1841/The Best Kind Of Quest I

The Best Kind Of Quest I
Date of Scene:	06 August 2024
Location:	The Forgotten District
Synopsis:	Riventon tries to steal one part of a relic bound for RHA.
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Chrono Harlaown, Catra, Koji Silvia, Rashmi Terios, Setsuna Meiou, Amanda Faust, Michiru Kaiou, Fuyuko Yuuhi
Tinyplot:	The Best Kind Of Quest

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Takashi Agera has posed:
It's after midnight on a moonless Tokyo night. While parts of the city remain bustling into the early hours of the morning, not all parts do. At a shrine nestled on the Waterfront slightly away from the Four Wards, a boat silently rows to the shore. A tall man with green hair in ostentatious yet quasi traditional garb helps the rower pull a chest from the boat, carrying it together around the shrine grounds until it arrives nearby a hatchback minivan, trunk open, nondescript in black. While those who are hidden from magic by the Veil might suspect they were criminals smuggling contraband, in truth the item within the case is more valuable than guns or drugs or anything mundane. The faintly glowing magical runes on the box denote the magic contained inside to those who can see it.

    The only people who should be aware of its coming and going, with painstaking effort gone to keep the presence of it from so many people.

    Even those who are tasked with protecting it, via Setsuna Meiou, weren't told the day or time it would arrive, with the information of the date only coming mid afternoon and the route - by car, via the Forgotten District - coming only a few hours ago. The hope is that all of these measures cause the protectors to be unncessary - the ports of normal entry were avoided due to Obsidian, the secrecy was tight for the same reasons, and the car itself only has a driver and one volunteer in it. Perhaps by just a 'disorganized group' of Mahou Shoujo being 'on patrol' in the general vicinity of the route it wouldn't call attention to the cargo.

    Unfortunantly, the nature of the object itself invites scrutiny from the very people from whom it's kept hidden. Not all of Obsidian, but one individual who is up too late and far too curious about disruptions to 'normal' magic flow. Takashi Agera has already sent texts to his group, reaching out to see who is available (and awake at this hour, really).

    For now, for the Mahou Shoujo on the rooftops and streets nearby, it's watching and waiting, as the stoic young man in the slightly outlandish take on traditional clothes drives down the largely unlit streets of the Forgotten District.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Along the power lines, there was a small bird keeping an eye, occasionally fritting about, but seemingly resting. In the darkness it was hard to make out what kind of bird it was, so it likely wouldn't draw much attention...

But it was a lidth jay, with normally bright pink and blue feathers. Now? It was just... another bird. Fenyx, Chrono's familiar, keeping an eye out for trouble and giving consistent reports to the pair of Enforcer's.

<< There's a car, not the right car there. Oh, there's another car. >>

She, of course, was taking this super srs.

<< Fenyx. >> Chrono said over the communications.

<< Sorry. >>

The pair of enforcers were along the path, on a rooftop. Suppressing their power as much as they could, to try and avoid being noticed for now. It did mean it was harder to do scans, though. In a passive mode like this. That... that was troubling.

Catra has posed:
Catra was out and about in the night, not sleeping -- she's a cat, why would she sleep at night -- and not doing anything productive. She was simply visiting one of the outdoor food vendors in one of the crappy parts of town, where you can find the really good quality food because that's the only way they ever get any business. Ramen with extra chicken is fantastic right about now, and comfort eating is a great way to go about moping and feeling sorry for yourself.

But then there's the call from Takashi; she regards her phone for a moment, before texting back her ETA. What? She's good at patterns. She's already had the major and middling streets in Tokyo memorized for a while now. She hurriedly eats all the chicken out of her Ramen, and leaves some noodles floating in the broth with some extra yen tucked under the bowl, as she departs with haste and fires up her motorcycle. The Honda Rebel roars to life and the tires squeel as she spins it around while revving the engine, before popping a wheely and speeding off into the street.

The cat leans forwards on the bike, and guns the engine hard, ignoring traffic rules and, indeed, traffic, as she recklessly lane splits, ignores signage, and doesn't bother stopping for the one cop who tries to pull her over. Seriously, what's he gonna do about it? She passes between a line of stopped cars and just keeps going, he's not catching up.

All this means that her ETA of five minutes is, in the end, shockingly accurate. She's screaming down the road and entering what will soon be a combat zone after four minutes and forty seconds from when she sent her text.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Having been in henshin since waiting for the 'Thing', of which he hasn't been apprised of it's actual description or contents, Koji... also known as Hanzo... is now sitting in the passenger seat with a young man by the name of Kagura. Things would look much weirder if not for the fact that Hanzo's specialties include illusion and disruption.

The night before he got simultaneous texts from Rashmi and Usagi, asking him to meet them at the nurse's office, where he was sat down and told his help was needed to make sure something made it to the school without incident. The sheer weight of trust in this along with the expressions from everyone else was enough for him to not even consider before he said yes.

As the minivan left the bay and got onto the road, it seems to just changed to appear as a beaten up 90s Honda 2-door Honda Accord, one of those kinds of cars you see everywhere, and the driver is now looking like a salaryman, himself a sweater-wearing wife, and the glowing Box That Must Get To School is now looking like a baby complete with a binky in a carseat.

It's the best he can do to make it blend in from the more conventional forces out there from Obsidian from finding it, but it's like driving around with the nuclear battery to a satellite in the car. It's giving off a staggering amount of radiation, and the layering he's trying to do under it to scatter some of that reading may only just diffuse it into the closer-by vehicles.

"Stay close to the delivery trucks. We can hope they just assume it's in one of those and ignore us." He says quietly from his spot as he keeps himself calm and focused on his Magic.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi was about to get ready for bed, when the call came. Which was fortunate, given her living arrangements; it would have been a lot harder to make an excuse to her parents, than it was to tell her magically-aware roommates 'gotta go' right before she flung herself out of a third-story window and henshined in freefall, scooting toward the site as quickly as possible.

Once their target rooftop had been achieved, she solved the problem of suppressing her power by just... dropping henshin, and being a normal teenager on a roof in the middle of the night, holding Nicomachea like a favorite book against her chest.

Nicomachea, at least, has a very good sensor suite, and even with passive sensors he *should* be able to pick up Trouble On The Wing with enough time to get in front of it.

That, at least, is the hope.

Fenyx's humor *does* produce a chuckle, both voiced and mental, from the redhead. << It's not the car you'll want to look for anyway, Fenyx-chan, but the magic. Hanzo-kun's riding passenger, so even if we know *what* car we're looking for, it probably won't be it. >>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Standing atop one of the two massive supports for the bridge that connects the main port area for Tokyo with the main island (oddly enough, called Rainbow Bridge), Sailor Pluto grumps a bit, absently chewing on a SNICKERS bar she brought with her from the Infirmary.

While she can appreciate the extra secrecy that comes with concealing the point of arrival from even the defenders until the very last minute...she's got a solid feeling that the mysterious organizations behind the transfer are far, FAR too hidebound and stuck in the past.

Ever since she was tapped to guard this transfer, she's been fairly certian that it wasn't going to go smoothly.

For one, Destny likes to screw with her too much.

For the other, she's PRETTY certain that too many people along the way have taunted Murphy at points along the way.

From her vantage point, she leans on the Garnet Rod, watching for signs that the balloon has gone up.

After all, she's one of the Outer Guardians. For all that her identifying color is black, Sailor Pluto's skill set does not lend itself well to subtlety...and she knows that if she's actually needed, that will mean something HAS gone wrong.

Sighing, she takes another bite of her candy bar, "...I could go for some ramen right now..."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Sitting next to Pluto is Red, also in henshin -- she thought about dropping it to try and hide her magic signature, but "...if it's this cloak and dagger, what if a sniper spots us? I mean, I guess I'll regenerate anyway but I'll take the hit better like this."

    She looks at the traffic coming across the bridge with her binoculars, having tapped Setsuna to spot her the price of a compact and rugged pair she can use for patrols -- "See? These have turned out to be really useful!" -- and wonders: "So. If there aren't adults who know about magic except you and Inai-sensei... who's driving? How was all this organized? ...I mean, if there's an international team of like, hacker mahou doing secret magical hero shit coordinated through the darknet and stuff, that's hella cool, actually."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    There are two bridge supports and two Outer Guardians on this job. Is that a coincidence? Maybe so. But all the same, standing atop the other support is Sailor Neptune, Guardian of the Deep Sea. And the shallow sea. It's not particularly deep under the bridge.

    She stands there with the wind blowing her sea-green hair and peers toward the Forgotten District where the things should be transpiring. Something feels wrong. She shakes her head and mutters on the wind so that perhaps Pluto can hear her, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    With Catra on the way from her direction of the rear of the vehicle's movement, after a henshin, Riventon heads to intercept from the front. He gets close but can't really tell that he's anything more than 'on the right path' - Koji's done a good job of disguising the signal whenever the cars are out the outside of the Forgotten District. Riventon's not entirely willing to just start blasting the vehicles of innocents driving nearby - though the thought crosses his mind and is dismissed - but he doesn't have to only stop one specific car.

    Instead he pulls from his barrier lab-coat a vile with a sickly-looking purple and green admixture. It's severe enough that even if Koji and others somehow haven't noticed him trying to find the vehicle, once he crushes it in his hand and that energy leaks out, everybody will feel it (and Devices will have some uncomfortable commentary about it) - the energy coiling around Riventon's hand before he shoots forward, getting in front of the section of traffic that Koji's disguised the vehicle with.

    Everything's quiet for a little bit with Riventon's signature going into the distance, before out of nowhere a fuel tanker lands in the road in front of them before scattershots of energy detonate the whole thing into a very dramatic explosion and wall of fire, which naturally scares the hell out of people and makes the cars come to a screeching stop, albeit with enough time to avoid going into the wall of flame and twisted metal.

    <<Catra, the right car is probably going to be whoever is still moving. No mundane is going to be able to get their wits about them in the face of that.>> Takashi tells Catra over the telepathic link afforded to him via his Device.

    In the car, Kagura yells a series of expletives as he slams on the brakes due to the sudden wall of fire. More curses leave his mouth under his breath as he starts to back out and try to turn around, while true to Takashi's assumptions, all of the civilian drivers come to screeching halts and stop - thankfully it's midnight so there's actually not so many vehicles on the road that they slam into each other, but it's close in a few cases.

    "I think they figured it out." Kagura grumbles as he tries to go back the way he came - and the way Catra is coming.

Catra has posed:
Catra isn't holding back on the throttle, and as she gets closer, she holds the handlebars with her left hand only -- her right retrieves the hilt of Powersend and the blade flashes as it manifests, wreathed in purple energy. She holds it angled down so the point drags on the ground, carving a groove into the pavement and sending sparks flying as she races up the roadway.

<< Got it >> she answers Riventon. << It'll be stopped in a moment. >>

Now, then, a car that isn't confused about what's going on... a car that wants to get out of here as fast as possible. A car, like that one that's turning around; a two door Honda accord, all beat up looking. Well, not as beat up as it's gonna be.

As if Catra wasn't going fast enough she accelerates, now dropping the illusry guise and revealing herself in full, with hair and tail streaming out behind her and ears flat against the side of her head. Yellow and turquise eyes fix on the disguised vehicle, and she grins, lifting the sword up with the blade out horizontal.

And then she splits into three; and there are three motorcycles, three Catras with swords, all screaming in at the car.

Two of them pass harmlessly by, but the third, the real Catra, rockets past with the car on her right, and strikes with her sword as she goes, the blade slicing through metal and fibreglass. She angles the sword low to catch both of the vehicle's driver-side wheels, cutting them in half with a loud bang from each tire, and as she sails past the blade ruptures the fuel tank as well.

And then she's gone; she and her illusions all peel off in different directions. But Catra herself slows her bike just enough to make a hard, skidding turn around some of the stopped traffic, lining herself up for another pass.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
<< There's a car... there's another car... oh, there's a van... TANKER! >>

"And that's our cue," Chrono said, before running towards the roof and leaping off it, henshining in mid step. Yup. Offfff course. A moment later there was an explosion, fire and, well. Subtlety. It was... not Obsidian's strong suit. Well, or tact. Kindness. Hugging. Following the law. Following the rules. Patience. Frankly, Obsidian had a lot of flaws.

On the upside, flying over the zone, he could at least see that he hadn't tried to hit traffic, people were--

Aaaand there he was. Chrono was already dropping out of the air at Riventon, a midchilda magical circle appearing around him--

And there was Catra. His eyes went wide when he saw her cut through the vehicle. CRAP!

And his focus wavered, and he twisted, unleashing a blast on Riventon. Not nearly the controlled, warning blast he'd meant. Instead, a big ball of energy angled down straight at him and the ground.

            <<Impact Cannon!>>

<< Rashmi, barrier? >>

Fenyx, meanwhile, had taken to the air and was flying after the car, a small beacon for any of the sparkles who got lost on the way in.

Koji Silvia has posed:
The illusion was great... for regular going-forwards city driving where absolutely nothing was going to go wrong. Nice and low-mana cost to keep things on a relative loop of 2-3 different things people do in the car. Baby sleeping, Baby toddling hands and feet, Baby looking around. Mom leaning on door and looking out window, Mom checking phone, Mom turned back to check on Baby. Dad driving.

And then... the explosion happens, and it takes Koji a half-second before the swearing happens and the Kagura begins backing up immediately, "Wait, I need to..."

But it's too late... because as they back up, Dad is Driving, Mom is Checking her Phone, and Baby is toddling. The absolute wrong look for everyone for a few moments to an observant person before he refocuses the << PHANTOM FIELD. >> around the car to make it look like Dad is Backing Up, Mom is On Phone Worried, and Baby is Fuss-Crying from The Bad Thing.

There's no swearing from the ninja-attired magical boy, because Mahou years are like dog years, and he just says, "Okay, there's plans for this. We use the next side stree-"

And then there was Catra.

All the planning, the seeming professionalism of the adhoc team, the quality that could even make Japan's Counter-Intelligence units go 'Not bad for amateurs'... goes out the window because of a catgirl on a motorbike with a sword.

This is the world we live in.

Immediately, he looks at Kagura and says flatly, "We're leaving. No matter what happens to me, you keep going and the watchers will find you."

Getting out on the other side, Koji saw the illusions and then rolls his shoulder as the illusion vanishes and becomes the now two-wheeled minivan that is leaking some things onto the pavement, and points one hand towards Catra in the middle of her Akira-brake...

    << DISRUPTOR - FLASHBANG. >>

Several feet in front of Catra, the air is suddenly full of light and sound, cacophonous booms and sparkling lights as he throws out sensory chaos to stop the attacker from spotting the monk as he tries to get him to flee.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Only a half-step behind Chrono, Rashmi angles to cover the other side of the street as they streak toward their destination; the column of fire and smoke created by a teleported fuel tanker, and what is it about their life that *this* is why they were here to begin with?

The moment she sees Catra splitting and carving through the tires, she suppresses the urge to repeat half of the words she heard Pluto use that she *knows* she doesn't know, but could guess based on context. Instead, she breaks left as Chrono drops to the ground, identifying known positions and *allied* Devices and setting up a quick communications net.

    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

<< Alert, Alert! Riventon and Catra are on the field! Setting up a Barrier, we *need* to get the package mobile! Caution when engaging Catra; her illusons can't hurt you but she *can* cast her shadow magic through them! >>

    << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

And if Fenyx herself is not beacon enough for those mahou in the distance, the green-black bubble of staticky magic that expands to cover a couple blocks in every direction?

That would probably do it.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Answering Amy's questions is one of the few things that Sailor Pluto can do to pass the time, and as she finishes her candy bar, she looks over at the redhead, "We're not the ONLY ones. There are a FEW who remain aware like the Headmistress...but from what I'm given to understand, there's always some kind of sacrifice involved. Some price to be paid."

She pauses, then shrugs, "...apparently there are enough who can or do for there to be some loose organizations...but they're sadly the kind of thing that tends to be rather slow to accept change...and between you, me, and Neptune over there, I've got the same bad feeling she does that this is going to go south very, very soon."

Because even from the distance between the two spans, Pluto can feel Neptune's apprehension and she turns to look at her fellow Senshi...

...but then subtlety abruptly goes the way of the dodo as SOME bloody idiot detonates a FUEL TRUCK.

At which point she nods to Neptune, then looks over at Amy, "And THERE it is."

She looks around the pylon they're standing on, takes a few steps back...then dashes forward and leaps off the bridge support towards the explosion...because whomever caused THAT is going to be at least one of the parties they're trying to stop.

Seeing the streak of light that is Chrono go playing AC-130 on a target, her attention is grabbed the Koji's flashbangs...and she vectors towards that area.

Downside, since she can't fly, she's still a few seconds out.

Upside? Since she's not using more than passive magic to move and she's arcing through the sky at night, it's far more likely for her approach to still be unnoticed by the current combatants.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "The Headmistress... How is it I've been at this a whole year and never met her? Or is she secret precisely so no one can possibly figure out who she is?"

    Slow to accept change? "What, like FATE clocktower bullshit? That part of manga is real too? ...Grea--"

    Suddenly, tanker. *BOOM*

    A couple of seconds later, one of Catra's illusions is zooming around and then also *BOOM*

    "Tch." The camera cuts back to Amy, frowning through the sight of the giant recoilless cannon she's holding. "An illusion?" Unless Catra made it react convincingly, anyway.

    While Pluto sneaks, the sound of Amy firing probably has someone looking UP, and if they weren't yet... she dismisses her cannon and doffs her cloak, letting it blow away dramatically (and disappear into sparkles once out of frame) as she turns on thrusters and flies towards the scene. It is not subtle!

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    There's a little bit of calm silence between when Riventon crushes the vial and when the tanker truck explodes. But at times like these, every second counts, and a little bit of time makes all the difference.

    Neptune isn't standing there when Pluto turns to her. She's not standing there because as soon as she feels that pulse of dark energy she takes a running leap of her own. Every second matters. She doesn't know what's coming, but she can feel it hurtling toward them, and she means to intercept.

    So, she's in the air, hurtling toward the site, when the truck explodes. Suddenly she finds herself hurtling toward a wall of fire.

    That's not traumatically familiar at all.

    Coming in at near terminal velocity, she starts to gather up blue energy and seawater between her hands. She has to cross the fire to get to the car, and her attack will burrow a tunnel through the flames. At least that's her hope.

    "Deep Submerge!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon's not at all surprised to see Chrono here - in fact, he's somewhat looking forward to it. What he's not looking forward to are the after effects of what he just saturated his Device in, but at least he didn't drink it this time. That was a one-time test. But it didn't mean the residue from Obsidian's Core Reactor wasn't useful. As evidenced by the fact that Riventon's usual Belkan Tri-Shield is glowing bright with its sigils, dripping the ink-like oily liquid Dark Energy that's characteristic of Riventon. Even still, Chrono's attack is no slouch, and Riventon less 'blocks it entirely' and more 'shields it for long enough for him to be able to sidestep the rest of it as it makes a giant crater'. The combination of the giant attack and the brilliantt energy shield, along with the flashbang going off in the distance, means all subtlety for Riventon is out the window, and probably Catra too.

    He's a little bit more able to hold his emotions together than the last time he tried this, but even still his frustrated anger rings clear in his voice. "Can't you go bother someone your own size?" he yells at Chrono. A series of spheres erupts into being around him, dropping with condensed Dark Energy.

    <<ALPTRAUM AUSBRUCH.>> Riventon's device calls as the orbs fly off towards Chrono. Rather than trying to slam into him though, they try to orbit the Enforcer and fire little blasts of Dark Energy of their own at him from all angles, each shot shrinking the orbs a bit.

    Riventon rushes forward after launching the orbs, rolling in midair to turn and blast a less collected more haphazard burst of what is more like a high pressure firehose blast of liquid energy towards Amy. "Go away, Red Puella, your soul gem's shine isn't worth wasting in this fight!" he calls, as a sphere of liquid water has basically no trouble cutting through the fire and, frankly, dousing it all after Neptune gets her dramatic moment walking through the tunnel.

    The boy who was in the car with Koji hefts the clearly not-light chest up and tries to run off with it, away from Riventon and Catra. The object he's carrying and the boy seem to have zero problems moving in the Time Space Barrier as it rises to cover its zone - both of them are clearly as at home here as any of the other magicals.

    "You're gonna get hurt, getting in my way like this." Riventon says, as though he's never had to limp off from a battle before or anything. "These are your warning shots." he says, his tone turning darker as the liquid permeates deeper into his device. "Stand down or you're going to get hurt.

Catra has posed:
Catra gave up on subtlety the moment she sliced a van to pieces with a sword, and left it an undriveable ruin. She's just wheeling around, when Koji's burst of light and noise goes off on front of her.

Luckily, this is not the first time she's encountered this kind of attack. Glimmer already did it to her -- the day before yesterday, as it happens, so she's a bit better prepared than she might have been. For a moment she's riding the bike with no hands on the wheel, as she's holding Powersend with one hand and shielding her eyes with the other. "...The HELL?!" she snarls, grabbing the handlebars again, and finding that even so, her vision is just overloaded; the whine in her hearing clears up fairly rapidly, but the spots and static in her vision are just not going away quite as fast as she'd like.

That's fine. Her hearing is damn good.

Catra's illusions winked out when she was flashbanged, but she brings them back as she wheels the bike around anyway, in spite of hte fact that she can't really see where she's going. She's doing it all on memory and hearing, as she bears back down on Koji, the van, and the kid carrying the box. Her doubles flank her, neither of them holding the handlebars (it's not like illusions need to steer phantom bikes) as they summon orbs of angry looking shadow energy and focus them into beams, slashing the space in front of the rapidly accelerating Catra; Catra, who's sword is out at her side, taking on a halo of shadow energy of its own as the motorcycle engine whines, and she takes a swipe at Koji in passing; and then skids to a halt, letting her doubles pursue the prize, while she adopts a classic samurai stance against Koji, with her blade held up horitontally at eye level.

"Nice trick," she growls. "Got anything else? You better, or you're about to be in hospital."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had expected the orbs to fly at him... instead, they started firing little small blasts at him. NOT EXPECTED OW OW OW OW!

He had to leap back, forming a barrier from left hand, catching the blasts and holding them off as best he could. Damn. He was getting smarter. More importantly, he was getting more focused on the goal.

Chrono had to pause for a moment and take a slow, deep breath. In. Then out.

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

Blue swords appeared around him, spinning once and then flying at Riventon's back. However, that was only half his target. His main goal? Layering delayed binds behind the fleeing boy, attempting to slow down any pursuers!

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Lacuna had been just bumming around, enjoying the late-night hours on - what else - a hunt for youma. But then, there had been an explosion of all things, the streets lit with flame and noise, the screams of civilians.

Way more exciting than run of the mill youma.

So the black-haired, black-dress-wearing magical girl enters the fray from the streets, bounding across buildings and then atop cars, leaving dents that will be hell to explain to insurance companies in her single-minded pursuit.

When the barrier goes up, the world turning sepia, she knows she's on the right path, face split with a wide grin.

When she sees the three triplet catgirls on motorcycles, she laughs out loud and picks up the pace, hop, skip, jump - "God, the bad future is a riot!"

This, as she lands between Catra and Hanzo, darkness flowing like liquid around both hands, resolving into a pitch-dark scythe, winking lights drowning in the darkness, making the shape more visible.

"Hey, why pick fights with punks when you could dance with me?"

And then she swings first, striking out with a blade that won't just cut, but devour if it manages to connect, parting flesh, draining blood, taking a bite out of steel.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
With Chrono occupying Riventon's attention, Sailors Pluto and Neptune on the scene, And Red rocketing on in, Rashmi breaks away to scoot after the fleeing boy. << Neptune-chan, Pluto-chan, if you could get Catra off Koji-kun's back that would be *awesome.* Red-chan I would *adore* it if you'd shoot anything headed after the guy I'm following, thanks! >>

And with that, she peels off of the fight, straining to catch up with the package's transporter, following the general direction of Chrono's Binds, and tasking Nicomachea to keep an eye out behind her, in case anyone or their attacks break the ne--

...Who was that that just landed?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is so focused on the Catras she doesn't see Riventon until she's splashed with Dark Energy. "Gyagh!" She spins a bit from the impact, a gyrojet-SMG suddenly in her hands and a spray of rocket-bullets fired back wildly in Riventon's direction.

    "Oh, it's you. She aims down the iron sights to fire a couple of more accurate bursts. "It's important enough for all this secrecy. It's important enough for my friends. And it's important enough for you. That seems like pretty good evidence it's important enough for me."

Koji Silvia has posed:
When that sword comes right at him, Koji does the classic movie move that really only works because this is what it is... and he bends backwards Matrix-style under the shadow-bearing slashing, almost getting his nose slashes or burned by all of that as Catra goes screaming by him at that speed. Hands go back and catch him into a round-off flip so he can twist in the air and get out of the way of those twin shadow-beams before they strike him, and finally land with two feet and one hand, looking up at Catra as she squeals to a halt.

From this position he can see Kagura, and that either Catra can turn to go after him and get attacked or has to face him... so he immediately goes on the offensive.

Where you'd be expecting some speech on love and justice, or some pleading that she still has a chance to come back to the light and blah blah blah... Catra gets two words as the kunai slides into Koji's left hand and seems to be longer than usual and gleaming sharp.

    "Bring it."

...AND THEN THERE WAS LACUNA...

Just landing right between the pair and swinging...

Since her target is Catra, he growls under his breath but it covers his telepathy.

    << Rashmi, Enforcer. Package is down the alley 20 meters from where I'm looking. He needs cover and we need an escape route. >>

Not one to give up snark, he then angles one leg back and says, "In this line of work, you learn never go get in the way of girl on girl action. Later!"

    << BOOSTER SHIELD. DOUBLE. >>

The first shield appears and then pops right under him, shooting him up a good 5 meters into the air, right into a second one pointed towards Kaguya. He taps it with a foot and goes shooting off like one of Amy's magical rifle rounds to where his job is.

Protect the Package.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
There are sometimes advantages to arriving last to a fight.

If timed well, it lets one better evaluate where to position oneself for maximum effect.

And in this case, that point is just in between the running boy and the oncoming Catra duplicates.

As she lands, Sailor Pluto calls out:

                <<GARNET BALL!>>

...and as she strikes the ground with the butt end of the Garnet Rod, a large spherical dome of energy erupts in front of her as she tries to give said copies nowhere to go except smack into unyielding force field.

As Page Mage zips by, she channels back, << Looks like Red got diverted into dealing with Rivvy...and we have someone else who just decided to throw down with Catra.>>

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    The water burst through the wall of flame and Neptune came hurtling thru it, skidding to a halt in her high heels. As the rest of the flames were doused, she quickly surveyed the scene. She'd been so focused on surviving her arrival, she didn't know what was going on.

    But she's not alone. Rashmi knows what's going on, and any direction is better than just standing there. There's a quick nod and she starts to dash off toward Hanzo and Catra...

    ...arriving just in time to see Lacuna interject herself into that fray.

    There's too many chefs in this kitchen, she decides. Giving a quick look to Pluto, she thinks, <<I'm going to go help Red>>.

    Of course, she has to get there first. It's okay. Sometimes fights are like that. Just running around.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon just snarls generally, they never do just back off do they? Why won't they just stop getting in his way. He's got to stop running since it's one thing to put up a shield to protect from Amy's little rockets OR a shield to cover himself from Chrono's stingers; but he's not able to keep energy flowing into both shields and running forward, it's too much focus, too much as he expends a little energy on every little blast and cut.

    "Why won't you... just... go... away!" Riventon shouts, getting progressively more infuriated with each word, before his shields glimmer with a bright darkness and he slips the pressure - only to slam into Chrono's pre-set binds. They hold him for just a moment before his standard response to those activates, the shimmering energy of the Busterkloak starts to shred them. He's been dealing with Chrono too much for quick-set binds to hold him forever, but they do prevent him from getting closer to the prize. And this just annoys him more.

    "FINE!" Riventon roars. "Insects need to be swatted out of the air!"

    <PEITSCHENKABEL FORM> calls his device as strands of black energy erupt from his fingers and intertwine into a whip like cable that he swings through the air at Amy - maybe he'll hit her, maybe he'll even throw her into Chrono. "I'll just have to put you ALL ON THE GROUND WHERE YOU BELONG." His eyes are flaring with a deep red energy now, and he's going slightly less rational. He knows Chrono just wants to keep him from catching up to the item he's come here to take. But he also knows something else.

    Kaguya's making pretty good time for how heavy the box is - that is until a figure comes tearing out of the alleyway he passes, a strange looking figure with lupine ears and a rather outrageous somewhat questionable wardrobe including a coat, a buttcape, and shorts - slamming her fist into him from the side and sending him staggering - though to his credit he gets up and glares at her before he keeps moving. "Fate's sleeping but I'm just fine hunting in the night, Riventon!" the Familiar calls out to Riventon. "I got it! I love playing FETCH." she says. Koji gets there in time to prevent the girl from chasing directly after Kaguya after the impact, prompting her to remark "You wanna get bit?" she asks smiling with a very fangy smile.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It was, of course, too much to hope that the boy would get away clean with the package. And with Hanzo breaking off of the fight with Catra to pursue the boy as well, Rashmi manages at least to not *panic* when Arf steps out of the shadows to suckerpunch Kaguya.

She does, however, have a terrible plan.

After some quick vector calculations... Rashmi's wings shatter into nothingness, and she starts to plummet nearly a hundred feet to the ground... aimed right at Arf.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- RED SHIFT >>

Just under Rashmi's feet, a fuzzy, barely-contained golden shield spreads out. The kind of shield tuned so almost none of its energy was allocated to structural integrity.

The kind of shield that would collapse at the merest impact.

The kind of shield that was nothing more than a coiled spring of incredible kinetic energy, held in reserve.

And Rashmi is plummeting feet-first at Arf's shoulders.

Whether she connects with Familiar or ground, there is going to be a *lot* of force traveling downward, and considerable recoil pushing Rashmi back into the air.

More than enough time to re-engage her Flier Fin, and become the new target of Arf's ire.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The problem with getting caught in Chrono's binds isn't the delay -- it's that it gives Amy a clear target.

    The moment she sees that, Amy summons the artillery piece again -- the metal tube is almost 3.5m long and the muzzle is easily 10cm wide, it looks like it must weigh four times what she does, but stabilization thrusters only need to steady it for a split second so she can fire it -- BOOM! -- and dismiss it again, leaving just the echoing sound of its firing and the cloud of smoke that just appeared out the back.

    Given that Amy has seen youma take multiple anti-tank charges and barely slow down, she assumes that Riventon's magical defenses can handle it.

    Still, the delay of firing gets tendrils of darkness hurling her -- but the big heavy weapon is already gone, and the thrusters on her arms, feet, legs, back and skirt stabilize her before she reaches Chrono.

    That's why she considers this her 'super mode' -- all the maneuverability of flight, not slowed by heavy weapons because she summons, fires, and dismisses. "I call this form 'Unchained', whaddaya think? You'll have to get out your own mid-season upgrades to stop me!"

    Okay, that's rather silly banter, but if she has Riventon focused on her he's not getting the box, is he?

Catra has posed:
"Do you even know how to dance?"

Catra watches as Koji gets ready to fight her... and then concedes the field to a goth girl with a scythe. She just barely parries in time, and her biceps strain as she holds off the scythe, getting forced back a step for her trouble. Her vision is still fighting the effects of the flashbang, but it's clearing up, and she gives a quick shake of her head. "Black dress, scythe... do you write bad poetry and cry on your pillow until you fall asleep?" Her yellow and turquoise eyes narrow, as she adopts Jodan-no-Kamae stance, with her sword held up over her head. Her doubles appear beside her, firing twin beams of black shadow up at her sword, wreathing it with energy.

"You sure you want to do this, girl?" She dashes forwards and cuts downwards with a fierce arc; but it's a feint, as she brings the blade around, aiming for a cut across the abdomen as she dashes past. In passing she ducks and skids on her knees, turning it into a roll as she comes back up on the other side of Lacuna, facing off against her once more from behind and adopting Kasumi-no-Kamae stance, with the sword held up in the air above her head once more, this time in line with her shoulders.

"Show me what you're made of," she snarls.

Meanwhile, her doubles... get back on their illusory motorcyles, and both peel off, going down either side of Catra and Lacuna. They peel off straight down the alleyway where Koji and the kid with the box are heading. Their phantom engines whine as they rush off, both doubles summoning shadowy versions of Powersend, and both of them aiming strikes at the backs of the fleeing targetes as they catch up.

Koji Silvia has posed:
For about three heartbeats, it looks like Koji is going to have to thrown down again and put the inevitable montage insert of his mother's overly harsh training regimen to use. He's even set in a fighting stance, kunai forward in a backhand grip as he says, "No seriously, I know Obsidian is staffed with elementary school girls, but do you really have to let them pick out your clothes too?"

But at that point the golden shield appears, and as golden motes of the Super Wario versions of his hex-shields appear, he adds softly, "Sorry, but your curbstomp is in another mahou."

And again, he just turns and RUNS!

    << SPEED BOOST. >>

    << PHANTOM SHIFT. >>

He's quickly caught up to Kaguya, and then there's a blur, just the young man, and then they split again into TWO Kaguya with TWO Escort packages, running side by side!

What was a catch is now 50/50!

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Sometimes spending a whole round running around the battlefield is a waste. But sometimes it lets a soldier find an attack of opportunity. Neptune was hoping this was the latter.

    Chrono and Red are both fighting Riventon. They're both heavy hitters. He surely has to give them most of his attention. Neptune runs, crossing the battlefield, flanking the villain, and trying her best to stay out of his peripheral vision. She doesn't need to be super close for her water to reach him. She just needs to be in position.

    The Deep Aqua mirror spins out into her hand from behind her back when she reaches her spot. She brings it up, spinning it along its long axis so that the mirror points out, and she calls out her attack--although not too loudly.

    "Submarine Reflection!"

    A torrent of seawater shoots out of her mirror in a focused blast at Riventon from her flanking position. Hopefully he's too focused on the others to dodge it.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was... not always the nicest person. As when Amy was thrown at him, he didn't even *try* to catch her. He was already dashing and leaping up into the air.

It was fine, though, she wouldn't have reached him anyway. So it was... the ummm... lack of thought that counted? Probably. Something like that.

The important thing was that Amy had herself ready and Chrono was more than willing to assist her as necessary.

He held his staff aloft before...

            <<Blaze Burster!>>

Little small pellets of red magic scattering across the field and, more importantly, around Riventon... before they exploded in a chain reaction.

But the goal wasn't actually to hit him. It was to drive him along a path, to set him up so Amy's missiles would get more locks on him. Because, for once, the area he was directing Riventon towards was NOT filled with his binds...

Instead, he'd send a quick message to Amy, directing her to where he was trying to direct Riventon.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"Pft, you've got to do better than that," Lacuna laughs again, and her smile is wide and wild, her eyes focused on Catra in much the way she herself probably looks at yummy little mice. "But since we're dishing out stereotypes, considering all that fur, you're a dumb orange cat, yeah? Guess I shouldn't expect too much from you!"

And as Catra darts forward with that fierce arc, Lacuna's scythe comes apart in her hands, flowing back into flowing black waves - when the energy-wreathed blade strikes, some of that energy is consumed, though it's enough to keep the blade itself from being devoured by the void Lacuna so readily wields.

She spins with her opponent, and throws her arms up and out - and darkness sprays like liquid in an arc that flows inevitably downward - devouring the street and the barrier-copies of cars around them, empty holes appearing wherever the darkness splatters. The road beneath them groans as it's structural integrity is threatened, cracks spreading along the path Catra's doubles are driving. They might have enough speed to manage, or maybe their tires will get caught up.

"Let's throw down before I regret going after you instead of that loud mouth Device Mage!"

And strikes out at Catra with a flurry of blows, her void-born blades seeking to tear away chunks of catgirl and blade alike.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto very much wants to help the new girl against Catra...but seeing Catra physically interact with Lacuna means that that's the REAL one.

Which, often, isn't as important as it could be, as the images are deadly in their own right.
fBut the main thing is...the doubles aren't REAL...and thus, Pluto doesn't have to worry about killing them.

So while the two of them zip back by and around to zero in on the target once more, Sailor Pluto hops up onto a stopped delivery truck and whispers:

            <<...dead scream.>>

Whereupon she spins in place, leveling the Garnet Rod and, leading the target properly, lets fly at one of the clones with a ringed ball of Death energy.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Arf's licking her lips at Hanzo, but her eyes go wide as she catches sight, hearing, or other sense of incoming Rashmi - she gets her own green Round Shield up in time to not be stomped flat, but the impact force of Rashmi's attack still crumbles her down to one knee and pushes her back, her shoes digging into the concrete with a metallic crunching, though she doesn't collapse totally. She does, however, turn her attention to Rashmi. "You're the Enforcer's familiar, right?" she asks, grinning. Her tail is still before she suddenly launches herself, mostly without magic, just with the same feral strength Catra has, into the air to go after Rashmi, rather like a dog who drops one ball for the one that just went by. She's not using magic, but claws and teeth and anger.

    Riventon is mostly herded extremely well by Chrono's Blaze Burster field - "This isn't some TV show, girl." Riventon shouts, though he actually needs to bring up both hands and grit his teeth in a visible display of focus as the giant rocket that thuds into it and explodes. The smoke obscures things but Riventon's voice - along with showing the exertion in how he's talking - proves he's not down. "There's no seasons, just an inevitable march towards the only plausible result. The more you delay, the more pain and trouble you cause people. Yourselves and others. You're going to damn the world in thinking you're going to save it with your ridiculous high-and-mighty attitudes and pretending like this situation is a game, and you're the main characters."

    "The only one who can save this world from what is coming is me, bec-AWWWWRRRGBLE-" Riventon's monologue that was partly reinforcing his shields is cut off by a blast of magical salt-seawater to the face that he was entirely unprepared for. Not only does it douse him and shut him up (momentarily) it causes him to lose his footing and fly into some of Chrono's field, his energy expended covering against Amy's attack.

    Riventon is nothing if not persistant though, and even though there are marks and burns along his labcoat armor, and some scrapes that are bleeding, he stops his movement from the explosions by digging his hands - both gauntleted and gloved - into the ground. He's wet and injured as he comes up, but still smirking. "Bad news for you is, even though you pests never stop coming... I never stop getting better... I've got more than allies - I have quite excellent sparring partners. Axion?"

    <<Blitz Action.>>And Riventon's there and he's just suddenly gone - he's moving for just a moment faster than the eye can track. He ends up in front of Kaguya, all the way down the way.

    He looks like he's seen the business end of a lawnmower and a super soaker, but he's there, his hand outstretched as Dark Energy collects in it.

    But it's slow, and soft, and weak, he's been mostly exhausted by the group's attacks. But he's now here, with his eyes on the prize, and the boy seems to give up and lob the lockbox at Riventon's head in desperation.

    Riventon catches it and staggers back, only to look down at it and discover he is not, in fact, holding the lockbox he's been chasing, the magical item he's expended all of his energy for - he is instead holding a log.

    The enraged sound of pure frustration he lets out is something that's hard to quantify.

Koji Silvia has posed:
    << SPEED BOOST. >>

Pushing some of his reserves to evade the incoming cycle-llusions being attacked by others, but using brief flashes of his magic strategically to keep him in the fight, Koji sees Kaguya toss the decoy at Riventon, and using that quick shot of Magic, the second Kaguya blows right past Riventon as he says...

    "See ya."

Instead of going up and onto the rooftops of the warehouses where he could be picked off by an angry Catra or Arf, the ninja-mage uses his brief seconds of enhanced movement to run up to a corner of a warehouse in a small four-way alley just past where Riventon had landed, and with a leap he kicks up and off, curls, straightens... and goes THROUGH an open window into a giant black space... where there's plenty of exits to be found, or made, and lots of places to hide... but mostly, it gets him out of everyone's eyeline and doing Godoka-knows-what with his illusion magic!

What's worse?

Somewhere, somehow, should Rivs look down, he'll see those same words carved quickly into his current 'prize'.

'See Ya!'

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy sighs as Riventon lectures that it's not a game. She fires a spray of rocket-bullets into the cloud of explosion. "I know but every time I tell myself that, life gets more like a manga. I'm stuck in it and I gotta laugh at it because what else am I gonna do, go insane?"

    She continues as she tries to find him, "I mean, we're fighting over some magic box thing which I guess implies there's weird magical organizations out there now?! At least I know I'm not the main character, or this'd be even weirder. And it's not a story, 'cuz then I'd be the one who dies halfway through for romanticizing magical girls."

    The next time she spots Takashi, he looks like hell and is gathering energy. Amy lands on solid ground and takes aim-- wait, shit, he's got the box!

    Oh wait, no he doesn't, that's a log.

    The artillery piece comes out again.

    *BOOM!* "Found you!"

Catra has posed:
The thing about illusory bikes is... it doesn't really matter over much what's under the tires. Lacuna's attacks cracking up the pavement don't actually do over much to slow them down -- but Pluto's Dead Scream does, and one of the feline's doubles just kind of gets burned out of existence, like something from a bad science fiction film. The other one, naturally, just keeps going, with a shadow sword in hand as it continues to harry Koji and try to get at the kid with a sword.

Catra herself, the real one, is locked in a battle with Lacuna; the two have traded blows, and now Catra is under assault from a flurry of strikes with the void scythe. This is her moment to prove how fast she is; and she *is* fast. Powersend is worked hard, and the sound of ringing steel against steel rattles off in rapid succession.

Catra is forced back a few steps, but at the last strike she bounces back further of her own volition, and shifts her sword to hold it down at her side, with the blade angling up behind her back towards the opposite shoulder.

"Alright, not bad," she muses. "You're pretty fast. ...For a human." She sets her feet, and swings her sword down, touching the point to the ground by her left foot, then draws a semi-circle with it in front of her. Her stance shifts, and she looks over her left shoulder at Lacuna, grinning; grinning, as her double -- the one Pluto just murdered -- reappers, popping up behind Lacuna. It doesn't have a sword, this time; and sure, it can't do any physical damage of its own. But it summons a ball of shadowy blackness, which splits into ten little pieces; each of which goes to one of the double's claws. As Catra stands back from Lacuna waiting, her double leaps into the fray, charging straight for Lacuna's back and slashing wildly at anything it can connect withm.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown smiled slightly when he watched Riventon get, well... a very personal reminder of why the people on this world were, in fact... ridiculous.

Only for him to display that he could be almost as ridiculous. His breath stopped for a moment when he saw Riventon just... vanish. A short range speed boost, damn it! He started after him, but it was too late. He saw Riventon get the case and--

... And it turned into a log. He couldn't help it. He snickered, very, very lightly. "I'd like to congratulate you, Riventon! Changing from eating the weird, dangerous poisons to just dousing yourself in them seems to be far more effective for you! Perhaps next time you could just... not?" he offered.

And then he'd lay down just one bind. It wouldn't hold him, not for long. But, well... He was hoping there'd be more than a few attacks already coming his way and those few extra seconds might help. He really needed to stop interfering in important TSAB affairs. And since Setsuna was involved, he considered it that.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Arf's sudden charge is enough to have Rashmi backpedaling in the air, shields raised and replaced as the Familiar's attacks rend through their structural integrity. Her eyes are wide, and there's no little fear radiating off her, because who *can* keep up their composure when their assailant is so relentless?

But she's felt fear before. She's felt *terror* before, and if nothing else, those worst days of her life are not *now,* and the fear can be thought through.

<< Nico-kun, Barrets. Eight. Ready Barrage, Glace Shift, shield collapse in 3... 2... 1... NOW! >>

As Arf comes in with a looping overhead, Rashmi's shield *shatters* outward, all its remaining force converted -- less efficiently -- into kinetic force. But it's not an attack, Rashmi just needs to throw her off-balance enough to get breathing room.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE >>

Eight golden Barrets wink into existence in a circle around her.

    << GLACE SHIFT >>

With a screeching *CRACK,* the energy balls become chunks of ice, then *launch* at Arf, fired and resummoned and fired again.

In truth it's not a patch on some of the alpha-strike spells Fate is capable of, but binding ice *sticks* when it hits, hampering Arf's movements, fouling her range of motion.

Weighing her down.

In midair.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"So are you! I hardly ever get to fight people instead of monsters, but you're making me work for it. It's great to get a warm up in before I go join in on the main event."

Lacuna is genuinely pleased with how the fight is going - a real scythe would be a hell of a weapon to bring up against a sword, but hers is more construct than anything, her darkness gathered into a more-or-less solid form, and it's size shifts and adjusts to match her whims, her needs, which means she and Catra are able to stay matched with their weapons.

But then Catra puts space between them and Lacuna hangs back, battle sense warning her this isn't over, scythe sluicing into liquid form around her hands, flowing up to her forearms.

It's that smug grin that warns Lacuna in time to twist and lunge, void opening like the mouth of a venus fly trap before closing on the prey. For a second, the copy's lower legs are all that remains of her, before she likely vanishes.

And Lacuna's momentum carries her forward, and she flips neatly, darkness spattering the ground, opening a chasm not nearly wide enough to stop Catra if she decides to take advantage of the inherent vulnerability in a flip.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto sees the artillery piece come out again aimed at the Riventon who has gone briefly still and forgotten the Fighter Pilot's Maxim of 'Speed is Life'

Yeah, getting in the way of that is generally a BAD idea.

HOWEVER, the look in that direction DOES let her spot Page Mage weighing down another combatant...and Pluto decides to try something a bit...less conventional.

Crouching slightly to gather herself, she kicks off of the truck she'd been standing on to cross the distance between herself and Arf, landing a good two meters away from the familiar and solidly planting her foot...then spinning around as fast as she can while letting her grip slip to the very bottomost end of the Garnet Rod...and aiming to plant as much rotational force with the ring end of the nigh-indestructible two=meter Rod right in the small of the familiar's back as her Senshi-enhanced muscles will allow.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    SCORE! Neptune cannot help but smile as the powerful blast of salty seawater blasts Riventon right in the face. Even better, she cut him off from monologuing. His voice was so grating. And to think that boy threatened her once. That'll show him. Sailor Waterboard remembers.

    It's just too bad it didn't shut him up for long. She's about to shoot him again, but then he's gone. She blinks. Well, so much for that target. She turns around to survey the battlefield.

    Catra and the new girl are fighting, and it's down to just the two of them.

    Pluto and Page Mage are taking on a combatant she hadn't even noticed.

    And then she hears Riventon scream and she smiles because she knows that sound. That's the sound of the bitter disappointment of a plan gone perfectly wrong. And he threatened her.

    Red launches the heavy artillery and Neptune knows it's done. Everyone's handled. She would just get in the way of her allies. She did what she came for. She casually walks toward Pluto and Page Mage, she'll help them if they still need it when she gets there.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon's anger flares up and despite his otherwise exhausted situation, it's enough for him to grip the log in his hands hard enough for it to split before the whole thing is immolated by Dark Energy and ceases to exist.

    He probably wanted that energy for what's happening next. Because this time, he raises his hand as Amy's rocket soars in and the familiar triangular Belkan shield comes forth - before flickering out before Amy's rocket hits. There's just enough time for a one frame shot of Riventon's eyes growing wider prior to the impact.

    Above, Arf's claws and teeth do a number on Rashmi's shields; turns out when you're made out of magic that applies to your melee hits. But Rashmi's barrier shatter gives her the distance she needs to dump the Glace Shifted barrage onto the Familiar and the extra weight of the ice absolutely throws the familiar off balance.

    She's still moving though, snarling and angry and mad but not going forward and then moving downward - as Riventon flies by trailing smoke from the explosion - before letting out a very cannine-like pain-yelp as Setsuna slams the rod into the Familliar's back. and changes her momentum from 'down' to 'away'. Arf and Riventon hit the ground in seperate places but both of them are clearly equally done with today.

    "Well, it only took like twelve of you!" Riventon says bitterly as he stands up. There are not twelve of them. "Hope whatever's in there blows up in your deserving faces. We're out, Catra." Riventon calls. He doesn't need to call to Arf as the Familiar has already opened up a teleport spell and is gone before Riventon even finishes. And Riventon backsteps into the Dusk Zone before anyone can correct his counting.

Catra has posed:
Catra has one remaining double, and it seems clear that it's not going to accomplish much of anything in stopping the box from getting away. But, it can still be useful; Arf needs to escape, afterall. Catra gives a quick glance over her shoulder while Lacuna is busy destroying her other double; and the one down the alley shifts targets, skidding the illusory bike to a halt and summoning shadow energy into itself, which it fires in a direct beam, straight up at Rashmi.

The real Catra, meanwhile, sees her opening. Sure, Riventon told her that they're out. But Lacuna is right here.

And her bike is over there.

Catra shifts her stance, and as she rushes forwards her double in the alley winks out; she resummons them both as she rushes forwards, all three Catras holding a Powersend; together they all leap over the chasm, and aim three seperate strikes at the flipping Lacuna, three blades slashing in swift, controlled arcs, in spite of the feline's feet having left the ground.

When she lands, her two doubles turn to face Lacuna, both of them dropping their false Powersends in favor of summoning dark, shadowy energy swords. The real Catra, meanwihle, is making a run for her bike; grabbing it and righting it like it were a toy and not a four hundred pould motorcycle, as she straddles it and revs the engine.

<< Got it, leaving, >> she answers Riventon.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That wasn't a rocket! It was just an explosive shell. Half of Amy's weapons are basically cannons that are open in the back so there's no recoil.

    Not that that's any comfort to Riventon. Amy's eyes widen when she sees that shield fail. "Shit, are you okay?!"

    Well, he's okay enough to grumpily snark at them, so she's relieved.

    The red-headed Puella Magi dismisses her weapon and leaves Unchained form and walks over to Kaguya. "This better have been worth it. He had a point: I don't suppose we're going to get to find out what I burned away a bit of my soul for?" She grins, but it's close to a grimace.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Well *that* was a jumble of panic-shielding, rapid-fire magic use, and all around terror, *especially* now that she remembers Arf from when she blasted Fate into a tree. So for the moment she just... hangs in the air, catching her breath, canister at her back glowing bright and ready to dump its energy into the next thing that tries to tear her face off. "Thaaaaaanks Pluto-cha--"

*ZORCH*

The beam of shadow energy carves a line right up her Barrier jacket, burning armor and fabric away down to her bodysuit in a ragged, char-edged diagonal line from hip to shoulder.

The force of the impact sends her spinning up, back, and to one side as she struggles to right herself in the air.

Finally she manages it though, staring wildly left and right and up and down, and only *then* orienting on the rumble of Catra's motorcycle, receding into the distance.

...

"...*Rude.*"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
The copy is destroyed. The real deal makes more copies, though, and Lacuna takes the blow with grace, landing on her feet despite the cuts that open across her back and sides. She's grinning despite the pain, and when she sees Catra booking it, she pouts a little.

"Aw, should have known you were just a scaredy-cat! Go on then, run away!"

She is decisively annoyed - maybe that's why she hurls darkness like a spear, aimed directly for the motorcycle's engine, ready to eat through it like the worlds most effective acid. If it connects, great! If it doesn't? Not like it cost her anything.

Either way, she leaps towards the rest of the fighters, hopping over cars until she's within sight of the group.

"What, it's over already? Boring."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown watched Riventon get, well... more than a little... assaulted. The package was free and, as they were leaving, he saw no need to try and continue a fight that was so clearly over. He then looked over and--

<< Rashmi, are you okay? >>

"Congratulations everyone, it looks like another mission success. Everyone feeling okay?" he called out.

Fenyx, meanwhile... was likely trailing a bit behind Koji and the officer. Quiet bird, all it had to do was follow along and not get distracted trying to steal someone's fries if she saw someone with fries. Like the world's most trans-pride pigeon.

Koji Silvia has posed:
While the dust is settling, there is still a job to do, whether or not the original carrier of The Thingy In The Box is there or not...

Slipping out a window on the far side of the warehouse, Koji lands on his feet and begins walking towards one of the more populated streets close to the school... and just before he clears the Barrier, his illusion magics shift him into the form of Young Salaryman #47 and his inherited-from-his-father briefcase. Just another face in the crowd walking through the night towards the School gates and the goal.

Under his stealth, he's swearing, pouring everything else he has for the last jaunt into masking the magical aura under a disruptive shell of 'normality', trying to defuse it into the crowd once more, spreading the specialness enough to cover that any of them could be carrying it, in case of one of those last-minute from-the-shadows attackers that can happen.

    << Thanks for the save. >>

Sending to Rashmi and Rashmi only, at the moment..

    << On foot and in the crowd. Everything I have left is going into trying to hide this Thing. There's a box almost like it just inside the door of Warehouse #25 on the left of where you are, if you still need a decoy. >>

The telepathic message is grainy and almost interrupted, and then abruptly, a sign of how much focus he's trying to put into such a small thing.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << Got it, >> comes the reply to Koji's message. << You're eating for free tomorrow, just so you know. >>

"I'm fiiiiiine," she calls out, hitching on the last word. "...Ow. *Mostly* fine! And I think we're gonna be okay, but someone wants to check with the school to make sure!"

One doesn't 'limp' when one is descending to the ground, but Rashmi manages to echo the vibe of limping quite impressively. Once centimeters from the ground, she throws her arms around Pluto. "Seriously, *thank you* for that save."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Sailor Pluto's hit sends Arf flying, the Outer Senshi takes a moment to properly follow through with that kind of attack.

Namely, she follows through her swing like a baseball player, then shifts so she's standing and looking off in the distance with one hand covering her brow in that classic 'Looking Over Yonder' pose.

She relaxes...right until Page Mage gets smacked by Catra's spite attack, which causes her tense as if about to leap back into things...right up until Nicomachea's Master stands up and basically dismisses the attack as inconsequential.

Pluto scowls and looks at the departing Catra, "...I am rapidly learing to greatly dislike that young woman."

A great sigh is heaved, then the tallest Senshi cracks her neck a little before catching an armful of hugging Page Mage.

She returns the hug with a spin before setting her down and going on, "...I vote we collect our wayward delivery ninja after he's finished with the job and then go somewhere and get food."