[i][/i][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/5FqwUwv.jpg?1[/img] [h3][b][color=00aeef]Chinami Nadakai[/color][/b][/h3][/center] [@supertinyking] [@Letter Bee] [@Dezuel] Were it not for her Spirit's protections, Chinami decided she might be blinking sunspots out of her eyes... perhaps even literally if the words of Blondie had any merit beyond the dramatic, as he summoned forth a ring of light orbs... and a [color=fff79a][b]blade[/b][/color] to command them. Goosebumps erupted across the Goth's body at the very sight of the [color=fff79a][b]thing[/b][/color], the same feeling from when she scried him before now stronger than ever before, as Blondie unleashed beam of eye-searing light at The Man in the Suit, who dove for the cover of his [color=1b1464][b]d a r k n e s s[/b][/color]. As the thunderous pillar of light raged on, Chinami finished her movement, now well and truly placed between the brunet boy and hopefully any conventional harm. As the light began to die out, Chinami wet her lips nervously, ready to lunge forward if that had done the job... Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. Though he'd apparently not gotten out of the attack unscathed, despite his defenses, The Man in the Suit wasn't even unconscious... and he seemed understandably [i]peeved[/i] if the onslaught of shadowy projectiles was any clue. Her Spirit's enhanced perceptions running as far as she could push them, Chinami had no trouble watching the barrage of golf-ball-sized orbs approach in slow motion... if a somewhat intimidatingly fast slow motion in the face the sheer quantity of them. Given what she'd measured regarding her Spirit's capabilities, she could estimate that, even with her not being at her best, these projectiles were moving somewhere in the realm of a seventh to an eighth of her Spirit's speed, around 80-90 miles per hour, easily equivalent to above average fastball pitches... and far and away too fast for any regular person to dodge without enhanced senses, [i]especially[/i] in such furious, accurate and -most importantly- [i]increasing[/i] quantities. Her Spirit's head briefly left the shielding of her regular speed body to glance back at the brunet boy, who didn't seem to be reacting with any particular alacrity, which meant he likely had no way to evade harm on his own... as unfortunately predicted. The scry she had performed before had informed her of no other Gift but his ability to enhance other supernatural phenomena, and while it was perfectly possible that he had other abilities that were hidden from her sight -as had been annoyingly proven by Nightman and The Man in the Suit, she didn't get that same sense of concealment from him. Which meant he was, physically, a bog standard human. Unfortunate. [color=00aeef][i]Damn, I have no choice but to shield him![/i][/color] Gritting its teeth, her Spirit panned its glowing blue eyes across the room, looking for options. In lieu of the ability to dodge, the brunet instead needed a physical shield to weather the storm. One way or another, Chinami currently had no other path but to take the attacks head on, her own body and Spirit the only things she really could say for sure could handle it. Even so... If these orbs were anywhere near as devastating as the initial attack that had seeped into the floor... if that ominous effect applied to [i]all[/i] of The Man in the Suit's utilizations of his Gift? Then they were in [i]trouble[/i]. With that in mind, it would be better to still explore every possible option otherwise. Her Spirit lunged at barely subsonic speeds for one of the nearby chairs in the room, snatching it up and quickly interposing it between Chinami's true body and the assault, as said body continued to back away in what felt to her was a glacial pace, her heartbeat thundering in her ears from each slow motion pulse. The first orbs impacted the chair. Unfortunately the fabric and stuffing proved little to no obstacle, and though her Spirit's physical strength held the furniture steady, the orbs of darkness punched into it like bullets, the flimsy wooden frame splintering and stuffing rupturing forth. And then the orbs [i]exploded[/i]. They weren't big explosions, not really, but they were there nonetheless, a series of blasts like firecrackers going off with purely physical force behind them, reducing the chair they'd pierced in mass to smithereens. Chinami's Spirit flinched away, the hands having caught some of the impacts, and for a moment, Chinami panicked a bit internally... before realizing that nothing more had occurred. To her great relief, nothing more than high physical force seemed to be employed in this onslaught. There was no lingering shadow on the remains of the chair or her Spirit, no creeping burn or unusual sensations. It was like getting pelted with beanbags. Well, for her [i]Spirit[/i], it was, the spectral extension of her soul being more durable than any regular person. For anyone else, the attacks likely would be equivalent to being barbarically stoned to death, even a single one of them potentially lethal if it hit the right place, like a rock being pitched at nearly 100 miles per hour. Her Spirit had weathered the glancing blows, and yet still... It had, indeed, [i]had[/i] to weather them to some degree, which meant the projectiles -and The Man in the Suit's Gift by extension- possessed the spiritual element she'd feared it might. He could [i]hurt[/i] her. Sure, these weak attacks wouldn't do much on their own, but she'd actually [i]felt[/i] them. If she was pinned down and forced to endure them for an extended period... then that damage would inevitably add up to something far more serious. [color=00aeef]"[i][b][Living on a Prayer][/b][/i], not a single one goes through!"[/color] Even now, her Spirit's arms and body ripped forth in a flurry of motion to deflect and detonate every last projectile that came their way, the spectral guardian far too quick for even a single one to conventionally pass, despite several curving, spinning and otherwise not moving in a straight line. Chinami hissed quietly, however, as -like she expected- her arms began to feel rather... [i]tenderized[/i]. She could physically [i]feel[/i] the bruises forming all across her hands and forearms. The onslaught was intensifying, but her defense held strong, even as a toll began to be extracted. She was certain she could hold out long enough to reach the brunet and teleport them both to safety... but she wasn't sure she could say the same for Blondie. The Man in the Suit was beginning to encroach again, his footfalls spreading more of the [i]far[/i] more worrying [color=1b1464][b]d a r k n e s s[/b][/color] in annoyingly large and growing pools. And as he did so... a plan was beginning to form in Chinami's mind. Even as her Spirit defended her and the brunet... she had it begin to feign slip-ups, had it occasionally miss a wider ranging attack or two, before finally snagging them when they got closer to actually hitting her or her charge. As her physical body retreated closer to the brunet boy, Chinami's Spirit was at all times kept within a strict one meter radius of herself, as though an invisible tether yoked it, as she did her level best to sell to the enemy the idea that she was straining to defend, was on the retreat in every way that mattered, and -most importantly- that her Spirit's range, despite its speed and power, was [i]far[/i] shorter than the reality. A ploy to make the Man in the Suit overconfident, a feint to imply her as a trivial obstacle compared to Blondie, who had actually hurt him... And a gambit to lure him too far into her [i]actual[/i] range to defend when she finally struck back...