his true intention was subtle: deal as much damage as possible with physical attacks, then pelt them from a distance while healing himself up. Not a bad plan for someone who usually couldn't formulate them, and this time it might just work. With speed far greater than anything Minako's Personae could ever hope to achieve right now, the winged angel of flame charged forwards, turning up wind as he flew by. His first target, Eurydice, neither had the endurance nor the means to defend against such a powerful physical attack. The first slice cut through her with ease, causing the Persona to shatter back into glass, and causing Minako to be suddenly overcome with some kind of painful tiredness.

Immediately following this, Trismegistus took aim at Linkle, the second biggest threat, and did similar slashing attacks to before, ony this time they just kept on coming. Though it started out in a pattern, quickly the creature's movements got erratic, growing more and more unpredictable by the second. 

Linkle jumped back as the monster again demolished one of Minako's own  and came straight at her with a flurry of powerful slashes. She was grateful, in a way, that the boy seemed to still have enough presence of mind to not kill his friend when he had the chance.

Because as Linkle jumped, ducked, and weaved about like a prizefighter she knew that Minako couldn't have lived through this. She knew how much each spell was taking out of her. She wanted to lead this thing away, but she knew that was pointless. He could just have it back in no time at all, and as long as she was having to avoid all this Junpei was free to do whatever he wanted to the exhausted and struggling Minako. In addition she was starting to feel the strain of dodging its blows merciless blows only a few seconds in, her normally inexhaustible supply of energy being pushed to the limit just to keep up with it. She felt the wounds start to appear, grazes and glancing blows she was just barely too slow to dodge. A cut along the thigh, a stab that scrabed her side, a few more inches of those knew ears lost. Every scratch, every blow, she could feel that old momentum building.

She had been watching it closely as it swung, looking for any point where it faultered or fumboed where she could strike back and had found none. As Minako's own monster had proven these things didn't even die when they were killed. Trismegistus had no weaknesses! The only thing she could see that beat these things, even momentarily, was raw power and as she felt that momentum peak from this struggle she knew could put out enough to at least stun it. 

So she let loose. 

She felt a surge of power fill her entire being as she crossed her weapons, firing both forward and backwards. The beam that came from the mouth of the blaster she was still using instead of her other crossbow burst harmlessly off the monsters chest, but she was already crossing her arms again and fired off in the other two directions, at nothing. Then she spun, firing like a maniac in a circle around her, and as she reached the end of her spin she felt that power burst out of her. A dome of fire and force sprung out with Linkle at its center. The fire crashed harmlessly off the monster, but the force was enough to push back the sword blow that it had been swinging at Linkle at the moment. It was momentarily pushed back, off balance, and that bought Linkle the second she needed.

As she stopped spinning her arm was extended and her blaster was raised. She looked down the barrel at Junpei, and looked past him to the most he had his back too. That drop kick had put him right where they needed him. Something was telling her what this blaster would do.

"Leader, your friend needs to cool off!" She urged, and fired the beam she intended would bounce him right into the water. She didn't get to see if it worked, though, before she heard the sound of the monsters blade cutting through the air. She turned, bringing the bow and blaster up to try and ward off the blow that hit her like a falling tree. She felt something break, and she hoped it was he arms for a moment because those would be less costly to repair in this weird world. Then she was lifted off the ground and sent flying through the air, rolling along the ground, and then slamming back first into something hard.

As soon as the blow collided with Linkle's frame, the monster disappeared, fading away from sight just as it had done before. However this time, she couldn't hear it [i]or[/i] Junpei, the two of them having vanished from sight. In truth, her plan had worked almost flawlessly - the beam knocked right into him and sent the student flying backwards, straight into the moat, quite a ways away. He probably wasn't dead for now, that much Minako knew, but with the amount of distance now between them and how poorly he was at swimming, it granted the two more than enough time to catch up with the others. 

It was no victory. They hadn't defeated nor converted him. But it was enough for now. 

She lay blearily against some of the arch debris, eyes fluttering open as her crossbow and blaster clattered down on either side of her. She tried to pull herself up, felt something go CRICK, and decided that might be a bad idea. Still, her eyes searched for Minako and Junpei. 

Minako hadn't been able to move for the past while, struggling to get back on her feet, using her weapon as a crutch. She carried a wayward glance over at Linkle, worry etched onto her face, but also a smile. Though not the best result, it would buy them time to patch themselves up and regroup with the others, at least to get into a working state. And so long as Junpei wasn't a spirit, Minako was pretty happy. 
Her limp was evident, but unlike Linkle it wasn't particularly serious, especially with her naginata to support her. Her movements pained and precise, it took her longer than she would have liked to get close to her, but it was better than making Linkle walk to her.

[color=darkred]"You... don't look s-so good..."[/color]
Stating the obvious, perhaps, but her concern was well placed. She knew just how much an attack like that hurt, especially when you were far weaker than you should be to take it. Several near-death experiences meant she had a good idea how much damage Linkle had taken. There was always the option of using her Soma, but she wanted to save that for the brink of defeat. Having only one meant she had to make it count, her countenance quivering as she put the Evoker to her temple once more. [color=darkred]"I can... heal you a little more... But we really n-need to get to Blazermate..."[/color] She wasn't going to let Linkle protest, pulling the trigger, her eyes glazing over as though she had died for a moment, eyes a sick yellow. They returned to their natural red once Eurydice had appeared, regaining the life in them. The Persona strummed her harp, melodic and peaceful, and Linkle would begin to feel her wounds heal very quickly. It couldn't heal like Blazermate, but it may be just enough to get her standing.

It cost Minako another lot of stamina, eyes blurred as she fell to her knees again. It felt as though this would be a common occurence. What mattered most was that they could move. [color=darkred]"D-did it... h-help...?"[/color] Her voice was fairly raspy and her throat was dry, like she hadn't had anything to drink in hours. She wasn't unconscious, but definitely didn't look to be in fighting condition. 

"Yeah. Thanks, but you're right about Blazer." Linkle agreed, pulling herself up and looking around for Blazermate only to come to the startling realization that they were the only two out here. In fact, without the adrenaline pumping in her ears and a monster coming for her throat she could make out other sounds, the sounds of battle raging within the castle itself. "I think she's busy right now."

Their freinds had finished up and were right now engaged with that monstrous dragon Bowser. "Your friend is really something else, huh?" Linkle said, uncertainty tinging her voice form reason she didn't quite understand. This was bad. If they went in there as messed up as they were, Blazermate might heal them or they might get destroyed immediately. "If we go in there Junpei will follow us and who knows what'll happen to him in that melee."

Minako couldn't help but agree. Entering a battle they were unprepared for was like a death sentence. And letting Junpei get away meant they would have to face him again, surely with some form of support, but she didn't want to give him the chance to heal up. Even worse was if he teamed up with the big Bowser inside, making the fight infintely more stressful on those within. She had her Soma, yes, but for two people it was just rather pointless, especially when she knew it could fully recover four at least. It was best to have it as insurance for a later date, if the group ever got into a large battle they couldn't win without some kind of edge. 
Edge... Junpei would be reaching the edge of the moat soon. Despite flying back so far, he didn't seem too unwell when he was hit by Linkle's Bwah Blaster. It definitely had some kind of effect, but it didn't look like it had killed him. The obvious knockback was a plus, though. 

[color=darkred]"Heh... He's pretty incredible, huh?"[/color] She sounded a lot less tired as she spoke of Junpei, though definitely looked like she had been through enough for one day. It couldn't contain her cheer, though. [color=darkred]"I agree though, for our sakes, for the others, and for him... we can't let him get out of the moat."[/color]
She thought back to a previous escapade with water, between herself and the members of SEES, where Junpei had been splashing water at the girls and being a bit of a jackass, if she were honest. They gang all teamed up on him, forcing him to retreat deeper into the water, before using water blasters to keep him there.
Though a strange thought, it gave Minako an idea. A cruel, fun idea. 

She took Linkle by the arm and began pulling, though without her full strength it was more of a tug. Approaching the moat, the two arrived just in time to see Junpei surface, apparently caught up in a scuffle with some monster of the deep. He was swiftly swimming to shore, using his full strength to get back there as quickly as possible. As he swam, Minako filled Linkle in on her plan. It wouldn't use up too much of her own energy to do, and with the Bwah Blaster, things would be a whole lot easier.

The plan was simple, easy to execute, and undeniably the lamest way Linkle had ever ended a fight. So, as Junpei reached the edge and pulled himself back out of the water with a triumphant cry Linkle half-heartedly aimed the blaster at him and pulled the trigger again.

Junpei was bounced unceremoniously back into what was now his watery prison as her and Minako seperated, each one taking a shore. If he tried to climb out, he got knocked back in. If he tried to pull his Evoker, Linkle blasted him. If he dived under the water Linkle stuck her head underwater and blasted him that way. If any of the waster creatures tried to hurt him, they got bombs, studded with arrows or, if Minako was feeling up to entombed in blocks of ice. His programming kept him from retreating, so he would just keep coming at either of them, and the light touch of the girls attacks combined with his natural healing kept him safe.

So long as the gang inside came out the way they entered to check on their allies, there wouldn't be any problems with such a plan.