262/Hunting the Blue Griffin Part 1

Hunting the Blue Griffin Part 1
Date of Scene:	19 August 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Count Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner decides the time is ripe to end his pesky niece's life and claim what is his. It almost works, if not for the bravery and selflessness of the mahou at RHA.
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Steiner, Nanoha Takamachi, Greta Legend, Ikiko Hisakata, Erika Shimizu, Rashmi Terios, Coco Kiumi, Koji Silvia

---

Hannah Steiner has posed:
A tall blonde man scowls as he inspects the /thing/ that his new allies have provided him with. This 'Obsidian' company is both utterly beneath him (in his mind), and completely technologically backwards. Which, really, describes everything and everyone on this planet in his own noggin. But even he knows he can't beg, as the name Count Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner holds little in importance locally. That he's managed to worm his way into some station here is due to his own power with Dark Energy and a sheer desire to murder a magical girl.

And so, Inhuman Resources has gifted him a toy, and one that he sees fit to use. With a wave of a hand, and a picture placed in Maryanna's grip, the Count gives a gruff order.

"Return to me with mein niece's head, or not at all."

Maryanna tucks into a curtsey, and gets to work.

Hannah Steiner isn't about to show up to a tryout for fencing club without getting familiar with the local variety of blade! And so, with medical forms copied and a practice foil in hand, Hannah is neatly listening to a fencing youtuber in one ear, and moving to Lyra's 'barks' in time. Slash. Thrust. Turn. Back, forward, thrust! It's in the evening on vacation, and she and her duo have it all for themselves at the moment in RHA's fencing hall. Blauer Greif rests beside Lyra some feet away. It's a critical mistake.

There's a feeling of magic, a harsh bark of warning, and Hannah reacts with all of the training she's been gifted with back home. She slashes with the blunt blade, vaguely at neck height for her assailant. It saves her life, even as the blunt practice blade is ripped apart in her hands, a strong one finding her throat and lifting her off her feet as magic flares in the area. The dark kind. Seemingly petite and dainty, the red-yellow-and-black striped robotic-esque youma known as Maryanna is vaguely shaped like a maid. Across her back is a guitar shaped mostly like a chainsaw with all that serrated edge.

Hannah chokes as she struggles. "Who are...?"

The 'maid' gives a kehkehkehkehkeh!

"Driiiiiink in royal blood! Pretty head. Mine. ALL MINE! Taaaake it!" Comes the youma madly, as it slowly revs up it's chain-guitar, savoring how Hannah struggles. A single back-kick sends Lyra and Blauer Greif crashing into a wall.

"Such nice family. Take head! Reward for Maryanna! Take pretty heeeead!" Sadistic, this one, drawing out the terror as that whirling guitar-teeth inch closer to the vulnerable girl's neck!

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi was not really a sports maniac. Nope. She wasn't here to do anything sports related at all. Instead, she's here following a signal from across the campus because Raising Heart detected something. So she's running across the campus following Raising Heart's signal like a compass. She arrives from a direction wherein she appears from the bleachers and peeks out from behind them and eyes the assault.

Well...this...isn't? is? A jewel seed? Still, that's... something, a maid with a chainsaw guitar? What the heck is going on here!? She looks down to Raising Heart. "Raising Heart... Set Up!"

Moments later, Nanoha Takamachi dons her barrier jacket and steps out from the bleachers as she doesn't know this girl being attacked, but the reasons are not important, she lances out with a barrel shot at first to get the beings attention as best she can.

"H--hey, you can't just..." pause. "You can't just attack random people like that!" she commands, loudly.

Greta Legend has posed:
< Magic energy signiture detected. Get a move on Little Red! There is likely to be an enemy in the premises. Casualties must be prevented. > The distorted voices of Dreiseelen intones into the head of Greta Legend. She was on the other side of the sports pavilion, having been insisted by the faculty to at least attempt to try out for some other sports, lest she miss out on a talent that she might have due to her disinterest in most other school activities.

The fact that there was a magical incursion not very far away prompted the German-English girl to come up with an excuse, and BOLT in the direction of the locker rooms in order to do a quick Henshin."DREISEELEN! SET UP!"

< Locked and Loaded! >

Red cape, red mask, Intelligent Device in the form of an Axe. All comes zipping through the pavilion and with a growl, Greta, having not come up with a name for herself yet, charges out with a warcry, and an overhead swing, aiming for where the assailant upon Hannah is supposed to be.

"NONE OF THAT!" She calls out.

There will be no posing, there will be no catchphrases. She did all the henshining off camera. She is pragmatic like this.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Today had been a relatively uneventful day so far for Ikiko: feeding some of the local stray dogs in the morning, tending to the trio of succulents, followed by an on-campus lunch. Given how nice the day is, a short walk around campus sounds like a good idea, partially to people-watch and partially to see if a nap might be a good idea.

The nearby surge of dark energy, however, means that any potential nap will have to wait! Ducking behind a bit of scenery and henshining, Cute Wolf Tsukiko bounds towards the source of the dark energy.

The wolfgirl arrives at the Sports Pavilion just in time to see one Device Mage blasting at the robo-maid, who is holding--! "Se--" Tsukiko starts to yelp, biting back on the rest of 'senpai' to avoid revealing her identity.

The arrival of the axe-wielding Device Mage gives the wolfgirl an idea, so she darts forward from the direction opposite of the axe-wielder, angling for a clean line before lunging forward in a simple tackle -- aimed at Hannah, to try to knock the Animal Care Club senpai free of the robo-maid's clutches!

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Hannah isn't the only one around for tryouts. Though Erika Shimizu was actually trying out for the swim club and team, which means she's just about ready to leave with her hair still a bit damp and a towel around her shoulders as she gears up to head back home for the evening when...
    "Huh?"
    The sudden feeling of magic in the air makes the blonde's nose twitch, like a shark scenting blood on the water.
    It's never 'probably nothing' these days, and that means it's time to be nosey.
    So when she spies someone getting attacked by a monstrous maid that's...
    "Well that's not good." She decides as she ducks into a nearby shadow, the golden glint of a single coin glimmering as it twirls between her fingers.
    Erika's thumb brushes over the accursed doubloon for a beat as she weighs her options.
    'What's in this for me?' she wonders to herself, before eyeing that axe of a chainsaw-guitar.
    Sigh.
    The coin twirls in the girl's finger's a moment longer before she flips it into the air with her thumb.

    "Under a black flag we sail and the sea shall be our empire! Take what you can. Give nothing back!"

    By the time she catches the coin, her clothes have been replaced by a naval greatcoat and pirate regalia.
    She then takes a second to adjust her hat, setting the feathered bicorn at a jaunty angle.
    Hats are important.
    And thus she emerges from the shadow, a swagger in her step as she tosses her braided hair over one shoulder and casually draws a single flintlock pistol from an inner holster of her coat.
    "What's all this now? Attackin' someone outta the blue be against The Code, ye scurvy dog." She declares, twirling the gun in her hand once before she takes aim, trigger finger squeezing down to release a single well-aimed shot at the murder-maid with a krack-BOOM.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
School might perhaps be out at the moment, but Debate Club never rests. Largely because the summer months are for selecting and preparing for competitions, and the other administrative nonsense that needs more time to take care of. But, the club meeting is over now. Rashmi heads toward the gates, intent upon going home and getting a head-start on her homework, when Nicomachea receives a distress ping from Blauer Grief.

Location -- Fencing Hall

...Running still isn't something Rashmi is terrifically *good* at yet, so she's a touch winded by the time she gets behind something she can henshin safely at. Luckily from there, flying is lots easier, and in short order Rashmi manages to arrive in time for The Convergence.

<< ...Huh, >> she thinks. << It really *does* look like a pack of velociraptors from back here... Okay. Shooty girl from the Dream Kingdom, great. New girl, axe, okay. Werewolf! Yellow Pearl! ...And... Pirate-san?! >> Erika's entrance is attention-grabbing enough that it gets her to pause in her tracks and just... process that for a second. << A-anyway, let's clear the field, yeah? >>

    *BONG!* << COMMAND INPUT ACKNOWLEDGE. TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

And from the armored book laid open in front of her, a bubble of gray-green energy swells to cover the entirety of the Fencing Hall (and a bit of the neighboring club spaces, perhaps) in a bubble of folded space, shunting every megical being half a dimension over that-a-way, and keeping the fight contained into a place where 'collateral damage' is a temporary state.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Legend of Mermaid: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

https://youtu.be/2yzeNWQAGVY

As the youma's guitar-axe starts coming close to the noble girl's neck, a voice rings out singing of an un unbreakable bond that lives on as the song of the seven seas rings in everyone's heart, an adventure filled with miracles like the kind mother wishes for.

The magical notes bring with them the brilliance of the stars, a wondrous light that talk of a shining future, repelling the dark magic of the youma and the rainbow wind accompanies it to hurt the youma to damage the axe that is threatening to hurt an innocent.

Coco had been passing by when she heard the noise of a commotion, and with a foreboding feeling, she had instantly transformed, fearing the worst as her pearl lightly shined. 'That's Hannah', Coco thinks, recognising the girl executing a surprising parry denoting strong sword skills.

She was about to jump by her side, transformed as she was, when the robotic maid makes short work of the practice blade and grips her neck. "Think again about one of my friends, monster!"

Maybe the term friends wasn't the most apt with how many times she and Hannah had met, but in that moment an instinct told Coco the blonde girl and her had met enough times to warrant the use of that term. And so the mermaid princess sings, with passion and strength, pushing away the the dark atmosphere like a galloping wind.

Koji Silvia has posed:
For Koji it's less of the sense of unease that can come with dark magic or youma being present. It's something much more direct as he sits in his dorm room with his school laptop open and going over his budget for 'something'...

    << Young Master. Priority Message from Blauer Greif. Designation: Hannah in danger. Assistance, Critical. >>

Looking up immediately, he sweeps his hand out, and the gem on his smartwatch gleams as four Blades suddenly appear in the air and suddenly vanish as they head out the window as fast as their small drone bodies can take them.

    << OBSCURE. SENSOR. Searching based on last known location. >>

Making sure the door is closed and no one can see him from the window, Koji says calmly, "Hanzo. Set Up."

One brief roll of stock henshin footage later (Because any frames we can save those poor animators the better!), and the young ebon-haired student is now the ninja-themed magical boy 'Hanzo'.

    << Located. Blade 4 in position. All other Blades recalled for combat. >>

"Let's go Hanzo. Point Warp."

Vanishing from his position in his room, he reappears just before Rashmi's Dimensional Space closes shop on reality, and Coco kicks up the beat.

Sheathing that blade, he points both hands down and everyone present hears, "GUIDEWIRE!"

Twin spear-tipped strings come down from the roof supports, yet instead of them going to attack this new and oddly punk rock youma, they instead thwip down and wrap around Blaur Greif and Lyra, half-binding the poor lizard-dog as he yanks hard and uses more mana to retract both to yank them up to his position and out of the potential line of hostaging and direct-fire of magical blasts!

"Okay, first off... pick a theme. Cafe Maid, Rocker, AND psychopath? C'mon... you're going to confuse everyone. You're like someone threw a bunch of bad ideas against a canvas and kept what stuck!"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Now, normally Hannah would have some cutting words here, likely something about dogs or the youma's parents. But all she can manage while having her windpipe squeezed are vaguely angry Belkan noises. Clearly, when on the fight or flight train, Hannah's instinct is to just hit things. Particularly when she's pretty sure she heard the sound of Lyra being put through bleachers. In something of a good turn, Lyra lets out a vague little whimper. No one's dead. Yet.

Primarily because the mahou act fast. Later when Hannah's less oxygen deprived, she'll likely be commending them for such decisive action. Right now though she's busy trying to kick the thing that's about to render her into the past tense. Luckily, laser beams and a large axe are very persuasive. Maryanna soon looks at both Nanoha and Greta - notably, by turning her head 180 degrees around.

"kekekkeeee! MINE! Maryanna good! Get reward! No take!" Comes the creature before letting out a 'KE' as she's blasted with a barrel shot, and that axe comes down. Her robot-esque maid body gets a scorching, but it's seemingly cosmetic. The youma is clearly insane, but is tough as nails. Proven as it meets chain-guitar with magitek-axe without so much as shivering. Teeth grind against Greta's Device. At least that thing isn't at Hannah's neck anymore.

Cute Wolf Tsukiko tackles the young Steiner heir, knocking her glasses and hat off to no-mahou's-land. The fact she's soon tasting dirt as a familiar wolf-girl gets her physically away from certain doom is instantly forgiven as she can now taste air in her lungs again.
ich, after the kind of gulp you take after nearly dying, she uses to yell very loudly in pure noble indignation! Her Device and her service lizard are far away and one of them are likely knocked out. As much as it vexes her, having neither to hand means she's a battlefield liability. And also a target. Hannah knows an assassination attempt when she is in one. And so protocols as they are, she's happy to let Ikiko be her shield.

"Fallen Sie in Vergessenheit, wo Sie hingehören, Sie dummes Gesindel!" Spits the young woman breathlessly at the youma, proving she's both alive and very angry.

'Fall into obscurity where you belong, you gutless curr!'

Sea Shanties and Yellow Pearl Voice's song are both, in different ways, comforting. Hearing YPV call her a friend has her grinning a bit. That's a word she rarely heard until coming to Earth. Friend. Honestly.

Maybe she likes these Earthlings more than her pride should allow.

"Mein freunds, I owe you mein life, for what it is worth! Now have a care and do not lose yours!" Comes the Steiner, concern in her voice. That youma is strong to still be standing after so much hammering by impressive magical girls.

That shot by Erika lands directly between the robo-maid's eyes, quite literally leaving a dent from the magical shot. Maryanna 'Ke's!' indignantly. The creature shudders at the sound of Coco's voice, reacting like a cockroach when slathered in bug spray, but as Rashmi's barrier settles over the area? Well, it can't really flee now, not exactly. And it still wants the Steiner's head.

Koji was already on Hannah's christmas card list, but the ping from her rather enraged Device into her head tells her that both are alive, and relatively undamaged - Lyra more than BG, but Razorhounds are beloved by her House for both loyalty and toughness as much as intelligence in the creatures - and Hannah makes a mental note to address such a good turn later. Her friends are here. Many of them.

Now it's just a matter of mortal danger. She ducks herself behind Tsukiko.

"I hope you do not think me a feigling, but this creature is beyond me." Admits the young woman, an unspoken 'as I am' hanging on her tongue. There's something else in her voice too. Regret. Fear. This is all her fault and she knows it. It's just like back in the throneroom. She was helpless there, and people died. Powerless, despite all her efforts and everything she was given.

Maryanna seems more wounded by Koji's

Hannah Steiner has posed:
.

Maryanna seems more wounded by Koji's words than by the attacks thus far. She shudders. Waves her guitar a bit! "Maryanna best idea!" If youma could feel hurt, she would be. This is just pathetic. Hands now free, she revs up her chain-guitar, and strikes out with pure sound. It is...chaos. Dark. Fighting against shanty and YPV's beautiful voice. It feels like razor blades being driven directly into your ears, and hurts. Badly. The feeling of the world shaken by hate and malice. Hannah gets the worst of it. She screams and collapses immediately, so tuned to seeking sound and not having any warning.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rocked back in the sky by the sheer, malicious *force* of that awful music, For a moment it's all Rashmi can do to keep her sense of balance When her head finally clears and she gets a look at the state of the battlefield, a cold brick of dread drops into her gut. A quick thought has Nicomachea send out a few quick message pings.

    To HANZO: << Get Hannah out of there, quick, she's down! >>

    To Nanoha's Device: << Hello, please cover Hanzo while he gets our friend away? Thanks! >>

    To Greta's Device: << Don't let that monster go anywhere, please! >>

A list of options grown in her mind, answers to the problems presented by the state of things. << Don't have the output to help everyone all at once yet without becoming a liability myself, so... Tsukiko needs to hit harder, Pirate-san too. >>

    *BONG!* << STRIKE -- BOOST UP >>

     << BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

From the pages of Rashmi's book, two wispy balls of energy rise. One speeds toward Tsukiko, providing a feeling like the warmth of sunshine on fur, and making her claws gleam with golden light. The other, streaks toward the barrel of Erika's gun, light splashing down the length of the barrel, and creating a feeling of barely-constrained power. As if the gun will kick *a lot harder* when it fires next.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi winces and has to cover her ears from the screaming voice of the chainsaw revving, guitar wielding maid and ponders just what such a creature is doing here right now. She's amazingly trying to work through the sound as she can't and soon she's driven to her own knees temporarily.

At least she manages to avoid her eardrums exploding from the attack as she crawls back to her feet as Rashmi sets up the barrier. Something she needs to learn to do sooner, rather than later.

Oh she knows how. She just. Always forgets to throw it up. Like it's in the back of her mind.

She summons up four larger orbs around her as she calls out. "Divine Shooter!" the four orbs flying off towards the maid youma, stirking from different directions and arcs.

As Raising Heart gets a transmission from Rashmi's device, she nods and... looks to that boy, just doing her best to provide cover, primarily by trying to make herself a larger, more impressive target, "D..Divine Shooter!" she calls off again, firing off another four orbs towards the creature.

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta didn't really pay much focus on the othewr arrivals until she had gotten Maryanna's attention, with her axe locked against the guitar's chainsaw teeth, at which point she gets the chance to finally look over to Hannah, before Dreiseelen starts pinging multiple other arrivals that have come to protect Hannah, all while also pinging multiple other Intelligent devices in the proximity, as well as a message from Nicomachea in particular.

Greta would have to wrap her head around that later.

"Fraulein! Sie müssen an einen sicheren Ort gelangen--" Greta begins to call to Hannah in German, after picking up on the language usage.

At least until her opponent unleashes a discordant burst of chaotic sound, which happens to be originating RIGHT NEXT TO HER, causing Greta to REEL back and stagger as a burst of tinitus kicks into her head, "BUGGER! BLOODY--Oh you are going to get it, you robotic bint!"

And with that, she allows for the support fire of the long range fighters to have at, before rushing back in for several swings, aiming for the neck if she can get it.

All while her device transmits to allies, < Little Red will keep the enemy occupied. Tactical support is appreciated. >

"Don't give them THAT name for me!" Greta loudly complains to her device in turn.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I'm just glad you're okay," Tsukiko replies to Hannah, making note of Lyra being scooped up in a way that suggests 'rescue netting' rather than 'entanglement attack'. One more (seemingly) non-combatant friendly hauled to safety!

A somewhat more familiar Device Mage sets up a Barrier, and there's a not-quite-duet, with a... pirate?!?

Huh.

As the wolfgirl prepares to dart into the fray to keep Maryanna distracted, the robo-maid's sonic attack echoes through the room -- and one of the hazards of having good hearing that's able to pick up more than the average mahou is that it likewise gets hit harder by audio attacks than the average mahou.

Ow.

Tsukiko's wolf ears flatten, and she puts her hands to cover both(?) sets of ears -- well, the wolf ears are definitely covered by her fingers, and the base of her palms are in about the right location to cover her human ears -- as she tries to block out the pain. The claw buff actually helps her hands dampen out the noise, as well as give her a bit better traction with her feet, but it'll definitely take her a moment before she can go on the offensive.

Still, she can at least act as a bodyguard, ready to defend Hannah from Maryanna via blocks or evasive hauling, especially with the older girl stunned by the discordant auditory blast. Besides, the assault Mages, both melee and ranged, seem to be keeping the robo-maid busy for now.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Seeing her shot strike true, denting the rocker-maid's forehead puts a smile upon the pirate's face. Another twirl of her pistol on her finger and Jolly Roger doesn't bother reloading. That would take too long. Simply casting the spent gun aside, it turns to seafoam and sparkles as soon as it hits the ground.
    She casually draws another gun and tosses it skywards before catching it.
    "What're ye gawkin' for?" She asides when Rashmi has to stop and process her privateering presence. It's when the book-wielding girl summons a barrier though that she shoots Rashmi a thumbs up.
    "Oh that'll come in handy, lass!"
    Ah. There's Yellow Pearl Voice. For a beat, a scowl finds its way to the pirate's face, but she opts to say nothing as she starts to take aim with her second pistol.
    Only for the murder-maid to strike a bad note. The discordant chords of the chainsaw-guitar slam Jolly Roger like a brick wall, causing her to stagger, throwing off her aim as she clutches her skull, vision blurring and seeing double.
    "Ah, sink me, I'm bully in the alley." Muttered as her gun wavers. Right up until Rashmi lends her aid; the warm sphere of light infusing itself into Jolly Roger's gun as she twirls it. "Oho... That'll really come in handy, bucko." She crows approvingly as she steadies herself... And...

    o/` ~ "Way hay and up she rises,
    Way hay and up she rises,
    Way hay and up she rises,
    Early in the morning!

    What will we do with a drunken sailor?
    What will we do with a drunken sailor?
    What will we do with a drunken sailor?
    Early in the morning!" ~ o/`

    That sure is a cheerful shanty as Krak-*BOOM*! goes the privateer's pistol, the extra power making the gun kick like a mule in her hand as it launches that supercharged shot aimed to try and take the monster-maid's center of mass.
    

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco emits a sigh of relief as she recognises Rashmi's barrier surrounding the zone, expecting Hannah to disappear like any other civilian. Never has she been more shocked when she realises Hannah gives no sign of going away. 'She has been touched by magic too!?" Coco thinks when her relief turns to further apprehension as she realises Hannah might be like Madoka and Miho. That or she is a magical girl too, but in that case, why isn't she transforming?

She is about to bring the noble girl into the relative safety of her own Live Stage and ask her these questions directly when the musical assault of the monster reaches her ears as it almost disrupts her concentration.

Yellow Pearl Voice shudders as the maid comes into her territory at full force and starts putting her awful music into the arena. She can barely stay focused on the musical protection offered by her own song, the only defense she has against being paralyzed by the guitar's horrible sounds. 'That music is horrible! Where did they pick this one, from the 4 Notes Only Academy Yuri graduated at?', she quips in her mind, the devious notes bothering her something fierce.

She keeps singing louder and with more energy, the Live Stage accompanying her intensity with Legend of Mermaid's soundtrack at full blast, doing her best to overpower the dark music the maid robot rockstar is putting forth, providing relief from the cruel tune for everyone.

Coco recognises quite a few of her friends on the battlefield, as well as some reluctant allies, so she is conforted by this thought as she brings the magic in her music to the highest level allowed by the Idol trasformation.

Koji Silvia has posed:
That malevolent melody mocks the musical mahous from Koji's position, and he almost moves to cover his ears from it, even as he draws up a squirming and snarling Lyra, as well as the elder Device. The latter gets snatched into his off-hand, while the former ends up just hanging there as he locks the string to the crossbeam.

'Hanzo' puts two fingers to his brow in a salute-reply to Rashmi, even as two of his Blades come up off his holsters and float far enough apart that the V-glow shapes on them can project towards the center.

    << OBSCURE. >>

The sound lessens around him, giving some relief as his stealthing magic allows him to decrease the sound in his region.

A third Blade is drawn, and he throws it directly at the vulnerable Hannah, "POINT WARP!"

Should it not be blocked, it will lance out to just touch to Hannah and transport the currently vulnerable girl to him and her to her Device.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Rashmi's use of support magic doesn't make her a friend to the youma, and the thing acts on instinct as they're wont to do. Chain-teeth rev up again, and thankfully the school won't have to pay for damaged floors thanks to the Barrier, as the creature slashes the ground hard! A newly magic'd flood of debris, concrete, wood, and other such building materials are heading straight for the support mahou, trying to batter her into the ground!

The robo maid proves light on her feet, despite her obvious grit, the first four pink orbs slamming into a wall. But Nanoha doesn't do things by halves! Up in the air in a little spin, the other four impact on limbs and in the center of mass, sending the robo-maid-youma tumbling into a crater in the ground from sheer force. A KE comes from said crater, and she claws her way out angrily. Raising one hand towards Nanoha? Her 'nails' prove to be literal, the magic-metal of them firing off from their tips to try to skewer the Mage! Definitely a target now. But at what cost? Those nails suddenly seem to be akin to flying pieces of steel rebar!

Sorry Greta, Blauer Greif is definitely jotting that name down in her memory core to be added to Hannah's braincase later. Luckily it'll be a term of endearment. 'Saving your life' tends to lead to positive associations. Also axes are great. Most of Greta's strikes meet either that axe-like guitar, or limbs. A few more dents here and there! But the creature doesn't cave in, kicking up a stiletto-like heel towards Greta to kick-stab towards her shin!

"Better...stay that way..." Mutters Hannah drunkenly as her entire head vibrates. She does /not/ sound good as she manages to respond Tsukiko. Alive at least. But her body's twitching and the rather ignoble drooling is a horrible sign. Her ability to defend herself was previously in question, but now she's barely clinging on to her own life. Among the litany of odd things happening, Hannah is still conscious. By a thread, but it's just another question in what's going on. But, there's more immediate concerns.

Jolly Roger's shot, empowered by Rashmi's magic, sends the creature straight into the wall as she tries to leap towards Hannah and her bodyguard! There's a hold in the thing now, leaking oil and sparking electricity before petering away into falling magic. The thing is /hurt/! Maryanna KE'S viciously, grabs one of the wires shot out of her, and spins it above her head as she hauls herself out of the wall like a whip. It sparks angrily. Or perhaps more like a bolas, as that's exactly what it ends up as when she tosses the thing at Jolly's legs, both to wrap her up as well as shock her into obescience!

Coco's rather pointed and logical questions don't get asked, at least for now, and thus Hannah is given a reprieve from trying to explain, well, /all of this/. For now anyway. YPV's singing is effective! That horrible sound peters out against the cleansing force of a Pretty Cure, and the combination of two very pleasing sources of music has Hannah looking, well, slightly less about to croak.

Hanzo's spell works, and thanks to that stealth? He doesn't eat any reprisals as suddenly Maryanna's prize is stolen. And the creature doesn't know where she went, thanks to having to deal with the others' attacks and Ikiko's sound guardianship. Hannah coughs, spits, and curses as she winds up with her Device in her hands. She uses both arms to stand up.

She's on her feet for about a second, before suddenly falling down. Sadly, she'll be little help as she cradles her Device bodily in a state of half-consciousness.

Maryanna's rage, thus, is directed first at Ikiko. She leaps up high as Hannah's appointed guard, and simply tries to cleave her in twain. Next, Coco's irritating sound is next, as she sends her guitar spinning towards YPV like a deadly boomerang, keening angrily as it comes towards her with weight,speed, and sheer malice!

"GIVE MARYANNA STUPID NOBLE!" Rages the maid-youma, its' desire for Hannah's head driving it further to madness in its' greed.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << ROUND SHIELD >>

The moment the trajectory was noticed, a circle of hard light rises in front of Rashmi. Slightly too slow, as a few chips get past before the shield can fully materialize. Rashmi gets knocked about a bit, but when the barrier locks into place, she has *more* than enough time to recover. The first thing she notes -- Hannah, safe. Second -- youma, in wall.

Then the attacks start flying.

<< She's got too much to stop all at once! ... ...I guess it's time to stop them at the cource. Nico, did you finish integrating what Hannah gave us enough to do what we talked about? >>

    *BONG!* << ACKNOWLEDGED.>>

<< Okay... Target, creature. Max homing, minimum damage, randomized flight path, add payload, leave me enough to work with after. >>

A pair of Barrets materialize on either side of Rashmi, as she points down to the frenzied Youma, and selectes her targets.

    *BONG!* << SOLAR BARRET >>

For a moment, bands of Mid-childan rune ribbon materialize and revolve around the Barrets, before fading away.

    << BIND SHIFT >>

Unlike Nanoha's barrage of damaging fire, Rashmi's Barrets fly toward their target like hyperactive bumblebees, their path so random it seem like they're closing in on the youma's position by *accident.* This is purposeful, to confound reflexes and keep the target from predicting where not to be.

And when they hit, instead of doing damage... They wrap around the location of impact and become immovable -- if breakable -- anchors in space, locked to one location and preventing the target area from moving from that very spot.

All the on-the-fly modification takes energy, however, and Rashmi does look a bit woozy, after.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi throws up her round shield as the nails impact against it heavily, until it breaks and soon she's taking a few shots to her barrier jacket, shredding in places, but holding fast as she winces with an 'mrgh', the girl responding with a lance of barrel shots back at the youma, before frowning.

"Uhm..." she thinks. "Book... using person-san!?" she calls out. "If you can freeze her in place.." she says. "I can try to finish it off..." she says, as she frowns, just keeping up the low power shots, but in rapid succession, going for a bunch of lower power shots in rapidly increasing quantity, rather than one big slower shot for now.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    o/` ~ "Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
    Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
    Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
    Early in the morning!" ~ o/`

    With her second pistol expended, Jolly Roger casually tosses it away, and just like the first one it dissolves to sea foam and glitter as it thumps to the ground, a smug little smirk plastered on the pirate-girl's face as she sets a hand on her hip.
    "Har... Ye'll not be gettin' a finger on her today, mate." She replies to the enraged murder-maid, leaping briskly over the bola-wire flung at her ankles, twirling as she lands. "See where there be nobles, there's likely ta be a reward." She points out tapping her forehead as she draws a third pistol, readying to take another shot.
    Before the deadly meido goes on the assault.
    That's no bueno.
    It's as that chainsaw-guitar comes down intending to cleave Ikiko that the Jolly Roger simply sets a hand on her head to hold her hat in place... And lunges in between the killer youma and the wolf-girl.
    "GUH!"
    The sound of shock and pain is blatant as the serrated edges of the rocker's axe cleaves into Jolly Roger's body. She jerks from the impact as the revving teeth tear into her.
    There's... No blood. This is both probably VERY strange, and also very much a PG-13 setting, after all, as the pirate eats a blow that would likely be lethal.
    And yet.
    She collapses to a knee, a stunned look on her face for a beat before, even likely more shockingly...
    She GETS BACK UP, wobbling to her feet.
    "And where there be reward... There be pirates. Savvy?" She finishes her thought from before as though she hadn't just eaten a fatal blow.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
'That demon is tough!' thinks Coco as she witnesses the various attacks barely denting it. Her songs aren't doing much against it either, though at least they are helping against the youma's dark music. 'What wouldn't I give for Scarlet to break that guitar with her axe', thinks Coco in frustration when she is keeping at bay the devious notes.

In a roundabout way she gets her wish granted as the robotic maid stops using the guitar for playing music and instead she hurls it toward her as a deadly boomerang.

In those split seconds she quickly dispels the Live Stage, letting gravity do the rest and making her fall towards the ground, a very fine thread separating her from crashing against the ground as the maneuver requires her to reform the Live Stage right after the boomerang has passed above her head but before she hits the ground. The Live Stage reforms in time to get her to float again, hovering back up and resuming her magical singing to hurt the demon and keeping tiredness at bay.

Greta Legend has posed:
The literal stiletto being thrust to Greta's shins force the girl into a defensive, on account of not wanting to be stabbed in the shin, and she reels back, growling as she is frustrated by the robo maid not going down to axe slashes. Her device's axe head having energy for the blades have largely been off the mark. That's how magic axes work right?

"There won't be any of that! Dunno where a robot maid came from, but you aren't bloody getting her!" Greta yells at the Maid, and then says, "Dreiseelen!" The device begins shifting, < Disengaging limiter > Before it the device transforms from merely an axe with energy blades, to an axe-half emitting an energy form axe, and she roars as she aims for an overhead again.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
There's a brief moment of confusion on Tsukiko's face as there's a soft *blip!* as Hannah is teleported away, but the wolfgirl is able to hear the muted cough from the rafters. So that's where she is now, Tsukiko thinks to herself. The 'how' can wait for later; the important thing is, Hannah is not in immediate danger, so Tsukiko now has a few more options available for maneverability--

    --which is a good thing, given the inbound ax-crazy Maryanna!

With a yelp, Tsukiko starts scrambling to get clear, although her poor tail is probably going to wind up with an unfortunate trim... but the expected cut doesn't land. Instead, the pirate just tanked the chainsaw-blades... and stood back up?!?!

"Um," gulps the wolfgirl, looking at the pirate after the guitar is launched at the other singer. "That's... different." Even by mahou standards, and that's saying something!

Still, there's a moment where the robo-maid doesn't have a major melee weapon, which means there's a moment where Tsukiko can deliver a quick (and, thanks to Rashmi's earlier boost, sharp) kick to Maryanna, before scampering out of the way of retalitory strikes -- and collateral damage!

Koji Silvia has posed:
Moving up from his crouch at Hannah's appearance and her instinctive grab to Blauer Greif, 'Hanzo' uses his ninja-like balance skills to reach to catch and hold Hannah's shoulder for a long moment, "Wait... you're on a support beam... let your feel settle first. Besides... I think this is handled."

    << OBSCURE. >>

The other three Blades fly out from their homes and down to a spot right in front of where Maryanne is standing. Pointing inwards, they all begin to glow faintly and then vanish from view. Instead, there is an image of Hannah Steiner standing there and points a fake Blauer Grief arrogantly towards the bound youma!

"BY THE SANKT KAISER, WE WILL DEFEAT YOU! FOR THE HONOR OF HOUSE STEINER!"

The false Hannah begins to do a stupidly elaborate, almost dance-like power up move, as if she was mimicking a whole Stock Footage sequence that she would ever ACTUALLY do. But this is all meant to taunt the guitar-saw into striking at the dummy target and open her up to getting HAMMERED!

To just add a little spice to the taunt, Digital Diva Hannah even does these moves to the rhythm of Coco's beautiful and empowering music!

"Now face my power!" False Hannah declares, "Accreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn...."...

Yeah, this is an aggregiously long and pointless power up...

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Rashmi's efforts prove more than effective. The youma is a creature chosen to counteract someone straightforward and aggressive. The inverse to many of Hannah's traits, Rashmi's seemingly weak strikes are taken on the robo-chin figuratively, not even bothering to dodge the at-first tickle of annoying magic. Maryanna is a boot to stomp on Hannah's neck. And here she is getting her shoelaces tied together. Almost literally, as suddenly the thing is peppered by shots that bind her spatially. Raging in ear-splitting KE's, it starts to struggle, rend, and tear through the bindings on it. Rather alarmingly quickly. This thing is an expensive toy, if ultimately expendable. But it's locked in place with a plethora of smart and strong sparkleskirts at the ready.

The pinkest of said sparkleskirts peppers the vaguely bound maid-bot with shots. Quantity is as good as quality in this case, as the thing has to struggle harder now to avoid shots, failing to do so due to being bound, and in turn getting hit more and letting it get bound up harder. The two mahou's differenting approaches work well in tandem, and soon enough, the rather scorched exterior of the youma is all neatly bundled up.

At least the maid has managed to murder the pirate! The creature KEE'S in sheer delight at having so brutally cut down a pretty sparkleski...

Only to openly gawp as Jolly Roger is alive. The robo-maid's jaw hits the floor, literally, because youma-bots can do that.

'That's not fair' is written in the youma's face, foux though it may be!

Hannah also seems to catch some of that, grumbling.

"Ever...as such...for privateers und mercenaries..." Comes Hannah rather grumpily. Not at Jolly mind, she's just having a bad day over here on the floor.

YPV proves that sometimes almost eating dirt is effective! Mostly by nearly doing so, and by effect not getting cleaved in two by a flying guitar-chainsaw. Notably, one that is now flying back towards its' owner. The creature didn't count on being pinned in one place!

SLICE! Off goes one arm as Dreiseelen crashes down upon the youma with that energy-blade enhanced Device, finally rending part of the creature. It has to work through steel and powerful dark energy, but finally through sheer brute force, that arm falls off as oil and magic leaks away. Maryanna is on her feet through the mere fact of Rashmi's binding spell alone.

Which gives Tsukiko plenty of room to kick the robot in the face, cutting off a curse and a KE! as the bot's head is suddenly at an angle that's far, far from healthy. More sparks, and then /steam/ from the youma. But it's still thrashing, struggling to get out of the bind.

Hannah can't exactly argue. She just...sort of lays there. Not passing out, as it happens, is tiring in this situation. Also she'd rather not be off of this support beam when her legs feel like they're made of applesauce. She's just going to be on the ground.

Blauer Greif, however, is full witness in staunch detail to this mockery of the House of Steiner. The old Device can't even find enough energy to be outraged on behalf of her charge. The thing processes the whole event for several seconds.

<I shall attempt to hold mein herrin back from any lethal reprisals, herr Hanzo> Comes Blauer Greif in a ping to Koji. Can a Belkan Device sound amused and repulsed at once? Not really, but BG is trying.

Also, the fact it /works/ may be even more insulting. It helps the maid youma's dump stat is intelligence. As through sheer rage, it rips out the bindings of its' legs, and LEAPS for the faux-Hannah, only to crash right into the ground. Followed very quickly by its' own guitar-chainsaw crashing into its' legs and cleaving them off before skittering off and away.

The thing still isn't done though. Two ports rise from its' back, and suddenly a pair of dark energy jets have it floating upwards, fighting with the ever-increasing bindings of Rashmi.

"KEEEE!" Comes Maryanna madly, and suddenly? There's growing heat and magical output. While there's no physical countdown

Hannah Steiner has posed:
While there's no physical countdown on the creature, the energy that it's drawing in is even on an instinctual level, apocalyptic. Rather than try to /find/ Hannah, the thing's dented brain decides that it's going to do its' job regardless of the outcome. Slowly, that energy rises, forming both shield and yet....it crackles, soon visibly in the air. Which soon comes in illusory motions, like a mirage from heat quickly outpacing that of a desert.

The youma is ready to go out with a bang and take everyone with it, if the magical folk don't do something quickly!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It's the very specific feeling of a countdown that keeps Rashmi's eyes glued to the battlefield, horrified.

There are two outcomes here; either destroy it before it can explode, or run out of the Barrier before it *does.* The wreckage won't transfer over to the real world, but... That's a *lot* of different classes of speed down there, and not all of them might have the ability to get clear in time.

Thus, she touches down a good double-handful of meters away from Maryanne's charging self, and plays to her specialties.

    *BONG!* << BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

This boost darts toward Nanoha, and empowers Raising Heart to further up the blasting power. This machine can't be *deactivated hard enough* for Rashmi's comfort.

Then, it comes to her; enough hits *have* to take out whatever is drawing in all that power, and perhaps it's time to wipe herself out again. Thus, another circle spreads underneath Rashmi, as she attempts to recreate the trick she used when fighting Jade Eye.

    *BONG!* << DELTA SPEED -- BOOST UP >>

The red-haired Device Mage leaves only enough power to keep her Barrier Jacket up, the rest pouring into *three* wisps, that speed out to grant Ikiko, Greta, *and* Erika dramatic bursts of speed. If quantity is its own quality, then hopefully between the three of them they can hack up the machine enough for Nanoha to positively vaporize it.

Meanwhile, Rashmi's just... gonna... take a little nap, here...

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta grits her teeth and grins in satisfaction at having cleaved the arm off of the monster, watching as her compatriots make further work of it. "Told you that you're not getting her!"

Of course, there is a distinct sense that something is going wrong when the self destruction begins, and Gretagoes wide eyed, "Bugger! Dreiseelen!" < Adlerflug >

Between that and the speed boost provided by Rashmi, Greta flies a safe distance, and twirls her weapon, "Let's finish this! Dreiseelen!" < Flugspalten >

The device surges with energy as it she points it up into the sky, and a beam of energy shoots upwards, extending to just about the safe range to the enemy, before at the end the energy forms into a big axe head, and Greta roars, "TAKE THIS! HAAAAAAA!" Before swinging downwards and aiming to drive the attack down and cleave the youma in two.

And if that doesn't finish it, hopefully that other girl's attack will. The one with the beams.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is not having a fun day here, blasting away at a maid youma trying to kill someone for... for what reason anyways? She didn't know. It wasn't important. All that mattered was the youma was being slowed down enough for a direct hit.

"Raising Heart...!" she calls out as gets a boost from Rashmi, as Raising Heart takes this into account, it starts doing calculations and Nanoha 'huhs' "Alright then..." she says.

"Divine..."

< Divine >

"...Buster..."

< Buster >

"...Full Burst!" she calls off, using the boost to further the spell up, and unleashes the Divine Buster Full Burst, it's Divine Buster, but also, rather than just lancing with full energy, it causes a reactive explosion at the end point-- pointed and direct at the youma before it can explode on it's own in a more, dangerous way.

Her attack is probably the last to hit, less anyone with a melee attack get stuck in that blast.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    It's not fair?
    ... Fair?
    Oh no, it's not fair at all, as Jolly Roger stops wobbling. Though she tugs her greatcoat closed to hide any damage the chainsaw guitar might have done, she simply points a single finger at herself. As though to answer the look on the murder-maid's face that screams 'that's so unfair', she says but a single word.
    "Pirate."
    Pirates do not fight fair. And anyone who tells you otherwise is a downright fool. This is all well and known as she turns her head to glance at Ikiko over a shoulder.
    Different? Certainly.
    But Jolly Roger flashes the wolf-girl a winsome smile.
    "Sea turtles, mate." She explains, as if that answers everything.
    That answers nothing.
    But once she turns her attention back to the murder-maid, things are a problem.
    It's gearing up to self destruct.
    "Blimey, that's no good." She decides.
    But once again... Rashmi pulls through.
    The wispy, invigorating, light that floats into Jolly Roger, granting her more speed than she knows what to do with. This is all well and good as she opens up her greatcoat, causing a full-sized ship's cannon to drop to the ground as though it simply fell out of an inside pocket.
    Propping her boot on the cannon to adjust its aim slightly, she leers as she reaches a hand into her coat and pulls out...
    A glass bottle of cola.
    Thumbing off the cap she puts it to her lips and knocks back the soda in record time before tossing the empty bottle away to make it crash with the sound of shattering glass.
    "Fire in the hole." The pirate captain declares, before the cannon goes off with a loud ka-BOOM, in time with Raising Heart unleashing a hell of a lot of pink light.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco looks for Hannah as she notices the monster is now stationary (albeit doing something weird with its dark energy). She sighs of relief when she notices Koji has been keeping her classmate safe. Turning her attention back to the situation at hand, she activates the bracelet on her wrist, the magical energy of white light shining from it calling forth a circle of white light that descends from the top of her, giving her clothes extra decorations.

The magical girl changes song, the soundtrack from the Live Stage changing accordingly. She gives everyone a smile as she says "Don't worry if you are still tired, my song is here for everyone! Heartbeat ~Perfect Harmony~: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voaw0ChUQ88

The magical voice of the mermaid princess of the South Pacific Ocean starts singing of a merciless sea, whose stormy waters threaten to swallow you up, but a promise of love lies in your heart, giving you the strenght to stand.

The dark vortex of magical energy being absorbed by the youma gets attacked too, the heartbeat of this flaming perfect harmony affecting it, the magical energy seeking to interrupt its flow. Thrice the magical notes tell to be faster than the southern wind, thrice to cross over the squall stronger, the fatigue they lost dissipating like fine mist in this harmony colored with everyone's heartbeats as they overlap.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko gives Jolly Roger a quizzical look, but acknowledges the 'explanation' with an 'if you say so' shrug. If there's a more accurate answer available, it probably is more involved than the cadences of combat allow to tell.

Especially when the robo-maid starts a self-destruct sequence!

The speed boost from Rashmi is useful, and would allow the wolfgirl to build up enough momentum for a Silver Wolf Tackle in minimal time. Unfortunately, she has less time than that available, and the maid-bomb seems to be a bit too far along the route to destruction to be soothed with a Soulful Howl.

"Well, might as well do what I can, with what I have," Tsukiko mutters to herself, tensing up to take advantage of any opening--

    --like, say, that MASSIVE GASH that Greta just opened on Maryanna's chassis!

Darting forward, the wolfgirl does a quick slash into the exposed innards of the robo-maid, then swiftly runs clear of the probable blast zone, heading perpendicular to the possible combined knockback trajectories of Nanoha's Pink Beams of Doom and Jolly Roger's Booming Ballistics. One slash might not be much, but anything to further damage the Maryanna-bomb helps, right?

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji lost 3 Blades to the frenzied attack, but that was supposed to happen, and as the false-Hannah vanishes from view to leave the near-limblness target, and resolve back onto his hip holsters. He's not spent the kind of power that everyone else is, mainly because he's keeping everything else safe up here. So as the miedo-rocker-chainsaw-crazy ke-girl begins to start getting ready to blow herself and everything else up in the Dimensional Space, he deploys three Blades below him, forming a Barrier strong enough to support weight.

Another Guidewire shoots out and he pulls the still struggling and whining Lyra up onto the ersatz platform.

Next, he lowers Hannah onto it, still keeping them all inside the Obscure barrier.

His last move is to throw his last inactive Blade at Rashmi!

    << POINT WARP. >>

It glimmers and bursts as it hits Rashmi and SHE is added to the platform too!

All of that weight, and Koji proceeds to send it towards the farthest end of the Space, while at the same time keeping 2 Blades to bubble them in a weaker form of his stealthing, so it acts more like a chameleon effect.

The real reason he stays there?

    << SENSOR. >>

He begins recording everything. The face, the power output, the weapons and limbs... anything and everything to get a clue about where this flaming trashcan came from in the first place. The more attacks piling on just adds to the light coming off that central point.

"Hanzo?"

<< Yes Young Master. All new Devices have been marked friendly. Sending pings now. >>

Raising Heart and Dreiseelen will get this AFTER things have serttled.

"We're not going to die up here are we?"

    << Oh. No, Young Master. We should be sufficiently clear of the dark energy. But not the potential attack from Designation: Raising Heart. >>

So now HE'S running the beam, trying to get clear of any splash damage, right above Cute Wolf Tsukiko on the camera shot.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
What's better than an axe?

An axe redoubled in size, and with more energy to boot! That thing hammers into the bound youma, slashing it nearly in half, but finally it just /catches/. The thing's dark heart is harder than titanium, and soon Greta's weapon is free, despite having hurt it so much! Lyra and Hannah meanwhile, are happy to be deposited by Hanzo in what vaguely counts as safety. Really, there is no safe here. Nanoha is about, there's a youma bomb, and there's a lot of incoming fire on said bomb of a meido-rocker.

Koji will get plenty of data, but it may be hard to trace the source specifically. Or, more to the point, be slightly unnecessary given how very targeted this all seems.

Tsukiko nicely help rip open more wires, more oil, more dark energy as she claws up the creature rather nastily! With Yellow Pearl Voice's song reaching even greater heighs with her transformation? Ikiko's claws sink in deeper and the sheer immediate /danger/ seems lesser somehow, as much of the bomb-youma-bot's power is drained away from the purifying power. Rather than just dissipate, that dark energy turns to gentle motes of light. It's like the more damage done? The more the youma seems to purify-rust away thanks to the young woman's efforts!

Maryanna cannot even 'ke', though, as a massive pink lance hits her right in the chest, and a magical cannonball takes off her head, the twin attacks combining in a massive magical apocalypse that leaves a giant rent in both floor and wall as the smoke and dust clears. There's...well, the barrier is still up, so the damage is there. But it won't be permanent. The entire area smells like magic, but /clean/. With the help of Yellow Pearl Voice? The thing's not only been destroyed, but /purified/. All aside from a tiny little dot of a magical tech, which winks out and turns to dust a second later.

Elsewhere, Count Otto von Karstein-Steiner watches his readout, then punches his fist straight through the monitor in a sheer bit of pique!

"....You cannot even die properly, nichte." Growls the man pettily. Still. The knowledge that Hannah has /allies/ is important, and he'll later extract the hard drive. For now, he feelings like hitting something, and so goes to avail himself of Obsidian's gym and weight bags. Not too far from the family tree, this man.

In the here and now, Hannah slowly stirs.

"Are...Is everyone....alive?" Comes Hannah, voice exhausted and painful. But the stubborn girl is awake, at least, nominally.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As the dust begins to clear, Rashmi stirs back to wakefulness atop the Barrier, coughing and pushing herself up by Hannah's feet. "Uhuuuuuu... Okay... new plan. Endurance training I guess... Hannah, you okay?"

Pausing, she shuffles over to the edge of the Barrier, peering through her glasses at the wreckage below. "Wow... Hey everyone! You guys okay?!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Looks like it!" Tsukiko calls to Hannah and Rashmi, with a side glance towards Jolly Roger. Aside from the lack of blood, the pirate mahou definitely doesn't appear to be dead, but there's definitely something going on there.

And at the moment, that's something of lesser concern.

"Are you okay?" the wolfgirl continues, using the plural to indicate the entire platform'd group. Exhausted girls, indignant Lyra; that group had had a rough time of it.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    That sure is a lot of firepower brought to bear on the killer maid. Jolly Roger whistles appreciatively as there's not much left of the muder-maid once everyone is done with it as she reaches into her coat again.
    And pulls out an empty bottle.
    "... Why's the cola gone?" She asks morosely before uh.
    'Is everyone....alive?' Hannah asks.
    Briefly, the pirate looks down at herself and tugs her coat closed again.
    "Fer a certain definition of the word, aye!" She replies, flashing Ikiko a BIG OL' GRIN.
    She's sweating bullets as she gives a thumbs up.
    Absolutely nothing wrong here, nothing to see, everyone!
    "Anyway if that be the last o' that, I'll be takin' my leave. But ye ain't heard the last of Jolly Roger." She declares, turning and starting to swagger her way off.

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta watches the Youma-Robot-Bomb get vaporized and lets out a sigh of releif, as her device vents out steam that built up from the usuage of the final attack, and then converts back into a rod form, "Good job, Dreiseelen."

< You're welcome, Little Red. >

Greta sighs and drops out of the air, making a point of pushing her mask up onto her face securely, and turns to face the others, "Considering the chainsaw of an axe... Guitar... Oh, I just got it... Considering that thing got pretty close, I managed..." Her eyes wandering a moment before she spots YPV again, and blinking, before turning to look away, "Hmph... Well in anycase, the real question is what that thing was and what it wanted with..." She looks to Hannah, "With you."

< Little Red. Perhaps introductions are in order. > Aloud to everyone near.

She grits her teeth and looks to her device, "What 'introductions'? Gah, fine... I've been workshopping my name for a little bit... If anyone has to ask, Call me the 'Sunshine Spark'." It felt like a good hero name.

Her introduction is undercut by, < Greta Legend will be happy to assist in all future endeavors. >

Eyes widen, and she glares again to her device, "SECRET IDENTITY! It's a SECRET! You sodding excuse for a magic wand!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco hovers down to the ground as soon as the battle is over, sighing to herself as she remembers how this youma just wouldn't . She runs over to Hannah, worried about the clear assassination attempt she just survived. "Hannah, how are you!?" she tells the other girl, forgetting that Hannah can't recognise her as Coco in her magical form and having no inkling she is Trager.

She also asks the same of her other allies, since this robot didn't kid around with its resilience and strength. She reluctantly asks that to the pirate-lich-magical girl, given her distaste of pirates and Erika's true form meaning she can't really get hurt. Probably. Maybe.

"Hello, Scarlet", Coco waves to Little Red. "It's nice to meet you again", she tells the blonde girl, though not much time passed since their last meeting. "I didn't know your device was such a handful", she remarks after Dreiseelen reveals her secret. "Don't worry about it, though, I will keep it to myself", Coco adds.

She also goes to Tsukiko to give her name. "Hello, it's nice to meet someone new". She tells the wolf-girl. "I'm Yellow Pearl Voice, but you can use any variation you prefer, since that's kind of a mouthful."

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi has to actually take a little bit of a knee after that one and even Raising Heart has to open up and release steam after being supercharged like that to let Nanoha use a more powerful attack.

"Wow!" she goes as she says. "That worked! I wasn't sure at first." she says as she nods a little at Rashmi, "Uhm, thanks for the help!" she says. "And for slowing her down." she says as she stands up slowly, and brushes herself off. She looks a mess, but otherwise fine. Because that's what barrier jackets are for. Even if she's a little pained.

"Um. I'm. Nanoha Takamachi." she says. "And this is Raising Heart." she says, motioning to her device. With pings the other devices.

"Uhm. Is uh. Is that girl okay?" she asks.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Hopping down is relative, especially from THAT FAR UP, but as Koji lowers the Barrier platform down to the ground for the group he got clear, the ninja-themed magical boy manages the movie-cool Superhero Landing.

Standing back up, he tries to play off that that STUNG through his Barrier Jacket!

The Barrier vanishes from under Rashmi, Hannah, Lyra, and Blauer Greif as he looks around and the three Blades return to his belt, seating themselves in place with a *CLICK*.

"That THING we call a youma, collectively that is. Think of it as a blanket term for some kind of monster-creation that generally has dark energy and attacks normal people."

Looking back at the people he took care of, he then pans his gaze back over Nanoha and Greta, "You can call me Hanzo."

The others hear a gruff older male voice from the Core attached to his Device's belt buckle, << Greetings. And Greetings Again, Raising Heart. It is good to see your User is well. >>

With the departing of the pirate-themed girl, he tilts his head in consideration, some more glimmers and pings as data is exchanged, "And thank you again, Miss Singer. Your ability to keep our mana refreshed is very helpful. Between you and Nicomachea, you all fought a lot more strongly than I think anyone expected."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Both her favorite werewolf and her dear lancemate ask the same irritating question, and the rather battered and distinctly displeased Steiner reacts accordingly.

"By the Sankt's own blood! Of /course/ not! Have you never bore witness to an ermordung attempt before you...." She chokes on her own words, improperly venting her frustration dieing as she reminders herself that she almost died, and if not for them? She would be headless right now.

"Forgive me, mein freunds. I am...so tired. Thank you. I. Suppose I owe an explaination." Admits the young woman, before coughing rather unhealthily.

"A pleasure...frau Legend." Comes Hannah weakly. Ow. Why does her soul hurt? She notes the Jolliest Roger's name too. But there's so much to take in when you've nearly died and been ground into the dirt a bit.

YPV gets a smile. While she doesn't know the girl is Coco, she /does/ know YPV. And the fact her name is getting thrown around? Well, at this point, she's too exhausted to particularly care.

"Always a pleasure, oh engel of the sweet yellow voice!" Comes Hannah, perhaps a bit oddly. But. She /is/ one to throw around such compliments recklessly, so this could just be her being /her/.

Lyra stirs too, and clutching Blauer Greif as Koji lets them down? She helps Hannah to a vaguely upright position. Teeth grit.

"I....must apologize to all of you." This smells like her Uncle's work. No one else would so brazenly send something after her.

"Coming here was a mistake. Und now I have gotten you all caught up in mein family's affairs. I..." She shudders, and a sob heaves from her chest.

"I am so sorry." Are her words. Just before she passes out in the fluffy embrace of Lyra.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko does a darting glance at the name 'Hanzo'; the outfit and the change of hair makes for a tricky observation, but the shape of the face seems familiar enough, at least enough to make an educated guess.

Perhaps she should lightly drop a pointed question to Koji the next time they encounter each other without a crowd.

Anyway, introductions. "I'm Cute Wolf Tsukiko; nice to meet all of you!" the wolfgirl grins, her tiny fanglies looking cute. Names are noted, and she makes a mental note to be polite to Greta and be reciprocal about identity when private opportunity allows, given the bean-spilling of the axe-wielder's Device.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
New arrivals are greeted, Pirate-san's exit marked with the stare of someone who isn't quite sure what she saw was real, then Rashmi shakes her head to clear it. As she's lowered to the floor, she snaps into hello-good-to-see-you mode, and out comes the high-wattage smile. "Anytime!" she chirps to Nanoha, as Nicomachea accepts Raising Heart's ping, tossing one in turn to Dreiseelen. Greta's disastrous attempt at mystique causes Rashmi to just sort of... give up. Looking around at her allies and fellow combatants, the redhead simply adjusts her glasses. "...Um. Y'know what, it's okay. I'm Rashmi Terios, grade 10. This is my friend, Nicomachea," she says, gesturing to the book floating obediently by her shoulder.

At Hannah's outpouring of grief and unearned accountability, Rashmi all but quivers in place, indignant... but then Hannah passes out, and the redhead looses a gusty sigh. "Hanzo-kun and I will talk to her later, I think... But, yeah. It looks like her uncle's got resources here, and this is probably the first of what's gonna be a bunch-- Oh hey good to meet you properly, Tsukiko-chan! And yeah... thanks to *all* of you, this wouldn't have gone nearly as well without anyone of you."

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta sighs indignantly at her identity having been so easily outed, and nobody at all seeming to be batting an eye. "What's the point of being a magical girl if -everyone- knows who you are?" Before she lets her mask shift into a pair of glasses. The English girl with blonde ringlets might have been spotted around the school now and again, if anyone really paid attention.

She finds her attention drawn briefly to Lyra, a small part of her brain pegging her as a dog, but she can't help but feel that something is off. She shrugs it off for the moment, turning her focus to Hannah and her family problem, "Family affair..? That's not a good sign at all... What's the story behind that..?" If Hannah is able to stay awake to explain, all the better, but the experience of an assassination attmept seemed pretty grueling, and she does not envy the girl her stress.

Koji Silvia has posed:
The look from the ninja-esque Device User is a bit sharp as Greta's question is met with, "Apologies... but that is her story to tell, Miss Spark. When she has time, we can gather again in a better locale and talk. The school is safe... but not secure."

As he walks by Tsukiko on the way towards the exit, since Hannah in more in hand with those that could say... go to her room... unlike a year 10 Boy... his hand comes down and he gives the wolf-girl HEADPATS.

"You did good work."

He pauses and looks over his shoulder at the rest, "You all did great work. I just wish we could all meet under happier circumstance."

He does the ninja-thing. The ACTUAL ninja-thing... he takes a few steps, puts a hand on one of the Blades at this hip, and then just... vanishes...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Once Hannah tells Coco "Always a pleasure, engel of the sweet yellow voice", she realises the other girl shouldn't know her in her magical form. But she obviously does, so a spontaneous question emerges on Coco's lips: "Huh, how do you know me? I don't believe you ever met me like this", she asks confused to the other girl.

But then she passes out, so Coco forms the Live Stage around them, leaving Hannah to float away from the uncomfortable ground. "Sleep well and recover, Hannah", she tells her sleeping friend.

Coco smiles at Cute Wolf Tsukiko and Rashmi, then tells her magical name to Nanoha with the same speech she just gave Tsukiko. "I hope we can work well together, Nanoha", she says cheerfully to the other magical girl.

When Rashmi reveal her true identity, Coco thinks she could do the same, so she informs Rashmi of her true name and grade. "Hello, Rashmi. I am Coco, grade 11. It's nice to meet you and Nicomachea both", she says with a smile, alternating the gaze between both the girl and her device. She isn't detransforming since Hannah is still in the Live Stage, but that should be enough to get her on the same page.