521/Towering Problems

Towering Problems
Date of Scene:	28 September 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Sunbreaker attempts to drain more energy and cause more darkness to fill the world. Rashmi, Greta, Molly and the Princess of Sarek take offense to this. She takes offense to them taking offense. They take offense to her taking offense to... there's just a lot of offense all around. And Rashmi, despite her friend's efforts, pays the price.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Rashmi Terios, Molly Skyline, Greta Legend, Veronica Perenna

---

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker had done it. FINALLY! She had managed to create her little towers! Holding out a fist-sized black gem, she appeared on top of one of the shorter buildings in downtown Tokyo. She tossed the gem and, with a flash, it turned into a small, three foot tower (oddly similiar to the many towers that were oh-so-common, albeit smaller).

For a few moments nothing seemed to happen...

Then darkness radiated out from it. Throughout the streets, people began to groan and stumble, leaning against the walls, as if a bout of nausea had overtaken them...

Meanwhile, as the energy was gathered, Sunbreaker gathered that power to herself and... used it to make the obsidian over her right hand glow with a thick mist. Ohhhhh yes. That was nice. Her goal for the day? Gather more power to heal her hand. Sure, it required draining a few... dozen... people. But their loss was worth her gain! Her familiar, the strange, dark, misty eel, was slowly moving about, growing stronger with its master's recovery.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << *BONG!* >> << WARNING, MASTER. ANOMALOUS READINGS CLASSIFIED (Dark Energy) DETECTED. >>

Rashmi was on her way home from school, when Nicomachea alerted her to shenaniganry afoot. With a heavy sigh, she slipped into an alley between two shops, and one quick henshin later was airborne and streaking toward downtown Tokyo.

    << Nico-kun, see who's free and willing to help? I kinda want to get this done in time to finish my homework, tonight. >>

Pings are sent out, and Devices are polled. Who will answer the call?

    ---- A FEW MINUTES LATER ----

Swooping down to the scene, Rashmi scans the rooftops, and finds... a tower? And... is that Sunbreaker? Siiiiiigh.

"Sunbreaker-san, what *are* you even doing? What's the point of this?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
     Molly was on her way home from school as well, and happily munching on a bit of Turkish Delight that one of her Moms had paid good money to have brought over from England ('cause you know, a little taste of home now and then never goes amiss), when the groaning and nausea started. Molly didn't need Starcrash to tell her people were getting nauseous, because she felt it herself, which is the worst thing ever when you're busy enjoying Turkish Delight.

     "Starcrash... what is this," she gasps, as she mirrors Rashmi's actions and stumbles into a back alley.

     << DARK ENERGY. SOURCE UNKNOWN >>

     "Well, I don't like it," Molly gasps. She tries three times to eat the last bit of her British candy but the feeling of stomach unhappiness just makes it impossible, so she abandons that idea; and a few minutes later she's in her armored outfit, Starcrash in hand as a staff with a star-shaped jewel, and is launching herself vertically up over the buildings. It doesn't take her long to zero in on Sunbreaker.

     << OVER THERE. GO SHOOT IT. >>

     "Investigate first?" Molly suggests. "You can't solve every problem with firepower!"

     Molly changes course, flying and holding her stomach as she approaches.

Greta Legend has posed:
At this point, it appears that the only way anyone meets Greta is if a bad guy decided to make their appearance, doubly so if said bad guy was Sunbreaker. What actually was she doing today that she was dragged away by the call to battle evil?

French homework. For once she was glad.

The 'Sunshine Spark' as Greta has tried to label herself as once, zooms across the city, her red cape doubling as wings, as she makes her approach behind Rashmi, and skids to a halt. "Alright, who is it this time---!" Before blinking, "-You- again!" She recognizes Sunbreaker once she gets in close, before spotting the towers, and looks to Rashmi, "Towers are draining energy from the locals. That one is smaller the the last time I saw her, but that doesn't bloody matter."

She shifts her stance to get ready to fight, "Because we're going to have NONE OF THAT!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica drops the supplies she was carrying as soon she notices the dark tower. Which would actually be a feat on its own, given the minuscule stature of those "towers", were it not for its elevated location or people around her beginning to collapse making her alert to any particular chaos.

Quick to the action, she stashes herself inside a pretty big bush, bringing out a calling card with a cane and top hat from nowhere. She holds it in front of her as she recites a quick intonation "While the world is full of trouble and anxious in its sleep, the princess of moonlight does dance and leap." The aforementioned moonlight bathes her then, condensing in a blue top hat with an azure ribbon and an ebony cane with a cat handle.

The light on her upper body then explodes in a tone of white, turning into a waistcoat, before a blue burst surrounds it, coalescing into a blue suit. The light swirling around her lower body stops rotating, arranging itself in a white skirt with many layers. A blue-white burst follows, turning into boots with long stripes. Finally the moonlight gathers around her hair, fashioning it into a long braid and granting it its colour."

"I appreciate you wanting to emulate Phantom Thieves, but I think you missed the memo that we are supposed to steal what was unfairly acquired", she says after jumping out of the bush. She quickly turns ethereal, making her way up the building before appearing a bit behind Sunbreaker, out of her physical range at least. "Consider this your first lesson, a treat by the Princess of Sarek", Veronica adds.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker sighed and took a small, deep breath. Oooooof course. Not three seconds in and already they were swarming her. "If you truly must know," she said to Rashmi. "I am gathering energy to accelerate healing. Because SOMEBODY who will REMAIN NAMELESS apparently decided a sneak attack on me was a smart idea." Yes. She did, in fact, report him to HR. So it was paybacked. Her hand still hurt, though.

"As for this?" she asked, motioning to her tower. "This is my newest creation. Created of pure dark energy, do you like it?" she asked before tapping it. "Efficient, easily compressed into gem form, radiates dark energy while absorbing the energy of everything around it. Best of all? Even if you break it, it'll just repair itself so long as there's dark energy around."

Her familiar gave a low, angry hiss.

"It makes my creations stronger while also hindering your abilities. So why don't you all just... run along and let me do what I came here to do? There's no possible way for you to stop me. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Yes. She did, in fact, laugh...

However, the call of 'emulating' someone made her pause and eyes narrow on Veronica. "ExCUSE me?! First of all, I'm no thief. I am future Sovereign of Kirakirafantastica. No matter what princess you are, I STILL outrank you. Second, I'm not emulating anybody. My genius STANDS ALONE!"

Meanwhile, here eel dove into the nearby house antennae before it ripped itself from the roof, becoming... a big antennae with eyes! And an arm! Just the one arm. It was a BIG arm though. Sunbreaker blinked a few times and then shrugged. "Eh. You use what you've got."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Sunbreaker-san..." Sighing heavily, Rashmi removes her glasses and pinches the bridge of her nose, the Dark Energy field beginning to scrape like sandpaper over her nerves. "Are you *actually risking lives* because you're *too impatient for a bandage and time?*" In the back of her head, Nicomachea pings, drawing Rashmi's attention to the trio of allies drawn in by the activity. "Well I mean good on you for doing a thing you couldn't do before! But uh..."

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

"Can we not?"

Suppressed by the Dark emanations, the spell doesn't reach *quite* as far as it normally could... But most of a city block is still plenty of space for a battlefield, especially a battlefield that only has a one-armed youma to take down. And besides, the point is to phase the tower *away* from the innocent targets.

    << She sounds like she's having a bad day, so let's focus on the monster, *then* the tower, >> comes Rashmi's Telepathy, to her allies.

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta narrows as she listens to Sunbreaker's little monologue, before saying, "So in summation, the longer we leave it standing, the more energy it drains, and thus it pumps it into you and your..." She looks to the familiar that is now ALSO a one armed antenna. "That thing... The stronger you get... I just suppose we're just going to have to kick your arse faster!"

She blinks when she realizes there is also a Molly and a ... Princess of Sarek... And Greta just sighs, "More new people... Bloody hell..." With that, she waits for Rashmi's cue and darts for Sunbreaker directly!

"Amongst other things, I'm going to get you back for blowing me up!"

Molly Skyline has posed:
     "Telepathy?! Rashmi-san! that's so cool!" Molly is for just a moment distracted from both the fight and the way her stomach is currently doing gymnastics somewhere between her lungs and liver. "Starcrash, can we do that?"

     << NEGATIVE >>

     "Wait, what? Why not?"

     << TELEPATHY DOESN'T DO DAMAGE. NOT PART OF MY PROGRAMMING

     "Wait what?" Molly looks sideways at the blue gem in her staff. "...Are you saying I'm a one-trick pony?"

     << YOU CAN FLY CAN'T YOU >>

     "...Fine." Molly lands on a rooftop ledge, and sucks in her breath. "Alright then, let's get on with it. HEY! You there!" she points her staff up towards Sunbreaker, "You should know by now we don't quit! Every time you try something like this we'll be here to stop you. So why do you keep bothering?!" She pauses to wave excitedly as Greta and Veronica join in the fight, because meeting new people under stressful situations is so D&D it's great. "Alright, Sunbreaker. Solar Beam!"

     << ARMED >>

     "Fire!!" Molly grips her staff with purpose, aiming it at the Youma like Rashmi said; she sets her feet and holds on tight as her staff lets off a blast with... about all the power of a flashlight.

     "Wait... what? Isn't that supposed to be a lot more effective?"

     ]<< YOUR HEALTH IMABALANCE IS AFFECTING YOUR MAGIC >>

     "Well, crap."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"That sounds rather sad", the Princess of Sarek, muses. "If you stand alone, you also fall alone", she explains herself. "And I actually like the prospect of you getting to outrank me one day", Veronica chuckles, stressing the "one day" part of her speech. "I get bragging right about having taught a lesson to a monarch."

She waves to the other magical girls. "Nice to meet you again, bookgirl, and welcome, friends. I think her ego is big enough for us getting a substantial piece each."

When Molly executes her attacks, Veronica is rather amused. "I love our duality", she begins talking to her. "Let me cooperate with you", the Princess of Sarek adds, shouting, "Transient Lunar Flare!", the ball on her cane's handle beginning to shine before it hurling a beam to the youma.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker sighed and then shook her head. "Don't be so melodramatic. I take some energy, they get tired. Big deal," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "It's not like I set it up near a hospital, I'm not a monster." Sure, she may be a villain, but even she had standards.

Annnnnd the barrier. She sighed. "Right. Of course, I always forget about that thing. No matter, I guess I'll jsut have to beat you lot down." Meanwhile, the youma dashed at Rashmi, spinning its one arm around like a great fisted tentacle of PUNCHING! While shooting off small bolts of electricity in all directions!

Sunbreaker glanced towards Greta. "What? No, that's not at all what I said. I said that--" Aaaand it didn't matter because Greta was coming right at her. She just gave another sigh and formed a spear of fire in her left hand, flicking it at Greta. Unfortunately, while the spell was familiar (likely) to the young girl, it seemed it had gotten stronger since last they fought, even if it didn't hit her it'd still leave a pretty sizeable crater in whatever it hit.

Sunbreaker did glare back at the 'Princess of Sarek', however. "Please. You don't have the qualifications to teach magic kindergarten, let alone a student as talented and incredible as I."

The youma, meanwhile... had the flashlight beam ding off it, seemingly unaffected... But then the second blast hit it, throwing off its punch, making the swing at Rashmi go wild!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"FALLING ASLEEP BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR IS *DANGEROUS,* SUNBREAKER-SAN! *HOW* CLOSE ARE WE TO THE STREET?!" Rashmi yells, waving her arms around her head... Then loosing a startled squeak as the youma looks to be taking her on directly. Between Molly's attempt and Sarek's hit, the redhead manages to have enough warning to lunge upward and out of the way of the tentacular arm.

Molly's beams show themselves to be vastly less effective than they should, and Greta and Sarek seem to be holding their power levels up okay against the tower's field. Thus...

    << *BONG!* >> << BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

As the golden wispy ball of energy streaks towards Starcrash, and provides a few moments of boosted power, Rashmi checks her own levels. Can she take having to boost her allies, while Dark Energy corrodes at her mana reserves?

...Only one way to find out, really.

Greta Legend has posed:
This time around, Greta swings her axe, the energy emitter in its head aimed to catch the fire spear as it comes at her like she would strike a ball with a bat, and it has the effect of canceling out the impact of the spear, albeit at the cost of pushing the ringlet haired blonde girl back a bit.

She then glares at Sunbreaker and takes a breath, "Now you bloody listen, you fire headed bint! Even if you're not actively TRYING to hurt anyone, it's going to happen anyway by virtue of you JUST NOT BLOODY CARING!"

She then grins and calls out, "Zurückkehrende Axt!"

<*ksh*Zurückkehrende Axt*ksh*>

The device shifting its form just a little bit to create a mini emitter at the pommel of its axe form, and Greta FLINGS the device at Sunbreaker like a throwing axe... Only for the device to hurl right past Sunbreaker.

"All this talk about being so smart, being the true whatever of some Kirakirabloody place, and not bloody caring a bit about the world you're CURRENTLY on!"

She then reaches towards Sunbreaker... Which is an odd motion, at least unless someone is paying attention to her thrown axe which has begun spinning back and is on a return course to Greta's hand, en route through Sunbreaker.

Molly Skyline has posed:

Molly is basically just contemplating her life's choices at the moment. She looks Veronica's direction, and turns about the shade of a plum. "Usually, that works a lot better," she replies, "There's... usually heat and fire and... and stuff." She ulps, trying to shake off a wave of nausea as she continues to be affected by Sunbreaker's magic. "Well this sucks," she mutters.

And then, Rashmi's gift of a BOOST UP is on its way in; Starcrash sparkles gold, and Molly straightens her stance.

<< POWER LEVELS RAISED >>

"Oh good." Molly wipes her hands across her brow; seems like Greta has Sunbreaker... occupied, at least for the moment, so she keeps her focus on the Youma -- especially since it's attacking her friend. Which means that beams might be a bit imprecsie. "Starcrash," she instructs, "Sol Barrage. Configure for homing on the target. Use all the energy Rashmi just gave us."

<< ARMED >>

"Fire!!" Molly sets her feet once more and points her staff at the Youma, unleashing a serries of searing globes of eenrgy; five of them, one after another, that sizzle towards the Youma and home in on it.

And this time, they're much, much more effective than a flashlight.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"You are right, my bad", Veronica faux-apologises, "I am in fact more appropriate for teaching kindergarten today with how tall the tower you have managed to produce is", she points to the dark essence with a smile. Even if that thing is working on them too, that won't stop her from putting up her usual confidence.

"And you setting it up near a hospital or not is irrelevant, my dear creator of itty-bitty towers. You are taking something you have no right to and hurting people with it, so I am afraid we have to reprimand you." The Princess of Sarek puts the cane horizontally in front of her: Molly is putting out some impressive stuff, so she ought to make sure the Youma doesn't interfere with it. "Blinding glare", she states plainly, but amused, giving a wink to the youma.

The part of the came directed to the one-armed creature shines bright, the moonlight being concentranted in a blinding spell for the monster. Veronica turns towards Molly. "That looks impressive, go for it!" Molly has already in fact gone, but an encouragement is an encouragement.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker just rolled her eyes. "I swear, you girls over react to everything. If I put a minor speed bump on the ground you'd probably complain that someone might trip on it and knock over a cart of dynamite or something. But fine, you can have it all back," she muttered dismissively. She snapped her fingers.

The youma raised its fist to the sky... And this time, as the searing globes of energy come flying at it and the blinding flash... it suddenly went fully silver?

Reflecting the blinding light and blasts BACK at their owners! Ohhhh. Like an ante-- THAT ISN'T WHAT ANTENNAE DO!

Meanwhile, Sunbreaker narrowed her eyes on Greta. "... Okay." She then held her left hand out. Six orbs of fire formed and then FLEW OUT at Greta, raining down on her in a fiery barrage of violence and heat! "Seems a bit odd to throw away your only weapon, though. Are you a--"

AND THEN AXE IN THE BACK! Sunbreaker shrieked, stumbling forward, a bruise forming on her back from the powerful strike and making her fall forward on her face. The axe flying back at Greta and... "FINE?! You want to play that game? WE'LL PLAY THAT GAME!" she yelled, shoving off the roof and leaping into the air, her fires ising. She held up her left hand and began to chant, black fire circling around her in a tight orbit, fiery rings created by the movements.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
...Oh good, it can *reflect attacks.* That's wonderful.

<< Molly-san, can Starcrash take out part of the roof it's on? We just need to overbalance that thing and keep it distracted, I think Greta-san's the best one to take it out. Sarek-san, that tower is going to be a problem if this fight keeps up much lo--GRETA-SAN WATCH OUT! >>

Yes, her politeness is so bone-deep it's transmitted by thought.

The moment Rashmi spots Sunbreaker charging what looks to be like a devastating Dark-fueled attack, Rashmi leaps into action.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE >>

A quartet of Barrets materializes around Rashmi, and fire and resummon in relatively short order, allowing her to straight up *strafe* Sunbreaker's position, as she queues up her next move.

<< *BONG!* >> << DELTA BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

Given the persistent drain on her energies, forcing that much output into a Boosting of *all* her friends' ranged attacks is risky. But there are three different targets in this fight, and so far all of them are still in the fight.

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta goes wide eyed, realizing perhaps that being without her primary weapon, even for a brief amount of time, was not the best of plans if she was getting barraged with fire orbs in the meantime, and she tries to bob and weave and ddge the orbs, managing to avoid two of them, before she gets pounded upon by the remaining for orbs, which sends her reeling and tumbling, mask partially shattered and Barrier Jacket once more shredded.

She then raises her hand up, and catches her Device when Dreiseelen finally returns. "Ow... Worth it."

<*ksh*There is a strong evidence that it absolutely was not worth it, Little Red.*ksh*>

"Sod off..."

Greta wobbles herself back to her feet, before gritting her teeth, "Oh, you're right nettled, aren't you, Sunbreaker!"

<< Alright, Rashmi, what's the plan... I was only half paying attention while I kept this bint busy... Because my plan is big axe.>>

<*ksh*Große Klingen*ksh*>

The magic energy emitting 'blade' of axe now doubles in height, as Greta takes to the air and starts swinging at Sunbreaker, somewhat disregarding the fire rings at her own peril. "GET BACK DOwN! WE'RE NOT DONE!"

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< INCOMING HOMING ATTACK >>

"Wait, wha-- OH CRUMBS" Molly is faced with her own homing barrets coming right back for her. And, of course, she made them *homing barrets*, because she's smart and wanted to hit a target near Rashmi without also hitting Rashmi in the process, becuase that's rude. You don't hit your friends with laser beams afterall.

This presents a problem.

"Busy right now but I'll try!!" Molly calls out urgently, as she does the only thing she can think of; she launches herself off the building and flies upwards, trailing five homing barrets behind her. She takes off away from the fight initially, zooming around a building and forcing the barrets to slow down a little to navigate the turns. She flies all the way around the building, just in time to receive Rashmi's boost up as she re-enters the battle.

"Starcrash, do we have any kinetic attacks?" she asks as she weaves, still trying to force her own barrets to slow down a little, as they are steadily catching up.

<< NOVA SHOCKWAVE >> answers Starcrash, << BUT WITH INCOMING ATTACKS A SHIELD IS RECCO-- >>

"No! Nova Shockwave!" Molly shouts, "Use everything Rashmi just gave us again!"

<< ARMED >>

Molly turns and angles her flight upwards and changes course, heading for where Greta and Sunbreaker are fighting. "Coming through!" she yells, as she aims to rush past Sunbreaker and change course, angling around her to try and -- hopefully -- lose at least a few of the barrets following her by giving them to Sunbreaker. Isn't she generous?

<< IMPACT IMMINENT >> Starcrash warns.

"Fire!!" Molly hasn't looked over her shoulder to see how many barrets are still following her; they're almost certainly going to hit, so she doesn't worry about that. Instead she just unleashes a relatively short range but intense burst of kinetic energy, aimed at the rooftop under the Youma's feet. It oughta be enough to blast half the building into rubble. Why do things by halves? Well... except this. Half hte building. It'll be fine.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Dealing with a blinding glare is rather tricky since looking at it is of course enough to do its job, but the Princess of Sarek was already focusing her attention on her cane positioned horizontally in front of her, so she has a few seconds of grace to protect herself, closing her eyes and only reopening them once her prismatic wall has appeared fron the tip of her cane, which she has pointed in front of her in the meantime.

"So it reflects magic, huh? Good going", she compliments the youma. She doesn't actually use it much with how she prefers magic to do her bidding, but that painting did give her enhanced strength among things.

"Try reflecting this", she smirks speeding up towards the youma with a punch.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker was... was suddenly the focus. Oh. Oh wow. From ALL directions. CRUD! The most pressing, and first, was Greta. She held out her left hand, the flames circling her gathering into a great, flaming shield in front of her! The axe crashed against it, driving her down to the roof. Then suddenly Molly bringing her OWN barrets, along with Rashmi's strafing run. She was forced to turn, angling the shield and expanding it, forcing it to try and block the barrage from all directions as she tried to hold it all back, but the flames were dying and--

And then the ground was disappearing UNDER her feet. She shrieked, her youma not fairing much better as it plummeted. Meanwhile, she leaped back to the left, pushing off the dark energy as everything collapsed around her, the axe blazing past.

Her tower, despite the ground beneath it collapsing, remained standing. The youma, on the other hand, did not. Sarek's punch sending it plummeting through the rubble!

Sunbreaker flew back from the collapsing rubble, almost--

And then... a few of Rashmi's barretts flew through the rubble... and struck the obsidian arm. For a moment, silence. A low ping.

Followed by an aggonized *scream.*

A moment later, FIRE! So much fire. Sunbreaker's body was entirely wreathed in black flames, radiating off it in every direction, so much she could barely be seen. She clutched her arm...

And then her youma burst into flames. The burning satellite sent a hail of electrical, black flames at Molly, Sarek and Greta...

But Sunbreaker lifted her head and just... looked... at Rashmi.

She didn't teleport. Instead she flew off like a searing bullet of fire, screaming in unholy rage and pain. It was hard to see what she was doing within those terrible black flames, but a moment later they STRUCK OUT! Raining down on Rashmi with an unstoppable fury, the ground around them being destroyed. While Molly had destroyed one of the buildings, the black fires now, raining down? Were decimating the rest of it, the explosions tearing into the nearby structures and turning them to ash and, eventually, a crater, her rage just unrelenting on the girl. A brutal, vicious, furious barrage of dark flames.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Providing the boosts to all the rest of the part at the expense of her own reserves was, indeed, a calculated risk.

The problem is, math is not Rashmi's strong suit.

The furious, agonized scream brings her up short, and it's with wide eyes that Rashmi meets Sunbreaker's look. When Sunbreaker lifts off directly toward her, Rashmi starts flying backward, honest terror on her face as she brings up a Shield.

Which gets shattered with almost contemptuous ease, thanks to the fury *and* the Dark Energy field, rocking Rashmi back as dark fire clings to her Barrier Jacket, burning painfully.

And then the next blast comes, and the same thing happens.

And again.

And again.

And again.

By this time she's driven back against the bottom of another building, hands out, shields continually raising and being broken through. And Rashmi's voice can be heard through the assault, ever louder and more desperate as her Barrier Jacket slowly disintegrates in places, and actual burns spread over her skin.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY!"

Molly Skyline has posed:
Rashmi is in trouble.

Molly has unloaded two of her five barrets on Sunbreaker, which means she's got three left still tailing her wherever she goes, and they're getting pretty close. She's down to mere moments to decide what to do with them, all while SUnbreaker is busy pounding basically everything to rubble and going after her friend.

"Starcrash! Force Barrier!" she yells.

<< ARMED >>

With barely seconds before impact, Molly changes course, angling to come back the way she was going. "Use all our remaining reserves!" she shouts, "Make the strongest barrier possible!"

<< ARMED >> Starcrash confirms, managing if anything to sound a little bit annoyed, somehow.

"Cast the barrier on Rashmi-San!"

There's just a moment of hesitation, and it seems like Starcrash is about to give Molly a lecture on self-preservation.

<< RASHMI IS PROTECTED. HER PROTECTOR IS NOT. >>

"Fine!! Deploy the half the barrier around her and half around Rashmi!" Molly shouts; the command is executed, and both Greta and Rashmi receive the benefit of a barrier.

And then Molly is hit by her own barrets.

Molly screams as the blazing balls of energy impact her one after another, and she angles herself around Veronica, using her as cover (hopefully she won't mind) before plowing face-first into the ground. And then as if all that weren't enough, she's hit by everything the Youma sent at her. She stands, coughing, and turns around to see it all coming.

<< IMPACT IMMINENT >> Starcrash warns her.

Molly throws up her hands to shield her face, and just... takes it, as black energy and lightning rips through her; for a moment her skeleton is visible through her skin glowing bright blue, and she collapses back to the ground face-first once more, with steam rising off her jacket.

Greta Legend has posed:
At first there was a satisfaction in bringing Sunbreaker low and smashing her to the ground, something has clearly gone terribly wrong if suddenly thunderbolts and lighting were raining down all over the place from that antenna Youma.

<*ksh*Blitzbarriere!*ksh> Her device chimes and a sturdier barrier forms on reflex to protect Greta from what she anticpated was going to be a rain of fire from Sunbreaker, on top of the hailing lighting...

She then goes wide eyed as the firey girl instead rains down upon Rashmi instead. "Rashmi..!" Before starting to rush towards her.

<*ksh*Little Red, the Flash Barrier cannot endure any further greater assault!*ksh> And as a case in point the Flash Barrier that had been made begins to crack and shatter as lighting continues to pound upon Greta, as she makes her move.

Greta cries in pain as the ligthing strikes her several times, as she just yells, "SOD OFF!!"

Her normal course of action would be make an even BIGGER axe happen out of her device, because magic and all, but THIS was not the time for that. Instead, she bolts for the space that was in between Rashmi and Sunbreaker, and attempts to put herself in the path of the black flames, to tank the assault in her stead!

"GHNN!! GET THE BLOODY HELL OFF OF HER!!" She yells as she does this.

Betweeen the lightning and her block attempt? She might be taking more than she can handle, but she was going to still help Rashmi.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Eh!" a whimper of surprise escapes the Princess of Sarek's lips. She didn't expect both owner and youma to suddenly catch on fire, especially not after her punch just sent the youma to the ground. She barely has a second to think after the youma launches those flames outwards, those directed towards her impacting with the shield she barely had the time to put up.

'Oww, why so hot...' she thinks, perceiving the heat of the flames among the lightning even from behind the shield. Which, actually isn't holding up all that well, what with all the energy draining going on which is weakening their spells.

Cracks have begun to show on the moonlight barrier, but hopefully it will hold while she starts jumping jump back in Rashmi's direction. The bad combination of her plummeting and Sunbreaker running after her does worry Veronica a lot even with Rashmi having magic herself.

'Jumping down with a scenography is supposed to be my thing!' she complains among herself, a vain attempt to keep her mind away from the worry for her ally.

Once she thinks she is satisfiably in range, she turns her back to the fury of the youma, counting on her barrier to stay there as she snaps her finger. With that, her hat disappears, fading away over two seconds. The Phantom Thief places her cane onto her left shoulder and she starts reciting, in deep concentration with her eyes closed, fire roaring right behind her.



"When colour's absence gives escape
To the deeper spirit of the shape,"

The ground under the beast starts rippling, as if it was coated in water, and yet it remains solid, nothing actually changing.



"Then do the clouds like silver flags
Stream out above the tattered crags"

The moon starts shining, not from above in the sky, but from the ground, pale light rising.



"And darkened land, and brightening wave,
The moonlight slants through Merlin's cave."

As soon as the word "cave" escapes the lips of the Princess of Sarek, a low rumble is heard, and the hat of the Phantom Thief reappears, a giant evanescent shape that passes right through the flames, seeking to consume or lessen their fury.

The enormous illusion floats up to the sky and whatever the result, it reappears, solid, in front of Veronica's waiting hand, who grabs its brim and places it back on her head.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker didn't CARE! Was sorry going to make her hand stop hurting? Was it going to heal the hole? Was it going to undo all the struggles she'd endured, having to make it stop itching? WAS IT?! NO! IT WASN'T! SO HER ANGER WASN'T DYING! AGAIN AND AGAIN FIRE RAINED DOWN ON RASHMI, HER FURY UNDYING AS THE AREA AROUND THEM SHATTERED AND BROKE! Now nothing more than a crater beneath the pair of them. "I DON'T CARE!" she yelled.

And then Greta. She growled, the assault not stopping, raining down on the other girl as well. A few blasts went off in wild directions, shattering massive chunks out of other buildings as her fury and pain was unleashed on Greta. Oddly fitting that the one time the girl focused entirely on defense... this.

Her left hand raised and then... fire. All of it gathered into a single, tiny orb in her hand...

The hat washed over the field, dampening the blow, but if Sunbreaker cared, or even noticed, it was unknown...

Then she slammed the orb down. Straight on Greta. Then there was nothing but darkness. The orb would explode, coating all beneath her in the black flames and sending dirt into the air, blocking them from view, before sending Greta flying from the dust first...

As the dust settled, Sunbreaker hovered in the air, panting with exertion, the fires around her dimming slowly. While she had been standing before, well... the ground beneath her was *gone*. A massive crater now in place, the ground black glass underneath. While Greta and Molly's efforts had managed to partially protect Rashmi, the surrounding area hadn't been so lucky. And even with Sarek's dampening effect... well... the attack had been reduced, the fires weakened.

But all that fury and hate and rage unleashed at once was still incredibly dangerous. Leaving rubble in its wake as more and more dust began to clear to reveal Rashmi.

Greta Legend has posed:
Greta does fly from the dust cloud with the greatest of ease... Like a sack of bricks launched out of a catapult, and unless something is going intervene, her fall would only be cushioned by the roof top which she proceeds to crater, her barrier jacket thoroughly shredded and mask shattered entirely.

Greta lays there breathing painfully, before groaning and tries to push herself back up. "N... None of that..." Straining and slumping back down.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And Rashmi is.... not Good. At the very end of it, Nicomachea itself had tried to get between Sunbreaker and Rashmi, and the attack was as devastating on the Device, as on the Mage. So despite the very best efforts of her friends to protect her, curled into a fetal ball and shivering, ugly burns showing where her Barrier Jacket -- now mostly consisting of only the white-and-gold bodysuit, and that burned away in several places -- failed to fully protect her, and Nicomachea lying open by her face. Pages smoldering, cover blasted away in several places, and deep cracks marring the cabochon 'gem' that housed his core.

    << *BONG!* >> << CR-CRI-CRITICAL DA*fsk*CORE INTE-TEG-TEGRITY 52%*ksp*EMERGEN-GENCY SHUTDOWN >>

And just like that, Nicomachea's combat form explodes into glowing yellow shards that vaporize in the breeze, leaving only a badly cracked sunburst-shaped charm. A second later, the ruins of Rashmi's Barrier Jacket does the same, leaving her in her street clothes... And still badly injured.

Half a heartbeat later, the world comes crashing back, as the Barrier gives up.

    << STOR-OR-ORAGE SUBSYST*fsp*-AI-AIL-FAILING >>

And just a *mess* of stuff falls out of the charm; a bag of snacks, her homework binder, three journals, a pencil case... And a thick paperback book, titled in English -- The Lord Of The Rings

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly is laying face down in the dirt, looking like she's spent the last twenty minutes doing her best immitation of a Christmas turkey. She lays with one leg bent at the knee and her foot up in the air, with little sizzling noises coming from her outfit and, well, her. That can't be good.

"Nnnnnnnnngh," she wheezes, blinking her eyes open again. She's been in a few fights now, but this is the first time she's found herself in this condition. "Starcrash. How much energy do we have?"

<< NONE. ALL RESERVES WERE USED TO MAKE THE BARRIER AS YOU INSTRUCTED >>

"I guess that's my fault then."

<< CORRECT >>

"Thanks for the support," Molly grumbles as she flops onto her side, waits for a moment, and pushes herself up to her knees. And then, she sees Rashmi; laying there in the condition she's in, with the barrier collapsing all around and the real world coming back all around them. That... that can't be good. But it hardly enters Molly's mind; her friend is in trouble. Her *only* friend on the entire island is in trouble.

"Rashmi!" she calls out, forgetting the -san as she struggles to her feet and runs forwards all of three steps before her legs give out and she's back on her face again. Whatever is going to happen in the next few moments is going to happen, and there's nothing she can do about it. "Leave her alone!" she shouts out, desperately. "If you hurt her you'll regret it! I'll make you regret it!!" she shouts; seems all she's got left right this moment is harsh language, and by golly she's gonna use it.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica is same from the assault of the youma, the worst thing that happened to her being forced back when her own barrier broke, earning her one or two bruises, but the same can't be said for Rashmi, who has taken a pretty bad brunt from Sunbreaker.

Glancing at her, the Princess of Sarek doesn't notice any broken bones from the fall, but she does notice the burns Rashmi has incurred, prompting her to turn towards Sunbreaker, who is for some reason still here. Is she not satisfied?

"I suggest you get away now", she recommends Sunbreaker. "You may have one of us down now, but the other three are very ticked off, and I don't think we will make it pretty." The Phantom Thief has already taken her hat back in her hand, but instead of preparing her attack again, this time she has placed the hand in, feeling the energy of the two relics she recovered already.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker stared down at the girl, her left hand still out. But... she didn't end her. As mad as she was, despite the throbbing in her hand, she... wasn't that kind of person. At least, not yet. She wasn't a monster. She grit her teeth... before snapping her fingers. Her familiar dashed out, dropping the antennae on the ground. It flew up to the tower, which turned back into the gemstone. It grabbed the gemstone and then flew to Sunbreaker.

She glanced at the other three girls and... geez. One of them was even getting up! The princess wasn't wrong. Even after her fury, they still wanted to keep going? Didn't they LEARN? Still...

She glanced at the raining books and grit her teeth. Of course. She had one magic book, why not others? "Your adventure as a magical girl... is done," she said. "You lose."

And then she flicked out her left hand. Another bolt... At Rashmi.

No no no--

Then it split apart, surrounding the girl in flames. Burning away the journals, the book, the pencil case. Even the snacks.

"Get your friend to a hospital. Next time... don't get in my way," she told the Princess of Sarek.

Then, in a flurry of fire, she disappeared.

While the barrier had protected the environment... Rashmi had not been so lucky. Surrounded by her broken device, the ashen remains of what Sunbreaker had assumed was more magical tools...

But hey, she was gone. Victory, right?

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly plants her staff on the ground and uses it to haul herself up to her feet. "Rashmi!" she gasps, preparing to rush Sunbreaker and tackle her with her bare hands; but that proves unnecessary, as the villainous one departs all on her own.

So instead, she staggers onwards, using her staff as a crutch (a sentient crutch that just barely holds back from complaining about it) until she reaches Rashmi's side, where she drops to her knees and basically just... franticly checks to make sure that her friend is still alive.

"Rashmi! Rashmi, talk to me, Rashmi, are you okay?" She closes her eyes; what an absolutely, gob-smackingly tone-deaf thing to say.

"C'mon Rashmi, say something, please," she begs.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Nn..."

Okay so wordless vocalizations are an improvement, she's not dead... But when Rashmi tries to move, she gasps in pain and just sort of... curls further inward. When she opens her eyes, and smells the caramel-plastic miasma of cremated snacks, her eyes widen. "Wh... Nico-kun? Nico?!"

    << *BONG!* >> << ST-STAN-STA-STANDB*ksp*STOR-OR-ORAGE FAI-AILURE*fsk*SEL-ELF-REP-PA-PAI-REPAIR SHUTDOWN >>

And the cracked charm goes quiescent, and tears begin to fall from Rashm's eyes as a breeze kicks up, scattering ash and paper scraps.

"Molly-chan... I... kept your... your book in there..."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica sighs, putting her hat back on her head as the villain responsible for all this flees. She was all too ready to follow on her threat, but still the moments before Sunbreaker left were nerve-wracking. "Let's call an ambulance then, I don't actually want to move her in case she has any broken bones."

In a flash, she is holding her cellphone and taking care of the call. At least Rashmi's magic restoring everything has given her enough reference points to describe where exactly she is.

"How are you feeling?" she asks the only magical girl still there with her. She doesn't look too good herself.

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Starcrash, let Nicomachea use your memory to preserve itself," Molly quickly commands.

<< AFFIRMATIVE. MY MEMORY IS OPEN TO NICOMACHEA'S ACCESS IF IT IS CAPABLE >>

Molly looks up, and points to the nearest person, "CALL AN AMBULANCE!" she shouts. And then "CALL AN AMBULANCE!" again, except in Japanese instead of English. She doesn't wait to see if anyone does or not; surely *someone* is going to. She looks back down at Rashmi, clasping her hands around one of her friend's.

"Don't worry about that," Molly replies, "You know what the theme of that book was? The most important one? Saving your friends. Sunbreaker should've read it instead of burning it. But we'll get another copy, okay? It'll be okay. *YOU'LL* be okay. Help's coming, alright? Just hang on, you're going to be okay."

She pauses, looking up at Veronica, and shakes her head, "I'll be okay," she replies, "But Rashmi needs help right away!" Well, maybe Molly is understating her own injuries, she's gonna need some time; but Rashmi is definitely the priority here.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...I don't want to move," Rashmi says after a moment of agonized, self-assessing silence, tears still smudging her cheeks. "...I think... I think I..."

And anything else she would say is lost as she just starts blubbering there on the pavement.

When she decided to accept this life, she knew there'd be danger. She'd told Chrono *and* Setsuna, that she's not afraid to risk her life thanks to the duty of power. That she wouldn't regret it for a second, even if it took her life tomorrow.

But all of that was before the fire, the screaming, the sheer *brutality* of this moment. The realization that it wasn't going to stop, until Sunbreaker *felt* like stopping, and despite the best efforts of herself, her friends, and even her poor Device, it *wasn't going to stop.* And now here she lies, burned and battered badly enough that she feels like she got hit by a car and knocked into a furnace. And she doesn't want to move.

In some ways, she's *too afraid to move.*