753/Unlock My Heart

Unlock My Heart
Date of Scene:	13 November 2023
Location:	Hotel Augusta - Ballroom
Synopsis:	Tadase, Ikuto, and Madoka hunt a particularly elusive Witch. During their search, Ikuto breaks a chandelier and the Witch gets angry. When the three of them are dragged into a Labyrinth, they're in a fight for their very lives as even their best magic can't quite cut it. Their determination to fight to the bitter end unlocks two henshins: Platinum Royale and Hope Blossom.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Tadase Hotori, Ikuto Tsukiyomi

---

Madoka Kaname has posed:
EARLIER, AFTER SCHOOL

    Gretchen, her X-Chara, actually met up with Madoka on the way home from school. Wearing her ghastly mask, and with her arms crossed, she looked down upon Madoka and said, "This one's a bit out of the way. In a hotel. It's very well hidden, and is pretty passive, but it can still hurt people. If you don't get rid if it, chances are it'll stay secret for a very long time."

    Madoka nods, and asks, "I was actually going to go hunting with someone today. We'll take care of it together."

    Gretchen looks between Brai and Medo, Madoka's Chara and asks, "Are you sure those two are up to it? You've been getting close to being seriously hurt."

    Madoka's look turns serious and she says, "If we can't do at least this much, it's hopeless right?"

    "That's no reason to be wasteful." Gretchen grumps at her Bearer, and then flies off. Off to do... whatever X-Charas who act like Witches do.

PRESENT TIME, AT HOTEL AUGUSTUS

    Madoka is in the ground floor lobby, looking at the map of the hotel. She asks out loud, "Brai, can you sense it?"

    The tiny braided Chara is writing something down on her notepad. "Just barely. I think it's up in the ballroom."

    Medo, the flossie wearing Chara, looks around, "Huh... I don't really feel anything. It really is well hidden."

    Brai adds, "You'll get used to it. It feels kinda like Gretchen, except not a Chara. Honestly if she hadn't told us, I never would've noticed."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "What's a Gretchen, again?" Kiseki asks, as the two of them walk up, and Tadase rolls his eyes.

    "Don't get distracted, Kiseki." Tadase says, crossing his arms and looking at the little king. "Or at least try to be slightly less distracted than usual?" he continues, and the little Chara crosses his arms and sticks his tongue out at Tadase.

    But after a moment, Kiseki nods. "I do feel... something, though. Something that's off. But it's not like an X-Egg or an X-Chara." he says. "But it also feels wrong."

    "Maybe that's what the things Easter is after feel like to you. They must have some way to track them down if they're looking for them too. Normally I'd say maybe they're using Tsukiyomi-san and his Chara, but, since he said he was against it, I can't imagine he's been helping." Tadase says. "But it's also been a little bit since I've seen either him or Yoru..." he begins, not knowing that drought was about to end... incredibly soon.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto felt a tug on his sleeve. Yoru pointed off towards a part of the city a bit out of the way from their usual haunts. "I heard something! It sounded...princely! Let's go, nya!" The catboy would shrug and follow as the chara ran and hopped ahead along the rooftops. "Sure. Maybe Tadase is up to something more interesting than sitting around on a roof."

Before long the pair would arrive, Ikuto not considering for even a moment that it might be polite to announce himself before just hopping down from the roof to land next to the two younger students. "Tadase. Do you make a habit of hanging around cute girls these days, then?" He would give a friendly nod to the pink-haired girl.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "If Easter is tracking them," considers Brai, "then I wonder if they have a Puella Magi on the payroll. Of course, that's not strictly necessary, since we can sense them too."

    Madoka shakes her head. "Normally they're easier to spot. If nothing else, the more aggressive ones would've marked a few of the non-magicals around here by now. It's not showing any outward signs of magic use, either."

    Brai speculates, "Maybe it's waiting for a specific time, where its schemes wont get noticed? A lot of iffy things can happen in a hotel at night."

    Medo pouts and crosses her arms. "No fair! Everyone else can sense it but me!"

    Madoka gives Medo a comforting pet on the head, but then startles when Ikuto shows up. Brai and Medo seem less surprised, because they felt another Chara nearby. "Oh!" says the pinkette. "I don't think we've met before, have we? I see you're a Chara Bearer, too. My name's Madoka Kaname. I'd stay and chat, but we're looking for something dangerous."

    Madoka looks around briefly, finds the nearest elevators, and then starts walking towards them. "You can come with us if you want, but be careful. We're hunting a Witch."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Kiseki gives Yoru a serious long look. Suspicious. Maybe more suspicious of Yoru than Tadase is as Ikuto, but certainly not less. Tadase mostly ignores Ikuto's needling, though. "Kaname-san, this is Tsukiyomi-san." he says, gesturing to each of you. "I guess I don't have to explain that we all have charas. Until recently - or maybe even still - Tsukiyomi-san was working with Easter. But he's also the one who mentioned to me Easter was poking around with the mazes and abberations." he says... "so I'll let him say where his current loyalties or lack thereof lie." he notes.

    "We have a lot of history and I'm not unbiased towards him no matter which way you look at it, so I'll just say I'm not the... best judge of his character, most of the time." Tadase admits. "Simply put, I'd like to trust him, but I can't yet." he says. "But I do think it would be helpful for him to see whatever Easter is trying to toy with, too, especially if he's as discomforted by it as he said he was."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto grins as he follows along, an uncommon expression for him still and a little unsettling to see as he's not quite gotten down how to do it right. "I haven't answered calls from Easter Company HQ or that weirdo Nikaidou in a few days. Right, you might not even know that about him. 'Nikaidou-sensei' is an Easter man. The clueless sensei thing is just an act. Don't underestimate him."

"I'd definitely call myself former Easter, though. Crushing hopes and dreams is one thing, but messing around with mazes and monsters is a bit much you know? So this uh...Witch, you said it was called? What is it? How uh...bad would it be if there were say, an entertainment company trying to control one to make the wishes of a bunch of middle-aged men in a board room come true?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Oh!" says Madoka to Tadase. "So this is the one you were telling me about. Well, Easter doesn't have to know what we do here today."

    Brai considers Ikuto's words for a moment. "Nikaidou-sensei? From Radiant Heart?" She writes down a note. "Interesting... So an Easter employee is one of our teachers." Brai opens her mouth to ask something, but then closes it.

    Madoka answers Iktuo's question, "Witches aren't really something you want to harness. They're dangerous, sneaky, and they get energy by..." Madoka looks around briefly, before leaning in while cupping the side of her mouth, speaking with a low whisper, "... brainwashing and killing innocent people. They're super bad news."

    Standing up straight and speaking at normal volume again, Madoka adds, "That's why it's important that we deal with this one, and also why we don't really want Easter using this power."

    She finds the sings saying, 'Ballroom --->' and follows them until she reaches the side building where it apparently is. When she opens the doors, the ballroom seems... devoid of people. There aren't even any staff here. It's... almost eerie, how empty this specific room is. Especially considering how grandiose it is, and how busy the rest of the hotel is. There's a sense of foreboding, as if they shouldn't be here, but Madoka presses on anyways.

    Brai writes down more notes. "Do you think it's repelling people from this area? Is that how it's trying to hide?"

    Madoka considers, "That doesn't really make sense, though. We haven't seen anyone with a Witch Kiss, have we?"

    Medo also chimes in, "Maybe we just didn't see them! Anyways, now even I can feel it. I think..."

    The entrance to the Witch's Labyrinth is somewhere vaguely upwards. Brai starts to float towards the ceiling, and then starts flying around, her gaze focused towards the source of the odd feeling the whole time. She'll dart towards one spot, then jot down a note, then dart towards another spot and do likewise. When she flies back to the group, she says, "It's hiding on top of the chandelier. I'm pretty sure it can support the weight of one or two of us, but it's a high jump regardless."

    Madoka makes an awkward laugh sound and says, "Up there?! And we have to jump? Onto that?!"

    The chandelier is hanging from the top of a domed ceiling. It's... pretty high up there, and chandeliers aren't generally made to be good footing. Good thing they're mahou.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
Tadase looks up at the chandelier. "Well. I know Ikuto-san can make that." he says, shrugging. "I know the charas can fly, too." Tadase doesn't know about Madoka, and nor does he know about himself. "The one time I want Wukong here." Then he pauses. "Nevermind, cosmic powers, you didn't hear me say that." he says, looking up at it. Debating it for a little bit.

    "Kaname-san, do you have a way up there for yourself? I was figuring I'd just make a crown and rise up on that, and you're welcome to come along with me that way." Hey, if the soft, jello-like version of the crown was good enough for catching girls falling down from the sky, it could also raise him and another girl up higher, if need be. Right? Well, that's his assumption, anyways. Tadase wasn't sure if Kaname-san was capable of the sort of high jumps that Ikuto's cat-chara made him capable of. Like so many other things in Tadase's life, it'd be easier if he could actually henshin, but he would make due. Subconsciously, his hand goes to the lock that sits heavy in his pocket, but it's not a solution to his problem now. At least not as far as he knows.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Thinking for a few moments too little for a decision with such gravity, Ikuto nods to Brai, Madoka, and Tadase before lifting the Key out from a pocket. "Instead of all of us going up there to dangle perilously on a chandelier..."

The Key glows with a purple light as the catboy nods to Yoru. "Let's do this Yoru. Black Lynx." Ikuto is already moving as Yoru flies into him with a "Nya!", his clothes shifting into a more form-fitting blue top and pants, with cat ears and a tail sprouting out. Of particular note is the wicked metal clawed glove affixed to one hand.

With all the speed and grace of a big cat on the hunt Ikuto runs to the wall, -up- it, and jumps backwards at the chandelier. Admittedly showing off a little in front of his old friend and the girl he just met, he takes a swing with the metal claw at the chain holding the chandelier, shouting "Slash Claw!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I've been practicing my magic jumping in awkward places," answers Madoka, "... but while I'm sure I wouldn't miss my aim, the distance alone makes it a problem. It's not the kind of thing I could safely crash into. If your crown can give us a boost, that might be best."

    After all, there's a difference between 'possibly' and 'reliably'.

    While she's talking that over, Ikuto goes and does something... reckless. Madoka and her Chara watch as he climbs up the wall, assuming that he can make the jump into the Barrier. What he does instead is...

    ... cut the chain to the chandelier. Its support chain. The thing that keeps it attached to the roof.

    It's a shame to see a beautiful thing die. A very dramatic shame. Madoka watches in horror as the wonderful, amazing, and very expensive piece of luminous art falls from the roof. Time seems to slow as it lists and descends, before crashing very loudly against the ground. Glass sprays everywhere, and while the noise alone would attract attention, that's not going to be the groups concern in a minute.

    Far above, near where the Chandelier used to be, a glowing magic circle appears. It's spinning, rapidly, so fast that the strange runes along its circumference couldn't be read even if they were in any human language, which they are not. There's a symbol of a pair of ballet slippers in the middle. From within the Barrier, the entrance to the Labyrinth, there's a loud inhuman scream.

    Suddenly, and without warning, the landscape changes around them. They're in a forest, in the middle of the night. All around them are trees made of silver, gold and diamond. Unlike the ballroom they were just in, there are many pairs of ballroom dancers here, and none of them are human. Twelve pairs in total, vaguely humanoid but featureless and faceless. There is a shore nearby, with twelve pairs of boats. The night sky above is covered in black clouds that occasionally flash white as if from lightning. The whole area looks... off, as if it and its denizens were made of shattered pieces of stained glass.

    "Well..." Madoka speaks with a shaky voice. "Here we are... this is a Labyrinth. Be careful, any one of these creatures could be our enemies. Even the trees, or maybe the boats."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase is still just... standing there, mouth agape. He's been kind of stuck mentally on this hill ever since Ikuto just jumped up into the air and turned the chandelier into a falling crystal projectile, and then the world changes, but Tadase doesn't know much about Witches or Labrynths, truth be told. Or anything, really. In a moment he'll realize where they are, but for now...

    "IKUTO TSUKIYOMI!" Tadase half-yells, half shrieks. "What the ABSOLUTE HELL is wrong with you?!" he says. Well, on some level he knows. What's wrong with Ikuto is that he does what Ikuto wants without much thought for anything else around him.

    "We were still figuring out what to do and you just jumped up and did it!" He reminds him of Cho, now. "You can't just do whatever you want - whether it's a big thing or a small thing, when you're with other people! Your actions affect those around you! Just like..." and then Tadase finally pauses as his mind catches up with what's going on. "And... now... where... are we?" He asks, looking towards Madoka. "Is this a labrynth? It looks like... like a dreamscape." he says. "Like we're all the only real things here." he says, his voice lowering and his hand reaching out to grasp a scepter as it appears in his hand.

    "Ikuto, if you're going to stay with us could you possibly try working with us instead of doing whatever? This sort of... working together... thing comes naturally to most of the rest of us but I guess you're going to have to actually focus on it." He says, even as he's stepping in front of both of them, scepter raised. If anything could be a threat he figures he's the best one to deal with it, despite Ikuto having a full henshin - he's not sure he can trust Ikuto to protect Madoka. Or, even protect Ikuto.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto blinks, looking around somewhat confused. Like a cat that has just met the consequences of its impulsive actions, his eyes widen at the blatant...wrongness, of the world the trio are now in. "I made sure you weren't going to be under the chandelier when it fell. Did you really want to hop around on top of a chandelier like we're in a movie? Besides, this...what even is this place? I thought we were hunting a monster, not a progressive artist from the twelfth century. Are those even people dancing over there? Why is everything weird in here? Easter wants to mess around with something that can do this?!"

Ikuto is clearly trying to hold back an urge to panic at the situation he's placed himself and the others in, and maybe not doing the best job of that. He'd expected whatever was hiding on the chandelier to come out; not for it to pull them into its lair! "Why does everything in here look like glass? Charas are a bit odd compared to what people are used to, but this is something else entirely. This is...dangerous. Ugh. Sorry. I really didn't think...okay I just didn't really think."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka winces at Tadase and Ikuto's interaction. She's starting to understand why these two don't get along. Normally she'd try to be a peacemaker, but she doesn't know either of them that well and doesn't fully understand what kind of nastiness she'd be stepping into. Instead, she just says, "You guys... we have to focus. We don't have time to argue! The Witch can be..."

    Brai suddenly shouts, "It's coming this way! Chara Change!" Madoka's branch bow appears in her hands, and her twin pigtails is replaced with a pair of braids.

    In the distance, all around them there is a low rumble like an earthquake. No... it's more like a stampede. Silver and gold trees break and crash, shattering like glass as they hit the ground. Within the forest, strange black shapes can be seen. As they get closer, their form becomes clear: Several pairs of once glamorous dancing shoes, worn out at the soles, are moving and walking on their own. There are many of them, surrounding the group, and stomping right towards them.

    Madoka, awkwardly, says, "I-I'm sorry. I'll have to explain later. This is the Witch's Labyrinth. Its form is tied to the nature of its curse."

    A couple of the dancers get crushed in the process, shattering into pieces. The rest dance on, either unaware or unconcerned.

    Brai shouts above the din, "Still just Familiars! The Witch hasn't shown herself yet!"

    Medo whines loudly, "How did it get so aggressive?! I thought it was trying to hide!"

    "Not the time!" responds Madoka, knocking an arrow back and firing at the nearest shoe. It takes her several shots to get the first one down, and like everything else it falls to shards when destroyed. There are many more coming.

    "Hotori-san," asks Madoka, "I'm sure Ikuto and I could get away, but how fast can you run?"

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase agrees with Madoka - he's done saying his peice to Ikuto given the strange world that they're inhabiting - but well, suddenly yelling about what's already done becomes a lot less... at the forefront of Tadase's mind.

    Of course, there's also Kiseki, who looks at Ikuto as he sarcastically asks "Gee, I wonder if anybody who is here may have done anything that made it stop trying to hide and get aggressive? Maybe the reason you two can Chara Transform is that there's only one brain between the two of you."

    "Kiseki... NOT THE TIME." Tadase chides him. Then, Madoka asks Tadase how fast he can run.

    "Like, to get away?" Tadase asks, as if the concept of running away from a threat is as foreign to him as self-control is to the catboy. "I don't know. Maybe faster than these shoes!" he says. "But for how long? Can we get back to the hotel or are they just going to chase us until we're all exhausted and then squish us when we're tired?" he asks. And then he pauses looking at the thunder of crystalline ballet shoes coming towards them. "Wait, just familiars? You're telling me the shoes that look like they're the size of a Terribad are just the opening act?" he pauses. "And you deal with this on a regular basis?" he asks Madoka. "And Easter is screwing with THESE?" he asks Ikuto.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto stares at the incoming stampede. "Are those...giant shoes? Who even wears shoes that big?! To Kiseki's jab he shrugs, seeming to acknowledge that he really doesn't have a good excuse for his impulsive actions.

"We're here to hunt the mistress of this oversized footwear, right? Running won't do us any good, and it'll put more people in danger besides if we lead them into the...real world? I uh, don't suppose you have a plan, Tadase? Because right now the only thing I can think of is that if those supersize slippers get too close I'm going to start slashing them to bits. Maybe I can at least keep them focused on me since I'm the one that broke the Witch's chandelier in the first place?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Long enough for us to pick them off before they catch up to us," answers Madoka, firing arrow after arrow. She's not really even aiming them, just firing as fast as she can. "You know... kiting. Unless you think you can take a hit from one of those things." As for the rest, she answers, "Well, yeah. These things kill. They're kinda mindless sometimes but they don't joke around. I tried to tell you it was dangerous."

    Madoka feels a bit guilty about this situation, but telling people in of itself doesn't really communicate what's going to happen. Showing people what a Witch is, and why it's dangerous, is always more informative. She just wishes she wasn't the most experienced Witch Huntress here.

    "Well... if we run, we probably wont be reaching the real world," says Madoka. "We'd be running inside this magical space, unless we can find an exit. I agree though. We need to stop the Witch. We can't let it escape from us, either."

    Looking behind her, she sees the shore with the boats on it. The water looks strange, like something out of a low budget cartoon where it's not so much 'animated' so much as it just has picture-still waves that move back and forth. "Maybe they can't swim?" she suggests. "It's either stand our ground here, try to break through the line so that they aren't surrounding us anymore, or try to make for the water." Still firing. Relentlessly. She has to stop speaking once in a while to focus on a target. It's a really good thing that she's not a Puella Magi with as much magic she's using. Then again, she'd probably have more raw firepower if she was. A couple more of the shoes break, increasing her evening's kill score to 3.

    "I don't really know your powersets well enough to plan around them, but if you're going to fight them with claws, don't let them stomp you! Stay on top!"

    Madoka's arrows can only do so much, and one of the very large shoes manages to break through her withering fire. It rises above the group, and tries to stomp her. She quickly leaps back, her magical powers letting her clear about 3-4 meters in a single jump, right before the shoe Familiar's impact cracks the ground where she was. The shoe's partner, the left foot, rises up to try and stomp on Tadase. Another pair of shoes reaches Ikuto, trying to kick him. The shoes are rigid, and while they look and act like glass, you really don't want cracked evil magic glass to cut you.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    It's not a situation Tadase is unfamiliar with finding himself in, truthfully. Madoka's at least got a ranged weapon, and Ikuto's got a Chara Transformation - giving him a sort of durability Tadase sees from Pretty Cures, Sailor Senshi, and Puella Magi - a durability he and Madoka don't have. But Tadase? He's got a shield, and a scepter that frankly he can be absolutely sure isn't fragile with the number of times he's taken out smaller youma by just bashing them with it. But these aren't Kindabads, or Sunakies, or just barely spawned animal-youma; they aren't problems Tadase's equipped to solve, and that's clear with each heavy slam of a shoe, as they grow closer. This is another problem out of his league. The way he clutches his scepter, his knuckles are white. He hates this feeling. He's always hated it.

    "HOLY CROWN!" Tadase calls despite this, the golden dome of energy preventing him from being squished by the shoe that's after him. "I don't know if I want to bet our ability to row away on them not being able to just walk on fake water!" he shouts over the sound of the shoes slamming into the barrier. But at least he's able to hold one of the shoes at bay this way, though the way the mere familiar's strikes cause his golden barrier to flicker may say something about how long he can keep it up. But still...

    "Lynx-san, pull them over to me. See if we can get them to focus on the barrier so you and Kaname-san can strike back!" He calls. It's not the most likely to succeed plan, and Ikuto especially may notice it's Tadase trying to take as much threat from the enemies in lieu of the other two as he can - a situation Ikuto may be familiar with himself.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto squares off with the pair of shoes that are trying to kick at him, mindful of the other two and how they're faring. While he'd be content with trying to defeat as many of the shoes as possible by himself, that would leave him unable to help Tadase or Madoka if they began to have trouble. He nods to Tadase. "Alright, let's do this then! Come on you...podiatric pests! Come here, come stomp on my friend!"

Ikuto goads the shoes, keeping just out of reach as they try to stomp him into the ground while leading as many as possible right to Tadase. "Madoka, don't let 'em stomp you either; I don't really want to peel you off the floor!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Tadase's shield holds against the sudden stomping of the shoe, and in this contest of magical will it's the stained glass shoe that cracks first. As the pieces of the Familiar shatter and fall around the crown shield, Madoka sees first hand what his powerset is. "Alright. Stand our ground it is!" Immediately she jumps behind him, turns away and nocks another arrow back, charging another arrow. After a moment, she releases it, and it spits into countless smaller pick magic bolts.

    The bolts, this time, don't seek an enemy. Instead, they circle around Madoka and Tadase in a protective hurricane of magical destruction, breaking off only when one of the Familiars gets too close to swarm and destroy it. She keeps charging, keeps firing, keeps reinforcing the defensive line.

    Ikuto's efforts also pay off. Instead of going after them and putting himself out of position, he instead goads the shoe Familiars into strategically awkward positions. Some of them, in their rage, even trip over and stomp each other while trying to catch the nimble Black Lynx. In time, the seemingly overwhelming numbers begin to dwindle, and Madoka sends her arrow swarm to pick off the stragglers.

    The area around them is a mess. Shattered glass everywhere. The ground itself is cracked. The fake water and the boats seem to be the only thing untouched. The dancers have all fallen to the ground, broken by the stampede yet still moving their legs automatically as if they haven't yet realized that they are no longer standing up.

    She's at her limit. There's actual sweat on her brow, and not just from the stress. Without Tadase here, letting herself take a hit would have been foolish. They won this one skirmish, but still... the Witch was coming.

    "No matter how dangerous the enemy is," says Madoka, "Don't forget. You are, too."

    There is a moment of peace, but the Witch is still out there, and it's still angry. Brai peeks out from behind Madoka to shout, "The Witch! It's coming!"

    There's a sickly feeling in the air. The silver, gold and diamond trees; fallen or otherwise; begin to bend and break and crack as if they are all moving on their own. Something beneath the ground, connected to the trees, begins to rise. The ground cracks, and in some places shatters, leaving the group with scant safe ground to stand on. As the various trees rise into the air, they reveal themselves to all be part of one gigantic interconnected being, taking the shape of a chandelier.

    Each of the Bearers and their Chara all see, at roughly the same time, a set of letters in an inhuman language. All of them see it in their own way, maybe as part of the terrain, or maybe interposed over their vision, or maybe it's just a set of letters in their minds eye, but they all see the same thing.

    

    Looking up at the tree-glass-chandelier Witch, Medo comments, "I guess it really likes chandeliers..."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    The place they had been in was pretty freaky. Maybe not utterly horrifying, but freaky, different, weird, strange. All of that. But now, as the terrain changes a bit and the whole world warps? And the trees become a creature... a chandalier-creature? And the presence of the Witch comes into full view? Now, truly, the general feeling is one of horrifying negativity.

    "Now I see why you're done with Easter." Tadase says as he looks at the titantic crystaline monstrosity. He's panting, too. Just because it looked like all he was doing was holding the scepter didn't mean it didn't take a lot of the energy that Tadase and Kiseki shared to keep it up under the storm of crystal shoes.

    "I think I know why breaking the chandelier made it so mad, yeah." Tadase says, tired. "Maybe Lynx-san can break... another... bigger one this time?" He asks. After all, Madoka and Tadase both seemed to have spent a lot of effort just getting to this point.

    "Yeah, uh, you got this, Lynx." Kiseki says, with no sarcasm but not a tone that sounds like a lot of faith, either. Just concern. The very rare moment of Kiseki thinking perhaps he and Tadase bit off more than they should be chewing.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto stares. Just...stares. There's not much else to do right away, considering the size of the new arrival and the very clear danger they're now all in. "Wow. Alright, alright. I don't see a chain..."

For being the oldest person present, Ikuto finds himself completely at a loss for the first time. He's tough and been through a fair bit, but this is a cut above anything he ever imagined he'd be dealing with. Compared to the threat this thing seems to present, Easter and everything it can do seem harmless. "They really want to play around with something like this as if it's just an X-Chara? Hoshina's gone crazy if he thinks Easter could hope to even communicate with something like this, much less tame it."

He turns to Madoka. "So what's the deal here? Do we really have to...fight, this thing? I guess I can try, but it's pretty big. Alone I might get some of those branches, maybe even cut its trunk open a bit. But if you're telling me the only way out of here is to kill that? Hate to say it but that's a pretty big ask for one black cat."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "This is huge," comments Madoka breathlessly. "Even for a Witch."

    Could Tadase's shield hold against something like that? Madoka hopes so, but she's not sure she wants to bet her life on it. It's way too big for her to reliably jump over its attacks, too. Even they shattered it before it could hit them, it crosses her mind that the magical glass shards would still cut them.

    While she's sure that Black Lynx could damage the thing, defeating it alone is, as he says a tall order.

    "No one should have to fight a Witch alone. That's how people get killed." Or so Madoka says. It's similar to what the German Puella say, and she believes them. If Homura, Mami or Teresia were here, it'd be different. A part of her almost expects the latter to show up about now.

    Madoka shakes her head, and takes a step back. "I think you're right. Water's a bad idea. We... Brai-chan, Medo-chan, just in case... try to find the exit for us? Or call Gretchen if you can."

    Brai shakes her head. "We can't reach her from here, but we can look." Medo nods in agreement as the two start looking around. Maybe if they find a weak spot in the Labyrinth's magic.

    Madoka thinks out loud. The Witch looms silently overhead, giving them time to briefly converse as it slowly, yet menacingly, spins. "Another strategy is to scare it off, but... if we do that, we need to call for backup. This Witch could still kill people if we let it go."

    There isn't that much time left to talk. The chandelier Witch spins faster and faster, and pieces of it begin to break off. The entire area, which is already covered in broken ground and shattered glass, is being sprayed with sharp pieces of what looks like diamond that fall from the Witch. The shards rain all over the area, some in large chunks and others in tiny bits. No matter how much it throws, the Witch never seems to run out of mass.

    Madoka starts trying to intercept some of the incoming projectiles with her magic pink arrows. It's all she can do to simply act as point defense for these things while hiding behind Tadase's shield. They aren't going to beat this thing if they can't attack it, but without a real henshin Madoka just can't keep up.

    Yet, though it is hopeless, she doesn't falter. She decides, here and now, to see this through to the end.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Madoka is a beacon of hope - she wanted to be a hero, and it was that drive that made her Chara... her Chara(S) come out. Tadase? He wanted to be a leader, to be someone others could rely on, to be stronger than he was. And that gave him Kiseki. And it was that energy that allowed him to continue on even in the face of this absolute nightmare.

    But wanting to be a hero, wanting to be a protector - those desires were strong enough to birth Charas, but in the face of this creature from beyond human understanding? They might well be faltering. It's just that Tadase refuses to believe that, refuses to falter. At least for now. Each of those shards that slams into the shield takes more and more out of him, though, and he can hear Madoka's heavy breathing too.

    "Lynx-san, do whatever you're going to do quickly!" Tadase calls out. "I don't think we're getting anywhere like this!" That's an understatement. They're getting less than nowhere - they're being pushed back, and it's clear. "Kaname-san..." Tadase begins. "I'm not going to let this thing get out and hurt anybody." he says, a stern determination in his voice. "If you find the exit, you should go. Ikuto and I can stay and deal with it, and you can get help."

    Tadase's trying to be the honorable noble he wants to be, at least. But it's hard not to be scared in the face of this Witch, in the face of the pressure of its energy which is unlike anything he'd ever felt before. "Kiseki... I need everything you have." And for once, Kiseki doesn't argue or talk back or insult anyone. He just floats next to Tadase, focus intent, the shield keeps flickering but also refuses to fall. And if it wasn't for everything else going on, Tadase might notice the warmth coming from the heavy lock in his pocket.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto thinks. After finally getting it in his head to just talk things over with Tadase, they're both going to get cut to pieces by a really angry chandelier? And he's not even going to get a chance to find out what the deal is with this girl who has two Charas?

"No way am I letting this thing do us in like this. Unless you manage to pull a miracle out of a hat, stay in this barrier. I don't think I can kill it, but maybe I can tire it out enough to keep it from hurting anyone else." Ikuto sprints out of Tadase's barrier, hoping he's not vastly overestimating his own ability as he starts dodging the flying shards of glass. It'd be pretty embarrassing to get killed by an eldritch horror in front of a girl -and- his closest friend after all. Hop, step, and so on. Just getting close to this creature is proving to be difficult, but soon one of the gigantic tree-like limbs of the chandelier is in reach.

Ikuto pulls his claw back and dives forward past a hail of glass. "Slash Claw!" He winces, a cut opening across his arm as the Witch sends a shard of glass right past where he was clawing at. No avoiding that one, and boy does it sting.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Don't ask me to leave you behind in a place like this," says Madoka. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened after I led you here." Such things as nobility and valor might get them both killed, she realizes. In that same moment, she also understands that she wouldn't be who she was without such things. She can't ask Tadase to discard them either, for the same reasons.

    In the face of such overwhelming power, Madoka can either focus on her fear, or she can focus on optimizing her chances of victory, but she can't do both. So she chooses the latter. What's the best thing she can do? What's the best shot she can take? What openings is she looking for? How can she best spend her dwindling energy before it runs out? Can she push it even further, and if so how? Fear vanishes in favor of spending every ounce of her mind on the task in hand. A side effect of Brai's influence and nature, the part of Madoka that admires the sheer competence of her heroines.

    Perhaps it's that mindset that also calls to the part of her that wants to do her best, and be the best she can be. The part of her that was corrupted by a bumbling (?) teacher and turned into Gretchen, the X-Chara. Another being enters the Labyrinth, tiny and grumpy and masked, wearing pink pigtails just like Madoka. "Gretchen-chan!" calls out Medo. "How did you get in?! Where's the exit?"

    "It's right here where I am," says the X-Chara, "But there's no point. Our Bearer has already decided not to run."

    The tiny minidokas also have to dodge the crystal rain, and without the trees there is precious little for them to hide behind. Gretchen is the only one who doesn't seem to have any problem, flying effortlessly through the rain as she gets to Madoka, who is too busy firing to really even respond to her X-Chara aside from sparing her a small smile.

    Ikuto takes a hit. Madoka gasps. "Pull back, Ikuto! Are you okay?!"

    Gretchen crosses her arms, and shouts, "My turn. Chara Change! Become the best huntress you can be!"

    Madoka blinks at Gretchen once, and gives her a brief look of horror, before her eyes turn yellow. Her hair returns from braids to pigtails, if a bit longer than normal. Nothing much else visual changes, but the shadows seem somehow more intense when they fall upon her.

    "So... your name is Lina..." she mutters. There's a brief moment of consideration, and then Madoka springs into action. She leaps over Tadase, towards Ikuto. One might think that she'd never catch up to him in time, but she does something ridiculous. One single foot lands on a particularly large incoming glass shard, and she jumps off of it, and then onto the next one and the next.

    The whole time, she has an arrow nocked back. A pink flame ignites at the top of her bow as the magic arrow grows larger. She continues her impossible parkour, charging her arrow the whole time, as she starts to make her way towards the tree chandelier Witch. When she finally gets above the monstrosity, she shouts, "I see her weakness!" and releases.

    The arrow flies directly at the peak of the chandelier, where the chain would be if it existed.

    It's a direct hit.

    The Witch just laughs.

    Madoka, seeing with Gretchen's eyes that her attack did almost nothing, turns pale as she falls back to the broken ground. "That was... my best shot."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Madoka's not going to run. Ikuto, he already knew, wasn't going to run. But that did not, in any way, mean he was ready to see the blood of the one who was once his friend, and then his enemy, and now perhaps his ally, flow into the air from a shard of witchglass. Ikuto and Madoka both give it their best shots though - literally, in the case of Madoka, calling another chara (how many does she have?!) and taking a shot... and then going pale. The friend he'd only just met, and the friend he'd only just reunited with, and all he was really here doing was shielding, and the shield was failing, and yet nobody in this room was backing away, running.

    Is this where he'd fall, where they'd all fall? This wasn't the way he wanted it to end. This wasn't the way any of them wanted it to end. There was so much more left for all of them - even Ikuto wasn't an adult yet! Could they just not do it, had they walked into their own demise?

    No.
    No, this isn't where this story ends.

    This isn't where any of them would let it end.

    He just needed a little more, just needed to believe a little more, Ikuto and Madoka were capable and he was capable. And they would not fall to whatever-the-hell-this-was, and let Easter do whatever-they-planned-to-do with them.

    It was that determination, maybe, that caused it to happen. "Tadase-kun..." A tired Kiseki said, and pointed to Tadase's pocket, and a light that was coming out of it. With one hand on the scepter he put his other hand in his pocket and drew out the lock, which was shining brilliantly.

    The voice he heard - it wasn't Madoka's, but it was female. Believe, it said. Believe in yourself. Believe in your friends.

    And Tadase did. He gripped the lock tightly, and thought about the three of them, and for just a moment, despite everything, he believed - he knew - that they would make it out of this place, victorious, together.

    And then the lock erupted in a flash of pink and gold light that overflowed the room, and quite effectively blinded everyone... and as the vision returned, Tadase stood - in royal red and white with a much more ornate scepter that was almost a staff, and a crown that seemed less like a toy and more like a proper King's crown - and the shield was stronger than ever. And Kiseki? Kiseki was gone, but also not, because Tadase and Kiseki were one and the same.

    And the golden shield was now side enough to cover half of the battlefield, and provide Ikuto the time needed to recover... and process what had happened... to Tadase, and likely not ONLY to Tadase.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto thought this might be it, that the first hit would just be the beginning. Seeing the Witch's attention diverted to Madoka gave him time to dive into what little cover he could find, but he knew he didn't have long before he'd need to do something to keep her from ending up even worse-off than he was now. It didn't matter that he didn't know anything about her beyond her name, or that just a week ago he would have considered her a foe rather than a friend. Didn't matter that he was bleeding, or that his wound was stinging about as much as one would expect a cut from evil magic glass to. He wasn't going to just let someone else get hurt for his sake. He had to get back out there and make sure Madoka at least got out of this.

Of course, just as he was running back out like a fool he saw Tadase radiating a light that left him seeing nothing but vague shapes. "Gah! What the hell Tadase, did you Chara Transform into a flash grenade?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka falls, and she lands on the ground. In perfect form, because Gretchen, but also clutching her stomach, also because Gretchen. After a moment, her X-Chara released her, and looked behind her at Platnum Royale. With a frown, the X-Chara says, "So... that's how its done."

    The rain of diamond or glass or whatever witch crystal stuff that was continues, now pushed back by a brand new shield that is suddenly holding. It is, at the very least, an opening. A sudden turnaround that no one was expecting. The Witch's laughter turns to screams of rage, and the rain intensifies, focused more intently on Platinum Royale. If it could just get rid of him, this would all be over.

    Gretchen releases Madoka from her Chara Change, and for the moment she returns to normal. As the Bearer falls to her knees, Gretchen looms over and says, "Madoka, my Bearer, I need to you trust me. Call out to Brai in your heart, and... use whatever henshin phrase comes to mind."

    "Henshin phrase?!" says Madoka. "But... I can't..."

    Madoka looks over to Tadase, or rather to where Tadase was and where Platinum Royale now stands. Things click in her mind, and she stands up straight. Holding her hands in front of her chest, she makes a strange unlocking gesture she's never seen before and shouts, "My Heart: Unlock!"

    She glows brilliantly. Brai twirls into a forward lean as her egg closes around her. As the her Heart's Egg returns to heart, Madoka gains something she's never had in this timeline before: henshin armor. A white, pink and cream dress, frilly and poofy, forms around her. She takes a deep breath as she feels a second wind. She has a new name: Hope Blossom.

    "Medo," she commands. "You're the medic among us. Go see to Ikuto and look after him for me." The tiny flossie-wearing Chara gives a salute and then rushes to Ikuto's side.

    Hope draws back another arrow, feeling a magic more potent than anything her Chara Change ever afforded her. The tip of her bow ignites in pink flames once again, this time shining more brightly. She aims high into the air, releasing an arrow that flies past the Witch and into the sky above. It transforms into a series of strange magical symbols, circles connected to each other with lines, and moments later an absolute torrent of arrows falls down on top of the Chandelier Witch.

    Some of those arrows tear through its branches, sending them crashing to the ground into Platinum's shield. Others attack the larger falling shards and detonate, neutralizing them as a threat before they can hit anyone. Most, however, go straight to the same point that Madoka had noticed before, the peak of the chandelier, the weakspot. The Witch screams, and with its inhuman noises it's hard to tell if it's angry or afraid. All that one really knows is that those screams are the last noises it makes before it breaks apart.

    The Labyrinth fades. They are back in the Ballroom. A crew of employees are standing around the fallen chandelier. One of them must be the manager, because he's the one yelling at and berating everyone else while demanding answers. Hope Blossom looks at that scene, quietly steps over to Black Lynx and Platinum Royale, and says, "Um... maybe... let's leave before they notice us. If we don't drop henshin they wont recognize us."

    Medo, the tiny nurse doka Chara, circles around Ikuto's wound and fusses. "You shouldn't be moving around like that! At least let me bandage it!" she insists.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
And the moment the Witch is gone? And they're back in the ballroom, with the destroyed but very REGULAR Chandalier?

    Platinum Royale's henshin 'pops' and the exhausted Tadase just moves to sit on the floor. Kiseki, similarly exhausted, sits on Tadase's shoulder.

    "That... that was... did I just do... a Chara Transformation?" He asks. Kiseki doesn't even talk, but nods.

    "Okay cool." is all Tadase gets out before he moves from sitting on the floor to laying down on it. Turns out the initial shielding - plus the first time henshin - plus the further shielding - took a lot out of him. But as he lies there catching his breath, he's smiling. "Well... it worked out fine... in the end, didn't it? That was... fun... I think."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto watches, a bit awestruck and even with a bit of admiration as Hope Blossom destroys the Witch. Once back in the regular world he looks at the chandelier, then at his friends. "We should -definitely- get out of here before the police show up. Oh, man...there's no way this huge chandelier didn't cost a fortune. Now I feel kinda bad for wrecking it."

The pain in his arm is intense even with Medo's aid, and he nods to the Chara. "Thanks for the help. I'll try to keep from making it any worse." Then he looks at Madoka again. "So you used the Lock to Chara Transform? Guess that means you're pretty special too. What is it with that thing and cute pink-haired girls...maybe it has a type?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom looks at the chandelier, and then at the people in a huff about it, and then at Ikuto, and then at Tadase. She winces, and then walks over to Ikuto. "Here, Medo, let me help you with that..."

    The medic Chara produces a bandage, packing, and even some disinfectant. From where? It's Chara Magic, she don't gotta explain it. Between the Bearer and the tiny Chara they apply the bandage pretty quickly. Madoka inspects their handiwork for a moment before being both surprised and impressed. She didn't know that she could do that so well. Is this thanks to Medo's influence as well?

    Madoka looks around for a way out. There's an emergency exit nearby. She briskly makes her way towards it, peeks out the door, and turns to make a 'come here' gesture towards the two boys she came here with.

    Gretchen hovers over Tadase and lifts her mask off, revealing her very Madoka-like face. She smirks down at him. "You better get moving or you'll be in trou~ble."

    The X-Chara doesn't have to worry about getting caught. The jerk!

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "She's right. We can't be getting in trouble after we just saved people from some horrible monster." Kiseki says as he gets up and returns to hovering. "We can make Ikuto and Yoru send them money from Easter to repair the thing, but it wouldn't do for us to have a black mark on our record for being good guys, right?" he says, surprisingly pragmatically, rather than yelling 'how dare theys' and similar. Maybe undergoing the Transformation changed Kiskei, too. Or maybe he's still a little shell shocked from the witch. In any case, it seems to motivate Tadase to get back to his feet and follow Madoka and Ikuto out the emergency exit.

    On the other side of the door (which really should alarm, but for some reason doesn't - maybe that's Ikuto and Yoru, maybe it's Gretchen, maybe it's just luck), he's a little bit less tired looking. "Well, Kaname-san. That... did not at all go how I could have possibly expected. I understand why you went with show rather than tell. Impossible to describe that and do it justice." he says. "And I understand why you don't want anything to do with Easter touching those, Tsukiyomi-san." he says. "We should... really prevent them from getting involved with these. Not only does it just seem like a far worse idea than X-Eggs, but... if they send some of the Easter Employees into one of those places unready, they're not coming back out." Tadase says grimly.

    "We almost didn't." Kiseki says.

    "He's right. And there's a lot we need to talk about now... especially given that I think Kaname-san and I both... Chara-Transformed back there in the Labrynth. I wonder if we can do that out here now or if that was like... some sort of panic thing." He looks down at the lock, which has never left his hand. It's still shimmering dully. "I don't know if it has much to do with her hair color at all, Tsukiyomi-san. I was looking at the prophecy and it didn't say it BELONGED to the girl with the many charas... just that seeing someone like that meant things were in motion. And now we've seen two - Hinamori-san and Kaname-san." Tadase says.

    "We really are going to have to get together again soon. I'm going to see if I get ahold of the original text. Maybe it'll help guide us?"