488/We Threw Gasoline on the Fire

We Threw Gasoline on the Fire
Date of Scene:	22 September 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Steel Barrier Match, no holds barred! Hannah and Hematite, FITE! And then Koji and Coco, HEAL! Yikes.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Hannah Steiner, Koji Silvia, Coco Kiumi

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's a blustery evening, and there's a youma downtown.

It's not like that's new, but usually they at least try to start out subtle so they can gather energy, but this one is literally a giant carrot with legs, doing card tricks out in front of a store like a mascot. The only reason it's possible to tell at a glance from any magical person that it's not, in fact, a store mascot, is because it's got stick figure arms and legs that don't have room for bones in them, and people are literally dragging their feet when they wander away from the admittedly stupid tricks.

Also its voice is annoying.

Perched above like a gargoyle but on a streetlight is a boy with a cape, watching the goings-on with barely-disguised irritation. He's balanced in a crouch on shiny boots, his dark grey uniform blending in somewhat with the grey buildings all around, and his longish black hair and cape are just hanging down, gravity doing its thing.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah's evening is one of using some of her remaining Summer Job-Disaster(s) Funds to order an /appropriate/ pervayor of one of her great loves from a well-recommended nearby shop! Sadly, this little Unadministered Dirtball doesn't have Hyperpulse Lossless Twenty-Thousand-P Musicorium Generators, and so she's going slumming it.

One high-quality mid-range vinyl record player on order and several vinyl records of the whole of Metallica's discography in one hand, Hannah is stepping out of the store before that.../awful/ voice hits her ears. Lyra, leash in her free hand, growls in that knowing way. Suddenly Hannah needs to slide over to an adjacent alleyway for /some reason/!

"For the Glory of House Steiner...Blauer Greif, AUFWACHEN!"

And one very Belkan transformation sequence later, and she gravity-hovers her way atop a building, a Belkan Area Search pinpointing both the ridiculous youma and it's /ear sundering/ voice. And a presence perched up high. Scowl. Scoooowl. How typical, thinks Hannah!

Cowardly hunds hiding behind proxies. Just like how her Uncle sent out an assassin instead of doing the job himself. She's seen it several times, and it makes her honorable, foolish heart /rage/!

All she can see in that looming figure of Hematite is her Uncle. And that robs her of what little vestige of caution she might have employed, or more importantly, her usual good read on people.

It's a mistake she'll pay for later.

<Barriere> Comes Blauer Greif as Hannah invokes the spell, and Lyra keeps overwatch with a /hiss-howl/ of pure Razorhound fury, reacting to her owner's own wroth. Suddenly all that delicious energy is cut off, as the civvies disappear and the whole world grows vaguely blue-and-gold tinted grey, shunted off to the left and aside dimensionally as the hallmark of a Device User makes itself known.

"By the Sankt's own blood!" Comes the self-righteous voice of Trager des Blauer Greif, hovering up to a slightly taller vantage-point building just to better Justice Speech the Youma and Youma-Wielder that is Hematite!

She slashes out in the air with the blade of her Device, sheath knocked against her shoulder jauntily! "Not only do you pollute the very /air/ with such a nervig cacophany coming from that...wait...is...that a /carrot/!? By Sankt Olivie's missing right sock, you have neither taste nor honor, you gutless cur! This is worse than mein Uncle's choice of..." Gag. Blauer Greif quite literally throttles her User with a gravity tug rather than spill the beans in a fit of pique to this unknown enemy. Cough. Hack. Okay this Justice Speech is kind of ruined.

"Kark it, Trager des Blauer Greif shall punt you in the head for both rank cowardice und defiling any sense of vocal pleasantness in your youma!!!!!"

<Fluss: Aufhellen>

Hannah speeds down to the ground, light as a feather and thrice as quick after a gravityless kick off of the side of her perch in defiance of all laws of physics. The spell ends just as she's right in front of that carrot-youma!

"Die as the hund you are, wretch!" She is so, /so/ taking out her inner frustrations on this poor youma. There's no attack callout. She just raises that slender, beautiful cane-blade of Blauer Greif, lets the adjacent-light of the Barrier shine off of it, and then with an expert horse stance? She puts all of her body into simply carving the creature in half from tip to flat carrot bottom!

The force she exerts is enough to crack the not-pavement and make her long cloak billow out majestically and royally!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite stands up on the streetlight, still balanced instead of flying, and looks relieved when the barrier goes up. He's absurdly tall by himself, it's true, but he's skinny and gangly like an adolescent cat-- definitely a boy, not a man. He watches Hannah with a wry expression as she goes into a tirade over his choice in youma design and gets cut off, and he doesn't seem especially upset about the fact that the youma's not getting energy anymore.

"Gutless cur, huh? Sailor Moon asked me not to make youmas out of things she liked," he says, and then flinches back and grins incredulously at the sheer level of violence in Hannah's attack on a carrot youma. "Wait! You're Tragar-chan? You make her very happy! So thanks!"

On the sidewalk, to either side of the chonky crevasse Hannah just created in it, there are two halves of a regular-sized carrot. Wisps of bright energy flitter away from it.

"Thanks for the barrier! I'm Hematite, and you're insane!" he sounds legitimately gleeful. "You really want a go at me? I'm a boss battle, there's this kid with a Device I know that said it would take at least twelve of you to contain me--"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
If there's one thing that can make the endless force of Belkan Space Noble Fury give pause, it's the mention of her fellow warrior-slash-would-be-sister Sailor Moon. Her perfect little arch of heeled armored boot hesitates as her face falls in open confusion. Hannah is, not unlike said Moon Bunny, one to prefer to wear her heart on her sleeve for the most part. She openly gawks, has to drag her own jaw off the floor, and then huffs with the kind of arrogance only some kind of royalty can muster!

"Wh...You know frau Moon!? Und what exactly would some honorless..." She starts, then pauses, and /processes/ his words. And then her own. For a second, it's almost as if this fierce, obviously violence and clearly wounded Belkan is about to give up the fight. Tears gently seep from beneath those beautiful golden darkened glasses of hers.

"I ask a foolish question. Mein apologies, herr Hematite. She loves everyone, does she naught? Too much so, too much. By the /Sankt/. She needs Her greater, I gather, than either of us may." Her words are just so affectionate, so caring, and so outright terrified for the righteous and yet so empathetic of Sailor Senshi. An arm tugs across her face. It doesn't help much.

"...Words of a man dragged into this whole 'energy draining' cowardice against one's will, if I am any judge?" She suddenly offers, those particular set of words spiking her politician's instincts, and her good read of people.

Notably, she /grins/ at being called insane. It's like she's taking it as a compliment!

Really, it's almost like they both are on the edge of actual diplomacy, which while heavy handed, Hannah is very good at. It's literally her job even if she loses her magic! But 'boss battle' and 'kid with device saying there'd need to be twelve of you' is all but waving a cape in front of a bull. Her /pride/ overrides her rising good sense, and suddenly there's a burst of anti-gravity, and she rockets up above Hematite! And then there's a gravity chain between the two, tugging apocalyptically and with the force of her own personal Countess-Palatine pique!

Never one for subtlety or going back on her Sankt-blessed word, she attempts to just kick Hematite directly in his beautiful, wonderful Earth Court face!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I love her, your honor!" yells Hematite, grinning as Tragar comes down like a ton of bricks directly toward his face--

And he's suddenly not there. This isn't a teleport, this is just a sidestep into midair while his white-gloved hand whips out to grab hold of the other end of that gravity chain -- namely, Tragar-chan, specifically, her foot -- and yank.

His other hand, at that very moment, while he's still being pulled by an invisible force? Produces a black-petaled rose from absolutely nowhere! He throws it with swift surety at where he judges some kind of telekinetic connection to be, between the two of them, and even if there's no magic physically there for him to cut through with it, the rose itself buries itself stem-first in the concrete side of the building they're next to.

"And wow have I been wanting to blow off some steam and be arrogant and overpowered without actually hurting anyone or their feelings!" he calls out with inordinate good cheer.

He hasn't even truly attacked yet, only sidestepped Hannah's and tried to deflate them.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah is, mid air, once again hammered with a blow that is straight to her soul. No, even with all that Massive Dark Energy power in him, it hits harder than any blow he can inflict physically! He...

Is in love with Sailor Moon!?!?

"I...I SHALL USE THE ANCIENT ARMLOCK NOOGIE TECHNIQUE OF MEIN HOUSE TO DISCIPLINE THIS MOON FOR...ACHT!" Dropping verbal bombshells is an effective tactic, doubly so coming from the monster that is one Hematite!

Her foot whiffs audibly, and then Hematite finds the weakness in her spells! It's a two way street for this Belkan, blunt as she is, and so this clever opponent thrusts herself towards him, and then there's this cursed rose!

There's a shattering of magic as that chain disconnects, and Hannah summons a full-on Turmschild with it's towering nature and gravitic anti-projectile powers! It shatters like glass despite being Belkan Tough, and only a quick spin of her body brought on by the dissipating gravity-forces of her works has her not getting openly skewered in turn!

Several brilliant noble blonde hairs are stabbed into the concrete!

And then he's grandstanding. She lands neatly, and for just a brief second?

She laughs. By the Sankt, Hematite is difficult to hate, even while she wants to beat him senseless!

"Y...you...arrogant little..." She's throwing boulders in a glass hosue right now, but her anger and amusement and growing, despite her attempts to hate him, /like/ of this affable evil is consuming her.

One might be able to break a Belkan, but deflating one of the Great House kind is difficult. She /should/ feel like her feelings are being stepped on, but despite wounded pride, the utter lack of malice is almost a comfort.

Thankfully she's attacking before her brain makes connections between her mother's difficult training and facing off against Hematite.

<Schwerkraftwurf> Comes her Device, calculating an attack vector, before Hannah tosses the sheath in a wide, destructive arc towards Hematite...and given his speed, suddenly has a gravity yank to defy physical attack angles, though notably the ranged attack is clearly not nearly as destructive as Hannah's physical blows! It's going right for the base of the young man's spine, more for distraction than anything else!

Especially as she forgoes any sort of gravitic lifting, and just uses pure Belkan strength and never skipping mahou leg day to launch herself back towards Hematite! Both hands on her blade, yelling a Belkan Warcry, her Device finally speaks again.

<Fluss: Erhöhen>

That already powerful blow is augmented, the shudder of bone and wrist and Hannah taking on the burden of pure Gravity increasing her two-handed slash exponentially, and a wince of pain as she puts her entire body into smashing into Hematite vertically, not unlike a far, far greater, and thusly (in her mind) more respectful attack upon her amazing opponent! It's like getting an angry, sharp, Space-Train hammering into you! Luckily, she actively holds the 'Anti-Murder' protocol on her Device.

This isn't her Uncle. In Hannah's mind, even though she's furious, this young man breathing the same air as Count Otto would be a sin against Olivie!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It is WORTH IT. The space train plows murder-first into the young man, the initial slash somehow not tearing his silky black cape-- but the force of the vertical blow slams him right into the concrete sidewalk below them and makes a crater the size of a car! "Ow, fuck--" comes a voice from the resulting dustcloud, and then a coughlaugh and there's a Hematite, covered in dirt and concrete dust and scraped up in the face, rocketing out of the cloud straight for Hannah's midsection!

He's aimed them at the building across the street from them, but he stops himself from charging the rest of the way; even if he connects he doesn't want to go through the entire building. He's--

--he's pulling his punches.

"DON'T NOOGIE HER TOO HARD! You're right about me not wanting to do this!" he yells, and scooping up the two carrot halves as swiftly as he'd thrown the rose early, he throws them like darts as well, aiming for Hannah's armor in the hopes of making it shake a lot or make, you know, mashed raw carrot. Carrot juice. Very healthy.

Except then he picks up a motorcycle and hurls it after her. "Except this part is pretty cool!"

A beat. "WHAT HOSPITAL DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE YOU TO?" Hematite calls with mild concern.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah lets out this /sigh/ that's pure pleasure as her Device inloads the impact of Hematite going straight into the dirt! That absolute Belkan desire to Scout their foes to the ground, and then...well, for her generation, take some of them out to Ice Cream after a thorough beating ensuring they're Befriended and respecting their blunt, Superior-to-Mid-Childan style of fight!

Hannah is /grinning/ proudly!

"Such endurance, mein dear..." Freund? Feind? She doesn't get to end her praise, as suddenly he's tossing /youma carrot halves/ at her!

Her brain and even Blauer Greif's old, tired memory core has to struggle to process all that happens. She's being told to show mercy on Sailor Moon - okay, possibly done, she's still mad - and throwing youma at her!

Two of those she can accept. But the last one!?

Even if it's weak mushy carrot-youma, the sheer impact has her visible Knight Armor shattering and flaking off, even as she admirably takes the blow perfectly on the /strongest/ parts of that armor, where lesser Belkans would flinch away. She's driven into the wall, but not through it, her body leaving an imprint as she rips out of it!

"OH GO WALLOW IN A MID-CHILDAN FARM ANIMAL STY YOU JERK!" She howls in turn, all but frothing at the mouth as a motorcycle comes for her!

"How DARE you hold back upon a proud Daughter of Ancient Belka! HAVE AT YOU, HUND!" Oh yes, she's at the peak of her fury, and that motorcycle?

Now, that incoming bike of too-much-metal is a problem, even for a tough mahou like her. But it's not like House Steiner tactics trend towards brilliance. Just money and brute force. And sometimes, a surfit of skill. Experience is a good teacher, and so as Hannah pulls back her best sword arm, there's a sudden /fisheyeing/ of the world directly towards her, as if the whole world is her own center!

"I am the center of gravity!" She proudly proclaims, and then multiple interlocking gravity-spheres twist and turn and make everything curve at odd angles directly towards the overly-haughty form of one Countess-Palatine Hannah Emilia-Lina Araki-Steiner the Fourteenth! The whole thing /hums/ with fury.

Belkan Mages are often said by some to be bad at magic, mostly by equally haughty Mid-Childan types. It's more a matter of perspective. Mid-Childans trend, culturally, to fire support. Belkans, to front line brawling. They compliment each other perfectly, and a truly integrated strike team of both cultures is a nightmare to behold.

Hannah's magic is blunt, straightforward, and a work of skill to interlock such opposing and volatile forces such that she doesn't lose a hand. This is something she's worked, sweated, and /studied/ for.

And, with little time to adopt a thrusting stance, simply wields it like a blade. SLICE! She's nearly taken off her own feet by the force of her own blow, as that entire motorcycle is simply drawn into the inner workings of that spell, twisting into multiple long, elongated writhing bits of metal, plastic, and of course, /gasoline/!

With a howl of effort, and a stabalizing kick to Hannah's back courtesy of her massive Dino-Lizard-Guide-Animal to keep her upright, she leaps towards Hematite, only for gravity to pause as they're on mid-level with each other!

A smile that's both friendly and utterly enjoying getting to unleash her best into an opponent she admires, slices /vertically/ as if to tear the young man in half with that suddenly exploding lance of gravitic terror.

"ALPHA STREIK!" Comes both Hannah and Blauer Grief in unison, a spark touching off from a nearby not-flagpole as she slashes it like a greatsword into Hematite!

That spark is sucked in to the whirling mass, and touches off the gasoline, adding more mundane fire to the strike, and despite the heat?

The noble Countess is not even hesitating while her magical gauntlets melt and burn! The House of Steiner does nothing by halves!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite's grinning wildly as well, hovering with his hair and cape weightless behind and around him. Flagpoles bend in toward Hannah's spell, cars drag along the ground, and Hannah is the gravity well of this barriered pocket in reality. It pulls on Hematite too, but he doesn't play with it, instead watching with more concern as Tragar puts together--

--puts together a weapon the size of all the bits of motorcycle reconfigured--

--and manages to set it on fire. Hematite isn't smiling anymore. Fire. He thinks of all the burning lately, and he knows this isn't it, but "I am SO TIRED," he snaps suddenly, lifting a hand and pulling up a ball of writing dark energy with a flick of his wrist, "of FIRE."

The dark energy gets flung, extruding out from his hand at Hannah's improvised weapon, and it more or less solidifies on and around those gauntlets as well as wreathed up the weapon itself. It's cold: cold and breathless, and the fire is out instantly, and the solid dark energy keeps Tragar and the weapon in place. "So, stop it. I got firebombed the day before yesterday and it rUiNeD my SUIT--"

His voice gets louder as the sentence goes on, and there's frustration and some bizarrely related actual emotional hurt involved in the burst of anger. It's not his suit he's mad about, that's painfully obvious. "I've had enough of this game. It was fun, though," he says, trying to sound cheerful again and failing. And then he lifts them both further up off the ground, and SLAMS the girl and the weapon and the dark energy directly down into the street with the same hurricane force as a rose dart from his hand.

"Tragar-chan? Blauer Greif?" he calls out into the thundering after-silence.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah is /SO/ very confused! He's going on about suits, about getting firebombed, and frankly sounding about as emotionally stable as /she's/ been as of late. There's this odd moment where her face softens in actual pity and empathy for the man!

"Herr Hematite, if you need an ea..." She's just about to actually pull from the Sailor Moon playbook, so struck is she, but of course her own hubris comes back around to bite her.

Or in this case, bind her to her own improvised gravity-apocalypse with extra iron for your diet! It takes her back to Chrono. She hates, HATES bind spells!

"WHAT IS IT WITH KARKING BIND SPELLS LATELY!?" Comes Hannah, all that previous empathy dying in more now impotent fury!

And then it's like her entire body has frostbite. She lets out a shriek of agony, before suddenly Hematite puts in all that dark energy prowess and strength into giving her a one-way ticket to the ground.

First of all, the last vestiges of her Armor of her Knight Armor shatter as she's made into a beautiful crater into the ground from sheer physical force! She bounces, twice, first on her back, then getting her head cracked by the lip of the crater she'd just been forced to make!

That knocks her into next week, but a Belkan is nothing if not stubborn. 'Space Cockroach' has been a good perjorative from irritated Mid-Childans to their punchy cousins. She says....something, it's really hard to tell between excessive Belkan and just slurred words.

Then all that gravity power and motorcycle blade does what it's meant to do. Explode into gravitics after smashing something. Except this is Hannah, not Hematite, and she gets to half-unconsciously get blown again by her own glorious weapon, skitting and scraping and taking all sorts of motorcycle-shrapnel blows, before she's driven straight into the wall at the end of the alleyway head-first. Crumble. She lingers there a second, before slumping down into a heap of brick, steel, and the kind of groaning that never means /anything/ good.

The only sound is a <PING> from Blauer Grief. They're both alive. Mostly. Kind of. But Hannah's probably occupying Tharkad so battered is she, and BG is trying to rapidly restart her memory core so she can come up with an emergency signal to /somebody/. And failing.

Hemakun stands victorious!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
This is not a victory Hematite wanted.

This is not a victory at all.

Hematite scrambles over to where Hannah's slumped in the alley halfway under bricks and steel, and he hears the groaning and the PING and bites back panic to shunt himself into emergency mode.

The very first thing he does is get anything that's on top of her off, and he's saying like a mantra, "Hang in there, Tragar, you're better than this, you're too tough to die or-- or get permanently maimed or something from this, hang in there, come on--"

And then he's checking her pulse. Workable. For now. Who knows what's bleeding internally, and she hit her head really, really hard. Someone has to have some kind of magic something -- he should call Kyouka for help, she would know -- Usagi might-- no, he knows Koji healed Usagi, he knows Hanzo can scan like a boss, he knows Koji might be able to help Blauer Greif, he's trying not to hyperventilate. All he has to work with is dark energy.

That's it, that's all. And he doesn't know if she's broken her neck, her back, he doesn't know if she's safe to move. He doesn't move her, he gets his cellphone out of its dimensional pocket and calls Koji.

"Kojikun," he gasps into the phone as soon as Koji picks up, "medical help quick please, I can come get you, I can't move her I don't know if she's safe to move to take to the emergency room--"

Koji Silvia has posed:
There is a long pause from the other end of the line when his roommate and friend tapers off...

"Okay, turn on your phone's camera and give me a clear space that I can see. I will be there. Stay with whoever it is, and... take a breath."

Getting up, the first thing Koji does is look at his own injuries and bandages to ensure that going isn't going to cause him any more problems, and then says, "Hanzo, Set Up."

    << SET UP. >>

Right there, in the middle of the dorm room, Koji's Barrier Jacket appears around his person, and turns him into the more familiar 'self'.

Picking his phone back up again, he says into it into a slightly more confident voice, "Ready when you are."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite does as he's told, a thousand percent does it; he turns the phone like he's hunting pokemon and lands on a clear spot in the alley, then waits for Koji and Hanzo to arrive.

He's in henshin, he's dusty and dirty and his face is scraped, but that's it. He's standing next to Hannah Steiner, whose armor has shattered, and she's lying on a pile of bricks and steel scraps. Blauer Greif is pinging as she tries to restart her memory core, and Hematite's face is screwed up.

"She tanked her own limit breaker," he says shakily, "after I threw her into the ground. She hit the wall with her head."

Koji Silvia has posed:
At the spot that Hematite is pointing the phone, there is a glow that appears on the ground, rising up and manifesting into a blue-white Midchildian magical circle, slowly spinning and casting enough light to faintly illuminate the entire alleyway. Motes of light stream in towards the central point, resolving themselves into a form that fully manifests as the circle breaks and the semi-masked form of Koji float-steps down onto the alleyway floor.

Looking up at Hematite, there's a moment from the black-clad mage where it almost seems like strangers facing off... but then he moves towards Hannah and thankfully... the covering over his mouth keeps his frown from showing, "Our magic armor is a barrier, just manifested as clothes. It should have protected her from the worst of it, but depending on how much damage she'd taken or done to herself... something could have gotten through."

Says the guy still nursing cracked ribs from getting bodied into a skyscraper...

Approaching Hannah, those knives at his hips begin floating out of their sheathes on their own, but the energy-blade parts do not ignite. Instead, three of them begin passing sweeping lights back and forth over Hannah, and two more float over her heart and begin sending a warming white light down at her.

"Hanzo, give us a display."

    << Sensor Active. Regeneration Active. Obscure beginning Device diagnostics. Display coming online, Young Master. >>

The final 'Blade' floats in the air in front of 'Hanzo' where Hematite can see it as holographic windows appear, one showing Hannah's vitals, and the other a breakdown of Blauer Greif's current status and damage.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
She's definitely unconscious, the occasional half-caught word coming from her comatose mouth, the young woman quite well knocked into her own mind! As those scans begin, it doesn't take long for feedback to come after she's been relatively cleared from the rubble thanks to Hematite's valiant efforts!

There's definitely some internal bleeding, and a /lot/ of bruising, but overall it seems her Armor has done right by her for the most part. She'll heal those, not even a crack on the ribs. Belkan Knight Armor is truly terrifying.

No, what's more worrying is that skull of hers. That neck has miraculously not snapped on the way down, but all the signs are there of a classic concussion. And a bad one at that, getting your brain slammed around twice, particularly that smash into the alleyway wall, has put her in a bad place.

Blauer Greif already has her regeneration protocols active, she's a tough old bird, but the impact gave her essentially the same problem as Hannah. Luckily that's a lot easier to work with. You don't need to be a Meister to reboot a Device, especially if you're already looped in with guest permissions like Koji is for ease of communication.

And once Blauer Greif is rebooted? It'll be easy to shoot off a message to Coco!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Strangers-- but given the look on Hematite's face, that face-off certainly looks unbalanced in the wrong direction. He's not going to make any excuses. He should have teleported out instead of obliging Hannah's desire for a fight, even after he warned her, and he could have teleported out at any time, couldn't he? Through the barrier? Maybe not. But he could also have kept pulling his punches--

There's no point, there's no point, not when he might be needed to help. For the second time today, Hematite cuts off a panic spiral at the root, distracting himself with trying to interpret the display. Trying. "Blauer Greif?" he asks hesitantly as the Device's vitals change. "Is there anyone else you can call for help too? I'm so sorry she kept going, I'm so sorry I didn't just leave--"

Koji Silvia has posed:
After looking at the screens, Koji motions with his hand, and the twin parts of his Device that were giving Hannah's health a boost with magic instead move up to each side of her head and begin to pour the same light into it, illuminating her in the same warm light, "Okay. I'm going to take over her Device's ability to heal injuries so that I can restart it properly. Once that's done, Blauer should be able to keep her stable. My Device's healing abilities less effective than others. Injuries like this would be days of focused work. I know someone with a medical Device who could assist, but he's currently... offline."

The last part coming with a sigh.

"Here we go."

    << Connection to Blauer Grief established. Gastmodus protocols enabled. Neustart... Neustart... initiating 3. 2. 1. Systemradfahren. >>

For several moments, Hannah's Knight Armor would flicker and almost vanish, and then like a camera image on a security screen, it resolves back into solidity. With that out of the way, Koji turns to look at Mamoru, "This isn't your fault. She's been looking for ways to punish herself for the death of her family. So she fights. And she fights. Because it's the only place she feels alive right now."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
With that connection and restart initiated, Blauer Greif would suddenly intone flatly to those present.



<Linker Core Online>

<Sensoren Online>

<Zauberspruche Online>

<Alle Systeme Nominal>

The Device pauses, and immediately catches up with the situation. She puts what remains of their magic into self-healing mode, letting the natural power of a Mahou's accelerated recovery begin. Then, she pings out to a very specific person!

<frau Coco. Blauer Greif requesting emergency medical assistance. Mein Herrin has suffered kritisch damage. Sending coordinates. Anerkennen?>

<Request sent> Comes the Device simply to those around her.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Letting out a shaky breath, Hematite looks back away from Koji, back down at Hannah. "Okay," he says in a small voice, and then he hears that someone else has been called for help. His eyes widen. "Should I leave?" he asks Koji, shoulders hunching in a little. "I should probably leave. Tragar, maybe I should be mad at you for using me to alive yourself almost to death, and maybe when all this is over I will," he tells the unconscious girl, and takes a step back.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco is quite engrossed in a comedy movie about a whitewasher and a school teacher coming to several misunderstandings over each other's doings, when something takes away her attention from the screen. From below her neck, the shell necklace starts shining with a yellow light, communicating to her a sense of urgency towards Hannah. The mermaid princess is quick to put the pc to the side and call upon the power of her pearl, the fear of yet another attempt on her friend's life forcing her to urgency.

"Yellow Pearl Voice!" she declares, the pearl in her shell locket responding to her will and starting to shine with a yellow light. A kaleidoscope of colours covers Coco's clothes as those change into her yellow gloves and boots with flowy extensions, as well as a yellow blouse with a yellow skirt, while her pearl expands into her trusty E-Pitch microphone, its blue shape settling comfily into her hand, the jewel nestled safely in the head's center.

She then makes the round of her otters, mobilising as many of them as she could, when she receives a message from her phone. She is tempted to ignore it in her search for Hannah, when she remembers that Blauer Greif would be able to contact her this time, and she shakily takes out her phone, thanking the Device for having done actually that and speeding off towards the coordinates she sent her, forming the Live Stage around her and hurling the sphere of white light in that direction as fast as she could.

As soon as she sees Hannah hurt on the ground, she doesn't waste time asking questions to the familiar figures of Hematite and Koji, but she forms a Live Stage around the Belkan, which with almost no movements makes her float away from the ground she is on, keeping her in the same position. Coco starts singing of awakening faraway memories, of a destiny that lets her know something, of embracing the guidance of the stars to her heart.

She sings of an ever friend, the most important thing, and no no matter how painful the time, she will continue to protect them. The melodious notes work in tandem with Blauer Greif's own regenerating magic as they talk of how under the ever blue sparkle of the ocean she loves, she now gathers the power to protect the future in her hands.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah can't exactly respond right now, as she floats up into the Live Stage, the gentle melodies of her favorite singer-mahou rushing through her. She gasps, groans, and /coughs/. For a moment it seems like she's going to wake up. But then she starts to calm down, collapsing back gently into the magic of her dear friend Coco!

"M...Mother...? No, come back..." She mutters aloud with a shudder before falling silent.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Stepping back as Coco sweeps in with all her princessly grandeur, Koji uses a small flick of his hands to recall all of his Blades and holster them once more.

"Huh. I didn't know you could heal as well, Miss. Good to know for future. Apologies if I don't get your name, however..."

Treating it all as a blase moment, he just points a thumb at the Dark General, "Hannah insisted, they fought, this happened... he's very sorry. I'll handle him, you take care of Hannah. Thanks."

The words that come from the Belkan girl cause a twitch in Koji's shoulder as he walks past Hematite, and then pats his shoulder, "How about you come with me, and we let the ladies sort it out. Don't worry... if there is one person you could put through a wall and would not only forgive you for it, but also respect you for it? It's her..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite follows after Koji, glancing back over his shoulder at Tragar and Yellow Pearl Voice, but switching his attention back to his roommate a moment later. When they're far enough away, he says quietly, "I was getting that impression. We were having fun, but then she got mad at me for pulling punches, and turned the motorcycle I threw at her into a flaming sword, and I-- I guess I hate fire these days more than I thought--"

He glances back again, but Yellow Pearl Voice is definitely still singing for Tragar, and his voice is even quieter. "Even if you say it's not my fault, it partly is. I'll leave before something like this next time someone picks a fight with me."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco gets alarmed when Hannah starts muttering about her family again, clearly the same nightmare coming back to her once more, but all she can do is keep singing and hope the reassuring power of her song provides her some comfort.

Meanwhile she looks at Koji and Hematite, wondering what they are whispering among themselves, but more importantly, thinking Hannah ought to be brought to the Mitakihara hospital.

She takes out her own phone and gestures at it, messages currently being her only method of communication as busy singing as she is. Here is hoping Koji and Hematite actually want to give her their numbers.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Rather flatly, Koji says to his equally disguised roommate, "Listen... this is going to sound weird, but... getting my backside handed to me by someone on your side of things was a good wake-up call for me. Some of the others may not get it until they see it for themselves. So, I know you want to be kind, but you're doing them and yourself a disservice by holding back. They NEED to know how dangerous it is. Some of them might even get smart enough to either go home and reconsider, or they'll start learning HOW to do this."

Patting Hematite on the shoulder, he adds softly, "I'm not mad at you. I knew what I signed up for the moment we kicked the elephant out of the room. Respect them enough to give them the fight they need, and you'll help yourself as much as them."

With that said, he moves back over towards where Coco is working, and a small paper pad with half-size pen appears in his hand. He writes down a number and then holds it up towards the singing girl, "If you need to move her someplace safely, I can teleport her. I just need some image to use, or one of my Blades to let me swap with it."

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Blauer Greif is happy to chime in, even as Hannah is lost in nightmares and Coco's healing. <Mein Herrin is noted amongst her line as being particularly belligerent to strong foes. Social pressure towards honor und proving onesself only exacerbates this trait. Recommendation: avoidance of seeming cowardly acts. Reminder of duty to home und freunds> Attempts the Device in her flat tone.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite just nods to Koji, chewing on his lower lip. That's one thing they definitely have in common -- feeling bad about stuff they shouldn't necessarily feel that bad about. But-- he'll take it and percolate with it for a while.

He unfortunately doesn't offer his number to Coco, though he'll kick himself for that later -- given the givens, it's good to know someone who can make sure people don't die.

The young Dark General vanishes into the air as he takes another step backwards.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco gets frustrated as Hematite disappears instead of agreeing to share his number: she has come to regard him very positively and she doesn't get why he would do that. She will have to ask Usagi his number personally later so she can actually do that. Meanwhile she saves the number Koji wrote.

Koji Silvia has posed:
A little square window appears next to 'Hanzo's' head, and he looks at it for a moment, seeing...

'I think we need to move her to the Mitakihara Hospital. My Live Stage can bring her there without her getting moved around, but I mostly want to check out with you you don't have any other recommendations.'

Tilting his head a moment, the Magical Boy ends up looking back up at Coco, and then seeing her phone there, gives a nod, and says, "Ah. Sorry about that. She has a concussion, but the Knight Armor caught most of the rest. Just make sure to keep her head stable when you move her, and she should be alright. Again... thank you for this. I am sure she will be very teary and very grateful to you. She might also try and break a couple ribs with a hug. Anyways... I should go..."

Turning to walk away, not flying, Koji moves around a corner to not let the other girl see the pained expression on his face from his ribs. Too much talking, too much acting 'normal'... pot and kettle.

And in a flashier fashion than Hematite, he creates a new teleport circle, and motes out of existence, back to his room to rest.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco nods when she sees the ninja boy running away. He didn't actually answer her question about other recommendations, but she should take that as his approval then. And she gave her a detailed list of what to tell the hospital personnel, so she will have to put in a good review, ahem, thank him for that.

She begins another walk with Hannah floating in the Live Stage at Coco's side, to the Mitakihara Hospital this time, hoping that nothing bad is going to happen to her friend that necessitates this a third time.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
With the trio, soon to be quatro as Lyra finally enters the scene again, Hannah gently floating beside her friend. Soon, there's groaning. And another cough, followed by pained motions as the touch Belkan defies all good sense as she actually floats back in to consciousness!

"Where...am...herr Hematite..." Came the young woman in abject confusion. Oh, and concussion!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco notices Hannah gaining back her consciousness and she hurries to write a text. her voice still busy singing a song of healing and calm. She will have to confide in Blauer Greif relaying her messages to Hannah.

Coco texts Hannah: 'Hematite isn't here anymore, it's just you, Blauer Greif, me and Lyra. We are going to the Mitakihara Hospital and people there are check on you. How do you feel, Hannah, what happened there?'

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Luckily, this kind of thing isn't exactly unknown to a Device User from the Stars, and so slowly replies come frm the pained young woman.

<Usagi is going to kill me>

That's not a good sign if she's already pondering her friends' reactions. Ugh.

<He was hiding behind a youma like a coward. Like they all do, the worthless hunds! So I destroyed it, und tried to take him to task! To punish him for not fighting honorably!> One can feel the indignation in the replies.

<...A coward but he was not wrong regarding his strength>

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco stares at the text. 'Usagi is going to kill her?', 'Not fighting honourably?'

Coco texts Hannah hesitantly: I don't think Usagi is going to kill you if you dispatched a youma of his... Especially not in the conditions you are in.

She ponders the fighting honourably bit. He did have a bit of a classy vibe around him, the last times they met. Did he manipulate Hannah's customs to force her into attacking him with her guard lowered?

Coco texts Hannah: Did he provoke you? Perhaps using a custom of your home planet?

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah Steiner hesitates before she actually replies, trying to think through her swollen brain on the events of the last couple minutes before she was driven into the ground. A little shudder.

<I certainly hope so> She doesn't seem so confident in that!

By the Sankt, help her! He's her boyfriend. He tried to stop it. She just couldn't let it go.

<He would not fight! He would keep holding back und not...he would not face me properly!> Hannah's indignant. Her arrogance brought this on her, and her pride is as wounded as her body.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
She sighs. So Hematite didn't want to take it too far... Was that what the youma was for? To satisfy her somewhat without bringing things to the extremes they actually ended up at anyway?

Coco texts Hannah: 'I don't think he wanted to look down on you. He just didn't want to turn a friendly sparring into a duel to the death.'

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah Steiner inwardly scowled. Her head throbbed. Her entire body /aches/! It's only making her temper rise up.

<He made a youma out of /paper/! Naught a single bit of heart in it! Und draining people all the same! Not fighting properly, not putting his all into his works! It is as though he does not wish to have the power he does! If one has power, they must /use/ it as best they can! All of it, utterly!> For a young woman not used to the vast strength given by Dark Energy? It's all a cosmic tragedy! She rails against the strangeness of Earth, not unlike her Mid-Childan opposite.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco is appalled at what Hannah is telling her. She can't be seriously wishing for Hematite to do his worst, can she? The thought almost breaks Coco's concentration onto her song, almost.

She keeps singing, pondering on what to tell her. She is strongly inclined on giving her a piece of her mind, and almost does so, but the thought of unsettling her while Hannah is in need of cures holds her back. She should try to distract her instead. The mermaid can see this is quickly upsetting her, and that's no good right now.

Coco texts Hannah: 'We are about to reach the hospital. Soon you will be better. And with any luck, Magda will be there, but even if she is not, the doctors here are good.'

Hannah Steiner has posed:
The foolishness of her actions is clear. It's a mixture of pride, hubris, her home world's expectations, and of course her own desire to dull the pain of her parents' loss through throwing herself at challenges. It's all a soup of Hannah's worse nature falling against someone so, apocalyptically strong. Hematite is exactly the sort of person to drive her into a fury even as he's so often amiable!

<...Thank you Coco. Twice now you've...>

There's an audible gasp as something shifts. She's in a bad way.

<Never strong enough> She quietly laments, her strength finally giving out once more.