181/(Not) A Good Plan

(Not) A Good Plan
Date of Scene:	30 July 2023
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Desperate for energy after hearing about the Midnight Tokyo plan, Riventon decides to attack the mall without backup. Several magical warriors stand up to oppose him, while many civilian characters get drained.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Runealy Waldia, Togo, Homura Akemi, Madoka Kaname, Yuna Yuki, Yayoi Kise, Wako Agemaki, Itsuki Inubouzaki, Mamoru Chiba

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Takashi Agera has posed:
    It's a quite hot Sunday afternoon, and the movie theatre attached to Four Clovers Mall is bustling. While there's a new action movie playing that's drawn a lot of people, there's also a few romance movies playing (including a popular story about a forbidden romance between two girls of rival noble families) and a comedy. And the heat means a lot of people and groups have headed to the theatre to stay together in the modern marvel of air conditioning.

    Someone who's not currently enjoying the benefits of air conditioning per se, but is enjoying the benefits of fast-moving air, is Riventon - who is seated on the back of what appears to be... a gigantic dark purple vulture. With a permanent scowl etched on its face via eyebrows. Soaring through the air it makes a few looming passes over the parking lot of the mall just outside the theatre before landing on the roof top of the movie theatre.

    "Ah. I can feel it. So many people in such a small space. So much energy, and all they were going to do was lounge about in chairs for hours anyways. They're not going to miss anything if they nap for a few hours instead. Might even do them more good." Riventon says to himself, or maybe to the vulture youma, talking out loud as villains so often do.

    "Jikochuu, pull all of the energy from within this building." he says. The vulture crows and announces "Jokuchuu!" (Selfish!) in a squaking noise, and spreads out its massive wings, pulling tendrils of energy slowly from the massed movie patrons below and up towards itself and Riventon, where Riventon collects it in a swirling energy ball, pulling it somewhat directly into his aura. Within the movie, patrons both already seated and walking to their seats, as well as those in the lines for tickets and concessions, plus employees, find themselves feeling drowsy, eventually slumping over and collapsing.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune is normally very disconnected from Tokyo's news cycle. She does not like, trust, or understand these 'televisions' Madoka told her about. But word about some things does spread in ways she can hear about: People say things on the streets. They mention the strange damage to the mall, as the alien princess rides with them inside their extremely long underground metal carriages.

That brought her to the mall today, regardless of the heat. She expected to find evidence of either her most recent battle here, or some other incident. Instead... there is a giant bird-monster overhead, with energy flowing into it from the mall.

"Summoning Princess' Tiara!" Her hands shake as jeweled headwear appears in one hand, emitting a pulsing energy-hum noise. "The Line of Succession..." She passes it to the other hand, which places it on her head in the same motion, "...Transform!"

Red light engulfs Rune. When it fades, she stands in full magical dress and with staff in hand. Aiming up at the vulture-monster - way up, given how it absolutely towers over her and is large enough to stand out atop a mall roof, she fires her staff's orb at it. The orb flies for a direct hit, aiming to explode into emerald sparkles if it makes contact.

Togo has posed:
    Mimori Togo was asked to go to the movies by Yuna, her best friend. Of course she said yes! She is also dressed up for a day out, in a white and blue dress, a ribbon tied in her hair like usual. She is perusing the options after coming here with Yuna, and weighing the pros and cons of each selection. Since Yuna and Togo live right next to each other, they came together. But Itsuki had said something about coming as well. "Hmm... I was going to suggest the romance... But if Itsuki-chan is coming with us, perhaps the action movie or comedy would be better..." She isn't worried about a romance between girls being too much for Itsuki, but rather it potentially being too boring.

    Turning to look up at Yuna behind her, Togo says, "I'll let you choose, Yuna-chan. Do you think Itsuki-chan is old enough to not lose interest in a romance film?" She'll allow Yuna to guide her and move her wheelchair to whichever theater they're going to, confident that whatever choice is made, either in location or in entertainment, Yuna will make the right choice.

    Odd how tired she is suddenly though. She was so excited for today, but now she can barely... Keep... Her eyes...

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Air conditioning was awesome, but even better was getting to spend time with friends. For being a veteran magical girl, that's not actually something Homura did very often. A certain pink-haired girl with fluffy twintails had recently asked to be friends though, and that wasn't something she was going to pass up. Not for anything.

    What better way to spend a weekend than going to the movies? Good snacks, nice cool air, and good company! Homura had been torn about whether to suggest going to the comedy or the romance movie, but it didn't take much checking on her phone to see that the romance had better reviews, so the choice was easy enough. Given that Madoka seemed to enjoy it, it turned out for the best in the end.

    For much of the movie Homura had watched quietly, replying to Madoka but seeming to have good etiquette and manners for not disrupting others. During the more tragic parts she could be seen tensing up, and during one potentially dark moment her jaw had set. But things had resolved, and all the tension left her when Madoka ended up liking it.

    The viewing was just ending as the vulture circled around overhead, and Homura put her now empty drink container in the trash. She's offering Madoka a small smile back that nonetheless reaches her eyes, when all of a sudden she freezes in place and puts a hand on Madoka's shoulder.

    "Khhh..!" The energy drain is something she can feel immediately, and something that sends a feeling shooting through her like ice running through her veins. "Madoka, careful! I don't know who, but somebody is attacking the theater." Her purple eyes shoot around, looking for anything suspicious, immediately going to darkened corners and doors to employee and other off-limits areas. There's a men's bathroom that's out of service for repairs, so she grabs Madoka's hand and runs over into it with her.

    A purple flash of energy comes from her as soon as they're out of sight and she pulls something out of her shield. It's... another shield!?

    A large, curved plexiglas police riot shield, to be specific. She gives it a squeeze and it shifts and morphs, growing a purple diamond outline along the edge and a very faint hourglass motief in the center. "Take this, it'll protect you from the worst of it. Someone seems to be trying to take people's energy here. If you can get people close to you, it should be able to protect them too."

    Purple eyes narrow and she reaches into her shield again, retrieving a small automatic pistol. "While you do, I'll go take care of the attacker."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka comes out of the theater with a now empty bucket of popcorn, which she neatly folds up tightly and throws into the trash. She then turns to Homura with a bright smile. Her new friend was cool, pretty, and had a lot of neat things about her. The pinkette is wearing a bright smile despite walking out of what was basically a remake of a tragedy. Maybe she just enjoys Homura's company that much?

    Madoka, also, would have been quiet during the movie because that's what good girls do, and whatever comments she did make would have been short and quiet, to not distract too much. Occasionally she had been tempted to comfort Homura during the tense parts, not really yet knowing how close is too close.

    "It was a good movie, but it's sad how they couldn't just love as they wanted to. I couldn't imagine what would be like. I'd probably..."

    Madoka stops talking as Homura puts a hand on her shoulder, and she also starts noticing that she's getting a bit tired. Her friend confirms that it's an attack, and Madoka's pink eyes widen. "Oh no! Right now?!" She starts to fidget and worry, the sudden rush of adrenaline competing with the draining. She follows Homura as her hand is grabbed, running behind her while her free arm crosses over her chest. Madoka tilts her head to the side and gives Homura a confused look as she takes a shield out and enchants it.

    Accepting the shield, she says, "O... okay..." and holds it up. It's... pretty big for a tiny Doka, which on the bright side means that it can cover her entirely, but it's certainly hard for her to wield. "I'll... look for people. Be safe, Homura-chan!"

    Madoka's mind goes back to Kyouka's training. She tries not to panic. After what she's seen, she's got a pretty good idea that she's being menaced by forces she can't really fight back against.

    It's too bad something this terrible had to happen when she was having an otherwise good day, but this is how things are in the magical world.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    What to do during Summer Vacation when Hero Club requests are sparse: Go to the movies with your best friend, of course! A red-haired 8th grader is wearing a pink, baby blue, and white striped sleeveless top, and a pair of denim gaucho pants, with light-pink flats. Yuna Yuki is not going to wander around in a school uniform when not in school! That would be crazy! Checking her phone and the chat app that Fu-senpai had her install, she sees that Itsuki is also coming to the theater. "Aah! Togo-san, it looks like Itsuki-chan will be getting us popcorn and drinks at the concessions stand. She says she's okay with the romance. Maybe we can watch the action movie afterwards?"

    A quick message is sent to Itsuki with what they'd like, and a promise to reimburse Fu's little sister. Then she pushes Togo's wheelchair into the theater. "Don't worry, I'm sure she can handle it. She has Fu-senpai as her big sister, so I doubt much fazes her..." she says with a bit of a sweatdrop. While making sure Togo is parked in a nearby accessibility spot, Yuna starts to feel a wave of dizziness sweeping over her. "Togo... San..." she gets out as she wobbles on her feet. It looks like Togo is passing out too. And the people all around them. Something is wrong!

    She remembers what was in the news.

    .oO(A gas leak...!)

    She staggers as she tries to turn Togo's chair back around to at least get her away. Yuna makes an admirable effort, half-way to the exit. Her determination, however, eventually loses out to the sheer lack of energy to remain conscious. She may have a LOT of energy to drain... But it's still being siphoned away. Finally, she collapses across Togo's lap, at least making sure the other girl's wheelchair won't roll back down the incline.

    .oO(I need... To warn... Itsuki-chan...)

    Her fingers hover over her phone screen, but no message is sent. That's all she can do before blackness claims her.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Yayoi Kise came to see the newest biggest action movie in town and she was all set to arrive with friends and they we're outside when a giant bird thing arrives and starts draining energy before they can even enter the building.

Her friends, energy drained!? This isn't like a Bad End Drain then so mayb--maybe the giant bird isn't her problem! Yeah that giant scary bird isn't her problem! Then she looks to the poster of the hero, looking heroic on the poster of the movie and she sulks. IT IS HER PROBLEM. Because she was a superhero!.

She quickly dove for a spot she could safely change. "Pretty Cure, Smile Charge!"

Cure Peace steps out and erupts!.. into another hiding place. "What was I thinking, I can't fly!" she says as she thinks a moment and then... erupts from her hiding place and leaps onto the top of the roof!

Okay that's better...

Wako Agemaki has posed:
All Wako wanted to do was go to the mall.

Southern Cross had its shopping district, of course, but nothing compared to a full-scale mall like Four Clover. She'd been looking forward to doing a lot of window-shopping, maybe finding a nice souvenir for Grandma or Ruri. If she happened to hear any more about the supposed 'gas leak' or whatever it was... so much the better.

She didn't make it past the front walk up to the front entrance before the circling shadow drew her gaze upward and sent her spirits sinking through the pavement. "That's... definitely not a cloud."

With a sigh of faintly irritated resignation, she touches her fingertips to the emblem on her chest for a moment, then raises her hand skyward.

"Apprivoiser!"

In the next moment, a sphere of transparent pink light lofts the Galactic Maiden skyward, with Wawna once again floating in miniature form at her shoulder.

"I lost sight of it - Wawna, did you see where it went?"

< It seems to have landed, miko-sama. >

She shifts her focus down toward the roof, just in time to see the Red Princess opening fire. "Okay," says Ginga Otome, "definitely another monster--" As she sees Riventon also standing on the rooftop, she checks herself in mid-air. "This guy again?"

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki is just wearing a simple white sundress and some sandals as she stands at the concessions stand. She looks at the message from Yuna, and then back to the theater worker behind the counter. "Eeeeto... Eeeeeeh... Do you have a 'Jumbo Udon-Flavored Popcorn Goblet'?" She has no idea if that's a thing, but it's what Yuna and Togo want, so she'll at least ask. She also digs through her little wallet to see if she even has the yen on-hand to pay for these things. Reimbursement is fine and good but not if she can't buy the snacks in the first place!

    Whew! She found some more yen at the bottom! She looks up at the worker again. "Aaa, and my friends would also like some..." She trails off, her eyes getting wide, as she sees the worker slumped over the counter. "Eeeh?"

    She turns to see if anyone else is seeing this, only to watch theater patrons and workers alike falling down all around her. "Eeeeeh!?"

    She looks at her phone again, and sends a message to Yuna and Togo in the chat app. <<Yuna-senpai! Togo-senpai! Something is wrong! Everyone is falling over! Are you okay?>>

    She waits. And waits. As the seconds tick by, the number of people conscious reduces to... Just Itsuki. Then she sees Madoka with a friend as they emerge from one of the theaters. "K-Kaname-senpai...!" she calls out as she starts towards the girl she met at the pet meet-and-greet. She trips and falls as the strength suddenly leaves her. "...Eeh? K-Kaname-san... My friends are still... Inside..."

    She is a brave little girl, and perhaps even a little bit resistant to energy drains. But in the end, she hits a wall. And when she hits it, her head hits the ground moments later.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    It really feels like he's just getting started when he feels a ping of of magical energy from Axion. Runealy's green orb soars through the sky and instead of slamming into the vulture, it slams into a circular barrier of energy Riventon generates - not because the orb threatens him, but because it threatens his currrent pet and the pet is busy. He walks to the edge of the rooftop, and looks for the source of the blast.

    "Do you MIND? I'm BUSY." he guestures annoyedly with his left hand while his right is still pulling the tendrils of energy from the drain. On seeing the Ginga flying nearby, and recognizing her, Riventon rolls his eyes, an act which is still expressed through the red glowy eyes of his shadowmask. "This" girl again?" he says to himself. And then there is someone in annoyingly bright and poofy yellow costume on the roof as well. Three so far, he mentally counts. "Hey sparkleskirt, shoo shoo. I'm workin' here." he says, guesturing in a 'brush away' motion with that same left hand to Cure Peace - she looks like she wants to be here maybe less than he wants her here.

    Of course, it's apparent that nobody intends to just shoo away. But he's strangely not attacking them. But he's here for a reason and he is going to get every last drop of energy while he can. He's actually backing slowly towards the vulture, who keeps its wings spread and the tendrils rolling upwards. Riventon knows this can't last forever, but he's flipping the script and defending the youma for now.

    It's so sad that somethings sparkly had to happen while he was having an otherwise good energy drain, but this is how things are in the magical world.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
There are a lot of things for Rune to notice all at once. First, her attack... just detonated uselessly against Riventon's shield. "Ch..." Riventon is confronting her, shouting loudly so she can hear him from the parking lot. "That is precisely my intent - to render you distracted, then defeated! I will brook no further disruption to the citizenry's safety, even if the Queen of Tokyo seems content to pay you no mind!" The alien princess's voice is raised, pitched, indignant - she is actually angry that a person who does not even exist is not here to fight Riventon and his vulture monster.

Next, someone yellow - very yellow, very blonde - has just landed on the roof. Cure Peace is too far away for the princess to identify her, but Rune can at least realize there is now a person up there - she needs to be careful not to hit whoever that is.

...No, it's two people up there now - Ginga Otome has arrived too. "Explosions would endanger them," Rune remarks to herself, as she stuffs her normal staff inside her dress' bow - the weapon inexplicably slides in and vanishes, despite the fact it should not fit. Rune then pulls a smaller wand, a red-tipped one, out of the bow.

The princess' boot wings light up with a blue-silver light, as she launches up and toward the mall roof herself. She had not wanted to get this close to the fight, but she has to - Riventon has backed up out of sight from the parking lot. As Rune descends toward the roof, she aims down at him. A stressed-out, breathy shout follows as she fires a thin, sparkling ruby beam toward Riventon!

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Now, if Riventon had asked Peace nicely to leave, she might had actually considered it for a second (Like, half a second and then she'd say No!) but instead it's like 'shoo, go away' and this kind of makes Peace unhappy. "Did..."

"Did you just call me sparkleskirt?" she asks, offensively taken aback!

"That's.. a really rude term!" she says as she raises her hands, into peace signs. Before she unleashes sparks of lightning towards Riventon, and his vulture bird, though Riventon may block all her attacks.

"You're the one draining people, right!? Why!?" she commands.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "I'll be fine. Just try to help as many people as you can, and stay close to that shield." Maybe she wants to say more, but now that things are going down Homura seems to be all business. She gives one last look to Madoka, and then disappears.

    In the dull space of frozen time she makes her way out of the theater and mall, frowning as she sees all the people already on the ground and others in the midst of slumping over. Once outside it doesn't take her long to find the oversized Vulture and the magical girls that are fighting it. She circles around and lets time resume, flipping her hair and waiting for an opportune moment.

    There are three others and she can hear Riventon's voice, which draws a sigh of annoyance from her. She sets her jaw while waiting to hear the sounds of combat raise, bending down and setting one hand to the ground before rising up and leaping to the roof, landing on the ledge with a click of heels, a MAC-10 held outstretched in front of her, aimed right at the Vulture's back as the Red Princess takes her shot.

    The rattling staccato of full-automatic fire rings out as she holds down the trigger and dumps the entire 32 round magazine into it, the trigger clicking a few times after to make sure before casually tossing the firearm off the roof behind her. "Riventon. Is this what you're up to? Don't you have something better to do than ruining people's weekends? Keeping some of your more unruly co-workers in line, for example?"

    She considers for a moment, reaching into her shield again and retrieving... a playing card? Or something that looks like it. Riventon would recognize it immediately as some kind of Device, however. It glows purple and she raises her arm high above her head, the weapon uncoiling and unfurling into a long rod staff in her hand, waiting until it's fully ready for combat before spinning it like a baton and aiming it at the creature. Perhaps oddly, no automated voice comes out of it. Not all Devices have those, however. This one seems to have a permanent purple glow around it while it's wielded, however.

    "You're starting to become more of a nuisance than I want to deal with."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka thought she heard a familiar voice just before going into the bathroom to hide with Homura. Once her friend vanishes, Madoka sneaks back out to check, carrying a huge shield that is a bit unwieldy for her. She doesn't have any special strength to help her carry it. She doesn't even have average human strength. Madoka's just a tiny fluffy girl!

    Instead of trying to carry it around in her arms, Madoka flips it over her back and wears it like a turtle shell. If need be, she can curl up into a ball and hide under it, possibly covering up someone else along with her.

    Her first order of business: find out who was calling out to her. When she recognizes a familiar face among the drained, Madoka rushes to Itsuki's side. "Inubouzaki-san! Are you okay?" she calls out, despite knowing full well that the other girl is probably knocked out by now.

    Then again, considering how many magic-aware people Madoka has come across lately, it's probably not crazy to check if they are still awake or not.

    By the time Madoka reaches Itsuki's side, there isn't much she can do about it. She winces at the possibility of a concussion, but until Itsuki wakes up there isn't much Madoka can do about it. Madoka checks for bleeding, and after a moment she realizes what exactly Itsuki was saying earlier. "Still inside," mutters Madoka. "Does that mean...?"

    The fluffy pink girl has a bad feeling about this. She stands up and starts moving towards the theaters. Whatever fight is happening up above, it's not her job right now. She has to make sure that people are okay!

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Sparkleskirt?" It wasn't exactly directed at her, but even so, Ginga Otome looks down at her admittedly very blinged-out uniform, pleated skirt and all. "...I can't really argue with that, but I still feel insulted."

< Miko-sama, I believe his intention was-- >

"Yeah, Wawna," the Galactic Maiden agrees with another heavy sigh, lost under Cure Peace's more vehement objection. "I know."

Never mind all that, anyway! This masked jerk is clearly up to the same kind of thing he tried with the vacuum cleaner creature, and there are way too many innocent people in and around the mall. First order of business first: still hovering in the air overlooking the rooftop, she brings her hands together. "ZERO TIME!"

The barrier takes shape with its familiar whoosh, and the civilians throughout the mall and around its immediate exterior vanish, leaving the building eerily empty. Inside the theaters, the screens freeze as though someone hit 'pause' on every projector simultaneously. Outside, the sky shifts to a dazzing many-colored starfield, like a view of some distant galaxy.

"Not any more!" she calls back cheerily to the Red Princess. "As long as we're in Zero Time, you can go all out!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon doesn't let on how much her first orb pressured his shield - looks were everything, as he intoned to Hotaru-chan, and so was morale. If she knew she nearly broke through she'd be more gutsy than if she thought she was brushed aside easily. Instead of the fear route, he's going for a different mode today. Still... experimenting, even in fights.

    Riventon actually hears the "Queen of Tokyo" line and blinks. "Look, I don't care how many of these girls call themselves princesses or queens, dutchesses, Emirs - None of it matters! The only royalty here is me." He says, patently incorrectly, pointing at himself with the thumb of a clenched gauntlet.

    But now he has a problem. Well, two A Problems. Peace is attacking alongside the Red Girl, and he can't just shield everything forever. He tries, though, to shield the licks of lightning from himself and the youma while dodging the ruby rays, which - honestly works out impressively well for a little bit, but he can't keep it up entirely and gets one of the red surges to the shoulder - and that causes him to drop his shield at the very end of Peace's attack, making him take a jolt of lightning that visibly causes him to tense up for a moment and grit his teeth as his body rocks. Cool, now both arms hurt.

    "Because I need to save the world, you wouldn't possibly understand. In the time it would take to explain it you'd all be destroyed... Your brains are too small even if you could put them all together." he says, tapping the side of his own head with an outstretched finger.

    Homura appears and she's just out of his line of sight - but he hears the burst of fire. A telporter? That *really is troublesome*, he decided. Especially as the vulture let out a cry of monstrous agony as those bullets sink into it, and regardless of what Riventon orders, the vulture rounds on Homura and sends a wind of feathers at her, though feathers that glow with Dark Energy.

    Riventon moves towards the vulture, though, and suddenly jumps on its back, directing the creature to -just leave-. But as it takes off, the Zero Time expands. "Oh come ON." he exclaims as the world around them becomes a slightly different dimension.

    "So I can't even leave now. And you pushed out my targets." he says, from atop his feathery 'steed'. "Fine, you know what, there's still targets for draining!" Pick on the weak, it's not an honorable strategy, but it's an effective one. And that didn't mean physically weak. Sometimes it meant the ones who stuttered and looked the most afraid. So Riventon takes a leap off the back of his mount, trailing a stream of Dark Energy in a slow flowing trail in the sky as he moves to just land ON Cure Peace from above and drain some energy *personally*.

    For the Ginga and the Princess, the bird is doing a fly-by attack with some more of those dark energy feather-shards, while mostly trying to stay high in the air when not swooping in - and partially, away from Homura, since she's responsible for the wounds on its back.

Togo has posed:
    Togo is half-slumped over in her wheelchair, Yuna fallen across her lap. Her phone and Yuna's both have their screens glowing a bit. They received a message recently, which made the screen dimmer didn't turn on yet. She's also the only person in the theater in a wheelchair, so there's that too. Whomever else may have been vanished, this girl wasn't. Derive from that what you will. And, thanks to Yuna, her wheelchair isn't in danger of rolling back down the incline towards the front.

    Mainly because Yuna's body is preventing it, but still.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Inside the theater, yes, Yuna is just across Togo's lap. Her eyes are moving rapidly behind her eyelids, almost like she's just asleep instead of unconscious. She is also, unlike the other normies, still present in the time bubble thing. Take from that what you will! Her phone is still in her hand, her thumb over the virtual keyboard, with Itsuki's message on the screen. The most tragic of things.

    Poor little Itsuki has been left on read.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki has a red spot on her forehead when checked, but mostly she just has spiral eyes of unconsciousness and her phone with the message she sent to the group chat. Given her big sisteer is also in that chat app, there might be frantic messages from the older Inubouzaki sister trying to find out what's wrong *blipblip*ping further notifications to find Togo and Yuna by.

    It's okay, Yuna-senpai, she'll forgive you.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune goes wide-eyed as lightning flies, and then... strange noises. Several rapid, loud bangs - they remind her of something she heard when Madoka was showing her how 'televisions' (smartphones) work, but it was dozens of the same noise within just a second or two. She raises a curious eye at its cause - Homura, with a weapon made of boxy metal that strikes Rune as simultaneously alien and familiar.

Then Ginga Otome explains 'Zero Time'. "Amazing! Is this truly so? I shall show all due caution regardless, yet... ahn?!"

Riventon gets her attention with all sorts of claims and comments. "Regardless of my incompetence, if you strive to save Earth then I shall listen! I...!" The vulture-monster interrupts, and its projectiles are big enough that Rune takes them deadly seriously. Her wings light up once more, leaping aside from its attacks and letting the feathers into the roof itself.

Instead of returning fire, the princess begins boosting toward Riventon. She is trying to get right in his face, uncomfortably close. Even if she manages to get in, there is no attack forthcoming... just words: "If you speak truly, if you strive to save a world, then air your grievances! I beseech you!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is still a noob to the magical world and doesn't quite catch on to what just happened with Zero Time. All she really notices is that everything is really empty when she barges into the theater, looks into one, sees it empty, and then decides to check the next one. She's running from door to the next until she finds Togo and Yuna. Madoka gasps at this, because it looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

    "Togo-san!" she says, more out of worry than out of any hope of being heard. When she runs up to the whole... Yuna and Togo situation, she takes a look at it and winces. "This must be one of your friends..."

    In Madoka's mind, she can imagine Yuna waking up and, if things don't go just right, the wheelchair could end up going out of control again in the confusion. After thinking about this for a moment, Madoka makes sure that Togo's hands, as well as Yuna's, are free of any moving parts. Then she takes the shield off of her back and slips it beneath the wheels to act like a chock. She mutters, "Sorry..." to Yuna before grabbing her from behind and gently placing her on the ground, making sure to cradle her head so we don't get another concussion today.

    As for Togo, Madoka stands behind the wheelchair and pulls it off of the shield-chock, then pulls her away from Yuna and back up the ramp, glancing behind her and navigating her towards the top. Madoka can't really do much more than this, but at least she can make it so that when Togo wakes up she's not on an incline. Maybe even out of the way of traffic.

    She feels sorry for leaving Yuna on the floor, but Madoka isn't really strong enough to be dragging people around, and it looks like Togo's lap broke the fall anyways.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Some attacks are best avoided by heavy evasion and maneuvering. Others are best dealt with in other ways. With the scattershot of feathers flying her way the aimed staff glows a little more on the tip, and a diamond shaped shield flares into life in front of Homura. Several feathers crash into it, while others that won't hit a stationary target fly past her. One feather shoots past her leg, putting a small cut in her stocking and creating a thin red line of a cut on her leg, but the veteran magical girl doesn't even react. It's minor damage; beneath her notice, even if it's bleeding.

    More feathers hit the shield, and it shatters and collapses, Homura twisting to the side as a feather aimed center of mass zips past and slices her ribbon. She flips her hair, eyes half lidded in a way that makes her look unimpressed.

    In truth she's putting on a show. The Device uses more magic than she'd prefer to spend, but she's hoping to draw Riventon's attention with it. She knows he has a taste for magic items, and she's trying to make it look far more impressive than it actually is.

    Holding the staff at her hip she ignores the Vulture as it lifts off once the barrier is erected, she'll have to thank Ginga Otome for that later, waiting until Riventon completes his crashing attack. "We can deal with the monster later." Her purple eyes turn towards Ginga Otome, the Red Princess, and Cure Peace. "Riventon's the real threat. Take him out or force him to retreat and the vulture is easy pickings." As soon as she's said her peace the staff glows brightly at the tip, magic charging before several bolts of energy shoot out towards Riventon in a straight line.

    It's... again, not near as impressive as it looks. What it will do, though? Register as a magical attack from a Device Mage to Axion. She's not trying to hurt him; she's trying to waste its automatic shielding on her attacks so the other three can gang up on him and put him down.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Cure Peace blinks. Trying to save the world? That's...

"BY DRAINING PEOPLE!?" she sputters. "How can you save the world when you're draining people like... like a member of the Bad End Kingdom!?" she sputters. "You can do nothing good that way!" she says. "S..stop this and let's talk then!?" she also sputters out. But it's too late because Riventon is on her like peanut butter on jelly, descending from the sky and attempting to come down on her and it works, soon she's flailing and trying to get away from a direct dark energy drain.

"HEY LET ME GO YOU... YOU BIG BULLY!" Peace Flails about, trying to get back to her feet quickly!

Wako Agemaki has posed:
As they so often do, things have gotten chaotic in a hurry. For a bit there, Ginga Otome is fully occupied just reinforcing her shield against the barrage of unpleasantly dark feathers. "What," she calls out to Riventon, "not gonna try to mug people for their magic while you're at it this time? Or are you saving that part for--hey!"

The 'hey' is because Riventon has launched himself onto Cure Peace and is pretty much mugging her for her magic. The whole 'trying to save the world' argument is promptly put aside; the other girl clearly needs a hand. "Don't panic! I've got you! ...I think."

She brings up a hand for a moment, beginning to sight down her extended finger, but just as quickly lowers it. The Red Princess is way too close, to say nothing of the risk of hitting Peace herself. Unfortunately, the next plan she comes up with isn't all that much better, but right now it's what she's got--

"Sorry about this!" she yelps, before diving full-body at Riventon where he's clinging to Cure Peace in midair. Her shield flares dawn-bright around her, radiating purifying energy.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Really, girl, you shouldn't ask someone that's got ahold of you on top of a roof to let you go." Riventon says to Peace, looking towards the nearby roof edge. He's able to pull a lot more energy with direct contact, grabbing a hold of her clothes as he does so. Taking a step towards that roof edge. And then Runealy is there, between him and throwing a 14 year old off a roof or something, even if he hadn't settled on which side of the 'do or do not' coin he was on.

    Riventon looked at Runealy, his face still mostly obscured by the ever-shifting cloud of Dark Energy that only let the negative and dangerous emotions shine though. And might be doing him a disservice here. "I told you, I don't have *time* to teach you dimensional magiphysics and the theoretically catastrophic consequences of a poorly implemented dimensional overlay attempt. Best I can do for you is 'I get Lots Of Energy Or Everything is Ruined Forever.'" he says, speaking in a slow tone that probably translates as insulting even across the language barrier, in addition to coming off as a threat as much as a reason. "We don't have TIME for me to air all of my greivances." Really, nobody does unless the incubators manage to stop entropy.

    Homuras blasts fly in at about this time... and Riventon doesn't shield them. Neither does Axion. He does cry out in pain and let go of Peace - for a moment before grasping her again - and then rounds turns around towards Homura. "So what are you, the tactician of this merry little band?" he asks. Unfortunantly he pays the price for turning his back because then Ginga Otome slams her shield-reinforced tackle into his just-recently-peppered with purple energy back. The shout of pain he makes this time is a lot more angruished and he lets go of Peace and tumbles a few good feet too.

    "Take me out first, huh... not a clever plan when you shout it." he says. And he stands kind of in the center of all the girls, looking at them as his bird passes overhead. Homura will notice his gaze does linger in the direction of his device. Then, he leaps up into the air suddenly, and... grabs his youma by the neck.

    <<EINGLIEDERUNG.>> (INCORPORATION.) the device calls out.

    And the youma screeches out a sort of pained death-cry as it turns into a surge of shadowy energy, which ends up being drawn into Axion as Riventon lands back on the rooftop, before sprouting Dark Energy wings and talon-like claws made Dark Energy on both hands.

    Well, even to Homura... that's new.

    Riventon turns his back on Homura for a moment to blow a gust of mighty wind mixed with those dark feathers at the other three girls personally (yes, even Red despite her attempts to parlay) with his brand new wings, before he rushes Homura at a frightening speed, looking to claw her with those gleaming talons, grab the device out of her hands, or ideally, both. Because strategist-types tend to want to stay OUT of melee, right?

Togo has posed:
    Whew! Togo has been saved! Madoka used much Girl Power to push the wheelchair up the ramp. Thankfully it's a manual and rather light-weight compared to a powered chair, but even so, Madoka has Noodly Teenage Girl Arms so it's a noble effort. It would have been very possible for her to die or at least get injured if Yuna hadn't powered through to get Togo's chair to a safe spot, and now Madoka has resolved the rather precarious situation. So unless someone uses Dark Energy to tilt the theater or something it should all be fine! Except for the energy drain, but otherwise all fine!

    Just perfectly fine.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Must he be driven to withdraw from the field?" Rune raises her voice so she can be heard, trying to reply to Homura... though she winces as Cure Peace's situation becomes more serious. That does a lot to convince Rune to resume fighting.

Riventon waves off attempts to talk this out, and Rune takes it in the spirit that it comes across as - insulting. "You are right to dismiss me as incompetent. However... you must release her this very instant!" Rune aims her wand at Riventon, but is cut off by Ginga Otome flying in with a tackle at him right before the princess could attack. It works - Cure Peace is released.

Rune tracks Riventon's leap, aiming up to fire another ruby beam at him... but this one misses by at least a few inches, even if he does nothing to avoid it. It was just a genuine miss on Rune's part. Another shot follows as he falls, and this also will be no more than a 'close miss.'

Then he lands. Rune's boot wings flare to launch her into the air, above most of the feathers. Several still strike, digging into her legs and drawing a hurt shout! Rune lands in a heap on the roof, hurt but conscious. She glares at Riventon while standing up on shaky knees. "The depth of her strategems hardly matters now, as you have made her goals manifest - we may only strike at you and you alone!"

With this in mind, she aims her wand at Riventon a third time... and releases a series of four shots at him!

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "What counts for one, anyway," Homura replies to the question, still not looking phased by much that's happening. At least until the dark energy monster is destroyed by its own creator and absorbed. "This might be the first time someone listens to my advice."

    They don't really have a choice but to focus their attacks on Riventon now, do they?

    The blast of feathers are a little worrisome, but they're not focused on her. She doesn't think she should have to shout 'look out!' or anything similar when the now obviously amplified threat is shooting at people, so she doesn't.

    The dark haired Puella Magi had honestly thought her plans were failing. Axion apparently didn't consider the magic bolts a threat-- she'd care more about that if they hadn't actually done damage. She's considering whether she's going to have to change her tactics, but before she does it seems her showing off has worked. Riventon has taken the bait.

    She lets him come, still standing on the edge of the roof. Her shield raises, and purple sparks shower away as one large, clawed hand rake at her, the other going for the shining magical weapon she holds. Perhaps to Riventon's surprise, it's easily ripped from her hands as the impact from his strike forces her back off the roof, her hair streaming above her as she falls to the ground.

    What Riventon, and perhaps Axion, will find is that what is held in his hand now is... a perfectly ordinary and unexceptional Storage Device. The kind that are stacked by the dozen in Obsidian's warehouses. Riventon could mass produce these himself if he wanted.

    There are some quirks about this one, though. For one thing, it's full of energy and set to overload. That's probably not good. The other thing about it? It looks like the fancy tip on that was hard to place is actually a pipe bomb that's been crudely attached and spray painted the same color as the rest of the Device. In another second, it's going to explode.

    "That's only going to work once, but I didn't even have to throw it at him," Homura mutters to herself on her way to the ground.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna actually almost seems to be waking up when she is laid out on the floor. Making noises like she's coming around and her brow furrowing. But she ultimately sinks back into unconsciousness. She may be putting out ten times the average volume of Shoujowatts, to the extent that it might be visibly streaming from her now like a pale river flowing to wherever the draining is coming from. That's... Not normal. Of course, no one but Madoka is around to see it.

    A few seconds after the pink-haired girl gets Togo to safety, Yuna's eyes snap open and she inhales sharply. She's breathing heavily, like she's been exerting herself a lot. But moving is so difficult. She turns her head very slowly. "To... Go... San..." she manages to get out. Togo is gone. Yuna's pupils contract in panic. She forces herself up into a sitting position, as though this simple act is the hardest thing she's ever done in her entire life up to now. And it might be!

    But it's not enough. She pulls herself up with the arm of one of the seats. Slowly, painfully, gritting her teeth and pulling with strength not much better than Madoka's. Eventually, the noises of struggling become loud enough that they turn into a frantic yell.

    Yuna is standing.

    Her legs are wobbling, and everything is spinning in her vision. She just closes her eyes, takes deep breaths, and then snaps them open again as she lifts one foot. She puts it down. Then the next foot. Then the other. One foot in front of the other, with an occasional forced pause as the energy flowing from her continues to weaken her to the point of almost passing out again.

    She actually collapses over one of the seats again at one point.

    For several seconds she lies there. Then her fingers twitch on the arm that dangles at her side. Then her hand clenches into a fist. Yuna groggily takes deep breaths, a cold sweat all over her body, and then she starts the struggle again. Almost there.

    "Togo... San!" she lets out, using up some of her strength in the hopes of getting a reply.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki isn't waking up from @_@ mode but she is also, unlike Yuna, surrendering only a thin trickle of life force. Her Shoujowatts are reluctant to get drained, it seems. Or maybe she just doesn't have much to begin with.

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Cure Peace has gotten energy drained and is let go of, but luckily, has not been dropped off the side of the building. She's also shaking off that fuzz of being drained as she's dropped thanks to Ginga Otome's attack. Groggily getting back to her feet she watches Riventon....merge with the youma!?

"Huh!?" she says. "That means he's gotta be what, two times more powerful!?" she sputters. "Hey who is this guy anyways!?" she calls out at Otome, as it seems the two are at least acquainted in the past, as she clenches her fists as she dodges feathers, but not the wind, being thrown back into the air and along the ground as she clenches at it. She frowns as she gets back to her feet and starts running in place, building up static as she powers through the wind and then releases all that static in a giant fit of of sparkling, crackling energy lightning towards Rivenbird.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka suddenly sneezes. Is someone talking about her?

    Madoka is checking over Togo one last time when Yuna starts to rise, and Madoka hears her yelling from the other room. She gasps, and then runs back into the theater just in time to see Yuna struggling to stand. "Um... are you okay?"

    Madoka starts to run towards Yuna, stopping only to pick up the enchanted riot shield from the ground, in order to help the other pinkette try to stay up. "Togo-san is safe. I put her outside. When everyone passed out, I noticed she was on a ramp and got worried."

    She presses her palms together in a pleading gesture and bows slightly to Yuna. "I'm sorry for pushing you onto the ground. I couldn't move her otherwise. Are you okay? Can you walk? I'll take you to her if it'll make you feel better, but... you probably shouldn't move too much right now."

    Madoka is, admittedly, pretty impressed with Yuna right now. It must be pretty difficult for her to be walking around after a drain like that. Still, Madoka can't help but fret a bit over her. She offers her shoulder to help Yuna stand up, though this might be more trouble than just letting her have a seat.

    "Really, she's safe for now, so you don't have to worry so much. Is she your friend?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Ginga Otome... was certainly not expecting that.

She hangs in the air for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the result of Riventon's fusion with his monster. "...Over...phase...?"

The dark wind batters at all of them, forcing her to shake off her surprise in a hurry. She raises both hands to reinforce her shield, expanding it into a broad rose-colored arc to provide not just herself but the other girls some cover as the dark feathers slam down onto them... though it seems like, for the most part, everyone is taking care of themselves just fine.

"I don't know," she calls back to Cure Peace, "but I've heard this kind of ranting plenty of times before! Some people get a little power and think it makes them the chosen of humanity, or something!"

< Miko-sama. > The tiny Cybody bobs anxiously at the Galactic Maiden's shoulder. < Miko-sama, he is holding an explosive. >

"What?" Ginga Otome yelps, double-taking at the rigged Storage Device slash bomb in Rivenbird's talons. Oh, that's not good--

Her shield flares again, as Wako pours all her drive into protecting herself and her impromptu allies.

Togo has posed:
    Togo is still out like... A girl recently emerged from the closet. Or a light, one of the two.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Oh shit."

    That's all Riventon gets out of his mouth before dropping the bomb and - he doesn't even try to get away. Riventon's new wings fold in front of him and tere are shields - plural - coming into existence but they're barely even starting to expand from their initial tiny circles before the explosion shatteres them, and sends Riventon flying through the air and spiraling a bit, trailing smoke behind him before he hits the roof and rolls a few times. He gets up - so that Peace can lightning bolt him, this time complete with skeletal visibility and everything. Particularly noticable is something beating within Riventon's body.

    Riventon is, somehow, still standing, even if it's a kind of crumpled, shuddering sort of standing. He coughs up a bit of black smoke.

    No, wait, it's not black smoke. It's a black... heart... with bat wings? The heart fades from black to pink, and then shoots off into the sky - on the way back to its owner. Meanwhile, Riventon's additional talons and feathers dissolve like the black on the heart did.

    With the talons and feathers and weird heart thing, though, appears to have gone most of the damage Riventon has sustained. He actually stands back up to full height and cracks his neck. "Well, you ladies did better than I would have expected, anyways. But I'm all charged up on all that energy and I don't think your chances are as good as you'd like to think - that trick won't work twice... clever though..." he says, his gauntlet crackling with electrical bolts of purple-bright Dark Energy as he gets ready to continue the fight... though a particularly observant person will see he's actually more exhausted than he seems.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Someone else is up and active? The theater looked abandoned! "Togo-san's okay?" she asks hopefully, making sure she heard the unfamiliar girl right. Once it's confirmed, she gives a tired smile, her eyes almost looking sunken or at least lined with stress-brought furrows. Then she almost collapses as the determination keeping her going relaxes for a moment. Thankfully, Madoka is there to give her a shoulder to lean on. She fights off the blackness again, in time to not take Madoka to the floor with her, grabbing one of the chair backs with her free hand. "Y-yes... Thank you! Togo-san is... My best friend. Please take me to her." Talking and standing at the same time is enough of an effort that her breathing is labored afterwards. She still has to get to Togo's side.

    She walks, even if slowly, with the assistance of the pink-haired girl. As single-minded as she may be, she also simple-minded, so Yuna takes a moment between gasping breaths to say, "Y-Yuna... Yuki... Nice to... Meet you..." She also shakes her head and makes a mm-mnn sound. "It's okay... I'm just glad... You helped Togo-san." They should make it out eventually, right? And everything is probably Super Normal in the lobby, right? This is definitley going to be the case with no unexpected factors at all!

    She keeps giving a surge of effort, even if that same surge results in the drain on her life force INCREASING momentarily... Or maybe it's... Not? The flow is halting or at least slowing down. Maybe that's why Yuna is suddenly looking a bit livelier and moving a bit more firmly. The shield Madoka has might have something to do with it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's a moment where space twists just above and in front of Riventon, and a guy a little taller than him - with shaggy shoulder-length black hair and a black cape over a dark grey uniform - drops to the roof. He holds up his hands to the girls in front of them. "Hang on a sec, please, or I'll actually have to intervene," he says to them, then turns to eye Riventon for a half-second.

Then he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose and just grabs him by the arm. "You keep letting practicality lose, bro. Come on--"

And space folds back in on itself, leaving only a flash of dark cape before there's nothing at all where the boys stood.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    And in the lobby, despite still being weakened, with the energy drain cut off, Itsuki is slowly waking up. She's not a morning person, so it's taking a while, but she's at least opening her eyes and sleepily wondering what she's doing on the floor. And why there's so many messages from her sister on the phone lying by her head.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune coils back a step from the explosion. It was nowhere near her, but she is still startled by it, eyes raised! "What?! That... was that...?" Her voice trails off. As Riventon emerges from the smoke - and his own dark energy - she stares at him. "How...?" Apparently at a near loss for words, Rune stuffs her smaller wand back into her dress' bow, reaching inside it to re-obtain her normal staff.

Even as Riventon postures and prepares to attack, the princess tries to beat him to it...and is interrupted by a new arrival. Rune's eyes narrow at Hematite. He asks for them to stop and wait.

Memories of her mother's voice rush through Rune's mind, recalling her usual advice: 'Hesitation will only end in someone's demise - yours, or an innocent person's!' Yet a cold chill of anxious fear runs through her, and Rune does nothing for a moment.

Listening to this advice has ended very poorly for her recently, but her first impulse is to obey it anyway. She aims and fires, launching a staff orb at him...

...a half-second too late. By the time it's in the air, Hematite and Riventon are already gone. It flies through the empty space they occupied, then off into the distance.

Rune sags with relief as the fight appears to be over, looking around and asking: "Is... everyone well? Or if not well, at least not... greviously harmed?" Her eyes drift to Homura, to Cure Peace, to Ginga Otome all in sequence.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka does her best to support Yuna, despite not really knowing who she is. She's a Togo friend, and Togo seemed like a real sweetheart, so that's good enough for Madoka. Walking with her is a bit of a stumble, but it's not as if Madoka has never had to do something like this before. Being the kind of person who wants to help others, combined with the fact that she has some physically active friends, means that she's probably had to help one of them walk at some point.

    Hearing that Togo is Yuna's best friend certainly gets a lot of sympathy points from Madoka. She couldn't possibly leave things alone after hearing that. Best friends are super important!

    "Madoka Kaname. It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuna Yuki!" The energy drain hasn't affected her as much, possibly thanks to the shield. Madoka steps carefully as she directs Yuna to where Togo is. When she last saw Togo, she was peacefully asleep and mostly okay, but Madoka still can't help but feel sympathy for Yuna wanting to see her best friend safe with her own eyes.

    "She's just right over here. I put her out of the way so it wouldn't block an exit or something."

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Also Itsuki's ring tone can be heard even from inside the individual theater rooms, and she's still too out of it to mute it, so the people still nearby are treated to some music followed by someone singing in English.

    ~It's alright to tell me what you think about me
I won't try to argue or hold it against you
I know that you're leaving, you must have your reasons
The season is calling, your pictures are falling down~

    Odd choice for the ringtone that plays when her sister calls, but there's no accounting for taste.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura lands and drops to a crouch after being knocked off the roof. She listens to what's happening above and lets out a little sigh. No need to stop time and jump back up, then. She recognizes the sound of that voice, the sound of the strange teleportation, and then the lack of male voices after it. She raises to her feet and looks at the back of her left hand. The diamond shaped gem on the back of her hand is muddy and dull, flickers of darkness just starting to show within. So about half her reserves.

    All that trying to be flashy without looking like it was actually a lot more draining than trying to pretend to teleport around would have been. But the strategy worked, so it was worth it in the end.

    She reaches into her shield, retrieves a small black orb with a needle through it, the image of a rose on its side, and presses it to the purple gem. The Grief Seed absorbs the corruption that had filled her Soul Gem, and afterwards she tosses it backwards over her shoulder behind a bush. Expertly, Kyubey steps out from behind it and catches it, ears flicking afterwards as if he'd eaten something particularly delicious.

    Now Homura does flicker back into existence onto the rooftop, simply appearing as if she'd teleported without a sparkle or twinkle of magic. Her eyes first go over towards Ginga Otome. "This Zero Time was yours? Thank you for that. It was easier not having to worry as much about collateral damage." She then nods to Runealy and Cure Peace, "And you two, good follow up. Things might have gotten bad, but you kept your wits about you." She frowns a little, "It's a shame he got away with that stolen energy. I'm sure we could have put it to better use than him if we'd gotten it back, but keeping them from hurting people is the top priority anyway."

    Homura pointedly avoids looking towards the Red Princess when talking about trying to take stolen energy away from the attacker. Afterwards though she nods to her, glancing down to her leg. Minor flesh wound. "I'm fine, thanks."

Yayoi Kise has posed:
Cure Peace blinks. "A BOMB!?" she sputters and she suddenly hunkers down and luckily, takes no damage thanks to Ginga Otome. Then....!

Cure Peace... watches this strange other boy arrive and leave with... his friend? She guesses people like that hafta have friends too, right? She blinks and looks over to Ginga Otome and The Red Princess and blinks again. "OH MY FRIENDS!" she suddenly blurts out as she jumps over the edge of the building to go attend to her friends after finding a safe place to dehenshin.

She'll fuss about this until they start coming too.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"I'm okay," Ginga Otome volunteers, finally letting herself drift down to the rooftop. "That got pretty dangerous, didn't it? He sure wasn't interested in talking things out..."

She glances toward Homura at her question, and nods. "It should have cut off what energy he could drain, too, since only people like us can be here," she says, even as she turns her hands palms-up and calls the barrier down. The sky returns to normal; the blast damage on the rooftop vanishes, and down in the mall, all the bystanders who were shifted out of harm's way reappear as though nothing had ever happened.

In the theaters, the films all resume rolling.

"Still," the Galactic Maiden says with a small frown, "who was that guy who showed up right at the end...?"

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune is largely unaware of what Homura has been up to - been off the roof for various reasons, returning for other reasons, but the princess can only make vague guesses as to why... and goes wide-eyed when Homura teleports in. This time there is no ambiguity in her mind - that is what Rune saw happen.

Cure Peace leaves, and Ginga Otome explains more about the situation. The princess looks over to her, genuinely curious as Zero Time ends. "A means to limit what they plunder from others?" Ideas begin to form. This rules out some things Rune was considering trying. "As for the other man... I can only surmise he is a high-ranking official of some variety, if his guise is any indication."

While Homura is avoiding facing her, Rune tries to press the topic anyway and looks her way. "Do you know of some means to retrieve this power, if given an ample opportunity that we lacked in this moment?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    The mention of how the barrier works almost makes Homura frown. It really would be nice if she could do something like that. On the other hand, it probably takes a fair amount of energy to do, so it's better if it's someone else handling it anyway.

    As for the other guy that showed up? Homura shrugs a little. "One of the nicer jerks that go around hurting people to get their way." She reaches back and flips her hair as a gentle breeze seems to return and blow it to one side. "It's strange. On the one hand, I don't like seeing them working together and looking out for each other. It's not normal. On the other, nothing has shown up and tried to devour the entire city."

    The 'yet' gets left unsaid, because she's almost saying too much already.

    At the Princess' question she shakes her head, "No. But I was hoping if we beat the stuffing out of the monster, or him after he absorbed it, it might pop out as something retrievable."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
As answers go, Homura's doesn't illuminate a lot... but it does fit with what little she saw of him before he and Riventon both vanished. Wako files the knowledge away for the future.

The topic of discussion between Homura and the Red Princess, meanwhile, has her frown deepening. "I'd hope it would go back to the people he drained it from," Ginga Otome puts in, tone carefully mild. "Or we'd have to find a way to send it back."

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Is that a possibility?" Rune blinks several times, genuinely intrigued by what Homura was 'hoping for'. "Striking a demon with enough force that a magical essence emerges, able to be har..." Rune catches a mistake in her choice of words - prompted by Ginga Otome's comments. The princess abruptly changes to, "...restored? I shall endeavor to... put this proposal into practice!" She sounds nervous, despite this bold claim.

She then lowers her head, glancing to Homura again. "'Among the kinder' ones, you said... a mere glance at him suggested he is dangerous. Is this so, do you know?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "Yeah, it'd be best if it returned to them. I'd expect someone stealing it to have a way of keeping that from happening though. Some kind of storage device or container." Homura looks over towards the Princess and shakes her head, "It's nothing solid, just a thought. If they can take it from people, we might be able to find a way to take it back. It's worth thinking about, at least."

    As for Hematite being dangerous she nods, "He absolutely is. But there's something different about him. He actually cares about his allies, for one. He came here to bail Riventon out and didn't try to steal the credit or kick him when he's down. After you fight enough of these guys, you'll learn that that's more common than not. He also didn't want to intervene and fight us. He's probably much more powerful, and could have attacked us when we were already hurt or tired."

    She lifts her hand and holds up a single finger. "That tells me one thing. There's something good inside him, under all that darkness. If it ever comes down to it, I want to try to save him, rather than destroy him. I'm sure it's possible." She shakes her head, frowning and crossing her arms, "As much as I hate to admit it, even Riventon is better off treated like that as well. He can get so smug about everything I'd rather see his face get punched a few more times even if he does end up on the right side."

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna gets a burst of speed when she sees Togo. She rushes over, falling to her knees in front of her best friend. A smile is on her face, as tears start to well up in her eyes. "Togo-san..." The last of her enerrgy is spent making sure Itsuki is okay too, then... Head-in-lap. She's out.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Ginga Otome nods slowly, her expression mostly clearing as she looks from one girl to the other. "Probably," she agrees with Homura's assessment. "It's not like most people would go this far for no reason... Still, they're obviously dangerous. We'll have to be careful."

Squaring her shoulders, she draws in a deep breath and dusts imaginary grit from her spotless white skirt. "Anyway, thank you both very much for your help. I'm glad you were here."

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"It is indeed worth pondering," Rune insists to Homura. "It may yet save lives and relieve suffering. As may knowing about this man... if you believe he showed restraint in not striking us down, I shall take you at your word." Rune lowers her gaze.

This means she barely makes eye contact with Ginga Otome, "I would say the very same of you. Your Zero Time is fascinating!"

She then spins on a heel, and her boot wings light up. "Yet... for now, I must depart. Be well." She launches into the air, realizing that landing on hurt legs is going to sting... but she wants to get away from these discussions - everything Ginga Otome and Homura has said is causing her mind to race through all sorts of anxious, unnerved thoughts.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    A nod is given, "It was good working with you. In case we meet on the battlefield again, I'm Homura Akemi." No attempts at hiding her identity or using the Veil here, but at least she isn't giving any pointed glances that seems to intentionally seek out the actual personal identities of the others. As the Red Princess leaves Homura lifts a hand as a wave, only to keep it up while looking to Otome, "I need to check in on someone inside. I'll probably end up hanging around if any civilians need help." Madoka's there, so of course she will.

    A flick of her wrist and there she goes, dropping off the edge of the roof again.