2275/The Gates of Disorder

The Gates of Disorder
Date of Scene:	27 January 2025
Location:	Beach
Synopsis:	On a rainy afternoon on Yumegahama Beach, Viluy of the Witches 3 seeks once more to make fitting Daimon hosts from humans. Determined to save the innocent, our heroes plunge into the abyss, and enter the Dusk Zone. Chrono, Rashmi, Princess of Sarek, Pulp Noir, and Amy give it their best - and Star Devil gives it her all. Even the brightest stars must fall. (CW: Description of Injury, Description of Violence, Character Death.)
Cast of Characters:	280, Rashmi Terios, Hinote Kagari, Chrono Harlaown, Molly Skyline, Veronica Perenna, Amanda Faust, Kyubey

---

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
Yumegahama Beach is quiet this afternoon - it had rained for many long hours earlier in the day, resulting in sand with a texture like sucking mud and choppy, violent waves that threaten to drag those who dared venture out into the storm for surfing off their boards and to the watery depths below. Now, though it no longer rains, the sky above is a marbled slate-grey, the sun's light locked away behind a barrier of clouds.

Usually, even in Winter, the beach is full of those who want to take in the sight of the Pacific Ocean, at birds soaring and waves crashing. Not today.

Those who owned shops near the waterfront had chosen to close early, with shutters locked and sandbags piled in front of their stores for fear of flooding. Those who lived near the beach had chosen to withdraw to their homes.

And as for those who typically visited the beach?

Well, those with sense were minding their business, far from the beach - in their homes, in restaurants feasting, at movie theaters... anywhere that isn't the beach. Those without sense?

Viluy of the Witches 5- 4- 3, smiles faintly as she continues to type at the large tower set up on platforms on the beach. She's recording notes as quickly as she can, capturing data on the successful ping that just moments ago spread through the air and finally registered Hotaru Tomoe's resting location.

Pikarigaoka. So close! She'd suspected as much, given the results of previous efforts, but still, it bordered on maddening to realize that the girl who was the object of so much searching had been this close, all this time. Given the combination of her general bullheaded bravado and foolishness, she could even still be attending that school...hm.

A thought to be considered later, for sure.

Quickly, she jots off a minute report via their office SLUMP account - H. Tomoe determined to be in Pikarigaoka, advise increasing search objectives within Ward - before focusing on those unfortunate souls who hadn't had the good sense to stay away from the beach on a rainy day.

Bodies litter the sand - two dozen people in wetsuits of various colors and patterns collapsed from energy drain, an attempt at a spontaneous storm-surf competition derailed by her work. These unconscious souls are the lucky ones - those who had had enough energy to remain awake had been selected for a higher purpose, after all.

"No, no, no, come on, this can't be real, just let me wake up already -" One of those unlucky souls cries out, as a security official drags them to the tear in space that is the portal opened by the tower. The speaker is a young man in a bright red-and-blue wetsuit, his goggles dangling around his neck, feathery black hair plastered to his face with water and sand. His terrified cries seem destined to go unanswered, just as the cries of the last three had been.

Unlike this young man, though, those three are already within the portal, cowering as they're dragged through the shadowy expanse of the world beyond the portal, towards a group of grotesque, blackish-red undulating masses of flesh, with eyes.

As the young man is dragged closer to the portal's edge, Viluy continues her notes, hitting a voice record option -

"Previous human test subject was unable to properly host the implanted daimon egg, resulting in devolution symptoms observed in subjects 1003, 1007, and 1009-1013. New subjects, assigned codes 1014, 1015, 1016, 1017, and 1018, will again receive implantation within the Dusk Zone, in order to preserve egg functionality. Interference has not yet occurred."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Oh, interference is about to occur. When Nicomachea picked up the portal signature, Rashmi and Molly were both in Rashmi's dorm. Which is handy, since one of the reasons her and her roommates *chose* this room to occupy was, its profusion of openable third-floor windows.

The one by Rashmi's bed, in fact, has a note taped to the outside; 'Knock first, please! =)'

As the two of them soar toward Yumegahama, Rashmi fires off a quick message to Chrono.

<< Tower portal signature, pleae join with all possible haste. Also, smooches. >>

Look just because she *could* be an Enforcer does not mean she has to act as though she *is* one.

But when they finally get to the portal site, Rashmi looks *stricken* by the littered bodies, and the people *already dragged through the portal oh hell no this cannot stand.*

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

Oh yes. Interference is about to occur.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Tracy appeared with Hinote Kagari down the road as Tracy, narrated his life per usual. "It was a dark and stormy night..." IT WAS RAINGING FOR A CHANGE. "...and we we're heading down to the greasy spoon to get a bite to eat while figuring out the date with the dame." says Tracy. Hinote rolled his eyes. "We're going to a restaurant. If we can find one open. Lots of places seemed closed up. Maybe they're afraid of the storm." he says under his umbrella.

Tracy looked down he road and said. "I feel uneasy. Let's go check it out. So the two went to go check it out. Tracy leading the way to a peek around a corner and no. No. One of those portals again. He peeks back and with a flash and a "My Heart: Unlock!" Hinote transforms!

He climbs the fire escape of a nearby Coffee shop to appear from the top of it, down upon the beach where the situation was occurring, hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat while rain streamed down the brim of his Fedora as he stood there, for a moment, feeling like a Detective hero.

"Dame, You better have a good explanation for this because your day's about to get a lot worse." he says.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was coming in from the sea. He'd... actually been pretty far out, today. His investigations and search for the remaining members of the Arthra... And then he'd sensed... something. He'd been pretty far off and had, admittedly, hoped someone else would deal with it.

He'd, of course, still set off towards it. But he had HOPED! Hoped that someone would deal with it before he got there and so he could turn around and head back. But nope!

And then he'd felt the ping.

And he, of course, responded to the text. << Already in transit. See you there. >>

Despite his attempts to arrive in time, well... He still only arrived about the same time as Rashmi. And in time to see them dragging someone towards the portal. Going to go ahead and say no to that...

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

Five blue swords would appear around him, spinning once and then launching themselves. Two going at the person dragging the civilian, one going at the tower, two going at Viluy.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly isn't about to miss a chance to unleash the fearsome power of the Sun at a Witch working for Obsidian, nor is she about to leave her best friend to go into battle without her. Neither of those things would sit will with the Purplenette, so while Rashmi is sending messages to Chrono, she's giving the information on her battle visor a once-over. And, along the way, they'd... not so much stopped to pick up Amy, as flown past and dipped in altitude so Rashmi could extend her Flier-Fin and they could keep going, bringing her along too.

"Starcrash, it's been two days since my battle with Fate-san. How're our mana levels?"

<< MANA LEVELS AT EIGHTY PERCENT >>

"Well, that'll have to do," Molly muses, watching a little mana-bar appear in the bottom corner of her holographic display. They're getting close to the beach; and the weather really sucks, so Molly puts up a round shield, the globe of energy snapping into existence around her and then turning invisible, aside from the fact that the rain is no longer hitting her.

"Oh, Rashmi-chan. I left my jacket in your dorm room, remind me to get it after we're done or I'll be at home wondering where I put it." Apparently, this is not a first time for her to be super absent-minded about something important to her. "And -- Oh, crikey. That's a lot of unconscious people down there, I hope they're okay! And, that's a portal. Rashmi-chan, we already know we can't shoot through those. ...Starcrash, we're definitely in for a fight. Charge Solar Barrage, forty homing barrets, and let's hold it at the ready."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >>

"Alright now... where's the Witch. There'll be one here for sure."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
In a rainy day such as this one, visiting the beach? Pure madness. That was Veronica's opinion, as she stares towards the bodies of the swimmers that now lie unconscious on the sandy ground. And if they had stayed home, or if she'd noticed earlier? Maybe she could have rounded up anyone she knew, and put a stop to this already.

That open portal isn't helping her mood at all. She is averting her gaze from it right now while she reaches for her calling card, and even so the sensation of wrongness exuding from it is so strong she feels it crawling on her skin.

She is not where people would see her, sight by others cut off by a wall to her right, but that becomes much less of a consideration when that man starts being dragged towards the portal.

Tossing the card above her, the brunette showers in sparkling white light. "Paint the sky with a burst of moonlight,

My heart transforms in the glow of the night.", she sings, the white and blue visage of the Princess of Sarek replacing her figure.

"Transient Lunar Flare!, she shouts, a burst of moonlight travelling faster than she can towards those that are dragging the man in.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "You can detect that?! All the way from Yumegahama?!" Amy is astonished! And also of course she'll go to help!

    She doesn't have a plan for how to deal with the portals, though. They can't be shot into, they nullify magic. Nothing damages them, the tower is tough...

    Is the answer just to kill the witch? The answer might be just to kill the witch.

    Viluy had been... relatively reasonable once in the past, it's true, but her experiments turning people into body-horror monsters is a bridge too far. Way too far.

    She overhears the Device. "You're at eighty? Damn, I'm at..." She mentally considers for a moment. "...ehh, about thirty-six wolves, I think, as long as I get chances to purify my soul gem."

    Amy smiles a little. It's a dreary day and they're going up against who knows what, but at least she has plenty of magic! That's one positive!

    "...But no matter how much magic we have, we can't get it through the portal. How do we stop it, then...?"

    She doesn't have an answer, a plan before they arrive, Amy taking in the scene through binoculars on approach. "Shit. She's bringing people to the portal again. Are those security guys helping her mind-controlled or from Obsidian?" She considers that neutralizing what appears to be a human is the most expedient path to free the struggling prisoner.

    Amy looks at the guard's belt. No firearm. He didn't sign up to wield lethal force on people, at least...

    And thanks to that, she takes care to aim for the leg... of the guy at the portal, as others are already shooting the one dragging the swimmer. "Hold me steady... wait nevermind." She fires a gyrojet -- a bullet that gets most of its acceleration from burning fuel like a rocket on its way to the target, rather than from being launched from its firearm -- at the guard, and it is a homing bullet, guided to the guard's leg regardless of what angle it left her weapon at.

    She then drops down from Rashmi, levelling the weapon at Viluy and firing at her to see what defenses pop up.

    "This experiment is over..." Man, fighting a supervillain mad scientist really feels like a sitation Amy should have a snappy line for, but right now she just feels sick remembering what she saw last time...

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
And there's interference.

Viluy looks up with a grimace as the world takes of a sepia-tone as the Time-Space Barrier is erected. As has previously been the case with these portal openings, though the world is undeniably shunted to the dimensional left, the civilians remain.

So does the terrified victim.

And so does Viluy, looking decidedly annoyed as Stinger Blades fly towards her and the Tower -

"Mosiac Barrier!"

A glowing circle of sparkling blue light appears around Viluy, the tower, and the two security officers standing near Viluy and her equipment, as the pale cuff on her left arm glows with blue light - the nanites she controls with the cuff are strong and durable, and the three Stinger Blades weren't enough to break through.

The security officer dragging the drained swimmer, on the other hand? He's hit first by the blast of Transient Lunar Flare, bowling him over, and then by the two Stinger Blades, which puts him down for the count, freeing the panicking swimmer to run for it, struggling against the gripping wet sand for freedom.

The officer who'd been standing beside the portal, ready to assist as needed, on the other hand? Well, he goes down with a high-pitched scream of pain, clutching a knee that, even at a distance, does not look good.

Viluy watches him go with a vaguely annoyed look, and then triggers her audio recorder. "Due to anticipated interference, Subject 1017 has escaped." Pauses the recording, and then adds to the security officers, "Don't bother with attempting to retrieve him, they'll put you down as easily as they did the other."

Turning on the heroes, with her glittering nano-barrier lighting the path between hem, she calls to the gathered heroes, "As you some of you have surely observed on previous encounters, this Tower is preserving the connection between this plane and the other via the portal. Given your usual interest in intervening in my experimentation on behalf of my test subjects, I would advise against continued efforts to damage it."

A brief pause.

"Unless you've chosen to allow me to keep the test subjects who've already passed between dimensions. That would be an intriguing and appreciated diversion from your usual tactics."

Her gaze scans each of them, before resting on Molly, at which point her eyes narrow in keen interest. The background scans, continuing to drain those already unconscious, are sure to have new and intringuing data to build off her previous results.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Viluy's dispassionate enumeration of what exactly kind of bog the victims are stuck in earns her a dirty look from the redheaded Devicer; one that melts into worry as she considers their options.

    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

<< ... So if we take down the tower now, we lose the civilians. We can't use magic *through* the portal... so I think that means three of us are gonna have to go in after. AND BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING AMY, you should really stay out here; Dark Energy and Soul Gems are a *proven* bad mix, and we don't know how quick you'll eat through your Grief Seeds... >>

At the same time, she shares a worried look with Chrono. She knows what she's asking; to do what no mahou has been desperate and/or stupid enough to do, and dive *into* the Dusk Zone. Even if briefly, that will *not* be a pleasant prospect.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
"HEY PRINCESS." he calls out to the Princess of Sarek. "Can you cover me. I'm going for that barrier. Lemme know...!" he says as he draws his hands from his pocket and pulls out two silver pistols, inset on ivory colored grips etched with the Ace of Spades, rather than the gunmetal black ones. he calls out...

"Ace in the Hole!" he calls out, and fires a barrage of many magical bullet shots at the barrier shield, honing in on it, all the bullets magically landing at the exact same place as he even jumps down off the building.

<< "Hey, maybe some other folks can go save the people..." >> he says into Rashmi's telepathy net when Rashmi sets it up, as he pulls back the guns, magazines ejecting from the bottom of the gun.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown quickly dropped from the sky as he gathered and mentally catalogued the information. Three civilians were trapped inside the barrier, and it was dangerous. Going in alone would be... dangerous.

<< Rashmi, can your boosts work across the threshold? >> he asked. << Rashmi, Molly, Princess, continue covering and join up with me. Detective, Red, maintain external pressure but don't risk damaging the portal. Three grab the civilians, last covers them as they make their way out. >>

The moment he touched ground, he launched himself forward again, heading towards the portal and...

<< Wait until I give the go ahead to come through. >>

He, admittedly, didn't know WHAT would happen on the opposite side of the portal. But if it turned out it was like... instant magic nullification, eh was NOT going to okay them coming through. But if anyone had to rush into such a dangerous portal first, it should be the idiot with training.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I don't suppose you would be smart enough to give up on your little project if we advise you to, would you?", the Princess of Sarek gives a confident smile, even if her actual feelings are anything but. She is internally hissing over the hostages, and she doesn't want to imagine in what condition they are even if getting them back is feasible.

"Taking down the barrier is ok, but do wait on destroying the tower itself, mister detective", the Princess of Sarek chooses to warn Pulp Noir at his advance. She doesn't really want to leave the people trapped behind the portal to their fate.

At the same time offering Viluy some motivation not to play tricks is a good thing, and the barrier covers for her too. If someone does try to attack Noir, that someone will get a Lunar Flare in return.

At the same time, the Princess of Sarek doesn't waste a second when Chrono calls to her for a trip behind that creepy portal. She isn't very fond of letting someone go alone like a sacrificial lamb.

"If something does happen to you, you will just add to the list of those to be rescued", the girl with the hair of moonlight comments.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Ahh. There's the Witch, marked as hostile on her battle visor, in red lettering. It's Viluy, the one who said she was 'interesting'. Interesting, hunh? Well maybe she'll find this interesting.

"Fire!!" Molly aims her staff at Viluy, and unleashes a volley of glowing, super-heated barrets that sizzle swiftly through the air as they home in on their target. As the last of them leaves, Molly is already turning to fly away from her position, looking to get to a better vantage point. "Starcrash, let's find a good firing solution," she requests, watching on her Battle Visor as the information on friendly, hostile, and neutral targets all gets more detailed and granular, showing information like velocities and trajectories -- all of which Molly somehow keeps straight.

"Starcrash, overcharge Stellar Buster. Boost kinetic and thermal output by half."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED. WARNING: REPEATED OVERCHARGE USE MAY CAUSE DAMAGE >>

"Got it," Molly replies, "Let's keep it on standby while we look for a good shot." Then comes Rashmi's analysis and Chrono's instructions, which has Molly change course and wheel around to where she can effectively cover and be ready to dive through the portal. << Got it, >> she answers. << Rashmi-chan, if you could boost me, that'd be fantastic. I'm ready to jump through the portal at a moment's notice. >>

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy has never been to the dusk zone but gathers it's like the eclipse zones but far, far worse. Although... << Doesn't it nullify anything that's magic going through? Are we sure we want to find out what that does to us? >>

    << With Noir. >> Amy telepathically calls out, as she too has the idea of breaking the shield and stopping Viluy by... stopping Viluy.

    *Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop!* Amy switches to a high-caliber gyrojet and just repeatedly shoots at the same spot as Pulp Noir is shooting, her magic making the bullets home without a clear mechanism because the idea that rockets and missiles can do that is so obvious that magic just goes with it.

    The magazine drops out of her weapon but then both disappear, to be replaced by a shoulder recoilless rifle; Amy bothers to summon earmuffs matching her outfit this time because after she fires it she fires it she fires it she fires it--

    She doesn't have to grab a new disposable launcher, or reload -- with magic maintaining her weapon and summoning ammunition inside it, there is actually very little limiting her firing rate; Only her own mental perception from seeing rocket launchers used in video games that such weapons take time to reload.

    Screw that, she's hammering the shield. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! go the explosions over her shoulder, echoed by the anti-tank rounds hammering the shield with shaped charge-produced jets of tiny amounts of hypervelocity molten metal, over and over again.

    Hopefully, if nothing else, a constant, noisy, bright assault on the barrier will make it rather hard for Viluy to focus on things...!

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
The threat is honest and simple, and logic dictates that that means it's most likely to work - which naturally means it doesn't work at all. Viluy's eyes widen in surprise as not one but three of the opposing mahou launch attacks.

Mosiac Barrier is powerful, but not impenetrable - and certainly not meant to withstand multiple shots over time. Having withstood Stinger Blade, the nanite barrier flickers when Ace in the Hole strikes, cracks when Star Devil off her forty super-heated barrets (Viluy's officers, valuing their pay and expecting their lives won't be in genuine danger leap in front of her), and finally cracks under Star Devil and Amy's combined assaults, nanites shuddering and then giving way in glittering pieces that rain to the wooden platform the tower is housed on.

The officers, having been shielding Viluy and the Tower, are blasted back, grazed by the launching rounds. Their uniforms are smoldering, but they're breathing and groaning in pain; they'll live.

There's a bigger problem, though, and it's that the Tower certainly won't live, not with blasts from bullet and barrets striking it. Smoke flies up from the machine, and RViluy, standing with her arms raised to ward off damage, lowers them slowly, her surprise obvious on her face and in her voice. "...I wasn't actually expecting any of you to be willing to fire and risk civilian lives."

There's a note in her voice that none of them have heard before - respect. They've earned her respect, in doing this.

Turning her back on them entirely, Viluy approaches the machine, stepping over her whimpering guards to analyze the damage - "I'll be able to keep it functioning, but you've just imposed a steep time limit on your little rescue; the machine won't be able to hold the portal open for longer than approximately twelve minutes and thirty-six seconds."

Oh that's not good. "Fortunately, it shouldn't take that long for my experiment to be completed. A shame for your rescue efforts, though."

Meanwhile, Chrono has properly entered the portal - and what he feels is a terrible draining. It's not that magic doesn't function - it's that it's weakened by the sheer inhospitable nature of the world around him. Negative energy fills the air, and even simple spells, like Flier Fin, seem to require tremendous energy. The journey will likely need to be made on foot.

At least the ground is safe. It's just solid ground, covered in a layer of pale fog, that chokes the air when breathed in, cloying, stirred up by footsteps, but it's not fatal - just exhausting.

For Molly, who breathed in the vision created by Calaveras not long ago, it will be terribly familiar.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< ...On it, >> Rashmi answers Molly, as Nicomachea chimes in support.

<< *BONG!* >> << BETA ACCEL -- BOOST UP >>

A pair of foxfires resolve and dart toward their targets -- Molly and Rashmi herself -- and the moment her boost lands on her, she's burning it all up to follow after Chrono...

And the sudden *strain* of energy drain on her is a surprise, causing her Flier Fin to shatter like so much candy-glass, and depositing her uncerimoniously on the hard, twisted ground of the Dusk Zone.

"TWELVE MINUTES, CHORONO," she calls as she pushes herself to her feet, stumbling after the Enforcer and toward the civilians.

Because let's be honest; they are the priority here. Not Rashmi, not Chrono, but the ones who can't defend themselves, and need others to protect them.

In the end, they are *always* who it's for.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown stepped into the portal and... Oh. Oh shit that was terrible. Ugh. He shuddered, before racing forward. It was... terrible. It hurt. And he was taking readings, his device trying to automate the shielding over him as he ran towards the hostages. He'd wave the others in.

He'd set a timer on his device, though, counting it down. He'd done worse than this, there was no way he could leave them. However...

            <<Stinger Snipe!>>

Three small blue orbs, all shooting out, going straight to the backs of the head. Hopefully they'd get at least one strike in before dissipating. Stop them from getting further from the portal, then get the bodies. << I'll hold them off, focus on the civilians. >> he told the others. Because of course he did.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir watches the shield go down and he stops any firing upwards at the tower, he looks at Sarek and says over the tacnet. << I'm gonna find the way to shut it down when they're red--- >> and he's cut off when a bunch of stuff actually hits the tower and he winces and frowns. "God dammit." he says outloud. << "We're behind the 8-ball. Better burn the road!" >> he calls out in Noir slang. He means, we're in a hard situation, better move fast.

He levies the two pistols and levies them at Security guards, firing regular magical shots at them. There will be a strong magical blast! They'll probably hurt later and have a headache, no bullet penetration.

"Dame, if you shut that before they save them folks, or before that twelve minutes is up..." he warns out loudly.

El, a tiny angel chara fairy, peeks out from underneath his fedora. "Be careful Hinote-kun!" the angel says. "Don't worry." he says. "Everything will be alright." he whispers back to the angel as the angel flops back underneath the hat.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly looks, briefly, perplexed. ...Oh, right; the shield protecting Viluy was the same one protecting the tower, and now the Civilians are in trouble. Well damnit. << Sorry Rashmi-chan, I screwed up, >> she admits, feeling her cheeks flush as she turns to burn hard after Rashmi, who is in turn following Chrono into the portal. << We got this Amy-chan! Cover our exit!! >> She doesn't even slow down as she gets there, just taking whatever effects happen and cruising straight through.

Immediately, her shield flickers around her and fizzles; her Flier Fin wings, likewise, blink-blink out of existence, and she tumbles to the ground, managing to land in a crouch and skid across the ground. And

This

Is familiar. For a moment, she's just standing there, mouth agape. This is just like that vision. It feels like the vision. That's so... strange. Why is it like this? That was supposed to be a memory held by someone from the future, it just doesn't make sense. What's going on here? And why is Rashmi here, yelling about twelve min--

Molly shakes her head, snapping herself out of a day-dream and back into reality. There are civilians who need saving and it's their job to save them. She looks around, giving her battle-visor a moment to-- Oh great, no battle visor either, that's offline. "Starcrash, try to get my battle visor back up at least," she asks, "But, meanwhile, FIRE!!"

Molly points her staff upwards, aiming at the hideous mass that's been injecting people with Proto-Daimions; and at it, she opens up with a searing, unstable beam of energy. Starcrash glows, and the vents on her staff and barrier jacket open and hiss with steam, and where the beam hits it lets off a tremendous explosion. Or, at least, it would; but in here, everything seems to be drained. Still, she overcharged it, and Rashmi boosted her.

After it hits, Molly casts her eyes about for civilians to actually save. "Starcrash, recharge that same spell, same parameters. Disengage safety protocols. I'll take the risks."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >>

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy does look shocked when the shield goes that quickly. She was already formulating a plan to escalating to setting the shield on fire to cook Viluy. But not only does the shield go down, the tower suddenly starts overloading?! And then she narrows her eyes as she walks towards Viluy. "You really expect us to believe," Amy asks, "That after all the trouble we've had trying to damage the towers before, you made it easier for us by rigging it to go when we take the shield down? Nuh-uh."

    She watches her friends go through and they aren't immediately dehenshined ort disintigrated. So much for their understanding of how the portal works. Or perhaps the nullification/disintigration effect is selective and not targeting people.

    Well. They can go there, it seems -- but she daren't risk it. Even if she is flush with grief seeds right now, it would be senseless to waste them--

    Amy thinks back to frantically blasting Scorn to stop her from taking Rashmi

    --and risk getting caught low on magic when she needs it.

    Amy-chan! Cover our exit!!

    Amy pulls out her phone. "Set timer for six minutes." And then she changes her weapon to a gyrojet pistol and aims it at Viluy threateningly as she gets close.

    "I can't believe I thought you were reasonable when you gave me a grief seed. Is how I feel looking back at that how everyone else saw me trusting Sunbreaker?" Amy shakes her head.

    "Alright, so. Next order of business, you're gonna give me a damn convincing reason to believe that you not only made the tower easier to destroy, but also that I still need you alive for the next twelve minutes."

    Amy hasn't thought this bluffing-or-is-it game all the way through, but maybe trying to argue with her life will mean Viluy has slightly less brain free to think of other tricks to pull.

    ...

    The mahou went through and survived. That's interesting. And the humans fear that this dusk zone could lead to earlier Witching for those who've become Puella Magi. Interesting, but perhaps problematic: It would be a waste, if a puella magi were encouraged to go in, only for him to be unable to collect the energy released when they complete their contract. The connection will need to be observed. At worst, he'll lose a couple of bodies; the possibility of harvesting energy faster outweighs the expenditure of resources.

    When the assembled mahou -- sans the Puella Magi -- are out of sight of the gate's entrance, the Kyubey watching from the street bounds over to the portal, crosses the threshold, and immediately collapses. Knowledge gained.

    A minute later, a second Kyubey bounds through the threshhold, picks up the inert body in its mouth, and walks deeper inside to get a look at this realm.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The Princess of Sarek stands position at the border of the portal, waiting for Chrono to tell them to come in, although any second that passes only adds to the doubt that he has decided to sacrifice himself.

Because really, what is she supposed to do if he doesn't give the go ahead? Take her things and go home? The only reason she hasn't walked after him right away is to keep an eye on this side as well.

Still, when he does give the ok, the Princess of Sarek doesn't waste any time racing inside to where the security are dragging off their victims, ignoring the dread of the dark energy world and following the light of Chrono's attacks with her own.

Though, she is not bothering to try and harm them, not in the Dusk Zone, and her solution is another. At the cry of "Blinding Glare", a vivid burst of moonlight flies to the Security abductors, hopefully strong enough even in here to temporarily deprive them of their sight.

Whatever the case, she doesn't stop running, and if a civilian is dropped, she makes a grab for that one, holding them in her arms and immediately turning the other way.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
In the cloying hell of choking negativity that is the Dusk Zone, it's almost like the world outside - except its darker, much darker, and sound doesn't seem to travel right, to their ears, and the shadows are deeper, and there's something crawling just out of sight, loud enough to hear, too quiet to properly identify, and if they look for it, they won't see it.

But they will see, in the distance ahead, the three victims, who had been being dragged, are still being manhandle by their accompanying security officers. The one in front has a swimmer in pink-and-green, who seems mostly unconscious, her security guard shoving her towards an enormous mass of flesh with undulating tendrils and a mass of terrible razer teeth, jutting from a mouth like an open wound. Gleaming red eyes fix on the victim, and the tendrils shoot for the swimmer in pink-and-green -

Only for a vivid beam of energy to strike with tremendous force, knocking the bulbous head back. Viscous fluid weeps from that open wound of a mouth, and one red eye swells shuts as the flesh bulges with the impact.

It isn't able to strike at the girl, who sways and thuds to the ground. The proto-daimon bellows in rage, the sound echoing -

(And Molly will feel the exhaustion of landing such a blow, in this world that hates her, that devours her, that is the very antithesis to her being.)

In the near-distance, answering snarls and roars fill the air, and not just from other proto-daimons - the other denizens of this area of the Dusk Zone have been alerted, and are coming for them.

As this is happening, the security officer who had been grabbing pink-and-green tries to snatched the girl back up, ready to again offer her to the proto-daimon for implantation, when he's struck in side of the head (having turned, in grabbing the girl), by Stinger Snipe and he drops her again, dazed.

(Chrono will feel the drain of that strike, which should have been nothing - it pulls at him as though he'd used a much more taxing spell. There's the temptation of frustration, anger, hatred, as he strikes these men.)

The other two are struck as well, and their captives slip from their hands for a moment, before they whirl around and start to fire their tasers, only for a blindingly bright burst of moonlight to strike their eyes.

(And the Princess of Sarek will, likewise, feel a drain on her energy, negativity battering at her soul.)

Their taser darts fire, but erratically, rather than at any specific target, and can be avoided by those being mindful of their steps. These tasers being mechanical but enhanced by magic, are more easily able to fire, even in the hands of security officers with only the slight seed of Dark Energy, and the dark energy crackles along with the electricity along the wire connecting the darts to the main body.

The howling call of the proto-daimon has summoned more fighters, and as the proto-daimons strike for the weakened security officers and victims alike, tendrils dash out, ready to dig deep into flesh, and wicked howls rise. The sound of crawling becomes louder, becomes thudding, becomes rolling, and a creature bursts from the foggy cover - pitch-black, covered in slick, oily skin, with horns covering its spherical body. It has two, thick dinosaur-like legs, and it tucks them in to roll forward like a monstrous version of the Pokemon Donphan, barreling straight for Chrono, out furthest from the rest of the group, and radiating tasty magic.

The Princess of Sarek, having lunged forward, is able to grab at the last victim to have gone through, a swimmer in black-and-yellow, catching him by the arm. She should get him out of there.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
On the other side of the portal, Viluy looks at Pulp Noir with interest and Amy with exasperation, telling the detective - "I have no intention of sabotaging this. The data I'm collecting is fascinating - the effects of the Dusk Zone are debilitating on civilians, but on your sort of magics? I can't be certain it's ever been recorded."

He's threatening her, but in a very clear-cut and unobstrusive manner. Amy, on the other hand, is clearly threatening to stop her and she says, very simply -

"Mosiac Blaster."

And the weapon-cuff at her wrist lights up as a beam of, well, grey-and-blue mosaic energy blasts at Amy. It's like taking a two by four to the chest - not enough to break bones, but very likely enough to knock the wind out of her.

"You're getting too full of yourself, if you think Viluy of the Witches 3 will let herself be cowed so easily. This tower wasn't rigged to go down, it's a recycled machine, and as even fools know, they breakdown. Why waste prime materials when you brats are so eager to lay waste to everything around you? I expected that knowing the risks would stay your hand. I was incorrect; I'll factor that into our next encounter."

With a flicker of her wrist, the cuff glows once more and Mosiac Barrier is put back into effect, glittering once more and covering Viluy and the Tower.

"Reason depends on common goals. You handed me information, before. It was reasonable enough to offer you a reward. That's all there was to it."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Well, that was useful. At least they weren't taking the victims any further. That was the positive.

Which was good, because everything else was negative. He felt that anger, that frustration... and took a slow, calming breath. Luckily, he'd had a run in with dark energy before. And he knew all too well how... enticing it could be. He had to keep control, for now.

He managed to sidestep the taser rather easily, going for the furthest body, trusting one of the others to grab the second wounded...

Only for something slick and... weird to come at him. He had only a moment, before he drove his staff down to the ground.

            << Subzero Impulse! >>

And he'd... make a patch of ice on the ground in front of him before leaping forward! His intent? To make the creature hit the ice and lose traction, while he raced towards the furthest victim! He had to get them before they ended up trapped here, reaching out a hand to try and grab them...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When you're a mahou...

You see a lot of horrific things, especially if you manage to place yourself in the path of at least one of the rolling carnival of apocalypsoi that seems aimed directly at Earth. But all those things stood *apart* from the place of their manifestation; Walpurgisnacht was a natural disaster that *opposed* life on Earth, Beryl and Metallia were inherently *inimical* to a world that could support and sustain the Sailor Senshi and their allies.

Here, *Rashmi* is the intruder. The very *air* hates her with all its gaseous being, and would like nothing more than for her to die, so it wouldn't have to *fill her lungs anymore.*

Honestly only three things are keeping her mind focused much at all; that Chrono is ahead of her, so are the civilians they came here to rescue... And that *active danger* has been alerted and is on their way.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRET -- GLACE SHIFT >>

Her own magic corrodes even as it forms, her golden ice crystals shot through with bruise-purple inclusions... And a mere six Barrets, summoned, converted, and thrown at the monsters rushing toward her Chrono is drain enough to make her stagger, stumbling down and under an errant taser needle.

Stumble, but not fall.

The Barrets, should they hit, might hamper the creatures in small, helpful ways. This is not the world of mahou, she can't count on them being pinned to the floor... But keeping Chrono safe is her second priority right now.

<< Guys anything that keeps that portal open longer is a thing we need, >> she says over the telepathic link, her mental voice thready and exhausted. << Molly-chan... Don't worry about fighting. Cover. We need *cover,* and we need *room,* because we need to *get out of here.* All of us! >>

Amanda Faust has posed:
    << What are you doing? >> Amanda wonders, over Kyuulepathy. << Curiousity is a trait shared by both of our species, is it not? New information may help to reverse entropy with more efficacy. ...Your friends are correct: Magic is drastically less efficient here. That would include the magic you use to control your body. >> Amy feels a brief shudder as various half-baked plans to explore the portal, should she ever need to, did not consider that possibility. F***.

    Kyubey does not find the situation favorable either. The energy expenditure of any foray through the portal precludes doing so casually or methodically. Risk and reward are weighed and calculated: Learning what he can from a quick look around may be worth it.

    Red, emotionless eyes glimpse monsters. The probability that a realm so infused with dark energy would contain beings suitable for contracting was a significant part of the potential value calculated for this expedition. (to say the Incubator "hoped" to find some would be anthropomorphizing.) But the native life here... does not seem suitable.

    Experiment parameters are re-evaluated. Kyubey tries to dash deep into the dark realm while the monsters are distracted by the Humans. Deeper and deeper, to see what is there. Unlike the humans, the Incubator can simply abandon this body when it is done; it is not worth the energy to retrieve.

    ...

    "I'm not going in there." Amy states, when Viluy gives her that look.

    And then Mosaic Blaster works exactly as intended, knocking her on her back, stunned.

    Well, mostly as intended -- the stun lasts for less than half a second before the Puella Magi starts to get back up, but the field is back up before she can stop it, leaving her angrily glaring at Viluy through the field. "I don't know which of you is worse to deal with." Amy growls. "At least he gave me this life."

    "...So. Why aren't you just shutting off the tower now and trapping them there?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly has to hope that what's going on outside the barrier is going well. At least Amy didn't come in here -- with the mana draining going on, her entering would be... Well Molly doesn't like to think about it. So she doesn't. There are other things to focus on other than what something that clearly isn't going to happen. Right? Right.

<< Cover? I have just the thing. >> Molly opens her mouth to give instructions for a spell, but just ends up caughing instead. The air here is awful, just like in that vision, and she doesn't have a bucket of brackish water this time. Her throat is on fire, her eyes are burning, and nostrils and lips feel like they're about to bleed; she pushes a gauntleted finger up under her spectacles to gently rub her eyes, just enough so she can see.

Working hard on her previous instructions, Starcrash brings up Molly's battle visor. It flickers and dims, but there's enough for the purplenette to make out at least some of the targets converging on their position. Guards, and... other things. Something black and slick and oily, that's coming for Chrono.

"Starcrash, charge Eclipse Beam, four second duration, maximum thermal inversion," she gasps.

<< ARMED >>

Molly levels her staff at the horror coming for Chrono, and fires a brief beam of extreme cold at it; her battle visor blinks into view just long enough for her to see how her mana is draining and getting used up. No help for it right now though. "Starcrash, cha-cough charge Starburst Barrage," she gasps again, "Two hundred barrets, two second delay; rapid fire, no detonations within twenty feet of allied targets."

<< ARMED. ALERT; MANA RESERVES AT FIFTY PERCENT >>

"Got it." Molly takes a deep breath, immediately regreting it. << Here comes cover. Just watch your eyes. >>

Once again, Molly opens fire, unleashing a torrent of barrets that she sprays all around where the guards and the oily creature are. The barrets zoom off unguided and explode, detonating in brilliant (if non-damaging) bursts of multi-colored light. Blinding enough on Earth, but here... hopefully adequate, given how this place is not just draining her mana, but weakening her magic as well. But it's cover nonetheless.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir is running towards the tower. He needs to get closer to it and he smacks right into the barrier, causing an static charge to zort him a moment but it doesn't hurt. He does however, still run into a barrier at a good clip so kind of a resounding ZAP. Maybe.

He frowns. Dammit, he was too slow. He wishes he was faster. Like Tuxedo Kamen. There's nothing to do for that now, if wishes we're fishes and all that, we'd all be fed.

Raising his pistol, he fires into the barrier before he tsks and steadies him and walks back about a foot. "Bean shooter ain't gonna be enough." he says, with the rest of the team on the other side, he draws back his arm and body as energy starts gathering around his fist...!

"The Big Goodbye...!" he calls out and swings his fist into the barrier. When the hit connects, there will be a strong magical force expelled out, an attack meant specifically to bust through barriers or at least, damage it severely.

"Gonna send you on a trip in the fast wagon when we're done here." he says. He means 'send you home in an ambulance'. Look, he's fused with Tracy, of course he's spouting old quips.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
When the wave of fatigue that comes from blinding the security guards enters her soul, the Phantom Thief staggers slightly, all the more so when the swimmer is taken in her arms, a loss of precious seconds while she regains her balance. Her cane is left hanging from her arm in this mad race.

The feelings of despair bouncing around in her mind tinge her world with hopelessness, and the stretch of ground between her and the portal seems vast. How long is it she has left? Is she remembering wrong? Has she failed already?

Gritting her teeth, she reminds herself that thoughts aren't actually hers, just an illusion, and not even one with purpose. There is no intelligent mind behind it, just the depraved energy of a depraved place. She is not letting something like that get the best of her, the portal is right there!

A glow, and the figure of the Princess of Sarek changes, becoming taller and extending the stride of her leaps between the taser lines to counter the hesitation still clinging to her movements, now looking exactly like Phantom. A barrier of moonlight takes shape around her at the same time, hopefully protecting her from shots that may reach her and the swimmer.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
Demonphan barrels at Chrono, the proverbial bull seeing red, but when he dodges to the side, casting a spell of ice - the ice is thin, weak from the very nature of the Dusk Zone peeling away at his energy. It cracks under the creature's very weight, the spikes helping to maintain traction, and then - Rashmi strikes it with six barrets of volatile glacial energy.

One after the other, they strike, slowing it down - bleeding off speed - but not stopping it. This is a problem, because though it is enormous and oversized, lumpy and malformed, filled with hatred for life itself -

It's terribly maneuverable. It's terribly fast. And with Chrono having barreled out of the way, Demonphan closes the distance between itself and the stumbling Rashmi, crashing into her side with beyond bruising force, jarring her skeleton, leaving deep tissue bruising. The horns catch at her barrier jacket, damaging but not tearing through, and the collision will throw her up into the air, three meters, four, five -

If she tries it, a panicked Flier Fin will break her momentum enough that when she lands on the middle-of-the-pack victim, in white-and-gold, she won't break any of their bones (let alone her own) with the impact.

When she pulls herself up - because she WILL pull herself up, of course - she'll be able to drag the young woman in white-and-gold along with her - she's got a little more energy, able to at least keep on her feet, and that will help.

Chrono extends his arm to reach out and grab the pink-and-green suited victim, and she struggles to reach out as well, her eyes bleary, her skin drained to a sickly color. If she survives, she won't remember all that happened, but one thing is for sure - she'll never try surfing in a storm again.

But just as Chrono is about to reach her, that out-stretched hand up to the forearm is snatched by the lashing tendrils of the Proto-Daimon Molly hammered with her shot. They're thin filaments, barely as thick as a pencil, and yet they twist and squeeze with all the force of a gorilla, baring down on Chrono with terrible might -

There's a crack in his arm as at least one bone gives, somewhere between his elbow and his palm, and the Proto-Daimon triers to keep twisting, like something out of Junji Ito's Uzumaki - when it's struck by Star Devil's Eclipse Beam.

The four seconds that chilling blast lasts seem to span forever, before Chrono's arm is free, able to grasp for the pink-and-green clad victim if he can force himself to do it.

The Proto-Daimon's rippling flesh freezes over from the chill, before the movement of the rest of it's body causes the ice - and the flesh itself - to split apart, leaving it oozing brackish blood and howling in agony. The over-grown teeth snap and gnash in animalistic bites, but it can't make it to the victim, or to Chrono.

He'll be able to grab her, to run, which is good, because Demonphan comes barreling back -

Star Devil's two hundred barrets aren't nearly as strong as they would be in real space, many of them fizzling right out, but there are so many, there are so many and they strike with enough force to confuse, to enrage, to dizzy - the Proto-Daimons and the creatures of the Dusk Zone roar and they converge on Star Devil - Demonphan turning a donut like an out of control car as it wheels around to race for her, ready to barrel her over and crunch her as it had Rashmi, and the Proto-Daimons rush her for her, undulating, mauling masses of flesh with two many teeth and lashing tendrils, cutting off easy escape routes.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
As they're doing this, the Princess of Sarek is still, for a moment, swollen with despair, tasty prey, full of light -

In the exact moment that she becomes Phantom - taller, stronger, Phantom of the Night and puts up the barrier to better defend herself, another of the horned, rolling Demonphans rushes her -

Only smack against the moonlight wall with a roar of fury. Demonphan 2 wheels around, rushing back for the Phantom of the Night, but it's too slow - she is able to break forth from the portal, into the sand of 'our' world once more.

The victim in black-and-yellow is still conscious, greedily sucking in clean air, and in the clear air it's easy to see that their skin had been turning purple, their eyes tinged red, as dark energy seeped into them, began to make them something other just with the ambient energy of the Dusk Zone itself.

Second Victim, Rescued.

Demonphan 2 doesn't chase the Phantom of the Night through the portal, but wheels around instead, racing for Rashmi and the victim in White-and-Gold, aiming to barrel her over and keep on going to barrel Chrono over, if it can.

Kyubey pushes into the darkness of the Dusk Zone and finds itself drained, to be sure, but not nearly so much as these heroes seem to be. It's as though the Dusk Zone doesn't hate it as much for the crime of being alive and unlike it, though it most certainly HATES the Mahou for everything they are.

The deeper it plunges, the more strange life its sees - trees with twisting vines and fruit that snap their teeth and fizzle and pop and contort in the air, roots that seek to ensnare, crawling creatures like distorted versions of life on Earth, seen through a looking glass mirror reflected in a funhouse mirror made of kaleidoscopic glass.

The Dusk Zone is not, it seems, a negative reflection of the Earth Kyubey knows, but something... else.

Something most of humanity would find abhorrent.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
Outside the portal, Viluy is grateful for her own quick-thinking, her barrier at the ready preventing the snatch of that detective themed boy with the tiny angel at his shoulder, and as he fires his pistol, only to correctly realize it won't do enough damage on it's own, she has the fleeing hope that perhps he'll leave her to focus on her work.

"What a wonderful idea," she drawls in response to Amy's question, though in the back of her mind she's wondering who the he who gave her 'this life' is meant to be. Another fascinating test subject, perhaps?

"It would be an efficient way to wipe so many of you off the board - oh my, one of you managed to esca...ape?"

It's confusion in her face and eyes as she takes in Phantom - that erstwhile, AWOL member of Mirage's cohort, emerge from the portal, carrying one of her subjects - and then it dawns on her.

"My, my, do you have a shapeshifter among you? An illusionist? What a subject of study that would be, I'll have to keep tabs to see when this emerges - why, I wonder if he can still maintain the abilities the proper Phantom could?"

And then Pulp Noir crashes his fist upon the barrier, causing it to ripple with distress, the nanites straining under the force - cracks begin to burst.

"Instead of trying to interfere with my work, why don't you go act as you heroes do and investigate the condition of my test subject?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Even as attenuated as their magic is in this awful, inimical plane of existence... Rashmi's Barrier Jacket lets her take a hit that would have shattered multiple bones, and turn it into something that merely jars, bruises... and *now* Rashmi understands the exquisite pain of trying to move on fractured ribs. No wonder the injury shows up in all the stories, it's *awful.*

But of course she would try to throw a Flier Fin, because even when one is dealing with the ground the best way to block is to not be there. And her magic may not works *as expected,* as it was programmed to, but it whistles the tune enough that she can avoid injuring a civilian.

This is good.

Pulling the poor victim up, she loops an arm around her shoulders and -- oh, so unwisely -- looks behind her, to Chrono, and Molly, and the hate and terror and despair and dread grab her heart in many-splintered talons and *pulls.*

Chrono, arm broken.

Molly -- full aggro.

<< Molly-chan YOU HAVE TO GET OUT. THEY WON'T STOP WHEN YOU CALL UNCLE, *PLEASE!* >> she calls over the mental comms net... As she staggers toward the portal. Chrono has a civilian. *She* has a civilian. All the fighting and rescue she's done of the last year and a half, all the training and worrying and planning... All of it has ground into her creaking bones, into exhausted muscles.

You save the people who can't save themselves. *Then* you worry about you and yours.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown inhaled sharply as a part of his arm... snapped. As he felt the bone break.

Not the first time it happened.

Certainly not the last.

But you know what it was? The first time he'd had his bones broken, in the field without--

Oh, no, wait. That was when Fate nearly bisected him and then he had to try and scare of her mother. Still. FUCKING OW! THIS! THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY HURT WORSE! Possibly because he was struggling more with his magic. BECAUSE FUCKING OW!

His other hand lifted up, intending to cast a spell... but... Yay Molly. So instead, he had to reach out with his other hand and grab the woman, tossing him over his shoulders and try and stabilize her with... the broken... arm. Even as tears welled in his eyes. Even if she objected, he didn't really listen. He instead turn and ran towards the portal and--

HE SWORE TO HANNAH'S EVER HARDENED SKULL! TAKE A HINT!

<< Everyone... everyone out of the pool. We got them. >>

Well, fuck YOU Mr. Demonphan! He ran towards it, watching it come at him... and he raced at it. He had one good arm, and he'd... Well... he was a TSAB Enforcer. As the barreling, destroying, all devouring wheel of destruction came at him, he ran at it and... Dove to the left, sticking his device out and...

            <<Impact Cannon!>>

A blast, like a cannonball of compacted magic, would erupt from the staff and launch at an angle at the creature. The blow itself was a very short range move... but it was a short range blast designed to get magical tanks and other things out. Of. His. Way. And he poured a lot of power into it, a lot more power than he regularly did in this world, adjusting his usage of magic on the fly... Normally? He held back. But today... wasn't the day for that.

But you know what such a 'MOVE! NOW!' attack does to the body when you unleash it like that? It sends vibrations through the whole body. Including the arm that is both broken and trying to support the body on his shoulder.

And, for a moment, he froze, black spots on the corners of his vision as his own alarms of mana usage popped up.

He struggled, willing himself forward, before he tried to run again... If the demonphan was out of the way, if he managed to make it out over the threshold... he was going to collapse on the other side. And likely roll. It was not going to be pretty, but he rarely was.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir draws his hand back and then punches (normally) into the center of the crack as he yells out. "Time to clam it, witch!" he yells out loud. He gives it another right hook, bar room brawl style as is his style of fight.

Then Phantom(???) comes out of the portal with a normal person? W..what. Okay no time to worry about that. He frowns hard and looks between the big crack in the barrier, and back to the victims coming out of the portal.

<< "Amy, can you go check on them. I'm gonna keep pounding this thing." >> he says as he grits his teeth.

"I'm gonna close your case." he says. He keeps wailing on the barrier now. "We're working on saving people YOU put there. Why? Just Because?" he asks a little with frustration.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly's mana is dwindling, but that's not her primary concern. Her friends and allies are all working hard to get the civilians out, and things are starting to get crowded in here, as there are more and more enemy forces rising up against them. it's becoming clear; they don't belong here. They're not supposed to be here. And like antibodies to an infection, they are being attacked by things that are working very hard to exterminate them.

And then, Rashmi gets thrown around like a ragdoll and Chrono's arm is broken. At least the Princess of Sarek is doing okay; She's got someone out already, and Rashmi and Chrono are both carrying civillians, which leaves her here with her hands free.

Rashmi is begging her to get out. << Not yet!! >> she calls out, as she takes a step back. << You and Chrono are both hurt and you've got civilians, I've got to cover your escape, then I'll follow! >> Molly tries to summon her Flier Fin, and her wings flicker into existence long enough to get her ten feet off the ground before she tumbles back down, landing in a crouch. "Damnit--!! Starcrash," she gasps hurriedly, "Overcharge Stellar Pulse. Disengage safety protocols. On Hundred Barrets, maximum kinetic output." Maybe this place drains and weakens her magic, but that doesn't mean she can't brute force it, right? Never hurts to find out. Well, it might hurt to find out, but her friends are wounded and she isn't, which makes rear-guarding her job.

<< ARMED. WARNING: MANA RESERVES AT THIRTY-FOUR PERCENT. WARNING: DAMAGE LIKELY. >>

"Got it," Molly gasps. She takes a step back, edging herself towards the portal. << GO, Rashmi-chan, I'm right behind you!! >> As she urges her friends to get out of the portal, Molly swings her staff in a wide arc, bellowing to open fire; and open fire she does, unleashing a torrent of rapid-fire barrets charged up with as much mana and destructive force as she can pack into them, trying to overwhlem even the draining qualities of this place. She sprays barrets into the onrushing deomonic forces indiscriminately, doing her best to blast and repell them, buying precious seconds for her friends to get out; all while Starcrash is glowing and the gold star surrounding his jewel looking fit to go molten, and the vents on staff and jacket open fully, glowing bright yellow as they can't breath out steam fast enough and the heat threatens to overwhelm Molly's armor, but still she stands her ground and fires barret after barret after barret.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The alien regards a mutually alien world, having what one Taro Yamada might call 'shrimp thoughts.'

    He has associated with humanity for millenia; Certainly, he can tell they would find this abhorrent, though he does not understand why beyond the 'strange = danger' instinct present in many Earth animals. Perhaps an opportunity will arise in the future to complete a contract faster by telling a human there is an evil realm full of monsters here. That seems like the sort of information likely to motivate contractees.

    Atop a hill, Kyubey sets down the spare and rears up, peering across the duskscape like a kyuuprarie dog.

    But there are still no potential Puella Magi to be seen.

    He bends over the body and devours it. No human is here to comment, but if they were, they'd probably say the sight fits right in with the rest of the Dusk Zone, honestly.

    A single Kyubey-body lifts its head and bounds down the hill. He can continue this search just a little bit longer.

    ...

    Amy steels herself for a high-stakes game of mutual stalling with Viluy. So she doesn't look horrified at the comment about wiping them from the board -- but at hearing someone escaped, she does look away and stare, open-mouthed, for a second. Phantom?! What is he doing-- wait it's Sarek, right?

    Amy turns back to focus on Viluy as she and Pulp Noir suggest focusing on the rescuee. "There will be time for that shortly. Can you monitor their status through the machine?" More stalling.

    She presses her launcher against the field, point-blank, and CRACK! subjects it to the force of a small cannonball, similar to how she blasted that monster in the Golden Kingdom's streets. She's ready, this time, to dodge out of the way of the expected counterattack by Viluy.

    << Sarek, that's you, right? What's the situation in there? How are the others? >> Hopefully, Device telepathy is still up, she totally didn't forget about it until just now -- if not, the message gets relayed through Kyuulepathy instead.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Breaking out of the portal brings with itself a avid breath of fresh air, sweet pure untainted air, and the disguised Princess looks down at the swimmer, taking note of the purple skin with a frown. At the least, their breathing looks far better over here than in there, but they need a purifier and a healer soon.

"What makes you think I wasn't just passing by and decided to put an end to these sick games?", the fake Phantom replies with purported snide. "I certainly don't work for you", the redhaired rescuer stares at Viluy. He then walks over a dozen more meters and lowers her rescue onto the sand, freeing her hands to help out with Viluy.

"If there weren't more of your division's creepy experiments to deal with, I would consider Mirroring you where you stand for the offense", and then there is a turning around and a dive back into the portal to help out with the demon assaults on the other side.

<<Yes, that's me, and I don't like our chances. They are under attack by all types of creatures, and I am going to see if I can help out some more>>, is what Amy hears back before the portal gobbles the Princess of Sarek up.

On the other side, another blinding glare is used towards the nearest demonphan, cast with haste the second she emerges and not even bothering wasting time to check what they are doing.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
Demonphan 2 rolls at Rashmi with terrible speed and awful precision but the denizens of the Dusk Zone don't believe in friendship and connection, cooperation and communication.

Which means that a Proto-Daimon barrels for Rashmi at the same time and Demonphan 2 does and they crash together with bone-jarring force, distorting flesh and bone and Rashmi is free to drag herself further away with nothing more to stop her except - except, tendrils, lashing out, but they're like whips, thudding against her flesh - and a few striking the victim, causing her to cry out in pain - but she's running and then the lashing tendrils are gone because -



Star Devil has been firing, firing, firing, blasting and blasting and blasting out her energy, her mana is dwindling, her device is overheating, but still she fires, and the effect is starting to weaken - the creatures of the Dusk Zone are many and she is one against their terrible numbers.

She is one, but she is protecting many. Her attacks fire and strike and Rashmi reaches the edge of the portal. She and the white-and-gold victim are able to make it outside, tipping over onto the sand of Yumegahama Beach, where fresh, salt-scented air greets their starved lungs.

Demonphan 2 roars in rage and clamors to its feet, racing forward before hurtling into another spinning roll and racing for its next target.

Rashmi's free now, is she going to stay down? Is she going to go back in? The portal looms open, and her clock is ticking down.

Seven minutes until portal collapse.

Chrono was further into the portal, but it's his arm broken, not his legs, so though his victim is largely unconscious, he's able to make progress, with most of the monsters focused on Star Devil and her endless assault. He's got a ways to go though, across the ground, the mists of corruption and negativity, the air trying to strangle him, the wildlife trying to kill him, the -

Slither-crawl-roll of the leather-oily-horned hide of Demonphan 2 hurtling towards him. It twists to strike, horns at the ready -

IMPACT CANNON!

Even weakened by the Dusk Zone, the blast is enough to blast Demonphan 2 to the side, some of its leathery hide cracked, blood leaking through the wounds, and it roars again in rage as Chrono tumbles over the edge of the portal -

And this time the monster does not allow the edges of the portal to stop it. It has been wounded, it's territory invaded, and it hungers for their blood, their magic, their life to satisfy its hate -

Demonphan 2 tucks into a roll and bursts out of the portal, landing in a spray of sand between Viluy's platform (and thus Amy and Pulp Noir) and Rashmi, Chrono, and their respective victims. The air is pure. The sand is wet, with no sting of draining power, no prickles of hatred. It's a very good thing Phantom of the Night dragged his victim further away - they're in the safe zone, as it were.

Demonphan loathes it, and tucks into a roll, heading Chrono, as the one who wounded it, as the original Snack chosen by the beasts.

The alarm Amy set for her phone's six minute warning is screaming out.

...Someone should probably intervene with those attacks. Someone should probably handle this -

"My," Viluy says, and her hands are flying across the keys, taking notes, pulling up readings, "It's rare for those particular beasts to emerge from the Dusk Zone. You must have properly angered it."

She's grateful for that, because her cracked shield is cratering, cratering - broken, and she throws up her hands, catching the force of one of Pulp Noir's punches and using the momentum to throw herself into an awkward flip behind the tower, using it as a bit of a shield.

5 minutes, thirty seconds remaining.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
With Star Devil, the loan target left, her Flier Fin flickers into existence, gets her into the air long enough to dodge Demonphan 1's roll, but then she's stumbling as she drops and she's caught about the leg by half a dozen tendrils that grip and squeeze, as they had with Chrono, trying to break her leg, to hobble her, to make it easy to -

A Proto-Daimon tries to lunge over her, to consume, remake, shift -

A dozen of the hundred overcharged Stellar Pulse Barrets Molly made strike the Proto-Daimon, forcing it to release her. She has a second to breathe, a second of separation from all the enemies.

"Well," Viluy says to Phantom, with amusement. "Is this all that different from the... what was it, dozens, of girls you've captured, Pretty Cure Hunter? My work may not be pretty, but learning which humans can function as vessels for the Tau race is a greater calling than imprisoning little girls for... nothing."

Honestly, it's a waste. All those subjects, and not a single one studied, understood. What was even the point of their macabre imprisonment?

Truly, the other departments are wasteful.

Four minutes, forty-seven seconds.

Phantom of the Night plunges back into the darkness of the portal, and fires off another blinding glare - again, despair will seek to crush Sarek down, even as the blinding light weakens under the force of the Dusk Zone, becoming more of an irritant. They've been exposed for longer and longer, and the longer they exist in the Dusk Zone, the more they are drained, weakened.

No one is this more true of than Star Devil, who has been burning magic while in the Dusk Zone. She's still there. The creatures inside, they hate her, for the pain she's caused, for the damage. Demonphan 1's vision is blinking, winking, lost, and it's wheeling for Star Devil, aiming to crash roll her, and it misses, rolling lopsidedly towards Phantom of the Night instead.

There are so many creatures in the Dusk Zone. An entire ecosystem of negativity, of taint, of hatred for light and sparkle and glitter and glow.

More than demonphans and Proto-Daimons, and as steam billows from Star Devil's jacket vents, expelling heat and moisture and light another of those creatures strikes -

It's one of the spiking, twining, ensnaring trees, having stood on it's roots to investigate the disturbance, one of those beings that Kyubey and only Kyubey had seen, exploring the Dusk Zone without being threatened as it was.

The living-dead-hating tree doesn't like Star Devil. It doesn't like heat and steam.

It doesn't like that it's plunged one of it's branch's through Star Devil's side, puncturing her weakened barrier jacket and spilling her hot blood everywhere.

Three minutes, fifty-six seconds.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
==(( AIR ))==

If the moment weren't so charged with panic Rashmi would just lie there and gasp, but they're only out of the portal; they're not *safe,* and there's monsters behind her and Chrono and Molly and *you have to keep moving, Rashmi.* So her legs push against the sand, shoving her face against the beach until momentum can propel her forward just far enough that she can find a way to get her and her civilian off the ground and out of the way.

And it's such a good thing she does, for Chrono is next out, and she does *not* like the way his arm is hanging and OH GOD IT'S A MONSTER COME THROUGH THE PORTAL.

Most of her mana is... *stained,* by that Dark Energy, and her accumulator is barely filled at all and probably could use a flush, there's worryingly purple-black striations running through the tank. But she has one spell she knows will work better on this side of the portal, than that side.

And luckily ability does not automatically convey skill.

    << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >>

With an anticlimactic *bwip!* a set of dragonfly-shaped wings unfurl from the Demonphan's hind legs.

It's a lot like jumping, she told Amy to describe her flight spell. Except gravity ignores you afterward.

<< PULL! >> she shouts as the lift takes hold. Let someone with enough gas in the tank left do the actual Dark creature killing.

She's already headed back to the portal, determined to fetch Molly.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir hits paydirt. He admits, that felt good to punch the Witch for a second. Good, he thinks. You don't get to escape unscathed, witch. he thinks. He's about to race after her, behind the machine. He's quick, just not Tuxedo Kamen fast. But he stops dead in his tracks when Rashmi calls for her.

He pulls a heavy revolver from his coat and aims uproad at the demonphan, in the sky. << I got it! >> he calls out into the tacneat.

"A SHOT IN THE DARK!" he calls out, firing a bright, grey-colored beam from the tip of the revolver. The shot is powerful, flying through the air as the magical blast fires at the monster.

For now he's distracted firing, though he's waiting to hear footsteps behind him. Look, heightened senses have their uses!

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown hit the ground, hard. Ow ow ow ow ow. And of course the thing was coming through. Oh. You could go and--

Huh. That clever girl. He had to give Rashmi credit. That WAS a clever solution. He loved that girl. He-- could see Molly was on the other side.

            <<Stinger Blade Execution Shift>>

And Viluy would be able to see just what a TSAB enforcer could do. As he brought all his mana to bear. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of blue magical swords would appear in the air overhead, blotting out the sky... Before they rained down. He'd only used this attack once before, against Precia. It was only against something that was so much a threat, or when someone else was in so much danger...

As the swords rained down, piercing through the demonphan above, a few dozen raining down on Viluy personally... while many, many more went through the portal, lancing out, around... aiming to go around Molly, to strike the things around her...

Assuming they didn't dissipate in the other realm. As he put almost all of his own mana into that attack, launching all of the force her could muster in his exhausted, wounded, tainted state. At least... they were still non-fatal.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    So many creatures. So much use of wondrous Dark Energy, which Incubators cannot use except by manipulating other species. Information has been gained, so it wasn't a total loss, though it remains to be seen if it will ever allow Kyubey to recoup the energy loss.

    The Incubator calculates that there is no value in continuing this expedition, and deep in the Dusk Zone, a little white catfox falls over like a puppet with its strings cut.

    ...

    A monster came out. Viluy opened a hellgate and demons are coming out.

    Pull! << Got it! >> Amy turns and her launcher is in her hand in an instant, an anti-tank warhead trying to pierce monster flesh. ...It really kind of is an attack better used against vehicles crewed by squishy humans. Maybe that's why it never works on monsters as well as she hopes. "Keep her busy!" Amy shouts, to someone, anyone free to respond and stop Viluy from doing... whatever she's going to do.

    Somewhere, BFG Division starts playing.

    Or maybe that's just in Amy's head.

    "...means it has huge guts," the Puella Magi mutters, firing small cannonballs at a tusk, at a leg, to see how each react. Then she's firing incendiary gyrojets from a rifle, hip-firing, aim doesn't matter she can make them home anyway.

    Just. Making it hell for the creature invading Earth.

    << Where are the rest of you?! How many victims are left? You have to get out of there, there isn't much time left! >>

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Rushing back in came at a serious price, each meter she crossed sapping her more and more to the point it made the painting's curse look like kid's play.

The feeling of hopelessness washes over Veronica once more, and her weakening progresses even further, doubt all she can think of now. Not another step forward is possible for the Phantom Thief, and a startled croak comes out of the fake Pretty Cure Hunter's mouth when Star Devil is impaled.

The tall form of Phantom falters and fades, and in its place, all the Princess of Sarek can do is create one last moonlight barrier, but the mere exposure to the Dusk Zone has started forming cracks across it. The charging demonphan deals the last blow to the lunar protection, and the impact moves the air with such a force that the exhausted Phantom Thief is tossed all the way out of the portal.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is doing her best.

It's time to retreat. Rashmi and Chrono are reaching the portal with their carried civillians; everyone else is out. It's just her now. She's the only one still here, fighting these creatures, holding the line in the Dusk Zone. I'll stand and fight, you know I will. Words she said to Rashmi once, months ago, in a moment of deep, crushing self-doubt. That was the night she confided in Rashmi that she didn't think she was cut out for this. Didn't think she was a proper Mahou. Didn't think she was good enough.

<< WARNING: SAFETY PROTOCOLS DESTROYED >>
<< WARNING: BARRIER JACKET COMPROMISED >>
<< WARNING: MANA RESERVES AT 23 PERCENT >>
<< WARNING: INJURIES DETECTED >>

She's never been without self-doubt. Not since it was revealed that she wasn't a real orphan. Her birth parents didn't die... they just didn't want her. And if she wasn't good enough for them, how could she ever be good enough for anyone?

But she'll stand and fight, regardless of her levels of self-esteem. Maybe it all makes sense, as the darkness made flesh closes in around her, and tendrils seek to snap her marrow bones. Monster abound, and they're not just coming after her; they're leaving the portal, spilling into the real world, going after her friends, which means Molly needs to be out there to-

Pain

Blood

Molly staggers and drops to her knees, as her barrier jacket is pierced and her abdomen takes a devestating wound. She tries to get back up, to run; but the portal has become so much further away. She collapses straight back to her knees, crying out as the wound is jarred. Tears stream from her eyes, as the monsters converge on her, some of them already working to tear the plates of her Barrier Jacket apart.

She has to save her friends. She has to save her friends. That's all that matters now.

"Starcrash," she gasps, sucking in the noxious vapors of this place. Dark energy all around calls to her, promising everything she needs to get everythign she wants, but she shuts it out. She'll do this her own way. "Rapid charge Stellar Convergence. Use all remaining mana. Fire immediately when ready. Lock target... tower."

<< WARNING: SITUAT-- >>

"Do it, Starcrash."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. CHARGING >>

Molly watches a progress bar on her flicking battle visor; and it builds rapidly, and she can feel her mana getting ripped out of her to fuel it, like someone pulling her heart from her chest. She grits her teeth, looking at the monsters around her as her spell charges. She still has the proto-canister Rashmi made her. "Break Wall," she gasps, and the cannister flashes, erecting a globe of energy around her that forces the monsters back. They scrabble at it, but it holds just... long enough.

The air splits as the spell fires, first an enormous beam of absolute freezing cold, followed by an array of searing hot rays; twenty of them, all slamming into the tower, that cracks and finally shatters under the assault.

The Break Wall falls, and Molly can feel something slam through her from behind. She looks down, to see half a foot of sharpened tendril sticking out of her chest, while before her the portal collapses.

<< ALERT ALERT >> Starcrash broadcasts to everyone in or out of the portal, << IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE REQUIRED >>

<< FATAL INJURY TO MOLLY SKYLINE >>

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
Perhaps it's anticlimactic in some eyes - but it's devilishly clever, to put Flier Fin on Demonphan 2 - it rolls and rolls and - lifts, because momentum is forward thrust is resistance against sand is generating too much force is - it's rolling about through the air, hapless and confused, no skill, only instinct and fear.

Viluy is bruised but not all that badly injured, all things said and done, and she's itching to get to her research, to see more of the data, Star Devil and Phantom are all who remain but they're both still expelling mana!

And then Pulp Noir pulls forth a heavy revolver and fires not just a shot in the dark, but the Shot In The Dark -

The grey-beam of light blasts through Demonphan, puncturing the leathery hide from one side and erupting out the other in a spray of noxious fluid and dark energy, the creature roaring in agony, unable to bring its considerable bulk or speed to bare as it wheels about through the air.

Amy's weaponry, designed to tear apart machinery and kill the squishy people inside, tear up yet more of it, leaving it wounded and broken, unable to flee away as it pinwheels in the sky, wings flapping frantically, limbs flailing, bellowing in wrathful agony.

It's not dead, but it's not long for this world -

That's when Chrono uses Infinite Blade Works, and energy swords rain from the sky - Demonphan 2 is shredded, becoming so much refuse matter. The shreds, the blood, the flesh - they all begin to dissipate into nothingness, as the creature dies outside of the Dusk Zone.

It will leave behind chips of bone and scraps of hide a single intact horn - and sand watered with its tainted blood.

Viluy, meanwhile no longer doubts that the heroes are willing to risk the tower to spite her plans, and she panics as the blades come for her, misreading their intentions.

"Mosiac Barrier!"

The barrier comes into being over the tower, with just Viluy's hands inside as she types, issuing a command for all the data to upload to the cloud, to be sent to her personal systems, even as she is showered in blades.

    hey don't cut her to ribbons - Chrono's Device has it's kill function turned off.

Having taken all of those swords blows - many battering her silly, but more having cleaved into her flesh, she's got blood pouring from a wound in her head, wounds in her shoulders and backs, and she's bruised, but despite it all, wobbling on her feet, pale hair a mess, she's locked in, maniacally gleeful because she's getting the data!!

Her Mosiac Barrier is taking so much of her remaining energy, is flickering, weakening, but holding, while she gets the data -

"I am busy," she mutters in response to Amy's shout, not even bothering to wipe away the blood, frantically keying in commands -

DATA UPLOADED.

She sags against the barrier in a mix of agony and withdrawing her hands, satisfied with what she accomplished, and starts gathering energy for a duskport out, pulling together scraps of everything she has left.

Inside the portal, Demonphan 1 collides with Phantom of the - no, of Princess of Sarek's barrier, and it bounces away, coming close to the edge of the portal, it's horned face poking out -

Just enough to be struck by the Infinite Blade Works of Chrono's finisher strike and it bellows in confused rage before stumbling back and taking off into the darkness of the Dusk Zone.

Sadly, though, the Blades don't hold stability once through the portal - like every other attempt to fire magic into the Dusk Zone before, it simply fizzles out into nothing once it crosses the tear in space.

There's no way to send help to Star Devil.

There Is Nothing You Can Do, But Watch.

Death Buster Viluy (280) has posed:
They've always been able to see into the hell-realm that is the Dusk Zone through the portals. They've always been able to see the Proto-Daimons, when the portals were opened. So it's only natural that they can see Star Devil's last stand -

Only natural that they see it, when energy barrels out of the portal, striking first at Mosiac Barrier, and then barreling through it, cold and hot and cold and hot until it shatters. Until the tower shatters.

Viluy's eyes widen as the portal flickers. The Dark Energy gathered around her sputters.

The portal shudders, destabilizing.

Viluy vanishes.

The portal closes.

The telepathic connection Rashmi was maintaining with Starcrash dies, as abruptly as if the phone line were cut.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The demon elephant thing is... less tough than Amy expected, which is good because there's two of them, but attacks are flying all over the place, Sarek's out of the portal, Rashmi's out of the portal...

    With the demon elephants out of the way, Amy turns and looks at the portal and

    Molly is impaled, that's not supposed to happen, Puella Magi can survive gross physical injury but other magical girls--

    --how long until she runs out of blood--

    --wait did she just destroy the--

    The portal closes. Amy turns towards Viluy, screaming "OPEN IT AGAIN!" as the witch disappears.

    This can't be happening

    This can't be happening

    (it's what she expected to happen, one day, when she took Kyubey's offer, and she's grown lax)

    (she was so confident fighting the monster)

    She takes a step towards the tower's remains. If Molly hadn't destroyed it

    --no time, how long until she runs out of blood--

    it should have been her!

    ...Until a few days ago, she would have died content, or at least, believing herself content, because life after everything seemed so impossible...

    And then Rashmi gave her hope for a future... maybe she couldn't sacrifice herself, any more...

    What was Molly thinking?! How could she value herself so cheaply?!

    Amy's friends saying much the same to her echo in her mind. Not that it will matter to Molly.

    Don't give up. Not yet. Not yet.

    "There has to be another way... Hinoiri... she could know about the, the dusk zone, the towers... the Senshi can teleport, we can get everyone..." Amy pulls her phone out of her belt pouch and stares, what does she even say, who does she call first?

    Seconds ago, she was treating fighting like a goddamn game...

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir goes to race after Viluy after his shot. But he's too late. She's gone. He curses. That's okay. He got his little hit in. She isn't touchable even behind many forcefields, and she hopes she knows that now.

But then the tower explodes from a shot from the portal. "Wait, who shot that!?" he calls out.

He knows who shot it. He can hear the tacnet. But he can't believe it. He starts running from the ruined tower and tries to make for the portal. "Molly!?" he calls out. He's coming. He's fast.

But he's not Tuxedo Kamen fast. Not fast enough.

Trenchcoat flowing behind him, he aims to launch himself through the portal. But it closes.

It's closed.

His jaw goes slack and he balls his fist as Amy sputters a rescue idea.

He's close enough. He draws his hand out and attempts to punch Amy in the face. a normal punch. Not magically enhanced, but it was anger behind it.

"YOU NUMBSKULL." he yells. "WHEN TWO PEOPLE TELL YOU TO DO A THING, WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THEY'RE ON IT ALREADY YOU MAYBE CONSIDER DOING IT FOR MORE THAN A NANOSECOND BEFORE SAYING 'NO!'" he says angrily.

Regardless if he manages to smack Amy or not he starts storming out to the wall to place a hand against it. "GOD DAMMiT." he says leaning forward against the wall, taking off his fedora, placing it to his chest. El is on his head, patting it. "Shhhh. Shhhh..." El tries to go comfortingly.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown stared through the portal and... and... Viluy was gone.

The portal closed. There was only...

Molly was trapped. She was mortally wounded and trapped in the dusk zone. And there was... only one thing Chrono could do. He'd... tried so hard. He'd thrown his all. And it... wasn't... enough. His arm was broken. He'd thrown almost all of his mana... And yet...

... There was only one thing he could do.

S2U established a connection before sending a single message to Axion. << Axion, Riventon. Star Devil has been mortally wounded and is trapped in the dusk zone due to Viluy's portal, which she destroyed. She is bleeding out, out of mana and under attack by youma. If you can get her out of there safely, get her to us, before she perishes... >> And then he had to stop. He had to consider. He almost... offered a jewel seed. But he couldn't. He couldn't put the world and dimensions at risk for one person... he had to...

... But... but...

However, before he could come up with a prize... Riventon... was already... on his way.

... Riventon would find her.

He had to. There was still a chance. There had to be. But that meant... Chrono turned towards Rashmi.

He had to focus on her, now. "We need to get these people medical attention," he said, firmly. "Riventon is already... is going to try and find her. If he's fast enough, we can get her to the school nurse. She's not dead yet. But... we'll need to be fast and ready."

Directing people. Giving orders. Reminding about hope. There was still something to do. Something they COULD do. They had to do. She wasn't gone. She couldn't be gone. He... refused to accept that.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
With wobbly legs, the Princess of Sarek pushes herself up after the impact with the ground made her see the stars, holding herself onto her cane. "What the heck, you are supposed to be decorative", she murmurs to the object, and of course the cat statuette say silent.

And perhaps silence is the correct response when the worst the Dusk Zone has to offer has crashed all at once. Not even the local flora could hold back from joining in. And all of that on the cusp of disaster.

They are only spared from thinking what would have happened if it had broken through because of Star Devil. Because of her.

Fighting the despair, the anger, the cruelty of the Dusk Zone all by herself, and singlehandedly stopping this from turning to disaster at the very last seconds.

Could any of them have helped? Is there anything they overlooked? Could they have avoided this if they had done anything differently?

The thoughts of the Princess of Sarek are definitely pessimistic, still reeling as she is from the despair of the Dusk Zone.

She stares with reluctance where the portal had stood. If they find Viluy again... But no, she is somewhere untouchable. This is a definitive goodbye.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Molly-chan..." Rashmi's detemined path puts her at an angle to see into the Dusk Zone, to see Molly fighting for her life, for all their lives, continuing to shoot and move and up comes a tree and her first, best friend in the world is stabbed in the side.

"Molly-chan!" she gasps, as the creatures of the Dusk Zone swell and descend upon her, as the last-ditch Shield activates and pushes them away. She can't hear what Molly's saying to Starcrash, but when the spell charges... well, Rashmi knows a Stellar Convergence charging up when she sees one.

"MOLLY-CHAN!"

She doesn't want to believe what she's seeing. But she cannot dispute the truth of her eyes, and she hurls herself to the sand, just in time to feel searing heat and bone-deep chill streaking over her head...

...Into the tower.

...Destroying it.

And the portal begins to collapse.

And Rashmi lifts her head to see Molly, so close, so far away...

And sees the tendril burst through her back.

<< IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE REQUIRED >>

<< FATAL INJURY TO MOLLY SKYLINE >>

...

.....

...

"MOLLY-CHAN!!!"

Everything else falls away. While Nicomachea knows better than to play back that sensory recording, he doesn't need to. It's playing on loop in Rashmi's own head. The exhaustion, the determination, the spite...

...the surprise...

That will be the last she ever sees of her friend; surprise on her face as she is impaled, as blood trickles from her mouth. Not even last words, or a message of hope.

Surprise.

Chrono is trying to talk to her, and she tries to focus on him. He sounds purposeful, urgent. There's something she should be doing. Something she *can* do. Yes. Help the wounded.

Nodding numbly, she starts toward the first of the victims. ...Then realizes she doesn't know what to do. She never *took* those first-aid classes, she was planning on signing up for them this summer, with--

         --AVOID THAT THOUGHT--

"...Amy-chan," she croaks, still looking more into the middle distance than at Amy. "...Help me? I don't... I don't know what... Help...?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is so not ready for or expecting a punch. She stumbles back and falls on her ass, staring up at Hinote wide-eyed as he lays into her verbally. "It wouldn't have-- It wouldn't have changed this! We have to..." She looks back at her phone, "We have to..." Her brain is spinning wheels and outrage and sympathy for Hinote on top of all the rest of the emotions filling her is too much--

    Chrono has a plan. Riventon may be an enemy that Amy doesn't know well, but Mamoru has trusted him in the past and if Chrono thinks he can be trusted to attempt this, Amy believes him.

    "That's... that's a way better plan, even with teleports how would we have gotten to the Dusk Zone in time..." She's relieved; there's a solid reason to believe things still might end up okay.

    But they might not. Other thoughts flood into her mind. What did Molly want? Why did she do this?! To save them from the monsters in there?

    Because they... were worth sacrificing herself for???

    I hope she didn't die thinking this was all she was worth... Amy shakes her head at that thought. She might... she might yet live. They've gone through such crazy things...

    And then it hits her: Is this what sacrificing myself would have done to my friends?! It feels awful!

    'Amy-chan... Help me?' Amy looks up at her. "Um, I don't... One moment."

Text to Mamoru: _

    She's freezing up on what to type. Don't worry about niceties. Just get the key info out.

Text to Mamoru: Riventon searching Dusk Zone for Molly. Stand by for emergency heal.

    Sent. It looks like an order but it is more of a request she has absolute faith he'll help with.

    Rashmi means help with the civilians. Right. Molly sacrificed herself for them too... So they'd damn well better make sure the civilians are OK, too. She stands up and pulls her first aid kit out from under her cloak -- a soft bag with a carrying strap, around the size of a small backpack -- and hands it to Rashmi; there are instructions inside for treating cuts and burns. "Check they're all still breathing first. Then we can worry about injuries we can treat with that."

    And Amy kneels by the closest civilian, leaning over to check for breathing.

    And as long as Amy's focused on the problem in front of her -- on making sure the civilians are stable -- she's not thinking about that.

    About how a world away, Molly's time is ticking down fast and there's nothing any of them can do about it.