2353/Supplies and Suspicion

Supplies and Suspicion
Date of Scene:	22 February 2025
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Ikiko calls in Amy and Erika after she thinks she has found the hideout of one of the clones. Her suspicions are confirmed when they find themselves confronting Sunfaker, and in the end, they put a stop to her scheme and let Veronica regain her human speech.
Cast of Characters:	Veronica Perenna, Ikiko Hisakata, Erika Shimizu, Amanda Faust
Tinyplot:	Flameborn Façade

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Veronica Perenna has posed:
Over the past fifteen days, the atmosphere at Zen Paws, renown shop of animal products in the Mitakihara Wards had taken a sudden turn. While one could say it showed to the passersby the same charming and affable demeanor that had always made it a characteristic presence, the same wasn't true of the experience inside the shop, and with the suddenness of the changes, hardly anybody could tell what was going on.

It started with the prices, a steady increase in costs that saw specific brands of pet food double up out of nowhere, but it spread to toys and pet furniture not long afterwards. Those customers that wanted to know more were dismissed without much thought, with the same respose: "It's the new pricing."

The previously amicable owner, Haruto, hardly showed himself anymore, always busy with finding yet explored venues for more profit. to offer an explanation. When he did appear, it was always to aggressively sing the praises of the products, with none of the warmth that used to characterise him.

The store's atmosphere also shifted alongside. The minimalistic decor and calming energy that were now replaced with as many flashy advertisements and extravagant products as the locale allowed. The aisles were now stuffed not with more eco-friendly and practical products, but with commodities that could be described as traps for the rich and those who only cared about appearances.

In spite of the outrageous changes, the usual clientele wasn't pushed away by the new atmosphere, rather they too seemed to partake in the materialistic approach, infected by the consumerism that now pushed them towards the lower quality products that pushed for fashion over function.

It was as if the products had acquired a subtle hipnotic power, something that most people would have dismissed as ridiculous, however, those magically attuned would be able to perceive with some difficulty the dark energy wafting out from the backrooms and coating the products.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko's previous shopping trip here was about a week and a half ago -- early enough to notice some of the changes, but before the stink of dark energy was particularly noticeable. Her next visit had been just a few days ago, for what would normally be a routine shopping trip... but the dark energy was easily noticeable to her at that point, so she had made an excuse and essentially retreated to gather reinforcements to deal with the dark energy... and the entity behind it.

"Thanks for coming with me, Erika-chan, Amy-chan," the young girl smiled to her companions. "I think the clones that are after Veronica are involved with this, given the greedy nature of what's going on, but in any case the place is definitely laced with dark energy, so... clones or no, we're gonna have to clean the place up."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "That doesn't sound very zen at all." Erika Shimizu says when she hears about how the entire demeanor of the shop has changed.
    "That sounds like the complete opposite of zen. Anti-zen, if you will. Savvy?" The blonde girl says as she follows along after Ikiko, with her hands stuffed in her pockets.
    "Oh joy. That probably makes sense though so how we gonna do this? A little sneaky sneaky or flat out go in with the stabby stabby?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    After getting Veronica a collar and, if she still wanted it, the GPS, Amy suggested Mamoru or someone more familiar with the process handle the tags -- maybe she ended up getting those too -- and so Amy hasn't really had much interaction with a pet store or awareness of changing prices since then.

    Now, even besides the dark energy, she can see the changes through the store window. The basic nylon cat collars -- with optional hi-vis stripe or pattern -- she looked at before are completely gone, in favor of things covered in sparkly gems she hopes are glass or plastic and not actually precious stones. Do some of those have gold and silver on them? No one's that crazy, right...?

    "Yeah, this's... messed up. The store looks like... it feels like the physical version of one of those websites where everything is covered in banner ads and you'll probably get a virus if you browse it without adblock. You know?"

    She's standing out front with the others, hands in the pockets of her coat. Given it's winter, she's wearing her oversized, off-white coat and a long red scarf over her black hoodie and slacks.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
If Amy had been paying attention to the GPS tracker, she would have picked up on the fact Veronica was not too far from them. In fact, she was just a bit further down the sideway that leads up to the shop, and had become aware of them being there as well.

Ikiko-chan, Erika-chan, and Amy-chan? Veronica tilts her head at noticing the trio's presence. Were they all hanging out together? Maybe she could walk by to greet them. Well, greet Ikiko, who would probably translate for her, as it were.

Nevermind that.

The cursed cat approaches the trio swiftly, with a cheerful and loud enough meow to greet the three of them. "What are you here for?", she would ask before the dark energy would become noticeable to her as well.

Veronica's pupils constrict at the feelings, turning briefly towards the shop. Though, she couldn't transform anymore, she still could tell that this dark energy was related to her enemies. But there was something weird too.

"I don't get it", she looks back up at Ikiko. "It is undoubtedly them, but I feel two relics inside." This was definitely not how they had been behaving.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Sneaky is good, but I suspect stabby will be inevitable," Ikiko replies to Erika, glancing at Amy as they pause to the side of the door. "And yeah, even without the dark energy, this place has definitely developed an 'ick' feeling, like it's a poor person's vision of what wealth is like."

The meowed greeting catches her attention, and Ikiko is about to respond to the sparklecat's question when she sees that Veronica has noticed it as well. "Yeah, the place is crawling with dark energy, and the greed made me suspect the clones," the young girl nods. "But... two relics? Did they find an additional relic related to them?"

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    That certainly is a meow. But Erika knows that meow. And as Ikiko likely translates Veronica the cat's meowing, Erika kneels down to be on the cursed cats level.
    "Eyyyyyy. Veronica, how's it going?"
    Sure Veronica is a PERSON but... As a cat, Erika still holds her hand out to be sniffed and try to sneak in a scritch if she can before standing back up.
    "Aite, let's do this. Leroy Jenkins, yo." Erika says as she turns and...
    Opens the shop door to step inside.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    As a matter of policy Amy does not generally check the GPS tracker, aside from confirming the battery level every few days -- or checking that it's working when she's instant messaging Veronica and so already knows where she is -- as it feels like an invasion of privacy.

    'A poor person's vision of what wealth is like.' As Ikiko says that, Amy relates, "That's... a good way to put it. The aesthetic of the stuff, not the ads. It's like... I remember joining Second Life, that old social online world thing? A few years after they opened. And like. I'd fly around to see what people had made, and yeah there was cool creative stuff, especially the fancy furry avatars, but also like, a lot of people's plots of virtual land were like... that same aesthetic of beach houses, populated by samey avatars of curvy women and muscular dudes, as if they'd all come from a factory like Barbies and Kens."

    She looks inside. "okay, yeah, you know what? With the ads, this looks like the virtual stores that were selling stuff for people like that to put in those homes. That's the aesthetic. I feel like anything I click on in there is gonna try to hand me a notecard asking me to check out the creator's main store."

    At the unusually loud meow, Amy turns, startled, then smiles. "Veronica?! What are you doing here?" Then she looks to Ikiko. "What'd she say?"

    Once translations are conveyed: "What do you mean, two artifacts? Like, both halves of the one that cursed you? Or one of the halves and another artifact? Or two unrelated artifacts? Or can you not distinguish between those possibilities?"

    And then, it seems that Amy's talk of ancient times has inspired Erika! Just as Amy is crouching down to hold out her hand and offer Veronica pets, she hears 'Leroy Jenkins' and stands bolt upright, whirling on Erica in alarm! "Don't--! Oh." She's just going inside. "Okay." Amy follows.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
There aren't many chances of Veronica starting to sniff hands. Even if her vision has changed accordingly to her form, she doesn't need it, and there usually is no reason for her going around sniffing things and people. The scritches earn Erika a meow of appreciation on the other hand.

Letting herself be pet by Amy afterwards, she shakes her head. "I cannot say, anything of what you said, that is all possible", she communicates to the redhead.

"Maybe", is the only thing Veronica has to tell Ikiko. "No idea if one is a distraction and the other one is the one that cursed me." She is mildly stumped by that development, and a bit frustrated and anxious. Please, let them make actual progress here.

This is one of the rare days when the store owner is hanging around the store. When Erika moves in with the chiming of a bell on the upper part of the door, and Veronica right behind, Haruto steps out from behind a shelf, bringing with himself a particularly intense feeling of dark energy.

"Welcome, welcome", he tells the three of them with a volume as if he is holding a loudspeaker. "What a beautiful pet, russian blues are really luxurious", he smiles looking at Veronica, associating her with plentiful money.

"I am surprised you'd let it walk free, you must have trained it really well", he reaches down towards Veronica's collar, causing her to move behind her friends and hiss at the man. "Well, I see it doesn't really like it", he squints his eyes. "I am not the one who feels this guy's dark energy, right?", Veronica meows while she climbs up on Erika's shoulder.

"But I understand why you are here, give it over to me, and I will step into the backrooms real quick to replace that ugly collar with one of our fashionable ones, what do you say? It will be more fashionable than a king. We also have a buy three, get two free if some designs just catch you eye" he gives the girls a wide smile.

"If you go over there", he points to a corner all the way to the back of the shop, "you can find cat beds for all occasions: seasonal ones, Valentine, Easter, Halloween, Christmas. We accept custom orders too, for a bit of an extra price!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I would've been more surprised if he hadn't been soaked with dark energy," Ikiko meowed back to Veronica as she follows the others in. While she's been in here many times before (albeit before the current 'style'), this is the first time she's had to view the place with a tactical eye.

"Right, cat beds, good call!" she says to the store owner with the best mask of a grin as she can manage as she snags the arms of Erika and Amy and starts leading them there. "Let's check them out, girls!"

Once out of immediate earshot of the store owner, Ikiko whispers a quick translation of what Veronica mentioned. "I think we should probably check out the backroom ourselves," she adds, making sure she's in an out-of-the-way spot before henshining into Cute Wolf Tsukiko.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    The sound of the ringing jingling bell above the door stops Erika dead in her tracks.
    She didn't expect that.
    In fact she's caught so off guard that a ! practically appears over her head like right out of Metal Gear as she jolts when the owner speaks SO LOUDLY AT HER.
    "Ah crimeny-- I mean hello!" She says forcing a smile, before looking back to the Varonicat that followed her in.
    "Y-yes! Luxurious, right." She says before blinking.
    "I mean. You could just bring the collar out here? How about you bring out a bunch and I get my pick for her~?" She says lightly petting the cat now on her shoulder.
    She's not going to give Veronica over to this man, this has like ten levels of spooky-creepy all over it.
Maybe if she can distract him long enough the others can check out the back room.
    "Oh hey, uhhhh... I also... Uh... NEED CAT FOOD yeah. Totally. What's a good brand? Any recommendations? We just got her and kind of don't know what she likes yet."
    Erika is lying a lot. Lying through her teeth like a true pirate.

'Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy simply nods as it's translated that Veronica can't distinguish. And then they step in--

    --and the owner is right there. Amy bristles a bit at someone assessing Veronica like she's a pet, and one treated as a symbol of wealth rather than a beloved feline companion at that. "Her." she corrects the pronoun without thinking.

    Referring to pets by gendered pronouns instead of 'it' was a habit she formed in childhood; a very young Amy decided it was rude and dehumanizing, not that she knew the word, to call them it, and so out of empathy formed the conscious habit of using he or she like with a person.

    By her mid-20s she had changed her mind, but the habit stuck. Now...

    Now, she hasn't really thought about it lately, and in any case, Veronica is a person, so Amy's mind doubly rejects her being called an 'it'.

    When the store owner reaches for Veronica, Amy takes a step towards the space between them, but Veronica's already taking cover, allowing Amy to partially relax again.

    Give it over to me-- "NO." Amy blurts out strongly, tense again, glaring at the owner as if he'd, well, as if he'd asked her to hand over her friend to be taken to a shady back room.

    Given that something about him really rubs her the wrong way, she doesn't feel inclined to apologize for her hostility.

    A cat bed is an interesting suggestion. Amy hadn't thought of it. Cats seem like they can just sleep wherever, thanks to being covered in soft fur and incredibly flexible. She looks back at Veronica, "Do you want a cat bed? ...If he tries anything, shout. Claw and bite to get away if you have to."

    She looks back at the owner skeptically. "Why would you want a seasonal one? People don't change their human beds for every holiday, do they?"

    Ikiko says to go with it, though. "Uh, yeah, we can take a look." Now that they're out of sight, she also henshins, although to blend in as a customer she ends up in a Radiant Heart uniform under a puffy pink coat.

    As for going in back, she whispers, 'Sounds good.' And pulls out her phone to text Erika.

    TXT: Can you keep him distracted?

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Please, all customers here are friends, there is no need to shout", Haruto reacts to Amy's NO, not lowering his own tone one bit. "And you see, are you really caring for your pet if you leave her with the same bland old bed? When you have guests over, they will see just how much she is important to you", he adopts Amy's correction without a notice.

Veronica has been adapting well so far, just as much due to what Amy has herself noted, so the thought of cat beds hadn't occurred to her either (even if Emery has one), but she doesn't feel like now is the time to talk about it.

The man's shadow vaguely shifts when Amy talks to Veronica as a person, and he suddenly leaves them with urgency to enter the backroom, not even sparing them a glance as the girls move towards their own private spots. They have just gained a quick pass inside, with no clerk around that isn't already tending to clients.

If Ikiko, Amy and Erika move to the back, they will find the stop owner staring blank eyed while the fake Sunbreaker holds his head, mumbling something like "That does look like her". They will also be able to take note of a topaz resting on a counter, constantly emitting dark energy towards the rest of the shop, and a similar flow making it back here, and traveling to the clone's right hand, where she wears a half ring.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Quietly sneaking into the back, Tsukiko looks over the situation. The shopkeep, a clone, and a gem serving as practically the dark energy equivalent of a fishtank filter. And on her side...

"I'll try to get the clone away from Haruto-san," the wolfgirl whispers to the others. "Someone get him safely out of the way; I really don't want him to get hurt during all of this."

She carefully tucks a silk handkerchief into Veronica's collar, so that it can easily be removed by the sparklecat. "See if you can figure out how to neutralize that topaz," Tsukiko suggests. "We'll try keeping the clone busy enough to buy you some time, and at least keep her away from you."

With a rough plan figured out, the only left to do... is put it into action.

Sidestepping away from the door before dashing towards the clone, the wolfgirl puts her shoulder down to try to bullrush the clone away from Haruto. Not exactly her most effective style of fighting, but protecting the store owner is an important factor in this fight, and so adaptations need to be made.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    'All customers here are friends'.
    So why doesn't this guy seem as friendly as he's acting? Erika's phone buzzes in her pocket and she shoots Amy back a THUMBS UP emoji as she passes Veronica to her.
    "So. About that cat food..." Erika says as she moseys over to the cat food section, asuming there is one.
    And...
    "OH NO."
    Erika knocks *EVERYTHING OVER* as she fakes a fall.
He's going to have to hopefully deal with that as she scampers after the others into the back room and...
    Oh hi Sunbreaker.
    Again a ! appears over Erika's head.
    "Oh carp!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy frowns at the owner pulling 'are you really caring for your pet.' "I sleep in the same bed I have for the past year and a half." Anyway, they get away from him and peek into the back. Amy conjures a pistol of some sort, starts to lift it, then thinks better of it and dismisses the weapon as she ducks back into the store.

    Tsukiko whispers, Amy whispers back to her: 'If you can't purify, none of us can...' She turns towards Veronica, 'how do you normally seal them? Is destroying them an option?'

    In one of her last years in America, Amy went to a small local convention and played in a Shadowrun oneshot. There were six players, and there was some mission to sneak into a building and accomplish some objective, Amy doesn't remember what; what she does remember is that each of them came up with different plans, no one could agree on any of the others being good, and so they were put into action all at once.

    For some reason, that memory surfaces in Amy's mind as she hears the catfood clatter to the floor while Ikiko is tackling Sunbreaker.

    Amy charges into the backroom, going for... the Topaz. Using her power of 'hands', she will grab it if Veronica doesn't, and if Veronica does go for it, play interference keeping the clone and the owner away.

    "Hey, miss me?" She offers a wave and a smirk to the clone.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica looks down at handkerchief, then back up at Ikiko. "Consider it done", she meows with a wink. While she may not have her powers, the magic Ikiko has granted to the topaz should be all she needs to achieve what the wolfgirl is asking her. Go on, save Haruto. She will do her best.

Distracted as she is by the memory review, Sunbreaker is left quite open to Ikiko's shoulder rush, throwing the clone into the wall and making all the windows and door in the backroom clatter as a side effect of the impact, making the fiery villain grimace.

Her sclera turning black and a horn of dark energy appearing on her forehead, the fake Sunbreaker wastes no time with words and throws herself at Tsukiko with a punch.

Veronica shakes her head at Amy's question. Her hat trick is able to dissolve the malevolent energy that usually fills the cursed relics and youma, but she otherwise needs them to stay intact. "This doesn't feel like part of the HallWard, though, destroying it probably works", she meows.

Meanwhile Sunbreaker has started assessing the three mahous that have gotten in. "Took you long enough to find me, I was almost thinking I was going to die of boredom", she sneers at them, drawing a wide circle of fire in the air and punching it at Jolly Roger, while doing the same with a fireball for Amy. "No, I am not going to, I have good aim", she twists the redhead's question.

Before Amy reaches for the topaz, the russian blue has made her way onto the counter, biting into her handkerchief so she can then lower it on the gem.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
The problem with shoulder-rushing someone when you're more of an agility fighter is that you don't have as much room to dodge counterattacks from your target. Tsukiko crosses her arms to protect herself from the worst of Sunbreaker's punch, but the force of the blow still sends her skidding backwards across the floor on her feet. "Took you long enough to radiate enough dark energy to look like a deliberate threat and not some random misplaced youma," the wolfgirl retorts. "What, did it take you that long to figure out what you were doing, or were you just too low on energy to get anything big done any faster?"

While she taunts the clone, Tsukiko is carefully circling around, trying to keep Sunbreaker distracted from Veronica while still being in a decent position to intercept if necessary. There's a subtle nod from the wolfgirl to the cat in acknowledgement: the topaz can be dealt with in a more direct manner. Just need to keep the clone from thinking that it's in danger...

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Oh carp indeed as Erika fumbles into her pocket and produces a single golden coin...
    The fire comes for her as she flicks the coin into the air...

    There's a flash of light as the coin twirls in the air.

    When the coin lands back in Jolly Roger's hand as the flames wash over her, leaving her coat smoldering.
    There is a beat where she stands there ON FIRE before the pirate yelps.
    "GAH!"
    Jolly Roger proceeds to stop, drop, and tumbleroll to put out the flames as she pats herself out.
    Once she's patted out and back on her feet she reaches into her smoldering greatcoat and pulls free a flintlock pistol.
    "AVAST! YE REALLY COULD HAVE BURNED ME BRITCHES THERE! I WASN'T EVEN READY YET!" She snaps as she fires off a shot.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Dodging when you're an agility fighter (well, agility and a big gun) works pretty well! Although, Amy's instinct to dodge might not be the best if that fire ball actually sets any part of the back room on fire. She draws her pistol on Sunfaker, but isn't sure it's the best idea. "Dude, do you think you're the only villains out there? It's not all about you. Yes, cursing our friend puts you up there but have you seen the news lately?"

    "...This is not a suggestion that you attempt to murder innocent civilians. You'll note that while the villains doing that have been skipping the queue, they've also been ending up dead."

    She conjures the rocket-hammer again and swings it, trying to knock Sunfaker through a doorway out of the room.

'Veronica Perenna has posed:
"What I can say? I only provide the best services for our customers, both longstanding and new", Sunbreaker laughs at the trouble she has been able to give the pirate. "It's a bold strategy, not even trying to get me away from my new workplace, let's see how it pays off for you", she says, followed up by forming a spear and kicking it at the pirate next.

Though Tsukiko saying that she has not been very eye-catching due to a lack of energy isn't too far from the truth, she has had to contend with fake Mars to get a suitable place, and that turns Sunbreaker's attention to her instead, a malevolent glare fixed on the magical girl.

"Good thing, little wolf: I will make you this shop's personal customer", she growls, searing hot hands reaching for her neck from each side, a move that would brand the magical girl and quite a lot more when she walks close.

Right over the wares Tsukiko had scattered around earlier when she threw the clone against the wall, tripping her and only sending a few weak wandering sparks against the wolfgirl while she flails and tries catching her balance.

Amy's hammer strike makes it more complicated for her however, and while she throws a barrier up, it's at this moment that Roger's shot pierces her side, drawing a pained cry from her and disrupting her focus, sending her flying through the door into the back street when the protection is made quick work of.

"Yes! This is a great time, destroy the topaz!", Veronica meows as soon Sunbreaker gets thrown out. Meanwhile Haruto is slowly starting to get out of the daze he has been put under.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Quickly backpedalling away from Sunbreaker's searing attack, Tsukiko takes advantage of the flanking combo sending the clone outside to dart over to Veronica and the topaz. Translating would take a moment, a moment that would be better used by Roger and Amy finishing off the false Sunbreaker. Besides...

    ...she has an idea. >:D

Carefully picking up the topaz with the handkerchief and holding it at arm's length so that the gem is mostly exposed, the wolfgirl takes a deep breath -- and begins to howl at the topaz, hijacking its transmission to send a wordless purifying song into the store, relating the cozy and welcoming nature that the store had before its corruption at the hands of the clone. The others are hearing this song as well; Sunbreaker's influence on Haruto is likewise getting washed away.

And just as the dark energy that had been emitted from the topaz had filtered throught the store before returning to empower the clone via the ring, the purifying howl is likely following the same path -- right into Sunbreaker.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Spear!
    Jolly Roger... Leaps aside, one hand clutching her hat down to her head as she tumbles to the ground.
    "GAH!"
    She picks herself up and dusts herself off before glancing down at the uh. ... Um.
    There's a hole in Erika.
    "Oh." She sighs.
    "That's gonna be a problem." She mutters as Sunbreaker is launched out.
    "Aye deal with the gem!"
She'll just... glance down and... Peer out the hole comically going through her chest.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A bold strategy? "Lady, we know you have to come after V--Sarek sooner or later. When we are done fighting magical terrorists and witches killing civilians, if she didn't come up with a way to find you already, we would!"

    Amy does feel a little bad, though. It's true that there's all this other craziness going on, but it's a big deal for Veronica, isn't it? She makes a mental note to ask Veronica if she knows anything Rashmi or Entrapta could use to try and track Imitation Mars after this. Taking care of her probably won't be as hard as taking down Seriss Nyx, right?

    Anyway, fight now, plan later! Sunfaker's out the back, so Amy turns to the gem-- oh good, Ikiko is on it with some kind of wolf song. Very Twilight Princess!

    Amy also sees that Jolly Roger's got a spear hole through her. She winces, "Aww man, again?!" She grimaces, hand briefly going over her own gut in sympathy as she remembers the Nezha fight. "Will you be okay?"

    She's not done with Sunfaker yet, though! Amy switches weapons to her gyrojet pistol -- they're not explosives, just bullets propelled by tiny rockets rather than getting launched by a gunpowder explosion -- and fires a few times (Pop! Pop! Pop!) at the fake to keep her on the defensive as Amy moves to block the door, weapon changing to the hammer again. She holds out her left hand. "Ring. Off. If you want to live. Are you as smart as the other one?" She quirks an eyebrow, feigning curiousity, but somehow she doesn't expect this one to give up. Still, Fake Mars did surprise her, maybe this one will too?

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The sound of Ikiko's howl might have a hard time getting from the backroom to the front of the shop, but thanks to the interruption of the dark energy granted by her handkerchief and the wolfgirl's power riding on the gem's flow, it doesn't take long for the corrupting influence to be washed out of the shop.

This should give Haruto all he needs to start throwing out the insane practices had brainwashed him with.

And when it travels back to the clone, the fake unicorn puts her hands on her head, the howling song of purification rattling her entire being while the topaz starts cracking.

When the gem finally breaks, the fire clone feels a fit of pain in her heart, telling her this is now her last possible life. There is nothing else for her if she loses here.

"Give you the ring to keep living?", she starts laughing. "Not sure what you have been hearing, that's precisely the reason I can't give you the ring, Little Red!"

Sunbreaker's entire body starts crackling with fire, growing larger and hotter, blocking Red's strikes on her. They can't come after her, she knows this, or else, all of this has been in vain.

"I will keep holding onto my life, and with the power I have gotten from this shop, I will finally destroy that pathetic thief's Ward, then I will be praised for my service and enjoy my life."

With that, she throws blazes of incandescent fire at three magical girls in the form of rampaging horses, more show than actual power, to give them something they absolutely have to focus on. When they have finished stopping those, she will be gone.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy yanks her hand back almost as if she touched a hot coal, even before Sunfaker throws fire. "Wait, really?! Mood, shit, I'm really sorry! So the halves of the artifact that turned her into a cat, you need them to live?! Listen, if you surrender we will work things out, there has to be a way for you to--"

    But Sunfaker says: neigh, and now Amy has to deal with that!

    By running around the shop's back room, trying to keep away from the horses but also unable to attack them. "I can't put them out inside! Er--Jolly Roger, can you summon some ocean or something?!"

    If she spies a fire extinguisher, she mutters, 'Guess it's worth a shot...' and tries that, but either way, Sunfaker has time to escape...

    When it's all over, Amy notes: "If she really had the power to break the ward, she'd have done it already... right?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko smiles with grim satisfaction as the dark energy dissipates, then yelps as she's faced with a stampeding fire horse! Even with it being more glow than heat, it's still not something she wants to try tanking directly -- but she also doesn't want to let it blast the shop directly.

Time for a bit of lupine creativity.

Zigzagging forward, the wolfgirl darts in for a sliding tackle worthy of a soccer red-card, targeting an opposing set of front and back legs to knock the fire horse off of its feet. (Stop-drop-and-)Rolling to her feet, Tsukiko surges forward, stomping hard on the fire horse's throat to break its form, then begins stamping out the dispersing embers.

"Tearing out the throat might have been more wolf-like, but no way I'm biting that thing," she mutters to herself before looking at the others. "Do any of you need to visit the nurse's office?"

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Fiery horses!
    Erika... Has had enough of fire today.
    "Nope." She says as she tosses herself aside and fires off a pair of flintlock pistols like Max Payne as she sails through the air, landing in a tumble.
    When all is said and done she stands herself up and...
    Looks down at the hole in her chest.
    "How am I gonna explain this to the nurse? 'I fell down the stairs'?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The fire horse loses its balance after Cute Wolf Tsukiko's red-card maneuver, briefly flying through the air for a meter before crashing down hard against the ground, and at that point, the wolfgirl will have an easy time breaking the horse's neck leaving behind rapidly weakening embers, stomped out repeatedly until nothing is left of them.

There is a fire estinguisher in the shop in fact, and it will prove enough to fan out the flames, thanks to the lingering purification energy of Tsukiko's howl.

The bullets from the flintlocks put the last one to an end, and there is calm again out there, at which Veronica comes out of the shop with a disappointed sigh. "She ran away...", the feline laments. In Japanese. "Eh?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy actually bursts out laughing at the mental image of Erika telling an alarmed Setsuna, deadpan, 'I fell down the stairs.'

    "Sorry, that... that was funny. It's fine, Erika! Setsuna-cha-- Nurse Meiou knows about magic!"

    And then she looks more thoughtful, and frowns. "Wait, do you not have a way to... get better from that? We don't have the divine pills this time... I can regenerate, but..."

    Amy holds her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "...Has this never happened except that time...?"

    And then Veronica laments that Sunfaker ran away, evidently with the artifact they need to purify to restore her. "Yeah." She turns towards Veronicat, "Sorry, we'll-- eeeeeeehhhhhh?! You can talk?!"

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    To Amy's question, Erika kind of just gestures at herself. "Normally I just kinda... Walk it off. Or sleep it off." She says in a blase manner.
    And then Veronicat talks.
    In Japanese.
    "..."
    Erika blinks.
    She scootches down to Veronicat's level and gives her a little pat on the head. "We'll get her next time, bucko."
    

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Wasn't sure how much of the injury would remain outside of henshin," Tsukiko shrugs to Roger. "I'd offer to buy you a soda, but, uh..."

She gestures to the large perforation. "Let's call it a raincheck for when it'll stay in your stomach," the wolfgirl adds ruefully.

It takes her a moment -- plus Amy's extra-shocked reaction -- for Tsukiko to realize that Veronica is actually speaking Japanese! "What the--" she says in startled Feline, before swapping back to Japanese. "Okay, now that's a good sign! Sounds like the curse is weakening!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Did she really just... "I can? Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh", she intonates repeatedly, if anything her disbelief growing with each try. When it finally gets through to her, she starts exclaiming excitedly. "I can, I really can!" Oh, finally, welcome back words.

"Well then, guess destroying that topaz had something to do with it", she smiles at the other girls. "Thanks a lot, all of you, this is so awesome. I still understood you though, so it's not completely changed", she tells Tsukiko. At least it was the best of both worlds for now.

"We really should get you magical care", she regards Erika's hole. They should go there right now, probably. The sooner, the better.