717/Forestize Warning: A Maiden's True Heart

Forestize Warning: A Maiden's True Heart
Date of Scene:	06 November 2023
Location:	Jukai
Synopsis:	FORESTIZE WARNING: Deploy to protect humanity. The Hero Club and both Nanoha Takamachi and Sayaka Miki are transported to another place. There, they learn about the Enemy of humanity... A threat known as Vertexes.
Cast of Characters:	Yuna Yuki, Togo, Fu Inubouzaki, Itsuki Inubouzaki, Nanoha Takamachi, Sayaka Miki
Tinyplot:	Heroes' Chapter

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Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna is in literature class, and doodling in her notebook rather than paying attention to the lesson. She is drawing a 'Curry Cat' and mumbling to herself, when someone next to her asks if she's okay, she responds, "It's nothing!" too loudly, and she gets called out by the teacher. Before she can be forced to read from the book that she totally has open for definite, the chime of a phone fills the classroom. It's a strange chime, that Yuna has never heard before.

    "Eh? Is that me?" she wonders. The teacher insists she turn it off, and Yuna scrambles to get it. Wow. Making a spectacle of herself. What a derp. What a strange warning that's flashing on the screen though! 'Forestize Warning'? What does that mean? It's all red and flashing and ominous!

    Sweat-dropping and apologizing, Yuna looks up and--

    "...Eh?" Something is wrong here.

Togo has posed:
    Togo is in the same class, just a desk kitty-corner to Yuna's. She is just shaking her head and smiling at Yuna's antics, until the phone starts to chime. Eventually, Togo realizes her own phone is going off too, and digs it out of her bag. "You too, Togo?" a student asks as Togo stares at the strange message on the screen.

    A few moments later, the world stops around them. Students turned in their seats to look at Yuna and Togo are doing so, the teacher isn't blinking or even breathing, the birds in the sky have frozen in place, leaves stopped blowing in the wind... It's quiet. And eerie.

    Worriedly, Togo says, "Yuna-chan..."

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    As that terrible ringing continues, more felt than heard in the silence, a classroom door on a lower floor slides open roughly, and Fu comes charging out into the hall and sprinting for all she's worth, tripping but avoiding falling, regaining her balance, and continuing to run. What she was fearing seems to be happening. No way, it can't be! Her denial does not make it less so. She turns a corner into the stair well and starts running up the steps while already breathing hard. She has to get to her sister!

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    On that upper floor, a door slides open slowly and quietly, and Itsuki pokes her head out of her classroom, nervously looking up and down the hallway while keeping her arms close to her body, defensively. It's clear she has no idea what's happening, and is scared. Something's wrong with everybody. They all just... Stopped in place. Is her big sister okay...?

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is on a mission! Deliver this item to the next classroom over. Which means stepping to the door, wherein she can hear strange chiming. She knocks. No answers. She knocks again. No answer, so Nanoha Takamachi enters the classroom by opening the door and peeking in to.... strangeness.

Everyone is frozen and apparently the world's stopped. She looks down to Raising Heart. "Raising Heart.." she whispers.

< No Anomalies Detected. > says Raising Heart.

Well that can't be right because Nanoha Takamachi has eyes you see, and apparently arrived just at the right, dumb time for things to go down. Maybe... maybe she was late and these papers we're really important! She puts them on the desk! --Nothing Changes--. Okay so that's not it.

"Um." she looks around. Well. Some people are moving about. "What's going on here?" she asks.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
In Sayaka's classroom, Saotome-sensei was going on yet another tirade about her current boyfriend. She really just can't take a rest when it comes to love, can she? She is describing yet again how she finds certain preferences to be absolutely pointless and the teacher is about to point her stick to the unfortunate student of choice when she freezes mid-movement, leaving Sayaka astonished.

"Saotome-sensei?" she asks, getting up and waving a hand in front of her teacher's eyes. What is going on, how did this happen? Turning her ring back into a Soul Gem doesn't give her any information: no strong reaction to witches, only a dim light pulsing on and off, in what she would normally recognise as a faraway witch. But that makes no sense: magic is going on right in front of her eyes!

The bluenette runs out of the classroom when she actually notices movement: it's those students she met for Halloween. What where their names again... Oh, right, Togo and Yuna! Barging into their classroom, she asks "Hey, are you two all right? Do you know what's causing this?"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna moves to behind Togo, to make sure her best friend can get out of here safely, but looks up suddenly when the doors slide open and Nanoha pokes her head in. "N-Nanoha-chan!" she calls out. Then she jumps as the sliding doors at the back of the room, right behind Yuna, open, and Sayaka calls out. "S-Sayaka-chan!" she replies, turning around to look at the bluenette. "Do you know what's--"

    She can't finish her question. That awful ringing in the background stops. Light begins shining in from the classroom windows and also the hallway windows, turning everything outside the room into pure white. The ground starts to shake. "N-Nani!?" A wall of light approaches, the rumbling of the entire building growing more and more severe. "Grab hold of something!" Yuna calls out to the two new arrivals, and then yells, "Togo-san!" as she rushes to try to protect Togo with her own body.

Togo has posed:
    She's scared. Of course she's scared! So she is startled Nanoha appears but hears Sayaka coming and turns to face her rather than getting surprised from behind. She just shakes her head and makes a 'nn-mm' noise. She has no idea what's happening. When the ground begins to shake though, she cries out, "An earthquake!?" But earthquakes don't usually come with a wall of light like the blastwave of a nuclear bomb going off. She stares in horror at the blinding white that has replaced the world outside, and then turns when it seems about to swallow them all up.

    "Yuna-chan!" she calls out, arms outstretched to embrace Yuna in return, and bury her head in her friend's chest, waiting for the end to come.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi looks around the room, looks at Yuna-chan and then blinks when the room starts to shake and she dives under a desk because she thinks this is an Earthquake, but maybe it also isn't? What's that light, what's this... this....

< Magical Anomaly Detected! > goes Raising Heart.

"Not now Raising Heart! Um... S..SET UP---" she goes. But is it too late!?....

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu reaches Itsuki's floor and runs to her little sister. "Itsuki!" she calls out, reaching out to put her hands on those narrow little shoulders, hunched with apprehension. She is breathing hard, and take a few seconds to get that breath back, before raising her head to look Itsuki in the eyes. "Itsuki," she gasps out, and puts one hand on her sister's head to soothe her with gentle rubs. "Itsuki, listen carefully..." she says, still out of breath but trying to convey her important message.

    She looks into her sister's eyes, pained and guilty that she kept all of this quiet for so long. Looking down, trembling with fear and regret, she says, "We're it."

    The sky splits vertically outside, opening into a vista of darkness that soon becomes a collage of rainbow colors. Those colors spill out of the sky and begin to overflow the ocean and the buildings all around, becoming blinding light as it approaches at insane speed. The tremors in the ground signify that it's really happening. She hugs Itsuki close. Fu doesn't know what comes next. What she has been told is very different from seeing it in reality.

    And there's no way to just 'describe' the world that awaits them as they are engulfed in the light and devoured.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka barely has the time to the time to enter the classroom that she is already face-to-face with Yuna, and she is asking her what is going on. At least she tries to, when the outside of the classroom turns blindingly white, prompting Sayaka to cover her eyes with a hand.

Togo doesn't know either, and she too is not in any position to answer Yuna's question. "I don't know either! I have never fought anything like this before", she tells Yuna. What kind of youma or Witch is causing this? The bluenette side-eyes Nanoha when she hears a voice coming from her direction. Well, at least she is not alone in this. Probably. She has to be one too, right?

"It will be all right, Yuna-san, Togo-san. Whatever happens, let's not separate!" she only says before grasping something to hold onto with her free hand.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    "Onee-chan!" Itsuki calls out, jolting at first before realizing who was calling out her name and running at her. She moves closer to her big sister, still scared, but at least relieved to see the one who has watched over her ever since their parents went away. "Thank goodness..." Then she returns to the situation at hand, since everything is still frozen in place, and that awful ringing sound is in the background, hurting her ears. "Are you okay, Onee-chan? Something's wrong with everyone, and--" She stops when Fu puts her hand on her head and tells her to listen carefully.
    "Uh...?" She takes in a small, sharp breath, even more fear overcoming her as that all-reliable guardian that is her big sis is clearly scared herself. "What is it?" she asks with growing anxiety.
    Then the mysterious message is delivered. The sky splits outside, like a giant sword just cut it down the middle, from heavens to the horizon and even further. Freaking out, she clings to her sister and repeats, "Onee-chan! Onee-chan!!"
    Then the light overwhelms her vision and the tremors shake her whole body to the core.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    When the shaking stops, and the light fades away, Yuna slowly cracks open an eye and looks over her shoulder, still holding tighly onto Togo. She sees Sayaka out of her peripheral vision, but she's more focused on how their surroundings have changed. It's... A riot of colors. Absurd, fantastical, brilliant and subtle, splashed about like a surrealist painting, and there's strange plants, and giant trees, and vines and roots so big that they can be stood upon, and it all just stretches outwards, almost forever!

    Slowly, she lets go of Togo and moves away. They appear to be at the edge of some kind of cliff, and all Yuna can do is make sure Sayaka and Nanoha are here too, and then ask slowly, stunned, "What just happened?"

Togo has posed:
    Togo, as well, is looking around. Given that Sayaka was right behind them, and Nanoha just a few meters away, that they are all together makes some kind of weird sense, in the same way anything might 'make sense' in a dream. For a moment, she wonders if this might be such a dream, but it's too real even as proves to be totally surreal.

    She reaches out a hand towards Sayaka. "We were just in the classroom... What did you mean about fighting, Sayaka-chan?" Then she gestures for Nanoha to come over as well, turning to face the younger girl and seeing... Wait, what? Is Nanoha in costume? Was she wearing that in the classroom too? It seems like Sayaka and Nanoha may know more about this than either her or Yuna...

    "What was that talking machine you had? Was it your phone?" she asks of the Nanoha in the... Halloween costume? Maybe something for drama club?

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi goes through her transformation in the blinding light and comes out in her barrier jacket, with Raising Heart in her hands, in it's staff mode, Raising Heart seems to take offense to being called a phone, as it speaks something to Nanoha Takamachi telepathically.

"Huh?" she goes as she looks towards Yuna and Togo and brushes herself off as she stands up properly. "What just happened, where....are we?" she asks as she looks around and looks over at Togo and finally addresses Raising Heart's issues in her head. "Oh that was, Raising Heart. Raising Heart is my Intelligent Device!" she says softly.

< Greetings! > goes Raising Heart, the orb on it's end lighting up as it speaks.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The mix of colours and huge plants are a surreal spectacle Sayaka is sort of familiar with (at least it wouldn't look too out of place if somebody told her a Witch is responsible for this), and yet she can't help but admire what she sees. There is something deeply entrancing about this. Sayaka looks around and there she is, Nanoha is a completely different getup from what she was wearing seconds earlier.

"I don't know what caused this", she turns to address Yuna and Togo, "but like the girl over there, I spend a lot of time fighting magical creatures that threaten people", she says, extending the hand in which she was grasping her Soul Gem in front of her. "Here, let me show you."

Blue light explodes from the Soul Gem, enveloping around Sayaka, and when she is released from it, she stands in clothes that are clearly Knight-inspired and her hair has a fortissimo hairpin. But what Yuna and Togo might notice the most is that she is holding a sword and a jewel not unlike the one she was holding in resting on her navel in an elongated C-form.

"I didn't know those devices could talk" the bluenette says, peeking curiously at Raising Heart. "The other one only made noises."

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu is nearby Itsuki when the light fades, and the two sisters find themselves in the alien beauty of a giant forest from a dream. Vines as far as the eye can see, roots, branches that one could drive a car across acting as bridges, a sky of shifting pastel hues like dawnlight, before the Sun has truly risen. She makes sure Itsuki is okay first, and then gets out her phone. "Stay close to me, Itsuki." she says, trying to stay calm and continue getting her breathing under control while pressing a few buttons.

    The screen shows the positions of Yuna and Togo, as well as where Fu and Itsuki are relative to them, so the forest shelf that they stand upon is followed towards them. She has to keep everyone together. That's her duty now. Even if she has to lead the way through giant leaves and bizarre foliage in their path.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki is still clinging onto her sister when the light fades and the rumbling stops. Her eyes are closed, and she trembles in place, waiting for something terrible to happen. When nothing happens, it is almost worse than if they had been sent flying or something. So she cracks open an eye and stares uncomprehendingly in wonder at everything around. Her arms are held close to her body, the same defensive stance of someone insecure, and afraid.
    "Onee-chan..." she says quietly, glad to see Fu is okay. But this isn't the time to ask questions. Not when her big sister is so focused, and seems to know something about what's going on and yet is leading them somewhere...
    She stays close behind, holding onto Fu's hand as the taller of the two pushes on through strange plants and other flora that block their path. Is that Togo-senpai's voice she hears? And Nanoha-chan's?

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Blinking, Yuna looks at Nanoha and Sayaka and their changes outfits... The talking robot or... Intelligent Device? She says hesitantly, "Dozo yoroshiku..." Then an idea pops into her head. An Intelligent Device... She pulls out her smartphone, to see if she can call for help or figure out where they are, or... Something. But the background has changed, and the options are limited. Just clouds or something flowing by peacefully as the wallpaper. "The screen changed..." she mutters.

    Then Yuna hears the crunching and rustling of branches and plants, and turns around quickly to see who or what it is.

    "Becareful...!" she calls out.

Togo has posed:
    Turning to look at Sayaka after being baffled by Raising Heart, Togo tries to comprehend the words being spoken to her. Their meaning is clear, but her brain refuses to accept them. Magic? Creatures? Fighting? And then Sayaka... Transforms?? Togo is too stunned to do much but stare right now. She takes out her own phone, to see if it's any different from Yuna's but... No. They're the same. No signal, and none of the familiar options. "N-nani!?" she lets out when she hears the sounds of rustling in the brush behind her, and stays close to Yuna as she nervously watches the moving greenery (or... purplery? there's a lot of colors).

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Raising Heart, in it's staff mode, is help by Nanoha Takamachi in a defensive manner as she turns around to face Togo and Yuna as she blinks. "Let's.. find out where we are... Wide Area Search, Raising Heart!" goes Nanoha as Raising Heart complies, two magenta orbs spinning into existence and taking off to the sky to start scanning around, flying around gracefully.

She then turns around and points Raising Heart into the rustling, but asks...

"W..who or what is there...?" she asks.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka peers over at Yuna's and Togo phone when the two of them act surprised at the contents of their phones. "They are completely identical..." The Sharpsong Puella notes to herself, her lips thinning at the mysterious phenomenon. "Don't do anything with them for now. Or maybe, put them away too", she says, turning at the source of the upcoming noise.

Her sword is drawn, and three more appear, two floating in the air at her side, and 1 in her other hand. The right one is held in front of her, not letting herself be jumped on by whatever unknown creature might be hiding in the foliage.

"Show yourself!" she orders, not expressing any fear outwardly. She met aliens who understands Earth language, so why not whatever this is...

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    A wild Fu emerges! Pushing a branch up and out of her face, along with its leafy fronds, the older of the two Inubouzaki sisters stumbles out into the open. When she sees everyone, she says, "Oh, thank goodness! Everyone's safe!" She is surprised to see the two magical girls though, as she helps Itsuki through the thin, wormy vines that dangle over the opening she just made through a wall of plants.

    Then she holds up her phone, showing that it displays their locations on the screen, once the two of them get closer. "It's a secret function that was set to activate in a situation like this." she explains. A glance at the blue-haired and brown-haired girls is followed by, "Though you don't show up for some reason... May I ask your names?" She almost says, 'And were you sent here by the same people as I was?' but decides to keep quiet about that for now.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki stumbles out, shielding her head with one arm while holding her sister's hand with the other. When she emerges into the soft pastel light, she spots the others and calls out, "Yuna-senpai! Togo-senpai! You're alright!" Then she cautiously approaches, giving a head bob of greeting to the henshined strangers. "Um... Hello..." she mutters. Then she looks back at her sister. "Um, Onee-chan... You seem to know something about what's going on." She takes out her own phone to compare screens. "Isn't this that app you all had us download for the Hero Club...?"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna is relieved when it just turns out to be Fu and Itsuki. "Fu-senpai and Itsuki-chan! What a relief... Why are you here too though?" She looks down at her phone and taps the app icon to launch it, and sees the display of the four of them together now, surrounded by open space and a very simplified topographical map. "I never knew it had a function like that... Ah!" Gesturing to the others, Yuna says, "These are Nanoha-chan, Sayaka-senpai, and Raising Heart-san. They, um..." She scratches her head uncertainly. "They... Using magic to fight creatures...?"

    It is pointed out that Fu had them all install this app in the first place, and Yuna would also really like to know what this is all about. "Fu-senpai... Where are we? Why are we here?"

Togo has posed:
    So... Sayaka Miki and Nanoha Takamachi are both... Magical girls? It's an absurd idea. So difficult to believe under normal circumstances. But she can't deny what she saw, or... Everything around them. "Is this a dream, Yuna-chan?" she asks tenatively, before looking around at everyone, searching for any discrepency that could point to this all being a big misunderstanding or hallucination or trick of some kind.

    At least Fu and Itsuki are with them. Whatever is going on, they're better off together. And maybe Nanoha and Sayak can protect them. Those swords look... Well... Sharp.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi relaxes when it's just the other students, softly breathing out in a relaxed manner a folks seem to be talking about a phone app. "Huh? What phone application?" she asks as she brushes her barrier jacket off in a calming manner as the girl softly tries to peek at Yuna's phone.

"I do fight creatures! But it seems there's none here?" she asks curiously.

"At least..." she tries to listen for anything, like a bird.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka puts down her sword once she sees it's Fu, breathing a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you, Fu-senpai", she comments relaxing. Only to be on guard again when Fu starts talking about like everything is as it should be. Not raising her swords, though.

"What do you mean by that, Fu-senpai? What kind of Youma is this?" Sayaka asks, her tone slightly accusatory. People getting dragged into something they know nothing about, and with things about their lives messed with. The gaze she gives Fu is clearly accusatory.

"It's me, Sayaka Miki", she adds when hers and Nanoha's name are requested, despite Yuna doing the same. The veil would have probably made it useless, anyway she thinks. "I doubt you have the same provider of magic as me", she explains when Fu mentions the two of them not turning up on her phone. "Why did you have them download that without an explanation?"

"Yes, I do fight creatures, and go on patrol regularly too", Sayaka addresses Yuna. "Though, this place isn't quite like Witches' Labyrinths..." the bluenette muses to herself.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Feeling more and more guilty and conflicted over having dragged her friends and schoolmates into this, Fu looks at each of them in turn, even the ones who already have magic, and then looks at Itsuki as well, before sitting down on a rock or stump or something. She's looking at the ground, brow furrowed, when she starts to explain. "Everyone, please listen closely." Then she raises her eyes. "We're it. I was given a mission by Taisha, to recruit potential Hero candidates who could protect our world. I was hoping we wouldn't be selected, so I didn't say anything... Because if we weren't chosen, then knowing wouldn't do any good."

    Fu looks at Itsuki in particular. "This phone app allows us to stay in contact, even here: the Juukai. A dimension created by the Shinju-sama." She doesn't blame Sayaka for being guarded. Fu has been keeping a major secret after all. For a long time. And now... "The history we have been taught about an epidemic... A virus three-hundred years ago wiping out a large number of people around the world, is a fiction. An illusion that people came to believe because the truth was too abnormal for their minds to accept. A sort of... Defense mechanism."

    Fu rubs her face and says, "In actuality, Earth was invaded by creatures known as Vertexes. I don't know where they came from, but I heard from the Taisha that entire worlds have gone missing when the Vertexes devoured them in the past... Until the Shinju-sama made a barrier to keep them out of our universe. The Shinju-sama bestowed powers onto Heroes who could fight back and keep us safe, and we have had three-hundred years of peace, bought for us by our predecessors."
     Fu looks squarely at each girl in turn, even those without the same source of magic. "This may all sound like ridiculous mythological nonsense, but now the Vertexes have returned. And we are it. The team chosen to fight. If the Shinju-sama dies... At the very least, it will mean the end of humanity. But it could be much, much worse if the Vertexes are allowed back into our universe. It could mean the end of all life. But the app on our phone is a means for the Shinju-sama to bestow us with power to fight back." She smiles ruefully. "At least those of us who don't already possess magic."

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    Itsuki watches and listens, heavily conflicted, as her sister speaks. Finally, in the silence that follows, she says, "After all these years together..." she says to Fu. "I never knew about any of this." She looks down at her phone clutched in her hands, and then back up at her sister. Searchingly. Wondering what else her precious family may have been hiding from her. "What do you mean by 'fight'? What are 'Vertexes' and... 'Enemies'?" She looks to Sayaka for explanation, since she apparently fights these things all the time. "Are Witches different...?"

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna pinches and pulls on her right cheek, stretching it out until it turns red, while making pain noises, before letting go. "I... Don't think it's a dream, Togo-san." She walks away from the edge of the cliff and over to where Fu sits, and listens. It's too big. Too big for her brain. Too big for her concept of reality. There have been epidemics that claimed many lives throughout history... Were those also just 'illusions' that people accepted instead of the truth? How many times have the Vertexes attacked them while people went about their lives, never knowing how close they were to extinction?

    "How are we supposed to fight them?" she asks. Power from the Shinju-sama... A living god who has at least one small shrine in every building that the Taisha own. That influential religious organization from the same island as the Hero Club are originally from. Then she looks at Nanoha and Raising Heart. "Did you know about any of this, Nano-chan? Raising-san?" Same sort of question as is being posed to Sayaka, but she doesn't know who else to ask for a second opinion.

    She takes a deep breath and lets it out, then clenches her fist as she looks at her terrified best friend. "Don't worry, Togo-san! I won't let anything happen to us!" Her hand is trembling, and she's sweating in fear. The weight of the world is now on their shoulders. That's... A lot.

Togo has posed:
    Youma. Witches. Magic. That doesn't sound any better than these 'Vertexes'. Enemies of humanity, that need Heroes to fight them. Togo looks down at her useless legs, her hands in her lap clenching around the hem of her skirt. Useless. Powerless. Then she hears Yuna call out to her, and she looks up suddenly. She sees how hard Yuna is trying to reassure her despite being scared herself. Her expression softens, and she just agrees. "Alright... I will be counting on you then." she says with a smile.

    Then she looks at Fu and asks, "So what now? What comes next? I can't fight. I can't! So...!"

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi takes this all in. She wishes Yuuno was here to comment.

But she can't bring the ferret to classes. She doesn't wanna risk stuffing him into her bag anyways. Still, she lets Raising Heart take this all in as data and she considers.

"This sounds pretty serious." she says with a frown. "Is it. Safe here?" she asks.

"Wait. So. Are you. Magical girls now?" she asks curiously as her eyes go wideeee with wonder.

She looks to Yuna and shakes her head no.

"No. My mission.. erm. Personal. Mission? Is to hunt Lost Logia. And seal them to prevent them from harming more people." she says sternly.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka doesn't interrupt the explanation Fu is giving out. For once, they have someone who is bothering with explaining things at all, and that does reduce the her tense feelings towards Fu a bit. Though, she speaks like she is a magical girl herself, why is she taking care of this?

The Sharpsong Puella grimaces when Fu recounts the truth behind those deaths, all those sacrifices that couldn't be saved from the advances of these Vertexes. "I suppose it's not so bad these Taisha and Shinju-sama are willing to ask everyone for help in saving lives, but what exactly are they? And what did they do to put you up to this? These three are your friends and sisters, right? Didn't they deserve the truth?"

"You can be sure I will fight alongside you to repel these Vertexes", she reassures Fu, despite her guarded behaviour.

"Witches are probably not that different from Vertexes." She hasn't seen the latter of course, but they are both violent monsters, no? That's enough similarity. She starts reciting Kyubey's explanation. "Whereas we who use magic spread hope, Witches spread despair, and they are behind many of the suicides and various incidents that hurt people to this day. They typically hide in these Labyrinths while they gather their prey."

"I suppose your Shinju-sama is going to give you the strength to fight, sort of like what happened to me", she replies to Yuna about their ability to fight. She points with one sword at those floating. "I can use magic of course, and my body is stronger and faster too. You will probably get a similar deal." Though she doesn't know how to address Togo's concerns. At least, Yuna is there to console her.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu listens anxiously, worried that there's even more danger that she wasn't even aware of. She has to wonder what else is out there that she might wind up fighting. Witches and Vertexes... Sound like they might be related somehow. No idea about Lost Logia though. "The Taisha are... A sort of theocratic political organization. They worship the Shinju-sama, the Divine Tree, and wield major power locally on Shinkoku Island, where the Hero Club members came from originally. Not as much here on the mainland, but they still have connections throughout government and cultural affairs." She looks towards Itsuki. "I agreed to scout for Hero candidates for them, after our... After our parents died. They were part of Taisha. Itsuki was all I had left, and keeping an eye out in exchange for financial support didn't seem like a big deal at the time."

    She sighs. "There's Hero candidates all over the place, even if few in number. It's a matter of 'potential'. So, the possibiltiy existed that our team, the Hero Club, wouldn't be chosen. And, if we were never selected, I wasn't going to say anything. It would have just scared everyone, you know?"

    Getting to her feet, Fu says, "The Vertexes are the enemies of humanity. Period. I don't know about Witches, but we can't let even a single Vertex through. You didn't sign up to fight them, Sayaka-san, Nanoha-chan, so you don't have to. But... I'd be glad to have your help if you're willing." Then she looks towards Itsuki and smiles sadly. "I'm sorry, Itsuki." Sigh. "If we show we have the heart and motivation to fight, then the app will activate and transform us into Heroes via something called the Yuusha System. It sounds like we'll probably get the kind of powers you describes, Sayaka-san." She does not ask about Lost Logia right now. Too much already on her plate.

    Looking at Togo and her predicament, Fu shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Togo. I'll take care of this myself. Yuna, please take her somewhere safe. We wouldn't be here if there weren't Enemies--"

    Something beeps on Fu's phone, and cold dread settles in the pit of her stomach as she slowly looks down at the screen.

Itsuki Inubouzaki has posed:
    A lot. So much. Too much. But her big sister... Itsuki walks over and gently touches Fu's hand. "It's okay, Onee-chan... You kept it secret in order to protect us, didn't you?" Despite the danger facing them, and how unfamiliar these circumstances are, and the painful reminder of their parents... When she looks at the other girls who agreed to fight monsters to keep everyone safe, and then to her big sister, Itsuki can only harden her will and gather her determination.
    You've always protected me and gone ahead of me, Onee-chan. she thinks. And I've always had to chase after you. I want... To do something useful, to be able to pay you back. I want to walk alongside you.
    She doesn't miss the look on her sister's face, or the beep from her phone, and speaks up. "I'll fight too, Onee-chan!" She is serious about this. She may be small... But that doesn't mean she'll let everyone she cares about disappear!
    And having experienced magical girls who fight awful things like Witches and Lost Logia with them helps to bolster her bravery.

Yuna Yuki has posed:
    Yuna gets it. Fu was looking out for all of them, just like always. "That must have been hard, Fu-senpai." she says. She watches the two sisters interact, tries to wrap her mind around the huge paradigm shift in her image of reality. She also, when there's a beep, looks over to Sayak and asks, "Are you and Nanoha-chan's phones doing the same thing as ours?" Then looks down at the screen, like Fu.

    "By the way... What is this dot?" she asks, pointing to a dot that is slowly drawing nearer to their location, with a little label next to it reading, 'Otome-class'.

    Also, why are things rumbling slightly. Why is there something very large and very distant floating in the air over there? Why is some kind of mass, like an egg, glowing inside and growing larger and--

    The next thing Yuna knows, some sort of energy ball sails through the air along an arc, and then hits the cliff face below them. It EXPLODES.

    Yuna cries out in fear, and moves once more to cover Togo. She looks over to Fu, scared, but understanding. "Fu-senpai... Please be careful." Then she grabs hold of Togo's wheelchair guide bars, and starts trying to wheel her away from the fighting space.

Togo has posed:
    Togo feels ashamed for being scared. Ashamed for being useless. Her friends and schoolmates are about to fight terrible monsters, and she's just a burden on everyone. Even Yuna is in danger because of her. She can only grit her teeth and allow herself to be protected. There's nothing else she can do.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi looks on as the others talk, holding Raising Heart to herself as she frowns.

She then blinks as she looks down at Yuna's phone again and then there's a very larger and larger and there's an energy ball, sailing through the air and it smashes into the cliff. She raises a hand to cover it from the bright, but she mutters something and two wings form on her feet as she hovers from the ground and points Raising Heart forward.

"That's something... maybe it's.. it's one of the Vertexes? I'll do my best!" she says with determination.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Such a wide number of recruits, and they manage to keep everything secret without a single issue. She swears if these Taisha and Divine Tree turn up to be another Kyubey... She says nothing though, taking a look at the others. Everyone is already tense enough without her sharing her skepticism, no need to contribute to that.

"If you want my help, I will face whatever threat is coming head on. I signed up for this in order to do what's right, so these Vertexes can bring it", the bluenette declares. She has already accepted Fu had no part in this, if there is actually something behind this, and she gives her a warm grin.

"My phone is completely unresponsive", Sayaka shakes her head. Not that she has access to her phone while transformed. But if something magical caused it to do something weird, then she would have probably noticed regardless.

The weird rumbling reaches Sayaka's ears, and the bluenette turns around, looking at the same thing Yuna is observing. "Is that a Vertex?" And before anybody can react, the thing's attack impacts the cliff below, displacing the air. By instinct, Sayaka puts an arm over her eyes, the air displacement whipping harmlessly all around while her cape fluctuates behind her.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu turns to face the Enemy that approaches. And it is very much an Enemy. She puts away her fear in a box to deal with later, privately. It's time for her to be a leader. "It's coming." she says, phone gripped in her hand. Then, with the two existing magical girls preparing to fight, and an egg-shaped energy bomb BLASTING against the cliff face, throwing dust and and smoke in their faces, and making the ground shake... She raises her phone as an emblem of a flower appears on the screen.

    There is a flare of light, as she looks back at Itsuki, proud of her brave younger sister for standing with the three of them. Then yellow energy passes over Fu... The Yuusha System has been activated.