44/A Magical Day at the Library

A Magical Day at the Library
Date of Scene:	07 July 2023
Location:	Public Library
Synopsis:	Starfall Omen tries to drain energy from a library using an origami monster! Zephyr Windstar, Hanako and Cure Lovely show up to oppose to her schemes.
Cast of Characters:	Lana Voselle Miata, Zephyr Windstar, Hanako, Megumi Aino

---

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    It's a quiet day at the library, but that isn't to say that it's empty. There's quite a crowd at this hour, but this is the kind of place where people know to be quiet. Some folks are browsing through the aisles looking for books, others are sitting down in various chairs or couches quietly reading. One room has been sectioned off for a field trip, as one of the librarians reads a book to a crowd of small children.

    Lana, also, is here. She's walking through the aisles wearing a pair of reading glasses, looking at a very large tome. Her reading speed seems to be a bit fast, and if someone saw her silently flip the pages they might wonder if she was actually reading or just skimming.

    After a while, she turns a corner and... seems to vanish. Wherever she and her large book went, she isn't here now.

    Starfall Omen, Obsidian employee and walking encyclopedia of dubious information, appears at the rooftop of the library with the thick book open in her hands. "This isn't what I came here. I need energy, and I shouldn't drag my feet." She reads a little more, then closes the book. "What will happen if I use this as a base?" she muses out loud.

    The book, while otherwise mundane, begins to emit dark energy and float on its own. She extends her hands and her Armed Device, Nightmare Chain, appears in her hands in Staff mode. "Come forth, Perfect Bit! Show me your ideal form!"

    A surge of terrible dark magic emits from her device, pulsing in time with the abyss surrounding the book. The thick tome seems to grow and distort. Folded paper like origami pours out of its open pages, creating legs upon legs upon legs. Within seconds it completes its transformation, becoming a folded paper centipede-like monstrosity.

    "Now go!" demands Starfall Omen. "Gather me energy, for the Fallen Dream Star!"

    The paper centipede roars. The mundanes might think it's just another mini-quake, but those in the know might recognize it as a youma.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    < Chief, got a massive Dark Energy spike near the library. > chimes Tenraikaze, alerting the TSAB mage to the danger. "Yeah... and there's another Device user around there too... feel that?" relies Zehyr as she locks u her soda cart and darts off down an alley to cut through to the library. "Tenraikaze. Set u!" she calls as she rounds a corner and bursts out into the street. c+cyan< Standby Ready! Set up! Barrier Jacket set. Device form shift to Gale Mode. Mana Core, online. Area Search, Online. Firing Lock has been cancelled. All systems nominal. > replies the Device as the pair of obscured in a sphere of purple light, which shatters like a glass egg to reveal the mage in her Barrier Jacket, wielding a battleax-like Device. "This isn't our specialty, but... we gotta mitigate the damage this thing'll do. Expand barrier field!"

    < Barrier Field expanding. > confirms the Device as a bubble forms around the Library and some of the surrounding streets, shifting the world to an off-colour oily contrast. This barrier should restrict damage to the zone within, and restore damage to the area when it drops.

Megumi Aino has posed:
Megumi Aino is here buried in a book in the library. The book she is reading is some shoujo manga with a heavy romance angle. She's blushing so it must be getting good as she places her hands against her warm cheeks. "Ohh, I wish something like that would happen to me..."

"Oh Megumi." says the voice in her head of some handsome, nondescript male. "I ROOOOARRRR." and Megumi snaps out of her reverie to hear the quaking roar. Huh? Roar? That's not right! THAT'S NOT RIGHT AT ALL! So she stands up from her manga and makes for the stacks of books to find a safe place to transform and---

Cure Lovely dives out a window of the library! Well dive is a more generous term for steps carefully out a first floor window and brushes down her transformed state and asks.

"HEY. Who is to blame for ... for ruining my reading time!?"

"It was getting good! she was gonna confess!." she says dramatically.

Hanako has posed:
Quiet yes, for the most part. There is that table with a trio of school girls that mumblymumblysomethingschoolproject. But who has time for school projects when you have at .least. half a dozen teenage magazines to pour over and squeel about. The sort of magazine that tells you the vitaly important knowledge of what the greatest pop idol of all time, Rich Saucer, like to eat for lunch or how the newest fashionista Rena Yamazaki is advertising her newest dress line. To say nothing of the valuable clip and save (and this is a library, thusly already clipped and saved by teenager girls long before these three ever setupon the magazine) coupons at the Sanriko kitty shack. Hanako's there in her school uniform yacking away with her fellow students and paying no attention at all to the needs of .. what was it.. pre-senguko cooking utensils? Lost Decade advances in needle point? Something like that. when suddenly an event of ever increasing familiarity rocks the very ground beneath her.

"Rika.. Sophie.. Did you feel that?" Hanako asks her classmates, casting a discrete glance at her ring mouned soulgem as she turns from vaguely concerned face to vaguely concerned face. "It.. it's just an earthquake, yah?" the blonde haired girl replies with the other redhead nodding along with her. ..."Sure.." Hanako responds, "I'm. gonna take a look around.. see if I can find a tv report or something." She heads off then, her friend's heads already immersed back into their magazins.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    As Zephyr's barrier raises over the area, shifting the magicals and the youma into a world that's somehow even more quiet and still than the library they were just in. Starfall frowns as her distant eyes turn towards the horizon. That didn't take long. This city's magical defenders will arrive shortly. Her gut clenches as she mentally prepares for the fight that's coming.

    No reason for her to get involved unless strictly necessary. "Nightmare Chain, track that other Device User and any others who come. Warn me when they get close."

    < Ja Mutter >

    Hanako has yet to be noticed by her or her device, but Cure Lovely's shouting does get her attention. "That's not a device mage," she considers. "Someone else must be nearby."

    < Ja >

    Starfall Omen hesitates. She hasn't seen combat in a very, very, very long time, and the last time she did...

    No, don't think about that. It won't end up like that. Maybe just... test the waters with the expendable minion first.

    "Perfect Bit, Go! Find whoever would oppose us and bring me their energy!"

    The origami centipede ROARS once again, and this time its voice goes unheard outside of the barrier. It leaps off the top of the building, landing next to Cure Lovely with a crash and throwing up a cloud of dust. The youma's front half then stands up, towering over the Pretty Cure, easily the size of a bus only a bit longer. It opens its mouth, firing a torrent of paper airplanes at her. The paper has strange runes covering it, and the runes seethe with dark power.

    Starfall Omen watches the start of the fight from her perch on the rooftop. How is this going to play out?

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    < Barrier Field Locked. Estimate three hours until auto-collapse. > announces Tenraikaze as the mage moves to get into osition. "Plenty of time... got a location on the other Device yet?" c+cyan< Negative. It is currently searching for us too. Dark Energy spike located... Youma creature identified. Coordinates are specific. >

    Zehyr skids to a halt as she rounds a corner, to find the origami centiede looming over... Well, there's another mahou at least. "Ribbon Bind!" c+cyan< Ribbon Bind. Restrict Lock! > announces the Device a moment after the command. Purple ribbons of magic lash out from the gem set between the Device's axe blades and attempt to hamper the monsters movements.

Megumi Aino has posed:
Cure Lovely manages to be loud enough to draw out the bus sized monster. Oh so it's Tuesday is it!? No, it isn't, but it may aswell be. She spins her Love Prebrace and then throws out her hands. "Lovely Shield!" she calls out, a giant heart shape forming from her hands to tank the various paper airplanes coming for her as she concentrates, before she sees binds lash out across the creature.

She waits for a break in the runic paper airplanes to leap into the air and attempt to punch the giant centipede book creature right in ts head.

She doesn't call out an attack name for this. Sometimes, a punch is really just a massive punch!

Hanako has posed:
Yep, that was no earthquake. Hanako's 'not trying to cause a scene here' lookieloo turns into a full fledged run as she feels that barrier slide down and things go a bit sideways. She has plenty of magic to burn, time to use it. She changes into her magical girl uniform on the fly, her prefered leotard though sky blue this time, an unneccesarily short and flowy white skirt over it along with matching bolero jacket with a white cape in back. There's a light purple gem on her left hand as usual, and she's already materalizing her bow in her right as she yeets herself through a window and lands on the sidewalk below to find... mr paper centipede two stories below her?

*puff* Hanako looks over the edifice of the building and works her way upwards in a series of quick jumps. The last one leaves her airborne, bow drawn and focused on the paper centipede. She releases a quick volley of arrows from her bow, one for each segment of the monster, then comes to a landing on the roof to face the monster properly. "This one yours?" She calls out, spotting a new mahou about to be burninated with magical paper. "Thought they just.. knocked people out not this.." She waves her free hand at the general 'not normal space'ness of it all after briefly turning the monster into an origami pincushion.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    The other Device Mage shows up. Starfall Omen catches her breath and steps back from the ledge, suddenly afraid of being seen. This isn't good. She wasn't expecting this kind of response. Is she ready for this?

    No, that's not how she should think. This isn't the time for cowardice. Maybe if she waits for the right time to strike...

    "Keep quiet, Nightmare Chain. We don't need her finding us." The Armed Device pings.

    Down on the ground, the folded paper monster is suddenly bound by purple ribbons. Its guttural roar rings out again as it thrashes against the binds as a black aura surrounds it. Cure Lovely finds her opening as the creature tries to break free, and her magic punch sends a shockwave through the origami beast, sending loose pieces of runic paper flying in all directions, covering the floor and wall while some pages flutter slowly through the air. Hanako comes in and covers the centipede with arrows, each one striking home and tearing through the thick mass of paper.

    Atop the roof, Starfall Omen can hear the creature's rage and distress. "... Well this was a bad idea," she mutters. "Maybe it needs a boost."

    She moves back to the ledge and lifts up her Armed Device, which begins to glow with red-mixed-with-black energy.

    < Boser Stern >

    A huge orb of flame appears over her head, and descends down onto the battlefield, smashing directly into the paper centipede. The shockwave of the impact sends a blast of wind across the battlefield. The Perfect Bit's pages and leaflets suddenly catch fire, and it breaks into a swarm of countless flaming folded cranes. The swarm splits into three, one going after each of Zephyr, Lovely and Hanako.

    That attack may have given away her location, but... she had to do something. Giving up this early is not an option. She steels herself for whatever happens next.

Megumi Aino has posed:
Cure Lovely looks towards the girl addressing her and 'huhs'. "Nope. This isn't a terribaaaaaaaaaa---!!!" suddenly she's being swarmed by paper cranes on fire and she's having to run away for a few good feet as she turns around and places hands on her eyes like glasses, two 'ok' signs and shouts. "Lovely Beam!" she calls out, firing a beam of bright pink energy towards the swarm of paper cranes, hoping to catch them in her blast before they can reach her.

She then looks towards the others. "Is this one of your problems!?" she sputters out.

"Or is this an entirely unique problem?" she asks. "HEY" she calls up at Starfall Omen.

"IS THIS YOUR DOING?" she yells.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
"This was me!" calls out Zehyr to Hanako, regarding the Barrier. "Limits collateral damage. It's meant to hel subdue Lost Logia defense systems." she exlains further... and then there's that orb and the flaming cranes. c+cyan< Chief. Located the Device. > pings Tenraikaze. "Got more pressing problems right now. Area Strike, Impulse Barret!"

    < Impulse Barret, Tornado Shift! > announces the Device at the call, summoning multiple pinpricks of purple light. They expand and suddenly begin spitting out tiny 'wind bullets' at the approaching swarm of cranes, peppering the swarm like the defensive screen of some ancient battleship.

Hanako has posed:
Hanako's definetly begining to suspect it's a Nightmare Chain problem. Shooting an energy burst down at the origamster that turns into a sea of firey cranes that attack everyone BUT her kind of makes that obvious.

Hanako's right there to do something about it, too! .. First have to shake off the swarm of cranes flying up to attack her though. Nightmare's left with a quick shot from her bow that misses by a good inch or so before Hanako turns her attention to the more immediate threat. "You. Just stay there. Or I'll have to shoot you again!" She barks at Nightmare before opening arrows that explode like buckshot in the middle of the flock, "... won't bloody miss this time, either." she warns.

That said while tanking being on fire from some cranes that got ahead of their flock may or may not make it more intimidating.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Lovely's Lovely Beam tears through the origami flock like paper. The cranes on the edges of the swarm scatter to the side to avoid destruction, but those in the middle get Precure magic full force. The black aura leaves them immediately and they float harmlessly to the ground.

    The minions going after Zephyr don't fare much better, with the defensive screen easily able to defeat each individual crane. The defeated cranes fall and begin to create a wall that the rest of the swarm crashes through, only to get pelted and shot down by purple light. Yet the fight is not over.

    Hanako's shot goes wide, but it's a wakeup call for Starfall. She's getting shot at now, and her time of sitting on the sidelines has come to an end. Her eyes widen, and she hopes for a minute that her quiet rage is more obvious than her fear.

    Cure Lovely calls her out, and Starfall Omen regards her with a frown. "You've crossed me for the first time," she shouts from atop the roof to the PreCure. "Things would be a lot easier if you hadn't shown up, but I suppose it is the nature of mortals to fight even the inevitable." She sighs deeply, and her Armed Device transforms into a large, spike covered canon in Starfall's hands, long enough to be a rifle but wide enough to provide Omen some cover. "I don't suppose I could ask you to let this one go? A little bit of energy loss isn't going to hurt anyone."

    That's a lie, of course, but Starfall is a villain. With her free hand she gestures towards the remaining flaming cranes, and they begin to circle around her in a defensive shield. Then, with both hands on her Armed Device, Nightmare Chain, she takes aim at Cure Lovely and fires a red-and-black beam of magic fire. A few more beams get shot at the Cure, and then Starfall shoots at Zephyr before running away from the ledge as the swarm follows her.

    Back on the ground, the swarm clears a little more and a dark-glowing book becomes a bit more obvious. It's floating in the air, opened wide with several pages torn, surrounded by a thick fog. From the way it hovers ominously and throws out waves of dark power, it looks somewhat important, and those with good magical senses might be able to tell that the book is providing power to the rest of the swarming origami. Starfall Omen doesn't care what happens to it at this point. She needs to bail.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    < Chief! > warns Tenraikaze, as the swarm begins to thin, but that beam of black fire comes lancing out at the mage. Zehyr lifts her off-hand u, alm toward the incoming attack. A rhomboid sell seal forms from her alm, accomanied by the announcement of c+cyan< Kite Shield! >

    The fire beam strikes, splashes around the shield, and forces the mage back a few feet, digging furrows in the street under her ironshod boots. "Someone deal with the book!" calls Zephyr. "I'll chase her down, Flier Fan!"

    Zehyr, after recovering from the beam strike, a bit singed around the edges, kicks off the ground as a air of raidly rotating turbines of urle energy form around her ankles. She fires skyward like a bullet, and then arcs down to intercet Starfall with an overhead axe strike. c+cyan< Mistral Cutter! > chimes the Device as that axe-blade comes down like a hammer strike, the boiling magic coating the blade exploding like a shaped charge on impact, whatever that happens to be.

Hanako has posed:
Hanako takes a breather after the immediate threat is over and the two other magical girls move to chase Starfall down. Hanako'll just be here, patting herself off.. trying to get the fire under control by beating her torched hair into submission with her right hand. After most of the fire is put out, she's on the move again, passively patting down the remaining flames with her right hand and trying to catch glimpse of Starfall again and what might be happening to her.

Might want to think about closing that book too, eventually, if nobody else is getting to it .. but Hanako's done wasting magic on this fight.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Annnnd there it is. Starfall Omen is being chased. On the upside, so far she's lasted longer in magical combat than her sister did. On the downside, that's a pretty low bar.

    Don't think about that! Focus!

    Zephyr comes at her. Nightmare Chain pings, warning Starfall of the incoming Device Mage. At the last moment before impact, Starfall turns around, swinging the Cannon-mode Nightmare Chain around to absorb the strike. The magical explosion knocks Starfall onto her back, and the Armed Device out of her hands, but she somersaults backwards to land firmly on her feet and reaches out as Nightmare Chain returns to her grasp.

    < Claw Mode >

    The cannon turns into a pair of claws, covering Starfall Omen's hands.

    < Grosserstein >

    The claws suddenly grow thicker, and heavier as sharp white stone covers them. Starfall leapcharges at Zephyr, lashes out at her with magical claws, and then hovers in the air more with the aid of Dark Energy than Device magic. The flaming cranes fly around them both, occasionally swooping in to ram into Zephyr like a pack of wolves surrounding prey.

    As for the glowing tome itself, it still hovers in the air, but the flaming cranes are too busy defending Starfall to seriously protect the book. It's pretty vulnerable if Hanako wanted to attack it, since Omen is more worried about herself.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    < Evade! > "No time!"

    Zephyr brings her Device up to block those claws, grunting from the impact as she 'skids' back mid-air, the turbines around her ankles spinning faster to compensate.

    The cranes earn pulses of shields as they come ramming in, some deflected, some getting through to strike at her Barrier Jacket. She shifts posture and shoves back from the Armed Device, giving her staf a flourish before coming back in with a horizontal hack, then shifting weight to strike with the spiked haft cap on the other end, utilizing the whole length of her Device like one would a bo-staff.

    "Under authority of the TSAB Enforcers, disarm your Device and stand down all magics. You are under arrest for disturbance of the peace and intent to use hostile magic on civilians."

Hanako has posed:
Yeah that looks taken care of, both the fire and the big bad. But in the other magical girl's haste to chase down the big bad they've left her book free to emit dangerous looking energy and possibly erupt again. Hanako should probably do something about that.

The Puella makes her way over to the book giving it a wary look before darting both hands through its fog and grabs onto both covers firmly. The book fights being closed, but Hanako persists with some grunting and fierce concentration "Just.. give.. up .. already! You're not even DOING anything right now!" she hisses at the book before muscling past the tome's magical determination to stay open and slams the book shut. Just to make certain, she sets the book firmly down and sits on it while she watches the Device user and prettycure wrap things up on their end.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Starfall's eyes go wide at Zephyr's declaration. "TSAB?!" she shouts out loud. That's a name she's only read about in Obsidian files, but she knows that they're a big deal. "Your people are here?!"

    This was a bad idea. She wonders for a moment if it would be wise to go back to sleep for another 800 years. No, waiting is futile, and the magical forces which defend this world aren't getting any weaker. This is just another problem she'll have to deal with as part of her all-important duty.

    Meanwhile, Hanako is closing the book. It resists, and it even screams with an inhumane voice, but it cannot resist the power of a magical girl. It wiggles and writhes in Hanako's grip, and tries to throw her once sat on, but eventually the book just gives up the ghost. The dark magic emitting from it turns bright red for a brief moment before harmlessly fading away.

    Which, of course, means that the cranes currently protecting Starfall Omen fall to the ground, powerless. She watches them with wide eyes as she suddenly realizes just how defenseless she is. In her mind, she recalls the wisdom of a certain poster in the Obsidian office, featuring a running skeleton advising the reader to, as the kids call it these days, hit da bricks.

    "Maybe I'll take a raincheck on the whole arresting thing," quips Starfall. A blue portal opens up behind her, and she steps back into it. She squints at Zephyr one last time. "Next time won't be so easy, TSAB."

    The portal closes. She's gone. The battle, such as it was, is over.

Hanako has posed:
With the book squarely in hand or under butt as the case may be, Hanako yells and waves a hand for attention of the other magical girls. "HEY! I caught this thing. Anyone want to look at it? or should I just return it to the school library?"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Well... at least she's gone." Quips Zephyr as she twirls her Device and lets it return to Standby form. Zephyr floats back over toward Hanako, "Hey... weren't you one of the girls at the park the other day?" she asks, dropping onto the pavement as her Barrier Jacket shatters into motes of light, and the girl returns to her civilian outfit. A potentially familiar dark purple t-shirt with the logo of Jan Ken Pop on it.

    She looks at the book, tilting her head as Tenraikaze ings softly. c+cyan< Magic levels are within acceptable parameters. It can be safely returned. > it announces. "Maybe I'll keep an eye on it for a few days, in case it has any lingering effects... though."

Hanako has posed:
Hanako stays in her magical outfit for now; it's as much a part of her as her normal clothes really. She does stand up though, and introduce herself politely to Zephyr. "Mmn-hmn. I'm Hanako, nice to meet you." She offers, handing the book over wtih both hands. "Thanks, this sort of thing really isn't anything I know about. I just try to chip in when things go wrong around me. They've been ... doing that a bit lately. It's a lot messier than the witches I'm used to..."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Yeah, don't count on it getting any less hectic." remarks Zephyr with a chuckle. It's a mirthless affair. "Name's Zephyr, but don't go spreading it around." even though she told it to like... two million people at that delivery job the other afternoon. "Oh, and my partner here is Tenraikaze... that means 'Divine Wind'."

Hanako has posed:
"Your weapons are they.. alive? some sorta AI? Magical thingy?" Hanako asks curiously. Not that she's really expecting an answer, but hey what's the worst that can go wrong asking it? "My... partner.. is a lot less useful, just sorta skulks around trying to recruit other girls. If you see a white puffball thing with pink eyes and weird ears hanging around, try to ignore it?"