1828/Grimm Business

Grimm Business
Date of Scene:	04 August 2024
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	Ember goes to recover a dust emblem. She releases her grimm and they start to cause the havoc she wanted, and also havoc she didn't. Cats were a terrible choice. In the end there's massive destruction and she doesn't get anything except a concussed girlfriend, a bruised ego, and a doomed certainty that The Grim Queen will be displeased. All because Hinoiri just happened to pocket the dust emblem just before she was put in mortal peril by the Grimm.
Cast of Characters:	Ryoko Gushiken, Hinote Kagari, Koji Silvia, Sugata Shindo, 246, Hinoiri Kirara

---

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    Beryl Holdings' recent implosion had completely changed the game board and that meant it was time for DUST Enterprises to ramp up its operations. It was time for The Grim Queen to start executing on her plans and building up her power. Beryl was foolish and short-sighted. She was too obsessed with the past, and so was blind to her present, and lost her future. The Grim Queen was no fool, and besides. She had Ember to do all her dirty work.

    Which is why Ember was out in a Juuban shopping district making ready to wreak some havoc. Sources had confirmed that there was a shop called CuriosiTokyo that also dealt in dust items. Those same sources had suggested that, among the things for sale there, was a dust emblem. They needed recruits, and to recruit they needed emblems, so they needed that device. So Ember hatched a plan: she'd turn some grimm she'd already turned, and let them run rampant through the shopping district and she'd slip into the shop and take what she came for. The Grimm would keep the Mahou busy and they'd keep Tokyo safe. It was a win-win. Nothing could go wrong.

    Of course, she had to do this midmorning on a Sunday. Plenty of people out and and about. It made it oh so easy for her to just walk down the street brushing her fingertips across people as she bumped into them, imparting her magic and letting it sink in to find their anger and their despair, taking root and blossoming. In her wake as she made her way to the curio store, half a dozen grimm appeared one after another. The were big hulking sabyrs. They looked like cats made out of the inky shadows that make up grimm with bones that jut out and skull masks with long sabretooth fangs. She picked cats this time because they make the most chaos. The sounds of people screaming sent the corners of her mouth up a tick. She loved it when things went the way she wanted them to.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari walks out of a nearby manga shop with a complete, memorial set of 'Prince of High School'. Why? No--no reason.

It's not like he knows this cute guy likes it.

And it's not like he'd try to understand what it's about so he can talk about it with said guy!

No, Why...why would you think that? c.c

The day is going well, however, until it isn't. Something feels wrong ahead. He looks to Tracy, his small detective chara, then he watches someone run by him. Then another person and there's screaming and---

Sliding into an alley... "My Heart: Unlock!" says Hinote as he turns into Pulp Noir with Tracy's help! He runs back out, grabs the rim of his fedora and draws a pistol out of his coat, firing a powerful jet of water from the realistic looking gun at the grimm.

"Bad Kitten." he says.

Koji Silvia has posed:
The screaming...

There's always someone screaming in Tokyo these days, even though the fact that one of the Big Players on the other side was taken out, it didn't mean that boys and girls who had the power were allowed to take a proverbial night off.

So when it's heard, one Koji Silvia is already between buildings and with a glimmering flash his small sack of conbini goods and his street clothes vanishes for his more ninja-themed Barrier Jacket. With a flash and a small *CRACK* of a Kinetic Shield, he's mid-leap over the buildings towards the sound and in time to see the feline-forms of shadow and bone slowly stalking and menacing passers-by.

    "Hanzo, what are we seeing."

From his Device, he hears, << Unknown Type, Master. Please exercise caution. >>

    "Lovely. Well... here goes..."

On the downward arc of his 'flight', the boy Mahou known more locally as his Device, Hanzo, points his left hand down towards a Grimm Sabyr that's slowly stalking towards a young girl and her father who is covering her from the incoming claw-swipe both sobbing and screaming in terror at the nightmare-made thing that looms over them with it's dead red eyes. The blade-tip launches out, followed by a rope attached to a ring seated under his forearm.

Just before that massive paw comes down on the pair, the rope wraps around it at the wrist and yanks up and back, half-turning the thing as Hanzo comes to the ground on the far side of a light-pole, using it as a pulley to enhance the pull on it and half-turn it away from it's prey.

His other hand comes up it a chopping gesture as a small Midchildian magical circle appears in front of it at the apex of his swing.

    << DISRUPTOR BLADE. >>

The bluish blacklight energy, formed as a ninja-styled kunai knife launches itself at the Sabyr, the magics in it to stun and disorient the thing as the young Mage yells out, "RUN!"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Ah, the sound of screaming. Just what a typical Sunday morning had been missing - adrenaline, chaos, and the profound disruption of ordinary lives.

To say Sugata had expected it would be a lie. To say he was surprised by it... would also be a lie.

Jaguar Yamasugata was also not surprised by it. "Sugata-bocchan, I'll hold your bags until you return," the maid-assassin stated bluntly, holding out her hands. "Given the number of enemies, I can also hold your phone, and take pictures for Wako-sama and Takuto-san."

There was helpfulness and there was veiled criticism - this was the latter. Sugata does not pout (Wako and Takuto would have disagreed), merely scowled - but he does offer her the phone and bags.

"Fine, but if Wako and Takuto start looking for updates -"

"I will of course tell them that you refrained from using King's Pillar on another busy street."

Everyone's a critic. Rolling his eyes, Sugata turns to the scene - six large cat-creatures on the prowl, a boy with a hat and gun firing water, and another in ninja-themed attire, wielding knives of energy.

"Apprivoiser!"

Right there in front of Godoka and everyone, Sugata Shindo becomes Ginga Kingu, and with a fist thrust to his chest, he pulls forth a shining sword of pure white energy.

"Star Swordo - Diamant!"

And with Star Sword in hand, he dives in the fray, striking at a Sabyr snarling at a young woman cowering atop a car, having scrambled up hastily and forgotten that cats can climb.

Scorpia (246) has posed:
Sarah was out wandering the shops. Her girlfriend was busy. Again. And instead of going stir-crazy in their dorm room, she'd decided to go find more places to explore.

The blonde had just stepped back out onto the street when she heard the screams. Saw the big kitties. Narrowing her eyes, she assesses the situation and nods resolutely- these looked like the ones she'd fought at the zoo months ago. She knew what to do. Besides, there were almost always other good guys and girls around to join in on the butt-kicking!

Ducking into a nearby alcove, the crystal on Sarah's necklace levitates in front of her face. A huge grin spreads across her face. This time, she knew what was going to happen. Her back arches, feet leaving the ground and her eyes closing. Ruby red colored energy bolts race across her skin, crackling and bolting out as she transforms. Her human hands morph into her scorpion pincers, her clothes changing into armor made of blackened leather- a sleeveless tunic paired with leather breeches that are tucked into a pair of badass combat boots. Her tail appears as her feet touch the ground again, the stinger glinting dangerously. The electricity surrounding her retracts into her pincers as her eyes open and a bolt of energy runs from her left pincer up across her armor- her runestone materializing over her heart, in the shape of a heart.

Doing a quick excited wiggle, the Princess of the Garnet runestone bolts out to the street and heads straight for one of the kitty cats not already being taken care of, "Hey! You! Now let's get to the point!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had, surprisingly enough, been to Curiosi Tokyo a long, long time ago. It was one of the first places she'd visited and where she had sold a lot of the things she'd brought from Kirakirafantastica. Since then she'd only come by a few times, only one other time with more things to sell.

The old man who ran the store didn't seem to mind her visits, at least. Though she was fairly certain he just humored her, she did like to look at the different items and had even purchased a handful of things. Today? He was showing her something quite unique.

"I picked them up during a trip to Thailand," he said proudly. "Anything catch your eye?"

Hinoiri couldn't help but smile when she looked over the strange trinkets. Little wings, little horns, all manner of cute little things. Ahhhh, they brought a smile to her face. Mostly because she'd been having a tough time lately and... been... admittedly, she'd been depressed. And she was pretty certain the older gentleman was hoping to cheer her up. "They're pretty," Hinoiri said. "But... not quite what I'm looking... hmm?" she said, picking up a small metal wing. Something about it... was... However, the feeling faded quickly and she gave a soft, depressed sigh. "Thank you, though. It's not really--"

And then there were screams. Her eyes went wide and she looked towards the door. "W-what?" She started towards it... then stopped.

Nope. Nothing she could do. Right. If her recent experiences had taught her anything... being the prisoner, the target, the laughing stock. Buck, even spending over a week as a tiny alicorn? If it had taught her anything, it was... she was helpless. She couldn't...

And then the sound of shattering glass as a massive black, sabertooth-like cat burst through the window, knocking over a bookcase and shattering glass and curios on the ground. She screamed in alarm, fear surging through her, before... grabbing the old man's hand and *running*. "Is there a back exit?" she asked the man.

"W-what? No, what, what is that? A tiger?!"

"It'll be the thing that eats us if we don't get out of here!"

Well, with nowhere else TO go, they tried to make their way further back in the shop, hopefully before the thing could decide to follow them, slamming a door shut behind them.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    It is utter pandemonium. One Grimm Sabyr is stunned as it takes a blast of water directly on it's face plate, the people it was terrorizing get away. Just the same with Koji's kunai. It embeds itself into the Grimm in the shadowy flesh of it's shoulder and the cat is disoriented, and the father and his daughter scramble down off the car and run. Ginga Kingu's sword slashes through yet another Grimm, and it just rips the shadows right off of the person that had been turned. Leaving them unconscious on the ground in a red haze of magical dust.

    The Grimm that Scorpia threatens, though, well that one takes one look at her and looks about to attack when it stops. It's head lifts up and it seems like maybe it's sniffing. It's hard to tell since it's whole face is bone. Grimm are drawn to negative emotions, and Hinoiri's depression and despair had caught its nose. With a roar it bounded away from Scorpia and burst through the window of the curio shop to chase down its prey.

    Right in front of Ember. Stupid cats. Why did she choose cats? They're so chaotic. They were a horrible choice. They were going to lead the mahou all right to where she wanted to steal the device! What's worse, they were going to lead her girlfriend right to where she wanted to steal the device. She did not want to fight Scorpia.

    Ember drew both of her blades out of the sheath at her back and screamed with rage, her magic sending fire up along the blades. "You STUPID cat!" She yelled as she went running after it. She was going to slice it to pieces and get the device and then she'd even collect the dust. Her plan was salvageable. She could do this.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Diamant cuts clean through the shadows - and Ginga Kingu is genuinely surprised by the need to catch an unconscious civilian before they hit the ground. The cats being human - complicates things.

"Be careful with your attacks," he warns his momentary allies, "Unless you've seen this before, and are sure attacking the monster won't harm the human host."

If anyone knows, that would be great. Sugata is fully aware of the irony of having to be the one to warn others about collateral damage, but he'd never made an uninformed choice, about that.

One of the great cats flees into a shop Ginga Kingu follows it, sword at the ready, wincing over the damage he could already see in the shop.

Koji Silvia has posed:
One is fighting Pulp Noir, and recovering.

One just got de-Grimmed by Ginga Kingu.

One just went pelting off, with Ginga at chase, after a second that was already inside a shop...

And there's the one that Koji currently has... so where is number six?

The growl-rumble of the Sabyr is barely enough warning for Hanzo and he whip-retracts the rope-blade in an instant so he can tuck and roll forwards and away from the pounce. Pushing up out of it, he curls into a series of blackflips and then pushes off with his hands into another somersault and turn, lashing his foot out to strike the chasing Sabyr in the jaw, and turning it away at the last moment.

His first target shakes off the stunning effect of his Blade, and then it's eyes blaze a bit more as it turns on it's new prey, already being stalked by one of it's rivals-but-cohorts.

The last year of training shows in how smoothly that the ninja-adjacent young man moves. He leans back, bends and then rolls and does one of those wuxia-style mid-air spin-flips to avoid being slashed from the front and the rear. Kicking off a car, he goes back in between the two, ending up on his knees and then doing the limbo-slide right under another swipe, before having to whip himself forward into a roll and kick from a pounce. His foot doesn't even dent the Grimm, but it does give him the push he needs to slide on his back and away from the air, get his hands up under him, and kip-up off into a backflip once more.

Landing, Hanzo slides a couple feet to where his hand grips on a safety rail, but doesn't seem to stop there. Instead, he swings up and yells out, "Shield Boost!"

    << SHIELD BOOST. >>

A blue hexagonal shield appears right where his feet land, pointed at both the Sabyr Grimm in mid-leap towards him, and then shatters, but that causes him to ROCKET forwards and as he does so, he tucks his arms in and starts a slow roll, like a fighter jet. Mid-turn, Koji swings his left arm out on the Grimm who was previously stunned, and the kunai-shaped Device digs into it, running it from jaw to tail... and then... Hanzo tucks in, puts his feet put and one hand down, and does a superhero-classic... the slide-brake.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir draws his other pistol and with his BLAZING AUTOMATICS starts shooting into the Grimm still with powerful jets of water. He looks at the others arriving and takes a deep breath. He doesn't...know any of these people. Does he? Wait, Ginga Kingu is familiar.

The others? Not so much.

"So uh."

"What are these things besides cats?" he asks the crowd.

Scorpia (246) has posed:
Scorpia was confused. It happened often, yes. But for a hulking cat, who was so obviously an enemy, to stop its attack and run elsewhere? It was curious that it sniffed at the air, as much as a being made of shadows and bones could. Her eyes follow its trajectory for just a few seconds before she's chasing after it, her pincers touching points, electricity concentrating into a small ball between them as she runs.

With a small leap into the air, she hurls the ball straight at the sabre's center mass, hopefully hitting it, and hopefully hitting it before it reaches the entryway to the curio shoppe. It's only then, when her feet touch ground once again, that she notices the girl. THE girl. The one that had been at the zoo. The one responsible for all of this chaos. All of this fear and pain. She growls, eyes lighting up the same color as her runestone, her power crackling around her, "YOU!" she shouts, pointing a pincer directly at the girl, "Stop before I have to hurt you. Stop ALL of this!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was so, so going to die. The cat, meanwhile, WAS chasing them. And as they dashed into a back room, she pushed her back against it.

"Come on sparkles, where in the world are you?" she asked.

"What is going on? I-I'm calling animal control. It--"

And then the tiger's arm drove INTO the door, through it, sending wood across the room.

Oh, yes, she screamed. On the upside? The door was still kind of holding and the grim was stuck! Yayyyy! On the bad side? She and the old man were... REALLY wanting a rescue about now. "Will one of you sparkles MOVE YOUR FLANKS ALREADY?!"

"H-how did a tiger escape the zoo?" the old man asked, his mind fuzzy from the magic.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    The first blast of water stunned it, but Pulp Noir's continued barrage hits so many different places along the Grimm's feline form. The Sabyr leaps at Pulp Noir, but that exposes more of it's flesh to the water, and it strips away the shadows from the person within leaving them to fall to the ground unconscious and soaking wet, but with no dust.

    Koji's acrobatic attack rips the shadows right off another poor victim, leaving them to collapse to the ground in a cloud of blue dust. But he was engaging with two of them. As he's sliding to a stop the other Sabyr leaps to attack him, front paws outstretched with huge claws bared. It lets out a terrifying scream-roar.

    Not one but _two_ of those useless Grimm went straight into the shop Ember wanted to rob. Why did they all have to be animals? Why couldn't they be intelligent? Why did it always come down to their instincts? Ryoko sees Ginga Kingu running toward the shop and the flames along her blade flare. She came here for that dust emblem, and she was going to get it, even if she had to cut down a mahou or two.

    Except for the one mahou who actually decided to stand in her way. Because of coursse her shimbo girlfriend was the one who would decide to take her on. Why did she go and fall in love with a hero? She gave a glance toward the shop and sighed internally. Hokori-sama was going to be furious. She was not looking forward to the debrief.

    She couldn't just not fight Scorpia though. She was just going to have to try not to actually kill her. She could not kill someone. She'd not killed lots of people. She put on her best sneer and said, "Cat's already out of the bag, genius. You try telling them what to do. Putting and end to all this is your job, not mine," she says and holds her swords at the ready. If she couldn't steal the device now, maybe she could salvage it from the rubble later after the mahou and those two Sabyrs absolutely demolished the shop. "But you'll have to get through me first."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Speed and training can get you far in this game, but sometimes there's just a huge cat made of shadow-energy and it sometimes just gets the better of you.

In Hanzo's case, he manages to push up to standing and lean back in time for those claws to barely swipe the edges of his Barrier Jacket and scarf, but mid-bend for a back-flip kick, the beast just shifts and shoulder-checks him...

...right into a wall right next to the Curio shop's sight, crushing the half that says 'Tokyo' on it, and throwing him right past Ginga, Scorpia, and Ember.

Not content to let it's prey go as it's stunned, the Sabyr leaps for the kill, even as Koji is slowly trying to extricate himself from the wall, the reflection of the red eyes and snarling skull in his eyes, one for each pupil as it flies closer and closer...

Sugata Shindo has posed:
There's one person here who seems to have encountered these enemies before - but given the flames leaping to the swordswoman's blade, it's clear she's the source, rather than an erstwhile ally quicker to arrive on the scene than the rest of them.

"A counter proposal," he offers, voice chill. "You let us do our job of handling the monsters as you put it, and you don't get sent home bruised in pride as well as dignity."

There's someone shouting for help further back in the shop, and they matter far more than the latest punchard carrying middle manager.

"Hey," he says, quieter, to the girl with pincers, "You seem to have run into her before. Any suggestions?"

Yeah, he's also blatantly strategizing right in front of her.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir, debonair detective that he is. Spins one of the pistols around his finger as the grimm gets water pistol'ed down into a human. Luckily let's just water pressure, so he's okay, if wet. Better wet than a horrible monster cat though!? He turns however, to the other Mahou. Ginga Kingu is strategizing with uh. Cure Scorpion(?) over there, and the device user is...

Oh, oh he's in trouble.

Running forward at a good clip-- he's no super speedster, but he's quick, the masked detective picking up Hanzo and giving a leap upwards to the top of the small shop. "I think you're okay now!" he says. "Eerrr. You are okay. Right?" he asks.

Smooth. Like chunky peanut butter.

Scorpia (246) has posed:
Scorpia set her feet shoulder length apart, her pincers at her side but charging up with power. Heart beating fast, the blonde keeps her eyes locked on the other girl while answering her companion, "Each of these beasts will be human when defeated. They will need rest and to see a doctor, but show no mercy. The shadows will not leave them until they've been beaten."

Turning all of her focus to the sword wielding villain in front of her, she calls out, "We'll take care of the kitties, don't you worry about that. I'll just be the one to take care of you!" And she's thrusting her pincers forward, electricity arcing through the air towards her foe.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara let out another scream as another chunk of the door was removed by the creature and... and finally, it was too much for the old man. He collapsed.

Hinoiri realllllly wished she had time to check on him, unfortunately she didn't.

Fortunately, it was all the magic, not like... a heart attack. Right now, though? Another slash of the youma had wiped out another piece of the door and she SCREAMED!

"WOULD ONE OF YOU HURRY IT UP BEFORE WE GET EATEN BY SIMBA HERE?!"

Did she know any sabretooth names? No. No she did not. But big cat was big cat and oh gosh what did she-- AH HA!

They might hear a splash. As she had thrown a bucket of dirty mop water on it.

The grim was not amused.

And they'd hear the sound of crunching wood as it finally shoved open the door and... and got stuck.

Hinoiri grabbing a mop to defend herself. Ohhhhh she missed having powers. She realllllllly missed having powers.

"I get the idea of showing off and sparkles and all of that is fun for all of you BUT A LITTLE HELP FOR THE ARCANE CHALLENGED!" She struck the grim with a mop!

The half of the mop that came back showed it was ineffective.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    That first Grimm gets stuck in the doorway, but then there's a second one coming in behind it. Hinoiri's anger and desperation are intoxicating and draw the creatures in. Well, at least those two. The one that slammed Koji into the wall leaps up after them but can't catch them, and when it lands back on the ground it's facing down the other heroes from behind where Ember's standing. It lets out an ear-splitting roar and charges right toward Ginga Kingu and Scorpia.

    The Princess didn't just telegraph her move, she broadcast it, so Ember has no trouble dodging. With strength charged by her semblance she leaps up into a high arcing backflip. Her swords held tightly to her side to make her look almost like a fireball as she spins. It gives her a moment to survey the field. Finally a Grimm doing what it's supposed to. Two of the heroes on the roof. And some girl screaming inside the shop. At least that was pleasant. Ember smiled just a little as she landed on the ground.

    As she landed the flames of her swords extinguished and she slammed the pommels of her blades together. A shimmering string drew itself from one end to the other like a bolt of magic. "You won't take care of me today, Princess," she sneers and then takes another magic-powered leaping backflip up onto the roof of another nearby shop. As she spins she pulls three arrows out of her quiver, knocking them all and super charging them with her semblance.

    As soon as she landed on the building she let them loose. Three arrows struck right in the ground surrounding Scorpia and Ginga Kingu and the only Grimm who was being a good kitty. But Grimm were expendable. It had served it's purpose. Orange circles of magic started to expand from where the arrows had landed each a circle four feet in diameter. They stopped growing and glowed brighter and then exploded like several grenades sending chunks of pavement and debris flying everywhere.

Scorpia (246) has posed:
Scorpia, did not see that coming. She should have. But then again, she really didn't have very much experience with using her runestone's power. And today, it shows. Before she's able to reply back to the girl, arrows are piercing the ground around her, around the person beside her. It all happens so fast. One minute she's glaring up at the rooftop, and then the magical arrows are exploding. Letting out a yell of panic, she has very little time to respond before the blast has hit her body, the flames running over her skin. Her body flies a few feet back, down the street, and she crashes to the ground. Unconscious, but still breathing, and a little bit on fire.

Koji Silvia has posed:
From their position on the roof, after Pulp Noir was able to save him from a mauling or worse by the giant feline monster, Koji stops internally kicking himself long enough to pant out, "Thanks. I'm good. And it's Hanzo."

Before dropping back to the pavement, the Sabyr almost got a piece of his foot, but a quick YANK pulled away from the curved blades of bone, and he pushes himself to standing while helping get Noir back to his feet as well. The sounds of someone yelling inside plus the explosions from the fire-wielding Ember causes the ninja-dressed Device User say quietly to his temporary companion, "Let me give you something as a thanks. Speed Boost."

    << SPEED BOOST. >>

The blue-haloed blacklight rushes over Pulp Noir for a moment, giving him a surge of energy to use to help him move and shoot faster, even as Hanzo leaps and does a dive-flip right off the building!

As he falls, upside down, hair and scarf streaming in a breeze that wasn't there before, Koji raises his hand in the classic Yu-Yu-Hakusho shooter's pose, and there's a small magic circle that appears right in front of it, as he aims 'down sights' at the second Grimm that's trying to get after Hinoiri. Dropping the thumb, he just murmurs, "Disruptor."

    << DISRUPTOR LANCE. >>

A thin beam of blacklight shoots out from the circle and pierces the second to last Grimm from the back, the blast coming out of it's red-eyed and snarling maw, as the sound of a scream turns to a whimper, and the Sabyr bursts instead of evaporating away, as the connection between the victim and the power is severed.

At the last second, he tuckrolls and lands low on his feet, yelling out, "GET THE LAST ONE!"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"The usual melodrama then," Ginga Kingu mutters to himself as Ember flips away, swords aflame, and the only obedient Grim scrambles after the two of them who have come to the shop, and he's turned, back to the swordsman which is a risk, but the giant cat needs handling.

And to Ginga Kingu's credit, he's striking at the Sabyr when the explosions ring out, blasting apart the ground, Diamant plunged into it's chest.

The shadows burst just after the explosion hits, sparing the civilian the worst of the hit. Ginga Kingu goes into a controlled roll so the worst of the blast doesn't leave him spinning, and he winces, vaguely sympathetic towards the girl smoking and burning on the ground, clearly knocked for a loop.

A Then a thin beam of blacklight flies through the air, striking one of the Sabyrs clean through, and there's just one left -

And Ginga Kingu surges back to his feet, hefting Diamant in a way that a kendo specialist, let alone a swordsman, would normally never, gripping the shaft deftly as he shifts into a throwing stance and launches the white blade, a pale blue-white energy trailing behind it as it flies at bullet-speed.

"Star Crash!"

And the sword pierces clean through the creature, energy dissipating, leaving an unconscious civilian half through the door.

The white energy blade disappears, and Ginga Kingu slams a fist into his chest, summoning it once more to his hand. He raises the blade high, aimed for Ember.

"You can try that again, if you'd like, or you can leave while there's some scrap of your dignity remaining. Congratulations. You've had the pleasure of acting the bull in a proverbial china shop, with nothing to show for it but misery added to a few people's days."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara is going to die. Is going to die. Oh my gosh she is going to d--

Oh. Ohhh thank goodness. Both of the grim were destroyed and she crumbled to her knees, feeling like she had just run for a few dozen miles. "A-about time! Thanks, I guess, but next time can you deal with the ones attacking the non magical people first?" she snapped. "I swear, sparkles these days," she snapped, before reaching out to check the old man's pulse. Then letting out a sigh of relief, good. He wasn't like... dying. "And can one of you help me get him like... into a chair? I don't have magic or anything now. And... yeah. Thank you, for saving me. Again," Hinoiri said, just a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Amidst all the confusion she'd completely forgotten about the little winged trinket she'd stuffed in her pockets while running. Honestly? She was just happy to be alive and hoped she could get the old man into some proper care...

And that insurance would cover the damages.

"... Wait, Kingu?" she asked, cocking an eye. "Huh. I thought you'd be faster than that. I guess I should edit my notes..." she mumbled.

That's right. She was grading them now.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    The Grimm are all destroyed. Ember has lost, and she knows it. Fortunately, her modified plan doesn't require her to hold the field. The heroes aren't going to go looting. So all she has to do is wait until they clear the area, and she can come back to get what she came for. It'll be fine. The Grim Queen will be pleased. Nothing went wrong, not really. She made a foolproof plan.

    She was so confident that she answered Kingu's challenge with a laugh. "Why would I stay when I've already accomplished my goal?" She pulls the two halves of Nightfall apart, flashily spinning the blades around before sheathing them in the holster in the small of her back. "Thank you so much for playing your role!" She gives Kingu a salute, and does a backflip away toward the back of the building before leaping off and away. She's gone.

Koji Silvia has posed:
*blinkblink... blink...

Koji just sighs under his mask and then turns to deftly navigate the wreckage of the now-named Curiousi-T... because the 'okyo' was smashed under his back. Making his way to the wrecked door, he picks up the unconscious Grimm victim blocking it, and then the second as he gets them outside and clear of the rubble and potential fire-or-worse of the building, leaving Kingu his chance to scold Hino and help the old man. Ever the faithful support mahou, he grunts and huffs, because even with being a Mage... PEOPLE ARE HEAVY... and he ends up muttering under his breath, "I really want to know NGH what Rashmi sees... FFFF... in her..."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Has there ever been a victim he cared about less? Sugata takes a moment to consider this, even as he keeps his eye on his opponent. His breathing is steady and careful, patient, ensuring the steady flow of oxygen, ensuring that he's ready should an attack come, not to be caught off-guard by arrows this time, energy at his fingertips, practically begging to rend and tear and crush -

Samekh pops into existence, a small robot in a translucent bubble of blue-white, a color scheme of predominantly black and blue.

"You should kill them for their insolence," the robot declares disdainfully, and because Samekh is suggesting it, Ginga Kingu spitefully pulls back on the urge to ensure this opponent - dangerous enough to take out an ally in one strike, though of course, the girl could simply be weak, untested, untrained - does not walk away.

"Shut up," he tells the robot, eyes still fixed on Ember. Hinoiri and her irritating attitude are ignored -

And then the villain flips away. Sugata resists the urge to flip off her retreating form if only because it would be uncouth and ineffective.

With the threat gone, he turns on Hinoiri - except, no, he's not acknowledging her at all, merely crossing the distance between them and taking the unconscious civilian off her hands, by hauling him over his shoulder with an effortless display of mahou strength. He walks away.

The girl who had been knocked unconscious is still unconscious; for lack of better options he uses his shoe to smother the last remnants of the flames flicking over her form, and lifts a hand - Jaguar approaches with his phone in hand.

"I've called emergency services, bocchan, and reported that there seemed to be an explosion," she reports crisply, before kneeling to haul Scorpia's larger frame over her shoulders as well, carefully supporting her larger frame with grips at her elbow and knee. "The infirmary at Radiant Heart Academy seems the most appropriate place for an ally of yours, right?"

Sugata nods frowning, faintly. "Her injuries don't seem severe. If the infirmary can't manage, we'll simply owe more chocolate to Mahou MSF."

Only now, that the situation has been handled, with his other two allies handling the remainder of the civilians, does Sugata turn on Hinoiri. His military-style coat is dusted with the aftermath of the explosion, his cravat in slight disarray due to the cinders, but his expression is cool.

"And I would have thought you'd have familiarity with the concept of triage. You certainly created enough scenes of chaos like this in your time, forced endless battles that required staged treatment."

He glances over the chaos, the destruction, the flames.

"Perhaps the familiarity of the scene isn't comforting when you're no longer the architect of the destruction." The shop is nearly in ruins from the rampage and the explosions; the man on his shoulder is older, and in need of care. There's the risk, however minimal, that there's structural damage - Sugata will find him a place to rest further down the street, away from the scene.

"And since you're keeping notes, you can jot this down - the people risking their lives to protect you know that you're in danger. Entertaining the enemy with your excessively loud frustrations is a useless distraction."

He turns to look at Hanzo -

"If you'd like a ride, Jaguar will be taking our comrade here to our car. We're taking her to the academy, and then picking up some sort of celebratory meal from - where?"

Jaguar, carrying Scorpia and some yards away, calls back, "From Pizza Hut, bocchan. Wako-sama and Takuto-san are expanding your palate."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara let out a sigh of relief and, slowly, the stress was fading. And, to her credit? "Thank you," she told Kingu, as he helped the old man. As the adrenaline and fear died down, her common responce of 'rage' was fading. And they were taking care of things and, once again... she felt useless. And helpless.

And her eyes twitched. Triage? What did almost getting mangled in--

Her hand reached up to stroke her geode and she felt that anger rising again, the embers slowly burning as she, desperately, wanted to tear off the geode and teach him a lesson. "Yes, I did create a lot of trouble. But for all of *your* sakes and this *world's* I gave up my power. The least you lot could do do a better job of stopping them from killing me. I swear, when I was Sunbreaker there was no stopping you lot. Now that I'm not fighting you, it's like you all only show up at the last minute or when it's convenient. I thought--"

And then she stopped. Ugh. Better. She was trying to be better. She wasn't... "Ugh... sorry. I just... sorry. I'm just used to handling these things on my own and not having to depend on... you people..." You'd think by now she would. But she just... "Thanks. For... coming... and all... I'm going to..." She glanced around. Then just... started to leave. The last thing she needed is another run in with the cops over another gas leak.

Koji Silvia has posed:
To Ginga's credit, the fact that he knows Wako causes ONE eyebrow to shoot up, and then Takuto causes a SECOND brow to shoot up...

Koji just sighs and waves it off, "Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass for now. Later."

Even as he says the last word, the image of Hanzo vanishes, the stealthy little fellow having already made an illusion-self while Ginga Kingu was helping settle the old man, and lands in an alley a few blocks away, dropping out of his henshin'd form and rubbing his still-tender back... healed up from the fight weeks ago, but still sensitive to walls.

"He has a maid... man... magical people are getting weirder and weirder... I'm starting to feel like the old man around here..."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"You gave up your power because you didn't want to live with yourself if you did what your ambitions were driving you to," Sugata says coldly, interrupting her tirade as she strokes the geode. "The fact that you're throwing it around like a sacrifice we should be grateful for, when you were a monster of your own creation proves that. We were here to stop her too. We saved your life. If it wasn't as fast as you'd like, perhaps you can take it as a lesson in empathy, for all those you trapped in the same position before you discovered this self-sacrificial nature of yours."

His tongue is as sharp as hers, and though he doesn't have personal animosity for her the way others do, he also doesn't have any feelings of friendship for her, the way others do.

Her apology - and her thanks - don't get one in return. He can empathize with hating to be helpless - but not with lashing out at those doing what one can't accomplish on their own out of sheer self-pity and selfish fury.

"No problem," he starts to say to Koji, only to blink as the other just - vanishes. Impressive, honestly.

Ginga Kingu sets the old man down in a chair a nearby shopkeeper hurriedly provides, and speaks to emergency services when they arrive, directing them to the rest of the unconscious civilians and the damaged shop. Once emergency services are busy, he slips away and drops his henshin, making his way to his car. He, Jaguar, and the unconscious Scorpia drive off.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
    Ember circles around, staying hidden, but keeping an eye on the field. It's not until everyone is gone, including Scorpia and the old man, that she emerges from her hiding spot. She walks across the street and steps through the hole in the storefront, ducking between the hazard tapes. She pulls a device out of her pocket. It's a little chain with an orb pendant that glows in the presence of dust. The dust from the Grimm either didn't appear or already dissipated. She waited so long. But there's a faint glow that gets stronger as she goes into the back room.

    She finds the box full of stuff from Thailand. There are several dust cartridges. But no dust emblem. And it's the only thing that has any dust at all. "WHERE IS IT?!" She screams. All of that and for nothing. She swipes the cartridges, and then throws the rest of the box into the nearest wall with such force that the box shatters. Ember was furious. The dust emblem was gone.

    She was going to pay for this. The Grim Queen would not be pleased. Everything went wrong. She was so screwed.