Staramado (UMS)

<Lava> Urgh...
Lava casts a Meteor around the *coughbombcough* that he has, sealing it inside the Meteor, then sending the Meteor to stay in deep space. Valkyrie and Domino already went after The Ranger to beat him to the *coughbombcough* in the Midnight Woods. Lava, Velvet, Bahamut, and Fenrir went to catch up.

In the Midnight Woods, neither The Ranger or the coughbombcough are anywhere in sight.

All six spread out throughout the Midnight Woods in search of the *coughbombcough*, also hoping they don't have to run into The Ranger, since they find him to be cheap.

The "split up and look for clues" tactic is, unfortunately, exactly what The Ranger wanted, as not only is he holding the bomb right now (only he silenced it), but he's now turned the hunters into the hunted, a la Count Zaroff.

The first person with the "honor" of being The Ranger's target is Velvet, so The Ranger silently follows her via the trees.

Fenrir kept sniffing out for the bomb's location (he CAN sniff out his target item), but inadvertently ran into Domino, who came at a different path.
<Domino> Oh! Hi, Fenrir. Any luck?
<Fenrir> I think so. I can smell its location. Only it's moving.
<Domino> Oh. That can mean big trouble. We better keep close.
<Fenrir> Agreed.
So, they went after the bomb together. They ran into Valkyrie, though. They explained the situation, and she joined up with them. These three chased after the bomb.

Lava, who already ran into Bahamut, was searching with him.
<Lava> If he turns every attack back, that makes him invincible, doesn't it?
<Bahamut> Oh please, there's no such thing as something without a vulnerability.
<Lava> How come?
<Bahamut> Think about it--if something is immune to everything, then its own massive power would eventually be fated to turn on it, right?
<Lava> Hmm...Y'know, that makes sense there.

Meanwhile, Velvet has this uncanny feeling that she's being followed, so she makes a run for it, hoping to find someone. Oh, and while she runs, she tosses claymore mines behind her.

Mines planted in the ground are useless against those above ground, so The Ranger is mostly undettered in his silent pursuit.

Velvet eventually runs into Domino, Fenrir, and Valkyrie.
<Velvet> Guys!! I think that Koopa's following me! I don't know how, but I get this strange feeling of it.
Velvet looks behind her shoulder, probably getting ready for if The Ranger comes.

The Ranger tosses a rock from his vantage point, which hits a tree in front of Velvet (or behind her, depending on whether you judge "in front of" based on which way you're looking or which way your body is angled.)

Domino, Valkyrie, Fenrir, and Velvet get into defensive stances, also noticing the bomb in The Ranger's hands.

The Ranger tosses a smoke bomb to the ground near Domino, Valkyrie, Fenrir, and Velvet. Naturally, it bursts into smoke, which should blind them and give The Ranger a chance to move to a different tree, which he does.

It did obscure their vision as he planned. Valkyrie used her Lady Luck to fan away the smoke as fast as possible. When enough smoke was cleared, Fenrir could detect which tree the bomb--as well as The Range--was at, and he lunged towards that tree claws-first.

A katana is tossed down from that tree into Fenrir's back.

Valkyrie's luck vision foresaw the katana, so she quickly whipped out her crossbow and fired a magic arrow into the katana, knocking it away before it could reach Fenrir.

The katana flies back to The Ranger's hands via magic.

Domino jumps at The Ranger and strikes him multiple times with her Angelsoul.

The Ranger quickly leaps behind Domino and slices her repeatedly faster than the eye can see.

Domino, with quick samurai-like reflexes, turns and keeps on parrying the attacks. Fenrir takes this chance and steals the bomb from The Ranger in an extremely quick dash.

With his incredible speed, The Ranger takes the bomb back and goes deeper into the woods.

<Fenrir> -BEEP- god-modder!!
Fenrir goes after The Ranger, with the girls trying to keep up with him.

OOC: So if you're losing, I'm god-moding?

The bomb is in front of Fenrir, with one second left to explosion.

<OOC> No, if he can turn back every single attack coming at him, AND can travel at super-fast speed, then it's god-modding. Least MY characters still have vulnerabilities.

<Domino> (Can't believe I'm about to do this...)
Domino quickly turned the Angelsoul into the Shelter Flower form, which trapped the bomb inside, airtight.

OOC: The Ranger does too, I'm just not telling what they are.

The bomb gets to 0:00... but a spring with a clown's head on it pops out instead of an explosion.

Well, this surprised the four...but how were they supposed to know it was a joke bomb?!

The Ranger works in mysterious ways. He then decides to tackle two people instead of four and heads for where Lava and Bahamut are.