2113/Santa Baby, Don't You Think You Should Run Away

Santa Baby, Don't You Think You Should Run Away
Date of Scene:	27 November 2024
Location:	Yoyogi Park, Shibuya
Synopsis:	A wonderful day at the Tokyo Great Santa Run is disrupted (of course it is) by Viluy of the Witches 3, who's setting up another one of those tower-ping schemes. Can Amy, Nanoha, Molly, Rashmi, and Yokina (Hotaru) save the day from her color-and-energy draining youma? Featuring: Emotional Damage! Backtalk! Aaand More~!
Cast of Characters:	280, Hotaru Tomoe, Molly Skyline, Nanoha Takamachi, Rashmi Terios, Amanda Faust

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Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
It's a lovely morning in Yoyogi Park, located in Shiybuya, Tokyo, and the Great Santa Run is preparing to get underway. An annual charity event to raise funds for sick children in Japan (and children in poverty overseas), this 2.5k run is distinct from others in that every participant - and there are hundreds of participants - is wearing a Santa suit. Some are homemade, some are accessorized to be Santa-inspired cosplays of other characters, many have been provided by the organizers, but all are recognizably red and white, with the trademark hat and black belt.

It's a sea of Santas, and they're all on the walk - because this Santa Run is more of a Santa Walk, planning to make a loop from Yoyogi Park to Meiji Dori and Jingumae Intersection and back. In addition to the Santas, there are plenty of observers, lined up to watch the spectacle, from children with parents to other locals and plenty of tourists. There are concession stands, news stands, and ticket stands, for last minute contestants deciding to join.

Those who might be in last minute concessions can receive a Santa Suit from the event organizers, and those watching can scope out the perfect place to see the tour.

Viluy is neither participant nor observer - no, the tall woman with pale-blue hair and blue eyes is pretending to operate a news stand, but is in fact readying one of the remaining towers that Sunbreaker left behind in Obsidian, preparing to gather energy to send out another ping. Last time, Ember was able to send out the ping, though she lost the tower. This time, Viluy intends to do far more. She intends to be the one to successfully reach Mistress 9.

There's more room for moving up, after all. Eudial's temper tantrums had finally cost her her life, as the Dash Camera footage showed, and the Witches 3 had a good ring to it. The Witch, singular, would be even better, if she could just get Tellu and Mimette out of the way. That seemed likely, given that they had been ordered to focus on the Heart Crystal search, while she herself was busy with the matter of finding hosts, identifying Mistress 9's location, searching for ideal targets -

Plenty of things, really.

With Viluy's focus on research and antisocial tendencies, there's really only a handful of people who could actually hope to identify her - and she's hardly afraid of the former Sunbreaker or of Hotaru. In fact, it would be a great stroke of luck to run into that brat.

"Now, it will only be a few more moments before we're ready to get started," Viluy says to her assistants, readying a few more controls.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou was attending this year, not to walk! But to watch. A whole SEA of santas? Yes. Of course she wanted to come to this. Heck, one time she'd even helped to save christmas! And met santa! It was soooo cooooool!

... Wait, that was last year. Huh. She'd... actually almost made it another year. Even if she hadn't asked Santa for that gift, it looked like she still got it. Eeeee!

But now, she was on the sidelines! Cheering them on. "You can do this, santa!" she yelled, lifting her hands up and waving!

She was in a big ol' green jacket, wayyyyy too poofy. The kind of thing you could put someone in, then roll them down a hill and they'd not even feel it. Sometimes it was amazing she could even put her hands at her side.

Molly Skyline has posed:
A sea of Santas is such a sight seldom seen in Great Britain; and hence, Molly absolutely had to be here. Absolutely necessary. The British girl is here in her usual denim jacket, just with a hoodie underneath it for warmth, since it's not exactly summer right at the moment. She's busy taking pictures of everything with her phone, of course, while she's walking along with her best friend.

"Rashmi, this is so *cool*," she pronounces. "England never does anything like this. We put up some cheap Christmas lights on lampposts and stuff, stores play Christmas music, and people get grumpy if you say 'Happy Holidays' isntead of 'Merry Christmas', but like... this is a whole other level."

The purplenette puts her phone away, and shoves her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "Also it doesn't even get cold in Japan the same as back home. The cold back home is damp and obnoxious, it's not so bad here. This is just... cold. I can deal with this." She furrows her brow, "But I wanna suggest fried chicken afterwards, or... something warm."

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is here! She's selling baked goods from her family's bakery today.

She's helping her family out as the the rest of them are off selling smaller handheld backed goods in the crowd. She's at a table selling slices of decorative chocolate cake, topped in white icing with red and green flourish.
She's smiling the whole time as she looks over to the girl in a way too poofy coat.

It is chilly, that's why she has a hoodie on! Yuuno is sleeping in the hammock of the hoodie at her back, the tiny ferret snoring in Nanoha's ear!

'quit that..' she whispers to him. He doesn't stop. He can't hear you Nanhoa, he's sleeping!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi has not been having the best couple weeks. Between Molly almost dying, Aloisia turning into a berserker, Joker being the *absolute creepface of the millennium* (Silver or otherwise), there has just been a lot, a lot to worry about.

There have been upsides, however; meeting and almost immediately taking Entrapta under her wing, the few times she was unbusy enough to hang out with her friends... And days like today, where she volunteered to accompany Hota--Yokina to see a Sea of Santas, all walking in support of the needy. And of course, she'd invited Molly to come along, both to meet Yokina, and join the festivities.

Yokina's cheering alone is a *wonderful* cure for a bad mood, and the grin will not stay off her face, as she nods to Molly's opinion of the event, the weather, and their plans afterward. "Oh I bet there's *some* absolutely wild stuff they do in England, but... you're right. This is just *next-level* silly and I love it.

<< What do you think? >> she sends to Hotaru, via Luminous Titan. << How's kara-age and hot cocoa sound for after? >>

Amanda Faust has posed:
    So, this is a thing!

    Amy has magiced up a cute santa outfit before, but she's not participating -- at least on such short notice, although the idea is intriguing maybe for next year -- and also it's not that cold yet. She's wearing black leggings under the red sweatshirt and jersey-knit skirt that came with her body -- they're very soft and comfy! -- with her sneakers and a santa hat. Her messenger bag is today joined by her first aid kit slung across her back just in case, because any event with hundreds and hundreds of people is statistically going to have things happen.

    Amy's walking with Molly and Rashmi also getting a few pictures, and some selfies of herself in the santa hat which keeps making her smile and then want to take a selfie of her smiling, and talking to her friends.

    "Is it really so dreary in England?" Amy wonders. "You sound like a novel. 'Back in England we barely celebrated christmas. We put up some cheap lights, and played music, but that was about it really. And then some crazy magical thing happened.'"

    "Back home Christmas was... when I was a kid we did the tree, and had a little train going around it, and the ornaments and everything... I kind of miss that level of, of... of holidays being such a big deal, you know? And yeah it's great that they're doing stuff like this." She waves at the, the festivities all around them.

    "We kept doing it for awhile once I was an adult, but then less and less over time... Mom kept doing one of those little fake trees you can put on a table, though. I didn't bother with any decorations at the apartment. And then last year I helped save Christmas." Amy holds a hand to her head. "Geeze, with everything else that's happened since I almost forgot all that really happened. It feels like a dream. Santa's real?"

    "...Yeah, I could definitely go for some warm food after this..."

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
The Santas are walking by, some waving to the crowd, some chatting amongst themselves as they walk, still more focused on just completing the walk. Some of them carry little signs for the children they're walking in support of, and a few are handing out little gifts to children who are on the side of the road, watching as they pass.

One of those children who receives a small gift is Yokina - a 'Santa' in a homemade suit, with an extra-fluffy white beard offers a 'Ho, Ho, HO!' as he hands her a little stuffed reindeer with a bright red nose.

"Thank you for your well-wishes, dear child," the Santa says, as he carries on his way. "And to you, a Merry Christmas - early, of course."

He's not the real Santa Claus, of course. Under his hat, it's easy to see that his hair is still black, and he looks to be at most in his mid-40s under the fake beard, but he's cheerful, just like so many of the others.

Everything is cheerful and relaxed.

That's when a pulse of dark energy rolls through the area, carrying it with the sickening sensation of an energy drain. All around the Santas, the observers, and the vendors start to go down, swaying, stumbling, and then dropping to first their knees and then their hands. The youngest and oldest among them hit the floor within a minute of the pulse reaching them, though the strongest are still on their feet, swaying and walking about in confusion and concern, some trying to pick up their downed fellows.

Except for Viluy, and her team of assistants. They're standing still, as the tower does it's work and the energy collects, and a portal opens, to a strange, dark dimension, where great, bulbous flesh sacks, of maybe they're eggs, or maybe they're both, lurk. Slim tendrils extended from these fleshy sacks, lashing about in the realm of the portal, until one seemed to split down the middle, and out of the egg-sack-mass - and out of the portal - came a monster that was -
Exceptionally bizarre. It was shaped like a bottle, filled with sludgy purple liquid, and it's eyes were oddly-cartoony, extending from the bottle's nozzle on curled antennae. It's hands and feet were clumsy and cartoonish as well, extending limbs as springy as the antennae.

Those Santas who are still awake start to scream, and the monster in their midst - Bottlinator - sprays them with with the sludgy fluid in it's bottle body. Everywhere the liquid touches, color seeps away, until the affected area is in grey-scale. Those who get the heaviest dose of the spray drop right then and there.

Viluy pays all of this little mind, focusing on calculations running on the tower's console, watching the little dancing Sunbreaker emblem tick-tick-tick down until she has enough energy for the ping.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Yokina Meiou took the gift, her eyes lighting up with delight. "Rashmi? Rashmi, look! RashmiRashmiRashmi!" she said, hopping up and down with delight, holdng it up and swinging the new gift up. It wasn't the santa. It was that a santa gave HER a gift! << Kara-age and hot cocoa sounds amazing! >>

Only for it to all go to crud. Her eyes narrowed and she grabbed Rashmi's arm for a moment, wobbling, before shaking her head.

She then looked around and gave a light squeak. << Rashmi, that's one of the witches 5. Viluy. She's dangerous... very techy. We need to ho and henshin. >>

She was already moving to get away from the crowds, so she could henshin and not get noticed... Especially considering her henshin was a little... different.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is selling cakes and hands the next slice over, putting money into her box. She's happily making a lot of money...and running out cake. Whoops! She's about to sell her last slice when it's ripped from her hands... and it clatters to the ground...

"What is that!?" screams her patron. "A monster." she says with furrowed brow.

"A monster!?" suddenly says Yunno. "I'll throw up a barrier...!" says Yuuno as he does his magic circle... and the barrier appears...!

But the people...are still there.

"YUUNO BARRIER!" yells Nanoha. "IT'S UP I SWEAR!" calls out Yuuno as Nanoha yells "SETUP!"

Nanoha Takamachi transforms in front of everyone and Madokami as she quickly frowns and dashes upwards into the air!...

She fires of a barrage of barrets at the creature. A short selection of homing shots, going for quantity over quality here...!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi knew that Yokina would be excited the moment the santa handed over a little gift, and there was going to be fried chicken and warm drinks, and her friends were all having a wonderful time, and it seemed like everything could not be better.

That's when it absolutely gets worse.

Her grin drops like a popped balloon, and she's all business when Yokina grabs her arm. "All right," she murmurs back, peeking her head up and around to find a good spot for a quick henshin... And spots the flash of magenta magic.

Oh good, Nanoha's here, and the Barrier is already... set.... up... there are still people why are there still people.

Wait, Nanoha was manning a stall, and there it is, complete with Midori-Ya branding.

"There!" she calls out over her shoulder, pointing at the vacant stall and... just scooping Yokina up?

--and running toward the stall. The moment she breaks sightline with the majority of the still-conscious attendees, she sets Yokina down, henshins in a flash of golden light, and soars out after Nanoha.

    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

Once the comms spell has Molly, Nanoha, Yokina, and Amy linked in, she banks around to gain a better perspective on the chaos.

<< Star Devil, Rocket Red, Sailor Charon, Nano-chan, everyone hear me? That tower looks familiar, which means this is gonna be tough. >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly laughs and shakes her head, "Oh, England is absolutely dreary, I will assure you of that. The most common weather is a combination of cold, grey, and rainy. But, there are definitely epic things to do! Sometime I've gotta get you all there and we can go sneak into Stonehenge in the middle of the night. There's all these castles everywhere, I have *got* to tell you about the Seelie and Uneelie Fairie Courts, and standing on the HMS Victory is not an experience you'll ever forget." The purplenette pauses, and ahems, "There's also the British Museum, which if you ever want to see the world's largest collectiong of stolen goods, that'd be the place."

Molly takes a moment to stop at a vendor, and buys a bag full of Dango to share with everyone, which she comes running back with. "OKay, I got something to eat right--"

She stops, mid-sentence, as that dark energy pulse happens, and the color drains from her face. "Oh not this again," she whispers, as people start collapsing all around, and there's another one of those terrifyingly dark and sinister portals. "Store Dango," she instructs, and the bag she got vanishes. Well, at least the food is safe, as she shifts into her devilish looking barrier jacket.

"Alright, let's..." she sighs, "I like epic Christmas but I don't need it to be *this* epic," she complains. "Let's get this dealt with."

But that's the thing, isn't it. It's not generally that simple or that easy, especially when Sunbreaker's towers and Witchesa re involved, but that's what they signed up for, isn't it?

"Flier Fin, Battle Visor." Molly takes off, rapidly gaining altitude. << I hear you! >> she answers, to Rashmi's question. << What do we focus on -- I'm gonnna open up on the Witch to throw her off right now. >>

"Starcrash, charge Stel-- No." She surrows her brow. Civilians. "Charge Eclipse Barrage, just five barrets, homing. No detonation unless target is struck, if they miss just dissipate."

<< PUNY ATTACK ARMED >>

"...Right. Fire." Just five icy cold barrets issue forth from Molly's staff, and rocket off towards Viluy.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda stops walking when she feels that pulse. "Oh no..." She turns around, looking for the source, and shouts, "COME ON!", raising her hands and stamping her foot.

    The kid's reaction to all this is not screaming, or clinging to the big kids, but... to run away like she's trying to get out of sight and find a place to henshin. Huh. Amy briefly starts to wonder if she'll be able to maintain this suspicion when a young magical girl she doesn't know shows up, and then wonders if thinking about this will break her brain, and then oh right magic bullshit is happening she needs to transform and help!

    While Rashmi runs, Amy just ducks and henshins there on the spot in front of Godoka and everyone; No one here knows her, and no one nonmagical will remember this anyway; unless the dark general is looking right at her when she transforms, she's probably fine.

    In the space of a second or so she's lifted up, surrounded by light, and wreathed in flame -- this time, she's already got her launcher as the henshin finishes and immediately takes aim at the youma even before the flames have all disappeared, and fires! The anti-tank round airbursts into a lance of light so it won't hit anything if it misses, and doesn't go off if deflected.

    ""NO! It's Christmas!" Amy scolds the creature and its creator. "No! Give their colors back! None of this! Stop it!"

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
It seemed only natural that the enemy would be here as well. Viluy frowned to herself as energy readings spiked, but continued to man the tower, directing the flow of energy drained to the appropriate vessels within the tower, encouraging it to fill.

The dark portal continued to leer, the bulging sacks of flesh contorting and shifting as the battle raged on. Bottlinator hops forward, spraying more Santas, and as they lose color in patches and bursts, the energy meter on the tower ticks and ticks higher, the little Sunbreaker unicorn dancing faster.

When Nanoha's barrets attack it, it sprays frantically frantically - and some of the barrets actually dissipate, drained of their power, but still more slam into the creature, knocking it onto it's back, where it wobbles like a tipped turtle in confusion, leaving it open for Amy's anti-tank rounds, which cause it to squeal in distress before clamoring to its feet again. The bottle body has scratches and soot, and the monster looks distinctly displeased, stamping it's foot before squirting a blast of liquid towards Amy and Nanoha - only for it to receive a surge of energy, causing it to spray out a wave of the dark liquid, crashing over everyone!

(Action Note: Everyone except Yokina, please roll 1d20 two times. Not 2d20. Looking to get scores about a 14 both times.)

"It's November 27th," Viluy corrects Amy idly, and then raises a hand to meet the coming ice barrets from Molly.

"Mosiac Barrier!"

A glowing circle of sparkling blue light appears around Viluy and the tower as the cuff on her left arm glows - it tanks the attack with no apparent effect.

"You could end all of this, if you told me where Hotaru Tomoe has been taken. Her father is very concerned for her."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Behind the cover Yokina was taken... and then? Then it was henshin time! Out of sight, out of mind. And then a few moments later, a sailor senshi who was totally NOT an offbrand knockoff!

"Guardian of the planet Pluto, reminding you that little things matter too! It's Sailor Charon!" she called, her glaive spinning through the air before she ended with it, the blade pointed down.

"It takes a cold, bitter, ugly heart to attack a holiday parade like this, one that only a cruel heart deserving of an eternal naughty list could try!"

She then leaped away, up into the air... before trying to bring the energy glaive down on the youma! "How dare you attack the good hearted people who are trying to spread their christmas cheer this year!" she yelled. "You should feel ashamed of yourself and know you're NOT being the kind of person Mr. Rogers says you could be!"

Yes, that was Rashmi's influence.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi gets splashed with magic acetone and drains of color momentarily...!

Nanoha Takamachi winces as she recoils from her attack, Raising Heart pings an alert in her head. Yuuno falls lethargic. "Yuuno.." she says, sleepily.

She starts falling from the sky a moment before she catches herself and frowns hard... she starts unloading again, strong barrets. Not homing, but stronger because of it as she frowns hard. "You hurt Yuuno-kun..."

"You Jerk."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As the youma looses its terrible, acidic attack at her fellows, Rashmi ducks under the spray, sweeping around and back up... And though her heart leaps as Sailor Charon makes her justice speech, the fate of her friends causes still greater worry.

    << *BONG!* >> << TERA BLAZE -- BOOST UP >>

With the literal *color* drained out of her allies, they're going to need a boost. A trio of particularly bright wisps resolve into being around her, then fly out to their intended targets. Nanoha, Molly, and Amy, all of them given a rush of burning determination, of faith in their cause and their friends.

Also a golden fire surrounds their primary weapons, because their next attack will *carry* that fire in its magic.

<< We've got this, everybody! Don't forget we're here to save *so many Santas!* >>

Turning in midair, she holds out a hand to Viluy, another circle spreading out under her feet.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLADE >>

Three Barrets resolve around Rashmi, extending into golden swords, and lance out toward the Witch.

While a sword may look deadly, the spell itself will do absolutely no damage to Viluy, if it connects. The spell has a singular purpose; a shieldbreaker, meant to disrupt defensive mana constructs. With her full faith in Charon's glaiving skills, the next order of business is to create a flaw in the Witch's defenses.

However...

<< Target the tower! We can't let it charge much more energy, or things could get *really* bad! >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Wait-- did she just ignore my attack?! WITCH! You complete--"

Molly might've been about to say more, but then the Bottlinator is spewing it's goop all over the place, and a bunch of it is in the air heading for... well everyone, but in particular--

Oh that is not going to be good for her.

Molly angles herself down, and rockets towards where Amy is fighting as fast as she can. As she gets close, she snaps her fingers to trigger Neutrino Rush, and disappears into a flash of light that shifts and rematerializes in front of Amy.

"Deploy Rou--" Molly is too slow; the goo gets splashed all over her, and while some of it is going to hit Amy, she has taken the majority of it herself. Immediately the color drains away all over her chest in splothes, as well as down her left arm and left leg.

<< ALERT: MANA DRAIN. RESERVES AT SEVENTY PERCENT AFTER TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT LOSS >>

"...Yeah..." Molly gasps, as she drops down to the ground all the way and takes a knee. "Yeah I'm feeling that." She puts a hand to her chest, and breaths. "Deploy Round Shield."

<< DEPLOYED >>

As a globe of energy snaps into place around Molly, she sucks in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. "Okay. Okay. Overcharge Stellar Pulse, thirty barrets."

<< WARNING: MANA DRAIN SIGNIFICANT >>

"Do it," she confirms, as she pushes off and takes to the sky again. "Alright, let's do this." She angles her staff to point at the tower, and after Rashmi's barrets have had a few moments to do their work on the shield protecting it, she yesll "Fire!!" and a stream of brilliantly shining barrets release from Starcrash, aimed at the structure.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh nice, Nanoha and Sailor Charon are here too! Once Yokino transforms and comes back, they'll have six!

    Considerably less nice is getting splashed in the face with... eugh! It smells like acetone?! At least none got in her mouth...

    Amy tried to run out of the splash radius, and Molley dived in and took it worse than she did. "Are you okay?!" Amy asks, although she looks relieved as Molly gets up and fights. "You've... you're losing your color!"

    Everyone else can see that Amy's left eye is now grey, and some of the skin around it as well as part of the hair on that side of her face have lost their color as well.

    Viluy retorted, so Amy groans in disgust and clarifies, "It's the Christmas spirit! And "Who the hell is Hotaru Tomoe?!"

    Still, with that bottle splashing them it's got to go! She doesn't have a good way to damage the towers anyway... shit, what was the trick to that?!

    Maybe shaped charges are the wrong startegy. Maybe she should try to crack it? She conjures what looks like some kind of excessively-high-caliber assault rifle with a cylinder magazine, and... can she set gyrojets to disappear after a certain distance?

    Tweaking her use of magic feels like she's reaching out with a sort of... brain-hand holding a key in the shape she wants and feeling it either slide into hole as she pushes gently, or slide partway in and get stuck when the key's not quite doable, or not find anything if it's not doable. This time, the key clicks into the lock, metaphorically speaking.

    That takes about half a second and, satisfied, she braces herself in firing position, sights on the bottle, and starts firing, trying to crack it with .59-caliber rocket-propelled penetrators which disappear once they've gone far enough to either penetrate the glass, miss, or bounce off it.

    Since the effect of getting hit didn't feel too bad, she stands out in the open firing for now, hoping to crack it quickly before things can get worse!

    Target the tower, Rashmi warns! "HOW?! I've tried that, my attacks never do anything to the towers while the general's around!"

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
The Bottlinator blows a raspberry at Sailor Charon, it's cartoonish lips and tongue making an especially gross wet noise, right before it's jabbed in the eye with an energy glaive. Maybe it should have focused on dodging! The poor poked youma wails sproingy hands clutching its face, and it dances around in an OW, YOU GOT ME sort of dance.

So it's totally distracted when Nanoha sends out a barrage of powerful strikes, each slamming home. Thanks to Rashmi's boost, Nanoha's attacks are literally blazing, and they leave wicked scorch marks.

This time, the bottle is more than scratched - it's cracked, causing the sludgy purple liquid to begin oozing out onto the floor, slipping and sliding messily. One of it's eyes now hangs limp, it's bottle is cracked and leaking -

...Maybe, don't step in that.

"I am indeed a Witch," Viluy confirms, seeming entirely unbothered. "I am Viluy of the Witches 3, and I suppose my heart must be of the cold and ugly variety, by the terms of your judgement. Hotaru Tomoe is the daughter of my superior, Doctor Tomoe of Obsidian's Tomoe LifeSciences division. You may have heard of the products we have created, which have advanced the quality of available prosthetics, artificial organ devices, and other quality products for medical use within the civilian sector. She is a very sickly child, and though we are devoted to creating a cure, there is every likelihood she is not long for this world. It is his desire to spend as much of the time that she has left, at her side."

She is a scientist through and through - even as she delivers this answer, she continues to scan the console, calculating, and the tower continues to drain energy, but and then - there are more attacks!

Rashmi's next strike aims at Viluy, and she releases her breaker again -

""Mosiac Breaker, Redux!"

But the magic that Rashmi fired works, and the barrier - breaks! Allowing Molly's attack to streak towards the tower -

Emotion flashes over Viluy's face, frustration, and she thrusts herself in front of the tower, tanking Molly's powerful blows. The labcoat she's wearing is shredded, revealing her blue-and-black mosaic armored leotard and black leggings. She looks visibly weakened, and visibly irritated, breathing hard. She blocked most of the attack, but the tower is still partially damaged, and the barrier flickers around them, before the civilians disappear!

However - it's been enough time for something to happen. The dancing Sunbreakers horn lights up with little pixel sparks and the tower beeps!

"I will not allow you to stop this experiment! I will complete my assignment!"

As she says this, Amy's next attack punctures the bottle that Nanoha cracked, causing the youma to burst open. Magical acetone sprays everywhere, as the youma collapses, rent to pieces.

(Roll 2 1d20 again, please! This time, looking for higher than an 8.)

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"CHARON!"

The noxious liquid that sprays from the broken bottle gives Rashmi horrified thoughts of what might happen *to Hotaru* if her energy and color are drained...

While she can't fly as fast as Nanoha, she *can* dive down and sweep Charon into the air, ducking under the acetonic spray of the dying monster, then turning in the air, In ehr Barrier Jacket, she only needs one arm to support Charon in midair. The other hand is held out to the tower, and a dozen Barrets blink into existence around her.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE >>

One after the other, Barrets are fired and resummoned, fired and resummoned, a stream of magical bullets aimed at the tower, hopefully before it can *do* anything with all the energy it's collected.

Please let luck be with them...

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Charon froze up when Viluy spoke. Balancing back on one foot, the youma fading away from the strike of Fate's ~friend~. Weird and interesting being on her side this time, she couldn't wait to tell Fate. If she ever could.

But in the moment? She was stunned. She... she knew that daddy missed her. And she missed him. While she was here, though...

... If she went back, her condition would only worsen faster. She had more time, now. And she knew that. But... but eventually... her condition would worsen if they didn't...

And she was entirely unprepared for the noxious liquid. "Huh?" Only for Rashmi to grab and drag her out. She yelped, getting pulled away, gripping the arm. "O-oh. Ummm, s-sorry. I..."

She was thrown off by those words. They... hurt. They hurt so much... But she didn't fight.

<< ... I miss daddy... >> Hotaru said, only to Rashmi.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is drained of color and she's splashed again and she's almost black and white... why? Because. One of those rolls?

Was protecting Yuuno from more splash. She turns back around to the tower as Rashmi points it out, the world is going dark....

But she shoves all she has remaining into a moonshot..."Divine..." she says tiredly... hefting Raising Heart.

"BUSTER!" she suddenly calls out, a bright, magenta laser shooting from Raising Heart at the tower...!

And the world goes dark.

And she's falling from the sky...!

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly gets more of the nasty, color and energy draining goo splashed over her; her left arm has gone completely without color, and there's a hollow, cold feeling creeping up the limb.

<< OKay this is awful, >> she communicates to her friends, << We gotta... I'm gonna hit the tower with everything I've got left. >> She shakes her head, "Starcrash, charge Stellar Convergence."

<< WARNING: MANA RESERVES AT FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT. EFFICIENCY LOST. STELLAR CONVERGENCE WILL USE NEARLY ALL REMAINING MANA. >>

Molly does a quick think, in her head... Well, whatever, she keeps getting drained, so. "You know what, I'd rather shoot my mana at the enemy than let the enemy drain it. Yolo and all that nonsense. Charge it." She watches, as a progress bar starts up on her Battle Visor, filling up... more slowly than it used to.

"Hey, witch!" she shouts, while it's working up. "Just wanna teach you the way us Brits talk to people who pull your kinda nonsense!" She throws up her free hand, with her fingers making a 'V' shape, with the back of her hand facing towards Viluy. "YOU WANKER! Go back where you slithered from and take your pen and ink with you!" she yells.

<< ARMED >>

"Fire!" A globe of freezing energy forms at Starcrash's tip; she points it at the tower and it coalesces into a frozen beam, pushing her backwards as it fires. Several searing hot orbs blink-blink into an orbit around her as it does; only eight of them, which become their own beams as the first one wears off, drilling into the spot with intense heat right where it was previously frozen. As promised... much weaker than usual.

<< MANA RESERVES AT TWO PERCENT >>

That'll have to be enough. Molly turns and burns for where Nanoha is plummeting out of the sky; a warning pops up on her battle visor, displaying her remaining mana and a projection for how long she's got before it runs out, at current speeds. And then, she snaps her fingers, disappearing into a flash of llight as she casts Neutrino Rush, reappearing just below Nanoha with seven seconds of flight time remaining. She catches her fellow artillerist, and cuts her Flier Fin, allowing herself to plummet until she's getting dangerously close to the ground before resuming her flight, just in time to effect a landing that is a little on the jarring side for Nanoha, and nigh on knee-buckling for Molly. But hey, no crunching or snapping sounds, so all good.

"...Ow."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    I am indeed a Witch, whatever that means. Amy listens as she puts holes in the youma.

    Hotaru Tomoe. Well now Amy knows why they want some little girl she's never heard of.

    Amy takes aim at the tower as Viluy jumps in front of it, which surprises her and makes her hesitate, and the news of what Tomoe LifeSciences does makes her hesitate more. Is that true?! she wonders.

    Of course, if even they can't cure the poor kid, there's only one surefire cure, isn't there? Which makes her a tempting target for a certain someone, who thus might be a source of information if he's already talked to her.

    <<"That kid she's talking about. Have you tried to contract with her?">> Amy reaches out with telepathy for a certain troublesome alien.

    <<"I have not located Hotaru Tomoe. She does sound like she would make an excellent Puella Magi, and an excellent Witch!">> comes the response, only to Amy.

    Figures that little rat was listening... Amy thinks to herself. But if even the Incubator couldn't find her... well, that's a piece of information to figure out the importance of later.

    For now...

    All in all, Amy's hesitation buys Viluy a couple seconds of not getting assaulted by rocket weaponry, which swiftly end: "I hunt Witches." Amy states, and fires a couple of shots at Viluy to probe her defenses.

    A barrier. "Huh."

    Amy considers quickly, and the weapon she's holding disappears, replaced by missile racks anchored to armor parts on her body -- they're a bit slimmer than usual, and fire maybe half as many mini-missiles as the Mahou Missile Massacre people have seen her use before. That's still over a dozen or so, though!

    "TAKE THIS!"

    The mini-missiles -- maybe about a foot long and an inch or so wide -- streak towards Viluy on trails of fire and smoke, and

    swerve abruptly to go AROUND her and circle around, converging on the tower from behind!

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
"Mosiac Barrier!"

Viluy raises her barrier again, panting for breath, and the tower sends out a ping of energy, one that they all feel like a rattle in their bones for like literally two seconds, before Amy's first missile salvo strikes - the barrier holds! ...before the combined force of Solar Barrage and Stellar Convergence bring the nanite energy barrier down and blast through the tower, carving cracks and pits into the surface.

The portal wobbles, winking in and out of existence, and Viluy is forced to scramble away with a frustrated shout, fingers flying over the nanocuff on her arm, checking over the limited amount of data she managed to receive. At least the tower is standing - at least she still has the energy from that, what with the way the Tower sends energy to Obsidian, she can repair it, all she has to do is try again, give it everything -

But before she can even speak, Nanoha's Divine Buster not only eats eats the tower, it eats everything. The tower is not just gone, it's as if it were no longer there. The ground itself is cratered.

The portal winks out with one last pulse of ominous energy.

Viluy stands there, looking horrified for a long moment, and then she breathes out slowly, shaking it off.

"This is fine, this is fine, we can still find Hotaru," she mutters to herself, pacing in circles -

The ping went off. The data is already scrolling, it's going to be fine -

This is when Amy's second strike goes around, and it doesn't hit the tower. The tower doesn't exist. It hits Viluy, who shrieks in surprise as she's tossed like a ragdoll, rolling across the ground. She whimpers, once, before standing shakily, looking thoroughly mussed. She raises a hand - not an attack, but the universal please wait!

And scrolls her data?!

Mistress 9 was in the area, it shows, but because the barrier went down, the area is three miles worth of Shibuya, all around Yoyogi Park. All it tells her is that... Hotaru's captors must surely be allowing her some form of free movement.

"Has that child abandoned her father?" She muses aloud. "That... changes things, I suppose. I will have to inform him that we must consider the possibility that Hotaru left of her own will - abandoned him - and that she no longer wishes to share the end of her life with him."

She looks up from her data, looking at them all.

"You have defeated me, for the day. I have no further means of attacking you, so unless you wish to kill me as your colleague killed Eudial, I have only one question for you all -"

And she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a grief seed.

"Which of you is the Puella Magi that needs this? My daimon collected an unforeseen percentage of your energy."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Charon held tightly onto Rashmi's arm as she was carried away and--

Ping.

As the ping washed over her, she urked. and grabbed Rashmi's arm, tightly.

<< Danger. Withdraw >> Luminous Titan's voice blared in rashmi's head. Which, admittedly, was... likely somewhat good. Rashmi was holding Charon, so the girl didn't just collapse at the sudden ping and the fact she had locked up was... well, hidden well by Rashmi hauling her away. Maybe just... put her down behind something...

But those words. Oh, if the ping wasn't enough to hurt Charon. Those words? They cut through her like a knife. A few tears in her eyes.

<< Negatory! >> Luminous titan's voice came in Rashmi's head... and...

<< B-but just for a second, if I tell her through this, she won't know it's me. And daddy can-- >>

<< Denied, danger, too high. Link denied. >>

Luminous Titan, it seemed, was clueing Rashmi into the discussion Hotaru was having with her device...

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is caught...

Molly can hear her mutter. "Fate-chan..." before she slips fully unconscious. Yuuno is no better. Also unconscious on Nanoha's shoulder, hanging off, barely.

She's fine. She needs rest. Food...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Hotaru-chan, >> Rashmi says softly in Hotaru's head alone. << I know. And I'm *so sorry,* but, we'll find a way for you to contact him safely. But you *can't* go back. >>

The carry becomes a squeezing hug, and she switches mental bands.

<< I've got to take Charon-chan home, >> she says. << Amy... It's your Soul Gem. You do what you feel is right, and I will *absolutely* not argue with you getting a new Grief Seed. Just... Be careful. Molly, are you gonna be okay to get her back to Midori-ya? >>

Glaring down for a moment at Viluy, Rashmi silently turns, and starts to rocket away, back to Pikarigaoka.

Yet *another* thing Setsuchan needs to be warned about.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Kill a witch?! Well, that's not an opportunity that comes up every day! "Starcrash, charge Eclipse Beam, maximu--"

<< NEGATIVE >>

"...Oh right." Molly looks at her battle visor, and sighs, as she sets Nanoha down on the ground. Hopefully she'll wake up in a minute. << Yeah, I'll be fine, I brought bus money. And I have four seconds of flight time left! >> She looks around herself as the battle seems to be finished, and just... shifts back out of her barrier jacket. "Retrieve Dango." The bag full of Dango reappears in her hand, and she digs around in it to pop one in her mouth. << Sorry, I was gonna share this, but since I now have *no mana* I'm going to eat it. I'll share next time. Also, I'm stopping for fried chicken on the way home, I'll test the address, and anyone who wants to can come join me. >>

The purplenette keeps eating dango out of the bag, as she strolls up to where Viluy is standing. "So, hey," she greets, and throws up her free hand in a little wave. "I totally meant what I said. Y'know, when I was being juvenile and extremely rude. But like, d'you think you could just..." she gestures to the battlefield around her, "I dunno, stop draining people? It's rude, uncalled for, and basically evil. It'd be super great if you could stop it. ...Also, your dark energy pulses are really unpleasant."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy wasn't going for the kill just yet, but she'll take it! The missiles aren't quite enough to do it, though, and send Viluy tumbling towards her. Amy starts guessing how much more magic she should use, when the enemy talks...

    ...And doesn't even beg for her life.

    Amy looks surprised when the grief seed is offered, which may be telling. Viluy is offering a grief seed to make up for the energy she took, which probably wasn't that mu--

    Amy glances at the back of her wrist and double-takes. It's still less than half-full of corruption, but it's a smidge closer to half than the just-over-a-third she was expecting. Normally, the sort of energy drain Obsidian uses on nonmagic folks isn't even a blip to her!

    She looks back to the Witch, a bit stunned, as the others make their judgements.

    She dismisses her weapons and steps forward, holding out her hand for Viluy to put the grief seed in. "Does this mean you will abandon the search for Hotaru Tomoe and not try to kill any of us over some girl we've never heard of, anymore?"

    "If so, I'll take a page out of the Evil Overlord List and spare you for your care in not bringing me or other Puella Magi closer to death, in order to encourage this behavior."




    Viluy also hears a voice in her head, that sounds like a young boy: <<"If you can find no other cure for that poor little girl, I may be able to help! When a child contracts with me, I can grant their wish!">>

    To Viluy, the voice sounds like it came from a nearby alley, where two red eyes look at her from an angle Amy can't see from where she's standing.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
As two of the magical girls depart - one carried away by one of the Devicers - Viluy looks to those remaining, waiting for their answer.

Despite this loss, they have gained new data. Nothing to make definitive predictions on, but something. Hotaru is mobile, or at least, being taken out and about. Yoyoga Park isn't far from dwellings, but given the last readings, and given the event, it seems far more likely that she was one among the hundreds of children brought for the spectacle.

Which, as she said, could change the situation.

...Doctor Tomoe is not going to like that.

When Amy and Star Devil walk up, the latter snacking and towing along Nanoha, Viluy looks at her.

"I have come to expect rude and juvenile behavior from adolescents. Research shows that this is to be expected and anticipated from those of your demographic." Is it every day that the heroes are dismissed as totally normal children? Eh, kinda. And then she smiles, very faintly, as she looks at Molly.

"Tellu's data collection leaves much to be desired, but my own efforts show that she did have a point about you. You continue to be very interesting, little mage."

As Amy has volunteers that she is the Puella Magi, Viluy nods, and then gives her the grief seed, no tricks.

"I have never tried to kill any of you, though the same cannot be said of some of my more foolish colleagues. I will continue my work, and I will continue to search for that child. This grief seed is in payment for your information. Thank you for confirming that you are not a Device Mage. I was not aware that a Barrier Jacket could be designed to look like one of those Sailor Suits, until now. Perhaps next time I encounter that girl, I'll learn why a Device Mage would call herself a Sailor Senshi."

And then she duskports away -

Though surprise visibly crosses her face when Kyubey's voice rings through her mind. How... interesting. Could that child make a contract, with Mistress 9 dwelling in her soul?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Urgh." Amy groans as adolescents are so disdained. While on most levels she's accepted that becoming a Magical Girl has returned her wholly to adolescence save the length of her memories, some small vestige of Mallory's pride resents being accused of juvenile behavior. Amy frowns as at the same time, the rest of her feels that the insinuation is unfair in the first place, teenagers and children are still people, and to impugn their agency and comprehension as lesser solely because of age is overly dismissive and dehumanizing. And then some part of her brain asks 'what about all those times you've complained that hormones are messing with your mind and emotions,' and Amy puts a pin in this mental argument because Not now I'm on a battlefield facing a Witch!

    Amy takes the grief seed. "What? What did you learn about her??" Amy glances at Molly and back to Viluy, and then

    Amy's expression shows she recognizes that she fucked up and gave away someone else's tactical information without even knowing.

    It's a moment of running after the others before she wonders:

    Wait, why (aside from messing with the Senshi's enemies) would a Device Mage pretend to be a Sailor Senshi?