Radiant Heart MUSH - User contributions [en]

Sheet:Mille Feuille

2026-01-12T10:59:24Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "==Sucre W. Delicious's Sheet== === Background === Mille Feuille is the middle child of a family of 7, with a baby sister, a younger brother, one older brother, and the star..."

==Sucre W. Delicious's Sheet==

=== Background ===

Mille Feuille is the middle child of a family of 7, with a baby sister, a younger brother, one older brother, and the star of the family, her eldest sister. The one who was already in college. The one who already was poised to take over the family business and the stick by which all of the siblings were measured. Being the middle child meant that she was just old enough that most of the attention went towards the younger siblings, while the older siblings were expected to, mostly, take care of themselves. Obviously not completely, but her two older siblings had to focus on their studies, or her older brother that had already gotten a part time job and was bringing in money for the family.

It's not like she just accepted her role as that middle child. She tried her best. She tried to make sure that she was good enough. She made sure that she had one of the best scores in her family! She made sure that she was talented, that she could do everything expected of her, she even took up piano lessons and started helping around the house!

...But none of it was enough.
When she asked to do something, she was always told that they had to take care of her younger siblings.
When she brought home a good report card, her parents were already talking about her eldest sibling, the honor student.

This meant that, when by coincidence when she was out and about playing, she encountered the leader of the dark roast, Macchiato...

She was easy to convince.

And so her life as the sugar wasp, the thief of sweetness, began. At first, small scale in her home city in france. Macchiato called it training. Had her fly to paris, where there was the most likelihood to find some of the Sweet Aroma. She had even encountered the mahou of paris once or twice!

But eventually, it was determined that most likely the Leaves of the Sweet Aroma were there.

...And soon a mysterious transfer letter to a place called Radiant Heart Academy arrived.

And she managed, eventually, to convince her parents to approve her transfer to Radiant Heart Academy.

A transfer that went... strangely quick.
And with very little uproar. She had largely given up on her studies, just doing the bare minimum she had to to have a passing grade... because she was there for one, main reason.

To try to fill that bitterness that had taken hold of her heart with the sweetness of Tokyo's relationships and families.

=== Personality ===

Mille Feuille is a very subdued person, generally the quiet girl who keeps to herself in the back of the class. It's not that she isn't an outgoing person, but she's reached a point where she's all but given up on personal connections. Her family showed her that no matter what she did, none of it mattered, so why should she bother put in any effort anymore? If friendships happen, they'll happen. If she gets praise, she'll get praise. She does enough that she doesn't get in trouble. That is all that she cares about in her day to day life.

That's not to say that she's particularly unfriendly, in fact, she is almost polite to a fault when anyone interacts with her, to the point she likely gives off a feeling that she's holding them at arm's length and doesn't /want/ to get to know them more personably. Even if it's not true, that she would probably love to have friends.

...But what's the point, if nothing you do matters?

And so she pours almost all of her effort into her other life, her other self. Almost anxiously awaiting the end of class to go out as the sweetness-stealing Sucre W. Delicious. Unlike her quiet, nonmagical, worthless self, as Sucre W Delicious is boisterous, loud, and does whatever she wants, to a level of obnoxiousness! Since becoming Sucre W. Delicious and tasting the sweet energy that is stolen from others, almost all other things have begun to taste bitter -- something that has lead, along with the dark energy of her transformation, to almost an addiction to energy draining and creation of youma. This can sometimes lead to the actual QUALITY of youma that she creates tending to suffer, leading to more Creminions than Robustas because of the almost... rushed, fevered pitch that she creates her minions and steals whatever she can from whoever seems like they'd be even remotely 'delicious'.

=== Focus ===
See: Pretty Cure
=== Style ===
See: Pretty Cure
=== Powers ===

Sucre W. Delicious - Her transformed form, filled with dark energy and allowing some basic, useful things. The most important being that she is capable of flight with her wings, and generally making her extremely durable and fairly physically strong. She almost always is seen bearing her Sirop Stinger, a staff that is her a general focus for her dark magical attacks and energy drains. Additionally, she can poke someone with it to draw out their sweetness -- which also creates a coffee filter for use to fold into an origami shape and make a Creminion or Robusta, depending on the strength of the victim's bonds with their friends and family, as well as their general physical health and resilience.

Sirop Amer - Sucre W. Delicious' general combat style makes use of coffee and 'bitter syrup', this comes in the form of jets of black coffee, scalding coffee balls, and other similar attacks based around coffee. (Such as 'French Press', a physical attack that summons a french press to squish someone in!) When using bitter syrup, she flings it with the Sirop Stinger, unleashing gobs of sticky, thick, bitter syrup that can stick people to walls, stick them to each other, and is generally incredibly unpleasant to get off of, taste, and generally all-around unpleasant for any victims of her bitter syrup. Anyone caught in the Bitter Syrup for a long period of time will also find themselves jittery and generally unpleasant feeling, as if they drank far too many cups of coffee or energy drinks. This is, somehow, also paired with an energy drain. Leaving people both wired and exhausted.

Art du Pliage - The art of folding paper, in other words, origami. Sucre W. Delicious takes coffee filters and folds them to create youma based off of the amount of Sweetness in their life, either a Creminion -- a weaker youma, generally the bread and butter of the youma created by Sucre W. Delicious and other members of the Dark Roast, they are extremely varied, a reasonable threat to Mahou and civilians, and are almost universally capable of draining energy and cofee-based attacks, with individual unique traits depending on the youma or the shape made by Sucre W. Delicious. It can also create a Robusta, these are stronger, more dangerous Youma, the more occasional Youma that are the cream of the crop and capable of taking quite a beating and dishing out just as much in return! These, much like their smaller Creminion siblings, are capable of energy drains and coffee-related attacks, though they are more prone to using unique abilities over these, though also tend to have a coffee spin on whatever that unique abilities. (Such as an ice-based robusta attacking with a frozen coffee drink! Possibly even coffee pops?!) Alternatively, she can just make origami wasps out of coffee filters. They are tiny. They swarm. And they hate you and everything you stand for. (And are basically just a Dark Energy attack.)

Mille Feuille

2026-01-12T10:57:59Z

Lanaberry:

{{CharacterNew
|NameOnMUSH=Mille Feuille
|Char_id=294
|Img=https://radiantheartmush.com/images/1/10/Sucre.jpg
|FullName=Mille Feuille
|AKA=Sucre W. Delicious
|Gender=Female
|Origin=Dark Energy
|Grade=7
|Clubs=Lifestealing Club
|Series=High Tea Sommelier! Pretty Cure
|Chartype=OC
|Groups=Obsidian
|Quote=I hate this bitter taste, perhaps your sweetness will be more agreeable?
|Profile=Mille Feuille is a transfer student from Bordeaux, France. A relatively mysterious young woman, she transferred seemingly suddenly out of nowhere into Radiant Heart Academy, and has since proceeded to make... very little of a name for herself. The buzz around her being a transfer student even died down quickly, as she proved to be ... fairly average at just about everything. She is the quiet kid in the back of the class that seems as if she's doing her absolute best, but never seems to do more than just... 'average'. Outside of school, however, she spends much of her time doing the work of the Dark Roast, as Sucre W. Delicious. Hunting for leaves of the Sweet Aroma, supposedly... but mostly? Mostly she hunts to steal the sweetness from others to fill a bitter hole in her own heart from the entire reason she had transferred, to begin with. When acting as Sucre W. Delicious, she spends much of her time summoning coffee filter origami youma, as well as using coffee and syrup-themed dark magical attacks.
|Skills=Just Won't Buzz Off, Bitter-Hating Dark Roast, Quiet Shy Girl, Also Loud Obnoxious Girl, Four-Armed Fiend, Everything Tastes Bitter, NOT THE BEES (Or, well, wasps. Tehe~.)
|Height=Average
|Age=13
|BloodType=O+
|Likes=Sweets, Sugary Drinks, The Sweetness of a beautiful soul
|Dislikes=Anything bitter, happy families.
|FavSubject=Home Ec
|LeastFavSubject=Math
}}

Mille Feuille

2026-01-12T10:57:31Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{CharacterNew |NameOnMUSH=Mille Feuille |Char_id=294 |Img=https://radiantheartmush.com/File:Sucre.jpg |FullName=Mille Feuille |AKA=Sucre W. Delicious |Gender=Female |Origin=D..."

{{CharacterNew
|NameOnMUSH=Mille Feuille
|Char_id=294
|Img=https://radiantheartmush.com/File:Sucre.jpg
|FullName=Mille Feuille
|AKA=Sucre W. Delicious
|Gender=Female
|Origin=Dark Energy
|Grade=7
|Clubs=Lifestealing Club
|Series=High Tea Sommelier! Pretty Cure
|Chartype=OC
|Groups=Obsidian
|Quote=I hate this bitter taste, perhaps your sweetness will be more agreeable?
|Profile=Mille Feuille is a transfer student from Bordeaux, France. A relatively mysterious young woman, she transferred seemingly suddenly out of nowhere into Radiant Heart Academy, and has since proceeded to make... very little of a name for herself. The buzz around her being a transfer student even died down quickly, as she proved to be ... fairly average at just about everything. She is the quiet kid in the back of the class that seems as if she's doing her absolute best, but never seems to do more than just... 'average'. Outside of school, however, she spends much of her time doing the work of the Dark Roast, as Sucre W. Delicious. Hunting for leaves of the Sweet Aroma, supposedly... but mostly? Mostly she hunts to steal the sweetness from others to fill a bitter hole in her own heart from the entire reason she had transferred, to begin with. When acting as Sucre W. Delicious, she spends much of her time summoning coffee filter origami youma, as well as using coffee and syrup-themed dark magical attacks.
|Skills=Just Won't Buzz Off, Bitter-Hating Dark Roast, Quiet Shy Girl, Also Loud Obnoxious Girl, Four-Armed Fiend, Everything Tastes Bitter, NOT THE BEES (Or, well, wasps. Tehe~.)
|Height=Average
|Age=13
|BloodType=O+
|Likes=Sweets, Sugary Drinks, The Sweetness of a beautiful soul
|Dislikes=Anything bitter, happy families.
|FavSubject=Home Ec
|LeastFavSubject=Math
}}

File:Sucre.jpg

2026-01-12T10:53:48Z

Lanaberry:

Sheet:Adora Rainbowfist

2026-01-12T10:44:13Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "==Adora Rainbowfist's Sheet== === Background === As a war erupts on her homeworld of Grayskull, the infant Adora is secreted away to the planet of Etheria through a portal...."

==Adora Rainbowfist's Sheet==

=== Background ===

As a war erupts on her homeworld of Grayskull, the infant Adora is secreted away to the planet of Etheria through a portal. She is discovered by the wicked and manipulative Shadow Weaver. Shadow Weaver takes the baby to the Horde, where she is raised alongside another orphan, the catgirl, Catra. For years the Horde was all Adora knew. Growing up alongside her best friend (And future girlfriend), Adora excelled in all manners of being a soldier.

She spent her youth training, both in intense combat exercises, and in unit cohesion and leadership. Shadow Weaver was cruel and manipulative, but always seemed to put Adora ahead of the other trainees. She saw her as a very special child.

Eventually, Adora was offered a promotion to Force Captain, and was told she would lead her former training unit (Except poor Catra) in a raid of a Rebellion stronghold. All of her life she had been told of the vile and evil Princesses, and their resistance against the Order they were trying to bring to the world. Well, she snuck out of the base with Catra the night before the raid, and ended up being seperated from her. The girl discovered a large sword tangled amid old foliage, and she began getting visions.

Upon discovery by the Princess Alliance, Adora was taken prisoner as a Horde Soldier, only to discover the sword could transform her into an engine of war known as She-Ra. When she used the power to save her captors, they loosened up a bit. However, on the eay to the Princess capital of Brightmoon, she found the place she was supposed to lead the raid on: a beautiful, peaceful hamlet. All of her teachings began to fall apart, and the deal was sealed when Catra lead the assault on the peaceful village in an attempt to bring Adora home. Adora refused, creating a strong rift between herself and her previously only friend.

Over time, Adora trained to be She-Ra, taking her position in the Alliance as the Princess of Power. She learned that the title and power had been passed down to various girls over time, though a long time back one of the She-Ra's, Mara, had rebelled and turned on the First Ones who granted said power. Adora had been the first She-Ra in centuries.

The war continued, and Adora helped get other Princess Kingdoms to agree to join the Rebellion, until they were a force to be reckoned with. After many skirmishes, plots and traumatic events, Adora managed to convince Catra (Who'd been her main rival all this time) to turn her back on the Horde and join her. Then, they managed to defeat the Horde, and even stop their newly revealed master, Horde Prime. However, in a last ditch effort, Horde Prime activated an experimental piece of technology, shattering the universe to a degree. Adora ended up waking up in an alleyway in Tokyo. She was blown away by the lights and tech and sheer population. Confused and scared and missing her Catra, Adora ended up stashing her blade in an abandoned gym. She is currently hiding out in the same place while she tries to figure out what to do!@

Eventually, she found her Catra, as well as her other friends. Things were wrong though -- they were from a different time, either they couldn't remember it or something. She wasn't entirely sure /when/, but her Catra was back to how she'd been before. Things were Wrong. And she even got corrupted by one of her new friends, Hinoiri. She had harmed her friends, had brutal fights with people she cared deeply about.

An off-hand comment from Catra had been burning in her mind. 'What the hell've you been up to these past few weeks, anyway? I was beginning to think you'd tried to go back to Etheria, or what's left of it'.

It was an impulsive thought. An impulsive action. Her sword could do so much, it was something that could restore the balance, so maybe. Maybe she could go back to Etheria. Or maybe... she could... try and heal the portal or something, make the timeline Right.

...Of course, messing with time is always a messy business. And while she might, technically, succeed she forgot to account for one factor.

She's the one out of place in the timeline.

(Note: The previous entry is to make way for either a scene for said thing, or elaboration on what happened, TL;DR, she's going to reset to roughly the same time in the series as the others, from when she escaped the portal after the sacrifice of Glimmer's mother.)

=== Personality ===

Adora is brave. She is a courageous warriour who grew up within a military structure. Until her late teen years, all she knew was preperation for war, and the little bit of hiddne time she managed to snag with her best friend. She has a very hard time backing down from a challenge, and it takes extreme measures to cow her. She is not dumb, but the girl is far from brilliant outside of military matters. She is warm-hearted and kind, caring about people to a level that could possibly be used against her. She does not kill, but has no issues using violence to solve a problem. She is a warrior, afterall.

She is charismatic to an extreme degree, and served as a beacon of hope back home. She is a bright, shining beacon in dark times, and she has the personality of someone who has proven capable of drawing people out of their own darkness. When she is She-Ra she tends to be more stoic, but her own personality still resides within her then, too.

=== Focus ===

While She-Ra is a very unique powerset in her world, the Princesses tend to be linked and have specific themes. She-Ra's power comes from the Sword of Protection, primarily, and what it has unlocked within her. It could, technically, be considered a gemstone, or crystal, which is what the other Princesses use, though. That would be -technically-, but technically works.

For the rest of the Princesses, each of their Kingdoms possess a stone of power. These stones are roughly human-sized or a bit bigger, and radiate energy of some specific type. It could be raw nature, aquatic energy, fire, or a number of others. The Princess attunted to it is granted power unique to that gemstone. Sometimes the other Princesses can over exert their energy, and require access to their Gemstone, or something resembling their element, to recharge.

=== Style ===

The Princesses power tends to come in pastel, beautiful, energetic ways. When nature magic is used, there are blooms of flowers, along with the terrifying rushes of vines and thorns, if that is the intent, for example. Rainbows and harmonious noise is common, as it is a force of pure good (Or is meant to be. Anything can be twisted!). Each gemstone is unique,and the power granted to it's Princess is as well, though the above tends to stick. The Princess Alliance, while still fighting a war, brings a sense of beauty to their battle, whether they like it or not. Heck, She-Ra shoots rainbows!

=== Powers ===

As Adora, she is simply a very athletic teenage girl.

She-Ra, however, has...

Strength: She-ra is extremely strong, capable of punching through reinforced steel, toss tanks with one hand, and that strength allows her to do feats such as cutting through said tanks like it's butter with her sword.

Agility: She-Ra is incredibly agile, capable of leaping high into the air and move at faster rates than a standard human, and even able to maintain that sort of speed while balancing on narrow walkways, etc.

Durability: She-Ra is incredibly durable, capable of taking most attacks without showing much more than heavy scuffs and shrugging off most mundane weaponry. Unfortunately, this durability is restricted by the energy that supports it, and can result in her being knocked out seemingly rather suddenly from an otherwise healthy-seeming state.

Animal Transformation: The energy in her blade is capable of transforming animals into altered, intelligent creatures. Generally adding wings to them regardless of race. Which is how she resulted in having her trusty steed, Swift Wind by her side.

Energy Blasts: She-Ra can launch rainbow-colored energy blasts capable of dealing great damage to whatever she targets with them, and if managed right can allow She-Ra a good amount of ranged flexibility beyond 'throwing her sword'.

Aura Generation: When united with the other Princesses of Power, she can blend her powers with theirs to mutually increase the strength of their powers.

Animal Magic: The Sword of Power is capable of calming most rapaging and upset monsters, with a particular affinity for calming biotechnical creatures infused with First One's tech, due to her sword somewhat acting as a key for most of said tech.

Space Survival: Though she doesn't really know about it at present, She-Ra is immune to most mundane environmental effects, capable of surviving in the vacuum of space or not needing to breathe if in an underwater situation. Poisonous spores, corruptive magics, etc. are still effective on her, however.

Swordshifting: Adora (and She-Ra) can change the form of the Sword of Power to different weapons and mundane items, not limited to but including: A flail. A broom. A flute. A cup. An umbrella. A shield. These forms don't really alter it's powers much, but does allow it to be used for that item's standard uses. I mean who doesn't need to use a world-saving deus ex machina as a mop, right?

Sheet:Aloisia Stauss

2026-01-12T10:43:28Z

Lanaberry: Created page with " ==Aloisia Harlaown's Sheet== === Background === Aloisia Stauss was born the daughter of Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner and Catrina von Husen on the mining planet of Tun..."

==Aloisia Harlaown's Sheet==

=== Background ===

Aloisia Stauss was born the daughter of Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner and Catrina von Husen on the mining planet of Tungeturn, a part of a plan that had been years in the making, though a plan Aloisia was largely never made aware of. In fact, she never knew who her real father was, having instead been raised by a trusted soldier under Otto himself by the name of Balthasar Stauss. In spite of the fact that her parents marriage was one of political motivation, it was a surprisingly happy family, though one with firm and strict rules for Aloisia herself. The first being that from a young age she would learn to fight, and that she must never leave Tungeturn until told otherwise. Trained on how to be a lovely young woman while simultaneously working alongside miners even from a young age, Aloisia developed over the course of her youth into a strong fighter, being taught in traditional belkan styles along with general combat styles for combatting non-human opponents which are a different kind of unpredictable.

All the while she was being subtly poisoned against the Steiner family, on how they were weak. On how they were simply living on the backs of the hardworking folk. On how they were bowing to the TSAB rather than fighting them as they should have, giving away most of the metal and crystals that the people of HER WORLD mined to ship off to the TSAB for them to make weapons of war.

And when she wasn't being taught things like that, she was off training with her 'father'. Or, when she was old enough to fight, fighting alongside the Tungeturn Defense Force to repel hostile wildlife or pirates that had slipped through planetary defenses to try to steal from their outpost. It was a harsh life, but one that Aloisia did not quite realize she was in, as she was rained down with praise by the people she worked alongside for her competent combat skills and admirable personality. Their little 'guardian princess', they called her. A thing that would blow up her ego to some degree.

By her preteen years, she had already made a place for herself among the defense force as a fully trusted and relied upon member, even to the point where she was leading a small team of trainees (With an adult supervisor) regularly on excursions to cull the more dangerous wildlife on the dirtball of a planet they called home, for a mix of food and safety due to the fact that much of the wildlife amounted to things along the lines of 'Armored bear-lizards' and 'dire sabretooth tigers', which regularly would attack anyone casually wandering outside the outpost. Regardless of this fact, the outpost was a relatively thriving little mining operation due to the money that could be earned from the magically rich crystal deposits beneath the earth of Tungeturn.

It was also around this time that her father started to leave the planet more often. Both him and her mother growing more distant, more busy. Leaving Aloisia alone with the defense force more often, as trouble brewed off-planet with her family and Otto in preparations for the upcoming coup. It was relatively sudden that her mother returned, Aloisia could sense something was wrong, but no matter how much she asked, her mother wouldn't tell her anything, and forced her to stay home from her usual duties. During this time, Aloisia was gifted the twin shield to her own shield she had been using, two halves of a whole now made complete.

It wasn't long after this that the entire mining outpost was overtaken by a buzz. Accusations flung left and right. Yelling. Screaming. And then? A loud banging at her front door. The royal army had arrived. Her father had already been captured. And they were here for her and her mother. While the manor guards held off the royal guards, Aloisia and her mother both fled to a secret hangar underneath the compound, and Aloisia was taken inside. Her mother quickly programming the ship to take off and leave, and just before take off... she stepped off the ship, telling Aloisia that it was important that she survive. That she would have to break the cycle.

And then she was gone. Aloisia alone on the small ship, blasting off into space on a course to the remote galaxy where she would hopefully be hidden. Of course...

It was an older ship. A slower ship. And the first time she tried to make a stop to refuel or resupply, Aloisia found out that her family account had been frozen, leaving her with very little other choice than to do whatever she had to to survive. Which meant minor piracy.

A life she hated. Stealing from others. That was just as bad as the Steiner family did. A family that was the reason she now had no family of her own.

But she made sure it would be on her terms. Minimal damage. No Casualties. She was a defender of the people, not a destroyer of them. Only taking what she needed and nothing more. What felt like an eternity passed on that ship until she came near her destination, though she would never reach it as her ship went just slightly too close to the magical sinkhole that is earth. And then? Well. Then she was dragged into orbit, where she would crash land into the middle of a certain park in the middle of the juuban district.

=== Personality ===

Aloisia Stauss is someone who has lost everything, who has been forced to do the very thing that she considers the worst thing that she could have done, and yet still stands resolute in her values and who she is. Or at least, that's what she thinks. Time spent forced to do things completely opposite of her self image has twisted a lot of her personality. Where she once was proud of her strength, of her role as a protector, she's found herself having failed that role in the worst possible way, and it's taken a toll on her mental health.

Where once she was a jovial, friendly, cheerful person, what's left is more a mask of what she once was, with intense pain, self-loathing, and seething anger at the only targets she can think of as the reason for her suffering. The members of House Steiner. Knowing roughly the story of what happened, and who her father had supported, her hatred is currently somewhat focused towards House Steiner's princess herself, Hannah Steiner.

Aloisia herself believes that she's gone beyond the point of no return with having done even the 'minor' piracy that she did, and it's bred a deep level of self-loathing and hatred that denies her any true happiness. Sure, there might be moments of momentary joy, of satisfaction of a job well done, especially when it's a job she can believe in the leadership of.

One thing that keeps Aloisia from completely losing herself to darkness and going beyond the true point of no return is one simple fact, however: Aloisia is not a killer. She has spent her life in the service of defending others, and in spite of everything, all of the training, all of the time fighting animals and pirates, one thing has remained.

Aloisia does not have it in her to kill.

And that will be her redemption.

...Maybe.

=== Focus ===
See: Device Users.
=== Style ===
See: Device Users.
=== Powers ===

Festungseid (Fortress Oath) - Formerly Doppelwand(Twin Wand), Festungseid is the combination of the twin Armed devices known as Vorhutschwester (Vanguard Sister) and Schutzschwester (Guardian Sister). Originally designed for two wielders, it has been altered to function in the hands of a single user, able to have both devices active, or only one at a time. With the twin devices comes faster processing powers, allowing for layering of multiple spells at once faster and slightly more efficiently than it would be for other Armed Devices. This allows the use of the double-layered defensive 'Wall' line of spells, combining the strength of both Barrier and Shield spells into single double-layered spells that can be imbued with various effects; the main affects being things like Repelling(Specifically physically knocking back PEOPLE, not spells), Bursting(Exploding if someone comes in contact with them), and Entrapping(Can be used to trap people in strong Walls, or as a reactive manner where striking it results in a Bind spell in counter.)

Guardian Mode - The default mode of the Festungseid Armed Device, the Guardian mode is a highly defensive mode with heavy armor and a focus on being a front line support in the form of mostly being in the way of enemies, along with occasionally using Boost spells on allies to share her energy and augment their strength. Guardian Mode has the Vanguard Sister in a shield form, and the Guardian Sister in the form of a lance.

Valkyrie Mode - A high-offense mode, a lot of the defensive strength of Guardian Mode is allowed to fall to the wayside as the shield and Lance of Guardian Mode are combined into a massive split lance with a crystal spike charged with plasma. Strikes with the lance in Valkyrie Mode unleash bursts of plasma and in general this form is highly focused on piercing defenses and making way for assaults on enemies. This mode has a slight variable shape to it as well, where parts of the guard can slide forward to the end of the lance, turning it into an axe form for when defenses no longer need to be broken.

Energy Conversion: Plasma - Aloisia is capable of converting her energy into plasma, electromagnetic energies that are usually used for further disruption of defenses. The energy cost of conversion is such that she mainly only uses this on her finisher attacks, such as 'Plasmabolzen' and 'Schlossknacker'.

Sheet:Ahmya Karashima

2026-01-12T10:41:48Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "==Ahmya Karashima's Sheet== === Background === Ahmya Karashima was born into a rather happy and lovely family, consisting of a doting mother, a kind father, and a reliable o..."

==Ahmya Karashima's Sheet==

=== Background ===

Ahmya Karashima was born into a rather happy and lovely family, consisting of a doting mother, a kind father, and a reliable older brother. Living on a shrine to a harvest god in the middle of the big city made for a rather overall just... peaceful and calm childhood. Learning the family business and starting her training to be a shrine maiden from a young age and learning important skills for the task.

Life with her family was just pleasant, and created a firm foundation for whatever she might want to do in the future. Her brother helping her through harder times, while her parents calmly handled most of life's ups and downs with almost supernatural skill. It was all rather lovely...

Until she made it into school. When she arrived at school she found herself with an issue. There was only ... so much ... that she could do to talk about. Sure, people were interested in the shrine maiden thing, but when they realized it was mostly just cleaning and praying they tended to lose interest. Her home life didn't really have anything juicy to talk about, and she didn't really have much of anything to complain about. In the younger grades, this was something she could get away with just... playing with people and having fun the normal way.

But as she got older and started to approach her teenage years, it started to become an actual problem. Getting her teased, making difficulties making friends, and even causing her to have a hard time starting or continuing conversations because she just... didn't have much to talk about. And so she decided to make a change on that front.

She decided to get into things that aren't normal, things that little girls don't like. It started with collecting bugs and treating them kindly, taking care of them as well as she would take care of her geriatric old cat that she'd grown up with and loved to pieces. She had respect for insect life of course, for instance, when interacting with spiders she treated them with gentle kindness, but also respect, as many spiders were powerful huntresses in their own rights.

On a family trip to a certain area of a certain prefecture that gave reverence to the Jyrougumo yokai, she had made extra careful to be respectful of the spiders in the area, having read about their relationship with said yokai. Even having brought some mealworms to offer gently as offerings into those small webs.

The thing that truly changed her life, however, was when she encountered a particularly large golden orb weaver that was being chased and swatted at by a cat. She jumped into action, quickly moving to grab the cat and pull it away from the orb weaver, tossing it away as she gently and carefully scooped the orb weaver itself into her clothing with minimal worry for her own potential safety, and carrying it to another area.

Surprisingly, the orb weaver hadn't bitten Ahmya, in fact it seemed to have realized it was safe within this shrine maiden's robes, seeming to settle in calmly as she took it to a nearby forest, and standing near the edge of a waterfall she carefully held out her hand to coax the orb weaver out, whispering that it was fine now, and quietly admiring the beauty of the large arachnid.

It was then that a voice rang out, "My, my... such gentle reverence for my daughter. It seems that someone has been taught well."

The voice came from a woman of untold beauty, wrapped in a kimono and threads seeming to float in the air around her. Feet in sandals that came to points that seemed to cause mere ripples to appear atop the water as she walked out from the cave beside the waterfall, crossing the water with ease as if it were simply another surface.

Ahmya was enraptured, unable to look away until she thought rather suddenly that this was when she should be bowing. A long conversation followed. Many questions from 'Auntie Rache' to the young girl, and just as many answers. The conversation started off more formal, but eventually it was almost as if talking to her own aunt, Ahmya finding herself talking excitedly about her loves and passions, as the being before her talked in kind. It seemed as if the conversation lasted for a short eternity, though it was little over an hour or two.

At the end, Auntie Rache walked up to the girl and gently rested a hand on her cheek. She spoke of giving her a blessing, one that would hurt at first, but that it would be one she would be glad to have in the weeks to come, as great disturbances were spreading across the world. A gentle offering. A pact to be made.

Be it through manipulation or genuine connection with this yokai, Ahmya had already been endeared to the woman, and she accepted this pact. Moments later, there was a searing pain within her right eye, and Ahmya found herself staring at Auntie Rache, holding a lightly glowing sphere with an iris the color of her eyes, and Ahmya's right eye was... clouded. If she focused she could still see things, but it was as if through a haze of golden threads. "Be not afraid, your sight will return in time. But I am no blessed being, I can offer no blessings without a pact. This was the least I could take while giving you the most." Auntie Rache spoke softly, before gently wrapping that webbed eye in a carefully weaved covering. "You will need to study, to grow in your power, your roots as a shrine maiden will have helped, but now you must delve into the arcane as well. Go, and know that Auntie Rache is always watching."

Upon returning home, her parents were shocked to hear the tale. The sight of their beautiful daughter's eye webbed as it was... and yet they dared not to challenge the yokai of the waterfall -- it was a powerful spirit, worshipped in the area, after all. Upon returning home, Ahmya found herself struggling to explain the missing eye. Nobody believed the real story, so she started to simply make it wilder, more crazy, talking about how it held great power and how it would destroy the world if she let it loose!

Little did she know, in a way, she was right... though she hadn't needed it yet, so the power of Goldenweb Yorotsuchi hadn't manifest yet.

=== Personality ===

Ahmya has had a good life, and honestly, in spite of her having become a bit chuuni and wild in her teenage years.... it shows. Ahmya has a generally kind and sweet personality, generally willing to help and happy to spend time with her small friend group whenever possible. She's that friend that frequently is busy, but regularly is willing to make time even if she is busy to help when she can. She has a good relationship with her family, close with her doting mother, Mino, relying on her wise dad, Inage, and playing video games with her older brother Tokumoto when they both have time between work and school. And she absolutely LOVES spending time with her little sister, Shinoki, the precious little sprout.

Of late, she's grown rather fond of insects and the occult, delving deep into rituals and spell books wherever she can find them. Most of them fake, but still learning from them regardless, as she'd been given those instructions from her 'Auntie Rache', and being a good girl, she was listening... even if she wasn't entirely sure what to think of the beautiful spirit that speaks with her rather regularly now... through her own eye... which honestly was kind of weird but in a cool way.

Fighting is honestly not Ahmya's first resort, but when she's pushed to it, she'd generally rather end it quickly, after all, even if it may be a monster youma or evil being... it's best not to make anything suffer any longer than necessary. In a way this results in a somewhat borderline vicious fighting style where she doesn't hesitate to go for the 'kill' immediately, but it's fueled by a kindness, almost sadness when pushed to it.

=== Focus ===
See: Curse Breakers.
=== Style ===
See: Curse Breakers.
=== Powers ===

Goldenweb Yorotsuchi wields an old family heirloom from Ahmya's family shrine, an old Odachi(Nameless, though it seems as if Yorotsuchi gives it a different name almost every fight, she generally defaults to 'Willcutter', though the name has nothing to actually do what it can do) said to have been a gift to the family by a spirit. Though not magical in and of itself, Yorotsuchi's own magic infuses it when fighting, allowing it to effectively fight against spirits. Runes etched of golden webs running down its blade and able to be changed on the fly for various different effects, such as making it heavier or lighter as needed, or blessing it with energy to create a particularly potent strike. When actually fighting with the sword, Yorotsuchi makes use of large rings on the back of the blade traditionally used to hang it as part of combat instead, using strong golden webs to let her strike further, throw her sword, and generally do things people generally shouldn't do with a sword to increase her avenues of attack with it.

As for her actual magic, Goldenweb Yorotsuchi's magic is regularly made up of rapid weaving of runes into webbing between her fingers, or applied to the ground to summon forth magical bursts or to set traps to entangle and confound her enemies. While her magical powers are widely varied, her relative inexperience in the occult results in her spells being fairly limited to mainly magical blasts or wrapping enemies in her webbing through traps, along with some very basic purification based on her history as a shrine maiden-- however said purification is at odds with the source of her power, a pact with a yokai, so its application and power is... weak at best, and mainly only effective in concert with other magic users.

2626/A Saccarine Salutation

2025-06-18T11:43:52Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/06/18 |Location=Four Clover Mall |Synopsis=A new antagonist has deemed to make her presence known upon the face of Japan, as Sucre W. Deliciou..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/06/18
|Location=Four Clover Mall
|Synopsis=A new antagonist has deemed to make her presence known upon the face of Japan, as Sucre W. Delicious unleashes a youma upon the Four Clover Mall, a group of friends having drawn the attention of Sucre with their sweet friendship!

A French Press Robusta is created, with some creminion mugs to terrorize and drain the sweetness of the mall!
|Cast of Characters=294,295,256,122,52,296
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:294|Sucre W. Delicious (294)}} has posed:''' It's the relatively early evening, not too long after getting out from school, and people have flocked to the Four Clover Mall to get food, hang out with friends, or even do some shopping with their friends, using their allowances for the month. Among those people at the mall, there are a group of friends chattering away at the food court. They weren't talking about anything all that important, just about their plans for the evening and what to do over the weekend while they sipped at smoothies. Meanwhile, in one corner of the food court, a very ... average... looking girl sips at her own beverage. A coffee beverage chock full of sugar and cream and with some horrific whipped toppings on top that looks like it should be sugar with a side of sugar and more sugar. Mille Fuille takes one sip of it and immediately pulls a face though. "Eugh, bitter." She mutters under her breath, before glancing towards that chattering group of friends. Mmm. They should be tastier. That painfully average looking young woman quietly slips off and into a bathroom briefly. Not long after, out comes... Sucre W. Delicious! Some people glance at her and comment about her cosplay, as she calmly walks up to that group of chattering friends. "My my, hello! Aren't you just the sweetest bunch! I'm so tired of sipping bitter brews, do you perhaps have the sweetness I desire~?" She says cheerfully, as the group kind of gives her an uncomfortable look. Which was around the moment when she poked each of them with her staff, pulling out a coffee filter -- along with a small cup of ... something ... from each. She sips daintily from one of the cups, while two of her four arms quickly fold those coffee filters. "Mmm... that's MUCH better~." She says cheerfully, buzzing off as she drops those folded up coffee filters, which briefly ~poof~ into a coffee machine, brewing themselves... the coffee pots 'pouring out' four figures. One, much larger than the others, appears to be a french press with arms and big eyes on it. "RRRRRroooobustaaaaa!" It calls out as it finishes forming, and much like Mille had... it, along with the smaller Creminions (Basically humans wearing cream pod themed bodysuits and masks, really), begin to draw that same sweetness from the others around. "Hm... though this is sweet, it's still not quite right..." Sucre mutters to herself as she buzzes off to sit atop a sign, crossing one leg over the other as she daintily sips from her cup. ... Well, rotating through four cups, really, but that's beside the point. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' ''Robusta.'' That was bad news, and it was bad news mailed directly to him, like the world's most unwelcome Summer postcard. Roman Talleday had become scarce at the roar of the French Press, and the sinister scent of coffee in the air. The Dark Roast had reached him in Japan, it seemed. Cure Chai had appeared swiftly, standing atop a table in full glory-- a beautiful young man with vibrant eyes of blue and vivid pink hair, a cow-licked streak of white curling into an aesthetic swirl shape over bangs. Fashionably dressed in what could only be described as flashy Ouji-lolita clothing, he was princely in his white outfit with pink accents, a matching teacup tilted on his head like a small top-hat. A bejewled teaspoon at his hip, on a bow. "I'll show you there are better ways to stir up a sweet change!" He chastised openly, drawing attention to himself. "Order up! Cure Chai!" He had no idea why he said that. Still, he frowned, and yelled at the French Press, "Oi! Biggun!" 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' Laura was mostly bored, and feeling restless. Not out of anything specific happening right now, but because the summer sun was really getting at her in a way that begged her to do something high energy. For that she had considered going on a run, but it was then she had realised, she had never really bothered with buying a tracksuit. Yeah, well, her methods of burning off energy didn't usually involve jogging, but something spurred her to try it this time. Minutes later, she is coming out of the sports store in the mall with a bag hanging from her elbow, humming the melody of Aqua Prism cheerfully. Today is definitely a good day. Then, a flash, a feeling all too familiar that predates the formation of a youma. "Alright, I see how it is!", the mermaid grins, sliding her Heart Swirl Ring off her finger, and clasping the Mermaid Aqua Pact with her right hand. She is going to transform right on the spot. "Pretty Cure! Tropical Change!", she announces as a pink sphere surrounds her. Taking off the Heart Swirl Ring and inserting sideways into the keyhole of the Mermaid Aqua Pact, she twists it upright and its seashell cover splits in half, revealing a purple base with white stars and blue waves on the left side and white hearts on the right side, surrounding a blue circle with a motif of crystals all around a white sphere. The opened compact transforms her completely, enriching her appearance with make-up and her clothes as Cure La Mer. Jumping upwards with a splash of waters, finally Laura introduces herself. "The Shimmering Ocean! Cure La Mer!" "You! Cure Chai, you said you are called right?", she jolts up when she hears the introduction. "I am Cure La Mer, and will be teaming up with you today! Looking forward to see what you can do!" 

:'''{{#var:122|Sailor Mercury (122)}} has posed:''' One moment, her tutoree had been quite present and the next--where had he gotten to? Ami had only been gone a couple of minutes as she picked up her hamburger, expecting him to at least put some effort into his homework, when he appeared to have given her the slip. "Rome-kun..." She couldn't help but sigh heavily. ''Oi! Biggun!'' It was definitely a phrase that managed to catch her attention as she held her tray and sapphirine eyes slowly worked their way upon the Pretty Cure now standing astride her books. As a result, of course, those very same eyes widened and Ami made an almost choked noise before she followed his gaze toward the French Press. She bit at her lip, set the tray aside atop an unoccupied table, and then bolted right for the nearest store. With people gawking outside, it wasn't hard for Ami to seclude herself within. Of ''course'' there was a youma today. "Mercury Power, Make Up!" 

:'''{{#var:52|Cute Wolf Tsukiko (52)}} has posed:''' Today had been a good day for feeding some of the strays around Tokyo, but it ''was'' a bit warm, as usual for the season. Since Ikiko had been not too far away in the ward, she had visited the mall to do a bit of window shopping while cooling off in the air-conditioned interior. Hey, it's a two-for-one relaxation deal, right? She had started to head towards the food court when the weird call had bellowed out. Taking advantage of a nearby closed kiosk, Ikiko peeks towards the source of the sound, and spots the youmas and their boss. "Well, ''that's'' different," she murmurred to herself, doing a slight doubletake as Cure Chai arrives and announces his presence -- good, a bit more of a distraction, ''and'' someone to help fight off the youma! Still, this kiosk isn't the best place to join the fight from. Glancing around, Ikiko spots a photobooth, and quickly darts to it, saying "Lycan Locket!" as she goes through one curtain. There's a brief silvery glow, and then Cute Wolf Tsukiko dashes out of the other curtain, leaping over to a table not too far away from Cure Chai and Cure La Mer. "I'm no Cure, but I'm generally up for defeating youma," the wolfgirl grins to the others--     --a grin that gets interrupted by a small sneeze. "GAH!" Tsukiko yelps, rubbing a finger under her nose with a grimace. "Is this type of youma ''usually'' this... bitter-smelling?" 

:'''{{#var:296|Elodie Vautrin (296)}} has posed:''' Modern Tokyo is still an enigma to Elodie Vautrin. After her remedial Japanese class -- thank you, Nurse Meiou -- she once again decided to venture out into the madness that is modern day Tokyo. Today's destination? The shopping mall. While she has since learned to navigate the transit system, she still has considerable difficulty and getting to the mall was an adventure in and of itself. Getting lost usually is. Her arrival led her to navigate her way to an extremely important location, one she has been eager to visit, a thing that is of great import to her. The hair salon. These drill curls don't maintain -themselves-, you know? And so it was that she was seated with the hair dresser who had *just* tied the cape around her front and was about to begin to wash her hair when... .../Villainy/. Elodie closes her eyes for a long moment, begging the hairdresser to wait with a wave of her hand and a held up finger as if to say 'but a moment', before she sits up, lets the drape fall away, and marches out the front. She is .... very angry. This villain has further delayed a haircut overdue by fifty years and now they will face the wrath of MIRRORHEART. With her clutched in her hand, she becomes awash in overflowing nimbus of white and gold light that unfolds like a blooming flower around her. Now dressed in her majestically flowing white gown (and her hair promptly refixed into their proper drill curls by the force of magic and good fashion sense), she holds her hand into the sky and summons her blade, magical power coalescing into the long blade, veined with shimmering gold, and begins making her way towards the commotion, stopping dead when she sees the form of Sucre W Delicious herself. Her mouth works a little but she finds herself unable to initially say anything -- so she just stands there with blade in hand, pointed towards the ground and off to the side. At least she *looks* majestic. 

:'''{{#var:294|Sucre W. Delicious (294)}} has posed:''' Order up! Cure Chai! Hm. Well /that's/ different. Another sip of that sweet syrup that she'd drawn from the 4, which were now bickering at their table, arguing about how one wanted to do one thing, others wanted to do another, how they'd always done what /that/ friend wanted to do. Something that Sucre seemed to be quite enjoying as she watched that bickering. And watched from her perch atop the teriyaki shop sign that she was watching from. The arrival of Cure La Mer is noted much like the arrival of Cure Chai. My! Where did all of these Cures seem to be coming from? Hm hm~. So stylish too! Sucre was sure they were quite sweet, too. And the Maiden of Mercury arrives as well, coming from a hidden spot within a store... and the Cute Wolf Tsukiko as well! Hm hm. Yes, it /did/ smell pretty bitter, that bitter brew that was left over after the sweetness was drawn from those civilians was certainly befitting the name of Dark Roast. A final arrival in the form of Mirrorheart, which stares at Sucre. Who stares back at her, it's a somewhat exhasperated stare in response, as she sips her drink, before she just hooks her head at the Robusta. "What are you looking at me for? I'm just enjoying my drink...s over here." She comments. As the Creminions split from the Robusta, starting to run towards the three water-aligned Mahou with little wordless cries, each one holding an oversized milk frother which they begin to swing at them threateningly, the ends of the milk frothers spinning quickly and glowing with dark energy! The Robusta, meanwhile, seems to have deemed to go for a more... wide-spread option, as it rapidly begins to fill with hot water, bitter coffee grounds in the bottom of it. It waits, properly, a few moments for the coffee to brew, even looking at a suddenly-appeared giant watch on its wrist for a few moments, when, with a comical ding, it calls out again. "ROBUSTA!!!" And the handle on the french press aggressively is pushed down, sending scalding hot coffee flying up into the air to rain down over the area -- threatening civilian and mahou both! ...Though civilians hit mostly just seem to grow bitter and start arguing, more than being burned, perhaps thankfully. 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' Soon after Laura gets herself into Cure Chai's team, there is one more magical girl who strolls up to them (besides Mercury and Mirrorheart a few meters away), and it's definitely a very striking presence. After all, how many times does it happen to meet with a bona fide wolfgirl? This is her first time, that's how many times. "Don't worry about it, you are welcome to team up with us! You will fit in just right. Cute is only a letter away from Cure!" It makes sense(?) "It also fits you well, you are quite pretty", La Mer observes, and without a beat gets into a fistfight with the Creminion headed for her, punching it into a nearby wall. "Are you serious about that?", the mermaid Pretty Cure blinks when she notices the scalding hot deluge, definitely surprised. Such a huge amount of coffee didn't fail to impress. "Soo bitter", she scrunches her nose when the smell reaches her. "I think you need to feel refreshed, let me help with that!", she recovers right away, twirling her make up pen in her fingers. The pinkette starts stirring with her pen the disk at the center of her Compact, causing water to gather and move in a pattern of recurve spinning lines as it concentrates inside the Mermaid Aqua Pact. "Pretty Cure Swirling La Mer Stream!", she shouts, a huge rotating beam of water erupting out of the Pact, following the pen's direction at the bitter fluid with a roaring sound. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' A nod is given to the other Cure, and he's graeftul to see others appearing to help. More than he'd expected, honestly. Was that one a werewolf? Man, that was cool. And the one with a sword. What he wouldn't have given to have a transformation like that, she looked absolutely bad ass-- "Yeah, they're bitter, alright. All burnt beans and bad attitudes," He remarked to Tsukiko, before the Creminions started at them. "Things are heating up--" He brought his hand to the teacup on his head firstly, turning it on its saucer to spin. A swirl of pink steam gathered in the cup, coallescing around his fingertips as he drew it out and brought it to his lips. "Kettle Krash!" A pitched whistle like a kettle boiling rang out then, directed into a narrow shockwave towards the Creminions themselves, blasting towards them at force to knock them back. 

:'''{{#var:122|Sailor Mercury (122)}} has posed:''' Sailor Mercury had scarcely taken place beside Cure La Mer before the creminions started their charge. After all, she needed to be fairly close to the action--Ami, underneath, still wanted to rescue her ''schoolwork''. There was now coffee spraying all over the place and beams of water from La Mer. Of course, Sailor Mercury was going to add her own to things before too long. Did he just whistle out a Sailor Moon wail? Goodness... "This is really inconvenient!" The senshi announced as she drew her arms up slowly, water collecting above her head. "Shine Aqua Illusion!" Arms cast outward and a powerful jet of water was added to the mix. Aimed, quite specifically, for the creminion that La Mer had already bodied into a wall. 

:'''{{#var:52|Cute Wolf Tsukiko (52)}} has posed:''' Tsukiko replies to Cure La Mer's compliment with a beaming smile (and a wagging tail, naturally), then nods in acknowledgement to Cure Chai's description of their foes and in agreement with Sailor Mercury's take on the overall situation. The wolfgirl darts forward in the wake of the Kettle Krash, lashing out with some follow-up kicks to the blasted Creminions to take advantage of their off-balance situation. The coffee rain is less scalding when cooled by moving air -- or, more accurately, moving '''through''' cooled air -- but hot and soggy is still not enjoyable, ''especially'' when accompanied with the bitter scent of coffee. "Okay, how about if you try being more focused?" Tsukiko growls at the Robusta, circling the youma with the occasional feint as a threatening distraction. 

:'''{{#var:296|Elodie Vautrin (296)}} has posed:''' There's a lot going on. Minions, and an evil animated french press? Elodie looks angry. Righteously, sure, but also just deeply offended as a frenchwoman. "A waste of good coffee," she blurtso ut in French, swiftly leaping to interpose herself between the civilians coming under that stream of hot water. She brings her hands together in front of her, clapping them together with an audible smack. Around her, the air rings with a hum and the sound of cracking glass as a swirl of shards materialize in front of her, coalescing into a silvery shield in front of her to absorb the impact. Seems she's focusing on protecting the civilians, immediately for the moment. She looks very offended by all this and fairly put out. 

:'''{{#var:294|Sucre W. Delicious (294)}} has posed:''' Being relatively weak youma, the Creminions rather unsurprisingly, get blasted back by Cure La Mer's punch, and the narrow shockwave of force sends a second creminion comedically flying, a little 'aaaaa' as it crashes into a table and lays there a moment, while one of the other creminions runs over to help it stand back up, and the one that was smashed into a wall climbing out of a suspiciously creminion-shaped hole. Only to get blasted by a secondary jet of water, shot right back into the hole where it had started climbing out of, hanging out of it momentarily with swirly eyes -- before ~poof~-ing back into its coffee filter form, falling to the ground harmlessly. As the coffee rain falls, it's being interrupted by the efforts of Cure La Mer, who unleashes a rotating beam of water to redirect or stop the worst of that falling coffee! Which is great as Cute Wolf Tsukiko darts forward to follow-up on the creminions helping each other get up from the table and back into the fight, a follow-up series of kicks making them fall back again, though one of them manages to get their milk frother into place to attempt to catch those kicks in the dark energy-infused spinning tip! Luckily it's not sharp so PROBABLY wouldn't cut up her leg or anything if it does catch it, but the dark energy and bitterness might sink in, draining some of Cute Wolf Tsukiko's peppiness and turning it into a bit more of a jittery jerkiness! "Pah, this bitter brew is not good coffee." Comments Sucre towards Elodie similarly in french, as Tsukiko recovers and starts circling the Robusta distractingly! A distraction that gets a giant gloved hand swinging towards her in a circle windmill punch type attack that is surprisingly quick for being /entirely ineffective/ as an actual combat tactic in reality. But, well. It's a youma. It doesn't have to pay attention to reality. Well okay it does, kind of. Those swirling shards, meanwhile, help to protect from the follow-up attack, as the french press robusta pumps its own press up and down a few times, which seems to be building up pressure for ... some reason, as the whistling sound of steam can be heard, before it tips forward, unleashing a stream of coffee that it sweeps over the assembled mahou in the area! 

:'''{{#var:296|Elodie Vautrin (296)}} has posed:''' "Stop this immediately! It's an insult to good coffee!" Elodie is *mad*, and who can blame her? "What an embarrassment!" With Elodie's mirrored shield now covered in dripping coffee and grounds, she smears a little off and tastes it on her tongue, and then looks like she's going to gag. "Stop this immediately! It's an insult to good coffee!" Elodie is *mad*, and who can blame her? Still, as the second blast erupts towards her, Elodie quickly expands her shield even further, trying to shelter the civilians and expanding it to the other mahou. This is clearly taking concentration and strain on her part as she rushes closer to the other Mahou to offer it. There's a distant sound, a ringing hum and the sounds of cool, cracking glass. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' Caffeinated assault comes, and Cure Chai jumps back behind the table for two and kicks it over. Unfortunately scattering books and homework-- Ami won't be pleased about that whenever she gets back-- but, grabbing at the center stand, it's now an umbrella-like sheild for him. With that to brace against the coffee, he bolts forwards in a remarkably intense burst of agility, headed straight for the Frech Press. The bastard may be big and full of bitter brew, but he is still made of glass-- tempered by dark energy, sure, but he had a solution for that. The sounds of cracking glass by Elodie have been an inspiration to him. So Cure Chai intends to kick it really, really hard. The table is thrown at it first for good measure, but swiftly after, he launches into a leap and delivers a mighty drop kick. 

:'''{{#var:122|Sailor Mercury (122)}} has posed:''' She started, barely able to stop herself as the Pretty Cure boy upended table and homework. The distress escaped her as an upset squeak, fingers twitching at her side before she let her head lull. There were a great many things that Ami Mizuno could forgive. Indeed, she was very much the forgiving sort. Sadly, messing with schoolwork wasn't one of them. The Maiden of Mercury lifted her arms, not intent to use any specific attack, but instead to put the water spread about by Cure La Mer to use. As the French Press unleashed it's stream of coffee, Mercury's hands fell and the wet of the ground splashed up in a vertical sheet. There, it froze solid for the senshi to hunker behind. She wasn't about to weather the blast of Dark Energy infused bitterness directly. If she could help it, at least. From there fingers darted to her ear to summon her Mercury Visor before peeking out to survey the Robusta. With immediate threats handled and the biggest youma currently occupied with multiple combatants, Sailor Mercury wanted to do what she did best. Find it's weakness and plan a means to exploit it. 

:'''{{#var:52|Cute Wolf Tsukiko (52)}} has posed:''' The scratch from the milk frother isn't particularly painful, but the dark energy -- particularly in conjunction with the ongoing coffee aroma -- ''is'' making Tsukiko a bit crankier than usual, as evident by her snapping at the Robusta with her silvery fanglies as she darts back from the windmill punch. Still, the wolfgirl's efforts seem to have given Cure Chai an opening to charge in for his own one-two assault, which makes now the perfect time to--     --deal with a small flood of coffee, apparently! With a yelp, Tsukiko scrambles for higher ground, taking advantage of signage, light fixtures, Elodie's large shield, '''''anything''''' to keep out of the bitter flow. "Just you wait!" the wolfgirl yells angrily at the Robusta, waiting for the flood to subside. "Next time I get close enough to hit you, I'm gonna turn you into a ''has-'''bean!'''''" 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' With the bitter coffe deluge overall taken care of (probably until the youma being purified removes the effect it had on civilians), and with Cute Wolf Tsukiko dealing with the Creminions trying to get back up from the table, it's basically like the big coffee press has a target painted on it, when the unoccupied Mahous start to converge on it. Still, she is not really convinced it's a good idea to leave the coffee filter at the wall alone especially with how it still radiates trace amounts of dark energy, so she takes it with herself, to keep an eye on it while the fight continues. Off into her hair it goes, right next to the Aqua Pot, so Kururun can warn her if it does funny things. The blue-pink-haired magical girl gives a look at the general overlooking the scene, shivering with a frown as she takes a look of the insect appearance she has. She has never had much of a problem with insects, but she can't say Sucre W. Delicious is putting her at ease. Tsukiko's yelp sets off Laura's alarm, and she turns towards the wolfgirl with concern, but she relaxes again when she notices that it was just an emergency escape from a flood and she is alright. Putting her focus back in the fight, the Tropical Pretty Cure smiles at the youma confidently. With a leap, Cure La Mer throws herself at the giant coffee press, unleashing as many kicks and punches she can manage. 

:'''{{#var:294|Sucre W. Delicious (294)}} has posed:''' Sucre actually pauses as Elodie ... tastes... the coffee, she stares at her a moment, before buzzing off of the sign she was lounging on, discarding the cups that she had been sipping from as if they weren't something precious. Two of her hands hold onto that staff, while two others rest on her hips. "Yeah? Why should I care about an insult to coffee, huh?! It /should/ be embarrassed, it's bitter and disgusting and horrible!" ...Isn't she with the Dark Roast? "I /hate/ bitter things, and you smell like you would taste /just/ as bitter as that coffee! Bleah!" She sticks out her tongue at Elodie in a fairly juvenile manner, even as the girl darts over to try to provide more protection for the other Mahou. She very suddenly has to zip to the side, those wings of hers buzzing as that table is THROWN past her into the youma, and she glances towards the Robusta that was leapt towards with a MIGHTY KICK, sending it falling over and onto its back where it rolls around for a bit at first. "Robusta, stop being useless and /take care of these brats/ already." There's no way she isn't a kid herself, why is she calling them brats? Half of them are older than her even!!! Especially not with how she's /stomping in the air like that/. Well, whatever. It was clear, from the Mercury Visor -- and of course her actions -- that Sucre W. Delicious was most likely the source of this trouble, in addition to examining the Rubusta... well, it's a Dark Energy youma, created by the magic of the Dark Roast! Its weak point is...! ... Well okay there's purification which would probably work on it, but also it now has a pretty big crack from having a TABLE YEETED INTO IT AND THEN DROP KICKED. ... Yeah in spite of being told to stop being useless it was still rolling around from that for a moment. And then Cute Wolf Tsukiko calls it a has-bean. "Are you going to take that from that wannabe inumimi?!" At which point, Cure La Mer's staring seemed to draw Sucre's gaze in return, who returns her gaze with a pulled-down eyelid and stuck out tongue. Which is followed by more beating upon the robusta by Cure La Mer, who's repeated kicks and punches further distress those cracks on the Robusta's form! Sucre flies over to kick the French Press Youma, though it was with a purpose. ...To get it back onto its feet. And then she buzzes back off again muttering something about having to do everything herself. Meanwhile, now righted once more, the Robusta grabs one of the remaining Creminions, spinning its arm in that same windmill punch again... before peeling its mask and dumping it inside of its coffee, the cream and coffee mixing together inside of it as it discards the now-spent creminion -- that turns back into a coffee filter. "ROBUSTAAAAAA!!!!!" And then it grows larger. And spits out ALL of the coffee inside of it into a giant floating blob of coffee, which floats over towards the gathered mahou... almost... slowly and gracefully. Before, like the giant blobby bubble of coffe it was. It bursts. Sending the dark energy coffee EVERYWHERE. 

:'''{{#var:296|Elodie Vautrin (296)}} has posed:''' "Please! There's nothing like an excellent coffee," counters Elodie in French to Sucre W Delicious. She still looks really grossed out by the dark energy coffee -- but you know -- a dark roast is often quite good! And she likes her coffee black, generally speaking. She whips her blade around her head once, getting ready to launch an attack of her own as the Robust is ... punted back onto its feet and then, as it starts to build towards ... bursting ... she stares at it with a wide eyed realization that just sacreams 'oh no'. She quickly moves those glass shields up over her head, trying to provide as much shelter from the burst as she can. Seems she's on defense today -- which is fine, really. Those mirrored shields are good for *something*. "Eugh!" she squeals in disgust. 

:'''{{#var:122|Sailor Mercury (122)}} has posed:''' Nobody ever said that a Pretty Cure beating the snot out of something wasn't ''effective''. "It's cracking!" Sailor Mercury called out. "Hit it ''harder'' Cure Chai!" There wasn't really time for much else. Similar to Elodie, the senshi seemed to be forced to the task of defenses. A thrust of hands into the side of the little ice wall saw it spread outward and around, like a frosty cup to keep the deluge of unholy brew. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' One girl was with the Dark Roast, and the other was defending coffee supremacy-- you really couldn't trust the French. "Yo," Cure Chai yelled up at Sucre, "''Wasp'' your problem? Who even are you, anyway?" In retaliation for the coffee burst, Cure Chai prepared one of his own. The Teaspoon was taken from his hip and twirled in his fingers like a baton, only for him to pirouette in graceful form as a stream of pink milk seamed to flow around him like a ribbon, ending in a demi-plie. That 'ribbon' wrapped him like a bubble, protecting him from most of the splash. "Boiling Burst!" And the return! An outwards explosion of pink chai milk, complete with spinning cardamoms and bubbles, flew from Cure Chai's form. This, directly buffeting the poor Fresh Press, as another punch aimed right for the crack. 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' Did... Did the dark general just stuck her tongue out at her? Laura really would like to have some sort of response to that, if only just sticking her tongue in return, but the bursting coffee gets her to rethink that course of action, and quickly, because she is suddenly impacted and thrown back, to grunting sounds of pain and forming burns. She grabs onto a nearby corner to leverage herself away from the boiling liquid, at least somewhat minimising the damage it did. She still has burns that hurt terribly, and a thought surfaces in her mind to use Marine Beat Dynamic purely so she can be at least ''somewhat'' refreshed. And it would be a good payback for the youma. Yeah, let's do that. "Marine Heart Swirl Ring! Charm Up!", she smiles, as she stretches her arm upwards, a blue sphere engulfing her from the ring on her arm and making her change form. "Five powers, roar through the seas!", she shouts. The ring creates a blue heart above her from which a bioluminescent whale comes out, and jumping inside of its mouth, La Mer starts swimming in it to lead the whale against the youma. Sighing relieved, the Pretty Cure directs the purifying whale towards the Coffee Press, and the sea beast delivers a sound purifying tail slap. "Pretty Cure Marine Beat Dynamic!" 

:'''{{#var:52|Cute Wolf Tsukiko (52)}} has posed:''' Tsukiko hops down from her improvised defensive vantage point, dashing forward to join in the Cure-hosted youma-pummeling party with a fierce grin on her face. She veers wide of the huge coffee blob, wondering ''what'' the heck the Robusta is trying to do... The wolfgirl's eyes widen as she figures it out. In a moment of panic, she does a skidding turn, getting herself pointed the right direction a few painstaking seconds before getting enough hand-assisted traction to gracelessly scamper towards the first available form of safety -- in this case, Sailor Mercury's icy wall. Running more on momentum than any actual footing, Tsukiko slides behind the ice wall (with emphasis on 'slide' -- the last few meters were a literal face-first full-body skid as her feet finished slipping out from underneath her), out of the way of the worst of the coffee burst. After a pause of a few seconds as she recovers her bearings and her breath, the wolfgirl rises up on her elbows and gives Sailor Mercury a rueful look. "I think... I'm gonna need to get myself a milkshake after this is done," Tsukiko says with a weary sigh. "At least the coffee stains won't stick..." 

:'''{{#var:294|Sucre W. Delicious (294)}} has posed:''' "Nothing /worse/ than one!" Sucre cuts back to Elodie, seemingly having no interest in helping defend her Robusta, which is .. probably pointless, but maybe she already got the energy/sweetness she wanted from it? Well, whatever, it's probably better that she's short-sighted, right? A frosty cup is created to help catch some of that explosive coffee, reducing its spread and helping to protect the civilians that hadn't already passed out or ran from, the, well, frankly ridiculous situation. Hit it harder indeed, Cure Chai! "Hm? My problem? Nothing. I'm just seeking sweet treats. Truly, this has been a wonderful afternoon~." She says cheerfully in response. "Unfortunately these little sweet treats were just little dregs of sugar, but I'm sure I'll find better later~." ...Hm. Oh hey look there's a ribbon! And... and... he's pirouetting. Huh. Aaaaand pink chai milk bursts out, which actually causes Sucre W. Delicious to buzz away from that burst, leaving the French Press on its own to deal with that. "Eugh, what was /that/?" She crinkles her nose. Marine Heart Swirld Ring! Wait what? And... and... ...Is that a /whale/? What the /heck/???? Seriously there was a whale hitting her Robusta. And ... and... ... and it ATE THE CURE THAT SUMMONED IT?! "...That's buzzed up." Seriously what is with this country??? And to add insult to injury, as the already heavily-cracked Youma is purified by a tail-whap, that tail-whap is joined by Cure Chai and Cute Wolf Tsukiko to beat the rest of the life out of the Robusta, as it calls out, "REFRE--OW--SHING!!!!" Crack. Shatter. ...And the Rubusta was now a coffee filter that was elegantly folded into an origami french press. ...It's almost impossibly well made. And all of the civilians returned to normal...ish... though they seemed still a bit jittery, as that magical coffee faded with the Robusta. "Hmph! You all weren't even that sweet!" Calls out Sucre, as she stabs the air, retreating through a dark energy portal. 

:'''{{#var:296|Elodie Vautrin (296)}} has posed:''' "...augh!" Elodie allows her mirrored, coffee-soaked and stained shields to dissipate. What she just witnessed, too, was also quite impressive and she was at least a little shocked by the extent of the power on display. A quick look towards Ami, her sister in quicksilver shields apparently, and gives her a nod. "I like that," she tells her, gesturing at her, before she turns and says, "Now, I am going to go get my hair done and pretend none of this happened. Until I find that wasp. Then I am going to swat her." She casts a glance in the direction that Sucre portaled off in with a sigh before finding a space to dehenshin and disappearing into the hairdresser's once more. Cute Wolf Tsukiko, at least, also got a smile. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' The other Cure had a whale. Cure Chai didn't have a whale-- well, no, he wouldn't, would he? Maybe he had a giant teapot or something. He wasn't sure what the limits of his new magic actually was, yet. Something in his heart told him there would be a giant teapot, when he was stronger, perhaps. Or with some help from friends. Which was an odd thought to have, but so was mild whale-envy. Air gathered in his cheek and he blew a raspberry. He didn't have a name to put to Wasp-Girl, yet, but he did step over to kneel and pick up the little origami coffee filter. With a slight frown, he inspected it closely, turning it over carefully in his fingers. From the teacup on his head, a little pink puff wiggles and appears over the rim-- a chipmunk-like fairy poking her head out with a small squeak. "Eugh! What horrible tasting magic, Stir-stir!" 

:'''{{#var:294|Sucre W. Delicious (294)}} has posed:''' There's a pause, as the portal re-opens, Sucre poking her head out. "Someone asked my name. I forget which, and it doesn't matter." "But I would be remiss not to introduce myself. I am Sucre W. Delicious, the sugar wasp of the Dark Roast." And then her head pops back through the portal again, which closes. 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' Leaping out of the whale, La Mer lands on the ground silently, turned so as to give her back to the others. A rainbow outline of a conch forms around the Coffee Press when the purification gets through, and the mermaid kicks her leg high up, turning her upper body back so she now faces towards her allies, cheerfully declaring "VICTORY!", accompanied by the conch's rainbow burst. "Sucre W. Delicious... I have to commend her for manners, but what's her deal?", the Pretty Cure grumpily sighs, hands on her hips, watching the spot where Sucre W. Delicious had been. "I have seen many selfish things, but draining people purely so your coffee could be sweet takes the cake!" ... "Or, I wish it took the cake. Then she wouldn't have to target people for it", she smirks with dry humour. "How are going with wounds here?", she immediately starts doing the post-battle check-up somewhat imperiously. "Cure Chai, are they your enemies?", the mermaid turns towards the Pretty Cure that showed up today. After all, each group of villains has a counter Pretty Cure, and Chai is the only one here that seems to fit the bill. 

:'''{{#var:122|Sailor Mercury (122)}} has posed:''' "I know it probably isn't the time, but I could really use a cappuccino now." Sailor Mercury sighed in commiseration with Tsukiko. It was going to take her half the evening to get Roman's homework back on schedule and she could already hear the moaning complaints. Despite all of this, the cat cafe and some nice ''sweetened'' coffee sounded like a very good idea. She managed a pleased smile in Elodie's direction as she departed, before her attention was stolen again by the temporary reappearance of the evident Dark General. It saw the senshi squint before disappearing once again, all rounded out with a sigh. "Sucre W. Delicious." Salior Mercury said to herself mostly. "Sure is messy, more like." She made to inspect her surroundings finally, quietly dismayed for the state of her tutoring session. 

:'''{{#var:52|Cute Wolf Tsukiko (52)}} has posed:''' "I think the only lasting bruise I took was to my dignity," Tsukiko said with a tired laugh as she got back up to her feet. The smile from Elodie definitely helped her mood, though, and the sudden vanshing of the dark (energy) coffee was an added relief as well. Mercury's snark about the dark general draws a giggle from the wolfgirl, and she flops down on a nearby chair for a moment. Sure, sooner or later she'll have to drop henshin, but for now? Catching her breath ''without'' having to contend with adrenaline sounds pretty good to Tsukiko at this moment. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' "Think I'll just stick to callin' her Sucre-Bleu, myself." He rights himself, passing the now normal-- though immculately folded-- coffee filter to the fairy on his head. She inspected it, as he nodded towards Cure La Mer. "Yeah... The Dark Roast are working to find the Eternal Sweet Aroma. But, in the meantime, they go 'round spreading bitterness and draining people of their 'sweetness', makin' 'em all jittery and stressed out... messing with people's rest, making 'em feel disconnected from one another. That sorta thing." He glanced up, though he couldn't really see her. "What's up with that thing, Darjeela?" After a small nibble, the fairy popped free of the cup to hover. "This has all the sweetness! We have to return these to those poor girls, or their hearts will stay bitter, Stir-stir!" At once, Darjeela drifted off to do so, settling atop the chest of one of the original friend group-- unconscious now-- to place the filter over her heart. With a small glow, it immediately seemed to be absorbed back into her. 

:'''{{#var:122|Sailor Mercury (122)}} has posed:''' Sailor Mercury stood properly now, her coffee-retaining ice-wall now fading away as she followed the little chipmunk-fairy with the Mercury Visor. At the very least, she'd take readings of the coffee filter before it was returned to the people it had been pulled from. "Da-chan seems to know what to do, at least." The senshi let her gaze return to Cure Chai, visor sliding from her eyes now. "It always surprises me just how good Pretty Cures are at being direct." Cure Chai. Dark Roast. Eternal Sweet Aroma. These were things that Sailor Mercury filed away in her head for later. 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' The Eternal Sweet Aroma... She has never heard of anything like that in Grand Ocean. Maybe the Queen would know more about it, but if she does it would have a thing buried deeply in some scarcely used section of the Kingdom's library. "I will keep an eye out for them then, and I will be sure to contact you if I can. Wanna trade numbers?" "You might meet some guys after motivation power too. They are a crab man, a sea cucumber woman, a shrimp kid, and a seahorse", Laura warns him. "If you do, try to henshin as soon as you can. They can't get you when you are henshined, but otherwise, you will lose the will to do anything at all." When Darjeela explains what the coffee filter is, Laura puts a hand inside and takes the one she retrieved from the Creminion, peering at it intently. It's definitely curious to her. It's the first time she sees stolen energy in solid form. With a nod, the Pretty Cure approaches one of the girls, and lightly presses the sweet energy into her heart. 

:'''{{#var:52|Cute Wolf Tsukiko (52)}} has posed:''' "Good to know," Tsukiko says to Cure Chai and Cure La Mer, standing up and helping locate the remaining filters. "Asides from getting the filters back to their people, and being aware of the motivation-drainers... anything special we should know about the enemies you directly oppose? I know of one mahou who has to recover cursed treasure, and ''that's'' I wouldn't want to handle without her present -- or at least, I wouldn't want to handle with my hands. ''Maybe'' with a handkerchief of purified silk, but only in a pinch." The wolfgirl pauses and blinks for a moment. "Oh, I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Cute Wolf Tsukiko; pleased to meet you!" she beams. 

:'''{{#var:256|Cure La Mer (256)}} has posed:''' "If you see people drained of motivation power, try to keep the Layabout from running away, and most importantly, ''don't'' purify it. I need it as is if I want to retrieve the motivation power it stole. If you purify it, that is lost forever, and nothing could be done to save those people", Laura remarks sternly. Then she goes back to smiling. "I am Cure La Mer, but my real name is Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer, a mermaid that came here all the way from Grand Ocean and its Queen candidate", she introduces herself proudly. 

:'''{{#var:295|Cure Chai (295)}} has posed:''' Motivation stealing bad guys. Cure Chai made a face at that, but he nodded. "Alright... I'll watch out for crabs, then. And not give the wash to the Layabouts." It takes him a moment to register the true nature of the Cure-- "A Mermaid. Right. That does explain the whale bit, then." His attention drifts to Tsukiko, and he rubs at the back of his pink hair to grin. "Well... I'm Cure Chai." He'd explain more as they went on. 
}}

2603/Trouble(d) Miko

2025-06-10T04:47:04Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/06/09 |Location=Cafe BAKE Neko |Synopsis=Ahmya meets up with Mamoru Chiba to discuss a plan that is possibly completely terrible and going to..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/06/09
|Location=Cafe BAKE Neko
|Synopsis=Ahmya meets up with Mamoru Chiba to discuss a plan that is possibly completely terrible and going to go horribly wrong if she's not careful.
|Cast of Characters=207,38
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' <PHONE> Ahmya Karashima texts Mamoru Chiba: I just got out of class, I don't have any club meetings today, if you have time, I shall head to the cafe for the previously mentioned advice. After getting a confirmation from Mamoru, it wasn't that long after that Ahmya had arrived at the cafe, having taken ~just~ a brief pause at home to change out of her uniform and into a comfortable outfit. She hadn't gone out to the nines or anything today though, instead having opted to go for a relatively light black t-shirt with a ruffled dress with little black skull-and-crossbone print on it. It had a chain on it, like something one might see out of a Hot Topic or something, really. It /does/ take her a short while overall to get to the cafe though. Too young to drive, she'd taken public transit, which is quite quick! But, well. ...It was probably about an hour and a half after her text that she'd finally arrived at the cafe, which she'd made sure to let Mamoru know was roughly the timeframe she'd be there. Give or take delays of course. One never knows when a traffic sign is going to be turned into a youma, after all. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' A black-haired boy with frosted bubblegum pink tips is sitting at a two-person table in the window, a white chocolate mocha already in hand. He's wearing a very loose black-and-mauve cotton haori over a violently pink t-shirt that has a picture of a giant rat pushing over an oil drum, and the text: 'Unfortunately the vibe is continuing to deteriorate'. It is, of course, over black skinny jeans and criminally expensive dress shoes. His glasses are smudged and he looks tired, but he waves when he sees Ahmya. "Hey," he says, "just order whatever, it's on me, you're at my table and I'm stupid rich." He sips his mocha. "And then we'll examine this situation you've got and how it compares to my experience." 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' Well, Mamoru is easy enough to spot! That T-shirt is pretty eye-catching really, and seems to make her eyes glimmer slightly with an amused little smile on her face as she reads it. "That certainly is a good description of Tokyo's current state." She comments amusedly as she slips into a seat across from Mamoru. She orders some tea and a couple of snacks alongside it. It was a relatively modest order, but well. Her parents probably had dinner for her later. "Right. I'm ... sure it won't match up exactly, but you are the person who I think has the most experience with such things, so..." 'You regularly hang out with people on the side of dubious morals' is kind of awkward to say outright, so she just kind of trails off. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "Mmm. The problem as I see it is-- how are you going to feel about her needing to die to let Molly have her body back? If you adopt her as your project, I mean." His voice is a little lower than regular conversational volume, and both of his hands are around his cup for now, even though it's hot AND it's hot out. "Because she ''is'' a demon possessing the body of a teenaged girl." 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' 'Adopt her as your project'. That wording actually left a bitter taste in Ahmya's mouth. "It's..." God that wording isn't that far off though, is it? "I don't particularly care for her, though. But I have been... thinking on that, somewhat. Obviously if I could convince her to leave of her own will that would be preferable, but that is kind of how I have always operated. When there's an option to end things without combat, well..." "...I try to reach for it. I just... can't ignore the fact that was presented to me, accidentally or intentionally. This might just be all another one of her games where she just decided she might try to play with a mahou and see if one of them tries to bite the bait set out in front of them." She muses to herself thoughtfully. "It's a terrible plan, honestly. 'I should try to spend time with her and maybe reduce the potential damages she might do!' ... I'm sure it's going to go terribly, but I just can't stop thinking about it, that if I don't..." 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "...mmm," says the pragmatist, the opportunist, the reckless idealist who's been soaking in dark energy for the past few weeks. He taps the side of his mug, tap tap tap, while he's thinking of how to say things. "You're ''going'' to care for her if you spend time with her, and the longer you're around dark energy the more okay it seems. I've got... a lot of practice with dark energy. I swore off it totally, last year, so I'm ''not'' going to pick it up and use it, no matter what sweet poison it whispers when I'm less vigilant. But I ''have'' been in it, close to it, cuddling with it every night, for a couple of weeks. It's put me in a wretched mood, spiked my anxiety, made it easier to lose my temper and harder to stay calm, and that's just proximity. That's proximity with ''experience''. It is a bad idea. It is a terrible idea. In this case, I don't believe it will work, simply because of what Seriss Nyx ''is''. But you're determined to try, so we'll have to see what we can do to minimize the danger to you." He sips his mocha and sits up, starting to fidget with folding a napkin after setting the drink down. "Also keep in mind that the girl who crushed the neck of a nine-year-old enjoyed the hell out of our Earth after coming from a hell planet. Sailor Moon killed her, and then needed purification, because she let the hate for Koan win." "There are three examples of what you're talking about that I can think of. The situation I'm in right now, which is very close to what you have in mind but is mitigated by the fact that they're my ''family'', Chibiusa's been ''corrupted'', she didn't start out as a demon. And it's a terrible idea, what I'm doing, but it's something I can probably pull off because of prior experience with dark energy and the fact that I'm already connected to them." He takes a breath. "The second case is Zoisite, one of my Shitennou, trying to convince Saphir of the Black Moon Clan to abandon his side. I don't think that will work, but there's a chance of it, so I'm backing him. But he's not planning on going to spend time with Saphir in his den, he's handing off information and hoping logic will work." 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' "Yeah. I already do care for her, in a way." Ahmya says with a slow sigh. "All life has value. I... my parents taught me that from a young age. I can't... I can't stand seeing suffering, it makes my heart ache in the most painful of ways. I hate that so many of those on the side of darkness we have to fight over and over and over and inflict wounds and suffering and..." Ahmya cuts herself off before it just turns into full on rambling. "...I would rather it be ended peacefully, or quickly, to be to the point." She summarizes, instead. She does, though, let Mamoru continue. She isn't here to debate with him, after all. She wanted his advice. So she fell quiet, and she listened. Watching him. His description of dark energy. That's the part she was the most concerned about. She didn't intend to go hang out in Seriss' den. She intends to go ... get food with her or whatever. "...Oh god my plan is to basically date her isn't it." Ahmya suddenly says in a moment of realization, as she leans on the table and puts her own head in her hands. "I... don't intend to spend time with her in her den, though. Just on earth. I'm not going to go to her den, but you have the most experience of being around dark energy and being... relatively okay." Pause. "...I can do a little bit of purification if you'd like me to by the way. It's not very strong but it might help a little with the irritability and stuff." 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "... you realize you basically dating Seriss Nyx is going to make Rashmi-chan hate her more, right? And you're not going to be able to keep it on the down-low, not if you plan on showing her a good time around Tokyo," the Prince says, taking off his smudged glasses and rubbing his face, then starting to wipe off the lenses with his haori hem. "And yes: all life has value. Sometimes that value is buried under a lot of evil. Sometimes that value is as a heat source if burned." Isn't he supposed to be Tuxedo Mask? Isn't he supposed to be the Prince of Earth? Isn't he supposed to be the fiance of Sailor Freaking Moon? Mamoru looks grim, he's only glancing at Ahmya while he polishes his glasses, not watching her steadily. "I'm not telling you not to do this. I'm just trying to make sure you understand the pros and cons. Before I tell you a story about forced purification, why don't you tell me what the tangible, real pros of your project's success are? Like, what are you looking to accomplish? You ''will not'' get a demon to willingly give up life." He closes his eyes. "I would ''deeply'' appreciate some purification, yes. I would not recommend ''getting'' experience with Dark Energy. It's like getting experience with heroin." 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' "I am unsure if Rashmi can hate her more. The reaction she had was immediate upon noticing who it was." Ahmya responds quietly. She was pretty sure that there were moments away from a fight when that happened. "...But yes. I ... hm." Yeah, she couldn't keep it secret, and it absolutely wasn't a good idea, but she can't stop thinking about the possibility that it might even help a little, might even save one or two more lives. Ugh. "...Her value is a twisted hope, honestly." She says quietly. "...She brought back Molly. Otherwise, I'm unsure we'd have ever seen Molly again." Her lips were pressed into a fairly thin line at that. Because talking about Seriss and hope felt /wrong/, even if a part of her knew the truth of the matter. "The pros of success would be... that... well. Like you said, I won't get her to willingly give up, but ... I guess... a form of insurance? That, even if, somehow, we should lose, MAYBE she might be more willing to rule the world instead of hand it over to her Mistress which would likely destroy it, instead. That one or two more lives may be saved." The cons, of course, being that interacting with darkness is dangerous. She already knew that. She glances around upon being told that Mamoru would appreciate some purification. "One moment." She says, before she stands up, just in case. Aaaand goes to the restroom real quick. ...And comes back as Goldenweb Yorotsuchi, holding a prayer slip, which she offers to Mamoru. If he takes it, it would give a small, gentle wave of purification. It's not strong, it's not a huge amount of cleansing of the darkness, like a gentle salve on a burn. Which might be enough for someone who is only around darkness, instead of using it himself. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "That's not hope, that's the cancer happening to correct something accidentally on its way to killing you," Mamoru says really quietly. "There ''is'' hope. There's hope as long as Molly's alive. That's Molly, that's Molly fighting. I've been controlled before, I've been ''puppeted'' before, and ''only'' a fight and a massive amount of purification were able to get me back. Purification is ''very'' rarely willing. And if finally purifying that body means that Seriss Nyx turns into ash and a wisp of dark energy, and Molly is left in place, it's..." He sighs. "You know, I said no to messing with Beryl, too. But I'm actually in charge of my guys, and they listen if I give a hard no. I wish I could give you a hard no." Then he puts his glasses back on and looks at his hands. "You're Rashmi-chan's friend. Would you listen if she gave you a hard no?" But then she's up and back in henshin, and Mamoru takes the prayer slip from her and there's a gentle wave of purification and he ''wants'' it, and it's a balm on his soul. His shoulders relax; his face loses the rigidity of tension lines. "Hey," he says softly, "can I have one of these to go, too?" 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' "I suppose it's more accurate that she brings hope with her, then, I guess." Ahmya says hesitantly. Mamoru had a point, at least on that point. "Sorry, I was ... doing a lot of thinking last night while I was practicing on the fact that all life has value and trying to think on the value in hers. I suppose when you're actively looking for something, you're more prone to finding it." She muses out loud. "...I agree on that point though. I really don't think that we can save Seriss, I'm... not quite that naive." She says with an awkward laugh. So Seriss, to Mamoru, is equivalent to Beryl. She shifts a little awkwardly at that. "I..." Would you listen if she gave you a hard no? "...I think she'd give me a hard no even if there was more hope of saving Seriss, just out of her rage at Seriss' existence." It's not a direct response, because honestly she's not entirely sure either. The prayer slip is accepted, and she gives a slightly hesitant response at the request for one of those to go. "You... can, however my magic tends to fade fairly quickly when I am no longer in henshin, though I do keep real prayer slips on me in case I am called upon to purify a haunted area regardless. I won't guarantee the efficacy of it." She pulls out another prayer slip, this one not weaved of her golden threads, it's a proper prayer slip, traditionally made. Red with golden symbols and letters inscribed on it. "But you can always come to me for more if you need it." She offers with a small smile. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "Oh-- wow, thanks!" Mamoru says, blinking, then taking the proffered red slip. He tucks it inside his haori carefully, then smiles back. It's an easier smile, with nothing bitter in it, though the underlying grief and exhaustion haven't faded. "I'll keep it on my person. Maybe it'll work as a preventative." He reaches for his mocha again and holds it in both hands, taking a much bigger sip. "I do notice, however, that you're certain she would give you a hard no, and plan to do it anyway. It's not entirely fair to do something like that knowing in advance you'll be forgiven so you don't have to ask permission. And she will be livid when she finds out. So you'd probably better have a more confident delivery of your idea that it might be harm reduction, and you might want to be open to using anything you might develop with her as a trap. Even if it's real. Because you cannot forget whose side you're on." 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' "You're welcome. It is suffused with my energies, so perhaps it would work that way." Even if it was mostly just a sense of security that such a thing might bring, which might help ward off the negative feelings of the darkness, it might help. Maybe. Her magic would fade once she leaves her henshin though, so it would have minimal energy. Aaaand Mamoru delivers the brutal truth. Which, well. That's probably the kind of advice she needed. She knew it was a terrible idea from the start, and that it wouldn't be a particularly popular one. "She'd have probably given me a hard no to making a deal with the Jyrougumo spirit as well." Not that she'd known Rashmi at the time. "It's not a matter of forgiveness or lack of it. It's not a matter of permission, or lack of it. It's a matter of threat management, harm reduction. Just like you summarized. I am glad that I talked to you about this, though." She ... somewhat glosses over the comment of the trap. The thought leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. The thought of getting close to someone purely with the intent to harm them later, or entrap them into a dangerous situation. And yet. ...She can't deny that it's a good idea, if it works. But the fallout if she did that, sprang a trap, and it /failed/ would likely be catastrophic. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "I don't think anyone in Obsidian ''isn't'' an opportunist," Mamoru says a little wryly. "Don't think that the minute you start getting close to her she's not going to look at ''you'' as an opportunity to sow discontent and distrust. Please be very aware of that. Don't get drawn in. Don't let it get beyond the duty of care you've assigned yourself, don't try and stop people from attacking her, don't sacrifice yourself for her. And get regular purifications from other people, even if you ''can'' self-purify. Make appointments to do it, regularly scheduled, so you're accountable." There's a pause, and then Mamoru tilts his head back a little to regard Ahmya thoughtfully. "Think you can wait to try this until ''after'' the wedding? You're coming, right?" 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' "You're right about that." Ahmya responds. "...That there's no chance that this won't be attempted to twisted back, that they might try to turn me to their side... or use me as a weapon..." And if she can turn Seriss into a weapon against Obsidian as well? Hm. No, no, that thought isn't worthwhile, she doesn't have much means of doing that really. "...So what you're saying is I should, if I do this. ...Go and arrange it, talk with people actively about it. Assuming that i can even get Seriss to be interested, she was being hesitant, but she's seemed fairly receptive to stroking of her ego from what I've seen." The request does get a slight pause. "Well... I'll wait to do it more actively, at least? I'm not going to say no if Seriss invites me out earlier, because if I deny her or try to deny, I wouldn't want her to lose interest and then I lose the chance at the same time." She adds. "But otherwise, yes, I do plan on coming. ...I may be a bit out of the loop, is there a particular theme for those not in the main wedding party?" She asks. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "You absolutely should do this with a multipart safety net, yes. I'd rather you told Rashmi-chan and have that fight with her beforehand, so that you have the benefit of her and Chrono's monitoring, too. This is one of those cases where we have the important thing that, on the whole, Obsidian doesn't have. Friends and teamwork." Mamoru finishes his mocha and sets the cup on the table. "The theme is basically 'whatever you feel comfortable wearing to a massive fight with a party afterwards'. Also, Riventon's going to be there and he'll be fighting on our side this time." 

:'''{{#var:207|Ahmya Karashima (207)}} has posed:''' "The way to do this as safely as possible, basically.. and with friends." Especially since, in her opinion, she wasn't necessarily the strongest of the Mahou on their side, either. But this wasn't a combat thing, and she was sure she could keep herself calm regardless of the situation, most likely. Unless Seriss did specific things, at least. But, well. Everyone had at least one trigger that would drive them to violence. "Ah, so probably weaving myself a dress of golden silk wouldn't be the worst idea." She replies amusedly. "It's too bad my threads disappear when I leave henshin, there's so many beautiful things I could make... I tried to make a scarf for someone once, the absolute disappointment I had after I started it and then dropped the Yorotsuchi form and it disintegrated into golden motes of light." Seriously, who /wouldn't/ like an outfit weaved out of golden silk threads? ... Okay probably a good few people, but that's beside the point! 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "Yeah," Mamoru agrees with the first statement, "be as safe as you can, and have backup." He grins at the idea of a dress of golden silk. "It sounds lovely, but unless you want to fight in it and are sure you won't drop henshin, it seems a little risky," he laughs. "Otherwise I'd definitely commission you for a golden ''something'', not sure what, but so cool. I bet it's weightless too." Then he gets up and picks up his cup. "I'm going back to school in a little bit, but I need to make sure salmon was distributed fairly upstairs in the talking cat department. Keep me up to date, okay? After the wedding I'll have my hands considerably less full." With a jaunty 'ja ne!' and a delinquent's version of a salute, the older boy takes his cup up to the counter, pays for his stuff and Ahmya's, and then heads out the door. 
}}

All Life (Ahmya Karashima)

2025-06-08T22:02:53Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2025/06/08 |Location=Karashima Shrine |Synopsis=Ahmya practices her swordsmanship while she quietly thinks on the events of the other day. |Ca..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2025/06/08
|Location=Karashima Shrine
|Synopsis=Ahmya practices her swordsmanship while she quietly thinks on the events of the other day.
|Cast of Characters=207
}}
'All life has worth.'

That was something that Ahmya Karashima had been taught from a young age. Not because she had treated anyone or anything poorly, it was just a part of her training as a shrine maiden, something that had been ongoing much of her life.

And it was something that she was quietly musing on, as she began to swing her sword through the air, a mimicry of the blade she uses as Goldenweb Yorotsuchi, including having attached some thin, strong, braided rope attached to it. It wasn't nearly as practical or effective without the magical improvements of her golden silk, but it was good for practicing regardless.

'All life has worth. So what is the worth of those who walk the path of darkness?'

What was the objective need for such things?

Was it a balancing thing for those of us in the light? But those that walk in the light would largely willingly give up their powers if it gave true peace, wouldn't they? Or at least they'd be willing to no longer fight beyond maybe keeping their powers reasonably well trained in case some new darkness showed up.

The specific darkness she was thinking on, was, of course, Seriss Nyx. Someone who had been tormenting one of her friends. Someone who had been tormenting the city. Someone whose actions likely had caused significant harm, even with the mitigating effects of the Barriers always put up as soon as possible when someone discovers one of her schemes.

'I like the food of the world. This world has so many interesting things to discover.'

And yet... that tiny thread of possible hope. Sure, Ahmya Karashima didn't think that she could convince Seriss Nyx to willingly give up her body, but at the same time... what if, maybe, she could be brought to be disinterested in destroying the world? What if someone reaching out and being something approaching a friend could help her to be less willing to bring destruction?

...Isn't it, then, as a shrine maiden and a warrior of the light, her duty to do everything she can to grasp that thread of hope?

And, well. It wasn't like Seriss' presence was a complete negative. It /is/ pretty bad, but the more she thought about it, the more Ahmya couldn't help that there is a level on which she feels she should thank Seriss, because there was one thing that she had done for them.

She had, in her own way, brought Molly back to them.

In a way, Seriss Nyx was bringing them hope.

A very /twisted/ form of hope.

A hope that hurts.

A hope that angers.

A hope that brings harm... and yet.

Her presence means there is the hope of, one day, maybe getting Molly back.

...

"Ugh."

"This plan is so stupid."

2586/Misfortune Mary

2025-06-04T05:04:48Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/06/03 |Location=Mitakihara Ward |Synopsis=Misfortune Mary finally manages to find Melona, but things don't go quite as they expected, and acti..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/06/03
|Location=Mitakihara Ward
|Synopsis=Misfortune Mary finally manages to find Melona, but things don't go quite as they expected, and actions that cannot be taken back are made, actions that have grave consequences for everyone involved.

A new witch is born, a mix of rage and despair and isolation as a army hunts down any who draw near -- including those unfortunate enough to have been caught in the events leading up to her birth.

(CW: Multiple character deaths.)
|Cast of Characters=87,38,33,107,40,102,43
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' The slightly later evening, after most people have gone home for the weekday. Mostly the only people still out being the ones who were out partying, or other weird night owl types. And the Mahou, of course. One such Mahou had been Misfortune Marie, who had been still doing her hunt for her Misery Melon, who had thus far mostly evaded her once learning that she was in town. Unfortunately, 'evading' her had meant that she'd ended up avoiding many Witch fights recently, and while she'd had a small supply through Obsidian, that had dwindled, along with the light in her soul gem, to the point she had been forced to go out to hunt. Which is when it had happened. "Mitsu~ke~ta~." Of course. The MOMENT she went out and about she'd been found by Misfortune Marie. It was half of why Melona had MOVED to Japan, Marie *always* seemed to find her no matter where she went or what she did. "...God damn it." Melona mutters to herself. The conversation had rapidly broken down from there into a fight, and so what drew the various Mahou -- sparkly and not -- to the area was not a sense of dark energy (Though it was present, as Melona as usual was channeling it), or that sickening feeling of a Witch awakening. No. It was the sounds of gunfire and explosions, it was the much more saddening sight. Of two Mahou fighting. The scene they arrive to is Misfortune Marie jumping back as Misery Melon leapt towards her with an angry cry, her tri-headed flail glowing with power as she calls out. "SPITZEN BURST!" The impact just barely missed Misfortune Marie, but the explosion that sent out spikes of energy caught her, sending her flying back with a wild, maddened sounding laugh. "YES! That's exactly what I want, My little melon! You've grown so strong! Aaaa~aaah~. It looks it it wasn't a waste to invest all that time in you..." In spite of the fact that she was clearly battered, there was an almost maddened love in her eyes as she lifts one of her twin derringers -- other derringers littering the ground around her and gradually disintegrating into motes of energy -- to unleash an empowered shot towards Misery Melon. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?! DID YOU NOT GET THE HINT WHEN I LITERALLY MOVED AND CHANGED MY NAME?!" The area around them has been carved up by explosions, gunshots, and Melona's ability to scrape materials out of the area to use as weaponry. All in all it was a fairly wrecked situation to walk into already, both mahou having clearly taken wounds, and both of their soul gems fairly significantly drained from the conflict. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' "Melon!" calls a voice from above, up at rooftop height, but-- it's the voice of the boy whose power welcomes and gives a sense of home, of safety, when he heals. "Misery Melon! Do you need backup?" he yells, and throws a rose PETALS-first at Misfortune Marie's face. Tuxedo Kamen steps up and his cape billows behind him, the blood-red of the inside a contrast even in the street lights. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi were already out on patrol. Puella need Grief Seeds, and goddesses need to free souls. It's only natural then that they'd be out and in henshin.     It's also only natural that two Puella Magi would be fighting each other.     Nature is often cruel.     When the couple arrive, they set down on the edge of a nearby rooftop, watching the battle from above. Madoka clasps her hands over her heart as she looks down. Homura comments, "They're making a pretty big mess over... whatever they're fighting over."     Madoka frets, "Homura-chan... their Soul Gems."     Homura closes her eyes and says, "I know, but... if they aren't backing down, what can we do?" The veteran doesn't want to say what she's thinking, but she doesn't need to. Those two are playing with their lives tonight, though it seems like Misfortunate Marie is the aggressor here.     Madoka, seeing Tuxedo Kamen move in, decides to at least try to de-escalate the fight. She fires a spread of arrows into the melee, but these don't do much damage. Instead, they explode into pink clouds of smoke that fill the area. Her hope is that they'll stop fighting for a moment if they're unable to see each other, but she gets the feeling it might not be enough. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's mind was wandering while patrolling, and she's found herself back in Mitakihara. It's almost... too peaceful.     Until... freaking ''gunshots''?     She can't recall anyone else who sounds like ''that'' except Homura... oh right, maybe Mami, has she come back? But, why doesn't she sense darkness?     If there is some kind of ''actual'' shooting in progress, of ''course'' a magical hero is going to get involved. So whatever the reason, she investigates.     Only to see Melona and that other Puella Magi from before ''fighting''. (Or, perhaps, a youma that's taken the form of that other mahou?)     The words tell her enough.     Instead of an explosion, there's only a scraping noise as Amy ''flings'' an RPG round in the direction of the fight -- only when it's close does it suddenly ignite, turn towards Misfortune Marie, and as soon as it gets close enough, the shaped charge airbursts (or it's dodged and slams into scenery and goes off).     Amy's not actually sure what this will do to another mahou, but at most it's going to punch a small hole through someone -- plenty survivable for a Puella Magi. "STOP! Leave her alone! What is ''wrong'' with you?!" Amy shouts from the roof across the street she's just left to. 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Melona's been one of Riventon's charges for a while, but ever since the interaction with Mami, he'd been leery of pushing her too hard. Puella Magi had limitations that were more severe than his other employees, the natural outcome of spending too much magic being much worse than being defeated in a fight or even injured, but could lead to the destruction of their aptly-named Soul Gems as they became a witch.     Because of this, he'd called on Melona less and less, which probably didn't help her feel part of the team. And at the same time, he sawe her less and less, and without Mami to worry about, he targeted witches less and less. Especially lately, with the business around Black Moon and Hiddenite, he'd simply not done a good job taking care of her, and that in addition to other problems was inevitably likely to come to a head; the mixture of soft abandonment and neither reaching out meant the distance was present.     The sound of mahou fighting isn't rare in Tokyo, truly, but usually it's not the same as this battle. Sure, there was Dark Energy here, but there was a feeling as Riventon arrived that something was going down beyond just 'the usual' fight about energy or something else.     Unfortunantly, he was still suffering from the effects of having consumed energy straight from the tap of a Dark Energy Mixed Nightmare, and was absolutely weaker than he should have been, meaning he wasn't really able to get in between the two of them like he would have preferred, grabbing them by the scruffs of their collars or something.     But he's here, and his presence is still a little bit more notable for the increase in the clear feeling of Dark Energy it brings when he lands from the sky.     "What the hell are you both wasting your magic on?" he says, before coughing a bit. His body wasn't sure how to handle the Nightmare Energy corruption and appeared to have decided to react to it as though he had caught a more mundane illness, and the guy just ''looks'' like he's gone a few rounds with influenza or similar. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' "Aww~. Playing hard to get, my little Melon? Come on... you're my partner, of course I'd come find you! All that work to make sure you were strong enough, that you wouldn't die..." The gun is lifted to take another shot towards Misery Melon -- as a rose suddenly strikes her in the face. It was enough to make her pause. To look at the rose that fell to the ground between herself and Misery Melon, her face twisting into a frown. "Oh come now. We're having a private moment." A private moment that Misery Melon takes advantage of, that distraction resulting in a hard strike with the three-headed flail towards her side which causes her to strike the side of a building, crashing and falling to the ground. "Why would I want to be your partner? Why would ANYONE want to be your partner? I *hate* you." Melona spits back, as she begins to walk towards Misfortune Marie, that flail lifted above her head. The absolute rage. The absolute HATE plain on her face. The only thing that stops her from following through with another strike being that spread of arrows that shoot into the area, a spread of pink clouds that cause Melon to reflexively jump back. Meanwhile, Misfortune Marie's response is... suddenly different. "But little Fr--" "DON'T YOU SAY THAT NAME! DON'T YOU *DARE* SAY THAT NAME! OF ALL THE PEOPLE *YOU* DON'T GET TO SAY THAT NAME!!!" "That person is dead. I am Melona Mizu. That is my ONLY name." "Just *leave* me alone. *I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN*, do you understand?!" The scraping sound of a missile comes flying in towards Misfortune Marie, who scrambles out of the way through that pink fog, dealing some damage to a random storefront as it explodes. "I am just here to recover my part--" "I *WILL NEVER* BE YOUR PARTNER! WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! I hate you. I have ALWAYS HATED YOU. I will NEVER come to like you. If we fought alongside each other I would take *EVERY CHANCE TO GET YOU KILLED*! YOU KILLED ALL OF MY FRIENDS!" "N-no that was the wit--" "JA! JA! It's easy to hide behind the witch. BUT WHO WAS SHOOTING AT OUR FEET ANY TIME WE TRIED TO RUN?!" "T-that was just to make sure you would be str--" "WHAT IF I DIDN'T WANT TO BE STRONG? WHAT IF I JUST WANTED TO BE A NORMAL YOUNG WOMAN WITH A NORMAL LIFE? HUH??? WHAT ABOUT ME? WHAT ABOUT WHAT I WANTED AND NEEDED?!" The screaming was making Melona's throat hoarse. A hoarseness that was showing in her voice as she screamed, her voice cracking here and there, her eyes glowing as the darkness around her seemed to grow. A darkness that seems to break as Riventon appears. It fades down to something calmer as he asks her what the hell she's wasting her magic on. "... You're right. She's not worth wasting my energy on." 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' She didn't really blame Takashi for 'abandoning' her. She had been mostly just quietly in her little corner of the offices, staying quiet and taking care of herself to the best of her ability. She had been used to being alone, after all. It was just how things were for someone like her. "Not... not worth your energy?! But... but I am ... everything I did... it was ALL FOR YOU..." Misfortune Marie sounds... broken in the moment, as that pink smoke clears. Misery Melon turns away from her, beginning to walk away, though holding a crossbow she had been making in the smoke. "D...don't walk away from me! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Her soul gem grows dimmer... dimmer... darker... and darker. "..." Melona turns towards her, glancing towards that soul gem. "You won't hurt anyone else." As that soul gem grows completely dark, that crossbow fires. In the moments before it transforms into a grief seed, it shatters. Misfortune Marie falls over with a look of surprise on her face. "Finally. I have avenged you, mein freunde." Misery Melon glances towards the other, her face a mixture of emotions. Relief? Glad that they were there? ...She wasn't sure what to do with those emotions, so instead she turns to start to walk away. ...Why did her cheeks feel warm? She pauses as she walks, her hand reaching to touch her cheek, pulling that hand away from her cheek. Rubbing her fingers together. "...Why is it wet?" Like the tears flowing down her cheeks, black tears flowed down the top of her soul gem. All of her anger. All of her rage was cooling. Those black tears pooling, filling that already-darkened soul gem rapidly. "...Oh." "...I see. ...I'm joining you. ... Mein freunde..." She looked towards the others, those tears streaming down her cheeks. No longer was she the rage-filled, aloof girl she had been almost all times. "..." "I'm sorry." Crack. And reality begins to distort. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' "Oh, f--" Mamoru sees who-all came here, and it's all people he knows and trusts, it's all-- It's all He saw what happened with Oktavia, but that was such a different, such a strange and different thing, this is-- there's still some hope, isn't there? Madoka is here. But she needs a ''body'' for that. Reality is already breaking around Melona, and Mamoru wants to ''bite'' something in frustration. He's going to have to-- "Riventon!" he yells, "I'm going to have to triangulate off you, please try not to teleport much in there?" Tuxedo Kamen hates witches. And he hates dark energy. And he's been swimming in dark energy, and now here's a witch, and Riventon is still effed from the nightmare, and he saw Klarissa crack and now he's seen Melona crack and this is one of the ''worst things he could see'' and there's ''no bringing them back from this'' it's an ending he can't stop it's too late to stop The prince lands from his leap over by Madoka and Homura. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy winces as she blows up a storefront. Uh, whoops. Shoulda been ready to unsummon that if it missed...     But also this is getting kind of uncomfortable to watch. Not, like, in a way that would make Amy ''leave'', the creeper needs to be stopped. It's just, she's come across a number of toxic romance stories in her time but has mostly avoided IRL relationship drama and it's a reminder of how awful some things would be in real life.     And then her eyes see the black soul gem, darker than any she's ever seen, and her brain has to shift gears without a clutch. Oh no.     Amy missed by ''moments'' seeing it happen to Klarissa. But she knows what happens.     Marie is going to Wi     And then Marie is gone, just like that. Just like anyone else, when the substrate their consciousness is running on is violently disrupted.     Melona killed someone, but... she maybe kinda deserved it? Even if it was extreme--     Amy shakes her head. No, they could all see it. She was going to Witch. It was a mercy killing.     Amy drops down to the street and approaches, hand held out. "Melona... are you alright?"     She is not alright.     Once, Melona made a wish.     And now her despair has become a curse -- on Melona, for the rest of her short life, and on the rest of them, for the rest of Melona's short tortured existence.     She didn't see what happened to Klarissa. She can't look away. Red eyes stare at the thing that was in the gem -- the SOUL -- as it changes form, without a second thought for the two empty husks now lying in the street. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     Madoka and Homura can only watch as things play out. There's too much happening at once, and when Melona finally puts an end to someone with whom she ''apparently'' has a lot of history with...     "Misery!" calls out Madoka. She never felt close to that Puella Magi, but that doesn't stop her from feeling something the moment she notices the Witching process. Her hands cover her mouth.     Homura takes a step back, and then shouts, "Watch out!" as she tackles Madoka to the rooftop. She's seen this moment before, and it often gets pretty violent, so her first instinct is to guard her soul mate from... whatever happens next.     Madoka is curled up into a ball under Homura's protective embrace when Mamoru lands next to them. Madoka's gloved hand reaches up to pat Homura's arm. "Kamiko... get Kamiko... We're going to need her."     Homura pulls her phone from her shield and starts texting the minidokas. Surely one of them knows where the divine fairy is.     "There was no avoiding this moment," intones Homura. "Sooner or later... this fate catches us all."     "That doesn't mean we can't save her," objects Madoka.     The two go silent after that. There's always a chance that Hope Concept can do something to make this right, or at least make it ''better'', but it's incredibly rare for a Witch to ever turn back into a living person. None of the ones that Madoka have saved so far ever returned to being a Puella Magi. The tragedy happening before them cannot be undone. 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     It's all too late. Riventon is always too late. Takashi is always too late. Always trying to save too many people, and like with Hotaru becoming Mistress Nine, like with Hinoiri losing her grip on Dark Energy, like Sara dying in front of him - he's sick, he could have moved faster if he was healthy, but he was too weakened by the energy he absorbed.     A fit of coughing later, and Tuxedo Mask's words reach him, and he has to soldier on for now, because there's a Witch Barrier, and that means a witch, and he doesn't want anyone to die in a labyrnth. He tries to collect energy in his hands only to have it fizzle into another coughing fit, like the nightmare energy he drained was something he could just cough up, even though it's not - and that reminds him that he doesn't want HIMSELF to die in a labyrnth either. There will be time for regret later. Time for sadness later. Time for misery, later.     "I'm here." Riventon says, his voice cold and distant. "We're still here, and there's a witch now, and it's going to be a threat." He says.     "And I can't fight at full strength." At this point, in the newborn labyrnth, there's no Obsidian and Mahoujin, to Riventon. There's just Witches vs Not Wanting To Be Killed. So there's no point in hiding that. "I'm still working poison out of my system. But I can contribute probably about as much as any of you here, so. Let's make sure this doesn't become a greater tragedy."     If only he hadn't been so distracted, had finished his project to save Mami, then nobody would be at risk. He makes a note to kick his own butt some more later. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' Like a foul wind blowing, the cracked soul gem distorts, growing larger over Melona's fallen body, like a massive cross lamenting her falling, colors distort, reality becomes an absolute mess, and when all of that foul wind and the blowing force of the formation of the Witch's Labyrinth is completed... reality has become a massive junkyard, a patchwork of trash and treasure and wild, distorted, overgrown melons in colors that make the eyes strain and hurt as the name of the Witch flashes over the maze-like mountain of junnk. MELONE SCHMIEDEN. The Melon-Forging Witch. In spite of the violence of the creation of the labyrinth, it's ... not... /immediately/ aggressive. They stand at the edge of that mountain of overgrown trash, even as parts of it start to move, the slow sound of uneven, wild ticking beginning to grow audible as from the mountains of trash, jerky, awkwardly moving figures begin to crawl out, the form of the familiars being some sort of ... clockwork soldiers of some sort, each one holding different weapons -- some held trash swords, others held maces made of chunks of sidewalk and metal pipes, others held rebar-and-stick crossbows. Each one had a head with a face drawn on it, made of melon. The faces were consistent, though repeated throughout the familiars. Five different 'people' in those familiars. Each one marching in an exaggerated way towards the invaders who threatened their 'friend'. And atop it all, there was a unique familiar. A revolver-bearing familiar. This one does not threaten anyone. It is, instead, being smashed by an absolutely massive, barbed-wire wrapped three-headed flail held by a twisted half-witch half-magi-looking form of Misery Melon, half of her face clockwork that leaks teardrops of what looks like oil, the other half a blank stare down at the gathered mahou. She points towards them. And the minions start to charge, as she turns, grabbing a massive hammer. CLANK. ...And begins to forge something atop that mountain. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     The wind blows over them, and Homura hunkers down over Madoka. The two of them clinging together behind the edge of a rooftop gives them just enough wind resistance to avoid getting blown away. It's probably a good thing that there aren't any Chara with them, aside from Brai who is currently merged with Hope Blossom.     Once the strange Labyrinth appears around them, the two girls look up and get back to their feet, brushing themselves off for a moment before looking ahead. Homura glances towards Mamoru for a moment and asks, "I take it you knew her?"     Hope Blossom closes her eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then opens them. She takes in the scenery for a moment, but she only has so much time to gawk. The Familiars are charging. Her bow forms in her hand and she starts firing. Homura pulls out an assault rifle and follows suit, the two of them jumping backwards away from the charging line and firing into the crowd as they can.     "Kamiko's a few minutes out," says Homura. "She's on the way."     Madoka, with a bit of sadness mixed with seriousness in her voice, says, "I'm sure she's doing her best. Let's make sure Melona doesn't hurt anyone else in the meantime, okay?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     At some point during the transformation Amy's flung against a wall, adding to the disorientingness of the Labyrinth forming around them.     A melon junkyard. Honestly, the inclusion of the melons is ''more'' intelligible than anything about someone's Witch they've seen so far. Well, Sayaka does have some interest in music. Maybe something like that is par for the course. ''Amy hasn't known that many people who became Witches.''     And then there's ticking. And clockwork familiars rising from the piles of junk. "Oh, tell me she doesn't have a bunch of witch-bodies under those piles too..." Amy breathes, to no one.     She looks at the familiars, ruled over by the Witch herself, enacting revenge for her sorrow.     The familiars clearly represent the The friends Melona lost... Here Melona was, with ''real'' sorrow weighing on her soul, instead of worry about how a world that doesn't even know she exists would see her if they knew she did. "I'm so stupid."     Before attacking, she focuses on reaching the others, as junk-made bolts fly through the air around her.     She lands in front of the group, a gyrojet pistol out shooting homing bullets at the heads of the familiars coming their way. "I hate to be a bother, but uh, ''just to be safe'', have you got any...?"     Yes, she got a supply of grief seeds before they went to the future, and all through their adventure in Crystal Tokyo, she carefully conserved energy... But then Nemesis happened, and she's been in so many more fights since they came back to the present, and Riventon baited her into spending so much,     She holds out a depleted grief seed in her left hand to drop into Madoka's or Homura's, showing her own soul gem slightly corrupted. More than a tenth, less than a fifth. She shouldn't be in danger any time soon, hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' Nothing but oh no, oh no, oh no: Mamoru's blown over by the blast, but his cape isn't actually a sail so he doesn't go far-- and when the labyrinth has blossomed around them, he gets to his feet, too. "Not well," he huffs, "but she's one of Riventon's. And before that I met her a few times as Hematite. She--" He looks around, and then way up, and he grimaces. "Great." But familiars! He knows how to deal with familiars. There's one coming for his head specifically, and he braces his feet then flips one hand up, and it starts to glow. "Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber!" he yells, the kickback making even his braced stance wobble as his hand's glow intensifies, then lets go into a giant KSHOOOOO of punchy laser. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra was eating dinner with one of her favorite people to eat dinner with -- nobody. She had herself a nice box of noodles with extra chicken and was sitting on the edge of a tenth story rooftop, not bothering with her stupid disguise illusion and munching away happily, when she heard... Gunfire? Definifely gunfire. However, not her problem. There are Mahou about. They can deal with that. She has food, and she's enjoyoing it, and she's not about to go marching off into battle on a half empty stomach. Besides, she's an obligate carnivore and she needs to eat this. She does, however, quicken her pace, after turning up the music blaring in her ears. The gunfire continues. "OH FOR FFFF--!!!" Catra prioritizes the chicken and when she's got it all eaten, she tosses the box, remaining noodles, and choopsticks off the roof towards a trash bin down on the ground -- and because she really didn't care about the outcome she misses and it goes ''splat'' on the pavement. Meanwhile, Catra is descending the outside of the building via her claws, leaving five jagged lines in the facade; and moments later she's on her bike, raciing towards the sounds of battle. What the hell, might as well get some combat practice in. As she speeds towards the battle she summons the flames, fire wreatching both wheels of her bike and herself, making her look like a glowing orange rider by the time she arrives, screeching to a halt and dismounting where she can get a good idea of waht's going on before diving in. 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Labyrnths are... always... always... messy. Chaotic. Patchwork. Fractured parts of a psyche. But for the first time Riventon stands in the labyrnth of a person he knew, and can pick occasional parts out of the scenery, out of the world. That just makes it more disorienting, frankly.     Hearing Mamoru call her 'one of his' cuts deep and he grits his teeth. "She kept largely to herself. I tried to keep her in grief seeds but... something about Puella Magi I've interacted with... they often don't want to take charity." Riventon says.     "If she'd told me what was going on... maybe I could have helped before it escalated. I always tried to keep her and Mami out of things because of... this." He explains. Shaking his head. And then going into another coughing fit.     Once the coughing subsides, Riventon digs in his cavernous labcoat pockets and pulls out a Grief Seed - needle and orb - a recent kill. "In fact, this would have been for her." He says. Instead, he tosses it towards the Rocket Red Puella. "You can pay it back later." he says, making it clear it's not generosity, but pragmatism.     The familiars stack up. And Riventon sighs. He outstretches his arm and a Midchildan circle erupts underneath him, glowing purple-and-blue. Several black orbs, dripping as though made of ink, burst into existence. <<DAMMERUNGSFEUER.>> (Dusk Barrage) Riventon calls at the same time as his Device does. The orbs and Riventon's outstretched hand fire shotgun-spread blasts of liquidy Dark Energy at the familiars, to either cut them down or, given Riventon's current strength, keep them suppressed for the others. 

:'''{{#var:43|New Moon (43)}} has posed:''' Usagi can always feel Mamoru, but she's not a psychic. She's not usually all that in-tune with the whole thing, primarily content to ''know'' that he's well, even if she can't see him. But she's not Usagi, anymore, not quite, and New Moon keeps close tabs on her Wicked Lady's interests. Her ''father'' is certainly of keen interest. So when Mamoru's since of place wavers, as if he had been somewhere and not for a moment, she frowns, and then, in a flurry of darkness, teleports to him - no, that's the outside of a strange distortion, all too familiar. A Witch's labyrinth. "I hate Witches," New Moon says darkly, and then - and then there's ''Catra'', on her fiery motorcycle, and New Moon looks at her and laughs, loud enough for Catra to hear. "Oh, it's Adora's little stray," she coos, and then - "No, that's not right. You're ''Hinoiri's'' little stray, aren't you? Found a new home, someone to pet your head and dry your tears... if you're looking for the fight, Kitty Cat, it's in here." And she enters the Labyrinth, floating to avoid the disorienting nature of it all, looking about for her Lady's father, her darling fiancé. "There you are, Mamochan," she announces, pleased, when she sees him near Madoka and Homura. "You know these places disagree with you. Why did you come in here?" She's fully ignoring the fight, and the sad tableau the Familiars have created. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' The familiars are, like most familiars, a threat of numbers more than individual strength, as Hope Blossom and Homura Akemi unleash into the charging front line -- the swords-familiars charging first in their jerky unnatural manner, while the back-line of crossbow-familiars fire from behind and slightly above on the mountain, rebar-bolts raining down towards the gathered Mahou. At first glance, it ALMOST looks like it's following standard military tactics, but then one notices things like one of the crossbow familiars charging with the sword-familiars and one of the mace-familiars in the back line chucking its mace towards the Mahou (only for it to fall a bit short....) But those arrows and bullets tear through them easily, many of their melon-heads exploding in a shower of melon that seemed to jerk around like it was poorly animated slices of melon instead of a melon that had been shot by an arrow or a bullet. And when the familiars fall, they turn back into the trash that made up that mountain of treasure-filled garbage. ...And weirdly-perfect slices of melon. As Amy moves towards the others, instead of towards the mountain, it seems that focus ... moves away from her and towards others who were moving more forward than backward from them. Sure, there's still rebar-bolts flying through the air in her general direction, but it's less of a focus. Than Mamoru, who was bracing and unleashing a beam of punchy laser into a group of the Swordsmelons, which go almost comically flying -- only to land on their heads, the melons splitting into those weirdly perfect cut segments. ...It's not recommended to actually eat them though. Witch energy is unpleasant. Riding towards the 'gunfire', Catra finds herself less... 'entering' the Labyrinth, so much as dragged in by the after-effects of its creation. There's not really much of a 'safe' distance to watch from, as entering into the Labyrinth means she is on that mountain of trash overgrown with miscolored melons in it that seemed to twitch and bounce unnaturally, as more of those familiars are created from the mountain of trash. And there are mace-familiars charging towards her with uneven, out-of-synch ticking and possibly a little squeaky 'raaaaa!' There was a bit of childish to it, belying Melona's youth. Purple-and-blue ink orbs tear through the familiars, sending some of them flying, others taking cover behind those sent flying to charge Riventon after their friends fall, some jagged metal-pole-spearmelons charging towards Riventon. Meanwhile, from above, Melone Schmieden rears her little head again, the small form pulling out and beginning to install a comically large ballista compared to her own size, being a much more 'chibified' shape, compared to her weaponry. Much like her flail had been, the ballista is wreathed in barbed wire that cuts into the witch's hands as she grabs onto the handles to aim it, those oily tears trailing down her cheeks as she starts to unleash a series of shots, the ballista firing more like a gun emplacement than a ballista made of junk and trash, launching lightpole-bolts towards the gathered Mahou, that *EXPLODE* with wild energy upon impact. As a likely mistake. One of the 'Mahou' aimed at with those lightpoles, is New Moon. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     Madoka takes a glance at the depleted Grief Seed that Amy is handing to her, says, "Thanks," and then hands it to Homura to put into her shield. Kamiko will look at and process it later. On the topic of Grief Seeds, Homura digs around and produces a halfway used one. "Crystal Tokyo wiped out a lot of my supply. I have this one if we get desperate. Of course.. assuming we finish the fight..."     Homura isn't ever really sure how people will take such grim practicality in tragic moments like this, but... she didn't survive for as long as she has by being unrealistic.     Homura sees Riventon chuck a Grief Seed at Amy, and the way that he explains himself... is he trying to secure a trade for later? Is he the sentimental type who'd want to keep Melona's Grief Seed? She calls out to him, "Just so you know, we're grabbing Grief Seed first."     Madoka glances at Homura, and then looks to Riventon and explains, "I know she was your friend, but if I can't get to the Grief Seed, then I can't free her soul. She deserves the right to pass on properly. If you have a problem with that, we can sort it out after."     Homura also notices New Moon and calls out to Mamoru, "Hey, is Dream Girl Evil here going to be a problem?"     The Familiars are marching towards them in droves, and as the rebar bolts fly at them, Homura lifts her shield, protecting Madoka with a flare of purple light. Madoka forms up behind her, charges a single arrow for a moment, and then fires it directly into the sky. The charged arrow turns into a runic symbol made of circles and sharply-bent lines, glowing with pink magic, that in turn rain down arrows that fly past the Familiar army's heads, ignoring them to instead seek out the Witch.     As the lightpoles rain down around them, the two magical girls dodge in opposite directions, scattering rather than trying to absorb such a hit. Yet even though they're apart, they're still very aware of each other's presence. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy grimaces and sucks air through her teeth as Homura points out that a fresh grief seed will be available shortly, but she just nods slightly, not seeming put off. It's part of life for Puella Magi, after all.     Amy's gun vanishes as she catches the grief seed from Riventon and immediately holds it to her soul gem, draining the corruption. For ''once'', she manages to succeed on a social roll and makes a decent attempt to wrest the narrative away from him. "I'm only out because of your little stunt with the memory jar." Despite the content, her voice is dispassionate right now. ''You're'' the one paying ''me'' back for asking me to spend energy. Thank you."     She might have difficulty not smirking, were it not for the grim circumstances.     As she slips the grief seed into her belt pouch, New Moon (and Catra!) are here. "This just happened." the Red Puella tells Wicked Lady's assistant. "We were caught in it." In that same flat tone.                                     '''*BOOM*'''                                         An exploding lightpole sends her tumbling across the ground, lightly burned by the explosion, junk shrapnel embedded in her lower legs and side. She groans in pain as she tries to get up, and then suddenly gets up without issue, conjuring her trusty launcher and firing explosive shells at the ballista. If it takes the Witch time to assemble another one, maybe destroying her weapons will keep her locked down? 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Riventon sees the familiars charging him now and scoffs. "I'm not ''that'' sick." he grumps at the familiars as though even now he's annoyed that they dare to stand to him - because he is. This is Melona's Witch, don't these familiars know BETTER?     His triangular Belkan runic shield comes up to shield him from the assault of the rebar crossbows. It holds well, and he's able to continue the barrage of low-energy but persistent and high quantity blasts from his orbs from behind it - until one of the larger lightpole-bolts comes in and collides aghainst his shield, shoving him back a bit before exploding. When the smoke clears there's scorch marks on his white labcoat. Just in time for hiom to notice New Moon. Great. He's ill with nightmare-itus and now Mamoru's New Stalker is here. But he has to focus on the Witch. <<Did you call her? You DIDN'T.>> Riventon telepathies to Mamoru, and even with the usually flat affect of Devicer mental comms, he can hear the exasperation in his brother's mental voice.     He collects energy into his hand as he stands up. Melona attacking him? That he thinks is slightly more fair. She's a Witch so she's strong, and maybe she's got a bone to pick with him, though she attacked all of the Mahou, really. "Time to settle down and get the rest you've been denied, Mizu-san." he says, his voice heavy as he thrusts his hand out once more and calls in tone with his device.      <<SCHATTENSCHLAG.>> (Shadow Strike) And, the shadowy blast that is his signature attack carries less energy than it normally would, than it should, but nobody defeats a witch by ''not'' attacking the witch.     "I don't really care about the seed." Riventon says, trying to maintain an external facade of dispassion. "I just don't like giving away things to people who make a habit of being a pain in my ass.." But it's obvious there's more to it than that, especially when he looks towards the Witch he just attacked. "In any case, I thought that's what we were doing; making sure she passes on instead of wallows in her Despair."     "I just ''told'' you I'm Ill, I'm not going to fight with you over the dispensation of anything today." He might try to steal it, but not ''fight'' over it. That much is accurate.     "You're not going to want to owe me, rocketeer. This is a debt you should know I can quite literally collect from your very person." he warns. Just before coughing fit round twelve. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' "Sorry, Riv, I just meant I mostly knew her in passing that way, not that it was your fault or anything," Tuxedo Kamen says, stepping back a pace and almost falling down the mountain of melony junk-- but he has amazing balance, so there's only a brief balance dance and then New Moon is right there. "Goth-bun," he says with an incredulous laugh that isn't funny at all, "Melona just died and this is her Witch. It opened around us. Please help us with it? I mean you're stuck in here now anyway--" Then Homura calls out to Mamoru and he shakes his head. "I'm with her!" He starts to reach for New Moon which means he's not actually paying attention in order to duck, and he gets a crossbow rebar grazing his upper arm, and nearly taking his cape off, for his troubles. "Ow! Oh LOOK OUT!" There's a rain of sharp exploding lightpoles; Mamoru dives into New Moon to get her out of the way. <> 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' oh so apparently observing from a distance isn't a thing. This is new. Catra's never been in (or even near) a witch's labyrinth before. It does, however, remind her of the Portal, somehow. Not that she can really remember any of that, but this sensation of her skin prickling is definitely familiar, and the feeling of corruption isn't helping. She parks her bike, and is about to go and get closer, when... there's Usagi making fun of her, and her ears flatten against the side of her head as she grits her teeth and her hands ball up into fists. "I am ''NOBODY'S'' 'little stray'," she snarls, realizing that her sword has come to hand and she's seriously considering going after New Moon with it. Perhaps fortunately, the corrputed moon princess (is everyone around here a princess or something? EXCEPT FOR CATRA) takes that moment to move further away, leaving the feline standign there burning and seething. At least she's got this Spirit Ember figured out so she ''can'' burn, even if she's not very good at it yet. Not taht she's admitting that to anyone. So, with sword in hand she energizes the blade with heat, making it glow like it's about to go molten as she charges forwards, dashing after New Moon like she means business -- even thought she might not be the actual problem. "HEY!!" she yells as she runs, "DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR BUTT!!" Not that Usagi is likely to have heard her, but whatever, it feels good to yell. Even if she still has no idea what's going-- "HEY!! RIVENTON!!" she yells, grinding to a halt and ducking some directed energy directed in more or less her direction. "What the hell is all this and who's the bad guy here?!" 

:'''{{#var:43|New Moon (43)}} has posed:''' "All you are is the saddest little stray," New Moon contradicts. "Running from Adora to Rashmi to Hinoiri for a home, I applaud you. Get it girl, find you a place to belong~!" Usagi genuinely rather likes Catra, in the sense that she generally likes everyone, especially if they want to do good and she believes Catra does. New Moon has decided to hold a grudge about that one time Chibiusa-napping, and the fact that that lovely tree was once hung up on this wandering stray. Still, she's got better things to do, and she winks at Homura. "Evil Dream Girl is here to keep an eye on him. Don't worry, I've got not beef with your goddess." She might have said more, but Amy is reassuring her that the Labyrinth opened around them, and Mamoru is saying that someone's died - and a vague memory sparks. "...the miserable little girl? That's rough." That's the best she can offer, at least until the attack comes, and she's annoying, blue eyes sharp, raising hands filled with dark power, when Mamoru ''jumps in the way of the lightpoles that are exploding'' and she ''shrieks''. "I AM STRONGER THAN YOU!" Her hands are thrown up. One grasps for Mamoru - the other summons a ball of dark energy, writhing and vivid and purple, all her hatred and sorrow and anger in semi-physical form, and it balloons to the size of a volleyball, absorbing light, sucking in air - and then she chucks it at the Witch. "Moon Sunder Eclipse!" It explodes much as the lightpoles did, bursting forth with dark power, radiating energy that will strike anything too close, infecting them with darkness that scours. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' As those arrows shoot into the sky, the Witch actually... dodges?! It's a little squeaky almost 'Henh!' that can be heard as she jumps away from the ballista as the arrows shoot in towards it, the chibi-witch sliding in the garbage for a half-moment as the follow-up explosives from Amy blow up what was left of the ballista, while the arrows chase after her still, striking on and around her which causes her to roll away again, back into the mountain's edge. Much like the familiars, her movements were a bit more ... disjointed than one would expect, but she moved a little more smoothly than them at the very least. And then there is more clanking audible as she seems to be building something again. A building that is disrupted by Riventon's shadowy blast that cuts through part of the mountain, sending junk -- and the mini-witch flying, comically flailing in the air in an almost distressed way. But the flat look on the 'human' half of her face and the oil-tear-streaked clockwork half of her face show that she's not truly distressed. A lack of distress shown when the suddenly is pulling out that barbed wire-wreathed tri-headed flail again, which drags her back down to the ground with a resounding BOOM that sends junk flying everywhere. ...Which might be a bit of a threat to those who don't get out of the way because really. ...Nobody wants to get hit by a falling fridge. Or a sewing machine. Or a car engine. ...You get the picture there's heavy stuff falling, though it's not really a directed attack, and in fact, several of the familiars are crushed under those same falling objects! Especially the poor line of crossbowmelons. On the upside this means there's no focused attacks on anyone at the moment, just a rain of random objects for people to dodge or knock away. ...Also some of the swordsmelons but they're familiars. And starting to dwindle, not that there's not still a seemingly unending flood of them crawling out of that trash mountain, but as they're defeated... the trash mountain was starting to get a little... smaller? Or at least less tall and more wide in that strange space. Moon Sunder Eclipse. A volleyball-sized sphere of dark energy that shoots into that spot where Melone Schmieden had been. And it explodes. And there is silence for a moment. ...Until there is a shockwave of dark energy that comes from the little crater atop the mountain, and the familiars begin to move more... precisely. Their attacks growing stronger. It had been an effective attack, no doubt, but it had also left something floating in the air, a thing that Misery Melon had been using most of her time as a Puella. Dark Energy. So when she steps back up over that crater's edge, the extra-chibi form was now... a bit taller, more normal Misery Melona sized and shaped. In fact, she /almost/ looked like the regular Misery Melon at first glance. Until you noticed that her eyes were lights. That her cheeks were porcelain over a ticking cover. And those tears of oil were falling down her cheeks again. ...Is there a moment of hesitation though? A moment of recognition in her eyes? Clearly not. It's a Witch. Not a person anymore. It was just watching its newly-empowered minions, clearly. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     ''Really?!'' They're in the middle of fighting a ''Witch'' and Riventon insists on trying to push a debt? Amy is trying to focus on the fight and compensating for lag, and her mouth runs as she fires more 84mm shells at MELONE SHMIEDEN, switching from HE to HEAT and leading the target.     "You see what happens if you take too much. I don't trust you to be more careful with ''me'' than your ''friend.''"     She winces, after the words have left her mouth, and adds in a more neutral tone, "A reasonable request is fine. ...Most uses or timings of using seven wolves are not reasonable. Try to make it agreeable."     It occurs to her that she can just give the partially-used seed back after taking her fill, and then he can claim nothing. Maybe she'll do that.     "Damn it!" Amy curses as the Witch goes down the other side of the mountain. In the back of her brain, some part of her takes note in what strategies are enabled by piles of junk.     (It might be important one day for She Who Is Undeserving Of Love...)     Now Catra is here and yelling. "SHE'S A WITCH." Amy shouts back, and points at MELONE SHMIEDEN. "See the boss title?" At least, she assumes since Catra ''just arrived'', maybe she sees the runes now?     Amy continues her explanation as she frantically dodges falling junk, barely able to do more than fire homing bullets to try and help keep the population of Familiars down. "Killing her is the only way out."     "...No, we can't read them either." M---N- S-M--D--N... yeah, Amy has no clue what that said.     "Sorry. You have to fight these sometimes on Earth. S'my... job... but they're everyone's problem. ...Sorry."     Okay, stuff's stopped falling, but now there's... "Did you just ''FEED THE WITCH?!'' Wait, they can use Dark Energy?!" Amy groans and holds her hand to her head. "Of course, if we can while we're alive, why not?"     She takes a breath, and is suddenly holding a 3m-or-so long 105mm artillery recoilless cannon on her shoulder, and she starts firing at the Witch. BOOM! 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     Homura doesn't have time to squint at Riventon, but she's doing so in her heart. "As long as we're on the same page..."     Mamoru gets a sideways glance and a raised eyebrow. Especially with the way he is around New Moon. Wouldn't Usagi get jealous? Whatever. Mamoru's love life is not Homura's problem.     New Moon's comment gets a curious look from Homura. Calling Madoka Homura's goddess has a few layers underneath it that the raven haired Puella really shouldn't be distracting herself with right now. "... then nor do I have beef with you."     Madoka also gives New Moon a wary look, but she genuinely seems like she wants to protect Mamoru even if she's being a bit Full Of Dark Energy about it.     Madoka's arrows seem somewhat effective against the landscape. Too bad they were aiming at the Witch. "Seems like she's diving into the junk pile for cover," comments Madoka.     "In that case, leave it to me," says Homura, and the two immediately swap roles. Madoka is now on the defensive, using her spread shot arrows to take out or redirect the debris that's raining down all around them. Homura, stands behind her and summons an array of rocket launchers and RPGs, and she picks up each in turn before firing at the Witch.     She isn't just trying to damage the Witch, but to destroy the ground she's using as cover.     A Labyrinth portal opens, and a tiny squeaking goddess flails her way towards the couple. "Hope Blossom! Love Lily! I'm here!" calls out Kamiko, narrowly dodging bits of debris as she flies. Yikes! 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Riventon hates so much about what's going on right now. Kohai's a witch now, yep. New Moon's here, yep. He's sick, yep. There's a fridge he just nearly dodged? yep. He's surrounded by unbearable mahoujin? Big yep.     He shoots Amy a glare at her words that doesn't need a threat behind it and for just a moment it looks like he might join former-Melona in attacking the other Puella. There's certainly an aura of Dark Energy about him, literally dripping from his hands in liquid droplets as he glares. He'll remember that, for sure. Even if she apologizes after. But for now. He's sick. Melona's a Witch. They're dodging - whoof, there goes a micorwave - attacks. There will be time to get her back later, though Amy will find herself specifically denied any sort of fire-support that Riventon might be giving now, in a conspicuous manner, given that as he watches Melona absorn New Moon's attack, he suspects if it wasn't for the tainted Nightmare Energy coursing through him she might have done the same to his attacks, and it's best not to test it. So various large objects heading for Not-Amy Mahoujin are blasted off course by Riventon's shots. And of course, for someone as monologenous as Riventon, his sudden silence speaks volumes. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' "I wasn't jumping in front of you!!" protests Mamoru, "I was getting us both out ouph--" Yoinked. "Oh ''fuck''," he finally says, looking at what Moon Sunder Eclipse did. "AMY-CHAN THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS OK DON'T DO THIS," he yells, dangling from New Moon's grip. "Can you put me down?" he asks as a dishwasher goes flying past them and crashes into the ground next to a big old cast iron sink. "I want to crater the crater!" Once New Moon puts him down, he keeps his eyes on the 'sky', ready to duck out of the way of anything that has a trajectory which intersects with him, and he crouches down and jams his hands into the surface they're standing on. The mountain. The mountain of junk in a Witch's labyrinth. It's not Earth, so he doesn't talk to the 'ground' he's digging into, he can't talk to replica Witch-junk, he can't-- oh but he ''can'' because this attack is ''his'' energy, at heart. "Tuxedo la Smoking Crater!" There's a rumbling, and then from below the Witch the crater starts to ''bulge''... 

:'''{{#var:43|New Moon (43)}} has posed:''' Now that was just irritating. New Moon is breathing harder after the attack, her face taking on a more wan look, frustrating creeping in, and there's a sense that she's absolutely pissed off about that. "Seriously?! A Witch that absorbs Dark Energy! Who does that?! I'm blaming your brother and his stupid mega corporation!" This outburst is followed up by New Moon reaching up towards her head and plucking her straw hat off of it, stretching her wrist to ensure of its limberness. Fine then! If that wouldn't work, she'd go for the tried and true! The straw hat in her hand glows, shimmering with sparkling light, tinged at the edges with purple and mauve, but still brighter than the previous attack had been, not a burst of Dark Energy, but a vaguely familiar cosmic radiance. "New Moon Action!" She hurtles it like a boomerang or say... a tiara... and it flies towards the Witch, intending to separate the flail-wielding arm from body, or at least wound it seriously. "Fine," she says begrudgingly. "I'll put you down so you can open up the ground and make the stupid thing die faster. It's bad enough she's died and made you sad, the least her shambling soul-zombie can do is lay down and die." 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra didn't get an answer out of Riventon, and her ear twitches in irritation. At least Amy is on the ball enough to tell her what's going on. Also, at least Catra is on the ball enough to dodge an entire pallet of jelly beans (candy is heavy), and then a cement mixer, and then a wax statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator (Where did ''that'' come from?!) before it splats on the ground behind her. "ALRIGHT YOU KNOW WHAT I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS." And she does. There's a fight with some witch that's messing up reality, there's this new person who's a complete jerk and is being mean about her relationships with various people and is desperately asking to have an arm cut off, and Riventon is sulking about somethign and being a knobstacle about it. "Fine I guess I'll take care of this myself," she growls. She clenches her fists and fire erupts around her; the holt of Powersend chances color to brass, and blue flames dance all over her (except on the sword, those ones are yellow). "You want to--AUGH!" She dives to the side again, avoiding a forklift that says "Hitachi" on the side of it. As she rises, she gathers up all the firey thoughts she can muster and unleashes a torrent of flame at this witch, using her sword to aim like it's a wand. Which isn't nearly as powerful as she'd like because as much as she thinks she's got the Spirit Ember figured out, she's only just started learning. 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     "This witch used to be Melona." Riventon snaps angrily at Catra. "She snapped like Puella Magi tend to." He's too angry at present Puella Magi company to care about being polite.     "This is her Witch. If we want out of the labyrnth alive we have to put her out of her... despair." He says, deciding not to say 'out of her misery'.     "She was always a little bit into Dark Energy so it's not surprising her Witch can use it. I'd love to do research on it but right now I'd also love to not die being pasted by a statue of an American actor or whatever other equally humiliating thing might squish me, so the plan is the same even with this information - kill the Witch." 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' In fairness, normally Witches have their own unique form of twisted energy. However, Melona had been already corrupted by darkness when she fell. She had already been attuned to it, somewhat, which made her situation ... while not unique, more uncommon than others. On the upside, HEAT rounds are still effective of her regardless, striking the Witch, which seemed to make her spin and almost dance as she's struck, not even... seeming to dodge too much as she stood on that precipice, even as that massive artillery cannon came up. But she seemed to snap out of her reverie right before it struck, a shield of junk being pulled up in front of her to mitigate the worst of that recoilless cannon. A shield of junk that is promptly broken away by a rapid barrage of rockets that, while not aimed at her, were consistently destroying any barriers or cover she seemed to take, rain of perfectly-broken-melons and random trash -- is that an iphone 17 with a broken screen?! -- and 'treasure' falling around her as that 'mountain' grows smaller, roughly about 2/3rds its original size. A torrent of flame joins in the barrage, adding more to the extensive, unending explosions inexplicably (Maybe she was standing on a conveniently placed explosives barrel or something?!) The ground beneath the witch bulges and EXPLODES from below Melone Schmieden, consuming her in further explosions! And from those explosions, Melone Schmieden is sent flying, right into the path of the NEW MOON ACTION, which sends her flying up higher... C-C-C-Combo! Unfortunately, Melone Schmieden still has that ... almost familiar, if twisted three-headed flail. Which was now beginning to grow. Bigger... /Bigger/... BIGGER! If there were a sun, it would be blotted out, as the dark energy that had suffused her is channeled into those three massive spiked headed flails, wreathed in barbed wire (That still cuts into her own hands, oddly enough.) begins to fall towards the group, beginning to glow brighter with a mix of dark energy and witch energy. Nevermind that compared to the flail Melone Schmieden looked absolutely tiny, she was less riding it down so much as being dragged down with a dispassionate look on her face. Getting out of the way is likely for the best. Especially because on impact, the explosion would likely send the entire half of the junk mountain flying and/or simply obliterate it. <SPITZEN VERWUSTUNG> Wait it even gets a witch text name?! That's cheating! Witches don't get finishers!!!! I personally blame the Dark Energy. 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Riventon is still, all things considered, a quick thinker, much to many people's chagrin. And while Witch Labyrnths don't always care about things like physics and inertia and energy, the way stuff continues to fly towards him and the Mahoujin with rapid speed indicates to him it's in the ballpark.     So when that big flail, clearly dragging the Witch down, is headed his way, he can process how that's going to go. One, don't get hit by it. Two, don't get hit by all of the additional crap it's about to throw into the air. Three, kill the Witch.     So he left around and back, into the air after getting out of the impact zone, and pointed a Midchildan shield downwards - serving as a sort of barrier between him and all of the stuff that he expected to come up. And well, just because he couldn't ''blast'' the witch with Dark Energy didn't mean he couldn't use Dark Energy offensively still - just in a more boring (to him) way.     He tries to catch a junked car out of the air, but he can't fully guide it and he doesn't succeed at throwing it anywhere near Melona's direction - too sick to pick that up - but a half a couch starts to fall back to earth from the impact near him and that he's able to grab, spin, and swing-launch towards the Witch. Followed by a microwave.     Two could play at Random Bullshit Go. Dark Energy could give him the strength, but once it left his hands, instead of an energy blast, it was just good old fashioned Heavy Object At Speed, just looking for something to impart its thrown energy into. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     Kamiko finally flies into Madoka's waiting hands as Homura's Rockets prove effective at clearing the Witch's shield, at least. The pinkette looks up at the Witch and realizes something that would probably have been pretty clear if the possibility had ever crossed her mind. "Never let a Witch use Dark Energy."     The massive flail comes down on them. Madoka is giving it a wide eyed stare. There's no time to dodge something that huge.     Fortunately, time isn't something that Homura gives a damn about.     A moment before impact, their image flickers and vanishes. There's a few seconds where it might not be clear whether they got obliterated or somehow teleported. Homura reappears further away from whatever's left of the mountain, but Madoka is still absent.     No... actually that's not right.     Madoka, Hope Concept, her ''presence'' is felt Everywhere. Her signature Hope Aura fills the Labyrinth, washing over everyone, bathing them in optimistic pearlescent light that grants them just a bit more boost to their magic. Rays of light shine down from above as a Goddess descends, translucent wings spread out in all of her glory, strands of pink hair flowing into infinity, backed by a mandela of white lace and pink teardrops.     Homura shouts, "Heads up! Purifier!" because she's not actually rude enough to stab her dark using temporary allies in the back.     Hope Concept, meanwhile, holds her hands in a heart shape over the Humpty Lock hanging from her neck. "Negative Heart: Lock on!"     A beam of heart-shapes flies out from her hands, trying to lock onto the Witch and, if possible, pin her into place for a moment. Such an attack normally wouldn't be as effective as other things Madoka could do, but against a Witch using Darkness this might at least take away one of her advantages, and Madoka is gonna need to be Hope Concept today anyways.     Then Homura and Hope Concept call out in unison. "OPEN HEART SURGICAL STRIKE!"     Following after the heart beam is a blast of purifying rainbow energy, and in that same moment Homura is following up with a spread of bullets and rockets that... honestly don't make sense considering what she's clearly firing with. There's no way the guns or rocket launchers she's using could ever fire that fast. 

:'''{{#var:43|New Moon (43)}} has posed:''' Attacks land. Words are exchanged. The Witch hurls up a flail that could block out the sun. Tuxedo Kamen will feel New Moon's hands grip him by the back of his suit jacket, a tug, and then - teleportation, there and gone in an instant, and they're high, high in the air, and she's still gripping him by the back of his jacket, and she's flying, but he ''can't'' fly, so that's probably a bit uncomfortable and disorienting. "You just ''had'' to come and care about this," she says huffily, "You weren't even friends with that doomed little girl." Out of the way of the attack, there is an opening, and she does ''not'' have her rod, she does ''not'' have her wand, but she ''does'' have this hat, and she contemplates it for a split second before yanking it from her heart and spinning about with Tuxoed Kamen in her arms, the hat glowing. "Twisted Heart Spiral Action!" An enormous straw hat wearing heart appears before them, a deep purple-pink in color, and it races forth to ram what once was Misery Melona with all the force of a run away train. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' Oh it's deeply uncomfortable, but it's at least not disorienting, because between Riventon and New Moon, Mamoru can tell where he is and which way is up. The spinning? That's disorienting. When they stop and Mamoru can get an arm around New Moon and ''not hurl thank you'' she's already throwing ''"Are you kidding me?"'' Mamoru hiss-whispers to Usagi. "Anyway me caring is one of the reasons you love me, I think, so I'll stick with it--" "Tuxedo Glittering Rose Bomber!" he yells and flings his cape aside, sending a spray of explosive glitter petal antimagic bombs headfirst at the Witch. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Through it all, in the back of her mind, some part of Amy wonders what it means that this Witch appears as a construct. Did they both tend to feel alienated from humanity at times?     Amy growls a little at hearing Puella Magi 'tend to snap' and at the Witch trying to shield her attacks with junk. How dare the Witch use basic defensive tactics to defend its existence!     But, it does seem like the others are onto something. There's only so much junk...     But there's still a lot, as she dismisses her artillery to leap out of the way of a falling car chassis and a dumbbell. Fortunately, the others' barrage is tearing through those shields as fast as Melone can make them.     In her head, she can almost ''hear'' the homerun bat sound as NEW MOON ACTION strikes at the end of the combo and the Witch is sent flying...     And then she blots out the sun.     Red eyes widen. ''Oh holy shit...!''     Amy desperately tries to get out from under the attack. She ''barely'' manages to dodge getting hit directly, but the explosion sends her battered body flying.     Being able to numb her connection to her body is a blessing. Although it does mean that as a pillar of flame switches her armor's form, she's unsteady in the air for a moment. Her thrusters being magically guided is the only thing that stops her from spiraling like an out-of-control rocket.     She ''barely'' dodges a falling car that tries to knock her out of the air.     Enough. Their Goddess is here. Attacks are called out. "[UNCHAINED da!]" She declares her super mode, rather than a specific attack, but the heavy artillery cannon returns and fires again. And then is dismissed as she jets out of the way of a projection TV, and then it's back and fires again, and then it's dismissed as she dodges broken robot pieces, and then she fires ''again''.     And then, more solemnly, she adds, "I'm sorry, Melona-san. Your suffering ends here." 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' "I'm assuming," Catra shouts back at Riventon, "That since you haven't said 'we're trying to save her' that this is it, and we can't save her." Well, what? Catra doesn't know anything about Puella Mages except that they exist and this one has apparently turned into something awkward. And, her sword appears to be the way she does her best work right at the moment, so she just dashes forwards, dodging all manner of things as she leaps, lands on a falling washing machine and jumps off it, landing on a plummeting car and jumps again, bouncing from one piece of falling debris to another to gain altitude; in her wake she leaves things on fire with either blue or yellow flame, and the fire around her sword grows. As she gets close, she jumps gain and splits; one Catra is left behind, standing on the piece of debris while the other one keeps ascending, splitting again in the same way and continuing to rise. Catra's eyes glow their respective colors as she and her doubles all abruptly leap inwards; Catra makes a slash against the witch, then tosses the sword to one of her illusory doubles -- who catches it and attacks with a rising cut, then tosses it to the other double who descends with it for another slice. The real Catra bounces off a piece of debris, catching the sword again; and she picks up speed, bouncing about between falling pieces of machinery or vehicles, tossing the sword back and forth between her doubles until finally she can't stay in it. She drops back down and lands, holding up her hand to catch the sword after her double makes one last cut. Powersend clicks as she slams it back into its scabbard and she walks away, not bothering to look over her shoulder. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' ... The witch has... a couch... and a microwave flying towards her. As she's still being blown back by her own attack -- which oddly seemed to have effected HER too. Like. The microwave just beans her in the head and sends her spiraling off into the distance with her now-much-more-normal-sized flail twirling behind her. In spite of the dispassionate, empty look on her face, she almost looks just. Stunned by that fact. Which leaves her open as a twisted heart wearing a straw hat comes flying in towards her as she twirls in the air from that microwave hit -- an impact that sends her flying off towards the further edge of the junk mountain, which leaves her open. As Hope Concept makes her presence known. As her Negative Heart is Locked Onto. As she falls head-first towards that remaining half of the mountain, time almost seeming to slow to a crawl for a half moment. As explosive petal antimagic bombs strike that falling form. And then artillery strikes. And again. And again. And then doubles of Catra appear as the explosions begin to clear. Jumping from falling junk piece to falling junk piece. And slashes through her, clearly removing an arm with that burning sword, which falls down into the junk pile below her. And then... The Lock-On is launched. And such a negative heart it is. Bullied for being short when she was younger. Survivor's guilt. The empty wrongness after getting revenge. Abandonment. Isolation. Not any particular person's fault. Half of it was her own. Bullets and rockets impact the falling witch, keeping her in the air a few moments longer with their strikes, as those oily tears drip down to the ground below the falling Puella. And then she's consumed in that blast of purifying rainbow energy. Guilt becomes acceptance. Emptiness fills with light. Abandonment is erased, reminders of those who care about her. Isolation filled with memories of those who had worked alongside her, who had reached hands out towards her that she had all but slapped away. Despair becoming, if only in those moments before the Witch is erased. Hope. "...I'm sorry." Those words echo through the rapidly-disintegrating labyrinth. And the witch's body burns away with the light. Leaving only the glittering gemstone held in a cross that is a Grief Seed. Pure. Ready to absorb someone else's despair. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' "--please let me heal anyone who needs it. Amy-chan needs a lot," Tuxedo Mask murmurs to the evil girl he's clinging to in the sky. 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Riventon hears - or feels - the apology and looks down and murmurs one too. He's sorry he didn't help her enough. He's sorry he didn't change the world enough. He's sorry this happened while he was sick - that he didn't more aggressively try to talk to her, connect to her - he knew she was a Puella Magi that was using Dark Energyu, this could have been a priority.     But she didn't want to make it his problem; she was probably heading for this fate inevitably. Still, it hurts. It hurts to not save her. It hurts to live in a world where he can't save everyone.     "There wasn't anything we could do for her today." Riventon says to Catra. ''Today'' is part of his response because anything he could have done, should have done, would have had to be done earlier. All of these distractions. And real people, they pay the price, don't they?     "At least she can rest now." He says, solemnly. He doesn't make a swing for the grief seed. It's not something he needs; especially now, with no Puella Magi in his divison. He can slay other Witches next time he wants one, this one doesn't need to be held in specific - not while he's sick, and running at such low power, and surrounded. It'd only reveal the extent of what absorbing that Nightmare did to him, if he tried to fight.     "I'm tired of seeing people waste their potential." he says, after a pause, and starts to walk away. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     There are, in the eyes of Hope Concept, two kinds of Grief Seeds: Those with souls, and those without. Those with souls get their souls freed, and become those without. It's not always clear which one she's dealing with at first, and sometimes it can be difficult to check, but none of that is necessary right now.     The goddess saw it with her own eyes.     Hope Concept descends upon the Grief Seed, racing for it, really. Homura flickers into existence right next to it, grabbing it before anyone else can, and offers it up to the object of her affection and, let's be honest, worship.     Madoka takes it from her darling's hands and clasps her own around it, closing her golden glowing eyes as both she and the Grief Seed radiate with a gentle light.     What happens next between Madoka and the saved soul varies from case to case. Sometimes there's a swift sendoff. Sometimes there's review of the soul's life. Sometimes the soul is allowed to bear witness to one event of import. Whatever it is, it's usually a very personal moment, and isn't always shared with others.     For now, Hope Concept keeps it to herself.     However, a new Familiar appears behind her. A benotafraid made of anvils scrap, wielding a mace. "That's not her," explains the Concept, "... but, it felt right, to leave for her a memorial." She closes her eyes, and then holds out the Grief Seed.     Homura takes it from her hands, looks at it, and then looks over to Amy. "One of us should take this. Don't worry. It's not her anymore. Do you need it?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy didn't know her well. She doesn't know if there's anything she could have done. Melona refused to top off from or take offered grief seeds in the past, but that probably wouldn't have made a difference today.     She lands, and looks at Riventon. "Uhh. Hey." It's awkward, but she does need to call out to him; she'll say his name if he doesn't turn around.     Meeting his eyes, she holds out her arm so he can clearly see her soul gem. Already almost a sixth corrupted again even after the purification a moment ago. She pulls the grief seed he gave her from her belt pouch, holds it to her SOUL, and draws the corruption out. Then tosses it back to him. "We're even." (If he wouldn't turn around, she hits him in the back with it. Not thrown hard enough to hurt.)     And then she turns and walks towards Hope Concept, nodding at the memorial, "She's at peace now?" and at Homura, taking the grief seed, looking at it -- another empty shell -- for a moment, and then slipping it into her belt pouch.     Beat.     And then realization flashes across her face. "Oh shoot, I should've had you free the soul before giving that back-- she turns to look back towards Riventon-- 

:'''{{#var:43|New Moon (43)}} has posed:''' "Yes, fine, you can heal her, but then we're leaving. This was depressing. We didn't even get anything nice for Wicked Lady, since all she had in her soul was junk." Pouting, selfish, and unhelpful - yep, that's New Moon! She twirls her hat on a finger, before replacing it on her head with a sigh. "All that, and Dark Energy couldn't even be useful..." 

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''     Riventon turns to look at Amy as she tosses him part of the seed back. Well, that's actually fine with him; he can really only use it for research now, since it can't go to Melona, and it'll hatch again and need to be put back down; but at least hopefully then he won't be sick and it won't be an issue.     "What, you want to free the soul of this one?" He asks, holding up the seed he had just been passed back. "Is that a ceremonial thing or... actual magic?" He asks, looking from Amy to Homura and Hope Concept. "I don't mind either way, really." he says, offering it back once more. He's calmed down a bit now, from the emotional high. Maybe the sadness got to him."     He turns to Catra and opens his mouth - then thinks better of it and instead tells her through Device Telepathy. <<This is what happens when someone lets their inner demons win and doesn't accept help from the people who try to help them.>> he says. Not that Catra and Melona's situations are entirely alike, but maybe this situation can do some good, somewhere. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Concept (33)}} has posed:'''     Hope Concept frets a little when Amy realizes out loud that they hadn't checked for a soul yet before giving the seed to Riventon. However, that fretting fades when the dark scientists says he doesn't care either way.     The goddess floats over to him, and her ridiculous endlessly long hair trails after her. "It's actual magic," she explains, "and it's a core part of my powerset. Not all Grief Seeds contain souls, but the souls who exist within Grief Seeds are often in torment. It's... not that different than a mercy kill, in that way, but even then it's the lesser of two evils."     As she reaches Riventon and the seed, she takes it into her hands for a moment. It glows, and she passes it back to him.     With a frown, she mentions, "I'm not exactly happy about what happened with Gaito, but now isn't the time to settle that. I'll see you around, Riventon."     Then she turns and floats away, towards Homura, with her arms spread wide, and because this isn't the worst cliffhanger ever the raven-haired Puella actually does allow Madoka to carry her away. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra has, lately, been doing so well. And she's just fought a battle to save people, right? She did come here of her own volition. It wasn't her fight. She could have just left. Or at least not risen to the bait from New Moon. Oh, don't worry; she hasn't forgotten about her. And her eyes absolutely blaze as she whirls around, sword in hand as she's about to advance on this newly arrived snotty little upstart pipsqueak bigmouth, when Riventon's telepathy rattles around her in skull, and her resolve just kind of falls falt on her face. Catra's flames go out, and she once again returns her sword t oits scabbard, and her shoulders slump. << Yeah but... I don't have 'inner demons'. I am the demon. I dunno how much longer these 'heroes' are gonna put up with me before they wise up and figure that out. >> And with that, Catra just... oozes dejected as she trudges back in the direction of her motorcycle. 

:'''{{#var:38|Wicked Mask (38)}} has posed:''' "Witches are always depressing," Tuxedo Kamen says, then kisses New Moon on the cheek, warm, uninjured hands resting on her shoulders for a second, and then he jogs over to Amy, taking a glove off. "Pardon me. New Moon's in a little bit of a rush, but... I think Amy you're the only one who really took much of a beating? Everyone else okay?" he asks, holding his hand out to Amy... and not looking at any of the girls, just Riventon, leaving. Then he glances back and sees Catra leaving dejectedly, and he ''still'' hasn't told her about Chibiusa... Well, Usagi has her number. He'll just text. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy is relieved to hear that Riventon won't hold the (possible, it might've been from a Familiar) soul hostage. And she gives an understanding half-smile at his earnest confusion, sympathetic as an atheist woman of science standing next to her god. She nods at Hope Concept's words. "Thank you." To her, and to Riventon. And smiling at Hope Concept and Homura. ''Awwwww.''     And then Tuxedo Mask is at her side. Oh right, she almost forgot she was hurt for a moment there, on account of turning off pain. She turns to face him, and he can see the shrapnel embedded in her side and her leg and the blood soaked into her costume, and the bruises through tears in her bodysuit. Today was not the ''worst'' he's seen her, but it's worse than she comes away from the vast majority of battles.     She looks down at herself and winces, and looks up at him and takes his hand.     She's not sure ''exactly'' what that would cost to heal, maybe even more than one wolf? Probably not two, she ''hopes.'' There's the mental vision of about how much of her soul gem that might be.     Her other thoughts are about the similarities and differences between Melona Mizu's Witch, and her own -- based on what Hinoiri told her, she could fill in the blanks.     The piles of junk her Witch somehow teleported or jumped to spare bodies in; Melona's used for weapons and defenses. The familiars based on Melona's friends vs the familiars based on so many awful stories and the darkness of humanity's imagination mixed up with feelings about women or wanting to be them. (Amy feels that Melona's are more personal and this is better, somehow.) Both of them robots. Amanda feels othered by humanity, and now so many (but not her friends, not Radiant Heart, and not other accepting people) would demonize her if they knew her situation; thus a robotic weapon with a succubus's horns and wings and tail. Melona is also a construct. Did she feel othered? Alienated? Or just that others, like Marie, ''saw'' her as a toy or a ''thing''?     These worrisome thoughts are soothed and softened a bit by that sense of home and Earth and warmthm but they're there. There is a light apologeticness at oversharing but it's a mental link and what just happened is on her mind and unavoidable.     "Thank you." She breathes, and again, there's the mental image of soul gem saved.     She looks at New Moon waiting impatiently behind him. "Good luck." And to her she adds, "And thank you for helping, New Moon." 
}}

2577/CafAmi Belkan Nephko

2025-06-01T14:11:05Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/06/01 |Location=Cafe BAKE Neko |Synopsis=Aloisia meets up with Masato and Ami to introduce themselves and talk a bit about weddings and also o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/06/01
|Location=Cafe BAKE Neko
|Synopsis=Aloisia meets up with Masato and Ami to introduce themselves and talk a bit about weddings and also other things. Like their evil Not-So-Small Lady.
|Cast of Characters=216,90,122
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Harlaown (216)}} has posed:''' A mysterious invitation to meet with someone at the Cafe BAKE Neko had been delivered to Aloisia! ... Okay it wasn't really so mysterious, it was, in fact, something that had likely been a long time coming. What with the whole being a knight sworn to the earth and moon thing. As such, Aloisia had shown up likely early to the requested location, that being Cafe BAKE Neko. Where she was possibly looking incredibly overdressed because she had opted to dress up a little bit more formal, in the form of wearing a relatively nice kind of 'business casual' sort of outfit, with a nice, light, ruffled cerulean long skirt and a comfortable white buttonup shirt with little tiny frogs on it. Paired with that, she was wearing a pair of simple black flats. And, of course, because she was dressed up nicely in the cat cafe. She had several cats around and on her, something which she didn't seem to mind and likely added to the weird 'out-of-place'-ness that she gave off as she sips from a small mug of tea. She was giving the cats giving her attention an equal amount of attention, of course. To not would just be rude. 

:'''{{#var:90|Masato Sanjouin (90)}} has posed:''' The bell rings, and first through the door is a tall man of long, wavy brown hair. Not unlike Aloisia, he is overdressed for the atmosphere. His attire is made of expensive tastes, designer branded silk shirt and pressed dark trousers, and italian leather in matching belt and shoes. Classy watch, sunglasses pushed up over his hairline as he enters. Sapphire eyes take a moment to scan, finding silver hair easily. Well dressed and drowning in cats-- yes, that's definitely her, he thinks. The smile he sets upon handsome features as he moves towards her is a cordial one, a hand still pocketed as somebody smaller follows in behind him. "Aloisia-san?" 

:'''{{#var:122|Ami Mizuno (122)}} has posed:''' Right on the heels of Masato, Ami was close behind. Unlike the other two, however, she was very plainly dressed. A simple beige dress over which she wore an unadorned dark olive cardigan, and a hard-shelled backpack over her shoulders. She wasn't quite dressed for school today, but it seemed a convenient way to carry what she needed. Ami's attention had passed by the menu almost immediately, far less given to seeking anybody out, but ultimately made to follow Masato's gaze to settle upon silver hair. "Do you want a coffee, Masato-kun? I'll order." She smiled at him briefly. "Dark and bitter, right?" She did not understand his taste in hot beverages. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Harlaown (216)}} has posed:''' When the bell rang and someone started to approach her, Aloisia had been looking at the cats at the time -- one of her earrings flashed slightly before Masato approached her, her gaze moving towards him as he approached. She dipped her head into a half-bow towards him. The best she can do without disturbing cat curled up on her lap that was taking a nap there -- of course a black cat that would show up vividly on her skirt -- to greet him in a reasonably respectful manner. "That is me, yes. A pleasure to meet you, I am Aloisia Harlaown." She says, her tone more friendly than formal, though had a kind of reassuring confidence that wherever she was, everything would be okay. "I presume you would be the one who asked to meet, correct? And the young woman with you..?" She says, glancing towards Ami with a friendly smile between the two of them. She was sure she'd been given names in the messages, but frankly, proper introductions were just a good part of decorum. She called him Masato-kun, which implied a certain level of familiarity. So probably another person involved with their group, at least tangentially. "I'm sure the moment you sit down they'll be attracted to you two like magnets as well." She says with an amused laugh. "They seem to enjoy getting fur all over nice outfits." She doesn't seem particularly upset about this, as she scritches one of the cats. 

:'''{{#var:90|Masato Sanjouin (90)}} has posed:''' "Naturally, thank you." Masato answered Ami, before returning his attention to the other. A small chuckle did pass for the fact of the cat fur. "That they do. Menaces to good fashion, the lot of them. Anko seems to delight in watching it." He stood by her table and offered a short bow, formal enough himself, though he did offer a hand as if to shake. "A belated pleasure, I'm sure. Masato Sanjouin." He inclined his head some. "And the ever inquisitive Ami Mizuno has decided to join us. Given Mamoru's initial text mostly consisted of, and I quote, 'you have a new little sister'--" He smiled patiently, "I thought I might introduce Sailor Mercury to the new Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon. She's just back from Germany, herself." 

:'''{{#var:122|Ami Mizuno (122)}} has posed:''' Ami had paused briefly by the counter as they made their way past, a few words exchanged there to get the orders placed and a payment made before she returned to Masato's side. And, of course, Aloisia. Well, she hadn't quite been expecting to be so casually outed to someone she was only ''just'' meeting. This was made all the more obvious by the very sharp snap of attention to the side of Masato's head whereupon Ami looked it over as though something might be peeking out of his ear at her. Then the second half of that sentence caught up to her. ''The new Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon.'' Well, that made a little more sense. "Oh! This is her! Yes, I am both of those!" She laughed a little at herself. "It's lovely to meet you. I quite like cats, so I don't mind." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Harlaown (216)}} has posed:''' "Adorable little menaces, that's for sure. I don't particularly mind it, obviously." Because of course she didn't, the cats were around her, after all. 'A new little sister', huh. Apparently Aloe's family had grown more than she'd realized when she swore to the earth and moon like that. She reaches to take the offered hand, giving it a firm shake. "I believe I saw you off and on in the future, but well. We were... a bit ... busy during then." Busy was an understatement, really. From the way he'd openly said things, she took it as this being a place reasonably safe to talk about magic. Or that he just also didn't care much about secret identities and such. "As he said, I am the Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon, in my tongue, Kristallritter." She reaches her hands up to lightly brush over her earrings. "And these are my partners, Vorhutschwester and Schutzschwester -- Vanguard Sister and Guardian Sister -- who make up my Device, Festungseid, or the Fortress Oath." Providing translations as she introduces them, because even though German and Belkan were fairly similar, they didn't /quite/ translate 1:1. Ami's responses to being outed were watched with some amusement. "Ah, I see, you weren't fully filled in on the reason behind the meeting, I see!" She says amusedly, her light purple eyes twinkling as well. "A pleasure to meet you both, in less ... distracted circumstances, and for the first time in your case." She pauses. "I do admit that while swearing implies a lot, it is half... well, not informal, but it was somewhat to fix a small mistake I made while hopped up on the power of an ancient artifact and removed all noble titles from my bloodline -- which included my knight title." There was a slight bit of embarassment at that admittance. "So while I will, of course, do my absolute best to work alongside all of you as best as I can, we do not have to make a big deal of it in general." 

:'''{{#var:90|Masato Sanjouin (90)}} has posed:''' "Ami-chan knows so much... It's fun to keep her on her toes," Masato winks, and glances aside at the blue haired girl, but nods to the rest. "Great. I prefer to keep things more casual, at least until it's actually time to act on our Oaths..." Masato moved now to settle into a seat, easing into place with a languid air that took his hand across and arching cat. "Formally speaking, I'm Nephrite-- the Knight of Comfort and Intelligence, in service to Prince Endymion. But for a time, that name was... put to other uses." He shrugged a shoulder. "So, perhaps I can empathise with your situation, in some ways. Masato will be fine." 

:'''{{#var:122|Ami Mizuno (122)}} has posed:''' Ami, too, was moving to take a seat now. The backpack was lifted from shoulders and slid down until it rested between her knees, on the floor. There, she could open and search through. Ami had the decency, at least, to look a little flushed for both the compliment and the jestful banter directed her way from Masato. "Well, whatever the reason, we're lucky to have you. Many friends make for light work, or something in that direction." Ami replied pleasantly until she pulled a tiny and portable, but most importantly blue, computer inset with her astrological symbol upon the back. It was flipped open and the senshi began tapping away. "I don't think it really matters what either of you did while you were--" Ami glanced up and pondered for a moment. "''Under the influence?'' You're doing good now, that's the important bit." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Harlaown (216)}} has posed:''' "Aaah, I see, I see. I had someone who I knew who was similar back on Tungeturm." Aloisia responds bemusedly. "The sort that seems to know everything and the rare time you catch them off guard with new knowledge is fun to see their reaction -- and fascination, ja?" She is fully aware she's basically talking about Ami right in front of her, the fairly playfully friendly look given towards Ami making that exceptionally obvious. "Comfort and Intelligence are certainly some interesting titles. One frequently associates comfort with empathy and similar... sometime you might need to tell me how that particular combo came about -- if there is a story to it, at least. Assuming it is not too personal of a story." The talk of 'her situation' gets a very slight pause. The friendly confidence had the very slight break at the mention of it, that complicated mix of trying to keep that friendliness and a guilt that plainly crossed her face, if only for a few moments before she pushed those thoughts away. "It was ... definitely a situation, that is for sure. Go figure that the method of activating a belkan artifact is to destroy it. I understand Chrono's response to the ridiculous to my ancient ancestors and the ... troublesome ... artifacts they left behind quite keenly now." Ami's input gets a soft chuckle. "Yes, I was asked to assist with the wedding security in particular which I am certain extra hands would be good for. Not that I forsee many things to be foolish enough to cause trouble at a wedding that will no doubt have a gathering of most of the magical people within tokyo." The thought of what would happen if something /was/ that foolish did sound moderately entertaining though. "There was also talk of me possibly being able to act as a neutral mediator being not particularly aligned with either earth or moon should the knights and senshi have squabbles, but from what I've seen such a thing would be largely unnecessary, though I have been rather busy with some ... other issues as well. One of my other friends who is..." Under the influence. Ah, if only it had just been that, and not more. Well, whatever. "Under the influence, as you put it. Though in her case it's more possession than mere dark energy, but regardless it is a very unfortunate situation." One she hadn't been there to try to mitigate at the start, unfortunately. 

:'''{{#var:90|Masato Sanjouin (90)}} has posed:''' A faint smile suggests he will tell that story, if she'd like. The better parts of it, anyway. But at the mention of the unfortunate news, a silent 'ah' leaves him. "Yes, I know Rashmi's had some troubles in that direction... It's not an easy position." He doesn't push or pry into it, just now. He's had his recent worries, within their circle, of certain temptations and tests-- and Nemesis certainly had ''tested'' people. He understands well enough the anxiety of a dear friend wilting into the siren song of dark energies, or old habits. "You're right, though. The wedding is going to be all hands on deck. I've been co-ordinating a few other things, to do with the wedding... mostly working with Mamoru to ensure things are ready when certain guests arrive. Especially the bride." And, that they don't escape again. Sapphire gaze passes to Ami, next. "Between Wicked Lady and New Moon, we haven't stopped since we returned. Mamoru and I caught some of the worst, in Crystal Tokyo... You know we had to fight a dragon, after those bastards tormented the small Princess? Mako-chan told me I'm allowed to brag about that." 

:'''{{#var:122|Ami Mizuno (122)}} has posed:''' "You fought a dragon?" Ami was distracted away from her tapping by that in particular. "No. You didn't tell me ''that'', Masato-kun." She furrowed her brows a little. While it might have seemed, on the surface, that she was completely absorbed in whatever she had been doing, Ami was paying attention to the conversation quite well. Sapphirine gaze drew itself over the Shitennou slowly. "And ''worst'' is also a very pointed choice of wording, given the dragon." Ami noted. "You seem to have come back all in one piece, at least." This was followed by a wistful kind of sigh. "To have missed a trip to the future, of all places. I'd almost be kicking myself if it weren't for the finer details that keep popping up." What with the whole apocalypse and zombie-robot-people. "I'll also be helping with the wedding a little." Ami smiled in Aloisia's direction. "Many friends and light work again, I guess. Plus, Mamoru-kun had enough sense to get some extra help with ''planning'' before he decided to go and frost his tips pink." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Harlaown (216)}} has posed:''' The mention of Rashmi gets a very slight nod. "Yes. That same problem is the one I am talking of, unfortunately... well, it's not the only thing on Rashmi's plate. The young woman has many, many things on her plate, I sometimes worry how she keeps it together so well." Probably with a lot of Chrono time. Yes. That's what she's going to assume. ... Maybe she should bring Rashmi a snack later. As the topic turns to security and the wedding, she adds. "I'm particularly skilled in barriers and shield spells, and I had already planned on erecting such a thing once all of the guests had arrived, if you can think of any parts of your plans that such barriers could be of good use for. I can have Festungseid send over a general idea of my capabilities later, though I believe you saw some of them to a minor degree during that torment." Unfortunately she hadn't managed to harm Esmeraude, but whatever. "...Regrettably, in spite of chasing after them almost immediately, I am ... not necessarily particularly quick most of the time, especially since I was still adjusting to the new form of my Device." She was a bit faster now that she'd realized she can just surf her rocket lance but that's beside the point. "It's... yeah. It's been pretty non-stop since being saved from being Prinzessin Nichts and that whole incident. Swearing to the bride and groom... the situation with the future and New Moon and/or Wicked Lady... and then there is Seriss Nyx -- the demon possessing Rashmi and I's friend -- and other ongoing issues. We might need to do another update on the Shed's bulletin board just to keep everything going on straight." You seem to have come back all in one piece, at least. "Well... save for the little Lady and Sailor Moon." She says at that comment. "...I have been somewhat mildly out of the loop, please tell me we have an idea of their wereabouts now?" Yeah, she's been REALLY out of the loop since half the time she's been catching up on studies (Being possessed for several months is strongly not recommended!) and the Seriss Nyx stuff, plus learning and practicing with a new device... well. She was a busy lady, in spite of how relatively relaxed and calm she seemed at the moment. "I was largely brought on for the security segment of the wedding, though if you need help with decorations I am capable of flight and am quite sturdy should anything heavy need moving." She somewhat playfully flexes. Whatever muscles may have been revealed by that flex are largely hidden by the relatively loose long sleeves though. Whoops. 

:'''{{#var:90|Masato Sanjouin (90)}} has posed:''' "The typical fare for the Wedding planning is mostly covered, though there will be a few odd additions now. Minako-chan probably could use some extra help decorating, but Zoisite should at least assist with the flowers... Koji-kun may want to do something specific with the tables. I'll need to speak with him anyway..." Masato muses quietly for a moment, politely waiting as a server brings their drinks, and he plucks up his dark coffee when they're gone. "Mako-chan may have to make an entire second cake for Wicked Lady now." His mouth ticks, and he waves it away. He needs to explain. "Right. When the Black Moon Clan attacked, the Royals ran headlong into an ambush of a kind. Chibiusa-chan has been turned into Wicked Lady... and she has taken control of the clan, for the most part. She's keeping her mother safe, and Mamoru's been well assured of that fact." After taking a sip, Masato sighed some. "She and New Moon have no intention to harm either of her parents. She's intending for the wedding to go forwards, in fact, albiet with Wicked Lady as the guest of honour-- complete with her own throne. So, while keeping Demande and his lot out... we'll need to be ready to deal with those two. The current plan is a forceful purification by the wedding party, once we have Usagi-san." 

:'''{{#var:122|Ami Mizuno (122)}} has posed:''' Likewise, Ami received a drink as well. A sweetened and creamy cappuccino. Pretty much the exact opposite to Masato's. "So, as it turns out, yes. Your barriers could actually be quite useful in keeping Wicked Lady conveniently throne-bound." Ami agreed quite calmly. "Though, if you could get me the information about capabilities, it'll make projections in that direction a little more comprehensive." Ami tapped a few more strokes out before glancing up fully from the device, attention settling on Aloisia again with a grimace. "Oh. If you happen to see Mamoru-kun getting about in a black, hand-painted yukata with a badly doodled crescent on his forehead. He's not ''actually'' evil, he's just pretending." Ami explained. "He also mentioned earlier that he wouldn't be able to help us in anything directly involving Wicked Lady or New Moon, but could with other problems. He has to at least keep up the placations with them. Its important, he's trying to make sure Wicked Lady doesn't do anything she'll regret later." She turned the small computer toward Aloisia, who would see herself noted along some various numbers and general data-like bits. Ami had been taking their conversational time to include the Belkan in the supercomputer's recognition. Ami smiled. "There we go! That way I can keep track of where you are." The senshi had the courtesy to realise that sounded a little ''stalkerish''. "Just in case you're in trouble and for coordination and what not." She flustered and sipped at her own coffee. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Harlaown (216)}} has posed:''' "Hm. So perhaps I shall meet up with those three then. I have not visited Koji much since he gave me platinklinge shortly after my own Incident." Aloisia muses to herself. She's not going to particularly helpful with making a new cake, but meeting up with Mako at some point is a good idea as well -- if nothing else for magical networking purposes. Aaaand then he starts to explain the situation. "Up until the ambush I was somewhat up to speed on -- I chased after them, but by the time I arrived at the location of the ambush, they had already been gone, regrettably." There was a look of moderate frustration on her lips at that. The talk of Chibiusa being turned into Wicked Lady, and that Usagi is safe gets a somewhat mixed look on her face though. Usagi is safe -- that's good. But that was /another/ ... friend? Acquaintance? ... That was currently under the control of dark forces. "I wish dark forces would cease stealing our numbers. I rather prefer to have my friends by my side." Aloisia mutters. "With some support, I'm sure that between myself, Rashmi, and likely others, we can likely erect something sturdy to keep out Demande and his lot." Pause. "Unfortunately, purification is not within the Belkan spell repertoire, so I cannot help much with that." Or Wicked Lady in. That's an option too. Hmm. "Well, I'll keep that in mind, but I'd rather not use it unless necessary." Antagonizing her sounds like a bad idea, not that she hadn't been doing other bad ideas when they encountered Seriss Nyx. Not that they had /that/ much choice in the matter. That demon really loved unleashing waves of barrets on them. "My devices should link up with your phone and laptop momentarily to arrange communications. I can have the general specs sent over once we've set up a secure communication method so you can have a better idea, but a good summary is that I am a shield and barrier specialist, as well as using alchemy spells -- the act of summoning physical objects with magic, in Device terms -- to create physical structures to reinforce them. I could send you the basic spell formulae too, though I wouldn't be surprised if they would be unhelpful for you beyond a moderate entertainment perhaps." It's hard to do Device magic without a Device, after all. ...And then she explains about Mamoru and she looks more bemused than anything. "I see, so I shall have to make sure I only play with him, rather than fight him seriously. Good to know." Somehow she feels like it would have been obvious with how he'd fight, but well. The heat of battle can dull senses for non-fighting-related things. Like noticing the black moon is just drawn on. "Frankly, unless necessary, I think I shall avoid direct confrontations with either of them unless there is a plan in place. It seems like damage mitigation is the name of the game at the moment." The keeping track of where they are. Hm. Aaaand she was being tracked where she was. She pauses. "If I disappear off of that, just assume I am fighting and not in trouble unless I specifically ask for assistance. Just in case it cannot penetrate Barriers." Which is probably likely. Regardless, she does, finally, stand, making the cat that had been napping on her lap make a little protest. "It was, again, a pleasure to meet you both. I look forward to seeing you more in the future -- perhaps for sparring as well." She says warmly. "I will make sure to send over that information when I have it put together, and link up with you regarding the wedding as well. It is time for me to go to one of my part time jobs." Being a literal space alien is hard sometimes. 
}}

2477/The Fortress Oath.

2025-04-17T05:39:36Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/04/17 |Location=The Shed |Synopsis=Rashmi calls Aloisia to hand over her new Devices, with Koji there to help assist in testing and Chiyo ther..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/04/17
|Location=The Shed
|Synopsis=Rashmi calls Aloisia to hand over her new Devices, with Koji there to help assist in testing and Chiyo there for the hot gossip about this 'new' knight!
|Cast of Characters=216,41,57,61
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' An invitation to meet at the Shed. A relatively vague one from Rashmi, saying that she had something of hers? Well, Aloisia wasn't one to turn down a mysterious invitation even if it /wasn't/ one of her closest friends on this planet, so Aloisia barely hesitated on making her way to the Shed. ...There was very slight hesitation. Mostly just to get changed out of her school uniform into a relatively nice casual green dress that had a few little frogs sitting at the bottom edge of the dress, sitting on lilypads, the upper half of the dress becoming a night sky. ...Yeah Aloisia has really ended up just leaning into the slight frog theme she'd ended up with when shopping for green-and-blue things for her room. This, along with a pair of relatively nice wedge sandals is what she's wearing when she walks into the Shed. Yep. The absolute model of a noble knight right there. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' << TXT to ALOISIA -- Hey Alo-chan! I have something of yours, can you meet me in the Shed? >> That was more or less the entire text of the message in question, after which Rashmi hopped off her bed, and slung her bookbag over her shoulder. "Hey Chiyo-chan," she said to her present roommate. "I'm about to do some casual weapons smuggling, wanna come with?" *Someone* must be in a good mood, if they're talking about casually breaking *extremely grave* laws. But, the mahou ife has its own realities, and as she waited for Chiyo's answer, she sent off a quick message to Koji, via Hanzo. << TXT to HANZO -- Hey, Koji-kun! How'd you like to get some combat readings in a brand new Belkan-style Device? And then we can talk Hanzo? Meet us at the Shed! >> She talks as if it's a fait accompli that Koji will join people, voluntarily. Because it is. He will. He may be *sour* about it, but sometimes? *Everyone* likes to be included. 

:'''{{#var:57|Chiyo Sakai (57)}} has posed:''' Chiyo Sakai had been laying on her bed reading when Rashmi jumps up drawing her attention away from the textbook with a single raised eyebrow. At least Rashmi's good at filling her in on what was going on, even if the breif explanation just raises the other eyebrow with it. The briefest glance is given toward the history book she was reading. Then it's tossed back to the bed with a shrug as she rolls off to her feet. "I'm in. Reshbal would bug me to death if he didn't find out what that's about, anyway. He hasn't had any juicy gossip in ages." Just in case she snags her bag slinging it over her shoulder before she slips into her shoes preparing to follow. She was in casual, relaxed clothes of a skirt, a light jacket over her blouse (it was still chilly out!) and just some regular canvas shoes. Nothing at all that would scream 'mahou'. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:'''     Slooowly...     Sloooooooly...     A slightly shaky hand with a set of tweezers with a little Gundam visor sticker over a painted head.     SLOOOOOOOWLY...      <<MESSAGE FOR YOU MASTER.>> The word Koji emit is indelicate, indistinct, and missed as the sticker is crooked! Not like really crooked but 'You know and you think everyone will know too' crooked. Sitting up from his cooking/model station and the magnifying glass, he looks over at Hanzo, and the message from Rashmi is displayed. His shoulders just slump a moment, and he just moves the current model up on a shelf in the closet, and then digs into his Snacktuary for some extras he stashes into his Device.     << On my Way. >> Cut to him meeting Rashmi and Chiyo, and following along from behind in his school athletic uniform, zipped up and hands in his pockets. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "...Huh. Nobody else is here yet." Aloisia comments absently as she looks around the Shed. "I guess I rushed here too quickly." Mmmmm.... MMMMMMMM.... ... Whelp. When they arrive at the shed, Aloisia has tied up her already-tied-up silver hair into a handkerchief to protect it, and gotten out the cleaning supplies, wearing a somehow-procured apron and having started cleaning and dusting the Shed. Just because, well, if she's waiting /anyway/ she might as well get some of the cleaning out of the way. She's sure that there's some sort of cleaning schedule for people to go off of, but nobody is going to complain about not having to clean too much on their next cleaning duty, right? Don't mind the absent, slightly off-tune humming as you enter the shed today. It's just a knight cleaning. Yep. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Koji is met with delight, as if it *wasn't* a fait accompli that he'd join. Because after all, he might have had something he'd really rather do! But he's here now, and the sight of her other friend boosts the redhead's spirits immensely. If it were any other day, she might be keeping up a constant stream of chatter on the way to the Shed, but this time? The only question worth asking is 'Okay what was that about?' and it's not really an explanation she wants to give twice. Thus, she bops along to the edge of the woods in pleased silence, friends in tow, and opens the door for them to precede her into what is objectively the second-coolest Secret Base currently in existence, and the first among the ones she knows about. "Alo-cha--" As she enters, she pauses, blinking rapidly. "...Alo-chan you're cleaning? The place needs cleaning?" She opens her mouth to ask another question, but then a horrible thought occurs. "Who's been cleaning it until now?!" Either she needs to find the rota and get herself on it, or find out *who* has been keeping the place only slightly-disheveled, and apologize dearly. Shaking her head, she steps in and shuts the door behind her. "Anyway uh... Alo-chan I asked you here because I was gonna just knock on your door, but then I remembered the dorm ceilings are a lot lower than here, and, well, holes. So..." 

:'''{{#var:57|Chiyo Sakai (57)}} has posed:''' Chiyo Sakai flashes Koji an easy grin when he joins them. It had been a bit since she'd seen him out and about when it wasn't a fight of some sort. "Hey Koji. Been good?" It's a simple question but one she genuinely means as she hopes he's been having a decent time of things. Her own was... Not something she'd been talking about a whole lot lately. As Rashmi opens the door to the Shed she follows in stepping to the side. The plum-haired girl blinks at the unfamiliar face of Aloisia only a moment. Unfamiliar perhaps, but if she was in here it wasn't a huge leap of logic that they were on the 'same side' as it were. A glance is cast toward Rashmi with amusement. "I mean, I tidy up a little in here when I'm moving things around, but otherwise it kind of... Seems to be okay on it's own?" Mostly. To Aloisia she offers a smile. "Hi, I'm Chiyo Sakai." 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Koji does that guy thing of blowing out a breath and looking to the side as he cups his hands behind the back of his head while walking along, "Hey Chiyo. Getting along. Tell Ojii-san that my dad loves the guava mochi." But then he adds, "I've got a solo dormroom at least for the rest of the school year. It's fun. You should come by... Hanzo's almost done with reprocessing Godzilla. It's going to be epic." Out of nowhere, a wrapped onigiri comes out, and he tosses it into Chiyo's hands, "Here... Cod Roe and Bonito flakes for him." Last to enter, he has his phone in his hand not for any bad reasons, just out of habit for the space to change out, "Hey Aloisia. You still owe me some practice, you know. I need some more sword versus knife training." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' It's moments after the others that arrive, that Aloisia has her hair back untied from that handkerchief, folded back up, and slipped back into a pocket (Yes, the dress has pockets.) and back to her normal more put-together appearance. "I had time while I was waiting since I live on the campus, so I figured I might as well dust it and tidy up a bit." Pause. "It wasn't very dirty, mind you. Just a little dusty. ...As I am newly on the side of light, I wouldn't be the one to ask who's been cleaning it though. I'm sure someone has though, with how generally clean it is. Maybe there's a janitor?" She muses out loud. Talk about the dorm ceilings being lower than here, and holes. Hm. "Hole-- oh. OH. Are they done?" Her purple eyes light up as she starts putting two and three together. And others were there now, too. One she recognized -- one she did not. To Chiyo, she dips into a proper bow towards her, the ever so slight flourish as she introduces herself to her, "I am Aloisia, the Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon." She introduces herself, just the slightest bit of pride in her voice as she says that. Sword versus knife training. "Hello Koji! Of course, we'll have to do that sometime soon, before the poor Device gives out." She says, giving a soft laugh. ... Poor Platinklinge. It was not designed for use by a Knight like her. "...Speaking of, I might need to turn over Platinklinge for some proper maintenance before that, though." Pause. "Oh wait, before you had talked about doing it with training weaponry, rather than real weaponry." Ha ha ha ha~. She's already moving the tables and desks towards the edge of the shed for more space in anticipation. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "Crystal Kni-- Oh wow so you talked to *both* of them!" Rashmi says with a pleased laugh. "Well okay then! That makes this even better!" Stepping to one side and away from her friends -- mostly so they don't catch the glare -- She henshins in a flash of golden light, and collects Nicomachea from his place above her shoulder. Nodding as the desks are moved to the wall, she tilts her head. "...And this'll give me the chance to give Platinklinge the maintenance he probably needs... anyway! Alo-chan, if you'd like to change into your armor, I need to make some introductions. The sisters are... well, you'll want to get reacquainted all over again." "Chiyo-chan, Reshbal, quick explanation; Alo-chan *was* on Obsidian's side, but that was mostly because a lot of lies on her forebear's behalf, and mistakes in her education. Then there was a *big* surprise oops, and-- well things got pretty bad for Alo-chan for awhile, but her Devices came off worst from it, and I've been rebuilding them." She turns back to Aloisia, and smiles gently. "And, yes, I'm finished." 

:'''{{#var:57|Chiyo Sakai (57)}} has posed:''' Chiyo Sakai catches the riceball tossed her way with a grin. "Ah, Bonito will love it," she assures him while her attention shifts to her bag to tuck it away for now. "I'll give it to him when he shows up tonight." He usually did come back to the dorm to sleep at least, even if most of his time these days were spent wandering or hanging out at the cat cafe with the other cats. Free food, pets, and kittens. She'd probably do the same if she were a cat mascot. Attention shifting back to Aloisia as she bows, she too dips down to bow in turn. It wasn't that she was being rude when first introducing herself, it was just rare that many people used that introduction anymore. She follows suit quickly. "I'm the Ginga Hanma," she offers in turn only to ... pause. "Ah? Earth and the Moon?" Why did that sound familiar? A glance is cast toward Rashmi with eyebrows drawing together suspiciously. "Both of them...?" A single deep breath is drawn in before her eyes widen again at a thought. A realization. "Wait wait, do you mean Endymion and Serenity? Mamoru and Usagi?" 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Giving a faint shrug of surprise, the boy in residence says, "I didn't know she was that kind of Knight, or that you're with the Ginga crew. Congratulations. Do you have one of those cool little mecha like Samekh?" Hanzo vanishes, and weirdly... there was a henshin, but then Koji's back in his athletic clothes... like it's just a useless flash of light. Hands in his pockets, he wanders forward a bit and adjusts his glasses to take a look, "So, just a warning Aloisia... we're coming up on the worst time of year for students here. It's Mid-terms Season. Pretty soon we're all going to be eaten up with studying and prepping for tests. BUT... after, in July, we get a break. Which means that a lot of students will be going home to family, or going on trips. There's a lot of Japan to see... and I bet there's something you'd enjoy. Beaches... Mountains... there's an island with a LOT of cats on it..." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Yes, I texted Usagi and Mamoru apparently happened to be there as well, so... I did get to talk to both of them. And they showed me a wondrous sight before the re-swearing to restore my Knighthood." Aloisia says, her gaze going out the window in a kind of fond, thoughtful way. It had been a relatively short moment with the two -- but clearly something that had left a good impression on her. The golden flash of light draws her gaze back over towards Rashmi afterwards, and she gives a bit of an awkward laugh at the mention of maintenance of Platinklinge. "I"ve been doing what I can for him after each fight, I've had to do a lot of replacements. He was not designed with plasma in mind." She says softly, pulling out that Device, restoring it to its full form -- it LOOKED like it was in excellent condition, the blade and outer housings of all of its components in good condition. ... Opening it, however, would tell a different story of burnt out connections and damaged magical circuits. It's not damaged beyond repair --but definitely beyond what the more basic maintenance Aloisia is capable of performing. She activates her Knight Armor -- a relatively basic affair just activating over her dress, more than a true Knight Armor, before setting the silver zweihander on the desk nearby Rashmi. "'Mistakes' in my education is an understatement. I would equate it closer to moderately unsuccessful brainwashing, myself." Aloisia says, her tone moderately bitter at that. "Luckily, that is over now, and those connections severed." She pauses as she looks towards Chiyo with a soft smile. "Yes-- my time on this planet has been short, but I have fallen in love with it, if I'm completely honest. And..." She pauses. "I uh. I magically severed the noble titles of the Karstein-Steiner line -- which I was technically a part of, while empowered by a Lost Logia." She pauses. "It... well. It was more or less... ceremonial, but it felt wrong not to be a sworn knight anymore, and Rashmi recommended Usagi as a good option to renew my oath of protection." Ahem. "So. Yes. I am technically sworn to them, though more to the earth and moon's protection itself. Not that I've been /particularly/ effective recently, without my partners." Hanzo and Koji are in their regular athletic clothes! And warning her about midterms. "Hah, I fear no studying!" Pause. "...Mostly because I experienced this last year while attending. I have been maintaining mostly reasonable grades, bearing in mind the whole 'being MIA for three months' thing." ... yeah that dipped her grades a bit, even if they'd mitigated it a fair bit for her. It was just a lot to catch up on. "..." "I will have to visit this island of cats." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Koji being in his 'athletic clothes' earns him an amused look from Rashmi, a smile of the whole 'hey if that's how you wanna do, you do you' variety. And when Platinklinge comes out, Rashmi is already frowning just a bit in worry... And when she steps over to open an unseen panel on the zweihander, and a curl of smoke comes out... she closes her eyes, slowly closes the panel, and takes a deep breath. "...Okay yeah Platinklinge gets a spa week," she declares gravely, and just... slides the *entire sword* into Nicomachea's gem, then looks up at Aloisia gravely. "I'd give you a lecture on how to properly care for your Device," she begins, "but you're right... you're just too much for him, really. So... allow me to introduce." The great red crystal on the book's cover is tapped again, and it's only Rashmi's Barrier Jacket-enhanced strength that allows her to pull out... It *looks* like a shield, sort of. Two huge, thickly technological metal points extend up and down, surrounding a large, spherical green crystal. Detailing on the mechanical portions of the shield suggest wings, but there is *zero doubt* that the primary function of this Device is to stop anything it gets in the way of.     "Vorhutschwester." Then she repeats the motion, but now the reason for meeting in the Shed is understandable; the lance is *long,* easily eight feet of sleek metal and crystals; its guard is an angular four-pointed star sweeping back from the lance's haft, and the business end is split halfway down the middle, with two vicious-looking blades forming the lance's point... a point which could easily be confused for some kind of railgun.     "Schutzschwester." Stepping back, she gestures with her free hand, from Aloisia to her armaments. "Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon... I give to you, Festungseid. May they serve you well." 

:'''{{#var:57|Chiyo Sakai (57)}} has posed:''' Oh, oh this is NEWS. Not only does Chiyo grin in a broad, almost gleeful way as she learns this particular tidbit, but her left eye suddenly glows a bright red instead of the natural pink hue of her irises. Just the one eye though, not both. "Ha! My cousin is knighting people now? That's great!" She was so going to use this to her advantage somehow. Mostly by teasing them. A light bounce on the balls of her feet come as she turns her gaze over toward Koji flashing her teeth in another grin. "After I lost my powers as a Culinary Guardian, they invited me to join them. My partner is Reshbal, the twin to Takuto's Cybody. Although his powers are different." It's as she mentions powers that the glow in her eye fades back to normal. "I heard there's a training ground that was put in here awhile ago that can adjust for those who use it. Might want to use that." After the breif explanation on her own part she falls silent. Rashmi's appearing of the weapons was most interesting after all. She'd seen devices before, sure, but none like these. It was mostly Rashmi's and Koji's. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' The reveal makes Koji take a step back, and well... when you have a knife on a rope... even if it's a magical one, the comparison is pretty impressive. Enough that he gives a low whistle, and then a nod, "I'm almost worried if I scan them, one'll cut me and the other will just shut me down." Moving back, he settles next to Chiyo, and for a moment just grins, giving Aloisia her moment, but he does end up saying quietly to Chiyo, "I was serious about the coming by. I know I kinda... turn into turtle if I'm not careful. Been trying to get into some hobbies. Normal stuff. I started making gunpla again. Admittedly..." He chuckles some, "It started as a joke. I asked Sugata-sama if he would let me see Samekh sometime, and I wanted to do a thing with him... pose-fighting with the models. I know it's silly, but I thought it was cool. I guess I didn't feel like I could do that kind of stuff with Mamoru around." He stops as he's babbling a little, but then gets to the point, "So... you wanna try take two on the whole friend thing? No promises... but you haven't lived until you've been inside a movie." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "I have done what I could to care for him -- but the level of repairs he requires are beyond my skills." Aloisia says, her tone actually a bit sad at that -- poor Platinklinge. She truly did the best she could for him and it shows, but it's also clear it reached a point where she was unwilling to do more, lest she cause more harm than good. Platinklinge held up remarkably well in spite of all of that, though, for being basically the most basic form of device possible, as a Magic Sword rather than even a proper Armed Device. And the twin devices are pulled out, first, Vorhutschwester, that familiar emerald crystal surrounded by that beautiful device. And out comes the lance that once was her Indomitable Sister. She who knew not defeat. Her hands gently trace over both devices, undoubtedly changed, but restored. She closes her eyes, gently lifting both devices, her forehead lightly pressing against the crystals that were their cores. And she is absolutely silent for a long moment, even while others talk around her. <TRANEN STEHEN DIR> <NICHTS, PRINZESSIN.> The twin devices ping, and Aloisia gives a soft chuckle. "It is good to see you two, as well." She says, shifting to hold that shield and lance more properly. Things may still need an adjustment, but that familiar weight of the shield in her hand felt perfect, and even the weight of that lance felt perfect, though ... different. And the ripple of her true barrier jacket -- changed, much like those devices, though still heavily reminiscent of that armored dress she used to wear. "Phew." She says softly, exhaling. "Platinklinge's armor was functional, it worked, but it feels nice to have this familiar armor back." Her eyes finally open as she looks towards Chiyo. "I apologize, I was not ignoring you, simply... greeting my dear sisters." Her smile is a little bittersweet now, but still joyous. "I do believe that's a good idea, to use that training ground that is." She pauses. "The Ginga group are solid friends -- a good group to be with, they were there every step of the way of my recovery, from what I understand of ... admittedly jumbled memories." Koji gets a slightly more playful smile, "And it would be the shield that would cut you, of course. Vorhutschwester is still as feisty as she was as the Unstoppable Sister." She says bemusedly. There is a slight shift of that lance, the tip of it splitting open and a crystal sliding out briefly, before sliding back into place with a ka-chunk and series of clicks. "Mm. And the usual surprises for the Schlossknacker is there, I see. If somewhat different. Excellent." There is a pause, and then a serious look to her face. "This shall make Seriss Nyx regret always hiding behind that shield of hers." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "Ordinarily I'd agree," Rashmi says, nodding at Chiyo's offer of the use of the range. "But the Zone is... well, *built* so that every shot goes completely on target. And I'm gonna need to see if they need any kind of adjustments in their alignment." She falls silent for a moment, looking between all three, and flushes. "...I mean look they're the *second* Device -- and third, technically -- I've *ever built,* and Alo-chan deserves the absolute best. So... I called in Koji-kun, to do what the Zone can't; give me numbers I can work with, without translating Entrapta-chan's chain of logic first." With that, she takes in a deep breath, and grins at Chiyo. "He's not wrong, you know... Nicomachea makes a fantastic movie screen, sure, but Hanzo? Let's just say that 'VR cinema' *absolutely* deserves to be its own category of art, once we figure out how to manage it for Earth people. And the knighting thing, I mean... It was either Usa-chan, or one of like half a dozen mermaids that leapt immediately to mind." At which point, she tips her head back to indicate Aloisia in her Knight Armor, grinning. "Doesn't really *look* like the type for underwater mobility, y'know? So whaddaya say, everyone? Who wants to step outside, Barrier up, and put the Knight through some paces?" 

:'''{{#var:57|Chiyo Sakai (57)}} has posed:''' Chiyo Sakai watches as Aloisia reconnects with the devices both curious and perhaps a bit understanding of the silence that ensues. Having Reshbal, who could speak inside her head when he wished, was equally as distracting at times. It was kind of nice to have him there though when he wasn't whispering secrets of those around her at least. She wasn't alone. "It's quite all right. I understand," she assures to Aloisia with a dip of her head in her direction. Then her attention shifts to Koji with a soft smile. "I'd like that. And Ojiisan wouldn't mind seeing you around more again too, I'm sure." Chuckling she adds, "You ought to meet Taro-kun as well. He helps out at the store. Practically family now." There was another she would have introduced him to, but here she falters before shifting her weight to one foot. "I'd like to catch up Koji, yeah." Looking to Rashmi, and Aloisia again she inclines her head to the pair. "I get the need to test things out. And for only being your second attempt, Rashmi, this is *amazing*," she points out with a gesture toward Aloisia's new.. old? Weapons. "So do whatever you need to test. I haven't tried the range out myself yet." Looking around she sighs quietly, "I should get going on patrol though. I'm keeping an eye out for a certain knight of my own. But let me know how it goes!" 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:'''     "Stay safe out there, Chiyo. If you want anything post-patrol, my window's always open!" Giving the Ginga a ganbatte fistpump, he pushes of his spot and heads towards the doorway, "And I'll try and make sure to stop by the shop soon... and meet... Taro? Taro." But as he holds the door to allow her to leave, there's that slightly pensive look, just for a moment, before the reflection passes over his glasses, and it fades. Then to Alo and Rashmi he gives a little smile and pushes them back up in line with his eyes, "So... before we begin, this isn't going to be a bout between you and me, Aloisia Stauss. You're going to learn a little bit more about how my magic works than most." And he slips outside... to wait... 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Ah, the zone makes it so that shots go completely on target and designed by others. Aloisia gives a simple nod towards Rashmi. "I understand -- that is good for output testing, not good for alignment and effectiveness testing." Aloisia responds to Rashmi. "...We perhaps should see about getting alternate modes into it, utilizing Intelligent Device simulation technology would likely allow for a more comprehensive combat simulation as needed." Aloisia muses out loud. Chiyo is listened to quietly, before she says softly, "It is amazing. You should have seen the state they were in before... they gave everything to help ensure that I would survive the ordeal." She looks down at her devices. And then the talk of going on patrol and keeping an eye out for a certain knight. She flashes a slightly playful grin towards Chiyo, "Hm hm! I see, I do hope your hunt for your knight goes quite well. I'm sure this will go well, but knowing Rashmi..." She glances towards Nichomachea. "There shall be a full recording for you to peruse later." That tone is ever so slightly teasing. "..." Koji gets a slight look as she moves to step out of the Shed. "It's just Aloisia now. Stauss isn't a name I claim anymore." She says softly. It's not an angry response, just a gentle correction. She glances down at her twin devices, which were shifting and moving slightly, pieces of both moving around in place as she puts the devices through various little tests of her own pre-test. "Shall I deploy the barrier, or do you intend to so you have more control of the flow of information, Rashmi?" 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Hanzo's theatrics draw out an exasperated chuckle from Rashmi, but as Chiyo mentions finding her own Knight on patrol, her smile slips... And she closes her eyes for a moment, letting a sigh out through her nose. "...Four," she mutters, then shakes off the gloom to grin and wave her roommate out. Turning to Aloisia, the redhead chuckles. "Look *I* can't help it if Nicomachea is purpose-built too. And yeah, let me handle Barrier duties for this. Partly for the background readings, but mostly because *everything that comes out of your Device has to be analyzable.* And that's harder to do when I'm filtering out Barrier frequencies from every spell you cast. So!" Waving ALoisia after Koji, she follows the Knight out, finds Koji, then nods, waiting a few moments for Chiyo to get well clear.     << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >> Inside a bubble at least half a kilometer in diameter, the world is now painted in warm tones by a staticky-golden sky. In the center of the bubble, Rashmi takes a deep breath, turns to Koji, and nods. "Okay, Koji-kun! Impress her." 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:'''     "Impress her? How about this..."     << PHANTOM ZONE - CINEMA. >> For a half-second the world around the three is completely black, even under their feet. The sensation of ground is there, but it is like standing in a blackout in the middle of winter in a field... there's no sound, there's no light, nothing... However, that moment passes and like a cloche being raised from a meal to reveal the first sight and smell of food, the darkness vanishes to reveal an entirely new place. It's a quarry-like valley with high stone walls that end up being a natural channel towards a timeworn castle keep with a thick wall that stands between it and anything that might charge it. A large place, almost a small city rising above it on the rightside, with some towers around the stacked stone edifice, and going up to what looks like a castle that is slowly succumbing to time. To the left the wall stretches, blocking off an area between it and a sheer mountain face. It's mid-day as far as the sun shows, a chill wind picking up and coming from the open end. For Rashmi, it's immediate recognition. It's Helm's Deep from the Two Towers movie of the Lord of the Rings. The air smells like the end of winter, and there's a rustle in some old banners hanging in place on the castle for the Rohirrim.     "Unfortunately, Hanzo can't do the people who should be here now... but I thought, given your Devices... this might be a good place to help you enjoy the return of your friends, Aloisia. Are you ready to see what you can do?"     << PHANTOM - CLONE >> For a moment, a half-dozen hexagonal shields appear about 20 meters away... but then the same black-effect covers them, resolving into... tall, bestial male creatures, with almost piggish and deformed faces, scraggly hair, mis-shapen armor that has white handprints on it, and swords that are little more than chopping blades with a point on their back. Yes... this is Helm's Deep, so he made Uruk-Hai. They all bellow, spittle shooting from tusks mouths, and proceed to beat on their shields and ready for battle! 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "And an excellent purpose it is, being a true support device." Aloisia says with a simple nod. "Those that choose to use those are rare and always have a great effect on whatever battlefield they stand on." A soft exhale as she looks at the twin devices, adjusting things ever so slightly here and there. Alright. She lets her eyes close momentarily. "I will have to break in the grips. They're so very fresh and new." And a bit stiff. But workable, at least for now. Those eyes being closed also functioned for multiple purposes, a silent conversation with her Devices, going over spells, any changes, any adjustments needed to be done to the magical circles to adjust to their new forms. Phantom Zone - Cinema. It's likely for the best that Aloisia's eyes are closed when that darkness takes over. And her eyes open to that cloche with the scent of food, the stone walls of a natural channel towards a timeworn castle. It's mid-day, and though there weren't ... necessarily people there, she could somewhat tell. This is a battlefield. And there are a bunch of bestial male creatures. "Hm. It is a good battlefield, yes." The beating of shields. The bellowing of tusked mouths. And Aloisia's shield lifts as well, light igniting along its edges, as several slots open along the length of Vorhutschwester. <KRISTALL> <STACHELN.> Energy gathers in those slots, before launching several scattershots of crystal spines up into the air above those Uruk-Hai. And in mid-air above the battlefield, a series of smaller belkan magic circles catch each of those spikes, reorienting them and launching them at high speed down into the hordes. "Wide-area attack test, completed." "Proceeding to close-range vanguard position." And jets fire from the side of that lance, as Aloisia flies up and over towards the battlefield, intent to follow up that wide-area bombardment with simple intent. To crash into the front lines and test the piercing power of the lance against those shields. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Rashmi flushes, pleased at the praise given to her and her Device. It might be a small thing, and the redhead is very much farther along than the half-panicking newbie of two years ago... But it's just nice to be vocally appreciated. Her greatest weakness, however, is that her poker face is almost as terrible as her singing voice. Even when she *tries* to look dignified, serious, and supportive as the blackness lifts to display the new battlefield... She is, instead, very very quietly making a sound akin to the whistle of a teakettle. Alo approved of the battlefield, but Rashmi is *utterly fangirling.* As Alo launches off to play with her new toys, Rashmi takes a few steps back, summoning a half-dozen screens over Nicomachea's pages, and leans toward Koji. "I can't believe you *actually did it.* 'VR cinema' would make *such good* marketing copy..." 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Koji cannot talk right now... sweating because the is a Belkan and she needs a target-rich environment. As the six are taken out by a wide-area attack, the shields hidden inside burst, but also measure the strength of the attack in real-time, and a link between Hanzo and Nicomachea begins feeding the data on each hit, how each was hit, where it was hit, and how much damage it took to destroy it, and estimated remainders Three dozen more shields this time, each one the size of a tea-plate, each one then covered with another Uruk-Hai, and these ones just raise their swords and go running like mad bastards at Aloisia so she can slay them. Once he finally has the next wave focused and is panting a little, he mutters, "I thought she's start melee... whew..." Now he can address Rashmi, "I can't take all the credit. The uhhh... I got inspired by... the book Molly gave me... and the movies were just the best example. It let me try out the game rules in a setting. Hanzo then said he could just remodel the whole movie series... and here we are." He winces, watching Alo get down to business. They die bloody and violent deaths, but the blood isn't real, and their swords will unfortunately pass through her if they hit. But they do at least act like they're deflected by the shield! 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "This is literally what I was just talking about, ja." Aloisia comments back towards Rashmi. She hadn't seen any of the Lord of the Rings, of course, so it just looked like an excellent battlefield to her compared to Rashmi's own fangirling. Meanwhile those Uruk-Hai seem to have some slight reaction to them, some slight resistance -- Just those shields of course -- but still a decent enough reaction, as swords swing at her, and she reflexively meets them with her shield or a Wall spell in response, not holding back on her defenses -- even summoning a Pyramide Enfall as a high-output-spell. She would also explicitly go out of her way to test Plasmabolzen and Schlossknacker, even potentially after the Uruk-Hai are all gone again... She's not using literally every spell in her repertoire, but a good spread of them to help ensure that Rashmi gets a good battery of test data, and the two devices get a reasonably acceptable stress test. ...Also probably Hanzo does at the same time. She's not cackling madly. ...But there is an unmistakable slightly battle-crazed grin. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "Well she's definitely in melee now," Rashmi murmurs... Then at Koji's admission, an indecipherable look flits across her face, and she rests a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We'll get her back," she says with rock-ribbed certainty. "Then we can *play* the game with her. But uh... Probably you should show her this, but nobody else who plays. I've been hearing about 'forever DMs' and it sounds like you'd be a natural for that." Letting her hand fall away, she studies the flood of data coming from Hanzo, and Nicomachea's own sensors, nodding to herself as she peruses the readings. "Hey, Koji-kun?" she says offhandedly, after a bit. "How d'you feel about the trebuchets from this scene?" 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:'''     "I think it would be a good idea." Across the battlefield, there's suddenly fires of the hills, war-drums playing, the smell of smoke and metal and then suddenly... *CHUNK-UNK-UNK-UNK-UNK* The sound comes again... and again... a fourth time... five... six... Remote-fired Barrets from magical circles, something that is not easy to do in combat, unless you're someone like Chrono, but in this case are firing on long slow arches down towards Aloisia... But each looks like a stone ball wrapped in chains and ON FIRE. Rashmi's earlier comments actually make him blush a little in the ears, "You're probably right. About the whole... thing..." Helpfully, he adds, "But I think I have enough left to use some Boost Shields and the targets to make a Ogre. Wanna see?" 
}}

Go My Own Way(Adora Rainbowfist)

2025-04-09T15:00:00Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2025/04/09 |Location=Yumegahama - Port Warehouses |Synopsis=Adora is musing about things, and what she wants to do with her life, now that she..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2025/04/09
|Location=Yumegahama - Port Warehouses
|Synopsis=Adora is musing about things, and what she wants to do with her life, now that she doesn't have magic. Tempted to text her friends, she instead decides not to for now, instead taking a walk late at night along the beach... that's when she heard a scream.
|Cast of Characters=98
}}
Being without magic was weird. Adora thought she would have started to forget things by now, but things were still as vivid as ever. It lent some credence to some of the things Glimmer had told her, that it wasn't the sword that was magic, but her... but...

"For the honor of Greyskull!"

It was probably the hundredth time she'd tried since she'd broken the sword. She-Ra still didn't come when she called out.

She'd at least gotten a little better at taking care where she did it, instead of doing it randomly in the middle of a cafe or restaurant, though she still occasionally got odd looks as to why that 16 year old was shouting out random things. Some whispers of middle-school syndrome or something. She didn't really pay much mind to them though.

She looks at her phone for a moment as she stands at the edge of the beach, a half-written text to Glimmer, asking how she was doing... it had been saved to her drafts for a day now. A text to Bow she'd started writing, inviting him to come to the beach... but never sent.

Even a text to Catra, though that was only a 'hey' that she never finished the sentence of or sent.

Adora shakes her head, turning off her phone screen and shoving the phone into her pocket as she starts to walk along the beach, having entered somewhere along the edge of the ports. She'd barely stepped to the water's edge to get her feet wet when she heard it -- a scream.

It came from the port district.

"..."

A magical girl would show up soon, right?

"......"

Right????

"........Catra's going to call me an idiot later."

And Adora was turning to run back up to get into that port, towards where she'd heard that scream. There was a sound -- kind of like fighting -- and when she approached she saw the source of it.

It was almost like a ball of static, rotating and fuzzy at the edges, with arms made of sketchy lines and clawed hands that looked ... kind of like music notes?

A girl was standing with a baseball bat in her hands, swiping at the creature as it approached, the creature giving a static filled half-cackle.

Adora stared at that sight for a moment. That lone girl standing alone, her friends huddled in the corner behind her, each holding some makeshift weapon to try to keep it at bay... meanwhile... that one girl. Standing ahead. Fighting.

"...What am I doing." She mutters to herself under her breath.

As she charges in towards that static Familiar, leaping into a jump-kick from the side to try to knock it away from the girls. "GO! I'll hold it off until help arrives!"

She could feel that connection, that familiar sent moving away in a scrabbling, strange motion. It turned towards her, teeth of waving static bared at her as she brings her fists up, shifting into a boxing stance. "Man. You're the weirdest monster I think I've seen yet."

And it rushes towards her, bringing that music-note-claw towards her as she dodges to the side, the claw scraping along the side of her skin and tearing her jacket. She shoots back with a hard punch to its side with the opening. Another connection.

It was a back-and-forth like that for what felt like a few minutes, Adora barely dodging getting heavily injured while doing those return attacks -- but the only one getting injured in the situation was Adora. Her fists could connect, but the familiar didn't seem phased by them, just continuing to come at her. And then from the side, the girl who had been holding the bat calls out.

"HEY LADY, HERE!"

And then there was a bat being thrown through the air at her, spinning end over end until Adora caught it in her hands. Bright pink, covered in stickers, and nice and heavy. "Thanks!"

It was almost a familiar weight, like the Sword of Power, but not ... quite. A different center of gravity, more towards the end.

Either way, she wasted no time in bringing it in a heavy arc towards the familiar, sending it flying again.

Once more not doing damage.

"You're one stubborn ... static... thing, huh?"

She glanced to the side where the girls had run -- most of them gone, save for the girl who had just thrown her the bat, who was furiously texting on her phone. Possibly calling for a ride or something.

"Well, looks like they're probably safe now... so..." She glances at the bat, and then down at herself. Tattered clothes, cuts and scrapes all over her body. "...How do I get to safety now..."

Those claws swipe at her again, and she ducks under it, swinging the bat towards its center of mass again.

And that last swing, though Adora doesn't notice it, she is surrounded, briefly, by a familiar golden glow...

As this time, when the Familiar is sent flying, instead of coming back at her, it makes a static-filled 'YIPE' sound, before skittering off back into the night.

"...Yeah... that's right... run away."

...Exhaustion and her wounds caught up to her not long afterwards though, as she started to walk towards that girl who was still there...

And collapsed against the wall, her vision fading.

When her eyes opened, she was laying in a room with a bunch of girls surrounding her, wearing someone else's pajamas and bandages all over her.

"Oh my gosh she's awake!"

"That was /so cool/ how you just came in all like 'kiiiicku!'"

"And you swung my bat like a pro, that was just awesome."

"What's your name?"

"Is your hair actually blonde?!"

"You're ripped! How much do you work out?!"

Adora blinks slowly at the flood of comments and questions, before finally responding. "Adora. Adora Rainbowfist."

"Wait, RAINBOWFIST?! THAT'S AWESOME! Hey you should totally hang out with us when you're doing better!"

"Yeah! We go to all sorts of places and hang out and do random stuff together!"

... Huh.

Isn't getting adopted by a gang Catra's thing?

Well, whatever. It was better than just moping around.

2431/A Lunar Oath

2025-04-04T21:53:29Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/26 |Location=Radiant Heart Academy -- Gardens , The Moon |Synopsis=Aloisia has a favor to ask of Usagi, desiring to renew her oath. She get..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/26
|Location=Radiant Heart Academy -- Gardens , The Moon
|Synopsis=Aloisia has a favor to ask of Usagi, desiring to renew her oath. She gets a bonus Mamoru and also ends up on the /moon/ to swear which is just cool.
|Cast of Characters=216,43,38
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Aloisia had been informed that PROBABLY the best option to re-swear an oath of knighthood, would be Usagi Tsukino because most of the other options might be a bit weirded out. (Or Sugata) And so she had started to seek her out. Vaguely recalling having met someone who matched that description at some point, she mostly remembered the one trait. ...The really long blonde hair. So she opts for the easiest option she can think of. ...She quickly texts Rashmi asking for her number. Text: Hi, this is Aloisia, I think we met a couple of times before but Rashmi recommended you regarding something that I need to do can we meet up somewhere? 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' Finals are just wrapping and Usagi is the most tired girl in the world. Somehow, she made it to the next grade, which is something she can still barely believe, between everything that happened. If she were a little more cynical, she'd wonder if the school was fixing things behind the scenes, but then again, surely they'd have managed something more than barely-good-enough grades if they were going to bother, right? "I made it," she tells Mamoru, laughing in relief, "Eleventh grade, here I come!" That's when her phone buzzes, a new text message arriving, and she tugs it out and takes a quick glance, and double-takes. "Eh? Oh! Oh, it's Aloisia-chan, it must be about that whole knight thing!"     Usagi TXT to Aloisia: hihi! do you want to meet on campus? by the garden with the elephant?     Usagi TXT to Aloisia: i'll have mamochan with me, he's my fiancé!     Usagi TXT to Aloisia: how are you doing? 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "Of course you made it," Mamoru says with an affectionate laugh, slinging an arm around Usagi and loosely walking alongside her, at her pace, until her phone bings. He tries to read over her shoulder, but doesn't really ''need'' to since she's reading it aloud anyway. "Oh right!" he says, straightening up, then taking his own phone out. He texts Kazuo to let him know there will be Lateness Happening But It's Fine. "Is my desire selfish?" he asks after a second, brushing his hand over hers and Showing; there's a little FOMO in there, but he truly does want this for both of them for unity reasons. "For a tie-breaker?" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Aloisia TXT to Usagi: Sure, sounds good. I don't know if I know Mamochan. I'm alright. Still readjusting. So much homework to catch up on AND finals. It wasn't long after those texts were made that Aloisia was on her way to the aforementioned garden, it wasn't a particularly long trip for her since she currently lived on campus. She opted to dress up a bit for it, wearing a relatively nice black dress with some white cherry blossoms on it. She had managed to adjust the zweihander device to get it into a storage form, which was ... more or less just a smaller version of itself, but it was better than carrying around a giant sword. She had also opted to bring a small bag of some drinks and various little snacks, because really if you're asking for a favor, bringing snacks is the /least/ you can do. ....Even if they're just vending machine ones. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "I don't think it's selfish at all," Usagi says honestly, "And even if it was, I mean, I ''do'' have like, twice as many girls as you have boys. A tie-breaker sounds fair to me, you know?" With that said, the two make their way to the meeting point, and wait. Not that there's a problem with a waiting! It's only natural, when she picked the meeting spot! Usagi Tsukino, having not taken the chance to run and change out of her uniform, mostly because she didn't think about it, blanches a little when she sees Aloisia coming. There's an obvious expression of 'oh no I didn't dress up for this', when she takes in the lovely dress, but ultimately she squares up her shoulders and smiles brightly. If Aloisia wants to be their knight - for some reason - she might as well get used to a princess and prince who are a hot mess probably fifty-five percent of the time. "Aloisia-chan! Hey, it's good to see you!" It really is - especially as she realizes she actually ''does'' recognize Aloisia, from Bow's 'campaign'. Hopping out of her seat at a garden bench, she waves. "Are those snacks for us? Uh, to share?" 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' Usagi's not the only royal in a school uniform right now, and Mamoru's looking at how dressed up Aloe is and he's just... regretting wearing his school uniform to school ever, every day, and he's the one who ends up blurting, "Do you want us to henshin? So we at least look less like the last day of school and more like business?" He's so tall, and his hair is fluffy and his tie is untied and hanging around the back of his neck and his shirt is unbuttoned and untucked with a metal band t-shirt underneath it, and he has never felt like more of a hot mess. Not even as Casual Friday. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Beyond the silver hair, Aloisia definitely hadn't changed much. Maybe looking a little bit more tired than she had before, but being slowly drained for a while does that to a person. "Ah, I thought I recognized the name, I think we might be in the same class. It's good to see you as well." She holds up the bag with a light smile. "Yeah, I figured if I'm asking a favor the least I can do is bring snacks. They're just from the vending machine but I figured I couldn't go wrong with some green tea and sandwiches from the cold food vending machine." She went to the nice one, too, which had the /good/ sandwiches that usually was out of stock. But since school was out, it wasn't. "I mean, I imagined you would eventually but I wasn't expecting you to right out here in the middle of the garden?" She chuckles softly, stepping over to give a little bow. "I mostly just felt like dressing up just a little bit for this." She pauses. "Uhm. So... basically as a quick explanation, I uh. I dealt with Otto Steiner but part of dealing with him was that uh. I stripped his bloodline of all noble titles." She pauses. "I am, regrettably, technically part of his bloodline. And my title as a belkan Knight is technically one of those." She says awkwardly. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "There's no one around, and we'd like, hide behind a tree, probably," Usagi says with a thoughtful hum, "But! It can wait, sure!" Little grabby hands are made at the bag, but in a laughing way, even though she really ''does'' want the sandwich, before she gestures to a spot where Aloisia can sit, and sits herself up a little more properly, even, watching her patiently. And then she gets to the story - that she'd stripped the bloodline of titles, which meant... "Oh, so this is like a green card thing! I saw that on a TV show once," she smacks a fist against her open palm. "Except, this is more like restoring your noble titles, by swearing to us, right? Um, do you want to be a knight in name only, or is it more like, a meaningful thing?" 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' Aloisia bows, and so does Mamoru, finally, ''something'' ritual for him to latch on to. He smiles at Usagi going for the sandwich, and he snags one himself -- today was a no-breakfast day due to finals nerves -- then sits down on the bench next to Usagi. Maybe there's still nerves, he isn't unwrapping his sandwich yet. "I will henshin anywhere anytime at this point. I mean, I can only teleport in henshin..." He's grinning, but he quiets down for the explanation, then glances aside at Usagi as he listens to her. Then he looks back to Aloisia, shoulders straighter, a different cant to his head, a different bearing to him somehow. He doesn't ''change'' so much as he emphasizes a different part of himself. "Or giving you new noble titles commensurate with your merit and experience?" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "...I guess I'm just used to the academy always being super busy and there always being someone around." Aloisia comments thoughtfully, before shrugging as she lets Usagi take the bag. The explanation of Usagi's understanding gets a soft laugh. "I suppose it's similar to that, it is... somewhat significant since it is technicaly my title as a mage, mostly it is renewing vows to protect ... well, I guess it's a brand new oath since it would be an oath to protect this planet, instead of Tungeturm this time around." Pause. "So uh yeah. It's a more meaningful thing I suppose." She closes her eyes thoughtfully a moment, before... Reaching for that miniature sword charm from her pocket. "The way that identities are somewhat hidden in this world is strange to me, since on my world it is a note of honor to be a Knight, so I can empathize with willingness to henshin anywhere." The concept of new titles gets a bit of a tilt of her head. "I mean, I hadn't thought of /that/ option, but..." She shrugs helplessly. "Most of what I have done on this planet is endanger its people, so I don't believe I would deserve such." She says as she opts to kneel in front of the two, rather than sit next to them. "We could likely do it here unless you have another idea." 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "Oh, it usually is," Usagi laughs a little, biting in the sandwich and offering a belated bow, sandwich still to her mouth. She chews, humming in satisfaction at the taste - sourdough and chicken and cheese, with some spicy sauce over the greens - before swallowing a little roughly. "Do you still ''want'' to protect Tungeturm?" The question is innocently asked, but her eyes are focused on Aloisia, taking in the seriousness of this whole affair. Her title as a mage, her vow of protection, once for her home, but now... "No one ever said you could only protect one planet, if that's what you're worrying about," she adds, softly. "We won't mind, you know?" There's no offense to be taken, not when it comes to oaths and promises, homes and their protection. Aloisia kneels. Usagi kneels with her, and light shimmers, her clothing and hair shifting - and blond becomes silver, and an orange and blue school uniform becomes a white dress, with so, so many layers of tuille and fabric. Princess Serenity smiles at Aloisia, her deep blue eyes deep as the endless limits of space itself. "Do you want to see your new home, from a different angle? You don't have to kneel, with us. We might be a princess and prince, but we're not... stuffy, you know?" She holds out her hand, to Aloisia, offering, not demanding. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "I yell at my knights sometimes when they're being insensitive dicks," says Prince Endymion, "but I'll never ask them to kneel. Not in this life, not in any nexts we might have." Sometime in the background, he just... changed, like a dream disconnect, like he was always that way. Still tall and fluffy-haired, the prince is in a navy blue military jacket with pale green and gold piping, and reduced armor over it, leather trousers and boots, pauldrons, cape. No mask. He looks at the ground they're kneeling on, and the fact that Serenity's reaching for Aloe's hand, and he sighs, then laughs, then clanks down to one knee and puts his ungloved hand over theirs. Then he pauses, looks amused, and puts his hand beneath theirs, holding them up instead of pressing them down. It's warm, an it brings with it a sense of the connected Earth. His eyes twinkle at his Moon Princess, he knows exactly what she's going for, and he lends his power and his ability to the task. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "I don't believe there is, at present, a way to get back to Tungeturm. And it is..." Aloisia pauses. "My feelings towards it are complicated, a lot of my life there was used to try to shape me into what Otto wanted." She says quietly. "But if it was needed, I would protect whoever needs it that I can reach." She smiles, her tone is somewhat quiet, but still has that kind of confidence that if she were there, whoever she was defending would be made as safe as she possibly could. "But for now, I wish to make amends for the danger that I helped to bring to this world." Two silver-haired girls kneeling right next to each other, that sure would be a sight for anyone to see. When Usagi transforms into Princess Serenity and offers her hand, Aloisia is hesitant for a moment. But mostly just long enough to take hold of the little sword charm. "Platinkante, set up." She says quietly. Her transformation is a bit less shimmery, her clothes ... staying unchanged, instead just getting a small armor layer over top of the dress she was already wearing. ...Apparently with a generic device that's the best you get instead of a full on transformation. Just a bit of protection layered on top of your pre-existing clothing. Also a big arse sword since it's a zweihander but she's got that gently resting on the ground while her other hand reaches to take Usagi's. The urging to both of them that they don't need to stand she begins to get ready to stand as the two hands rest over hers. "It's.. uhm. Somewhat habit, I suppose, more than anything on the kneeling. Your society's ancient times are not unlike belkan knighthood. I believe they call it 'medieval'?" She muses out loud. That feeling of warmth and connection to Earth was ... certainly something she was not expected, something that shows briefly on her face. Not alarm or upset so much as just an almost curious look up towards Endymion, but she doesn't really comment on it. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' There's Endymion beside her, offering his hand, and there's Aloisia beside her, transformed - well, mostly the same, but with a sheen of armor over her dress, and Serenity smiles warmly at her, radiating that gentle acceptance. When she stands, it's helping bring Aloisia back up, and Endymion can feel her love and affection through the touch, though, thankfully, ''she's'' not the touch empath, and Aloisia can't also feel that embarrassingly schmoopy rush of affection. "I don't know how far that is from here," she admits, "I don't think we ever had records of it. And I don't know if we ''could'' get back, when it seems like everyone gets stuck here, in our gravity. But I do know, that if there's anything we can do to help your home, we will. That's the kind of royals we are." The medieval period was a time of kneeling and bowing and postrating oneself before a lord - but neither of them are that sort of lord. And then, there's a rush of energy, a surge of power that shines and twinkles, refreshing, regenerative - And they are no longer in the garden at Radiant Heart Academy. They are no longer on Earth, at all, for the Earth is in the sky, visible from where they stand - Under a dome, intact and whole, the air - for there ''is'' air, breathable air, not just magic making nothing into something for them to manage - tinged with salt, and the sound of the sea. They stand on a great stone path, leading to a shining castle of white marble-like stone, with a split staircase, leading up to the interior of the palace, lit from within. At the base of the steps are enormous planters, filled with flowering bushes. All around them, along the path, shine bright lights, lamps lit warmly, welcomingly. It's the Moon Castle, in Capital City, Mare Serenitatis, and the Sea of Serenity is full once more. Princess Serenity stands, frozen, still clutching Aloisia and Endymion's hands, her eyes wide. This, this is more than she expected to see. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' Zwei zweihanders. Endymion's sympathetic, and it filters through all that affection that comes with the Earth's welcome-- and he gives Aloisia a crooked little smile when she looks at him-- but he laughs, then, when she talks about medieval times. "Not our society, though there's an element of the same type of honorable fighter sworn to service in our history as well. Sorry, your prince is pedantic." But then it's Serenity completing the circuit and bringing them to the moon, and-- Endymion's hand tightens convulsively around Serenity's, and he looks at her, wild-eyed, then up at the dome, up at the Earth hanging wide and bright in the sky, and he makes a tiny little choked sound. "How--?" he asks, and cuts himself off; why is he bothering to ask when he can ''tell'' how shocked Serenity is. How shocked Usagi is. And the idea flutters drunkenly across his mind in the middle of the reacting -- they could being her ''parents'' here. And the idea flashes bright, oh ''he can test it!'' Endymion drops his henshin and it's Mamoru standing under the Earth in the sky, his metal t-shirt jarringly modern, his glasses necessary again, his hand in that of the Princess of the Moon. "Oh I can breathe--!" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "That would be because it is in another dimension. I was in space for around two years before I was drawn in by earth's magic. But attempting time-space travel around Earth results in... Issues. Only half of my ship made it here." Aloisia explains calmly as she stands with Serenity and Endymion. "But... that is also... fine?" She muses to herself. "I do not really have anything to go back to, though. I would likely be arrested upon arrival even if I did due to my relations and involvement. It is likely best... to simply let things be as they are. Tungeturm -- Steiner Space as a whole, in fact -- is likely better off without me there to complicate things." And that rush of energy and power, refreshing, regenerative energy. ...And they're no longer on earth. In fact, they're in an almost... more familiar style of space to Aloisia than earth's. A dome, filled with an air that feels just slightly 'off', but not bad. Like standing next to the sea on a beach. Aloisia Stauss takes in the castle and the area around them. Flowering bushes, bright lamps, and a sea around them. Aloisia is silent for a long while as well, though for different reasons. Mostly just taking in and marveling at the beauty of it all, in that dome on a ball of dust that orbited the earth. Her gaze is off of that castle as she looks at the blue planet above... below? Whatever it was, to them. "..." That is the planet she is going to protect from now on. To ensure it remains that beautiful blue. And then Endymion asks 'how' and other comments and that bit of surprise and such going through that connection. ... Aaaaand Endymion is back to being Mamoru, testing if he can breathe. "Wait was that a possibility. Not being able to breathe???" She's not entirely sure the current knight armor would help with that situation. Ahem. "Uhm. So uh. ...Up into the castle then?" She looks up towards it, taking a few steps forward... though not letting go of the hands, which means if they're not following immediately she'll end up just stopping. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "Only ''half''? And ''two years''? Wow - I had no idea it was that hard to get here... I feel like it didn't ''used'' to be that hard, but it's not like anyone was supposed to touch Earth, before..." The last words, pondered, before the teleport and landing that takes everything away. It's like it was in her memory. It's ''not'' like it was, the last time she was here, abandoned for millennia, the buildings untouched but the organic matter long-gone, the lack of true weather preventing the stone from weathering. This is the castle grounds that Serenity walked every day of her young life, sneaking across his bridge to the rest of the city, crossing it in laughter and giggles as she was chased by her guardians, walking it gracefully at her mother's side, prepared to watch her work - This is the city, alive, and well, and oh, oh, so empty. Serenity feels Endymion's shock and then his idea - her ''parents'' - and her own heart races, and then - And then there's Mamoru, in his school uniform, breathing the air, and Serenity utters a strangled little cry, and then her own henshin drops, leaving Usagi Tsukino standing on the Moon, for the first time in her life with no magic to shield her. The air is crisp and clear and she blinks back tears. "Um - there was a - less than five percent chance, I'd bet, of problems," she says, sniffing and trying to sound both very serious and very reassuring even as she wipes away tears. "Naru-chan as able to breathe with a spacesuit my Disguise Pen made, and that doesn't have ''any'' kind of could-fight magic, you know?" This is hopefully reassuring, because it's the best she has. Congratulations Aloisia, ''these'' are the goofballs you're considering. "Yes! Yes, into the castle - sorry, it's just, the last time we were here, it was still, it was mostly ruins..." And she grabs their hands, both of them, and starting rushing towards the steps, pulling them along even though she is all of four feet eleven inches and they are both taller and stronger. 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "And if you started asphyxiating we'd have teleported you right back, don't worry," Mamoru says extremely distractedly; he's rooted to the spot, staring at the sky and taking his glasses off-- The last time he was here and it looked like this was over a [year|lifetime] ago, and the only name he used was Endymion, and everything was still all right, and he could see his kingdom in the sky... ...but he had never had the experiences and attachments that now ground him in the present day. He laughs as Usagi starts pulling him, tearing his eyes (the same blue! the same! as the oceans up there in the sky--) away from his planet and hurriedly kicking his shoes off, hopping on one foot and then the other to take his socks off too, in order to run barefoot and say hello properly. "See there's no WAY he can see the crystal from the steps," Mamoru crows. "Aloisia-kun, one of the things you'll have to help the Senshi and Shitennou figure out as our knight is security for our Moon Wedding this summer and Riventon is invited!" No pressure. Maybe meet them first. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "I was flying in a really really old ship, I think newer ships probably could arrive faster. Honestly it's probably why my ship was so together instead of like the Arthra which has apparently been falling in random chunks." Aloisia explains about the whole 'two years' thing. Okay both of them are shocked so this is certainly something different. And they explain it. Talk about the parents and Mamoru breathing and all of that stuff. "Oh, well, that's good then. And this device /does/ have some protective qualities." She pauses. "...I'm just not sure if I'm ready to test its ability to handle the vacuum of space yet. I just barely have it combat worthy right now." Eh-heh. The falling tears gets a somewaht reflexive movement from Aloisia though, who pulls out a handkerchief to hold out for Usagi. Yes, she's the sort to carry a handkerchief with her. Just in case. "This is an improvement then, and explains the surprise for sure." And then they are rushing off towards the castle, and Aloisia is matching pace fairly well, though somewhat letting Usagi pull her along. ...Mostly because it's honestly kind of novel to be dragged along by a shorter person like that. "Oh, well, that's reassuring!" Aloisia responds fairly playfully in response to Mamoru at the comment of teleporting back. "I mean i think I could probably barrier myself to keep myself from asphyxiating too but I don't know how long my magic would hold out with this device." Aloisia chuckles softly. And then Mamoru talks about her figuring out security for the Moon Wedding this summer. ...And Riventon is invited. "I don't think we can secure a wedding where Riventon is invited." Aloisia responds almost immediately upon that comment. "Beyond that I don't imagine anyone would be willing to start something with the sheer number of magical people... I recommend a magical form masquerade of some sort though just for that basic security, and..." She kind of starting to muse to herself under her breath, thinking about potential security measures she could take. "Maybe some sort of barrier up around the castle once all of the guests are in, just in case..." Pause. "Well, we have time. I'll have to assess resources." Ahem! "I uh. I should probably detail some of my story for you since, well. It's not an entirely 'clean' one, though I am unsure if I could have avoided a lot of it." She adds quietly, her gaze flicking around the castle, now, keeping an eye out for obvious potential side entrances and vulnerabilities. ...Look Mamoru talked about security, now she's thinking about security. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' The handkerchief is gratefully accepted, Usagi dabbing at her eyes, but these are happy tears - maybe a little bit, maudlin tears, too, but mostly ''happy'' tears, because this is a world that feels so near and dear and far away all at once. It's a good thing no one is resisting being dragged along, because she runs with them up the stairs and into the great entrance, the receiving hall, and at some point she'd slipped out of her shoes too. "You're right, with the Castle built again, there's no way to even see it from here, you'd have to get all the way in -" Much lower risk! Of that particular Crystal being stolen! "Yeah, it won't be perfectly safe, or anything, but, he's Mamochan's brother, so we kinda ''have'' to invite him, especially since he's stopping the war for Best Man just by existing." It's an important war that isn't happening! "But also if we invite him ''and'' my parents he'll know who I am but I won't know who he is - wait, we could invite Takashi too!" 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' Mamoru looks pleased at Aloisia immediately starting to assess things-- but he does chuff out a laugh as they're hurried along. "Keep in mind you'll be working with a team on security, and you don't know how you'll work with them yet-- but--" Oh when they stop so Usagi can wipe her eyes, Mamoru's face softens. "Yeah, we can invite Takashi too. The last time I saw them they were on weirdly metaphorically bad terms, so maybe we'll luck out and Takashi will win the ego contest. Oh I could invite Takashi to be my best man too! May the Best Man Win." He looks around, his warm feet on the cool marble floors, living stone in something that otherwise feels like a dream-- "Imagine your parents here. Kazuo's mom here. ...Kazuo's ''grandmother.''" It's sleepy. The moon is sleepy. It feels like it could wake up like Earth, if it had people here-- Mamoru briefly tangles his fingers with Usagi's again, his energy thrumming with joy and quiet ache, and shows her how the Moon missed her. And then he looks to Aloe again and smiles, and it's a steady one, and small, but real. "Someday maybe we'll restore some of my kingdom too -- we'll have to have another wedding there when we do -- but seeing Earth from here? Seeing Earth from ''here''... it's a reminder of what we'll ''all'' be sworn to protect in a minute." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Happy or not, tears are tears and it's hardly particularly knightly to let a maiden cry without offering a handkerchief! Another thing she doesn't allow is Usagi's shoes to just sit there on the stairs, a subtle movement with her sword tapping them storing them away in its internal storage. She'd hand them to Usagi later. That might be a bit weird, but she's keeping pace with Usagi nonetheless. "Well, if he's Mamoru's brother than it may make things more secure to have him there, since Obsidian Operatives there are more likely to not cross him, then." Pause. "Or more likely if someone with a grudge pops up." Working with a team. "Well yeah, I figured. That's why I said I'd have to assess assets, fighting styles, personnel... check potential entry points of the castle that people could sneak into... though erecting a barrier with only one entryway would likely minimize some of the need for that..." Yeah now she's back to musing about potential security. She kind of fades out and lets Mamoru talk about imagining parents and grandparents here. It's a slightly complicated look on her face at that, but one that she only lets linger for a moment, mostly hidden by the fact she's a half-step behind Usagi and Mamoru. "If you require help with that restoration, let me know if there's anything that I can do to assist. I'm particularly skilled at fighting wild beasts if there's some sort of legendary dark beasty that's causing problems." Aloisia comments towards Mamoru, once the topic moves on. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' The Moon is sleepy, but it missed her. It's warm inside, and drowsy, and if there were people, it would be awake, but it's not dead, either. The Moon isn't a dead ball of rock, the way so many people think, it's just sleeping, and she missed it as much as it missed her. It's alright. The people will be here soon. Will a wedding party be enough? If it's big enough, right? "We'll definitely be able to introduce you to our security friends. Kunzite leads the Shitennou and Sailor Venus leads the Inner Senshi. The Outer Senshi kind of do their own thing, but Uranus-san would probably love to talk security..." Hmm... "Will Riventon poison Takashi if he can't be Best Man? Because it's bad enough all of your boys want to push Riventon down a flight of stairs, Takashi's like, actually normal..." Someday this will be funny. It really will. She looks around the castle with new eyes, imagining it decorated for a wedding, her wedding, her parents here, Kazuo's mom there, his grandmother over there, and maybe there will be new recipes for Makochan to learn from her. There will be joy and laughter and a cleansing of this place that was her home - "You know, I don't ''think'' there are any dark beasts, but there's a whole dark side of the Moon." 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "You know, there just might be malevolent beasts and fell monsters? Hell, there could really be dragons," Mamoru says thoughtfully to Aloisia, brushing his fluffy hair away from his face-- starting to need a haircut, him. "It's been closed up since the end of the Pleistocene, and I'm sure its guardians are long dead..." He slows to a stop. "Um, unless they're like Pluto..." and he gives Usagi an uncertain glance, then he shakes his head. "Riventon wouldn't poison Takashi, believe me. Unless you count dark energy, I guess, that's the only poison involved." He leans down to kiss Usagi's head, then, and he says, "Are we taking Aloisia-kun to the Prayer Tower for her oath, or outside where she can see Earth?" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Kunzite, Sailor Venus, and Uranus. I'll have to make sure to link up with them sometime in the near future, then, see their viewpoints on things and ideas for ensuring the wedding goes the best it can." Possibly also plan secret ways to make it extra special, but that's definitely not a part of security and definitely not something to discuss here. Especially if she wants to surprise them. "So, basically, if Takashi and Riventon are in the same room, keep an eye on Riventon. Got it." Aloisia gives a simple nod at that. No further comments. Someday it definitely will be funny. Aloisia's eyes are on the castle and admiring it for different reasons, not a look of nostalgia, of course, but definitely admiration. Look it's a well-constructed castle. She's a Belkan. She can respect a well-constructed castle. Talk of malevolent beasts and fell monsters and possible actual dragons gets pause from Aloisia. "Oh, my, I was somewhat joking but actual dragons~? How fun. The fantasy stories here have some surprising overlaps with Belkan stories, tales of long-extinct mystical beasts~. Perhaps from before the earth's magic became so... subdued? Yes, subdued." From a planet of magic, that probably is how the earth seems, at least. "I have mixed feelings about if they're alive or not, being stuck in a sealed place is not exactly a particularly pleasant experience or great for the sanity." Talk of where to take her for her oath she opts not to weigh in on, letting the other two decide. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "The Moon didn't have dragons thousands of years ago! But Mother never let me travel to the Dark Side of the Moon, so I don't know... if there's anything there. Like dragons that could survive without air." Who could honestly doubt it, in this world they live in where magic is the norm and evil witches can seek power from the sun and friends can be killed and resurrected as near literal flesh suits for monsters? It's a worry, but only in the most distant way possible, not ''really'' something she's concerned about, just like she's not ''really'' worried about Riventon hurting Takashi. "Aloisia-chan, can you add 'make sure Riventon doesn't put dark energy in the punch' to your security analysis thing?" This is an important concern. Trust her. "In fact, avoiding dark energy in ''all'' of the food is a security priority! Not just because I want to eat it, or because people could get poisoned, but Chiyo-chan and Makochan are going to cater, and they'll destroy something if their food gets tampered with!" This is a mission critical objective, as she's thinking through the worries - oh! Kissu <3 Her whole vibe softens again, and she leans back against Mamoru, looking over the receiving hall where they now stand, great windows still allowing a view of the Earth, and she turns to Aloisia. "Here, I think. Where you can see the Earth, and stand on the Moon. Aloisia-chan, how do you want this to work? You had things you wanted to tell us, right? I can promise you now - whatever you did and whoever you were, we won't turn you away." 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' "Everyone did used to know about magic, and there was so much more of it ambient, all over the globe," says Endy a little wistfully, draping his warm arms lightly around the leaning-back Usagi. "I don't know why the magic didn't flood back in with the people. But-- yeah, that's why I'm like... I really hope Pluto's dating prospects don't increase by a hundred percent by age, because yeah, mixed feelings." There's the smallest of sighs; Usagi, in contact with him, can tell he's fine -- only a little homesick, and picking up on the loneliness of the ground beneath their feet. The floor of stone, cool and calm and smooth. He quiets when Usagi asks, but he nods in agreement, and he adds after, "My hands aren't clean, either, anyway." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "I recommend silver punch bowls, naturally reacts to poison and ... I don't know maybe something with dark energy, there's that thing with vampires and werewolves and stuff?" Aloisia muses at that. "Anyway we can probably just have someone watching the food table or serving people maybe." Aloisia /definitely/ didn't have the thought of getting Hannah into a maid outfit to serve punch to people. Not at all. Nope. "Perhaps the simplest solution would to be to have Chiyo-san or Mako-san take turns serving and watching over the food? Perhaps with a third or fourth person to rotate out so that everyone can enjoy the wedding to the fullest." Aloisia muses. "Or if there's a reasonable amount of money involved we could possibly just hire--" Pause. "Hm. Moon. That complicates just hiring someone for the event. Does the Veil reach up here, I wonder..." Hrm! She gives a soft exhale Usagi confirms ... there. Just there was fine. She gives a look up at that sky, and then towards the other two with a soft exhale, not a particularly upset or uncomfortable one, more a steadying one, possibly to push away some anxiety. "My name was Aloisia Stauss." She starts softly. "I was born for nothing other than to be a part of my father's scheme. Raised in secret on a world where none would think to look for a daughter of a member of the ruling family. Raised in plain sight. My training -- and my indoctrinization to their beliefs -- started at a young age. Taught that the people in power were evil, that just people who protect the universe were parasites on belkan lives." She says softly. "My path was decided for me from the first moment I could hold a shield. The moment I was old enough to be put into the Tungeturm Defense Force as a squire to learn how to fight." "In a way, I was being shaped into a little heroine, so that should, after my father usurped the throne, be able to replace him as a 'heroine' to take over if his popularity was inevitably poor from the usurpation." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "A usurpation that failed. That threw me into a ship and sent me on a collision course with earth. I was to bring the fratricidal war to this soil, to help bring more tragedy into an already tragic situation." She exhales softly, eyes closing as she continues. "Luckily, my arrival was not as smoothly as expected, and rather than simply landing and being claimed by those who would use me to their ends, I was instead saved. By those very things I was taught were evil. By Chrono Harlaown, the TSAB agent. By Hannah Steiner, the very girl who I was told was as corrupt and evil as her parents, that did not care for the common people." She shifts that zweihander, setting its tip in the ground as she rests both hands over its crossguard in a knightly pose. "I tell you this because I do not swear to you to bind myself. I swear to you to free myself from bonds. From bonds of the past. I was born as Aloisia Stauss, I reject that name. My 'true' bloodline is that of Aloisia von Karstein-Steiner. I reject /that/ name." "Before you stands simply a fallen knight, the girl known only as Aloisia, a girl who owes a great debt to this world and who hopes to repay that debt by swearing herself to its protection." She bows her head, respecting that the two had requested she not kneel, but still feeling the need for the moment of reverence. "And so, I, Aloisia of no family, wish to swear myself. My shield to protect the helpless." "My strength to support the weak." "My virtue, tarnished as it is, to provide succor to those in need of it." "And my magic to crush evil." She gives a soft exhale. "I have been rendered a girl with nothing. I have been torn asunder and almost remade. And yet I persist. And this persistence is what I have to offer. And a promise." "Never again shall I allow that which I care about to be torn from me." 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "Originally, we kind of thought we'd have to test that everyone could still breathe here, and do a magic only wedding," Usagi says softly, "But with the dome back up, and the air here... I don't know if we want to risk bringing too many civilians around, especially for a party - " because truly, that's what this wedding will be, a party to celebrate their love, their union, their lives, before it can be taken away from them. " -but it's definitely worth looking into, maybe!" Silver, they could probably do. Buying some, looking through the Moon for some, there were ''options'' there... And. More important things to focus on, too. They're here for Aloisia-chan, after all. They can wedding plan any day. Today, they are receiving an oath, and bringing in a new friend. Today, Aloisia is sharing her story with them. Born to be a pawn in a scheme, lied to from birth, manipulated and used and ''saved'' - no wonder Rashmi had sent Aloisia her way. Sure, the other princesses they know would be nice too, but - Usagi casts a glance Mamoru's way, because he had noted his unclean hands, and Aloisia-chan is reminding her almost of the Shitennou, and the way they too had been used, shaped, turned astray. Aloisia bows her head. Usagi, still in her school uniform, down to her socks, shoes abandoned on the staircase to the castle, steps forward and put a hand on her shoulder. She has to reach up a fair ways, given how much ''taller'' than her Aloisia is, but it's not like she's unused to that. Aloisia is almost as tall as Makoto, and just as sad. "You threw away everything that man put on you," she says quietly, "I don't think you're a girl with nothing. If anything, you're like... a girl with integrity. You know yourself, Aloisia-chan, and you're here to be a knight in shining armor, for everyone who needs one. I would be very, very happy to have you as my knight." Her free hand goes to her uniform bow, where her transformation broach, the crystal star, is pinned. She opens it deftly, and silver light shines, falling over Aloisia, offering a sense of renewal, a freshening of the spirit, the righting of wrongs. "You already know I'm Usagi Tsukino, and Sailor Moon. I'm also Princess Serenity, heir to the Silver Millennium, and even if I never sit on a throne - ah, I hope I never sit on a throne! - I still have the responsibility. I am the Soldier of Love and Justice, the Soldier of Mystery who stands with the Sailor Senshi now, where I couldn't before, and I too have promised to use my power to protect the weak, and the helpless, and everyone I care about. When you have so much power... that's what it's meant for." 

:'''{{#var:38|Mamoru Chiba (38)}} has posed:''' Mamoru's smiling a little, fluffy hair falling a little into his face, partially obscuring his glasses. He tosses his head to free his face of its chains, then straightens up more, one hand landing on Usagi's shoulder as a warm weight while they listen to Aloisia's story. He doesn't interrupt, and by the end of it, he's forgotten what he wanted to say about the Veil-- Much more important things to think about right now. Aloisia goes through her personal history, goes through the events that cost her a real childhood and turned her into a little soldier, a pawn, and a face with no power, operating on lies... and to think she was able to break free of it. And to think that she ''did'', no matter the cost to her and everything she had known. Mamoru thinks she's incredibly brave. Her oath is a beautiful thing, simple, and as is only right, she's ''not'' binding herself. She needs them more as witnesses than an authority, she's more pledging to work ''with'' them, to uphold and fight for the same things as they do. She says she's been rendered a girl with nothing-- his mouth opens to say something to ''that'', but Usagi's nailed it -- Aloisia has integrity. He smiles, and there's nothing wry about it, it's only warm. "You're impossibly brave, Aloisia. Your persistence is more than admirable, it's inspiring. Usako would love to have you as her knight-- I would love for you to be ''our'' knight, neither silver nor gold but ''crystal'', with the clarity that implies, and in light of the possible shape of the future of our respective courts." He's keeping his smile from being a grin only because Endymion has had ''training'' in ''solemnity'', and because there ''is'' something so deep and ringingly true happening here. His hand comes out to rest over Aloe's on the hilt of her sword, and he ''shows'' her how deep the world's singing of a welcome goes, a welcome and a new home for a lost Belkan, at the Moon's sleepy warmth, at the connection between silver and gold and the planet in the sky and the moon beneath their feet, at the connections branching out between Mamoru and the Shitennou, and between Usagi and the Senshi, and at the bright thread that's thrummed into place between the two of them and Aloisia. He shows her the planet she'll be protecting: the electric nervous systems of cities and the underground rivers that are their blood, ruins in sandy, scrubby desert that used to be green, bright sunlit breezy meadows, quiet glades in the forest primeval, the slow dripping of water depositing sediment in caves deep within soaring mountains, the snowy tundra, the lush rainforests, the people the people the people, the life that's there that may live as long as a yew or as brief as a mayfly. "And I'm Mamoru Chiba, and Tuxedo Kamen, and Endymion, Crown Prince of the Golden Kingdom of Earth and heir to Elysion, where sleeps the dreaming heart of our planet. I've also pledged to protect the helpless, support the weak, heal and care for those in need of relief, and you know what? I love a good 'crush evil,' nice and explicit. I'll sign on for that one too," he says, his hand slipping off Aloisia's, and his smile finally turns into affectionate ''beaming'', and there's such a joy for the future that Mamoru's completely forgotten about the Fade for a hot minute. He doesn't even remember it now. Sometimes it's possible to just be happy. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' There had been more than a little anxiety in Aloisia after revealing all of that. Sure, the people of this planet were kind, sure, it may not have technically been her fault, but it did not stop the guilt, the anxiety that she might be rejected, that she might be thrown aside, that -- A hand rests on her shoulder. And then a second on the hand over her sword. And gentle words follow. Aloisia visibly relaxes slightly, as she listens to Usagi. She's not really speaking just yet. Just listening as that silver light falls over her. That sense of renewel and freshing of the spirit. As well as probably cleansing whatever lingering darkness might have still been hiding within her. Words follow that actually cause a slight tremble in Aloisia's shoulders, a slight welling of tears in her eyes. But she doesn't truly fall to crying in that moment, keeping her composure... at least, somewhat. There's more words that come to mind, but those words, she decides to keep for another time. "I agree." She says softly, finally, at the comment of 'When you have so much power... that's what it's meant for.'. She wasn't... discarding what they said, more the thoughts and feelings in response were... complicated, frankly. And likely would take a very long time to try to get out properly. And that sharing of that song of welcome, welcome and a new home. Silver and Gold, that beating pulse of the planet and its people. She gives a soft exhale. Neither silver or gold, but crystal. There's a ripple of magic that goes over the armor she was wearing, not a true change, but the Weight of Words still rippling as she opens her eyes, a calm, confident resolve. "As you say, then." One of her hands lifts to wipe those tears from her cheeks. "With the witness of Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion, I declare myself the Crystal Knight, in the Belkan language, Kristallritter." Not long after, she gives a small smile. "And with all of the pomp and circumstance out of the way, a picnic on the moon sounds like a rather wondrous way to spend the rest of the evening, does it not?" A notion that she strongly believes that neither Usagi nor Mamoru is likely to reject. 
}}

2430/Neeenjaaaaaa social

2025-03-25T04:26:17Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/25 |Location=Dorms #1 |Synopsis=Koji comes to visit Aloisia with some gifts, the two have a nice conversation about various different topic..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/25
|Location=Dorms #1
|Synopsis=Koji comes to visit Aloisia with some gifts, the two have a nice conversation about various different topics. Mostly cleaning.
|Cast of Characters=216,61
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Aloe's recovery has been ... reasonable. She HAS been spending a lot of time in her dormroom. Partially deep cleaning it and throwing out basically literally every piece of food that had been inside of it and sanitizing all food related surfaces. Repeatedly. What she's doing /now/ is sitting at her desk, tinkering with the Zweihander, adjusting and fixing it up as best as she can to get it to something beyond a ceremonial sword level. Not that it was TERRIBLE as a ceremonial sword, but not really made for real combat. She was also studying and doing homework on the side. She had SO MUCH to catch up on. Also there's some sort of half-eaten sandwich sitting nearby. ...The girl is probably multitasking too much. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' The knock comes in the late afternoon, after all the clubs are done and most of the student body is either off-campus trying to have a social life, or enjoying the rather large around of food available in the Cafeteria. Standing outside is Koji, dressed in an RHA colored and logo'd tracksuit and carrying a gym bag with him that looks a bit weighty at the moment. His homework is done, he's already eaten, and he's just as bad of a multitasker. But he does add at the door, "It's me. Oh... Koji. Silvia." Realizing that outside of the few encounters in henshin... he's never ACTUALLY met Aloisia outside of that eventful outing, and even then, he'd held back because he was waiting for the inevitable ambush, "I'm one of Rashmi's friends... I was there for the ramen incident?" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' A knock. ...Huh. "Was I expecting someone?" Aloe asks herself under her breath. Then again people had probably been coming to check on her off and on. And then Koji adds that it's him come to visit. She stands to walk over to the doorway and open it, revealing that she is... ...Wearing pajamas. Very comfortable pajamas, a nice light blue color with little fluffy bear slippers. "Hello, Silvia." She pauses. "Come in, uh..." She glances back at her room. Still set up more like a military dorm room than an actual room, down to relatively sparse decorations, a cot in the corner to sleep on, and it being almost impossibly clean -- save for that desk that currently had a partially-disassembled device on it at the moment, but even that was a 'neat' mess. "Let's see, where did I leave that spare chair..." She muses to herself. "Oh, right." She makes her way over to the cot and pulls out a little folding chair out from underneath it, before turning the more office-chair style chair she had been sitting in and pushing it lightly over for Silvia, before taking a seat in said folding chair. ...At least she has base manners to offer the more comfortable chair to the guest! "How are you?" 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Looking around the room for the moment, there's almost this grin on the tips of Koji's lips as he sees that almost camping sparseness to the room, and then inevitably settles into the office chair, and settles the gym bag into his lap, "Me? Well enough. But I'm more here to check on you... see..." There's a pause from him and a bit of a breath, "I'm actually half-MidChildian. My mother is from Firstraum. She didn't tell me about any of it until just... about a year and a half, two years ago. And only after I found her old Intelligent Device." Unzipping the bag, he moves a few things around, "I'm telling you this, because I understand how some of what you went through could feel... and I wanted you to know you're not entirely alone. I also wanted to bring you a few things to help you out." The first that comes out is a refurbished school issue laptop, a mouse, and a power kit, "Here. I didn't know if you had one yet. Hanzo and I made sure to add in a modern Belkan translation program for you for any Japanese that causes you problems." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Aloe's own chair was not exactly uncomfortable, it was one of those fold-out camping-style chairs, but the kind that didn't have arms and probably came with her cot considering the color similarities. Boring olive green kind of color to it and the only thing dubiously keeping it together was the metal of the chair. "That's good. I've been working on the storage device, getting it up to spec for at least basic combat while doppelwand is being repaired. ...Also homework. So much homework. I don't recommend being 'kidnapped' for 5 months. They luckily are letting me make up the work and don't have any particularly wild timeframe but..." She shakes her head. "ANYWAY." Ahem. "...Half-midchildan... I guess people from our dimension have been getting trapped here off and on for a while then..." And then he unzips the bag and reveals... a laptop! "...Ooh. I hadn't gotten one of those yet. Most of the funds I'd gotten from obsidian -- since I mostly am hesitant to significantly harm anyone -- were not really enough to have too much lavish... well, anything really." Maybe she'll have to get a part time job somewhere. Also probably tender her resignation to obsidian. They probably won't try to kill her too badly since her boss is dead now, right??? Regardless, she reaches to take the offered laptop, turning it over and examining it, reading its specs, and then flipping it open to check out the keys and screen. "The fact this world has both a mix of analogue and touch screens is so fascinating. Then again I guess with minimal magic it's hard to do holographic displays." ...Yeah that computer is ABSOLTELY going to get taken apart and tinkered with at some point. Probably have some dubiously-legal upgrades installed in it. It's fine. "Thank you, this is a wonderful gift. Is there anything I can do for you in return? Oh, right, tea!" She hops out of her chair, making her way over to turn on a kettle and grab a few mugs out of one of her cupboards. "Any preferences for tea? I have a little drawer set with basically some of every bag style I could find." She says, gesturing at a little set of wire drawers on the top of her counter, full to the brim with packages of various tea flavors. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Already rummaging through the bag again, Koji arches a brow at the talk of Obsidian, "Honestly... with... the situation of your life being wiped clear, I would bet they will assume you're gone or you're... well gone. Either way... showing up at their offices to tender you resignation is, as we like to say... a very BAD idea." In the middle of it, he says, "OH... an oolong if you have one. Thank you for the tea." When he finally finds something he's looking for, he holds up two cards for you, the kind of swipe-and-tap cards you're used to seeing, but one has a train-logo on it, and the other looks rather generic, "Listen... there's something I've said to others, that I want to say to you. And it may seem... counterintuitive, but I think it's necessary."     "You don't have to fight anymore." He lets the words hang there or a moment, and then goes on, "Just because you can use magic, doesn't obligate you to have to protect anyone, and even though Rashmi is working hard to fix your Device... that doesn't mean you have to take up arms again. You can be free to just be... whoever you decide to be now. It's your choice. No one is going to order you or force you to do anything." With that said, he sets the cards down on the table, "This is a rail card good for 30 days from the first swipe, and the other is a refillable card I've put some yen on for you. So you can go out, and not feel... well... trapped here. Tokyo is a lot in a small space, but it's also... a chance to see your new home. Decide if this is where you want to be." Once more he's into the bag and this time what comes out is a set of full ear-cover headphones with a slot for a cord to connect to a computer or a phone, "I rebuilt these for another friend... she's not here anymore, but they're the last thing I thought you might need. Sometimes... for some people... the world is too much. Too many people close by, too much noise, too much stimulus. These can help. They'll help stop outside noise, and you can listen to music. Or a book. Focus on anything else." He gives a faint shrug and passes them over, "I included some music and some audiobooks on the history and culture of Japan. Stuff meant for foreigners. I hope they help." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Oh, no, I'm not going to go into the building to resign I'm just going to shoot an email to HR." Yes, she plans to quit through email. Which is basically as anti-japanese as one can get. "And it's not like they won't find out I'm alive one way or another, even with the silver hair I haven't changed /that/ much." An oolong tea bag is pulled out of the wire drawers, torn open and the bag placed in the cup. She does a little circular pour of the hot water over it, one of those semi-fancy triangle-shaped tea bags. Still not as good as fresh or loose leaf, but decent enough. As the tea steeps, she grabs a little mini-folding card table from beside the counter to open up and set out. "Careful, this one is a little rickety." She comments as she brings the teacup over for Koji. The offered cards are looked at as she muses on Koji's words. "...Maybe not, but..." She pauses. "I swore an oath I believed in when I lived on Tungeturm." She glances at the worn out jacket hanging near the door with those faded defense force words on them. "To defend those who cannot defend themselves, to stop those who would bring harm to my home and repel animals that would bring danger to it as well." She pauses, giving a bit of an awkward chuckle. "I uh. I accidentally nullified my oath with erasing my bloodline's noble titles but that's something I can fix at some point." She shrugs helplessly. She reaches to take the two cards, turning them over to look at them. "Even if I stopped using magic... I don't think that would stop." She says thoughtfully. "Because this world is ... beautiful and chaotic and wonderful in ways that I had scarcely been able to imagine growing up on a mining world like Tungeturm. A world that is mostly dirt, with plantlife... I'd say the closest equivalent is desert-like plantlife. Almost as dangerous as the animals." It's a fond look on her face as she's talking about Tungeturm, as horrible and space australia as it sounds. "So... yeah. Exploring tokyo is probably going to happen for sure." She glances at the headphones, and the explanation of them. "Mmm." She takes her seat again, with her own cup of tea -- a cinnamon apple spiced something or other -- to sip on. "Did she pass away, or is she... just... elsewhere now?" She asks gently, almost seeming hesitant to take the headphones. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Not one to name names, Koji says, "She... there was too much, I have to assume. She left. And I don't fault her. Sometimes... life is too much. All I can hope is that she's out there someplace living a life that's... better for her." The thought of quitting by e-mail does leave him with a smile, and then he just nods as he chews on everything that has been said, and finally just gives a shrug. At the perfect moment, he reaches over, and removes the tea bag from his brew, and instead of putting it on the desk, or letting it drip on the floor, he just Storages it to dispose of later, leaving everything neat in the room, "Sounds like a place my father would love. I mean, sans the dangerous animals... or maybe even because of." He seems to be treading lightly, but adds, "He used to get us all to go camping together when I was younger. Up into the hills and mountains outside of the city. He loves to fish when he can, always brings it home." The gripe comes in the most blase fashion, "And then he forgets he didn't skin it, or prepare it, and loudly declares it's dinner, and so I had to be the one to prepare it." Looking around once more, he picks up his cup and holds it carefully, "I think it's something I saw in you when we first met, something I recognized in myself. We both were burdened with being adults before we should have been. Maybe mine was a little more self-imposed... but I was a very bright boy, with a very lazy father and a very busy mother... so much so at times that the only way I felt like I could... be around them... was to do everything else. I learned to cook, clean up the house, prepare lunches, shop groceries... I've been told that if I ever find that one true... whatever... I'll be a wonderful househusband." But as he sips his tea, he grins, "Though I think it makes me a bit of a control freak. If my personal sense of order is disturbed, I can be very... annoyed." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Aloisia gives a small nod at that explanation of the girl who left. "Hopefully you are correct on that. That she is just living a good life, that is." There's certainly worse ways to no longer be a mahou at least. "The mines on Tungeturm are something to see. The planet is steeped in magic, so the gemstones that make up device cores grow underground there naturally, and the miners who work there have figured out methods to help further growth so that they can be harvested sustainably. It's not fast, but the cores for Intelligent Devices are difficult enough to come by that it is a pretty significant source of income for the planet." It's also probably why the cores for Doppelwand were so huge, being from Tungeturm. The talk of the fish gets a soft chuckle. "Ah, poorly thought out I see... or perhaps he thought that it was a fair trade for doing the work of hunting the fish." She says bemusedly. "I..." She pauses. "You're not wrong in that assessment. My training and ... honestly brainwashing ... started when I was very young. I was likely significantly worse when I started my journey to earth, but multiple years of almost entirely being alone save for your Device certainly change a person." She shifts slightly in her chair. "My mother is likely the only reason I didn't ... completely just end up a near-mindless soldier. She was very kind and pushed me to involve myself in things other than my training, it's why I learned how to work on my devices and even work in the mines alongside the miners sometimes." The mention of being a wonderful househusband gets a chuckle. "I have heard tell of girlfriends. The existence of girlfriends mean that there must be girlfoes. I believe that is a role I shall be able to fulfill nicely." She says half-jokingly. "...But yes. It is ... when things are Wrong it does feel a bit strange. I had to spend so much time cleaning this room after coming back." She shudders slightly, thinking of all of the dust and grime that had built up. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' For either no reason whatsoever, or the whole talk about cleaning... it starts a chuckle in the long-haired young man. Something that starts in the belly and just makes itself known as he bends slightly. As it comes out, it's a merry little thing, and he begins shivering in his shoulders, just before it turns into a laugh! 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Koji is laughing. There is a moment of pause as he starts laughing and it gets louder, a moment when Aloe is wondering if she should be concerned. ...But eventually she does start to laugh with him, but it /does/ start out a little bit unsure at first before she just lets herself go and fully join in. ... Eventually she does go. "...Haaaa.... so what are we laughing about?" 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Slipping back to pure Japanese for a moment, he smiles and rubs the back of his neck, "Gomen Gomen..." Actually taking off his glasses, he wipes at his eyes a moment, and the replaces them, "It's just nice to meet someone else who actually thinks to clean their room when they get back. I don't know how many nights I've gone out to... do as we do... and the very first thing I do when I get back... is tidy up." He continues to grin, "I could see you just like me. You've just gotten back from fighting something very large and very nasty, and your Device's armoring is all scuffed and torn, you're an utter mess... but the first thing you think to yourself is 'Oh, I need to pick up in here.'." And he admittedly almost breaks out in laughter again, but it's like a mirror, you can see where his mind has done EXACTLY that to him more than once! 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "A clean room is the source of a structured life! Or ... something like that. It mostly just comes from the Tungeturm Defense Force training. It didn't matter how tired I was, my priorities were always to be my Device, my living space, and finally cleaning myself unless I was dirty in such a way that trying to clean would just make it dirtier." Aloisia chuckles softly. "Trust me, you don't want to have seen how things looked when I got back, I think I may have been cultivating a new species of ... something ... in here." She grimaces. "I had to get a new fridge, I couldn't get the smell out of the old one." 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' And with that, Koji points towards the laptop, "So... unless you weren't aware. The furniture for the rooms is provided by the school. There's a catalogue you can access on the computer, and even put in a work order if you need the carpet replaced or the walls repaired. With the roommate I had, we became VERY aware of how robust the school's services were." Motioning towards the cot and the uncomfortable camp chair, "I am sure they can get you a replacement fridge, I mean... I have one in my room too. I do a lot of meal-prep there... even though technically I shouldn't. It's why I had all of those things in my Storage. It's a habit we've all sort of developed. But I'm not as much for sweets as some others, so I tend to pack high-carb savory foods." There another moment, and then he ohs, "Also... if you want to work out. And by that I mean spar... let me know. My mother gave me a rather hefty primer on the fighting arts, and I've had a LOT of practice out there. I don't rely fully on magic like most others do, and... it sounds like it's something you might enjoy." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Ah, they'd vaguely told me about that, but when I was first moving in I was probably still a bit shellshocked from the crashlanding and being extracted from half of a ship that was cut open with a beam from a small child." Frankly, this planet, as Chrono has mentioned, is some absolute nonsense. "I ... might take advantage of it. I'd actually chosen to get the cot and chair intentionally, not out of hardship, but considering I am not in an army anymore, it's not really necessary to hold to that style of spartan-ness." She says, musing on that. "Maybe get some posters or something too. The artists of this world make some rather entertaining things." Not that Tungeturm didn't have art and such, but being a mining world it was not really the focus. "Try my hand at sculpting or something... I do somewhat miss working with raw materials at times. Not that I was ever the best at shaping the gemstones, but everyone ended up learning a little..." She muses. Regarding sparring, she gives a small smirk. "Sure, though I will..." She pauses, glancing at the Zweihander, which causes the smirk to drop ever so slightly. "...Have to drastically hold back so as not to break an ancient Storage Device that is likely older than all of the magical people on this planet combined that probably belongs in a museum." Ha ha ha ha. She is going to have to reinforce that thing a lot because frankly she already destroyed multiple things that should have been in a museum. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' He holds up a finger to forestall that, "We won't fight with them... our Devices. We'll fight hand to hand, or we'll use practice weapons. Swordsmanship, spears, archery, amazingly... we have clubs that do all of these. Several people you know are in what we call the Kendo club, which is sword arts. I can borrow some wooden knives, you can borrow a wooden sword, and we can beat each other up like civilized people." Backtracking a moment, "There's clubs for sculpture with claw and stone, even those that make costumes, so you could work with some jewelry too. I'm in the Gymnastics and the Computer clubs myself. I wanted an athletic club and a technical club on my records for when I apply to a higher school. I'm not anything good at the level of you or Rashmi... Device inner working make only minor sense to me... but I am good with our technology. I regularly rebuild things like those headphones, or game systems, even the computer is one I fixed up." His voice doesn't rise to a level of excitement, but there is an undertone to it, "I bet if you asked, Rashmi and some of the others would love to take you shopping for posters and decorations for your room too. It lets them help you." But finally, he shades a little red, and adds, "And I'm sorry about that crack midblade... that's my fault. We were in a fight, and I needed to sever the arm off a giant robot, and Hanzo's not good for something like that... so I drew the old fellow out and gave it a good whack. If it's any credit to his design... I took the arm right off at the shoulder... buuut... sorry..." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Ooh, going full training mode. You know that is probably smarter, and if we weave in magic it can help with training our magical energy." Not that much output ever happened outside of henshin, but it was still good practice. "And I already signed up for the Kendo club at the suggestion of the Ginga Crew." Aloisia says with a small nod. "So I believe I'll be seeing you at some point!" Sculpture with claw and stone. Costume and jewelry-making clubs. Gymnastics... computers... hum. "Ah, I'm actually mostly best at in-depth maintenance. I can change out parts and do basic upgrades, fix the worst of damages -- but I'm not at, say, Meister level like Rashmi. Even what I'm doing with the Armed Device there." She motions towards the zweihander. "Is mostly updating the parts to reinforce them and remove some of the limiters that were placed on it to make it safer for use in ceremonial services." She pauses. The talk of the shopping, and also the talk of the crack in the sword. She doesn't look upset, instead? She breaks out into laughter in response. "You did that? With a ceremonial blade? Oh dear kaizar, the fact it only has a /crack/ is honestly a wonder, and its original wielder probably was smiling from the afterlife at such a thing." She grins as she rests a hand on the blade. "Luckily, I have some small skill with Alchemy so such things are repairable. I, technically, in midchildan terms, would be designated as a support mage." She pauses. "No, I don't act like one, but frontline vanguard is a hybrid role." 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Despite the reassurance, he almost looks ashamed, "Well... knowing what I know about Belkans... I thought maybe giving him a chance to feel like a sword again might let us bond... but nothing connected even after that, so... maybe I just woke him up enough that he could find you." For that, he does smile at the beaten up old sword, and then shakes his head, "Listen. If you want to talk. Like this... anytime. Let me know. I don't know... it just feels like... we were friends before we met. If that makes sense." He then cracks that smile, "I hid the sword from Rashmi because I thought she'd give me such a LOOK, and here you are laughing about it. It's honestly a relief. And if what you just said is true... either I'm luckier, or I've got more skill than I thought." He finishes off his tea, and then almost instinctively, takes a napkin from the table to clean the cup for you, "I also... and I hope you don't mind... I told my mother about you. She's former military too. TSAB ground forces. Don't press her on what she can and can't remember... it's a touchy subject. But she did agree if you ever want to get away from all of this, you're welcome to visit their place. Of course I'll have to come too, but at least that means you get to suffer my cooking." The word suffer has enough irony dripping from it, it's palpable, "But it looks like for now, you've got more than enough to keep busy. I put my contact information on the computer, in case you already had a phone, and my e-mail. I didn't want you to feel like you had to go stalking around the school looking for me." And at last as he stands, he say, "And... it's Koji. Not just Silvia. Alright?" 
}}

2414/An Otto-rly horrid encounter

2025-03-19T04:09:04Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/18 |Location=Pikarigaoaka Ward |Synopsis=In the wake of the Crown of Succession Incident, Otto Steiner comes to attempt to retrieve his dau..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/18
|Location=Pikarigaoaka Ward
|Synopsis=In the wake of the Crown of Succession Incident, Otto Steiner comes to attempt to retrieve his daughter.

Several people take exception to that.
|Cast of Characters=216,80,265,197,107,41,145,166,61
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' After rescuing someone from a horrible fate, food was frequently a high priority. And this time was no different, they'd planned to go out, and things had been ... ever so slightly weird on the majority of the trip. Nothing individually that weird or suspicious. Lots of people trying to get them to try free samples, or try to poll them on random topics, just enough to delay them, not enough to actually stop them or delay them THAT much. The ward with Clover Tower in it had always been bustling, but it seemed especially busy on this tuesday, and there were a lot of signs about various different sales and promotions that seem to have drawn a lot of people, all of which... ...Hadn't been advertised anywhere, really. Nothing on TV, nothing over radio, just the signs in the streets. All of it seemed... almost theatrical, in a way, the way that everyone was acting was just enough normal to not seem /that/ weird, and yet just off enough to be possibly concerning. Yeah, there was likely Something about to happen, and that sense that it might be easier just to ride it out than to just turn around and try to leave, because the moment they seemed to realize, there were Eyes on them. ...But. No real threats seem to be present. At least not yet. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "It's a nice place, I've been in there a couple of times already." That's Zephyr, chattering away. She took a detour to put her puppies back up in their crate at home, rejoining the group quickly enough.     The weirdness seeps in, a sign here that looks familiar, but isn't, a canvasser that's just a little too pushy, a shop that wasn't there last week... it's not enough on its own, new places open all the time, especially in certain areas of the city, but all this in this one general location. She doesn't speak up though, but can clearly be seen getting a bit more tense as things progress on.     << Dee, keep on a swivel, and bring combat drives to Ready-2. >> she sends to her Device.     "Yeah, just up here." she says after a short while, pointing to a place set into the corner of a block. It's a little place, pretty standard for a ramen place, open sides with stools to sit on, and a guy behind the counter making the noodles and such to order. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     Right. So. Things have been handled apparently. So now it's food time.     Sequoia Maybach is here, following after Zephyr with her hands stuffed in her pockets.     "Huhhhhhh..." The silver-haired girl murmurs after a beat.     "Anyone else get a funny feeling?"     Eh it's probably nothing.     Probably.     Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "If by funny feeling, you're getting the sense that either a fight or a flashmob is preparing to break out," Sugata drawls, following the group with casual ease, "Then I certainly have that feeling." A celebration, that Aloisia is well. It had seemed the sort of thing Sugata should venture to. He might be woefully unequipped to provide emotional support, but he still has an interest in seeing how she's doing - and in keeping tabs on his allies in the whole endeavor. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Lol. Like Amy listens to the radio or watches TV. MeTube? She has adblock. So, sales and events she's not aware of are just normal.     She tries free samples if they look good. She'll answer polls on things she feels strongly about, otherwise she's like 'no thank you', 'no opinion', 'no comment', and as long as they leave her be she doesn't escalate to American rudeness. Any that make moves like blocking her way after getting told no, though... get told 'let me pass' and then her attempting to push by them; she has little patience but she'll give people ''a chance'' to leave her alone politely.     A funny feeling. "Like we're being watched?" Amy replies. "Or..."     Sugata says maybe a flashmob, and Amy stops, and looks over the crowd. Taking a second look at signs and their quality. Maybe woogling any apparent brand names. And rethinking the questions she's been asked in terms of 'does this seem like someone is pranking randos to make their life weird' filter. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "...No thank you, we're actually on our way to dinner already," Rashmi says, politely fending off the fifth hawker and their insanely cheery flyers advertising ULTRA COSMIC YAKITORI-- Didn't she see those fliers just a few blocks ago, in someone else's hands? Her eyebrows draw together, and she squeezes Chrono's hand, catching his eye and then throwing a look over her shoulder, as if to tell him to keep his own eye out. "Knowing our luck," she says aloud to Sugata, "probably the former... but let's not borrow trouble when so many people like to give it away for free. The important thing is, victory ramen." Priorities declared, she rests her free hand on ALoisia's shoulder, smiling encouragingly. "We have a lot to celebrate, after all." 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Veronica didn't have to be asked twice when the idea of dropping things off and going to eat something. The victory meal was a standard practice, really, and Aloisia really deserved a pick me up after all those weeks being stuck inside herself walking through some sort of weird nightmare. As if having your body taken over wasn't a bad enough deal already. She al had started prepared a small gift for Aloisia on her recovery, a green felt card with the Unstoppable Sister and the Bishop at her sides, their hands on her back and looking at her with a smile. She had yet to give it to her, however. She is waiting for when they have reached the place and the orders are in. "If I didn't know better, I would say the demons of the HallWard are involved in this. This sounds exactly like a scheme they would run", she turns around, trying to pinpoint all the suspicious people. She is excluding that possibility though. "But it can't be them, they just got a pretty tough blow recently", she tells the others. It wasn't just the theatricals, but she could easily imagine how these unannounced shops and gimmicks could be all a front to extort people or getting them addicted to money. Or both. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown was keeping silent, for the most part. Squeezing Rashmi's hand. Every instinct he had screamed 'AMBUSH!' But well... an ambush prepared for was one that didn't work nearly as effectively. He had his device card tucked up his sleeve, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "... They'd be rather foolish to try anything now..." Pause. "So I imagine they will shortly." Perhaps Riventon. Maybe he'd noticed a lot of magical signatures and decided to go all klepto again. Then again, he didn't see Fate anywhere... or Arf... so possibly not... Not enough woobies amongst those who were harassing... 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "...One of those nice little 'hole in the wall' kind of places?" Aloe comments absently as she looks at the pointed-at ramen place. Not as an insult, of course. Though once the place they were going to was pointed out, while the hustle and bustle continued around them, there was less of that feeling of being watched recedes. Slowly. Aloe herself mostly was kind of ... dressed down today. Something comfortable, but nice. Just a pair of jeans and a random t-shirt with some anime on it. And not wearing her usual jacket that she normally would have worn everywhere. It might be a bit before she can wear that normally again. Sequoia's comment gets a somewhat tired sigh from Aloe. "Yeah. We have a tail." That filter is a 'nope we're being watched' kind of thing more than just a flash mob, especially once they'd revealed where they were going. The information had been gathered, and now things were going back to their 'business', as weird compared to normal as said business is. "Demons of HallWard? I don't believe I've heard of those before." Pause. "...It has been months though. Things are still kind of ... weird." No Fate, no Arf... really the only one here right now was Aloisia. As they approached the ramen shop, things were slightly... weird... though. It wasn't just the 'small ramen shop' it normally was. It had a room to the back, and when they entered, the cook glances over the group, went. "The Stauss Party? The rest of your party is waiting in the back." And they gestured to the doorway. If they choose to go through the doorway, they would find themselves in somewhat large room with a relatively 'small' banquet table set in the middle of it, though it had bene done in the similar style to the rest of the ramen place, with stools instead of seats, and at the very end of the table, sat... Otto von Karstein-Steiner. "Come in, come in, sit down. Congratulations on your success, everyone! You saved the world." He takes a bite of his own ramen, slurping it up. In the center of the table is a bunch of ramen toppings and such, and there were already menus at each spot. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Quietly, Koji had been at the back of the pack, walking along with the others and looking for the rest of the world almost like a bodyguard that had been hired to follow along (Probably for Sugata), in his suit and black gloves. Reality had it more that... he had been in his Barrier Jacket all along, his Phantom-class magic allowing him to cover it in the suit he'd used a couple times before, at the prom, and a political meeting... where he needed to be civilian but also needed to be able to cast. The note about being followed and then the 'surprise' of Otto sitting there slurping ramen and laying out an invitation for the group is enough that he just reaches up and pushes up his glasses so the light covers his eyes...     "Bravo. The casual dramatic entrance... you must feel -VERY- pleased with yourself."     "However... some of us might find ourselves hard-pressed to take a meal with someone who eats ramen..."     ...with a fork." His voice is casual to the point of being... almost pleasant, but with the kind of restrained politeness of a well-trained police dog. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "Man, I hope it's a flash mob, I'm not in the mood to deal with a fight tonight." Sequoia says tiredly.     Unfortunately is isn't a flash mob when Aloe says the group is being tailed.     Sequoia scowls.     "Wait they were expecting us?" She says, surprised but then the group heads into the back and...     There's someone there waiting for them.     Now, Sequoia has never met nor even seen Otto von Karstein-Steiner... But the man's presence does not instill a good feeling in the smallest Belkan.     Sequoia doesn't say a word...     She simply plants herself protectively in front of Aloisia.      

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr is about to open her mouth to put in her order... when the cook says that... her hackles are instantly raised, she practically bristles... this isn't normal, this is FAR FROM normal. She checks she can reach her Device without showing her intent.     << Careful everyone, this is /very/ not normal. >> she has Tenraikaze send to Chrono and Rashmi's Devices, and via a more general telepathy link. She does take the invitation, and mismatched eyes lock onto Otto, and following suit with Sequoia, places herself between Aloisia and this man. "..." her scowl says more than she could ever put into words. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' There is a sharp, surprised blink when the server says their table is ready in the back, and that there's a party waiting for them. If she'd been thinking about it, *that* would be the point at which she steered the group and, especially, Aloisia back out the door. But, they are here, and *he is there,* and Rashmi's hackles are raised so high it might be visible from an arriving plane. "...No, it's okay," Rashmi says in answer to Koji's declaration, her voice cold and toneless. "If he's going to go to all this trouble for our benefit, the *least* we could do is forgive a lack of basic manners." Her eyes never leave Otto as she speaks, and her hand squeezes Chrono's again, though this more of a 'don't let me do anything Aloisia'll regret' kind of squeeze. Her eyes never leave Otto as she takes her seat, nor when she raises her menu. "....So. I guess we're going to start with *what it is you want?*" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "Don't worry about it, it's just a bunch of demons that are sealed away and aren't going to escape any time soon no matter how much they try", Veronica grins to Aloisia. "I can tell you all about them after we have dealt with whatever this is", she nods, still continuing to look around. Of course, after a while, they would have reached the ramen shop, and then she would have had to give up on her search. Seems they were just content with watching and nothing more. She still should keep her guard up, though. The mystery is soon solved. "Count Otto, long time no see, thank you very much for your regards", she does a slight bow, her right hand resting over her left shoulder. As easy as that, she is in stage mode. "Sorry to say, but we were about to have a lovely time, and I am sure your presence would give us many enriching opportunities, but I believe it's in your interest as well to make it quick", she gives him a wink. "So, please, thirty words or less", Veronica adds, moving closer to Aloisia. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' There shouldn't be a table waiting for them. Sugata knows this crowd well enough - while there are planners among them, they aren't the sort who surprise one another with a reserved table for a victory celebration of ramen. But he's not Rashmi, who would have worried for everyone's feelings had she considered the risk of a trap a moment longer - he's the sort who likes to spring the trap, and the opposite of a pacifist. So he walks in with head held high and shoulders straight, curious and unafraid. ...The receptiomn is enough to tell him that this is an enemy, but not what ''sort'' of enemy, so he takes a seat nearer to Otto than the others are sitting, but not ''with'' him - a barrier between the rest and Otto. "You've gone to the most modest of efforts, after all. Surely, now you'll tell us what this is all about?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "The Demons of HallWard are these demons that go around making people greedy in order to feed on their greed, they want to release some powerful demon from a painting Veronica's guarding." Amy offers explanation. They'd be foolish to try anything now.     Amy just looks at Chrono.     So I imagine they will shortly.     Amy nods in agreement.     But she certainly wasn't expecting Otto.     She mighta been kinda low on self-worth when she promised to fight him to the death, but ''man'', he's really not someone she can bear to leave existing to do more harm, if she can help it.     She looks at him.     She tranforms, engulfed in fiery light and then in fire, leaving her in her standard combat digs. That still takes like half a second even if she rushes it, and ''also'' attacking ''will'' probably damage everything around her, so a surprise attack isn't really possible.     She glares at him the way you glare at someone that you know wants to plunge the galaxy into a war that will kill millions if not more, someone who has commited probably countless atrocities in pursuit of the power to start that war, may have had a hand in orphaning the only person to ever love you, and y'know, gaslit and manipulated and emotionally and psychologically tortured Aloisia who is standing ''right there.''     Glaring at him like that, she asks, "Why are you here." But even as she speaks the sentence, she realizes, there is no possible good reason for Otto. He is here to cause trouble. "No, I don't care why you're here. ''Leave.'' If you're not here to fight us to the death, then ''leave.''"     She stands ready to summon an attack and fight, but for the moment ''doesn't'' summon a weapon, and keeps both hands pointed down towards the floor. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown blinked a few times, but followed along with the others and... then... Otto. Of course. There was a light flash and he was in uniform. In his case, the message was clear. 'There was a TSAB agent here. I will react accordingly, if necessary.' For now, there was no telling if this would go to aggressive stakes... yet... "Hello again, Oscar Von Karstein-Steiner. I take it the times find you well?" He took his seat besides Rashmi, pulling up the menu. Many might think he wasn't even looking or paying attention to Otto... Many might not realize how many binds he was silently placing up, not fully active yet, but ready... especially in blind spots... "I'm guessing this isn't about appealing the prior judgment from the TSAB?" If so, that'd be so much more simple... He'd just send Otto away with more paperwork to fill out. His second most powerful weapon, after Nanoha. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Quite, really. You have no idea how much it took to get this all set up, to figure out which trains you were taking to get here, the amount of youma to control or replace the civilians in the immediate area around you... All for you. Really, if anyone should feel pleased and honored, it should be you. A member of a royal family going to all this effort for you." Otto gestures grandly outwards. Not really at the room, but at the general area. He does, however, rather pointedly... lift his hand up to show a pair of silver chopsticks. "And I do have knowledge of the local decorum for consuming ramen." Not that a bedazzled silver set of chopsticks was much better. Sequoia's senses weren't really wrong about Otto, in spite of all of the theatrics, in spite of how all of this was done 'all for you', there was this sense that he considered himself Better than everyone gathered, not to mention the darkness that all but rolls off of him and the cane that was resting at his side. Aloisia, meanwhile, is ... kind of staying towards the back of the group now, somewhat quiet at the moment. There's a hesitation to her at Otto's presence. Though he was being calm and friendly there was still that Presence that this was /his/ situation. /His/ domain. "What is it I want?" He gives a smile, his tone filled with that sickly sweet saccarine. "How rude, I simply wished to extend congratulations for solving the Crown of Succession incident." His tone drops as he leans forward slightly, the shadows seeming to fall over his face as he continues. "And retrieve my daughter." Sugata comes and sits down, as does Chrono. Which causes him to lean back slightly, that shadowed look fading again as he simply goes back to that sweet smile as he gazes at Amy. "Now, now. Isn't a father allowed to simply wish to congratulate the people who saved his daughter from untold horrors and an apocalypse?" Not that he recognized most of them out of henshin, but them being with Aloisia... well. Told him enough. Beyond Chrono and Amy's transformations, of course. That smile becomes a bit more strained as Chrono calls him 'Oscar'. "Come now, Harlaown, you would think that our long-standing relationship would put us beyond petty namecalling. Besides." He taps his cane on the ground, as it intones a familiar spell. {GERFANGNIS DER MAGIE} "...We have all the privacy in the world, now." The wave of darkness of the activation of the darkness-fueled barrier makes that semi-familiar feeling of bees crawling under one's skin... ...But he's not attacking, instead opting to take another bite of his ramen to slurp up. Also, the waiters are still there to take people's orders... Eventually, Aloisia does sit down at the opposite end of the table from Otto. But she does not look straight at him. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     With Amy and Chrono suiting up, Zephyr does the same, eyes narrowing as her Barrier Jacket forms into place... just about in time for that Dark Energy Barrier to go up. She doesn't speak still, and with Chrono setting up Binds, she feels like she can focus a bit more elsewhere... she also doesn't take a seat, instead standing near to Aloisia, and keeping a wary eye over her shoulder at the wait staff and other remaining 'civilians'. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "...Then next time," Rashmi says coldly, taking on her own Barrier Jacket in a glimmer of golden light, "you'll want to remember that in Japan, metal chopsticks are traditionally used for *funerary* practices." Was that a threat? A warning? It's hard to say, but cold fury is practically boiling off the redhead in waves, as she turns her head to addess the server with a more genuinely polite smile. Dark Servants or no, one always, *always,* treats waitstaff with courtesy. "Hokkaido ramen, please. With abura-age and extra mushroom." A smile that falls off a *cliff* when she turns back to face Otto. "So... when's her father supposed to get here and congratulate us?" 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown just kept reading the menu and... "We didn't retrieve your daughter, we freed Stauss-san from the effects. She is free to go where ever she pleases from there. And Stauss-san... you are free to leave, if you so please. He won't stop you." ... And Chrono did mean that. Not that Otto might not try. Just that he would not succeed. Meanwhile, he was already doing a passive scan... with a barrier up... how many life forms were outside of the room? 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Koji almost immediately sits to Aloisia's left side, being so polite as to pull the chair out for her before he himself takes a seat. No matter where he moves, his eyes are still obscured by the reflections of light in the room, even when the Barrier is placed up. One gloved hand taps down on the menu, but he doesn't look at it directly.     << AREA SCAN. >> Not even bothering to hide it this time, he pings out to see who and what is inside the barrier, not just everyone present, and if there is anything odd with the servers or the space. He flicks it as a link towards Rashmi and Chrono to make their own decisions on what to do with it, but at the same time, he also physically let his eyes go back and forth, looking for Devices-as-Weapons, and anything else that could be a threat. And still he's listening to a man he's vowed to do some very horrible things to.     "Actually, Rashmi-chan... if you'll pardon the minor correction... Silver is appropriate for celebrations, but is more often reserved for weddings and tea ceremonies. So while it is not entirely out of place... you can't fault him for trying. At least he made the effort... I mean, he could have been gauche enough to use gold. After all... one would not want to be mistaken for trying to present themselves as pure or divine." And as if to make a point, he turns to Aloisia and says, "Now... I know you haven't had much time on Earth, but I would be happy to help you learn if you would like. If not, there are forks available. After all, a welcome guest shouldn't feel put on to try and learn the culture on the first time." 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Veronica winces as that barrier goes up and weirdly enough doesn't make the staff disappear. They are all youma then, or maybe that magic behaves differently. That... probably changes things. He certainly went through a lot just to pull this specific stunt. And all of this because he wants Aloisia that much. As much as she is not showing it, this man unnerves her, and she would rather get rid of him as soon as possible. But she recognises things have yet to escalate into a fight, as much as Otto is edging eerily close to it. "Pardon me, let me do a small fix", she says, snapping her fingers. "Moonlit Heist, Phantom Thief Release, My Evolution!" Veronica calls out, summoning the Hallward painting's blessing. Glowing mist wraps around her, and her magical garments materialise, accompanied by feline ears sprouting from her scalp, and a swishing tail emerging behind her. "The Princess of Sarek, with hope held tight, I leap through shadows to light up the night!" she sings the final verse, holding her cane tightly in her hand. "Hello again, Otto. Do you miss my ''decorative'' knives?", she grins as she takes her place, lifting the chair so it makes no noise as she sits down. "Shoyu ramen with nanbanzuke, please", she addresses a passing by waiter. "I believe anything that Aloisia-san does is Aloisia-san's decision", she stares at him with no very little of that excess politeness. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Oh this is ''that'' kind of drama, hm? Sugata transforms in a casual flash of light, old-fashioned military blue and gold replacing his civilian attire. "And have you considered that your daughter is the one who chooses whether or not she leaves with you?" His tone is chill, allowing Rashmi to take lead with umbrage, though when he glances at the waitstaff he gives his order with the casual, curt nature of one who expects to be obeyed. "Shoyu ramen with extra chashu. And when we leave, I'll have three orders of tonkatsu to go, with extra egg and chashu." Obviously he's going to take a moment to ensure the evil waitstaff know he expects food for Wako and Takuto. With that handled? He looks to Aloisia. "Would you prefer that he be held down for a kick, pinned for a punch, or entirely left to your leisure?" 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     Sequoia's instincts are right, huh... This guy is bad news. Though she balks at the BEDAZZLED CHOPSTICKS, a more visible look of outrage crosses the silver-haired girl's face for other reasons.     Her fist is clenched tight, and when Aloisia moves to sit, Sequoia remains VERY close to her, practically looming in spite of her small stature. Some sit. Some suit up.     Sequoia chooses to remain standing.     "Oh so that's who you are." She says, tone as warm as a glacier.     Sequoia is not the rookie she once was. She's been bathed in the fires of Walpurgis and baptized in battle ever since, and somehow she's still kept holding onto her pacifist values.     Right here though. Right now. The girl looks ready to haul off and deck an old man.     A barrier is raised. That's both good and bad. While it means innocents won't come to harm if this does come to blows, it also means the group is trapped inside with him. Or maybe... That's not quite right. Because that goes both ways.     Otto von Karstein-Steiner is trapped in here with them.     "I'm sorry but... Who the hell do you think you are?" Sequoia asks about as bluntly as a cudgel.     "Retrieve your daughter? As-fricking-if." She snaps. "For all you've put her through, for everything we went through to get her back from that crown crap you think we're just going to let you walk out of here and take our friend with you?"     There's a flash of white light as Sequoia's clothes are instantly replaced with the black and white armor of her Knight Armor.     "Just take the L and leave, old man." Weisser Ritter says.     "You call yourself a Belkan..." She spits. "So where's your pride?"     There's a brief moment where her gauntlet creaks as she balls her hand into a tight fist.     "Can you even fight your own fights?"     "Where's your honor? Your integrity? You're Belkan in blood but not in heart! I'm *Earthborn* and I'm more Belkan than you will ever *be*."     It is at this point that Sequoia Maybach takes off her gauntlet.     There is a heavy clank as she drops it on the table while looking Otto dead in the eyes. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy moves to stand in front of Aloisia, when Otto threatens to retrieve his daughter. She shivers a bit as the dark barrier goes up, but... it doesn't ''seem'' to be doing anything. Yet. As people take a seat, she stands next to Aloisia, not sitting yet.     When Rashmi points out what metal chopsticks are for, she observes, "If he brought them for his own funeral, it's fine with me."     She looks to Otto. "You had your chance to treat her like a daughter. And you used that chance to torture her. If you cared ''even one whit'' about getting her back, you would have been there, with all this power, stopping the Prinzessin. You knew she'd activate the crown because of you. You expected her to be ''dead''."     People are actually ''ordering food?'' "Ugh. If we must. Shrimp ramen, please. And bring chopsticks with it."     Ginga Kingu's words get a smirk out of her. "Now ''those'' are the most reasonable words I've heard so far."     And then Sequoia, bless her, throws down the gauntlet. Amy pulls off her glove (the right one, ''without'' the soul gem on it) and tosses it on top of the gauntlet. "You won't fight him alone." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "Ah, I'll have to remember that. Truly, there are so many little rules and practices. Though, I suppose, we could turn this into a funeral if you did desire it such." Otto responds cheerfully towards Rashmi. His threat was not filled with fury, just cheerful confidence. But they were ordering food. And treating the wait staff politely and courteously. "Well, regrettably, the father who raised her was murdered during the coup by the former tyrants. So regrettably, her blood father is what is left to pick her up." Scans are performed, there are several Youma in the area, the obvious ones of course being the waitstaff, there's also some cooking staff, and... they're mostly just acting in their roles, at least at the moment. None of them are particularly strong, no more than 'kindabad' level. The only real threat there, of course, was Otto. ...Well and the other mahou but it's fine. The space is a little odd too, the building having been extended temporarily to create that room they were standing and sitting in. "I, uh. I have had some practice with chopsticks. I lived in the dorm rooms..." Though she isn't the /best/ with them, as food starts to come out. "...Thank you, regardless." And then Veronica transforms into the Princess of Sarek, talking about 'decorative' knives. Otto gives a soft sigh. "All of this taunting when I went through the trouble to set up such a lovely banquet." The wait staff takes Ginga Kingu's order dutifully, along with other orders, moving more like little awkward stick men without proper joints now that the barrier was up, like dolls acting out the role. And Ginga Kingu asks Aloisia a question, if he should be held down. She doesn't immediately respond, as that Gaze falls on her from Otto, as if daring her to answer that question. "..." And Sequoia begins to talk. When Sequoia starts to pull off that gauntlet, Aloisia began to reach towards Sequoia to gently rest on her arm. She pushes out her chair, and quietly stands, leaning in to gently whisper. "Your actions speak greatly, little Wall, but I will not have you tarnish your values over him." Otto, meanwhile, is also standing. "No, no, by all means, don't stop her. I've been bound to handle this through duels, after all." Aloisia hesitates. Before turning to bring her gaze to meet Otto's. "It's amazing, really. How you shaped me. Chained me to your ideals and made me your tool." She says, shaking her head. "I was younger then, I didn't really have a way to see the truth of things then, in that life shaped purely for your needs. Just another casualty of your war. My own pride, my own honor /destroyed/ for your ends, for your needs." "And even now, you choose a time when I have no power of my own." A hand lifts to brush over her ears, hanging with a heavy emptiness in the lack of her usual twin shield earrings that would normally be there. "So I cannot even properly defend my honor now." "...But the nice thing about having had your honor tarnished. Your honor destroyed?" She points towards Otto. "...I don't mind that I can't defend my own honor right now. Because I have friends by my side more than willing to do it /for/ me." The only one her hand still rests on is Sequoia's shoulder. As Otto stares at his daughter with the fury of a father looking at a disobedient daughter. "All the time. All the effort *I* put into you. Into making sure you were raised /properly/. Raised to be /strong/... and THIS is how you repay me?" Otto reaches down, grabbing that dark shadow of Blauer Greif. {Schwerkraftstern} And the dark energy of a gravity star appears above the table, unleashing INTENSE gravity upon the group, enough to likely force most to their knees. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Aloisia, lacking her Knight Armor at the moment, having to put all of her effort, grabbing onto the side of the table as wood creaks and cracks... But she does not fall as she replies to Otto. "...I'm not just an object ... for you to control. My life... is NOT yours... not for your GAMES." Amy was not necessarily ignored in all of this, but unlike Sequoia, there wasn't someone's Values at stake here with her, and focus had been dragged elsewhere. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Koji doesn't go to his knees. He just *SITS* there, but this was exactly the kind of thing he was waiting for!     << DISRUPTOR FIELD. >> His unique Belkan-In-Midchildian magical seal, the tri-gram inside of circle appears in the air, interposing between the 'Star' and the group, blue-white and bathing the space with an eerie glow.      "Mister Carstein... There is no assault you can level that we cannot counter." As his counter begins to lessen the gravity on others, he picks up his menu to look it over.     "There is no threat you can make, that we cannot block." He finally lets his eyes show from behind his glasses...     "There is no move you can make that we didn't come ready for." But then he puts down the menu, "So... here is what is going to happen. You will apologize. You will leave. You will not look for her." He then motions around, "Or it is simple. We will do to you what was done to Beryl. I am sure you will find Paris to be lovely... for the brief moment you are ALLOWED." 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < PING > < CHIEF! > is all the warning Zephyr gets as that spell is activated. A moment later, her Axe is in hand, and with a widening of her stance, she tanks the gravity with some considerable effort.     "Now, Dee." < PING > < STRUGGLE BIND >     Purple ribbons erupt from a nearby wall, aiming to lash at Otto's Device and drain its energy circuits to weaken its effects.     "Me, Me, Me, Me, Me. That's all I can hear coming from your mouth. Nothing about how Alo-chan feels, only about you." her eyes narrow. "You sicken me in ways I cannot put into words usable in polite company... but one thing I can say, and can do now, is Aloisia does not stand alone."     "Ochre van Carsale. You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, please use it." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     All the effort *I* put into     "SHUT."     "YOUR."     "MOUTH."     Amy interjects and tries to talk over him. Not that it stops him.     She won't fight the gravity. She must save her strength. "People are not ''objects''. That's what you think she is, another doll to control like your servants here." She glances at the waitstaff, then back to him, grimacing.     "And I am really."     ''"REALLY."''     "Fuckin' tired of folks who wanna turn people into objects."     She returns to a more dour expression. "We'll fight you. The irony is that because of all this, ''you're'' going to be the one who ends up an object. Because we'll make you a ''corpse.''" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "We aren't going to take kindly to a monster that only really looks human, no matter how polite he may fancy himself to be. You can drop your claim on Aloisia and enjoy your food, but not both, Otto", Veronica scoffs at his vague response over her taunting. There are those that are willing to drop all courtesy and go to the hard part right away like Sequoia and Amy, and she is very much of the same mind, but Veronica stays her hand still. This is not her decision to make, but the moment Aloisia shows it's ok for them to fight, she will. Or he tries to harm her. Either one. So convienent of him to then drop all the excuses and start that gravity spell. Veronica is not forced onto her knees purely because she is sitting down, but when the gravity changes, she has to strongly push to start moving up from the chair. He is ''not'' immobilising them to take away Aloisia that easily. "Sequoia was generous in her estimation of you", she scowls at him, little droplets of sweat resting on her forehead. "How long have you since gotten used to the coward's way out, and what makes you think we aren't going to fight back anyway?", she holds tightly onto the cane. "Aloisia-san is a friend of ours, and you are not going to take her away, no matter how vile you prove to be", she declares, moonlight shining in her hand as she creates a blinding calling card. But she does not use it yet. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Aloisia is wordless, when asked to decide her father's fate, and Sugata's eyes glint viciously. Sugata is a king in his own right, bound to the power of the one who devours worlds, and he knows something about the power of a threat, of a wordless reminder, of eyes watching you, thinking of the vulnerability of your back facing them. If this Count Otto wishes to wield his ''authority'', he will find himself rebuffed. Gravity falls on the group, demanding they bow, and Ginga Kingu stands with a flourish of his coat, disdainful. "No," he says curtly. "Her refusal is how she repays ''herself''. ''This'' is how she repays you." And the others likely know where this is going, have the chance to get out of the way if they do, because there's not about to be a warning, not with the light building and the power swelling at the top of the barrier, rather than the rooftop. R "King's Pillar." That's because the power falls ''through'' the rooftop - though this King's Pillar is a narrow one, at least, only consuming the back-half of thee room, falling on Otto and Sugata in equal measure, destroying half of the table, the chairs, the flooring beneath them - in a single, chilling instant of brutal power and force. Were it not for the barrier, he'd be on the hook for buying the poor chef likely bound in some closet somewhere a brand new restaurant. Count Otto attacked first. Aloisia has outright stated that she doesn't mind that she can't defend her honor, when they can do it for her. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' And the moment Aloisia finds her words, Rashmi gives up on the hope of good Hokkaido ramen. Closing her eyes with a sigh, she sets her menu down, smooths the skirt of her Barrier Jacket, and runs through her best options in such an enclosed area. The gravity generator *is* a surprise, though, and of course it was *her* who got the cheap IDEA chair... which gives way explosively under the sudden shift in gravity and deposits her on the floor with a startled squeak. But that doesn't keep her from being able to act, just stand; ten Barrets materialize in the air above her, lengthening out into the points of deadly-looking, golden swords, which orient not on Otto, but on the youma staff. "Don't," she says, slightly muffled by the floor, "you *even dare.* Chrono dear, I'll sweep up if you'd rather take out the trash?" At which point King's Pillar makes an absolute mess of the senses -- especially hearing -- and now we'll just have to see what happens next. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     The truth is.     Weisser Ritter-- no- Sequoia's heart is absolutely hammering in her chest.     She's never picked a fight before, let alone threatened someone to their face-- or even behind their back. The fact of the matter is that Sequoia Maybach is not a fighter. She is a defender, a protector. But. Never before in her WHOLE LIFE has she wanted to strike a man down as much as she does right now.     Aloisia sets a hand on her arm and that tears her intense attention off Otto to look back.     "He won't understand any other way." She says to her fellow Belkan. And the fact of the matter is. As much as this moment scares her and quickens her heartbeat...     It's thrilling.     Is this it? Sequoia wonders to herself. Is this the moment I throw everything away for the sake of someone else? Is this the moment I stain my hands with blood for the sake of justice? To do what's right?     Her own blood courses through her veins hot and fast as she levels her gaze back on Otto and he-- suddenly makes things heavier than a Saiyan training party.     In that instant, Weisser Ritter clenches her teeth. Sweat beads on her brow as she struggles to remain standing, clutching her riot shield Device as she staggers to place herself in front of Aloe once again as the King's Pillar comes down.     "--Stay behind me."     <PANZERGEIST!> Her Device announces, raising a close range shield in front of herself and Aloisia defensively. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown took a long, slow breath. When Otto crossed the line. Attacking like that... He'd ordered a simple ramen, but was still looking at the menu. Seemingly lost in thought. If the gravity phased him... he didn't show it. Then again, he'd trained against, alongside and with Hannah. He'd seem this spell... many times. But launching it near Aloisia was... That was a line too far. He had been intending to crash down on it... but... Well... He wasn't the only one, it seemed. He put the menu back on the table, before glancing back to Kingu, then Koji, Amy, Zephyr and even the resident pacifist. He then got to his feet, albeit with a little struggle. IT wasn't Hannah's... but it was still holding some force. He then walked to Aloisia, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Shall we leave?" he asked. "You're safe. I can't force you to leave him, but we can ensure he doesn't lay a hand on you ever again." He'd say something to Otto... call him a pathetic old man. Tell him he'd lost everything. Tell him he'd earned nothing. That his anger, his violence, his cruelty, his conniving had earned him nothing but a life on a world without proper magic. How the only thing approaching family he had was now gone. That he had lost it... and now he'd die alone, miserable, pathetic, with the best he could hope for was a spider youma caring for him. But he didn't. The others attacked. The others launched assaults. All he focused on... was Aloisia. "I can't promise he won't come after you again. And, unfortunately, the TSAB lacks the facilities to properly arrest him at this point. If he continues pursuit, he'll be killed. However, you deserve, and can have, a better life than he has offered you. With people who care for you, and fight for you. But the choice has to be yours. So... say the word and we'll take you somewhere safe." He held out his hand to hers. "Do you accept asylum with the TSAB?" There was likely... some... level of... off-world documentation that was being discussed and utilized here that most wouldn't understand. But well, Aloisia and Otto likely would. In summation: If she accepts... then Chrono is agreeing to put her under his protection... entirely. Even to the point of killing Otto is he can't be detained... Which Chrono had already said they don't have the tools to do. ... Also, he seemed to almost be entirely ignoring Otto at this point. Letting the others deal with him like the trash he is. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Disruptor Field. The gravity is loosened, as the Binds crack into existence around Otto, an act which he swings the shadow of Blauer Grief through, slicing through those ribbons, then he plants the device in the ground in front of him, both hands on the handle of that cane as the gravity INTENSIFIES... ...But that disruptor field is still there. "Of /course/ it's about me. I am the RIGHTFUL KING OF THARKAD. None of you even remotely come to my /level/." The sword part of the cane-sword is slid out of the 'sheathe' of the base of the cane as Wind Dancer declares that he is under arrest, a slash of darkness unleashed in the swift movement in response, aimed rather unceremoniously at her throat. "Just shut up. You have no authority over me, you TSAB whelp." Amy speaks, and Otto glances towards her like she was something /disgusting/. "Why my niece would choose something like you was always beyond me. I'll be sure to wipe that stain from our family line after the others have been dealt with." How long have you since gotten used to the coward's way out. "You don't know what it's like, to have been born without magic, to be born without the /talent/ for magic in a magical society. I have had to use every means available to me from the /start/, do NOT speak to me of the Coward's way ou--" King's Pillar. The waitstaff that have Barrets created and pointed at them? ...They uh. They just leave. Like there's an air of minimum wage 'I'm not paid enough for this' from them even as they just. Leave the room. Probably going back to HR to report on their job today which they definitely did a good job on, I mean they did everything they were brought here to do! ...Some of the food in the kitchen goes undelivered, of course. For obvious reasons. "I know he won't." Aloisia says softly to Sequoia, as that wave of explosion washes over them while Sequoia defends her from the ... thankfully highly focused attack. Chrono walks over to Aloisia, and rests a hand on her shoulder. "...No, with others defending my honor, it is my duty to stay and witness." Aloisia says quietly in response to Chrono. She pauses, as she listens to the rest of Chrono's words, her head shifting slightly, in that reduced gravity. "...I..." She pauses, "I will accept it, but I also have a request." She leans in, "That you overlook the use of a Lost Logia, shortly." She reaches into her dress, a hand grasping something. {SCHWERKRAFT GUT.} As the smoke clears from King's Pillar, once again, that shadow of Blauer Grief intones a spell, lifted and pointed to the center of the group. "If I cannot have her, then she, and all of you, are of no use to me. And I'm certain that the Crown of Succession shall survive this." And in the center of the room, a Gravity Well sparks into existence, beginning to draw things into the center of the room, with simple intent. To render the room, and everyone inside of it, with the exception of Otto Von Karstein-Steiner into a ball of compressed matter. ...Luckily, there are several barrier and counter-spell specialized mages in the room. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >> As the gravity well implodes into being, the first counter Rashmi can think of is a Shield ringing where the table was, a mostly-physical barrier set to stand against the forces dragging her friends to a messy -- if compact -- doom. "Is *that* what this is about?" she says, straining to pick herself up off the ground. "You have worse coping skills than a nine-hundred-year-old toddler, and now it's *everyone else's* problem? No *wonder* you had to murder your way toward the throne, you couldn't lead *three line cooks,* much less an interplanetary kingdom." 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' It is possible to roll one's eyes in the middle of chaos like this? Yes... yes it is. As Koji does so, and then gravity sphere is thrown into the middle of the room like that, he ends it... with a SMILE.     "You're right... none of us could stoop that low. It's very telling you made your Device as a cane. Now... I get my revenge, and I don't even have to lift a finger against you. That's what I love about this. I get to sit here, with her, and watch you get PUT at your level." He lifts his hand, and several smaller incantation circles appear around the the sphere.     "Kami, if you weren't so TIRED, this might actually be worth putting effort in."     << MULTI-DISRUPTOR. BLADE FORM. >> Six circles generate six blazing blue-white spears, that each lance passing through Rashmi's Shield, and into the center of the gravity, and as they warp, they begin spreading along it like a reverse sickness, white and cleansing lines branching and fading, spreading, fighting the effect as best they can.     "Actually... just in case, Miss Stauss... use this instead." A battered and old Belkan Zweihander Storage Device comes out and is held out to her. A sword she had seen a dozen dozen times on her journey to this world, one of a dozen that was hanging there, for ceremonies, rescued as the last rememberance of her home. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < PING > < ARMOUR SKIN! KITE SHIELD! >     A layer of purple magic forms as an aura around Zephyr's skin, and a spell seal appears to catch the dark slash of energy. The twin layers blunt the strike, but both shatter from the impacts.     "Let it be known that the criminal has refused to use his right to remain silent, and is engaging in aggressive and lethal assault on multiple Magi and a civilian... lethal force is authorized."     < PING > < STUN MODE IS CANCELLED. >     "Charge cycle, shift up!"     < PING > < SHIFT UP. IMPULSE BARRET TEHUANTEPECER SHIFT >     Multiple grapefruit-sized barrets form around her, slowly tugged toward the black hole, they boil with wind-mana, then lance off into elongated 'homing lasers' skirting around the area to land around Otto, trying to disrupt his stance and composure. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown blinked as... Otto just... really. There was so much arrogance there. So much... cruelty. Stupidity. The man had been given so much... but he lacked magic... and so he decided to take and destroy.             <<Stinger Blade!>> Chrono put his staff down, tapping it on the ground... And three swords of magic appeared around Otto. Spinning, then jamming down, to try and pierce... his device. To attempt to shatter it... and, if they hit him? well, he wasn't aiming to hit the man... But they weren't 'stunning' now. He had no qualms about using lethal force on a creature like him. As much as he would prefer to protect, to save, to rehabilitate... They didn't have the resources, currently, to contain someone with magic. Neutralizing him, destroying his access to magic... and possibly taking his life... seemed to be the only options. And during moments like this? The TSAB side of him, the side that would do whatever needed to be done... showed through. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "Maybe so, but I know what I see, and that's enough", the Princess of Sarek retorts with little interest for the story of his life, the only indication of her feelings a brief twitch from her ears. Leave that to your autobiography. Or to your therapist, if you can find one willing to put up with you. The calling card she had prepared travels and explodes in front of his face with glittering moonlight, not a harmful explosion, but one that if successful will take away his sight for a brief time. "Lunar Glare" And then the ruby on her finger's ring and shines brightly. "Leave Aloisia alone", she orders, but with that gravity well, she becomes ethereal, stopping gravity from working on her, and moving through the table to reappear at his side. "Seven-hued Flame!", she shouts, her cane pointed at him with the handle towards him, releasing a stream of fire towards Otto. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     That's not good.     That's not good at all. When the brilliant light of the King's Pillar fades and Otto is not only still standing but casts another spell.     One that summons a highly powerful gravity well to suck everything in.     That's bad.     That's very bad.     "Uhhhhh."     Think Sequoia! Think!     Bracing her stance to not get pulled in, she taps her shield.     "Schutzschild we got anything for this!?"     <JA!> Her Device replies.     "Okay, let's do it!"     A Belkan triangle appears beneath Weisser Ritter's feet as she focuses on a spell...     <SICHERER EINDAMMUNGSSCHUTZ!>     This prompts several layers of defensive and protective walling and barriers to help contain the new gravity well. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' The waitstaff are allowed to leave, of course. This band of allies cloistered around Aloisia isn't made up of ''animals'', after all. Anyone working for this man, be they human, youma, or other, deserves to be allowed to flee his presence. King's Pillar doesn't kill him, which is a pity. There are representatives of the law here, but Ginga Kingu doesn't need a government's authority to put down a threat. Apparently he ''does'' need more power than he's brought to bear to finish the job though, a fact he can't help but find ''irritating''. A gravity well opens, a spell seeking to claim them, and light flares from Ginga Kingu's heels, his own variation of flight kicking in, providing counter thrust to that sucking maw. His fist goes to his chest, slamming against it as the symbol of Samekh impressed within his being glows, and allows his weapon to be summoned. "Star Swordo. Diamante." Let those suited focus on defense. Ginga Kingu makes a clean, decisive thrust for Otto's heart, sword in hand. They're striking him from every angle, but they aren't guaranteed to hit. Closing in at range is a risk, but one with every chance of reward. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     The 'rightful king of tharkad.' "''Man'' you'd fit right in on Earth. I guess humans are the same everywhere."     "And ''you'' have no authority over ''us.''" She says confidently.     When Otto looks at her with disgust, thanks to others' efforts to lessen the gravity, Amy just stands proud and smiles. Although calling Hannah a stain gets her glaring again in an instant.     Without magic? "Oh, boo-hoo. And I didn't have the talent for social--"     KING'S PILLAR!     If I can't have her, then she and you, are of no use to me.     Amy grins and holds her hands out to her sides. "At ''last!'' You're honest."     And then ''gravity'' happens, and it's lucky there are people to counter it, but.     Rashmi says he can't lead, and Amy shakes her head. "Oh, no, ''that's'' not what it's about. It's like... imagine someone who wants to conquer a bunch of Europe, like ''now'', modern 21st-century Europe, no matter ''who'' has to die, ''just'' so he can call himself the next Holy Roman Emperor. But in space. That's it. That's his whole deal. Being crowned King of Tharkad is just the first step, so he can use their military to ''start'' that war. He just wants a damn title, and measures every life by how it can help him get it. That's it."     Dismissive words, but... That could have been close. If she -- and her soul gem -- got crushed...     Amy glances over some of the others, evaluating.     Aloisia, who everyone here is fighting to protect. Although she's also about to Do Something that is likely incredibly dangerous.     Weisser Ritter, the most indestructible in raw toughness -- but will that mean anything if she gets caught in a black hole?     Chrono, veteran of ''years'' of magical battles. He's fought people who fight like Otto more than any of them.     Rashmi, her dear friend who's already lost so much. Who tries to hang back in a support role.     And it's thinking of Rashmi and who they both lost that reminds her, even if Amy's pledged her all to deleting this opponent... She should really try to live.     Still. ''some'' precaution must be taken. Molly did not ''intend'' to meet her doom, and it still happened. Amy walks over to her friend, her right hand dipping into her right belt pouch, then her left wrist.     And she tries to press soul gem and grief seed into Rashmi's hand. "Please. Just in case." She nods at the black hole(s) going on.     Once that's handled... well, the fight has begun. And she's not sure what will actually ''get'' Otto. She's ''tried'' throwing everything she had at him before. She'll have to be more creative and think of something, or make use of an opening someone else makes.     In the meantime...     Amy circles around the black hole, trying to get a bead on Otto. She holds up her hand in a fingergun gesture and     CRACK-thip!     She's... trned the power of her attack ''down''? The explosion at her fingertip barely bothers her, and a tiny bit of incandescently-hot metal like a spark is flung at Otto, breaking into burning-hot powder hitting at absurd speed but lacking the kinetic energy to ''do'' much by the time it hits.     But still, it probably hurts and stings! And might burn flammable things!     CRACK-thip! CRACK-thip! CRACK-thip! She keeps doing it while she plans her next move, keeping up the pressure of small annoyance until he realizes what she's doing and figures out a way to ignore it. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' A shield appears over that gravity well, starting the containment as the inner contents of the shield are drawn in and compacted -- the only damage it really is capable of doing before the Multi-Disruptor strikes the spell. The gravity beginning to spread, to take over it, as gravity is reversed in that center, the compressed matter starting to revert... sort of. Okay it's kind of more flung around where it starts to ~ping~ around inside of that barrier. And the Zweihander Storage Device is pulled out and handed to Aloisia, who takes it in one hand, swinging it slightly, testingly. "...Death is too good for you, 'father'... all of the crimes you have committed. Your coup caused hundreds of deaths." She pulls a certain Crown out of her dress, lifting it towards her head as the Device in her hand glows. "You have caused no less than 500 war orphans." "Disrupted the lives of /millions/." "You have forsaken family, engaging in regicidal fratricide leaving the crown princess with no true family." "The Crown of Succession, Set Up." Laser shoot out from Zephyr's attack, shooting out those grapefruit-sized homing lasers, as Aloisia lowers the crown onto her head, GOLDEN binds beginning to ring around and entrap Count Otto. "Death is not enough for you." "Exile is not enough for you." Aloisia is replaced with the Princess of Nothing once more, though this time, her armor is pristine, and she holds the zweihander in her hand as she is covered in the barrier jacket of Kings. The Crown of Succession already beginning to degrade purely from the activation. "This life is mine." She points the sword towards Count Otto Steiner. Around Aloisia, Stinger Blades shoot past her towards the Device that Count Otto reflexively brought up defensively, stabbing into it in three different places, cracks beginning to form in the corrupted facsimile of Blauer Grief. Defensive and Protective walling and barriers contain what was left of the gravity well, wind blowing outwards from that sealed off gravity well's influence being cut off. And then a moon appears on the ground, as Otto is blinded, and then a seven-hued flame washes over him, causing him to cry out in pain. Amy circles around the black hole, darting that finger-gun into place... and then... CRACK. Crack. Crack. Crack. Otto's already-cracking barrier jacket starts to burn away as that burning magic takes hold. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' "...For your crimes, I, the Tyrant of Nothing, declare your sentence." "You shall be given over to the True Prison of Magic." The Star Sword, Diamante thrusts through Otto's chest. "The Karstein-Steiner name is eternally tarnished by your actions, their noble titles stripped." "For one of us, this is a blessing. For you, a curse. With your stripped titles, you shall also be stripped of your magic." As if knowing the dramatic timing, the shade of Blaur Grief's rapidly spreading cracks result in the cane-sword SHATTERING, its fragments falling to the ground, as Aloisia points her sword towards Otto. "DAS WAHRE GEFANGNIS DER MAGIE." Those golden bindings suddenly expand in complexity, something likely only possible with the power of a Lost Logia behind it from the ridiculous complexity, before... "...I hope you suffer the same eternity of torment you inflicted on me." They close in on Otto Steiner. They extract his Linker Core. And then? Gold energy consumes him... And he is simply... Gone. And Aloisia falls to her knee, as the Crown of Succession crumbles from her forehead, leaving behind only tarnished gemstones that hold very little power in them any longer. "..." ...And Aloisia just sinks fully to sitting on the ground there. Starting to cry. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Koji just... exhales when it happens, and finally stands up from his spot. Moving slowly around the table, he looks around at the vanishing magics of the now-gone Count, and the others. He dispels his own magics since they're not needed, and shifts the air around them all with a quick Phantom Zone so that as it all collapses back in again to normality... people get time to finish changing back... or deal with things. Stopping next to Chrono and Rashmi, he says, "The sword is hers. It never responded to me. If nothing else, it's only fitting that she can use those ancient parts to help build something new out of this. So she's always got a piece of her real home in her Device." Eyes flick, and somehow once more the reflection is back over his eyes as he adds gently, "When you are done with helping her out... I could use a little time to talk. Either with just you Rashmi, or both of you. But I think for now you should all civvie back down and help her get herself sorted. I'll keep us covered until then and keep an eye out for anyone who's watching this little drama for their own benefit." Patting both on their shoulders, he turns to depart, putting his hands in his pockets, but adding with a grin, "Hey Kingu... one of these days maybe we'll actually get to go to a place to eat that ISN'T going to attack us. Wouldn't that be a trip." But with that he goes back outside to watch... to wait... to be that quiet guardian so others can have their moment with their friend. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     CRRRRK. TSSSSHHHHHK.     CRRRNK.     Zephyr's Device purges its coolant, then dismisses to its Standby form as she turns from the True Prison of Magic and its new occupant as it vanishes, "Perpetrator eliminated... securing to Stun Mode..." she turns to look at Chrono. "I'll submit a report later, Officer Harlaown." she adds, then drops to hug Aloisia. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Aloisia can use the crown in some kind of Light Mode now. ''Neat''! Who knows how a Lost Logia aligned against their opponent will help?     Now, Magical Rocket Girl Red plans ahead. Considering. She can do even ''more'' missiles at once now than when she last fought Otto... but is that ''really'' a winning strategy? It didn't seem to ''work'', last time. Maybe she can just hit him with one really ''big'' shaped charge or explosively-formed projectile? He hasn't seen her mess around with variations of that magic besides missiles yet. Catch him at a vulnerable time, with buffs she might be able to just put a hole through him.     Or maybe... Chrono has some kinda trap magic. Maybe they could work together to make like. ''explosive'' traps. Imagine Otto flying into a bunch of Chrono's binds and each one is ''also'' a claymore to the face.     Or maybe... hmm. Could there be some weird way to weaponize cuteness magic she hasn't thought of yet? It worked on Calaveras's ghosts. She and her friends will ''all'' have to come up with new tricks, to finally take down     did that golden magic just rip out his soul.     ???!???     Amy's reactive wince happens faster than remembering that she hates him. She ''remembers'' how much having that ripped out of you hurts, and will never forget it.     She stares in awe, and then he's gone, and the linker core is gone, and the Lost Logia is out of power.     Amy turns to Aloisia. "Uhhh, where did he--" she starts to ask, but seeing her crying, the question dies on her lips, and she runs over to offer the girl a hug. Or at least a shoulderpat -- there are probably a lot crowding in to hug right now. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     That is... Quite possibly the last thing Sequoia was expecting to happen.     Sure, she expected the other Mahou to do the right thing, beat up the bad guy, and all that.     But then Aloisia uses the Crown.     "What? --What are you doin...g?" She trails right off.     Otto is gone.     Like. Between getting stabbed in the heart and the crown being put to use, the man is gone.     "A... That... You..."     Sequoia's blood runs cold through her veins at the implications of what just happened. She's so shocked that she drops her Device, the massive riot shield hitting the floor with a heavy CLANK.     <AUTSCH.> The shield declares, annoyed.     All she can do is stare quietly, frozen in place, as Aloe starts to cry.     "..." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' When the Soul Gem and Grief Seed are shoved into her hands, Rashmi for just a moment looks *furious.* But ten she crosses the outer edge of a Shield already being degraded by insane gravitic forces, and realization dawns; it's not foolhardiness, it's simply trust. Thus, her hands close over the objects, and nods. And then... *Then. Rashmi will never, ever lie if asked about this moment in the future, and admit to the fact that the bottom dropped out of her stomach when the True Princess of Nothing made her presence known. And then *made her fury known.* But she had her senses, and had her faculties... And had enough power to... delete Otto from existence? That... will be a sight that takes its rotation in her unpacking-this-nonsense nightmares for a while to come. But when it's all over, and the crown crumbles, and ALoisia crumbles, and begins to cry... Rashmi understands. A door can't get much more closed than what just happened, and her friend has a *lot* to grapple with, in the days to come. Quietly gathering up the gemstones, Rashmi then scoots over to the other side of Aloisia, wrapping arms around the Belkan and just hugging the poor girl. Let her cry it out. << Thank you, Hanzo-kun. >> 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' The sword sinks into Count Otto's chest. Sugata's aim was true, but the man was in combat, and moving, and whether or not his heart was struck or not is ''beyond'' concern, because shortly afterwards - "Well met, Princess," Ginga Kingu greets, briefly, as judgement is passed, and the man's soul is ripped out, his body dissipating. ...So that's what ctrl-alt-delete looks like in real life. A thought he had never imagined he would have, but certainly ''is'' having now. In the aftermath, the crown crumbles, and so does it's bearer, and Ginga Kingu coughs, a bit awkwardly, and suggests, "Perhaps we should try something else for dinner. Order in on campus? Or, something along those lines?" 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown had... wanted to say so many things. Things he was supposed to say. He was supposed to tell her 'No, don't.' Or try and stop her. Or even arrest her... He... was supposed to do a lot. And he did none of it. His report would say 'Wasn't able to act in time'... but... admittedly? He hadn't wanted to. Otto... was a monster. He got what he likely deserved. An end. An anticlimatic end to a hollow, empty man. Shunted off... somewhere. But now? Now Aloisia was crying. And... He nodded to Koji. Yes. They could talk later. For now? Aloisia was crying and oh thank goodness Rashmi was hugging her. Zephyr was too. He didn't have to. Whew. "Aloisia-san, I'll work with my contacts to ensure that you have no issues adapting to this world as a citizen." He means Setsuna. His contact is Setsuna. He has others, but she's the primary one. "... You won't be alone anymore..." Pause. "But I'm still going to be inspecting your room from time to time to ensure that proper measurements of care are being taken. Now... yes. Let's... go get some food... somewhere else... when, errrr... you're all ready." ... This is why he was happy he had assistants. He did NOT do the hugging thing well. The most he liked to do was give a pat on the head. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' There is a moment where the attention of the Princess of Sarek wanes away from Otto, despite her desire for him to stop being a problem for Aloisia, when the Princess of Nothingness makes her return, but Aloisia soon makes it clear without a single doubt she is in control now, and her attention refocuses on who has been causing trouble for far too long. It is really good to know that she now doesn't have to fear neither man nor crown, that both of those who gave so much trouble simply have no hold onto her life ever again. She did it. She got her own freedom. "You did it, Aloisia", the Princess of Sarek whispers, approaching her and reaching out gently with a hand on her back, and Veronica waits out for Aloisia to let out all of those feelings. For all the tension that she broke out of. "Probably something along those lines", she agrees with Ginga Kingu. When Aloisia has taken the time to cry out the tension, Veronica drops down and leaves the rectangle of felt with the Unstoppable Sister, the Bishop and her. "I had made you this. I wanted to give it to you in a calmer moment, but someone always has your back even when things are at their darkest", she leaves the embroidery on the ground where Aloisia can take it. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia (216)}} has posed:''' Even now that everything is over, Aloisia was holding onto that sword, almost unwilling to believe it's actually over now. That the whole incident is Done. Even as she sat there crying. Just letting the tears fall at this point, letting a lifetime of emotions roll out over her cheeks. "It's... it's finally over... this... this whole thing... I'm finally truly, fully free." She says quietly, even as people start to come over to hug her. To comfort her. "He's... in the True Prison of Magic." Is the only response that Amy gets from her, which absolutely does not really explain where he is. ...Frankly she's not entirely sure of the 'where' that is. "...Yeah. ...That sounds good. ...Ramen still sounds good but." She glances around at the now-restored room. That is, well. Kind of more of a storage room than a banquet hall in the wake of things. Chrono gets a small nod as he addresses her, extending his care in his own way. "... I appreciate it, Enforcer Harlaown." She says quietly. "...And uh. Give me... a little extra time before the next inspection, I don't think that my room has been touched since I disappear and it's probably far below spec." Eventually she finds the strength to start standing again, using that ceremonial zweihander to help, as she picks up that embroidery, quietly looking over it. She smiles softly, giving a small bow of her head towards the Princess of Sarek. "...Thank you." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy watches Aloisia overcome with relief. Her explanation just gets a slight nod. Now is not the time for Amy to demand answers. And she can figure out well enough from that name: It is either a place the Ancient Belkans ''created'' for this purpose, or it is one they ''found'' and declared suitable for this purpose.     She's not sure which is worse for Otto, and finds she doesn't ''care'', save that either way there might be some way to escape due to the ancient Belkans' wizard hubris--     But Otto is a man without natural magical ability, and his Device just shattered.     He is just a mortal human now, and for their purposes, the True Prison of Magic, whatever it is, is probably Enough.     She moves in to hug Aloisia after the others, and then goes back to the kitchen to get their orders the youma prepared and bring them out. May as well. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' With things sorted, slightly, and the - emotions - cooling, Ginga Kingu drops henshin, returning to his civilian attire, and nods in Koji's direction. "One of these days we'll manage, and it will be so shocking we forget to enjoy the meal," he says dryly. "But given that we've already had the interruption, we should be spared the rest of the night." He isn't one of those who offers hugs, but he does catch Aloisia's eye for a moment, and nods briefly to her. Congratulating her for the imprisonment of her father doesn't seem - appropriate, given her reaction, even if it's clearly what the man deserved. Better to focus on something everyone can agree on: food, and the having of it. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' For the actively Device-inclined... Koji's telepathic voice actually comes as a heavy sigh from his position outside...     <<Hey... if this is going to turn into A Thing. I've got enough hot ramen and toppings, onigiri, gyoza, daikon seaweed salads, and dessert mochi stashed in here that we can all go sit up at the top of the Tower, eat, watch the sun set, and just call this a day.>>      <<Just saying. Someone hit the vending machines for drinks and we can be on our way.>> 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' << ...Y'know what? That sounds *fantastic.* >> Is Rashmi's answer to Hanzo's suggestion. "So hey," she says aloud, "how about we do a group dinner on the Tower? Hanzo says he's got everything but the drinks on hand, and a couple of us could pop into a conbeni on the way?" Never, *ever* pass up a chance for skyscraper snacks. Feeling wonder at the possibilities inherent on being magical is an essential part of a mahoujin's balanced diet. 
}}

2412/Interlude: Stauss

2025-03-18T00:58:16Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/17 |Location=Administrative Office |Synopsis=Zephyr and Rashmi come to visit Aloisia in the nurse's office. They have a conversation with t..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/17
|Location=Administrative Office
|Synopsis=Zephyr and Rashmi come to visit Aloisia in the nurse's office. They have a conversation with the exhausted knight.
|Cast of Characters=216,80,41
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Aloisia Stauss has been mostly resting in the nurse's office following being recovered from Konigsend, for a mix of monitoring, recovery, and likely therapy as well. The official story is that she'd been kidnapped, not that it mattered since there wasn't much family to really keep up to date with what was going on in her life. She was responsive to people asking her to eat, and things like that, but had otherwise been fairly quiet and staying in bed except when prompted to get up and take a walk/do some exercise/etc. When people come to visit today, she can be found sitting on the side of the bed, quietly taking little bites of food that had been offered to her by someone from staff. That lingering silver hair hanging loosely down her shoulders and back, not pulled up into its usual tidy braid bun at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     "Negotiations are still ongoing, Windstar-san." is the response the tall foreigner gets.     "Of course, I'm here both to enquire about that, and to see a friend. I heard she was brought here to recover." replies the young woman as she bows formally.     That exchange leads Zephyr into the room where Aloisia's currently eating. She peeks around the doorway after opening it, mismatched eyes sweeping for a moment, before she scoots inside... "Hey Aloe-chan... how're you holding up?" she asks, adjusting a squirming, slightly lumpy backpack as it emits a few muffled whimpers. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' It has been... a *rough* while for Aloisia. Of this much, Rashmi can be certain. But she's back now, and if she's back she can start towards the process of being mostly okay. Recent events have forced her to understand that there is no *true* okay, but there is, at least, a 'better than before, enough.' Upon learning from Setsuchan that Alo-chan is, at least, awake enough to be helping with her own recovery, Rashmi made her excuses and blew off Debate Club to visit, stopping off at her dorm to grab hold of anything she thinks might be pertinent and/or helpful, then quite literally flew to the administrative building. But she doesn't *enter* in a rush, simply gently opens the door, knocks on the doorway, and smiles gently. "Heeeey, Alo-chan," she says, slipping into the office and shutting the door behind her. "Oh hi, Zephyr-chan! Good to see you too!" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' When the door to her room opens, Aloe's gaze shifts to those coming in to visit. "...Hello, Windstar-san." She says quietly. She shifts slightly, turning more towards Zephyr, absently taking another bite of her food. Relatively simple food, but seemingly not particularly complaining about it. She's somewhat hesitant in her response to how she's holding up. "I'm... Alright, I guess." She gives a very slight shrug. "...A part of me is still waiting for that wave of darkness and the next dream." She takes another bite as her gaze shifts towards the squirming backpack. "...I thought that animals were allowed on campus, why are those not simply on a leash?" She asks curiously. Another person enters, which Aloe's purple eyes turn towards. Rashmi. "..." Her gaze turns away from her almost immediate. Just a bit of shame on that face. "Hi." It might technically not have been her fault, but it was her fault for kicking this all off. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr glances back at Rashmi, smiling softly at the younger mage... she then blushes at the accusation. "I've been watching slice of life shows, and this is how people always sneak pets into school... so I wanted to do it for real." she admits, kneeling down, doffing the backpack then opening it. A trio of mongrel puppies spill out, giving off little yaps before each stooping to pick up their own leashes and offering them up. "Good girls."     Zephyr stands, grasping the leashes and introduces the puppies who all turn in almost eerie sync toward Aloisia and Rashmi. "These are my cuties, I adopted them officially after one of those incidents." she give Rashmi a pointed look, and Tenraikaze pings a simple << Jewel Seed >> to Nicomachea to clarify. "Rex, Fido and Buster." she says, gesturing to each in turn, earning a yip from each at their names.     Her face falls a little at the expression on Aloisia's face though, and she eases in closer. "Hey... Aloe-san, I think I can talk for all of us when I say we don't blame you for any of this." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Oh there are puppies. Oh noooooo there are puppies. Rashmi tries very, very hard to keep the teakettle noises back, resulting in them just being very, very quiet, as she crosses the room to approach Alo-chan's bed. And the puppies. Which she crouches down in front of, holding out her hands to say hello, and nodding as she gets the ping as to their provenance. "Zephyr-chan's right, Alo-chan," she says after a moment. "You had *no idea* what would happen, and I can't even really blame you for doing it, after everything that happened before. And all that matters is you've got you back. *We've* got you back. The rest, we can figure out what needs figuring out later." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' As the trio of puppies are freed from the backpack, Aloisia watches them quietly. "...I see." She hesitates. "The animals of this world are so... soft." She mumbles quietly, reaching her left hand down towards one of the puppies, offering it to let them sniff and get acquainted to her before she attempts to gently pet them. "... The only thing keeping me sure this isn't just another dream is that it's been in this world and consistent. All of the dreams had been of ..." She hesitates. Can she even really consider Tungeturm home at this point? That place she grew up, where she'd been manipulated, forged into a weapon. The words affirming none of this was her fault gets a slight shudder. "If I'd ... if I'd thought more on it... or ... or anything... I could have just..." She pauses. No, if it had been anyone else, if they'd been the victims of that thing, then she wouldn't have been able to forgive herself. "..." "...Right... we can figure out ... everything else later." She decides to agree on. She takes another bite of that food as she falls quiet, seeming to be thinking on one thing or another. "...I'm not sure if I've even got me back. Everything I thought I knew before was a lie." She says quietly. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Rex seems to be the most 'together' of the trio. Lifting a paw to shake when Rashmi extends her hand. Fido's a bit slower on the pickup, and sniffs the hand first, before resting her chin in it for scritches. Buster is a big derp, and rears back at the hand, lifts onto her hind legs and topples over with a yip, before righting herself, and headbutting the hand for its impertinence.     Aloisia's hand gets a cold nose... then another, and finally a third stuffed into it, the trio of puppies sensing the hurt in the belkan. They snuffle, and gently whine before giving licks and then tug to huddle around Aloe's legs.     "I don't know the answers.     Tomorrow's still unknown.     But I can make this promise.     You won't be alone."     That's Zephyr singing softly, on key, if not exactly virtuoso. "A song I've heard... it's lyrics are oddly fitting, I feel... We're here for you, Aloe-san... I said it at the start and I feel the same way now. Together we can figure this out, we are stronger together." Zephyr moves to sit next to the belkan, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're home now... and before you argue, home doesn't need four walls... sometimes, all it needs is two eyes and a heartbeat." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Every single one of those puppies gets a burst of cuddles and fusses for their greeting -- even Buster, who is so adorably empty-headed -- but Rashmi doesn't show any disappointment when they react to Aloisia's distress, and huddle up around her. "Nobody knows *what* would have happened if things didn't go the way they did, Alo-chan," Rashmi says gently. "Maybe it would have gone easier... but probably it wouldn't. And one thing I can *definitely* say for certain is, even when you were pushed under... Nobody was in danger unless they *put* themselves in danger. And I'm pretty sure that's mostly because that's *who you are,* so deep that it's in your *bones.*" Tapping her charm, she comes away with a simple hairbrush and elastic ties, which she holds up and raises her eyebrows in silent question. 'Shall I?' "As to having you back... You've got it wrong, Alo-chan. The only thing that's changed between then and now is you know stuff you didn't before. The feelings, the people, the things you learned? All of that is real, and all of that happened to make you who you are *now.*" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Puppies huddled around her legs, Aloe is holding still. Not that it was a huge change, as she lightly continues one-handed pettings of the puppies, half-bent over but still taking little bites of food. "...I can't recommend getting possessed by world-destruction programs for long periods of time, they don't expect to survive so don't worry about things like food." She says, her tone ever so slightly joking. She falls quiet at the singing and continued talk. Talk of figuring things out and being stronger together. And that she's home now. "..." There's no argument, though there are definitely thoughts that cross the girl's mind, doubt crossing her face as she takes another bite of her food. Though not necessarily at Zephyr's words directly, that slight pause before that doubt more betraying the underlying unsurity of if she actually knows what home /is/, if the thing she had growing up was even remotely real. "...A defender of a world doesn't bring its shield against the people it defends... even if it's not the original world." She mumbles quietly. Not that her memory of that past was particularly well put together at the moment. The offer to do her hair gets a hesitant response, now that her hair was down she had a /lot/ of hair, likely rivaling the like of Usagi. "...It's a lot..." She mumbles, somewhat at both the comment after and the offer of doing her hair. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     "The important thing now, Aloe-san, is what you do going forward." replies Zephyr, giving the Belkan's shoulder a light squeeze, before standing to give Rashmi space to work. Zephyr crouches near her puppies, the little fuzzballs basking in all the attention, then nuzzling against Aloe's legs again. "Has the nurse said when you'll be able to leave, or are they keeping you for extended observation?" she asks casually, giving Buster some scritches just above her tail, making her little butt lift and eventually topple over with a wuff, and a yip of protest. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' By way of answer, Rashmi tilts her head to one side, setting her knee-length plait to swinging for a moment, then simply moves around to start to work on Aloisia's hair. And from the very beginning, it's clear that brushing long hair is well within her wheelhouse. "Getting my hair brushed always helped me relax a bit more," she says, to explain the reasoning behind the offer in the first place, and nods at Zephyr's words. Though a strange look passes over her face when Alo jokes about her possession, it does get a quiet laugh... if a touch forced. "Well... if that's what you were taught, then it's no wonder. You never stopped being a defender even then." At the question of now long she has left in here, Rashmi nods, still not breaking the rhythm of brush to hair. "When you feel up to it, I have some questions too... but they can *definitely* wait until you're out of here." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' "I ... am technically physically fine." Aloe responds quietly. "Beyond needing to recover to eating something other than pure spite." She pulls a bit of a face at that. "... I probably need to visit a purifier at some point as well, just to be extra sure." She quietly adds. She quietly sits there as Rashmi brushes at her hair, finishing off the bowl of food and giving /two/ hands to giving slow affection to the puppies now, as her shoulder is squeezed. "I... uhm. Will probably be at least no longer here all the time after tomorrow." She says quietly. "So we could probably, uh." She pauses. "... Oh dear lord my dorm is probably horrific if it hasn't been touched since I disappeared." She might be considering purging it with fire right now. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     "When you get the all clear, I'll take you out to a ramen place I know." remarks Zephyr, offering a smile. "Can't really help with the dorm room though... not a student." she adds with a little chuckle.     Rex and Fido lap up the attention, the former stoically, the latter more literally, little happy yips joining in. Buster sits and just casually headbutts Zephyr's shin for her affront, then topples over and pretends to go all limp and weak. "Drama queen." admonishes the Enforcer, scooping up the pup and pretending to 'eat' it, with lots of exaggerated growls, 'bites' at the pups sides and tickling fingers. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "That's what friends are for," Rashmi chuckles, working at Aloisia's hair with the easy patience of long familiarity. "Once you're out, let me know and I'll hel--" She pauses, head tilting to one side, then the color drains out of her face. "...I'm *so sorry* Alo-chan but I need to go," She says hurriedly. "I'll give you the story tonight... it's a *long* story, and you're gonna hate it, so enjoy the puppies as much as you possibly can. Setting the brush down in reach of Zephyr and Aloisia, she gives the puppies a fond fuzzling, before heading toward the door. << Stay with her, >> she sends to Tenraikaze. << She needs all the friends she possibly can have. >> 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' "...Yeah, that sounds good. Ramen should be fine, too... can get it made relatively simply." Even if it'd be less good then. Aloisia gives a small smile towards the puppies and Zephyr, and then Rashmi continues to talk. "...Okay. I will let you know." She murmurs quietly. Rashmi hurries off to deal with something. She doesn't really ask questions, simply nodding in understanding as Rashmi takes her leave. "...I know that look. ...Other things happened while I was ... gone ... unsurprisingly." She glances at the month. "Half a year is a long time." She murmurs quietly. She lifts her hand to rub her face. "...I should probably go on a walk or something, as tempting as it is to just lay back down. If you want to come with me." She pushes herself to stand. She wasn't planning on going far, just around the building, really, just something to keep her body moving and not let it start atrophying or something. ...Also work out her left hand a bit. It still tingled. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr doesn't react to what Rashmi sends to her Device, but she stands when Aloisia does and gently tugs the leashes to get the girls in line. "I'll come with you, yeah... the girls need some exercise anyway." offers Zephyr. "I mean it too, when I say we're in this together. You may not feel like it, but you do have friends and people who care deeply about you." she adds. The tall foreigner falls into step with the Belkan, a pair of giants just taking a casual stroll. 
}}

2401/The Crown of Succession: King's End

2025-03-13T05:13:07Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/12 |Location=The Infinite Void |Synopsis=The final battle with the King's End comes, and empowered by the Jewels of Succession, the heroes..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/12
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=The final battle with the King's End comes, and empowered by the Jewels of Succession, the heroes fight to end the Incident, once and for all!
|Cast of Characters=216,80,41,37,224,145,61,197,107,102
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" As that Moment of relief ends for the gathered mahoujin, they had all ended in the same way, as golden energy consumed them, and then they shot off into the Void... chasing and spinning after the plasma bolt shooting off into the distance, until it eventually impacted with ... Something. And then a massive three-pointed Belkan magical circle appeared, three figures at the points of it, standing in circles. The Unstoppable Sister and ... Weisser Ritter standing at the two bottom corners, while the top corner is inhabited by the Bishop. In unison, the three call out. "FRIOHELGI!" "FRIOHELGI!" <FRIOHELGI.> And a sanctuary of prismatic golden light sparks into existence around them, not entirely unlike a Barrier, and the group finds themselves standing within what was likely once a beautiful, vibrant garden. But the stones that make up the pathway have been turned a dull brown. The plants are black and dead, almost burned looking. This garden, this land, is dead. And the thing that Plasmabolzen struck? The King's End floats beyond the edge of that small garden island, a twisted, massive knight that has shed most of its humanity, its left arm from the elbow down a massive lance, its right arm long and ending in clawed hands. It seemingly has forsaken the shield that was the Unstoppable Sister, either by its own decision or otherwise. Its head is still reminiscent of Prinzessin Nichts, with the same yellow eyes and long flowing silver hair that falls down into the void below, torso covered in black armor. ...And below that ... Nothing. Its ribcage open, the ends of it hanging down as black, sharp spikes, and inside of its chest, a slowly beating red crystal that functions as its heart, its spine hanging down and ending in a point. Hanging from that giant red crystal 'heart', is... Aloisia Stauss. Half-absorbed, her head hanging low, clearly unconscious. "Hm. One jewel was not enough to erase you, it seems." Yellow eyes look towards the group as the King's End regards them. "No matter. I shall just have to finish you off, myself." The two remaining crystals, the Knight and the Rook float around the edges of the battlefield, and all of the Mahoujin feel a passive empowerment by the Jewels. From the Knight, an icy enhancement of enduring Strength. From the Rook, the unending flow of Wind. From the Bishop, the light of life that is Fire, and finally, from the Unstoppable Sister, the tingling energy of Plasma, and a sense that, no matter what. Their light cannot be extinguished. And from the Queen, though still trapped within the King's End... Those Cerulean flecks still fall. And Amy, in particular, has her Soul Gem protected by an Emerald and cerulean glow. The Rocket Girl Red is protected from Despair. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr lands in the garden in a three-point 'Hero Pose', Tenraikaze held out at an angle behind her. She stands pushing up and twirls her Device before leveling it at the King's End. "Push us to the edge, and we'll just fight back even more. You cannot stop us, not when we work together." she states firmly. "Tenraikaze. Drive Ignition. Shift up. Drive Max."     < PING > < SWITCH ENGINE DRIVE. SHIFT UP. TEMPEST MODE. SQUALL MODE, ACTIVE. STORM MODE, ACTIVE. TEMPEST MODE, ACTIVE. BITS CYCLING. >     The battle-ax shifts to a smaller hand-ax frame, and five turbine blade-like Bits spall off, surrounding the Wind Dance in a lazy orbit.     < Chief. Support Magic is empowering our Wind Conversion Affinity. Optimal Output at 150% > "Good... Area Formation, lets give the others some of the love."     < PING > < MAELSTROM TEMPEST, AREA FORMATION EMPOWER MODE. >     The Bits flit out, and interlocking purple lines form a fairly large circle around Zephyr's position. The Wind within, helps to buffer her allies, increasing their speed and agility, and assisting in deflecting some attacks from sheer pressure. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' It has been a long, long road to get here, but the end is in sight. ...In a lot of ways, really. As Rashmi rockets toward the glimmering, ruined garden, detemination sets roots deep in her heart. They are going to win this fight. They are *going* to rescue Aloisia. Then they are going to go back home, maybe punch Otto in the nose a few dozen times, and get to work on the rest of the problems. But first... oh boy that is a large torso-man. Rashmi's feet don't touch the ground; instead, she floats a few centimeters up off the blackened cobbles, staring down the King's End. "If you think you're going to beat us, after *all we've done to get here,* then you just haven't been *paying attention!*" she shouts, as Nicomachea unlatches and opens wide. "This might be your domain, but we've fought worse than you, *harder* then you, and *I want my friend back!*" One gets the feeling that this might be more than a little cathartic for the bespectacled Devicer, as a Mid-childan spell seal spreads out beneath her feet. "Nicomachea Exia! Show her why she can't stop us!" With that, she slips a module from her Device's cover, and slots it into place over his pages, and the seal redoubles in size.     << *BONG!* >> << BLAZE INDEX: ETA BARRET -- BOOST UP >> Seven wispy balls of foxfire blaze into existence around her, streaking out to infuse her allies with an extra measure of hope, joy, and the burning desire to win the day, and it feels like their very mana catches fire. When you buff the buffer, things can begin to get out of hand *very* quickly. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' Out of the Nothing and into the Here, wherever 'here' is-- or was, considering the shape it's in, comes the brightly glowing red/white/gold armor of Ginga Bishounen Tauburn, the shape of his Cybody significantly less cinched at the waist than Tauburn's is normally and the white-cyan rocket nimbus around his feet cuts out before he SMACKS INTO Ginga Kingu Samekh, arms out, laughing out a very loudly clanked armor-hug. "Sugata!" he crows as the mantle-of-swords makes sword-klong sounds against each other-- "--let's do a combo!" << Uhf. If we must, sir, but do consider-- >> "I'm considering Sugata, Tauburn, not Samekh." << *I* have to consider Samekh. >> "Then tell him we'll kill him again but in pastels if he doesn't cooperate," Takuto says cheerfully, then hip-bumps Sugata with another clank. "Let's c-c-combo," he stage-whispers, then places his hand over the glowing red gem in the center of his armored chest, and pulls out a big blue-white energy sword. "Star Swordo! SAPHIR!" Then he THROWS it up in the air, like a javelin aimed high and nearly weightless. "Eccentric Tau Pillar!!!" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Darkness. Nothingness. The Void. The world, the struggle, Aloisia's life, their own lives, *will not* end this day. Thus has determined the Knight, because every darkness ends with *Dawn*. "We're gonna try it, partner. Load up Danmaku version 1.3." <"Loading. Compile successful. Generating photon bullets."> Octagons of light appear, orbiting around the young Knight as she soars towards the thing holding the Princess. Not the handful that she normall calls up, but triplets of them, each orbiting the others of their set, replacing the singletons of her older spell. She pauses in the air, watching another attack strike the monster, and raises her hand to trigger her own. "Let rise the dawn! LET THERE BE LIGHT!" <"Argent Danmaku. Let there be light!"> And as Yuki's hand slashes down, the orbiting octagons loose their darts... and there is light. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Back from her reprieve and talk with the Unstoppable Sister, the Phantom Thief had set out in search of other mahoujin, jumping and leaping from darkness to darkness, making cautious use of her light magic to provide her with a semblance of existing in the oppressive darkness called forth by the King's End. That isn't needed for much longer, however, with the presence of the three protectors giving a direction and soon after, a sense of actual space. "Just about time! Well met, everyone", the blonde thief smiles at the newfound company." She spares a look at the once beautiful garden, appreciating the sight the place even if it's no longer what it had been. When the primal energy of the elements start flowing around, there is a reaction from the feline princess, her cane glowing with white light, and the ruby ring on her finger releasing sparks of fire at intervals. Moreover, she can feel herself reinvigorated within this space, filled by the convinction and strength to see this to its end with nothing to space. "That won't be happening, you know that. With all this hard work, do you think you have anything on us? What you have is literally nothing. Let us close the curtain on this play. The ruby glows, and the sparks of fire attach themselves to the Princess of Sarek's cane, and from its handle, the usual rainbow fire emerges, the blessing of the jewels making it burn all the brighter. "Seven-hued Flame!" 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' When one is fashionably late to the fight, one should always take great pains to make as stunning an entrance as possible. Having come in late to the end of this affair, Koji had been outside of the Time-Space Barrier, and had done his best to put a secondary shield around the whole affair to block a certain annoying Belkan who incited the whole affair. He hadn't been there for the statues, the trials, but now he was, and once he had his communication disruption in place outside, it was a leap... and a fall into darkness. But that had given him time to do something more important. To Study. For his Device to scan all the energies out there, what data he could glean from where some of the previous conflict had gone on, and to feel that there is some extra power somehow flowing into him now from other sources that could only be pinpointed as he got closer to the rest. Somehow... Hanzo floats down through the barrier to land softly on his feet, though anyone looking close might see some swirls of wind around them before he settles. Instead of coming up with something snarky or witty to says, he just points the kunai-Shaped Device right at the huge King's End/Nichts, aiming right for it's heart-shaped-gem. Below him and around his feel, a Midchildian magic circle appears, but inside of that is a Belkan tri-gram, which is specific to only Hanzo and one special ability they carry. Rashmi's Fire boost cause columns of blue-white flame to erupt from each of the tri-circles, those slowly spinning around him. Wind begins to pick up, rustling his scarf and Barrier Jacket, the air starts to crackle with lightning around him, gathering all the extra power and forming it inside, until finally, he can flip the blade-Device in his hand over and down and stab it into the center of the circle to activate it.     << DISRUPTOR EX - CORONATION. >> What appears is obviously the work of consideration, and time, as suddenly, there is a Seal that appears on the giant Heart... one that begins to spread blue-white roots like veins along the surface, but also down towards Aloisia, as he attacks the spell itself, trying to weaken it's hold on Aloisia and by extension, give everyone else a chance to save her. 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' For an instant, everything was gone - and then, there was a Moment, an instant of conversation, and the awareness that after the battle, for there would be an after the battle, there would be a need for support. That was then. This is now. Hovering near the otherwise familiar group is a tall, menacing figure, who's ghostly black armor is made all the larger by a mantle of swords, a dramatic cape of bladed metal lit only by a single gleaming line of red along their bladed edges. His face is shrouded in a mask of ghostly-gold and his eyes burn a solid, pupil-less red. Through all the black ghostly, it's difficult to see the blue, white, and gold of Ginga Kingu's military-esque uniform, though the smug miniature robot - an excellent copy of the ghostly armor - in a pale blue-white bubble beside him is helpful for identification. He ''did'' say he'd look like a supervillain. Gina Kingu Samekh looks about at those gathered, frowning as he doesn't see the person he's looking for - ''Sugata!'' Aaand the clash of ghostly metal against metal, as the two Star Drivers collide. The request/demand/command registers, and behind the gold mask a wicked grin spreads. "Yes, let's." Tauburn raises concern - and it's always strange to hear his voice, given how rarely Takuto's partner speaks, but Sugata shakes his head. "I understand the concern, but don't worry about him -" "For once, I will agree to aiding your meager plans. This upstart has dared to consume this world before me!" An eyeroll, before Sugata begrudgingly returns the hip bump, thrusting out a hand that glows with energy, as the space between them ignites with light. "King's Pillar!" But the light does not crash from above in a terrible orbital strike - instead, as blue-white energy sword is hurled upwards, the blue-white energy of King's Pillar flies from Ginga Kingu Samekh's hand, chasing it into the air - "Eccentric Tau Pillar!" And strikes the pommel of the sword, energy-meeting-energy with the crackle of plasma, as Plazmabolzen's effect ignites within the attack - the energy of King's Pillar combines with the Star Sword and plasma. The attack rockets through the air, corkscrewing and darting at wild angles through the air, around the enormous claw of the King's End, before flying erratically towards the gleaming red crystal, all set to collide with devastating force aimed at a single point. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     After holding her mind togther for... she's not sure how long, Amy is relieved to see the Unstoppable Sister. "Thank you..."     And it seems they're now... somewhere. Amy pokes at herself and hugs herself, relieved to ''be'' again.     And then she faces...     Prinzessin Nicht.     The... aesthetic, of the construct, is kind of familiar. That painting in which Amy was a robot. That red core in the chest, like a soul gem.     But hanging from it is...     "Aloisia! We're here! Just... try to hold on! Please!" As Amy comes into view of the others, in this space her hair is white and her eyes are blue, like in that painting.     But how to actually attack? Dare she shoot the core so close to Aloisia?     Her heart soars with hope and joy and elements. "Mmh. So this is your domain. And this is your form? A menacing warbot left by the ancients for some terrible purpose..."     Amy points. "But you have no heart. You have to steal hers and drain it. And you think you'll stand against us?"     She scratches her head. "Eh... are you even listening? Ah well, let's ''make'' you listen."     She's used to improvising a bit with her powers, and now... she can feel so much power to draw on, and think of ways to apply it. She focuses, and a swarm of mini-missiles appears around her, flying towards the head and torso, boosted by wind, aimed to explode into balls of superheated plasma...     And then her armor turns blue and she holds out her right hand, rocket-propelled icicles firing out to freeze what was just heated. She'll see how much thermal stress this awful warbot can take! 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' For Catra, the most important thing is quite simple: She's no longer stuck in sensory deprivation hell. That said, it takes her a moment to piece together what's going on; there's a bunch of people she's generally enemies with fighting a big horrible monster that's got a coworker she doesn't know overly well trapped inside it, and Rashmi's here. But it's pretty obvious who's side she needs to be on, particularly if she wants to not end up staying her for, basically, forever. So, once again, Powersend is drawn from its scabbard hanging off her belt with a soft 'schwing', and with her other hand she touches the Spirit Ember before conjuring a ball of flame that doesn't so much hover over her palm as engulfs it (which seems to be fine). "Alright, let's get this over with a second time," she says, heaving a sigh and shaking her head. Her ears flatten as she splits into three, and her doubles dash off to either side, running around the outside of the battlefield; until in unison they all point their palms upwards and unleash in unison three of the most powerful jets of flame she's been able to accomplish yet; all with a little plasma thrown in for good measure. As she attacks, her veings glow bright orange and it almost looks like her flesh is charring around them. Not used to t his level of power, perhaps? But, it doesn't seem to be slowing her down. At least... Not yet. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' "I am the inevitable end. You cannot destroy me. I have felled nations with more than the sum of your power." Is the response from the King's End, as the clawed hand lifts over the group, though it does not swipe down, instead black energy with a red core gathering into the center of its hand, starting wider, before ... condensing. And much like with Konigsende, a wave of darkness consumes... attempting to tear them back into that empty Void. Darkness settles in. And Sequoia's voice rings out, "I *AM A WALL!*" And the Light persists. The darkness washes over that Sanctuary of golden light, leaving only some dark drips of darkness that drip through, falling to the ground and creating several zones of darkness, hands reaching up from said darkness to try to grab and DRAG anyone unfortunate enough to still be standing in that area when they spread, the screams of those previously lost to the Void echoing through that puddle. Attempting to extinguish that Light and bring them down into the darkness of eternity with them. Let's Combo! A sword launched high into the air, seeming to lock into place over the massive form of King's End -- a not particularly dextrous one evidently, from its presence. And the defenses it began to bring to bear are disrupted. As the Knight lets loose a series of shining Darts, their Light infused with CERULEAN energy as it intersects with the Seven-Hued Flame to strike against the barrier brought to bear, intense fire and shining darts causing the barrier to crack... crack... and then SHATTER. Allowing a Seal to appear on that heart, spreading across the heart, attacking the spell binding Aloisia to it, and... isolating her, in a way, from the massive figure... though darkness was already starting to try to eat away at that seal, as the beating of a heart can be heard echoing through the area. ECCENTRIC TAU PILLAR! And then Plasma, Light, and King's Pillar... Strikes that heart. Crack. And that sword is stuck in it, an impossibly powerful attack striking an impossibly hard target.. and yet. ...The attack damaged it. And swarms of mini missiles shoot towards the head and torso of the King's End, exploding around it in balls of superheated plasma and then followed up by ice, as that clawed hand moves to protect its face. A barrier sparking into existence as those rocketcicles impact them. But even as that barrier sparks into existence, a series of three jets of flame strike it in unison, causing the Barrier to falter for the moment, glowing brightly and then subsiding as the final volley of ice and fire strike that protective arm, ice and fire causing it to CRACK, fissures appearing in its skin... though they are slowly closing. The response to all of those attacks are that the ... Ribs... Of the King's End reach out, their sharp ends slicing out over the battlefield like a cage for those flying, as they RAKE across the battlefield, more of that inky black darkness pooling in the wake of them, and while there is space for people to avoid it, anyone that does not would find the ribs simply .... passing through them, but in their wake, the feeling that energy has been /torn/ away from them. For some reason, Ginga Bishounen would find it... difficult to simply recall his sword in the wake of his attack. As it lingers there. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Boost Up.     The Eta Barret strikes Zephyr, and she lifts up into the air, her flight spell spinning like a band of purple around her ankles. "Having a little trouble backing up the bluster. Let's see if you can really walk the walk!" she cries, adjusting her grip on her Device. The handle extends so she can grip it two-handed, and then she brings it around to level at the King's End. The ribs come slashing in, and her Wind Area pushes back at them, slowing their progress just a little bit. "THIS IS MY WORLD! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!"     She brings her Device around and slams it into one of the ribs coming her way to parry it away, using the impact to launch herself clear from another.     She twists in the air, and sweeps her Device in an arc, forming multiple Barrets in the wake of its passing.     < PING > < TEMPEST BARRET. > "SUMATRA SHIFT! FIRE!"     The barrets expand with boiling Wind mana... and then catch fire, the two energies combining into Storm Barrets. They lance out with the sound of violent thunderclaps, aiming to slam into the King's End core, each Barret exploding like a shaped charge at the point of impact. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "We don't *have* to destroy you!" Rashmi shouts back. "We just have to do what good people have *always* done, stare you in the face and say '*Not today!*'" A new source of flame catches Rashmi's attention, and she *smiles* when she can identify Catra. Because ally or enemy, Catra's absolute, elemental stubbornness will *always* be a thing you want on your side. And just as she's about to demonstrate her defiance... giant ribs stretch out to rake the Garden, which forces her to spend more time flying evasively, and less time on offense. A hurriedly-erected bubble of a Shield saves her from a grievous impact, the force of the blow knocking Rashmi to one side and utterly shattering the yet-empowered spell. But once she's reoriented, she decides to go on the attack herself. "Nicomachea, can you pull in some of that energy?" << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE. >>     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- STELLAR SHIFT >> And Nicomachea draws on the plasma energies offered up for use, melding it with his own firey spell parameters to create Barrets like miniature suns, full of roiling plasma and searing-hot fire. While the machine-gun stream of projectiles may not look impressive compared to the target... When one has a target the size of most of a TSAB starship, homing ability is't really *necessary* beyond 'point at face, unload.' 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra's doubles vanish as they get doused in darkness; and she herself is raked by... ribs? She leaps out of the way, of course, but there's so much of it that it's impossible to doge it all and she doesn't benefit from things like shields the way device users do. What on Etheria even is this?! The feline backpedals, clasping her free hand over herself; the fire goes out, her veins stop glowing, and she stops looking charred around the edges. Well, mostly. She's still a little bit charred. As she drops to one knee, she pauses; she's not giving up, she's just... evaluating. She's bleeding, too; in spite of her feline agility she still got hit, and it hurts. "You felled nations?" she inquires with a tone of poisoned honey, despite her injury, "That's nice, I destroyed a ''planet''." Well, maybe she didn't, and maybe she's starting to believe that she didn't, but it sounds great nonetheless. So this thing is all about darkness and nothingness, is it? Well, that's fine; she can do something about that. Fire doesn't just burn, afterall. Catra rises back to her feet and thrusts her empty hand upwards; and in her mind, she's willing the Spirit Ember to do what she needs it to do as she summons a ball of flame; the fire engulfs her hand and spreads, consuming her shoulders and body and head and legs in fire of growing intensity; her skin once again looks like it's charring as her blood vessels glow an intense orange, and she screams loudly before a wave of fire radiates out from around her. it doesn't burn anything; it's just... bright. In its passing it fills the air with tiny, glowing embers that float where they form, sparking and glowing and casting just a little bit of light in the space around them. Just a little bit of light; but there are just... so many of them. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki nods as she watches the various spells and other attacks hit the monster. "Keep it up, partner," she asks of her Device, and indeed the darts keep coming. The octagons simply generate new darts a few seconds after each is fired, keeping up a rolling barrage. <"Firing. Warning. Internal temperature rising."> The young Knight looks to the Device strapped to her arm, and starts to answer. "Okay. Warn me if it reaches - " <"ALERT. Attack incoming. Diverting energy to shield.""> The flow of darts slackens for a time as an octagonal shield forms in front of her... just in time to block the impact of the monster's slashing ribs. The shield shatters under the force of it, sending the Knight flying back. Her tumble slows to a stop after carrying her some distance away, and she straightens slowly, directing a glare at the would-be world destroyer. She takes a moment to gather herself, and then, as more darts start to gather around her, launches herself back towards the fray. "No darkness can stop the dawn." 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' "Nations mustn't have the power of our hearts!" yells Ginga Bishounen Tauburn, and then he turns and ''grins'' at Sugata. "I'm gonna see if I can cut her loose or something. Oh shit fly!!" Again he's off the ground, blue-white rocket nimbus around and beneath his feet, and he draws his other sword from his chest. "Star Swordo! EMERAUDE!" And then he pulls buffs to him, one by one. One by one! More damage? Certainly. Tauburn's armor gets taller, wider. Lots of firepower? Taller, wider. Takuto in his coat looks smaller inside the armor, that cinched waist growing proportionally thinner. Speed? Agility? Larger but faster, as Tauburn reaches out to grab more power, head inclined just slightly as he grows. Ice, and the red X on Takuto's chest beneath his henshins glows brighter and brighter, and his sword is immense in his hand-- --and then there's Tauburn, brilliant cavalier of a giant mecha with the plume of steam curling up from his dashing haberdashery, growing up and out of the ribs as they slice power from him on passing, but there's still, there's still so much power. TAUBURN is on the scene! One immense high-heeled up-toed boot takes a step over a patch of dripped nothingness, big enough to bridge the entire grasping hole without being appreciably affected, without falling in. Another immense step forward, and he's in King's End's ''face'', and he hauls back a glowing white-gold Humongous Mecha Fist and PAUUUUUUUUUUNCH! 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' There really isn't an option to dodge, not when trying to focus on a sustained magical assault like this. Inside of Koji's head, it is like there is two wars of lines of light and darkness, negating each other when they come in contact, or just blocks that more and smaller lines spring forth from to try and continue the course. Which is why two of those 'ribs' pass right through him, and he can feel a good chunk of the boost he was given ripped away. The columns of fire in his incantation become just floating torchlight now, and he pants audibly as the circles continue to move inside, only a faint and momentary glitch-ness happening from when those blasts passed through him. But even then... there's a faint grin.     << ANALYZING ENERGY PATTERN AND ADAPTING DISRUPTOR. >>     << WORKING... >>     << WORKING... >>     << WORKING... >>     << COMPLETED. >> And on his mental 'gameboard' a fresh Macross-missile like barrage of lines springs forth, more deftly avoiding the blocks and the cancellations for a short time, and the Seal on the Heart begins to pulse brighter as the magic seems to get a second wind, those tendrils crawling closer and closer to Aloisia with that blue-white that seems to be an anti-thesis to the dark red of the gemstone.     << Master. The odds for success of this gambit remain low. Physical-Magical Force is showing signs of progress. >>      << If we don't start reversing and isolating what it's doing to her now... it has a chance of just forcing itself into her body if it's desperate. We didn't come here to fight another giant monster. We came here to stop it from coming back. >>     << ...very well... >>      <<Careful there, you almost sound smug.>> 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' The King's End believes them doomed, touting it's accomplishments. Unfortunately? "All you have to accomplished is the felling of nations? As if it were a challenge to destroy what these meager minds create." ...Sugata shares his mind with a being of monstrous appetite and sneering superiority, so it doesn't particularly work. "Of course," he nods, when Takuto says that he'll try to cut Aloisia free, and then - RIBS! With a shift of his energy, blue-violet jets of energy emerge from the soles of his armored feet, and Ginga Kingu Samekh flies free of the ribs attack, spiraling into the air, boosted by Wind and Strength and Speed. If one sword was enough to damage the crystal... "Star Swordo! Diamante!" And with a fist thrust to his chest, the glowing white energy sword is free of the ghostly black armor. Plazmabolzen's elemental energy is immediately attracted - in an instant, the sword is not simply energy but plasma in the shape of a sword, and it is launched for the red crystal, spiraling at terrific speed with all the boosts about. "Star Crash!" TAUBURN takes to the field, an enormous mecha that Ginga Kingu Samekh knows all too well, and as Takuto and his partner begin a battle of punching a giant monster, Sugata dives below, heading straight for Aloisia. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Hey, it's Catra again! They sure seem to cross paths a whole lot recently. Good for her that she is starting to get involved in activities besides Obsidian's. How would she react if she started being messaged on random anti-youma activities? Memo for later: ask her how she feels about it. "Did you ad-rib that attack?", the Princess of Sarek grins at her mischievous question to the King's End while leaping backwards to avoid being hit by the inky darkness, a feat that proves much more effective than it would have been between the power of the jewels and the Wind Dancer's spell. "We have an Unstoppable Sister watching over us and we are all together as one, we don't need the power of nations.", the cat thief tells the corrupt ritual. ,"Your fall has already been written already, just sit back and enjoy the spectacle while we put an end to your darkness", she affirms with a wink. Thanks to the light that cannot be estinguished, the gathering moonlight hops behind her, and the Princess of Sarek announces the uncorruptible light's attack, the sphere on her cane firing shots of moonlight, accompanied by the elements of Ice and Wind. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     The inevitable end? Amy just starts ''laughing'' at that declaration. "It turns out ''nothing'' is inevitable! There are--"     Darkness washes over her.     Sequoia pushes it back. Pools of dark near Amy, reaching hands towards her, have missiles fly over to them and ''burn'', the incomplete attack she used on the Hand Witch now able to manifest in its true form, superheating large portions of space so much that molecules, that ''atoms'' cease to be in a soup of nucleii and free electrons.     Darkness isn't made of atoms, but such a manifestation of elemental heat, further empowered by fire magic, burns at it anyway...     In this... space, the look of her is diverging from human, her costume shifting to cover her in rigid armor, with details that look like mechanical joints. Extended from behind her shoulders are armatures with missile racks or recoiless cannons or gyrojet racks firing multiple shots from each barrel like a metal storm weapon... Parts of her costume shouldn't be able to ''move'', but wind pushes and realigns them and most of her weapons home anyway.     Similar effects are helping her move as metallic-looking boots extend under her legs, and big mechanical claws cover her real hands, reinforcing the aesthetic of 'thin' metal limbs that her arms and legs still fit inside.     When the going gets tough, Amy, despite her words about heart, hardens herself, tries to be push the feelings away because if she stops and fears she'll be dead, and it's so easy to liken oneself to a machine when humanity made her feel othered and less for so long...     So far, though, this is only manifesting through costume and color changing and the extra powers supporting them all right now, though... right?     "Even entropy itself is pushed back! People ''travel in time'' and ''sometimes'', the dead come back!" Amy screams. "My soul and so many others ''paid'' for the Universe to keep going, and you think you can just undo that?! Make your ''own'' wish, make your ''own'' contract, thousands of times, and burn to nothing and become a curse against everything you stood for, thousands of times, and ''then'' you can talk to me about how you'll end--"     The ribs come for Amy, and in a moment of overconfidence she turns that heat and energy on them, blocks by lifting lighter-than-they-look mechanical claws firing rocket-bullets from holes in the palms...     and the darkness goes ''through'' her and the changes are gone and a puella magi is left lying on the ground, surrounded by darkness and fire, looking shocked at being knocked out of her rant. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' The boiling, burning wind of Storm Barrets shoot into the core of the King's End, striking around that sword impact and causing another CRACK, as heartbeats continue to ring out over the battlefield. "..." The King's End does not respond immediately to that respond, the attack having struck true... either because it is humbled, but there is a rumbling, growing sense of energy building in the form nonetheless. NOT TODAY. Roiling plasma and searing how fire launch towards the King's End, as a barrier is brought up defensively once more, a mockery of Aloisia's Wall spells, overlaid twin triangles that create a six-pointed-pentagram of dark and red energy as it holds its hand forward towards that oncoming barrage. And that barrage continues firing, blasting, explosions of plasma and heat against the Wall. Glowing Embers and impossibly hot burning energy from Amy Faust burn away at the Darkness, spreading through that Sanctuary, those inky puddles evaporating as the screams of the dead disappear. Even entropy itself is pushed back. People TRAVEL IN TIME and sometimes the dead come back. "Destroyed a world? You? It must have been a rather weak one." The King's end responds, golden eyes staring down at Catra, the kind of Gaze that sends shivers down spines... but... ...Even if it isn't, the Song plays in the back of each person's mind again. That song of Light and Friendship and Power when working together. That, hand-in-hand. We're invincible. And a stolen power like Konigsend can't understand such things. Glowing darts launch towards that Wall of defense, striking at key points as cracks begin to form under the unending barrage... and... Then? Then there is a giant Tauburn. And a fist, coming towards that wall, along with more of those plasma-infused barrets and darts of light. Crack... CRACK.... CRACK! Plasma breaks through the Wall, and Fist follows it, both shooting through and finding their purchase true. Right on the King's End's face. Causing it to twist, as it recoils, head turned around impossibly, until it is... Facing them again. "...Pointless. You cannot destroy me. This is MY REALM A--" Crackle. Blue-White energy crackles over that core as that seal grows stronger, causing the King's End to give a cry of mixed frustration and *pain* in response. Ba-dump. Aloisia Stauss still hangs unconscious. And a plasma sword is brought towards her, launched at the red crystal, spiraling and boosting towards the red crystal, as a blast of moonlight shoots out at the same time, Ice, Wind, and Plasma swirling together mid-flight to create a crackling STORM of energy that swirls, striking at that core and heart, beginning to drill and dig into the pulsing red orb... and then.. "Fine. You wish to see what I have felled? Then see it." A pulse of familiar energy, the Field of Nothing, though not intoned, pushes back the attackers, extinguishing the worst of the oncoming attacks -- though Koji's disruptive magic lingers, infuriatingly. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' And the King's End lifts its hand above, as the... Empty crust of a planet. Once likely vibrant. Now dead. Is compressed down into a rocky form. And the King's End brings its hand down, pointing at the gathered Mahoujin. The massive, burning form of a meteor falling, attacks towards it effective, but the sheer amount of rock and fire falling towards them... It seems almost inevitable that it was going to crash. And that there was no escape. The burning sound of the approaching meteor roaring in the gathered Mahoujin's ears. And then? At the last moment? Lights begin to shoot out from the Void. Many of them familiar. The golden energy of Goldenweb Yorotsuchi along with five different colored, smaller energies surrounding it, the blue energy of Adora, a Cute Wolf's howl ringing and cutting through that roar. The soothing, sure energy of the Enforcer Harlaown, a swarm of bunny-shaped energies flying towards it. All pressing against that oncoming meteor. Just before it strikes... The Light Persists. Because the King's End does not fight simply a gathering of mahou. ...It fights a nation. And that Darkness begins to change, not an empty void with flecks of cerulean floating, but more like a shimmering night's sky of lights in the distance. Other floating land masses growing visible as the meteor is met head-on by Tauburn, and between shared energy and FIST... The meteor is SHATTERED. ...Which still leaves some burning fragments of rock falling down into that Sanctuary, but, well. ...That's a lot more managable. And then those energies that had stopped the meteor turn to empower the gathering of heroes. Some, perhaps, less powerful than others, but nonetheless, each person receiving a piece of swirling power, Catra and Rashmi feeling the familiar presence of Hinoiri, in particular, while others feel the presence of their family, their friends, even those without magic feeling drawn to lend their strength, as that sea of stars begins to gather. Much-needed Purifying energy lent by Madoka Kaname as the chearing of her Chara can be heard in the background... and the familiar power (to some) of Sailor Pluto. Each, in their own way, saying the same thing: It's time to end this. ...Also more than one of them is mentioning 'Spirit Bomb' and 'kamehameha' which is weird but whatever. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Tenraikaze purges steam after the barrage. She looks up at that meteor being formed, then grins. "Like I said. You push us. We just keep pushing back even harder. You cannot win! You don't just face a small group of Magi... you face all of us. Every single soul on this planet cries out against you." She closes her eyes as she feels the soft warmth of her adopted puppies, the ephemeral form of the trio nuzzling against her before rejoining the general glow of power.     "It's time. TENRAIKAZE!"     < PING > < UNDERSTOOD. SHIFT TO BOMBARDMENT MODE. ALL MANA CHANNELS CONNECTED. >     As she brandishes her Device, the Bits draw back in, their purpose complete. Reassignment is in order. They collect around the 'head' of the Device as a spell seal forms under Zephyr's feet. Little lines of purple link the Bits to the gemstone at the axe's head.     < ANCHOR POINTS AND RECOIL DAMPENERS. LOCKED. >     Ribbons of magic lock Zephyr down onto the spell seal, as it expands out, pulling the anchors tight. Her flight spell vanishes, moving instead to her back, becoming swirling vortexes ready to counter whatever she's doing.     < LINKER CORE PRESSURE RISING NORMALLY. TEMPEST RING HAS STARTED REVOLVING. >     The Bits begin to orbit the axe's head, spinning faster as they siphon power in, and form a massive ball of mana that continues to expand.     < PING > < READY TO FIRE. >     "TAKE THIS! My love, my hope and every ounce of my friendship. MAELSTROM BREAKER! FIRE!)]     The sphere distends, elongating before bursting, a rushing torrent of magic cascading out at the King's End. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' That's a LOT OF METEOR, and there are a lot of people down there who are not as big as Tauburn, so ''yeah'' he half bends over everyone, taking the brunt of it on his back, driving him down to one knee. While he's there, reeling a little bit, he looks down at Sugata with his enigmatic smile, and then he sees Amy there on her back. "Want a ride?" Takuto's voice shouts from inside the silent Cybody, and his hand comes down for her to step on. His other hand comes down to scoop Sugata up, and he brings them both up to the red sphere glowing in his chest, way up there. There's Takuto, in his gear, in the process of standing up with Tauburn, hands currently empty and held up in front of his chest, looking out of the red-glowing sphere at Sugata and Amy, and then he puts his hands over his heart, and the sphere's briefly lit red from within, only, as Ginga Kingu Samekh and Rocket Girl Red end up in the spherical cockpit with him. "Gonna yeet you," he says to Sugata, laughing, and then he leans over and puts a gloved hand on Amy's shoulder. Bright cyan-white energy crackles from the joints of Amy's power armor, and then he turns around and takes a step over to Rashmi. He scoops a huge handful of burning meteor bits and throws them, making them bigger, making Amy's missiles bigger, and then-- He pulls the super ultra mega charged buffed overpowering Amy Faust from his chest like a Star Swordo -- "STAR ROCKET -- AMY!" -- and deposits her gently in the air next to Rashmi. "Fuck 'em up, your Grace." Then he holds his hands up to his chest again, turning back around to face Konigsend, and a bright blue light starts growing between them. In the cockpit? Takuto is reaching out to put his hands, here, inside Tauburn, through Samekh's armor so he can grab Sugata's incredible shirt and jacket close to him, and he puts his face through Samekh's face to '''''kiss Sugata!!!''''' right on the mouth! Before pulling back with a huge smirk. "Eccentric Tau Missile!" he bellows, and YEETS Sugata right out from between his hands in front of Tauburn's chest. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' The Knight of Dawn surveys the broken crust of a planet that floats beneath the mahoujin. It is a world already dead, a sight meant to intimidate them. But even then, the Light struggles. Fights back. "So long as a single light shines, the darkness will never win!" she shouts, launching herself back into the fray, translucent black wings shining behind her. She thrusts her Device-bearing hand forward, conjuring a new wave of light-darts to cast against the Darkness. Uncaring of Argent Dawn's repeated warnings of overheating. "You boast of what you can destroy. Of what you have killed. Tell me, oh Ender of Kings, what have you *created*? What *light* have you brought to the universe? What *worth* is there in your destructions?" Nothing, is the obvious, unstated answer. Nothing at all. "Release the Princess. End this farce. LET HER LIGHT SHINE!" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "Hey, King's End, have you ever stopped to think about what you are? What you are doing?" the Princess of Sarek speaks up, reaching towards the skeletal formation. "You are just a mass of shadow bones that corrupts and breaks down. But just like this garden, something will always be born in its place. That's where your nothing leads." Those surviving meteor shards raining down are dodged and avoided almost like a dance and a game to prevent them from touching the ground and disrupting the balance of this Sanctuary. For those within reach of the cat thief, split apart further by her cane and taken away by her hat. She can feel the presence of those she holds dear in that spectacle of bonds and magic. Even her friends she left behind all the way in England are here with her, and those she made here, rising together. Thank you very much for that, and see you again, ok? She even feels her sweet Emery, the one who could stay with her from her old life, and the bridge between what she knew then, and what she has now. She can feel her cane surround itself with all the elements of the Jewels now, and her moonlight and fire accompanying them, a resolute strike against the shadow skeleton's face. 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' There are meteors falling towards them, as the withered husk of a planet King's End destroyed rains down - but they bounce off Tauburn's back, and Sugata and Samekh scowl in unison as he's driven to one knee. It's concern, that turns Sugata's mouth down. It's scorn, that tightens Samekh's; how dare the enemy that defeated him falter for even a moment before anyone else! nd then there's the hand, come down, scooping Sugata up, bringing him to the familiar-unfamiliar space of a Cybody's cockpit - of Tauburn's cockpit - and they are, the three of them, in the center of that red-glowing sphere, as they face the enemy. "Of course you are," Sugata replies dryly, but he knows the plan. Tau Missile is all about getting someone ''out'' of their cockpit, while destroying that which they inhabited. Destroy the cybody without hurting the pilot. Wreck havoc on King's End without Aloisia Stauss paying for it. He nods, as Amy is filled with Tauburn's bright power, strengthened with the power of a Cybody - ''the'' Cybody, of all of them, meant to aid humans - and then his train of thought crashes to a halt as Takuto reaches through his ghostly arm to kiss him. It's a pretty good kiss, if he's to judge. He's judging it. Nothing is found wanting - Aaaaaaaand then he's YEETED out of the cockpit and across the endless expanse between Takuto and King's End and what is THAT supposed to mean, you kiss him and throw him and say HE'S the king of mixed signals?! "Star Swordo! Diamante!" One of the swords embedded in King's End disappears, only to be hurriedly yanked from Ginga Kingu Samekh's chest as he hurtles through the air, energy streaming behind him in cyan and blue-violet and white, filled not only with Takuto's power, but the soothing, refreshing purity of the gentle moon, the reassuring steadiness of the earth. Vaguely, he registers that the trail behind him is forming hearts and roses, but the focus is on Aloisia, tangled in connection to the red crystal that is King's End's heart, and the distance between ''them'' is closing - And then they connect, with the Star Sword sweeping through chains weakened by the undeniable power of Hanzo's magic breaking hacks as Ginga Kingu Samekh gets his arms around the girl at the center of the war of succession. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' With his hooks still in and Nichts forced to have to go to the lengths of throwing a dead planet at them, Koji is forced to at least looks up for a few seconds from his work as that shadow comes looming over the sanctuary... only to be shattered and the chunks come raining down.     << DRAW ME, MASTER. >> The words cause him to hesitate...     << DRAW ME AND STRIKE, MASTER. >> Pulling Hanzo from the middle of the circle does momentarily weaken the magic, but what comes up is a slender sword-like blade of pure plasma. Immediately, he swings it, moving light as if it was nothing, and slices any incoming meteor chunks into generally harmless slivers. With little time to consider that, he slams the blade back down into the incantation circle, sending all the extra power flowing into him, in turn, into his work... The Seal not only flares to new light, but it extends 3 smaller circles, forming another tri-gram, then another circle outside to lock it in, fully mimicking the one at his feet. The tendrils surge like magical vines, encircling the gemstone heart, and going down to touch the connecting points where Aloisia is, the disruptive code eroding at all the work that Nichts had done, feeding all the positive energy that was given to them into her, for the barely-conscious mind underneath to feel all that hope and light, and the feelings of those who could only be here in spirit.     "LET."     "HER." And he twists the knife in the circle, like he's gutting the massive thing!     "GO!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy lies in a puddle of darkness, the strange extra armor pieces lying disconnected around her. Those ribs phasing through her didn't knock her ''completely'' insensate, and a ring of fire burns up around her, to burn away the darkness.     But can she really win like this? She looks at her soul gem, over a third corrupted. Can she really fight like this...?     Above her, a dead planet is crushed and dropped. Tauburn is here -- TAUBURN IS HERE, MECHA ARE REAL AND THE DREAMS OF A YOUNG AMY PLAYING WITH A MEGAZORD HAVE COME TRUE, SHE SAW A REAL GIANT ROBOT BEFORE SHE DIED, whatever else happens today, THAT IS A THING THAT HAPPENED -- but will even a super robot be enough to stop ''this?''     And then lights come in from all around them...     (Among the gathered energy, a bit of night-and-falling-stars darkness helps eat away at the meteor even a tiny bit, because ''THIS NOTHING IS WRONG'')     'Want a ride?' Amy looks up, and then realization flashes on her face and she scrambles to her feet and hops onto the hand and is LIFTED INTO THE COCKPIT OF A MECHA! The child inside her has dreamed of this moment for almost twenty years.     And Takuto pours his energy into her, and she grins and her eyes and hair burn red once more, and     She's deposited next to Rashmi, surrounded by the aura of blue-white energy and swirling elemental colors, like a moment ''out of a goddamn anime'' and right now, she could do ''anything''--     She looks at Rashmi's giant bowl-shaped forcefield, and that gives her the beginnings of an idea for a future attack, but NOW... right NOW...! She can feel Takuto's energy pouring through her alongside the challenge's elements and Unstoppable Sister and Weisser Ritter, and she ''smiles.'' She knows what she has to do.     And she ''laughs'' as how to do it becomes so clear. Of course. She flies over the gathered meteor chunks, spinning rocket-drills dropping from around her into the rock, some drilling deep inside, some sticking near the surface.     "You challenged the wrong world, King's End!" Amy points, barely limned in blue-white light now, holding onto just enough power to keep flying a moment longer. "If you'd just asked anyone from another world... They could have told you how impossible Earth is! Here, we can fight with our hearts! It's not just stories!"     "Even the Incubators could see that our hearts hold back the end! ''Kyubey'' understands something ''better than you.'' You can crush the human spirit, but even blinded in despair we fight to ''change'' things! We will NEVER! BE! NOTHING!"     "To put it another way..." Amy looks thoughtful, but she's frantically trying to speech in her head just ahead of her talking, and then ''grins:''     "OURS IS THE DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE NOTHINGNESS! KING'S END, YOU END HERE!"     And when Rashmi launches those meteor chunks, as they sail towards Konig's End, Amy's explosives go off -- the ones near the surface blowing parts of the outer layer of the meteor-chunks to dust, tearing apart with ice and wind... and the ones that drilled deep inside burning with fire and plasma, magically more heat than any explosive can contain, igniting a massive stardust explosion-- and then *still* being heavy, magically superheated cores to slam into Konig's End! 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra drops back to one knee as she stops what she's doing; using the Spirit Ember like that was an incredible strain and smoke is rising off her shoulders as she gasps for air. This time the charring on her skin doesn't look like it was just a special effect, and her veins are still glowing. She grits her teeth as she looks down at her hands, one holding Powersend and the other clenching into a fist, as she gazes at her own blood vessels, visible through flesh. That can't be ideal... but it doesn't hurt. Well, okay, it hurts but not nearly as much as it should. Above her, a meteor is coming down to end everything, and there is no feline agility that can get her out of the way of that. There's also really nothing she can do about it; it's going to hit and it's going to do what it's going to do, so she just... looks up and watches it coming. Either her allies and enemies will solve this problem, or they won't. Turns out, they solve th eproblem, as the meteor is blasted out of the sky, and debris rains down harmlessly. A corner of the cat's mouth quirks upwards, just for a moment, before her previous, snarling glower returns. "Time to end this," Catra growls. And maybe it feels like she's echoing something she said once before, that feels so long ago now; looking up at Hordak, Adora bound to a post and screaming, Glimmer and Shadow Weaver and Bow all rushing to stop her, but the lever, the ''PORTAL'', ready to be opened and possibly destroy Etheria. But this time, it's different, she's fighting to s ave a world instead of end one. Does that count for something? Can the scales be balanced? Does it matter? Whatever. obviously this thing needs to die regardless. And with everything flowing through her -- the gifts from Rashmi, from the chess pieces (Catra isn't sure what else to call them), and now from Hinoiri, has she ever been stronger? Plasma wreathes Catra's sword, fire rises off her shoulders, and a little darkness of her own flashes in her eyes. She plants the tip of Powersend on the ground and scratches a semi-circle in front of her, before raising the sword to adopt Jodan-no-Kamae stance; and instead of moving forwards one of her illusions appears in front of her, a third of the way to the King's End, appearing partway through a strike, then another double two thirds of the way, and then Catra is there. The sword flashes, as she uses the wind gifts from Zephyr to bounce up int othe air, not so much flying as just dashing upwards to cut at the King, slashing him from the side. Her doubles summon fire, bolstered by Rashmi and Hinoiri's power, and each time Catra's sword flashes out to attack and unleashes its built up energy into the King a beam from one of her doubles replaces it, leaving Catra herself free to slash and stab and yell, until at last she's exhausted everything she's got; she lands on the other side of the King and doesn't bother to turn around, slamming Powersend back into the scabbard as she stalks away. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Just as it claims this to be its world, *everyone Rashmi knows and cares for* rise up in denial. 'Give 'em hell, honey,' '*This* looks like a suitable target.' 'Break their faces! ...With love, of course.' 'So, when are you and my Chrono getting engaged?' "Lindy-mama?!" The surprised blurt simply *cannot* be suppressed, because how often is your boyfriend's amnesiac mother speaking into your soul across time and space? But she shakes off the surprised, and takes a deep breath. "...No," Rashmi says, looking up to stare into the baleful gaze of the King's End. "This is *not* your world! This is *our world,* the proof of that is *all around you!* All you've done is take, and take, and claim that what you've taken is yours by right! Well if you wanna claim that, *you have to hold onto it,* and *we won't let you!*"     << *BONG!* >> << AREA INDEX: SOLAR SHIELD >> Another module is slotted into place, a spell-seal spreads out, and a bowl-shaped hemispherical Shield snaps into view, impossibly wide, and scoops up the burning pieces of meteor for Amy tu augment. It's a stupid idea, it's insane, and if Chrono were physically present, instead of in her heart, his head would probably fly off its shoulders at the sheer impossibility of the whole thing. But then the bowl orients on King's End, and she draws in *more* energy, packing the construct of the forcefield with many times the amount of mana that the spell would be designed to hold. "GIVE." "HER." "*BACK!!!*" << *BONG!* >> << RED SHIFT >> The 'bowl' glows almost too bright to look at, then glimmers... And shatters inward, all that energy transformed into kinetic force that *hurls* the explosive-enhanced chunks of a dead world right back into King's End's face. Because *that* is how mahou roll. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' As attacks begin to gather in power, begin to roll in, the King's End is not about to take it lying down, its hand beginning to lift again, beginning to form layers of magical circles beginning to write themselves in the air. ...And then a force reaches from beyond Time. The soft ~ticking~ of a clock audible, as King's End... simply... Freezes. Magical circles left half-written. Incomplete. And a rushing torrent of magic cascades, shooting out over the King's End's form, cutting through it as purifying energy infuses the attack. A burning fire slices through it as Catra sends herself flying through the air with the power of Clones and Fire. The slice of plasma cut into the side of the still-frozen King's End, the attacks seeming to leave glowing patterns as each one slows and stops right on contact (But thankfully Catra doesn't). Burning rock is chucked at the massive form of Konigsend, giant missiles flying in... and then... Star Rocket Amy is unleashed! ... Gently. Less gently, there is a Sugata flying towards its form! As a cane surrounded with all of the elements of the jewels -- along with a seeping in Light, as the flecks of Cerulean that fall turn into falling cerulean hearts around them. Unleashing a resolute strike across the frozen skeleton's face, slicing through it, leaving a glowing mark in the wake of her strike! As time slowly begins to tick again. To resume once more. As light darts rain down upon its form, slowing down until just the moment before they strike, just like the other attacks. Ginga Kingu grabs hold of the sword that had been embedded in King's End, sending it flying /right back/ into place, only this time infused with the power of the Moon, the Earth, and a Cybody! Blades cut through the chains, through the crystal that she was embedded in. And the continued hacking is weakened, momentarily, as Hanzo is drawn... and then struck once more, slicing towards meteors and seal and magical vines encircle the gemstone heart... disrupting code eroding... weakening... And a knife is twisted. And Sugata pulls Aloisia Stauss free from her bindings. And revealing that, in spite of everything. In spite of being slowly eroded. In spite of being slowly erased. In spite of being used as a battery for attacks, she had managed one thing. In her hands, was the glittering sapphire. And time resumes for the King's End. Attacks that had been slowed and paused glowing brightly as their energy begins to be imparted, all at once. And meteor pieces impact, twisting, turning, drilling against the heart of the King's End, as it starts to SCREAM, its form beginning to *glow*. "YOU WILL NOT END ME!" Screams the massive form, as waves of Darkness start to pulse out from it. Darkness settles in. But the light resists. Darkness settles in. But the light resists. Darkness set-- The light /burns through/. GIVE. HER. BACK! And the crust of a world that had once been the King's End's conquest. Encases it. The gathered energy of the various attacks growing unstable, glowing brighter... brighter... brighter. And then *explodes*. And all that is left of the King's End is what can only be described, visually, as 'A love nuke'. A massive heart-shaped cloud that blows away the darkness, leaving them in a floating pink realm, pieces of Tokyo floating around them. ...And then the Sapphire begins to glow. And then the other jewels lose their forms, starting to swirl with the Sapphire, glowing as it manifests as a pair of twin shield bearing Princesses, the crown of succession -- beautiful, blessed, and closer to the form it was likely originally meant to be on their brows. They clasp non-shield-bearing hands, calling out in unison. "INDOMITABLE." "WORLD!" A pulse of energy washes over the realm. And then... they are back in those ruins of Edo palace. Where that Void had been originally created. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' All that is left of the twin princesses being an overlapped, twisted, broken, and coreless lance and shield, with the Crown of Succession laying atop the two of them. ...And Aloisia hangs, unmoving, but gently breathing, in Sugata's arms. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     CRRRRK. TSSSSSSSHHHHH.     Tenraikaze vents its overheat once more.     CRRRRKCHNK.     And Zephyr gently pats the gem at its head. Without a word, she returns the axe to its standby form, and walks over toward Sugata and Aloisia.     The Enforcer nods to Sugata, offering him a smile before reaching out to gently place a hand on Aloisia's shoulder. "Welcome home." she says to the unconscious Knight. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' TAUBURN is losing steam: there's an explosion to make even El Exigente approve, and Tauburn watches it in silent satisfaction, but flickers. There's a pulse of the combined power of two of the Sisters, and then the twisted, coreless devices and the Crown are on the ground, and Tauburn looks down at them, and suddenly his enigmatic smile looks like an enigmatic frown. He turns his head and flickers out of sight, leaving an exhausted redheaded boy in a white military coat abruptly sitting on the ground, exhausted. But absolutely gleeful. "THAT WAS SO COOL!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Sometimes...     Sometimes, life being like an anime is ''really cool!''     "That was so awesome!" Amy tells her friends excitedly, at the same time as Ginga Bishounen is saying much the same, fists balled and held up almost to her chin, and she GRINS at Takuto!     And then she notices they're back in the ruins.     And Aloisia is in Sugata's arms. "Aloisia!" Amy runs over to look at her in hopeful concern. "Aloisia, we got her, we stopped her, you're ''free'', I'm sorry it took so long! ...Aloisia...? Stauss-san?" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki alights nearby, walking closer with a nod. "She'll need friends. People who can help her adjust." She dismisses the remaining dart-spells, letting everything fade into the simplicity of a Knight at rest. She's never quite sure what to say at times like these, so she just makes it up as she goes along. "I get the feeling there's a lot of story I've missed out here," she muses, considering the sleeping princess. "Someone will have to introduce me... when she's awake." 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' Ginga Kingu Samekh holds Aloisia in a princess carry, because it genuinely is the best way to support an unconscious person for their comfort. Abruptly - his ghostly armor disappears, leaving him in his regular henshin, and he looks around, until he spies Rashmi, and shifts Aloisia so that he can point at her. "I've been reliably informed that she'll need support, to recover from this, and so will the devices." The look on his face says 'surely you won't condemn us to a world where ''I'm'' offering the emotional support, right?' The Enforcer is given a nod, then, her approach having been accepted. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' It's over. They're back in the ruins of the Edo Castle. Back where this whole battle started, where it seemed so straightforward until suddenly it wasn't. Catra already has her back turned to everyone else; but she looks over her shoulder, just long enough to see that yes, indeed, that would seem to be Aloisia laying there on the floor. She's no longer the Prinzessin Nicht; that's good. And she's not dead, that's also good. Good enough for Catra. The feline turns away, and just... keeps going. Even though she's still smoldering and looks, in a word, burnt, she just... wanders off, and as she rounds a corner she restores her illusory disguise and returns to being Rachel Miller, the obnoxious tourist. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' It's over. This long nightmare is *finally* over. ...Well, one out of three nightmares. Which is pretty good progress, all considered. As the world comes back, and Rashmi's feet touch down outside of Edo Castle, the redhead looks around herself, at her fellow exhausted, triumphant warriors, then at the world beyond. It all seems so peaceful... A flicker of magic catches the corner of her eye, and she turns to see Rachel Miller, hands in her pockets, walking away. << Catra-chan! >> she calls out, in a private mental link. Oh no, is she gonna be unbearably sappy? << Thank you, Catra-chan. I owe you *big time.* Just let me know if there's anything I can do for you. >> Huh. Maybe not? And she turns, to see Sugata begging her with his eyes, to not make *him* be the support she needs, and she can't help but chuckle. "You have my word," she says, stepping forward... and first kneeling down to take the twisted Sisters, and store them in Nicomachea where they'll be safe. Then, she rises, and relieves Sugata of his burden. "She'll get the best help I can get my hands on. All three of them will." As Yuki comes up, Rashmi nods. "The short version? She's a very, very noble warrior, who got trapped in horrible circumstances, and *then* even worse ones. But she's free now, thanks to all of you. Thank you.... *everyone*... for getting me my friend back." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Aloisia is unmoving, at first, as people talk around her, as people run up and talk to her. Others shout their joy and how things are 'so cool'. Breathing. Possibly still stuck in those endless dreams?             Wake up, Prinzessin. She was ... changed, by all of this, even after being 'freed', though her skin had returned to a healthy peach, her hair still remained that silver it had been as Prinzessin Nichts. But lavender eyes open, slowly. "..." "...This dream... seems nicer..." She mumbles, before closing her eyes as she passes back out, exhaustion plain on her face. 

:'''{{#var:61|Koji Silvia (61)}} has posed:''' Normality finally re-establishes itself, and Koji looks down to make sure that Hanzo has not damaged the floor. Bringing his Device up, he checks it over before finally reattaching it to the underside of his forearm, "Best thing to do now is to get her back to the campus. The protections there will keep her safe from her uncle." If he had pockets and a hoodie, the latter would be up, and the former would be stuffed, "My old room is cleaned and unattended, and it's right next door to your boyfriend... I can't think of a better place for her to be safe tonight." With that, he turns and waves over his shoulder, "C'mon... I've got fresh ramen, onigiri, and a bunch of cold drinks." 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' All the exploding energies around are a bit blinding, now that the King's End has reached its conclusion, and Veronica shields her eyes by bringing the brim of her hat down, waiting it out until it can truly be called over, and the devices of the twin shields join forces for one last time as the world is restored. Good job, Unstoppable Sister. You earned your rest now, she finds herself thinking in the newfound light of the Edo Castle. That was the single time she could appear in that form, couldn't she? Maybe she could put her memories on something tangible later, to celebrate the return from nothingness. A happy smile appears on Veronica's face when she sees Aloisia held by the Galactic King, and she approaches him calmly. "That is a fair bet", she tells the bluenette. "It has been a long time since has been herself. We can help keep watch while she recovers", she says, already thinking of what Aloisia could be brought within this time. "You know, Page Mage, I'd wager you were in this fight too", Veronica turns over to the redhead with a swish of her tail and a wider smile. "Most excellent work with your spells, and getting Aloisia-san back", Veronica turns the congratulations back to her. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "...You got a point," Rashmi chuckles at Sarek. "But I could not have *begun* to do it all without all of you, so... Thanks." At Koji's suggestion, Rashmi nods. "Yeah... then to get her to Setsuchan tomorrow, and start work on getting her her sisters back. Lotta work ahead, but--" 'This is a much nicer dream.' Rashmi blinks, looking down at the girl in her arms, and chuckles. "Yeah... Yeah it probably is, Alo-chan. C'mon... I got a bed to get you tucked into." With that, and a final, thankful bow of the head to all gathered, she turns to follow Koji. Back to the Academy. Where Aloisia Stauss can start on her new life. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy smiles at Rashmi's thanks. She didn't realize the two were that close... Also she is feeling overfull of enthusiastic energy, so Rashmi gets a hug! "Yeah, that red shift trick kicked ass! And us all being buffed to hell... Made so much more possible."     Aloisia is conscious! Briefly. Amy winces a little at hearing she thinks this must be a dream, but... Let her rest. There can be something like a welcome back party later, maybe!     "So does this mean... she's now the rightful ruler of Tharkad?"     Amy hopes that if Hannah ever comes back, she'll take it well. And Amy had not, since Hannah left, considered the possibility of a future as princess-consort seriously, but this does finally close the door on that. ...She finds that she doesn't mind.     As people prepare to head out, Amy takes a few steps away from the others and turns her back to look at her soul gem.     Corruption fills two fifths of it -- ''only'' two-fifths, thanks to the protection of the two gems. Amy then wants to thank them, and remembers the state she just saw them in, and her heart sinks a little, but Rashmi said they'd be alright, right?     She pulls her grief seed -- from Spelleiter, the miniature wargaming Witch -- from her pocket and holds it to her gem, watching the corruption get sucked away into the seed.     And then it stops.     There isn't much. The corruption doesn't fill even a tenth of her gem... but it's ''there'', and the grief seed can hold no more.     "..."     She can worry about that tomorrow. She slips the grief seed into her belt pouch to give to Madoka later, and turns back to the others with a smile. "Getting some food sounds good!" 
}}

2400/Akumadora: Forsaken Honor

2025-03-12T05:12:11Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/11 |Location=Riverside Path |Synopsis=Adora has been struggling with various thoughts for a while, and as she stares at a stream muttering..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/11
|Location=Riverside Path
|Synopsis=Adora has been struggling with various thoughts for a while, and as she stares at a stream muttering about the honor of greyskull, a butterfly alights upon the bracelet form of the Sword of Power.

Several people show up to stop the resulting Akuma, Skeletara. Unfortunately, she ends up focusing on the wrong person, thinking the Princess of Sarek is Chat Noir!
|Cast of Characters=98,156,154,43,226,41,230,145,107,102
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' Adora had been a lot more introspective than usual, recently, in part because of the constant urging to break her sword and also just that general sense that everything in this world is /wrong/ to her. She'd found a covenient bench on the riverside path between the Pikarigaoka Ward and the Juuban ward to sit down on, staring out onto the water. The reflection she saw back, in the moment, wasn't her own, but instead She-Ra's. "..." "The Honor of Greyskull, huh..." "What's that gotten me?" "My childhood friend is now my enemy." "I'm responsible for EVERYONE." "The world was nearly -- maybe actually -- destroyed because of my having the sword..." Adora stands, walking to the edge of that water, kicking the surface with her foot to disrupt the water's surface, where She-Ra stared back at her. "I hate you." She mutters, as a butterfly alights upon her bracelet... 

:'''{{#var:156|Hawkmoth (156)}} has posed:''' Another day, another tireless search for Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous. It's been - something of an interesting time for Hawkmoth, having successfully gained the scientific interest of an intriguing genius, but having failed to find the Miraculous, and he's turning back to the tried and reliable: Sensing the negativity of Tokyo in search of someone who could be useful to him. With the Butterfly Miraculous' power, it's something bordering child's play for Hawkmoth to sift through the negative emotions of all of Tokyo's citizens, never mind that there are millions upon millions of them, all crowded together in an even greater density than his home of Paris. Their minds are a stew of negative emotion, a break up here, mourning for a lost pet here, a faltering marriage there, a failed exam there, hatred for her own heroics there - Wait a minute. "Fly, my akuma, to that girl." When the butterfly lands on Adora's wrist, it seeps into her bracelet, turning it a blackish-purple. A butterfly effect appears around her face, and Hawkmoth speaks into her mind. "Adora, you've truly found yourself in miserable circumstances, haven't you? I understand - the world has put such a burden on your shoulders, and despite everything you've tried, nothing has worked. You're one girl against the world, and even the mighty She-Ra can only do so much." His voice is sympathetic, but not condescending - he strives to strike the balance of one who can empathize without tripping the scarcely healed wounds of trauma he can feel in her psyche. "The problem isn't you - it's the world. This world itself is wrong, Skeletara. Get me the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses, and with their power, together we can fix everything. It will all make sense again." 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' That butterfly shape covers Adora's face, a red blush in that same face covering her face as she listens, not speaking at first. "..." "Yes, Hawkmoth!" And then she lifts the bracelet-bearing arm up into the sky, as it transforms -- not into a sword -- but into a skull-faced scepter as she calls out, "BY THE POWER OF SNAKE MOUNTAIN, WREAK HAVOK!" And purple energy consumes her, lightning striking her location as a column of purple and blue shoots up into the sky. Her scepter-bearing hand growing skeletal, as a skeleton half-helmet covers her face, leaving only her jaw exposed. Her hair sticking out from the top of the skull in a massive, wild high ponytail, what visible skin she had turning a pale blue color, and she wears a corrupted version of her Horde uniform, instead of reds, a deep purple with teal blue accents. And when people arrive to the location where that column of corrupted energy shot into the sky... they would find a concerning sight. Statues on the pathway leading to the source of that darkness, each one in various state of surprise, shock, or horror. And when they finally do find her, she is holding a young woman by her collar, as sickly green energy is pulled from that person into the staff, leaving them as a statue that is casually dropped to the ground. Luckily, they do not shatter, having landed on grass... 

:'''{{#var:154|Ladybug (154)}} has posed:''' Far away, in a club room. Marinette is behind the GM's screen, holding a skeleton figurine that she painted just last night and has a shiver go down her spine, as if someone has just walked over her grave. "It's okay, I just have this feeling like my undead horde for tonight might be...ill timed, is all," she explains to her players, many of which are looking at her with concern. A fluttering ladybug in the corner of her eye makes her nod. "Would anyone mind if we put this on pause right here, for now? I think it's best if I rethink this a bit, before we get any further." What made her stop? Is there any merit to the shiver in her heart? Why does that skeleton girl figurine look so foreboding, right now? Or is it just a lack of enough snacks? As the players pack up, she quickly dashes out, leaving her dice behind. "What's up, Tikki?" she asks, but she only gets a glance to the sky to know. That way. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' This week started bad, what with the ever-present threat to her family (and the families of several close friends!), and it's only gotten worse. Yesterday, Usagi Tsukino had her heart crystal shot out. Today's been better... in the sense that she went to school and nothing bad happened aside from Chibiusa making fun of her for having to rush out the door because she slept in again... but that doesn't mean she's ready to call it a good day. And she's right not too, because just as she's patrolling around Juuban, all the better to keep an eye out for threats to family and friends, she sees a ''pillar of energy in the sky''. "Oh come on!" It's an exasperated shout to the heavens, but Sailor Moon goes rushing towards the scene, going from hopping along buildings to bounding high into the air and waving her arms wildly as she plummets down again, looking out for the cause, only to find - "Oh, no, no, no," she breathes, looking at the horrible statues, "This is almost as bad as that which we do not speak of - HEY! PUT HER DOWN!" But the shout is too late. As Sailor Moon watches, the young woman has her energy drained, only to fall to the ground as a statue. She's kiiiiiinda regretting calling attention to herself while alone. 

:'''{{#var:226|Bow (226)}} has posed:''' It's been some time since Bow touched base with Adora. It wasn't from a lack of trying. Just that life got in the way and he's kept busy and sort of withdrawn with recent events. Things in this world are confusing, there's a lot he still doesn't understand. But one thing he does grasp is that he is one-third of the OG Best Friends squad, and he's going to do what he can to bring them back together and make this work the way it should. Even if one of them is now experimenting with Dark Magic. Even if Catra is a Princess now. Even if Bow's life stuff got in the way. He had a lead that Adora was at park. Easy peasy. Meet up with her. Offer to buy ice cream. Make small talk. Make bigger talk. And plot on how to help Glimmer. And Catra, I guess. And that's when the light goes out. "What the..." he picks up the pace, his walk turned into a run as he comes across the first fear-struck statuaries, and then a little bit further away - the only reason why Bow can actually put anything together is because he knows that uniform very well. Shifting into his henshin, he is stlll wary as he approaches. "Adora... that you?" Just in time for her to make another statue. "What are you doing?!" 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Some days, being mahoujin is suffering. A late night's patrol had turned into oversleeping, and thus Rashmi was late -- late! -- to school today. When one lives less than a block away from one's classroom, turning up late is a *particularly* dire infraction. Coupled with a pop quiz in trigonometry, a subject in which Rashmi has found *so many* roadblocks to success, *and* the fact that it was her turn to tidy up after Debate Club... It has not been a good day for Rashmi. So when the column of purple energy erupted worryingly close to her home neighborhood, it was almost a relief to henshin and fly out to meet it... Only to find a procession of *statues,* and a skeleton-themed villain ripping civilian energy away as if it was their very soul?! But Sailor Moon is on the scene! And as she flies down to meet her friend-- Bow's voice?! *ADORA?!* ... Being mahoujin is suffering. "Wait," she says, floating down to 'land' a few centimeters off the ground, next to Sailor Moon. "That's *Adora-chan?!*" 

:'''{{#var:230|Dark Glimmer (230)}} has posed:''' Glimmer Brightmoon was so, so tired. She couldn't believe she'd fought with Adora a few days, her recent fights with Bow, now Catra up and offed one of the big names at Obsidian. How could all of them be doing so POORLY? She really... had to find some way to fix this. As much as she hated it... she'd have to put all of her work on freeing her mom on hold, focus on helping the brain cells that she apparently ended up dragging to this world. ... None of them should have been here. She had a small pack of cupcakes with her as she walked through the city as Gloria. She could come, apologize to Adora, maybe... just... work something out. Catra was... out, right? So that was... good? So that meant... maybe she could get Adora too-- "Oh come ON!" Glimmer snapped when she saw the tower of purple. Well.... maybe she'd jsut... check it out. A small detour. That was all. Of course, she arrived just in time to see Bow... And . horde uniform? Catra? Was-- ... Wait. He called her... Adora... There was no way. And then Rashmi confirmed it?! Albeit, likely not really, but Glimmer didn't hear the 'question' part of that, and jus thought it was a statement. She tossed the cupcakes away, unable to keep her anger bottled up, and endered her role as 'Gloria'. Dawning the outfit of red she had been wearing for so long. Yeah. There was no way this was... At all normal. She stepped out into the open, blowing into her fingers with a shrill whistle. "ADORA! Is that you?! PLEASE tell me what in the WORLD you're doing?!" Was it a kitty/soldier lesbian thing?! Catra was leaving Obsidian so now ADORA had to join?! Were those two just petty?! IS THIS HER LIFE NOW?! HER HEAD HURT ALREADY! 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Veronica was here painting the beautiful sight of the riverside, light refracting to create small rainbow whenever a fish breaks through the river surface. Those moments are entrusted to her memory rather than to any camera, and she happily hums without any insight to what is occurring elsewhere. Theeere we go. That splotch of light had been bothering her, she smiles while her brush lightly applies colour, and then moves towards the palette for another touch of paint. Everything is going well, and in fact this is turning out to be a good break from the stress that has been accumulating in their lives. Even her patrol for youmas and relics had turned a lot more frustrating due to keeping an eye out for a potential return of the Spectre Sisters. You'd think they would have enough problem with alive villains. But best not to think of that now. However, the oppressing feeling of darkness is hard to miss, as is the column of purple and blue energy. "Such a shame when a good colour combination bears bad news", she frowns, abandoning her break and turning to where the malevolent energy had acted as a beacon for them. "Moonlit Heist, Phantom Thief Release, My Evolution!" Veronica calls out, snapping her fingers and summoning the Hallward painting's blessing. Glowing mist wraps around her, and her magical garments materialise, accompanied by feline ears sprouting from her scalp, and a swishing tail emerging behind her. "The Princess of Sarek, with hope held tight, I leap through shadows to light up the night!" she sings the final verse, holding her cane tightly in her hand. "Sorry I am late", she rushes onto the scene where mahoujin have already started gathering, her gaze moving from her friends to the stone victim to Skeletara. "Who is that?", she peers at the unknown villain with a frown. 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' "Hehehe. I did as you wished, why are you looking at me like that?" Comes the much more raspy voice of Skeletara as she turns towards Sailor Moon, that staff held at her side as she glances down towards that statue. "See? I didn't even break her. But she was useless to me but you! You might be useful." A purple portal opens in front of her, as her non-skeletal hand reaches through it, another portal opening behind Sailor Moon to attempt to grab the back of her sailor uniform and DRAG her through the portal. "Tell me! Do you know where the Miraculous is?" She asks, skull-faced eyes turning to face Sailor Moon as she turns her to face her with one hand, the scepter held above her as a purple scythe of energy crackles into existence. "I need it, so that Hawkmoth and I can fix this world." What are you doing?! "Ah! Bow! Don't worry, everything will be okay. I'm going to fix everything. This world is so very wrong. It's not where we're supposed to be. It's not WHEN most of us are supposed to be. But all I need to do is get the Miraculous, and then I can make everything right again!" More people are arriving. More people she recognized. Rashmi Terios was there now. "I am not Adora, I am Skeletara, and unlike poor Adora... I have the Power to fix things, instead of relying on a fragile honor." And now Glimmer was there. ...Everyone she didn't really want to see was here right now. Sailor Moon. Glimmer. Bow All she's missing is Catra and she'd have the full set of everyone she would rather have just faced once she fixed everything. Tch. Whatever. They're just going to get in her way. "You were right, Glimmer. Adora wasn't enough. Adora has NEVER been enough. You needed something stronger, better. So here I am!" Comes the cheerful response to Glimmer's question. "You understand, right? We just need to find the Miraculous-- and then we can fix everything. Then we can make everything alright!" And then... a cat arrives? Is that Cat Noir?! Sailor Moon is promptly let go of, as Skeletara, in a moment of mistaken identity, darts towards the Princess of Sarek, that purple scythe of energy held high as she darts towards her, ready to bring it in a sideways slicing arc towards her. "GIVE ME THE MIRACULOUS!" Whoops. Man this would be so much easier if they knew exactly who they were looking for, right? 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Darkness... again?! Amy is out for a walk, and henshins and runs into the park.     And ''Amanda'' is someone who can take one look at those statues and knows in an instant what they mean. A chill runs through her. Yet another nightmare from humanity's dark imaginations has been unleashed in real life. ''Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no...''     Although uh. When she comes upon. Skulldora turning someone into a statue. Amy is confused. "What are you ''DOING?!''" She's ''draining'' something from people and ''that's'' turning them to stone? ''What?'' How does this work???     Amy pats Sailor Moon's shoulder. "We'll stop this. We can probably change them back..." And she takes a step forward to stand protectively in front of Sailor Moon, but is ready to move.     And then Rashmi lands and shouts and Amy's expression mirrors hers. "That's ''ADORA?!''"     Little good Amy's positioning does against a portal appearing ''behind'' her. She doesn't even ''know''. "''FIX'' everything?! How is this going to FIX ''anything?!''"     Also, she double-takes at the portal, looks ''behind'' her, and tries to pull Sailor Moon back through. "Hey! Let go of her!" She's about to swing a rocket launcher at Skeledora when Adora lets go. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' On the one hand? She's not alone! On the other hand? ...this is bad. Bow's called out Adora's name and Glimmer's arrived to yell, and Usagi can only think of one thing that could have caused all of this, especially given Adora's scary but lovely new look - And then she's snatched from behind and dragged through a portal, left dangling in Adora's hands, and she - wow it's terrible that skeleton-mask doesn't make Adora look bad. She did not need to know this about herself. Sailor Moon waves her hands, dangling from Adora's grip like she weighs absolutely nothing, sweat-dropping. "Adora, don't listen to the Butterfly Man! Trust me, I know it sounds great in the moment, when you're all sad-mad and hurting inside, but you're going to feel embarrassed later, and there's nothing so bad that we can't help you with it!" Unfortunately, she is dropped because there's Adora, going after - "RUN SAREK-CHAN!" Ffffffffuck, "Okay, okay, there's something that Hawkmoth put a butterfly into, and we've got to just purify it, or break it, so we can help - I ''really'' wish Ladybug or Cat was here... Bow! Okay, I'll do that - aaaand I think we lost him." 

:'''{{#var:226|Bow (226)}} has posed:''' "Yeah... maybe..." Bow starts to say as other arrive and catch onto the words that came out of his mouth. In for a penny, in for a pound. As he summons a net arrow, he calls out, "I'll try to tie her up, give you time to prepare some Moon Healing Escalation!" he calls out to Sailor Moon, as he moves to draw back. And then of all the parks, of all the scenes, Glimmer has to come sauntering into his. Hearing her voice, he starts to respond, "Oh thank goodness, maybe we can help her togeth..." and that's when he gets his first look at the all-new for 2025 Queen Glimmer Brightmoon. Curves and all. "G-Glimmer...." he stammers, his eyes wide, his jaw going slightly slack. TWANG. The arrow fire prematurely into the ground. He'll come back to arguing with Skeletara in a moment. For now, brain cell stuck, needs to reboot. 

:'''{{#var:156|Hawkmoth (156)}} has posed:''' "That's not Chat - is that Chat Noir?" Hawkmoth pauses mid-snap, furrowing his brows, frowning at the cat-themed heroine Skeletara is going after. "There was a second Ladybug for a moment - it's possible that this could be..." Hmm... The Chat Noir he knew of was male, but who was to say that had to still be the case? The boy could have discovered something new about himself - herself? Or simply handed off the Miraculous! "It's a worth a shot! My apologies for ''doubting'' you, Skeletara. You're more than capable. Don't let these friends slow you down - they still think this world is as it should be!" 

:'''{{#var:154|Ladybug (154)}} has posed:''' There's a whole lot of no-Miraculous in the situation though. Rather wondering what Hawkmoth's plan was if none showed up, it seems to be a less than optimal way to get ahold of something if you target areas that don't have that resource available. However, it's not to last. As Adora the Explorer launches for the wrong target, the right one appears in the edge of her vision. Standing there, black with red dots. Fists on her hips. Eyebrow raised with a judgement that comes of unlimited levels of french sarcasm. And a yo-yo shoots out to snag the oncoming attack as it goes for the entirely wrong person, its unbreakable twine able to stop even the might of the arm holding the scythe. Of course, that also requires that Ladybug be strong, or you lose that one point in the chain. Ladybug, you are the weakest link! And she gets yoinked off of her feet rather easily, since the comparison chart clearly says that She-Ra is ..you know. a titch stronger on the graph. Whoof. And thus does Ladybug enter the scene, face-down in the mud. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' And everything goes to hell, all at once. Sailor Moon is yoinked through a SUDDEN PORTAL, Glimmer shows up to yell some more, Bow segfaults at Glimmer's new look -- which, fair, but not the time -- Sarek is getting rushed, and Amy hasn't had a problem yet but *this situation needs to be controlled, now.*     << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >> And the world takes on a much warmer hue, as Rashmi's Barrier expands out to cover the whole of the park, and any other civilians that could be under threat are filtered away. Which is a good start, but...     << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >> << SAREK, MOVE! Everyone else, FOCUS! If Adora-chan's gotten Akumatized, then Ladybug or Cat Noir'll be on the scene soon! We need to keep her occupied until then! >> Yes, even Glimmer got a dose of Rashmi yelling into her brain; if she's on the scene, then she can help with her friend's mess. And as the yo-yo soars in, Rashmi can feel her spirits lift. "Ladybug-cha--" *SPLAT* ...Being mahoujin is suffering. 

:'''{{#var:230|Dark Glimmer (230)}} has posed:''' Dark Glimmer blinked a few times. Stared. "Oh for..." she muttered, face palming. "ADORA! COME ON! YOU BIG STUPID IDIOT! YOU WERE ALWAYS ENOUGH! IS THIS REALLY ALL YOU EVER TAKE AWAY?! GAHHHH!" she screamed, stomping a foot. "HAWKMOTH! YOU AND I NEED TO HAVE A TALK LATER! STOP! BUTTERFLYING! MY! FRIENDS!" she yelled, stomping both her feet. "Listen, I'm sorry! We... both said some things we shouldn't have, okay?" She may have mumbled 'mostly you' under her breath, nobody would ever know. "But I'm sorry! This isn't the path! Adora is more than enough! It's the stupid sword that's restricting you from being, well, the real you! Who you are supposed to be! She-ra! Not this imitation! So please, stop being... whatever it is you're being!" She then glanced towards Sailor Moon and Bow. "Okay, Bow. I don't suppose you have a pl--" Then stopped herself. Noticed the arrow going off... The way he was looking at her... ugh. He hated this, didn't he? 'All you do is delegate!' Asking him for help... he didn't want that. Damn it. "... Nevermind. I'll deal with this myself." There. He couldn't POSSIBLY be mad at her if she did that, right? If she picked it up? "GAHHHH! GHOST!" Glimmer shrieked, shaking her head. "No. NO! Okay! ADORA!" she yelled, before putting her hands together. "I learned this one from your MAMA!" Annnnnnd black lightning came out from her right hand, then. Etherian magic... technically. Etherian dark magic. One of Shadowweaver spells. Also. OW.The lightning lanced out... but some of it also recoiled back on her. But hey, it likely made some of its way towards the scythe! ... And if it did, sorry, Ladybug, as you likely ate some electricity there too. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Having the villain rush at her the second she appears wasn't quite on the list of the Princess of Sarek's expectations, nor was she expecting to be requested to hand over a Miraculous. She'd know if she had stolen something like that! What's her deal!? Unfortunately, at the sight of Sailor Moon in trouble, the Phantom Thief had started running towards them to try getting the soldier of the moon out of that bind, so she doesn't have much time to react to Skeletara's change of priorities. It is only Sailor Moon and the Page Mage shouting a warning for her that gives the cat thief enough time to release her moonlit barrier and block the blade, but the force of the blow is enough to impact her and throw her to the ground with a groan. "What gives?", she shouts after getting to her feet, her tail rigid with irritation. "Not something I can give you, and why do ''you'' want that? There must be something better than this!" 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' Drained completely, the people were rendered stone. Not that it really was the explanation that Amy Faust likely wanted to likely realize. Perhaps it was some curse of the magic in that ominous skull scepter as well, who knows. "The miraculous will let us fix this world! Let us make everything how it's supposed to be! Make everything make /sense/ again!" Skeletara shouts back at Amy at the question. A rocket launcher is swung towards her, only to be deflected by that scepter. Which is ... blackened, like something usually 'blessed' by Akumatization tends to be. Don't listen to the butterfly man! You're just going to be embarrassed later. "I'm in the wrong world -- possibly the wrong time. Everyone I know and care about is gone or changed. I've lost *everything* because I wasn't enough, Sailor Moon. How do you fix /that/?" Bow, ever the reliable, ever the one ready to help and protect them when they were in over their heads was readying an arrow. ...Bow is rebooting. And she gets reaffirming comments from Hawkmoth that she was possibly going after a proper target! "Yes, Hawkmoth." She comments. And then a ladybug appears. And a yo-yo is wrapped around her arm, and Skeletara feels a slight ~tug~ mid-rush towards the Princess of Sarek. "...What was that? Did you truly think that would stop me?" She seems legitimately confused in her raspy voice. "No matter, considering your spots. I somehow have the feeling that YOU might have a miraculous as well, to think that both are here! This must be Fate." A word that makes her mouth taste like ash to say, in spite of the dark energy coursing through her that drove her to cause havok. A time-space barrier takes over the area, those statues fading out thankfully, reducing the chance of them being broken in the fighting so they can hopefully be fixed later. You were always enough. Is this really all you ever take away? The words reach Skeletara... But not her heart. "I /was/ She-ra. And it /wasn't enough/. YOUR MOM HAD TO SACRIFICE HERSELF TO SAVE US! HOW IS THAT ENOUGH?!" She shouts in response. And then... then a familiar spell is cast. Black lightning shooting towards her. Striking the scepter. Electrifying it. ...And purple scythe is suddenly now purple /electricity/ scythe. "Truly? Darkness? On darkness? In what timeline did you think that would work?" She asks, her tone slightly mocking towards Glimmer. "So you fancy yourself a Sorceress, do you? Well! Let me show you how it's done!" The Princess of Sarek is thrown to the ground, as Skeletara stands over her, her hand shifting to grip onto the line of the yoyo with simple intent: To attempt to spin Ladybug around and FLING her towards the group of assorted mahou in the distance. A purple portal opens next to her. And then six... seven... 8 appear around THEM. And she lifts the scepter towards it, while one hand reaches down towards the Princess of Sarek to attempt to grab her. Concentrated purple bolts of energy are launched through that portal, shooting in a rapid barrage where they come out on the other side, larger than they had been when shot. "Just give it to me, and everything will be /fine/ in the end." She speaks down towards the Princess of Sarek, not quite getting that her response was an 'I don't have it' kind of response. 

:'''{{#var:154|Ladybug (154)}} has posed:''' X.x Ladybug, the awaited hero when it comes to akumatizations, has enough time to spit out some mud before LIGHTNING hits her, through her line. She spasms, her skeleton actually visible for a second, as she takes MUCH more damage than Skeletara did from Glimmer's attack. x.X Then, she feels the line tightening. She can't seem to get her hands to let go, the obvious choice. The world is spinning. That doesn't seem right, I haven't been dizzy in ages, not cinse tegging the rilamucous. . . Oh wait, the world is ACTUALLY spinning. Ladybug does the only thing she possibly can in the situation, and kinda screams as she's used as a flail against her own team. ._. 

:'''{{#var:226|Bow (226)}} has posed:''' Glimmer has it completely and totally wrong. The thoughts that Bow is having at the moment would push the scene's rating to PG-13. He's distracted, and needed to snapped back to normal. Fortunately, Page Mage is on the job. There's nothing like the boss's daughter yelling INTO YOUR BRAINMEATS to snap the thoughts of Glimmer out of his head. "Sorry! I'll get on the box choy right away!" he calls out in response to Rashmi's push on his head. Oh right, not at the restaurant. Back into the field of battle. That's when he hears Glimmer calling out, and he turns, just in time to see her fire lightning towards Skeletara. He doesn't yell or complain, instead, with her trying that, he's changing arrows. "Going to try to glop her up!" Another non-lethal weapon. He summons the arrow, just in time for Skeletara to start to fire the barrage of lasers at them, and he's knocked off offense to defense as he moves to dodge the blasts. As he runs along the ground, blasts exploding behind him, he ends up near Glimmer. Okay. Near Glimmer. Idea! "Glims!" he calls out to her. And then he points to himself. And his bow. And then points to the sky above Skeletara's head. A little boost for a crazy idea, please? 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "...You can't fix it, Adora-chan," Sailor Moon says quietly. "You just... keep moving forward. I know it's not what you want to hear, but - " But she knows what it's like. Everything and everyone she had once loved is gone or changed and the world is different and she ''grew up in it'', but she remembers another life, and it's not the same, but it's kind of like that - Aaaand she's still going after Sarek, who's got that Prismatic Barrier up, at least, thank goodness, and there's Ladybug going in, and there's Glimmer shouting encouragement, yay! Oh no she's attacking, not yay!!! "GLIMMER! THAT'S NOT GOING TO WOR-" Sailor Moon is shouting at the other Moon Princess, and she stops, only because Adora - Skeletara says... that. And it's so sad that it makes her cringe to her ''soul'', because, in the immortal words of that children's book that wasn't for children that she read with Mamoru... ''Jesus Christ, what the fuck.'' You know it's bad when you're invoking someone else's God. That definitely wasn't a stray shot to the heart, making her think of her own mother sacrificing herself because they couldn't fix it, is that what Adora's been carrying around this whole time? A barrier goes up, and Ladybug goes down, and Sailor Moon's Spiral Heart Moon Rod appears in her hand, as she tries to get her head back in the game. A golden circle of light is carved in the air. <<I'm gonna zap her with purifica-OW>> The Ladybug flail has just claimed her first victim, as Sailor Moon goes poooooing-ing off into the distance, skidding across grass like a rock before sinking into the river water. What? It's a ''river''side walk! <<...I'm fine...>> 

:'''{{#var:230|Dark Glimmer (230)}} has posed:''' Admittedly, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. However, the comment about her mom... made her freeze... Her fists clenched... "I... is that... my mom... she's... it's not... you haven't lost everything! You haven't lost anything! We can... unless... it's only if Horde Prime gets what he wants you've lost everything! Why... why can't you just... listen to me?! Why won't anyone ever LISTEN to me?!" she screamed, stomping her boot down. "Mom isn't... WE CAN STILL SAVE MOM! I CAN STILL SAVE MOM BUT I JUST NEED YOU AND CATRA TO HOLD IT TOGETHER FOR JUST FIVE MINUTES SO I CAN FOCUS ON IT! I don't need you for that! I just need you for Horde Prime so he doesn't kill all of us!" For... gosh darn... And then it was a Ladybug Flail. GAHHH! She held out her hands, forming a half-dome in front to... make the poor girl skid off it like a window wiper, making an oddly squeaky sound... "S-sorry!" she called out. Then... Bow had an idea? She looked to him... And then... "Y-yes! Okay!" she said, grinning wide... before... She puts her hands together, an etherian circle appears under him and LAUNCHES him into the air and over Adora! ... He... he did remember she couldn't teleport right now? Eh. Of course he did. He was the idea gu-- And then she got hit by one of the beams of magic, shrieking and being launched herself... splashing into the water a moment later... ... She... she was NOT fine... ow... But at least she didn't skip? 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "Ladybug-chan!" As Amy's opening salvo is deflected, and Glimmer's... ends about as badly as it could have, Rashmi takes some comfort in the fact that the assembled players are, at least, beginning to move in the same direction. Eeeexcept for Ladybug, who is flying directly at them... just as portals are opening up all around the group. Priorities are assessed with lightning speed, and... defense takes a backseat to rescuing a teammate turned projectile.     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR FLASH >> An eyeblink after the spell is called out, Rashmi next-best-thing-to-teleports a couple dozen meters forward, catching hold of Ladybug and -- not for the first time -- breathing out a whisper of thanks to her Barrier Jacket, for magnifying her noodly strength enough to be able to catch an entire person in mid-air... just in time for the barrage of Dark Energy bolts to slam into her at multiple angles. So it's with a scream of pain, and a faintly-smoking back, that Rashmi carries Ladybug up and out of the immediate line of fire. << Ladybug-chan... ow... Lemme give you a quick crash-course in flying. Treat it like jumping, except gravity stops caring about you the moment you push off. >>     << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >> And golden, dragonfly-like holograms of wings unful from Ladybug's ankles. << You need the mobility, and *she* needs to have to focus on more than one direction. >> 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' The Princess of Sarek wasn't letting herself to be taken by surprise twice in a row, and when Skeletara's hand reaches for her, she disappears like she had never been there. Where had she gone? She hasn't moved, but being a literal case of a Phantom Thief has its perks, and the Akumatized Adora will find herself grasping for air. When she stops being ethereal, Skeletara will have the cat thief at her back, cane and handle pointed at the villain's back, and the cat statuette starts shining with moonlight. "Transient Lunar Flare!", she shouts the attack's name, a beam of moonlight rushing ahead. "I really don't think things will be fine in the end. This is dark energy you are using. Do you think that has ''ever'' turned out well?" She actually doesn't know this is Adora's second time with dark energy. "You can do better if you just listen and let us help. What are you trying to achieve?" she tries again. << Thanks for the help, Page Mage, Moon. That would have been nasty. Are you two ok? >> she finally uses the mental link the Device Mage has set up. << Be careful, Moon. The rocks are quite slippery. How about me and the Page Mage try to deter Skeletara with our protections and you try purifying her again? >> 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     The miraculous will fix everything? "''HOW'', EXACTLY?" Amy shouts over the battlefield.     Wrong world, wrong time. "Mood."     How do you fix it? "You find a new life to care about. With whoever will see you as enough. I'm sorry the past and so many people suck, but that's how it is."     Adora wasn't enough. "''NO ONE'' is SUPPOSED TO be enough for that! " Amy shouts. "So you're a person and not a god! That's not your fault! No one should blame you!"     Portals open. Amy gets ready to catch Marinette when she's inevitably flung--     BAM darkbolt to the face. Amy stumbles back. ''Really should've known she was gonna do that, since we did it to the Messiah of Silence the other day...'' she thinks to herself.     "HOW! HOW will it be fine?!" Amy shouts, and aims fingerguns at the portal that just shot her, BANGBANG! There are explosions in front of Amy's hands, which launch the actual attack -- tiny sprays of orange-hot metal going WAY too fast (faster than that. Faster than that. It's just very fast!) and she continues stumbling back from firing two at once. 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' "...That girl is the one you have been struggling with, Hawkmoth?" Skeletara comments as Ladybug is mostly just ... sent flying and screaming. "Surely, you are strong enough she shouldn't be a problem." Questioning and/or mocking the person who gave you power is /definitely/ the smartest thing to do, isn't it, Skeletara. ...Well, her wisdom was never her high stat, that's for sure. Well, the girl was being saved it seems. By... uh... hitting Sailor Moon. And then hitting a barrier. And then yoinked by Rashmi. At each impact she was actually wincing a little bit, the skeleton helmet moving as if they were actual eyes with her wincing. "Oooo, that one is going to sting in the morning." She comments under her breath. "This could all be over, you know. If you JUST gave me the Miraculous." Skeletara says towards Ladybug. You can't fix it. You just keep moving forward. "But I *can* fix it. All I need is the Miraculous!" The Akumatization is confusing her logic far too much. Bow is launched towards her. One of the biggest threats of her team beyond herself, with his arrows and his careful shooting. Others are focused on other things, like saving Ladybug. Not attacking her. So she was getting ready to handle Bow-- when -- suddenly the cat thief is no longer in her hands, and a Lunar Flare is launched at her back, the beam of moonlight causing her to stumble forward a few steps and stopping her counter to Bow with a soft hiss. Ow. "I'm going to fix things. I'm going to return us where we're supposed to be, where everything is how it's /supposed/ to be. None of us. Not me, not Bow, not Glimmer, not Catra, not Scorpia, not Double Trouble... NONE of us should be here. We're supposed to be elsewhere. We're supposed to be on Etheria. AND we're all from different times, too!" Orange-hot metal is shot back out of the portal which Skeletara had just used, spraying the area she had been standing in. Burning holes in her horde uniform. Leaving burning marks on her skin. And eyes turn towards Amy Faust. No irises. Just red, glowing lights. The scepter is lifted again, and then brought swinging down towards her -- and anyone else nearby her -- as another portal opens, much larger. And a giant scepter is brought down through that portal. ...Did anyone get the number of that HOUSE that was just dropped on them? ...Luckily several people were spared from that by virtue of not being there! THey are not spared from attacks though, as more portals open, more of those dark energy blasts shooting out and through them, while the Princess of Sarek? Gets one aimed directly for her face. 

:'''{{#var:154|Ladybug (154)}} has posed:''' It's hard to really react sometimes. Ladybug, for example, has been having a bit of a time of it since getting involved here. I was having a lovely evening, she thinks to herself. Pretty sure her brain got scrambled, she was making no sense a moment ago and words were jumbling in her head... Don't worry, it's just the concussion talking. Ooh, wings on my feet. The bluenette turns to look at the lady who's got her now, visions of Glimmer's shield flashing through her memory, and pauses to rub at her left eye to try and clear her vision. "I need a second," she admits. Then she looks past Rashmi, to the ongoing melee. "Still haven't had time to grasp what's going on. I take it they know each other?" She pauses, floating, then says, "If the Miraculous would fix this, I would literally give it to her." Pause. "All four of her.." To be fair, concussion. Then she looks at her feet. "I'm flying." She pauses, then nods. I mean, you get the chance to fly...then fly! "Have I jumped yet?" She has not. 

:'''{{#var:156|Hawkmoth (156)}} has posed:''' "The girl might be ridiculous, but I can't help but notice ''you'' haven't stolen her Miraculous either, Skeletara. Perhaps you should save the gloating for ''after'' the victory?" His eye is twitching, but thankfully there's no one in his lair to see it. 

:'''{{#var:226|Bow (226)}} has posed:''' Glimmer can't teleport him? Glimmer can't teleport him! Bow realizes this just as the magic circle under his feet. "Wait a mo--" And then he's launched. "Shiiiiiitttttttttttt." he calls out as he flies through the air. Skeletara was expecting Bow to be launched ''at'' her. This is incorrect. He was launched ''above'' her. "We were brought here for a reason! To find friends, to make alliances, to find the strength that we need, as a ''team'', as a ''family'' to take back Etheria and restore it to what it once was! It's noone's fault that we have been ''terrible'' at communication. But we can do better!" And it is from this poisition, above Skeletara that Bow draws back his arrow. "This is for your own good and that I love you as a friend!" he calls down to her. Just as he fires the goop filled arrow down at Skeletara to try to stick her to the ground and gum up the works. Oh right, he's still travelling at a high velocity --- as he continues to sail on as he heads towards the ground to slam into it unless stopped. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     To paraphrase another skeletal figure: Now you're blue^H^H^H^H shot with burning metal! That's my attack.     Amy's attack 'element' is that and explosions, really. It speaks to the durability of mahou that that would have disintigrated large chunks of an unprotected human.     Amy is concerned about Adora trying to send all the Etherians back while under the influence of dark energy -- you probably shouldn't teleport people between worlds while drunk on power! -- but then feels goosebumps as red eyes turn on her.     Amy just learned an important lesson: ''do not stand in front of these portals.'' She applies it now, and that is the only reason that the giant scepter smashes into the ground, the Puella Magi having desperately dived out of the way, landing prone ''inches'' clear of the scepter in the grass.     "Stop! The dark energy is getting to you!"     Ugh, right, talking won't work. What can they--     << The scepter! Destroy the scepter! >> Amy's voice is telepathically relayed to all allies.     She thrusts a hand out towards Adora and conjures a half-dozen homing mini-missiles, which attempt to home in on the scepter and explode. Amy gets her legs under her and quick-stands, thrusting her other hand out and conjuring another salvo.     There is so much going on, she can barely keep up with what's happening to some of them. Hopefully they're watching eachother enough...! 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' Sailor Moon is spared the enormous staff that strikes down like a house for the simple reason of being currently in the river, doggy paddling against the current. Yes, doggy paddling. No, she did not ever learn to swim ''outside'' of doggy paddling. Shut up, it works! The point is that Skeletara is in the midst of all her attacks when Sailor Moon finally makes it back to the surface, and grits her teeth as she grabs her rod. "Let's try this one more time... with feeling!" A golden circle is carved into the air. Silver light begins to flood beam out from it. "Moon Healing Escalation!" And the beams of light are aimed at Skeletara's back, hoping to hit her with enough purification to get Adora back to her senses, if only briefly. That staff is definitely the right color to have the akuma, but would Adora really have a ''staff'' as her important weapon? (Someone's forgetting that the Sword of Power can change shapes~ 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "...You have not," Rashmi says, vaguely concerned. "But yeah... the one who got the butterfly is... pretty much the superhero of her world. So that, *plus* whatever power Hawkmoth gave her... This is gonna be a problem. And I know giving up the Miraculous won't fix *anything,* so don't worry, just... Focus, Ladybug-chan. See if you can figure out *where* it is, and how to break it. Meantime... hup!" And Rashmi really, really hopes the exposition gave Ladybug time to clear her head, because more portals are opening up underneath them. So, Rashmi does the only thing she can think of at the moment, which is to switch her grip to one of Ladybug's arms, spin twice in the air, and *heave* the Miraculous user even higher! ...Right in time to catch another lightning blast to the side, sending her spinning for a good moment. When she can finally reorient, a downward glance is enough to send her heartrate back up. << SOMEONE CATCH BOW!!! >> "Adora-chan, *listen to people who care about you!*" she shouts, thrusting both hands forward. "It doesn't matter *why* you're here, you *are* here and you have the chance to make *something good out of it!*"     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >> "But NOT LIKE THIS!" And the sorceress is pelted with balls of ice from high above. Each one that hits... *clings,* adds more mass and weight to hamper movement. Not enough to stop someone completely in their tracks, but pile enough on, and maybe an opening can be created... 

:'''{{#var:230|Dark Glimmer (230)}} has posed:''' Bubbles rose to the surface of the river and... finally... Glimmer popped out. With a loud 'pop'. She flailed for a moment, pulling herself out and-- Wait, why did she feel an ominous-- She looked up in time to see EXPLOSIONS! And when they finished, she landed, face planting by the others again, hating life and Hawkmoth. "... Hawkmoth you are the *worst* co-worker..." she muttered. In time to hear 'Someone catch Bow!' She looked up and then SHRIEKED! Put her hands together, thrusting them into the ground. An etherian circle appeared under her... And then expanded RAPIDLY! Until it encapsulated Bow as well! ... And everyone else. ... And gravity was just... turned off. For everyone. At once. This would have NO consequences, but hey. At least Bow was going to not crash into the ground? 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' "I was simply surprised." Is the response to Hawkmoth. "So far she has just been... flung around." Said miraculous was claiming she'd give it to her if it would help, to which Skeletara turns her gaze towards her. "SO GIVE IT TO ME! EVEN IF IT CAN'T HELP THEN AT LEAST I CAN TRY! AT LEAST WE CAN TRY!" It's... a shout, but not... really, one full of anger. That's desperation. That's pain. That's someone who has been through her own personal hell and back and come back injured. With her focus on the Miraculous Ladybug... Bow was above her. And an arrow was drawn. We can do better. A goop filled arrow shoots down at her, exploding to attempt to stick her in place. She glances at the goop around her, pulling at it. "Really? All the power of a dark sorceress and... you... goop me up?" ...But as usual, Bow's tactical prowess shows its head, as she lifts the scepter to clear the goop. And a half-dozen mini-missiles home in on the scepter, exploding on it and forcing her to scramble to keep hold of it, falling to the ground momentarily as Moon Healing Escalation is launched towards her, and consuming her in the light, the corrupted SCREAM of a purification attack striking her, as that goop burns away around her. She growls as she pushes back up to stand, planting that scepter into the ground. Ah. It wasn't ladybug that was the threat. It was that she wasn't ever alone. Of course. She knew this, she was usually fighting alongside these people. A thought that brings a pang to her heart. The people around her that were her friends. Injured by her. AGAIN. Even if it wasn't 'her' that last time. As Bow falls, as Rashmi talks, as more magic shoots out towards her, a barrage of icy shots which are ... Redirected by another one of those portals, shot right back at Rashmi. Whoops. And Gravity is turned off. "Do you really think that you can defeat me?" She says, lifting the scepter over her head. As lightning crackles, the sky turning dark reds and purple above in that barrier reality. She points the scepter down again. "I am Skeletara. The master of destruction." And lightning crashes. Breaking THROUGH the top of that barrier. Purple and blue lightning blasting through to the ground, aimed at each of the gathered heroes(And Glimmer), leaving crackling craters in the wake of each strike. "And if it is what it takes, I will destroy ANYTHING that gets in my way. So. Give. Me. The. Miraculous." 

:'''{{#var:154|Ladybug (154)}} has posed:''' Someone catches Bow. In this case, it appears to be Ladybug, who does not have ladybug insect wings. More of a foot thing, but she snags him out of the air even as gravity shuts down. Glimmer really has no faith in her friends. Which might be part of the problem, really. Looking down at the people below, Ladybug says, "It's in her staff. I've done this a million times, it's in the staff. Can you hit it from here?" She upnods, switching grips so the guy can use his bow. There's a lot going on right now. "That's...Adora right? Girl really needs to calm down. If you have a partner, you trust them to do their job. Sometimes trust them with your life." Then she grins at Bow, and nods. When even the concussed girl can tell that you're taking on too much on your shoulders? Might be an issue, there. "I do know what the miraculous does. Sadly, it won't fix a broken heart." Wait, did she already say that? Well, it bore repeating. After all, it didn't fix hers. 

:'''{{#var:226|Bow (226)}} has posed:''' "Wauugh!" Bow calls out as he plummets to the ground. However, Glimmer shrieks... and he slows as gravity is turned down which gives Ladybug the time that she needs to grab him. As he lands on the ground, she's pointing out that it's the staff. "...the staff. Right. Probably the Power Sword in disguise." he admits as he takes to a knee to summon another arrow. This one is more in line with his normal arrows, except for the small tuning fork that makes the arrow head. He draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. "Got it." Then, he yells out, "HEY CATRA! Better late than never!" A total bluff. But hopefully it will be enough to draw her attention as he fires the arrow. When it strikes the shaft of the staff, the tuning fork reverbs and vibrates, growing in power down the shaft as it works to knock the staff from Skeletar's hands. 

:'''{{#var:230|Dark Glimmer (230)}} has posed:''' Dark Glimmer has absolutely NO faith in her friends righ now. Considering two of them have now been butterflied and the last one is Catra. GAHHHH! Even as it is, the spell she did... fractures and fades after a few moments of chaos and she just kind of... drops. Panting. "Y-yeah... catch.... catch that... boy... now... okay... just... need a moment..." ... Oh gosh, Catra wasn't... actually... here... was she? Oh gosh she didn't have the energy for this she swore... "ADORA WILL YOU JUST GET OVER YOURSELF?! You don't have to fix EVERYTHING yourself! You just need to be She-ra, that's it! I'll take care of everything else!" ... In her defense, she does work with Riventon. Getting the wrong lesson is like, part of day one of the job.... 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' It's not often that Rashmi gets her own attacks flung back in her face. Which is a problem, because her first instinct is to throw up a Shield to block... only to be rooted in place, as the ice builds and builds and builds, and bolts punch through her Barrier to crash down on the field. Thus forcing Rashmi to defend the only way she can... with another Shield. Unfortunately, her Shields, by themselves, are not nerly enough to tank the entirety of a blast of that magnitude, and the golden disc shatters, leaving Rashmi to suffer an attenuated-but-still-painful attack directly from above... That *would* create from her impact a fesh new crater... if only Glimmer hadn't turned gravity off for a moment, causing her instead to bounce gently, and vaguely anticlimactically, back into the air. ...Well that's new. It takes her a bit longer than that to pull herself back together, but her mind latches onto the Akuma being identified; the staff. Reorienting herself, she opens her mouth to speak, then pauses and just... *looks* at Glimmer. Like, how is that even supposed to help?! "Adora-chan, *we care about you.* But we can't help if you won't *let* us! I know it's hard, I know it feels wrong, but sometimes it's okay to just *ask for help* and *trust us to be there for you!*"     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLADE >> A single Barret blinks into existence, then lengthens into the shape of a sword. A defense-breaking spell, with maximum homing and evasion programmed into it, and it launches, jinking this way and that as it shrieks towards its target. Not Skeletara, but her staff. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Miraculous this, Miraculous that. She really isn't dropping her focus on those things no matter what they say. And at least now they knows what she wants. Their home must be someplace else, and the Princess of Sarek feels a pang of sympathy with that understanding. That must be really harsh. The cat thief can't really blame Skeletara, even if she has to be stopped either way. And, actually, did she just say Catra? Before she can act on that information however, there is a portal aimed right at her face, and she can see the beam that is being charged at her right now. She really should have saved her ethereal power for now, and she can jump away enough that doesn't get hit in the face at least. She gets blasted in the side instead, a hastily conjured Prismatic Wall the only thing saving her from grevious harm. Admittedly, she hasn't done a great job at it in the rush, so she still gets thrown in the river much like the others before her. Rushing back onto the scene is a wet Princess of Sarek, and there is a line of water following her path from the river back to the fight. "Skeletara, I understand you want to go back with those you care about, and I am sorry you are trapped here, but you haven't even asked them if going back with a dark power that has harmed people is what they want! Please stop before you make a mistake you can't take back! You don't have to shoulder this yourself!" And then the ruby of the ring on her hand shines when the cat thief starts gathering moonlight again on her cane, but it's not actually light, instead it's a rainbow of flames, seven colours swirling together and then roaring ahead at Skeletara in a single burning beam. "Seven-hued Flame!" 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' Moon Healing Escalation strikes. Skeletra screams. Sailor Moon closes her eyes against that scream, and clenches her fists tight, before doing something ''very'' risky indeed - Bounding forward, straight towards Skeletara. As she does so, gravity turns off - she leaps into the air where she didn't expect to, bounding like a gazelle right towards the sorceress and her staff, and as the lightning crashes down on her, she is leaping anyway. (Ow, it doesn't feel any better than it had the last time she was struck with lightning, her henshin smoldering, her bow singed at the edges, her collar and skirt smoldering, but her eyes bright with determination!) As she launches herself into a hug, grabbing onto Adora with all the fierce strength of a super-koala. "Wrong, Glimmer!" The words aren't vitriolic, but passionate, as she grabs Adora in a tight hug. "Adora, you don't need to be She-Ra! You don't need to be a Sorceress, or Skeletara, or a hero, or ''any of it''. And you know what? You don't even need to be ''you'', if you're not sure who that is yet! You just need to ''be here'', with us, because we ''care'' about you. Because you're going through it, and sometimes it's ''okay'' to not be able to ask for help! I'm here! I'm ''not'' letting go! We're in this ''together''." And they are in this together - as she clings to Adora, she will absolutely be taking the brunt of her friend's finishers right alongside Skeletra. "You're my friend. You've been through ''so much'', and I know you're scared, and I know you want to be ''home'', where things make sense, and I'm sorry I can't get you there - but I promise, you don't have to do this alone." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     SOMEONE CATCH BOW!!!     Amy's brain catches up to that, and she looks to see Bow just in time to realize she can't get there that fast and -- he slows and is easily grabbed, and her feet feels much less solidly on the ground.     The MASTER OF DESTRUCTION over there is DOING SOMETHING and Amy decides to START MOVING -- she leaps away and goes flying as the lightning crashes down where she just was.     Goes ''flying?!'' Oh this is a curious sensation. It ''kind'' of reminds her of some of the times she was turned into something smaller but also not. As one who uses ''rockets'' and who propels herself around the battlefield with explosions, she kind of has to be acutely aware of some things like this on an intuitive level before she can even put it into words.     Fire washes over her and she transforms into 'super mode' in midair; flight is basically free for her right now, she tested ''that'' back when she was a doll. She hovers in the air, turning towards Adora and summoning the giant artillery cannon -- and right now it's easy enough to hold it steady! Buuuut before she fires it, she realizes that her usual attacks won't really... work. She doesn't zap things with magical energy, she magically makes explosions which act like explosions and hit things hard. But right now things don't get hit hard!     Swords and purification are starting to get flung around. ''Sharpness'' and ''fire'' still work, and Amy's already thinking of some possibilities, but...     It's Adora. She doesn't ''want'' to just inflict as much pain on Adora as she can.     Amy dismisses the canon. She points, and conjures and fires a small rocket. Then another. Then another. Each in turn flies over to above Adora's head and stops and breaks apart into blindingly bright flares, which slowly fall around her in a circle; She also fires a rocket that drops burning powder over the scepter, but is focusing mainly on the blinding -- let her instead focus on stopping Adora from being able to see and defend against the attacks coming for her.     Amy feels a shiver as Sailor Moon ~~climbs Adora like a tree~~ clings to Adora to share her fate; she is ''very relieved'' to have not gone with the plan that would have blasted Sailor Moon with countless sharp shards and burned her from all around...     "Adora... I hope you remember these words when the darkness leaves you. You don't have to save the world alone. None of us do, and none of us blame you for failing an ''impossible task'', however possible or however much your job it may have seemed, it should ''never'' have on the shoulders of one person."     Amy flies down to land on the ground. "We may not know your world or your past the way your friends do, but... we still want your future ''here'', however short or long it is, to be a good one, so that when or if you go back to your world... you can do it happily, and not feeling like this. Feeling like this... doesn't solve anything."     Amy tries to keep her voice steady and not think ''too much'' about her own 'I have to protect everyone else and sacrifice myself' complex she started this whole Magical Girl business with right now. Right now is time to focus on Adora! 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra needed to think. To that end, she needed to fulfill a few requirements: She needed to be away from people, she needed peace, and she needed to be somewhere that Obsidian wouldn't find her. All of this finds her on some stupid river path somewhere, walking along disguised as the ever obnoxious Rachel Miller; she has her hoodie drawn low over her head, her headphones are blasting some Marilyn Manson much too loud, and she's carrying a box of take-out noodles with extra fish that she's munching on. Not that she's really tasting it; even with the chilli powder sprinkled liberally all over she isn't thinking at all about flavor. She's got much bigger worries on her mind. And then right in front of her, a barrier drops just before she was going to walk into it. There's a fight going on. it's a big one; or at least, she gets that impression. And is that... Catra drops her box of noodles and it ''splats'' on the ground at her feet, as she drops her chopsticks, drops her jaw, and eventually considers turning off her music. "What... the..." And then she sees Adora. And it's definitely Adora, but... something has happened to her. And it looks pretty horrendous. And Catra's jaw drops again. Her sword comes to hand and she more or less bursts into flames; the area around her out to about ten feet goes up in a conflagration as she screams, "WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DOWN TO HER?!" 

:'''{{#var:156|Hawkmoth (156)}} has posed:''' "Skeletara, don't be blind-sided by these fools!" Even Hawkmoth doesn't think this will actually work. For as powerful as Skeletara is, it's clear that a wall is being hit. It's clear that this is going to end as so many battles with his akuma do - with the girl being freed and soothed, her heart no longer full of such malleable darkness. He can't send out reinforcements, can't strengthen her, he can't do ''anhything'' to stop this - But he can at least try to get an answer to an important question. "At least ask that new Cat Noir what their pronouns are!" 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' Sadly, the miraculous won't fix a broken heart. Words barely heard by Skeletara -- Adora -- but still another pang as she holds that scepter out, as that lightning crashes down to strike the ground, growing less aimed, more wild as it continues. And then... Hey Catra! ... Adora is nothing if not predictable, her gaze flicking around momentarily, as that tuning fork strikes the scepter, sending shockwaves through it, through that skeletal hand. Just get over yourself. "GET OVER MYSELF?! DO YOU WANT ME TO BE BETTER? DO YOU WANT ME TO JUST BE ME?! WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY EVEN WANT??? I've BEEN She-Ra. I WAS her this WHOLE TIME!!! The SWORD is what LETS me be her!!! It's fine though. She-Ra is gone now. Now there's Skeletara. And I'm better than her. She-Ra wasn't enough." CRASH. CRASH. CRACKLE. Solar Blade. Crack. The barret stabs into her staff. ...But it persists. It doesn't shatter. Green energy glowing through that crack and seeming to ... slowly heal it. Please stop before you make a mistake you can't take back. A single burning beam of rainbow flames wash over her. "I can't... I can't stop... if I stop then I really will lose everything." She says, her voice growing quieter. And then Sailor Moon darts towards her, yelling at her. The scepter is brought to bear towards Sailor Moon as she darts towards them -- and then... then arms wrap around her. And it's a cling. The non-skeletal hand reaching to begin to pull Sailor Moon off of her at that clinging grab, expecting another attack. ...None comes. ...And also Catra is there. Well, Rachel Miller. ...Huh. ... It looks like she's hugging Sailor Moon in one hand, which is DEFINITELY not awkward. A sight that goes away as flares are falling in a circle around her, blinding her. Burning powder falling over the scepter, and more words are spoken. "...You're all weak. Holding back. Trying to stop from hurting the thing that used to be your friend... but it's fine. You couldn't stop me even if you wanted to. Because He-Man isn't here to defeat me. And She-Ra? ... Well... she might as well be as good as dead. Because I am Skeletara. And I.." "Have..." "THE..." That scepter was beginning to glow brighter with that purple-and-blue energy, those clouds roiling brighter and brighter... until, all of a sudden, at the last second, that purple and blue turns golden, and Skeletara is dragging Sailor Moon off of her to fling her -- not aggressively, just away from her. "POWER!" Comes Adora's voice, screaming through that mask, as lightning strikes the scepter, glowing brightly with golden-and-blue power. And she brings it swinging down upon the stone pavement beneath her, the scepter striking HARD. And shattering. An explosion of power surrounds Skeletara briefly as she /screams/. "HAWKMOTH WANTS TO KNOW YOUR PRONOUNS NEW CHAT NOIR!!!" ...Those are Skeletara's last words. As the explosion clears, as the smoke clears... Adora is left on the ground, kneeling, arms slack at her sides. 

:'''{{#var:230|Dark Glimmer (230)}} has posed:''' Dark Glimmer felt like she was a deep undercover spy infiltrating the Horde... and while she was undercover ALL OF HER FRIENDS LOST THEIR MINDS and now she couldn't even help them because she had to do her original job... And what if she stopped? If she came and joined them? Then she'd lose her mom. And she just... she... And Adora was hurting and Bow was hurting... Her hand squeezed, digging gouges in the dirt... And what Usagi said... made a lot of sense... and... was she... being... a terrible friend...? Why was Adora making this so hard? Why was everything... why did it have to be so complicated? Why was THIS the time where Adora starts questioning things? Girl grew up her whole life in the frightzone and never questioned anything, NOW she's all investigative and assuming all she knows is a lie?! This is SUCH BS! Sure, it made sense if you thought about it but dark energy wasn't good for that. Her fist punched the ground and she just... she just wanted to cry. To yell. All she wanted was to save her mom, that was all she ever wanted. So why did all of her friends need to fall apart? They didn't NEED her. They had Bow and Adora. So why was everythin just falling apart? Why couldn't Catra get her shit together? Why couldn't ANY of them? ... Why did Sailor Moon get to hug and fix her friend, why wasn't it her or Bow or... And now Catra was causing problems and... And it was all falling apart. ... And the thing she wanted to do most, right now? Was give Hawkmoth some sparkle to face diplomacy and she couldn't even do THAT or everything would get even WORSE. ... And now Catra was here. She looked over at her... And just... And then... then Adora... broke the sword. Finally. She broke the sword. At least one thing was going well. Just... just one... She... she just... she wanted to stick around, but she couldn't. Not with Catra here. So she dusk ported away. It was all a house of cards and it felt like they were on fire and exploding and she was desperately trying to put them back together and if only her mom was here, she'd know what to do. But the sword was broken, right? That... that was better... right? ... Good thing about the dusk zone? Nobody around to see you cry. ... Also, wait, who was cat noir? Was this going to be Adora's new crush? Oh she did not have it in her to deal with ANOTHER 'will they/won't they' between She-ra and an angry kitty. Please no. 

:'''{{#var:156|Hawkmoth (156)}} has posed:''' The Sword breaks, but the butterfly is still there, flying free from the shattered weapon of power, looking about for a new source of negativity. Hmm... it darts towards Glimmer for a moment, then doubles back towards Catra, apparently unsure of who is the most negative person on the field right now. And then Glimmer disappears, duskporting to the Dusk Zone, and ''now'' the dark butterfly is zipping between Bow and Catra. 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' In the wake of Skeletara being ... uh... defeated? ... Most of the people-turned-statues are now statues-turned-people. Though it's no doubt that Hawkmoth probably got a /lot/ of energy from Akumadora, at the very least! 

:'''{{#var:226|Bow (226)}} has posed:''' The sword... breaks. The shattered pieces reflect in Bow's eyes, the shock on his face evident. That sword was supposed to be indestructible. It was First One's tech. It was the best of them. Why... how... Bow looks towards where Glimmer is, and was about to head that way to approach her. Thank her. Hug her. But then she disappears. There's a butterfly. He remembers those. Where one attached to him and... "HEY!" he yells at the butterfly. "I don't know who sent you! But you want the Miraculous, come get it yourself!" he rages at the butterfly, like he assumes whoever sent it can hear him. "By Brightmoon, you're a jerk!" His fingers dig into the meat of his palms as he tries to figure out what to do next. Instead of them being closer together... it seems they are even further apart. "Thank you for helping Adora." he finally manages to say. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "If the real you is She-Ra then be her!" Amy shouts out, sympathetic to those whose civilian identities do not and cannot contain all of who they are.     Lose everything? "Nonononononono!" Amy tries to reassure, worried at the way Adora's words are going. "So you went evil a little, a lot of people have! You can get better! We'll figure it out! Together with you! Please!"     ''Who the fuck is He-Man?''     Oh no this is backfiring, she's doing something, Amy tries to shift her stance to get ready to dodge and in the lightness just sort of stumbles backward a little--     But the scepter shatters and     What.     Amy looks around. Who the heck is Adora calling--     Veronica has blonde hair, and has cat ears right now.     Chat Noir is also blonde, and wears a mask.     ''Oh my '''god.'''''     Amy doubles over in laughter at the misunderstanding and can't get any words out for a bit. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' As Skeletara relays Hawkmoth's question, the Princess of Sarek stops in her tracks. It did not even come to her mind that someone could have asked her that in the midst of a fight, much less a supervillain. She releases a chuckle once she recovers from the surprise. All the more since she is catching up on the mistaken identity. "I am flattered Hawkmoth wants to respect little old me. Is this a "I am a villain, not a monster" deal? Quite avantgarde of him. Very well then, Hawkmoth, this cat has an answer ready for you. My identity is She/Her!" 

:'''{{#var:154|Ladybug (154)}} has posed:''' Almost an aside, the butterfly is caught in Ladybug's yo-yo. Purified, and freed. She's not done her job tonight, not helped. This wasn't a situation where the Akuma was...even the focus. This is not where she excels. "Bye-bye, little butterfly," she says to the moth as it goes. But she pauses, as the moth alights o her hand. Just for a moment. And talks to it. "Hawkmoth, you might have gone too far this time," she whispers to the moth itself. "There are some things that even we don't do." Then she raises her hand, and the butterfly goes off. Message delivered? Maybe, she can't really tell how it works. But she had to try. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' Attacks rain down - mostly on the staff, thank goodness, but Usagi is staying ''put'', clamored to Adora, yes, having finally climbed her like a tree but not like that, intent on being supportive even through the fire (ow) and the beams (ow) and the - being thrown free? Wait, that wasn't supposed to happen - "ADORA-CHAN!" And then the lightning comes down, a pillar of light through the afternoon sun, and Sailor Moon's eyes are ''wide'' as she watches Adora's sword break to pieces. All around them, the statue'd people are turned back to normal, though they're decidedly unconscious from energy drain. The Sword... Adora's Sword... broke. That, that inspires a wince. Usagi remembers breaking her tiara - imploding it, even - but that wasn't her ''henshin'' item, that was... but still. There's more to Adora than the sword. And there's more to magic than vessels. In the meantime, there's still that bewildering question in the air, but when Veronica speaks up, Sailor Moon finally understands the misunderstanding that's occurred, and slaps both hands over her mouth to keep from laughing. ...At least until the Butterfly is gone. Then, she giggles a bit, before wiping her eyes, and walking to Adora - and ah, Glimmer's gone... "Adora-chan..." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''     << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >> This channel is going out solely to Catra, because that is a lot of fire and screaming that nobody needs right now. << CATRA-CHAN! Catra-chan it's okay. She got hit by Hawkmoth, but it's over now. It's okay. She's going to be okay *I promise.* >> And with that, she flies down to touch the ground, and one more magical circle spreads out under Adora and Usagi.     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR HEAL >> It's not a patch on Mamoru's abilities, but, the warm golden light dulls the pain, and brings a little motivation through the exhaustion. "Hey," she says softly. "Can you move...?" Her head turns, eyes find Ladybug, and she smiles faintly. << Are you okay, Ladybug-chan? You had me really worried for a second, there... >> 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Adora is Adora again. Somewhere along the line Catra has dropped her illusion and Powersend is in her hand, still sheathed but ready to be drawn and sliced through whatever happens to have earned her ire right in that moment. Catra's battle-charge comes to a stumbling halt, and she just... stands there. Jaw slack. Staring at what's going on and wondering just what did she miss. Her ears are flat, and her tail is practically rigid behind her, as the fire around her slowly dies out. What the hell kind of state was Adora just in? Skeletal arm?? How does Adora end up in that kind of state? But she's... back to normal now, and so Catra just... stops. She stands there, behind Adora, looking at what's going on. And then the telepathic message from Rashmi arrives, assuring her that Adora is going to be fine. Because of course she is. Why wouldn't she be? She's the center of attention like she always wants to be, and Catra can practically feel the oxygen rushing past her to get to the big hero who, if she couldn't be the center of attention as a hero, would just get there by being a villain for like, ten minutes. And now everyone's all over her. "Great," she snaps. And her music is turned back on, as she spins on her foot to march smartly back the way she came. 

:'''{{#var:156|Hawkmoth (156)}} has posed:''' There is a moment where the cat-eared blond girl acts with just as much showmanship (showwomanship?) as the Cat Noir he knows and loathes (loathes? does he really loathe some obnoxious teenager? that feels a bit pathetic -), aand Hawkmoth really thinks he might have it. And then she gives her pronouns, and he thinks to himself, that ''obviously'' he wants her pronouns. He's a supervillain, not an ''ass''. Instead, the butterfly is purified - and Ladybug whispers to him. He absolutely does not feel guilty about the fact that the girl he chose this time was apparently a bit of an emotional glass house. Life hits them all in different ways, and she ''wanted'' the power. They all do, when they accept his akuma. 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' Adora was left kneeling there quietly, her gaze down at the ground. It wasn't really embarrassment on her face, it was shame. It was still a pained heart. But there was a series of words playing in the back of her mind that she had thoroughly violated today. Take care of each other. Others walk over towards her. A healing circle appearing under her that soothes some of the pain from the various attacks and the explosion of breaking her own sword of power. Someone asks if she's okay. "..." "...Why are you still here?" Adora says quietly. "She-Ra is gone. You don't have to pretend to care about me anymore. I'm... I'm not She-Ra, I'm not magical anymore... I'm... I'm just... Adora." It seems that she'd recovered enough to know she didn't want to hurt her friends anymore, but definitely not ... really... fixed the heart of the problem. But, of course. ...Those words don't come out until after Catra's music is back on. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' With the butterfly gone, Sailor Moon picks herself up, wincing, and then - lets her henshin fall. Sailor Moon dissipates, replaced by Usagi, with unmarred clothes and some aching bruises (thankfully, no more lightning burns, though the deep muscle ache is slightly soothed by Rashmi's healing effect). Adora is kneeling there, among the shards of broken metal, quietly asking why they still care, and she - Well, she throws herself at Adora, again, of course. It's very lucky that their skulls don't clank together, with all the speed with which she goes at her. "Adora-chan, ''I like you''." The phrase she uses is 'kimi ga ki ni itta', which makes it clear she's talking about a deep, platonic affection, which, technically, the hug probably helps with. "I only care about you being She-Ra because ''you'' care about you being She-Ra. She-Ra matters to me because ''you're'' She-Ra, and if you're not She-Ra and you don't want to be, then that's okay. If you ''do'' want to be, we'll find a way. But being magical isn't why I care about you. I care about you because you're Adora-chan." And then, because she's met way too many people who don't have self-worth and it's honestly very concerning, she continues. "Adora-chan's a great friend. I think you'd like her. She's brave when she has to be, and she's strong even when she doesn't want to be. She's always trying new things, like trying to figure out cooking, and she's great at making sandwiches. Even when she's struggling, she tries to help people, and she gives her all to everything she tries." "There's a lot of pressure on her shoulders, and she's been carrying it a really long time. I hope she'll let me and the rest of her friends carry the burden, because it's not all on her." 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "Well, that was definitely a thing that happened", Veronica scoffs amused. But now that the butterfly is gone, the Princess of Sarek is free to stop caring about the misunderstanding Hawkmoth is under, and can finally go towards the other mahous. Specifically towards Adora who is lamenting her loss. "Hey, you know, that's really not true. You remember us, right? Everything that has happened", are the Princess of Sarek's first words as she approaches, picking up Adora's hand. "There is still enough magic in you to protect you from the Veil. I don't think you have to assume the worst. You can still be a heroine, even now. It might take a while to find out how, but I think you can do it, ok? So please don't lose hope", she gives a hopefully reassuring smile. "But when you do, remember that this is a team, and we are all together in a team. Your burdens are not yours alone now." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy is trying to stop laughing but wheezes as the Princess of Sarek plays into the misunderstanding-- she drops back to standard henshin and pats Veronica on the shoulder with a smile, "Congratulations, Chat Noir!"     But then she hears Adora.     And sobers right up, and turns, and looks at her, and walks towards the circle. The 'sword' that was mentioned, that she saw the past Adora use once, isn't present; Amy tries to recall if she heard what happened to it, but can put together that something did, and Adora getting akumatized makes a whole lot of sense now.     ''Oh.''     And Amy can't just refute the words, because that would be dishonest; and no one here would care about her if she hadn't become a magical girl.     If she ''lost'' her powers, however...     ...Well they'd still be kind of concerned, at least. Like a friend that went off to a different college than you after graduation. But it just isn't the same.     But it's not ''nothing'', either. Especially while they're here at Radiant Heart together.     Especially while they see someone they knew, someone stranded on Earth from a different world.     "...It's not the same. And if you're not out there fighting with us, it may not ''be'' the same going forward... But that doesn't mean we don't want to help you."     Amy stops outside the circle. "The people you helped as She-Ra. Did you want to help them only because they could help you fight?"     "...If you want to be magical again... you're not the first one to lose your powers. I can't say it will be easy or fast, but... it's ''possible.'' I've seen it ''twice'', even."     "And if you want to just be Adora..." Amy looks at Bow, at Glimmer, at... where'd Catra go? Then back to Adora. "I don't think your ''friends'' will stop being your ''friends.'' If they do that's pretty shitty of them."     Usagi's speech warms her heart and brings a smile to her face.     "...I don't think I ever actually met this version of you? But I wouldn't mind getting to know this Adora she's talking about, or She-Ra. And I want people to be what they want, ask anyone." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Aaaand Catra just leaves. ... Why, these two. Just... *Why.* Letting out a quiet sigh, Rashmi kneels down next to Adora, nodding along with Usagi's heartfelt words. "Hey... You really, really need to listen, okay? She-Ra isn't *all* you are. When you wake up in the morning, you're Adora. When you eat lunch? Adora. When you go to sleep, you're Adora, and you don't need a nine-foot-long bed. Just like she's not always Sailor Moon," she says, nodding at Usagi. "And in the end, we care about *Adora.* She-ra's just who you need to be when there's something Adora needs to help with, but needs a little more." Reaching out, she rests a hand on a shoulder that isn't covered in Usagi. "Sarek's right too. We care about you, and we're in this together, okay? But remember... we're helping *Adora,* whether or not she's also She-Ra." Tilting her head at Amy's words, the other redhead nods. "Also that. People've lost their magic before, then gotten it back. But maybe now you can take a *break* from putting so much on yourself?" 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' Adora is quiet as people gather around her. As Catra leaves. As Glimmer is gone. And... there's talking. Adora's gaze stays down as she just. Listens. She doesn't talk back, at least not immediately, as everyone says their pace. As she's hugged by Usagi and others. She's... somewhat trying to hide them, but tears are quietly falling down her cheeks. Not that it's really possible to hide her tears when surrounded like that, so she mostly just keeps her face turned down. Which is a bit awkward when being hugged and told that they like her for /her/. That she doesn't have to carry the burden on her own anymore. The soft shuddering of her shoulders as she just... continues to listen. Still enough magic in her to protect her from the Veil. Probably remnants of She-Ra. "...Everything's been so messed up since the portal." She finally says quietly. It's, not really much of an in depth response to all of the comments to her, all of the reassurances, but at least she said /something/. Acknowledged what they said. "...You weren't wrong about the embarassment." 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "If it makes you feel any better at all," Usagi says, quietly, smushing her face against Adora's shoulder, "When ''I'' got akumatized - twice, I might add! - I turned people into toys. And also, it was over things a lotta bit dumber than everything you're dealing with, you know?" She can't make the embarrassment go away, but she can share in it. She points a thumb at Amy and Rashmi. "Those two were there. And Mamochan wore the cutest terrible outfit, and used paper airplanes like weapons. So... we get it." She wasn't there for Bow's akuma, so she can't speak authoritatively about it. "...things are pretty messed up. I won't pretend they aren't. But the only way they get better, is if we all help each other out." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "Yeah, it has," Rashmi agrees, nodding quietly. "But Usachan's right. But... don't worry about the embarrassment; the best part about having friends is, you can be embarrassing and they'll still care about you and they can help you forgive yourself for it." Patting Adora's shoulder, she climbs to her feet, looking left and right to make sure that the initial chaos that *sent* people running is *keeping* them away. "...So I don't know about the rest of you guys, but... I know a great 24-hour all-you-can-eat yakiniku place a little ways from here?" Because for some people, food is just a love language; romantic or platonic. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra stalks off, holding it all in until she's well out of range; around a corner, down the path, eventually realizing she left the path and really only drawing upshort when she realizes that if she goes any further, she's right about to stick her foot in the river, and no matter how iserable a cat she has become getting wet like that is absolute anethema, so she just ends up standing there, staring out over the water. There's a lot bouncing around inside her head. A lot of feelings. A lot of ideas. A lot of words. Eventually, just the one word, really. TRAITOR She could have said something. She could've said something to Rashmi. She could have said something to ''ADORA''. Why didn't she? Why'd she just turn around and walk away? She could go back, of course, it's not like they wouldn't still be there. They'd all still be there. Rashmi would probably tell her to come bck. But She Can't. She can't just... crawl back, like some lost little kitten desperate for protection. She can't ever appear weak. Weakness is death. There are tears flowing down Catra's cheeks, and she realizes it abruptly, as she wipes them away from one cheek with her fingertips. As she looks at the moisture glistening just beneath her claws, her eyes narrow, her teeth grind and her hands shake. "AAAAAAUGHHH!!" she screams, as she winds up and hurls Powersend -- the item that happened to be in her hands -- out over the river; it sails a good forty feet before it lands with an unassuming splash. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy looks away, briefly, when Adora starts crying... then looks back.     She might be reading a bit too much into it, thinking of conversations with Taro and Usagi, and Mamoru, and Jadeite. "We're helping ''you'', whether you're Adora or She-Ra or whoever you want to be."     She thinks and chooses words carefully. She ''must'' be honest, even when platitudes would be less harsh; She always disliked when heroes in stories weren't honest. "This world won't let anyone relax forever. It won't care for you just because you deserve it; like everyone else it's unkind to. But... it doesn't expect you to hold the world on your shoulders alone, either. No one... No one is expected to do that."     And she thinks of Usagi and Madoka and Mamoru who seem to be bearing a bit more destiny than others, and doesn't know how to fix that but to be there for them -- she can only hope they can continue to bear it, with friends' help, even if it isn't fair and those burdens would crush people like Adora and Amy.     "...You can take a break. It's not forever. We're not sending you away. And if a break from it all seems like too much, you can start with the small burden of worrying about your grades and gaining the skills to survive in this society, if you like. ...And you can devote a little time now and then to gathering information on ways to get power again, too."     "...But even when you're a -- ''if'' you're a Hero again, if you want to be--" and she says [yuusha], not [hiiro], "You won't be having to save the world alone, either. Here... the burden of Hero is shared by all of us, together."     (She does nod when Usagi points to her.) 

:'''{{#var:98|Adora Rainbowfist (98)}} has posed:''' "...Maybe a little." Adora says, as she starts to put herself back together. "I can totally see you turning people into toys, being all cute and girly as you are." There is the VERY slightest, if exhausted, tease in her voice towards Usagi at that. She lifts a hand to lightly pat Usagi's head. "Can... can uh. Can you let me go so I can stand up?" "...My legs are falling asleep." Pause. "Also food sounds good. I used so much energy there." Don't mind the loud growl coming from Adora's stomach. It's fine. You can take a break. ...When did she really take a break, last? She's always been worrying about one thing Or another thing... Having to train to be a Horde Force Captain, always having to be ready for the next trial or test... Having to fight the Horde. Worrying about the next battle. Worrying about her friends. Worrying about Catra's next plot. Worrying about if she was good enough. Wondering why she was even chosen by She-Ra. Why she seemed to be constantly dealing with a fate she barely chose. "...I don't know if I know how to." Adora finally, quietly, admits in response to Amy at that talk of taking a break. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "I ''am'' cute and girly," Usagi agrees, with a little wink and a giggle - and then, after a moment, she goes - "Oh, right!" And hops up, before offering Adora her hand. Adora's much taller and stronger than her, but she's still offering nonetheless. "Rashmi-chan, I want yakiniku so bad I could ''die''." She's definitely exaggerating - teasingly, lightly - but in her mental voice, since telepathy is still up, she says, just to Rashmi - <<Maybe you can see if Catra wants to come. She's... I know she and Adora are not good right now. Maybe they won't ever be. But if she wants to see that Adora's going to be okay... Adora did still look for her, after all.>> Bow called Catra's name, without even seeing her, and Skeletara looked. There's obviously something there. And it's not lik Catra is in good shape, either. "If there's one thing I'm qualified to be a tutor on, it's taking a break. Do you like examples, or guides, or lists, or lesson plans? I can try all kinds of study strats, thanks to Mamochan and Ami-chan!" 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Rashmi blinks at the mental suggestion, one eyebrow rising behind her glasses. But, it makes sense, and if *anything* will mollify Catra long enough to be near Adora, it is endless seared meat. Equally luckily, her communications spells can reach a lot farther than just down by the river. << Hey Catra-chan, >> she says quietly, along the private link. << We're all gonna go get some food. If you wanted to join us, I think I'd like that a lot. All-you-can-eat barbecue? >> A little wheedling note in her mental voice, because she absolutely *is* trying to make the idea as appealing as possible. But Rashmi has never been anything but sincere to Catra, and 'I would like it if you joined us' is no different. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy pats Adora's shoulder. "I read manga, mostly. You'll find your own thing."     ''Yeah, you read bad manga in search of Feels, and in that search you continue to accumulate more of the psychic damage that's going to shape your Familiars one day.''     Amy frowns at the thought that just went through her head. "You know, maybe I don't actually know how to ''relax'' relax, anyway. Maybe we should listen to Usagi-chan. Honestly, I guess hanging around certain people and helping folks mitigate getting turned into a cat or a toy is how I--"     Her eyes go wide and she turns around and looks around the park frantically. "''Oh shit!'' The statues, they changed back, right?!" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "I think Yakiniku sounds good too", the Princess of Sarek chimes in. "And regarding relaxing, Adora, how would you like to take up painting? I find it really helps to detach yourself from your problems and only focus on what you find beautiful." 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra is standing by the river, still staring out over the water where Powersend landed, still crying. Well, no, she's not really. She's sitting huddled in a little ball with her knees up against her chest and her face burried down against them. And then, Rashmi's message reaches her, and she kind of makes this choked half-hiccup sound as she looks up. She doesn't so much take a breath as she just kind of... eats one, and lifts a hand to rub at her face under her eyes. Go get food, Rashmi says. ''We're all gonna go get some food.'' ... ''all''. ''all''. That means Adora will be going, too, which means if Catra goes then the restaurant owners will be lucky if anything on the same block as their restaurant is still standing by morning. Slowly, still feeling a bit wobbly, Catra rises back up to her feet. She rubs her forehead, leaning against a tree, and lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. << I... maybe. >> her hand stretches out towards the water, and just as expected a sword still in the scabbard comes flying out of it; as it flies through the air a little burst of flame around it dries it off before Catra catches it, and she just carries it like that as she makes her way back up the bank and walks in a daze down the path. 
}}

2396/The Unstoppable and The Windstar

2025-03-09T23:44:29Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/09 |Location=The Infinite Void |Synopsis=The Unstoppable Sister and Wind Dancer share a moment between moments before the battle with the K..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/09
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=The Unstoppable Sister and Wind Dancer share a moment between moments before the battle with the King's End.
|Cast of Characters=216,80
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" Those cerulean flecks fall as a flash of emerald light explodes in the distance for Zephyr Windstar, an island of reality coming into existence in the endless Nothing. Flight towards it finds a small, unstable island, a knight standing vigil over a fallen form. This knight wears armor not entirely unlike Aloisia's, but bears only one shield, and has shocking red hair and green eyes -- not unlike the Pawn that had been fought before. Though she bears a shield, she bears it like it were a stabbing weapon, herself, the sharp spikes at the bottom of it pointed out at that infinite nothingness, that darkness trying to creep in on her little sanctuary. "PLASMABOLZEN!" As the darkness begins to encroach once more, that voice screams out once more, launching a sphere of emerald green energy out at that encroaching darkness, that explosion of plasma expanding and restoring that little island of Reality inside of the Nothing. It's stable, for now. Though her armor is tarnished, though she looks exhausted, and the ever slightest edge of despiration is on her face, she still has a certain air about her, a reassuring energy that warms the heart and calms fears. This is the Unstoppable Sister, she who never loses. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Barrier maintenance is a boring job, but it lets those within work without worrying about the Barrier collapsing if they lose focus, or get magic disruption or the like.     The surprise of suddenly being engulfed in Nothing makes the Wind Dancer pause. Voice doesn't work, even contacting her Device doesn't work. No Telepathy connection... nothing.     Then,     Plasma Bolt.     There's something to focus on. < Chief. > "There you are Dee... what h-- no, later..." she activates her flight spell, and flies toward the little bubble of stable reality. Eyes lock onto the Unstoppable Sister, as she lands nearby, glancing to the prone form at the Knight's feet.     "We didn't make it in time did we?" she asks. A bit pessimistic perhaps. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Your voice carries life within Calls me to action again and again A song of light and life and joy, of the power of friendship when fighting side by side plays gently within the back of Zephyr's mind, recognizable as making use of the communications network that still lingers in place, in spite of being unable to hear any others at the moment. Just loud enough to hear and understand, but not so loud as to drown out one's own thoughts. "Perhaps not to stop this, but in spite of the name of the spell -- this is not the end. It did not have enough strength to fully erase you -- or the others, though you cannot perceive them at present -- with only the power of a single jewel." The Unstoppable Sister turns to face Wind Dancer, her shield held calmly at her side as those falling cerulean flakes lap away at the edges of the darkness even as it tries to encroach. The form on the ground beside her is familiar, yet her face is presently consumed in a staticky, unstable darkness that makes it impossible to perceive her face. In spite of this, The Forgotten Princess lays peaceful, unmoving beyond the soft rise and fall of her breathing. "Lovely dancer on the winds, it is nice to see you. We were surprised at your presence, though you have always been there since our first arrival upon this planet." The Unstoppable Sister holds her hand out towards Wind Dancer, a soft smile on her lips. "Do you have any questions or needs you would ask of me, in this Moment between Moments? Though it is short, we have a few moments yet before I must send you off to the fight with the King's End." 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr reaches out, and clasps the offered arm near the elbow, letting the knight do the same in kind. "Wouldn't miss it for the world... Aloe-san. She just reminds me of... me... and mom. Not like, directly, but..." she shakes her head. "What do we have to do... to beat this thing?" she asks, Enforcer training kicking in. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Arm clasped within arm, the knight would turn to wrap the other arm lightly around Wind Dancer, that shield protectively wrapped around her for the moment. The Unstoppable Sister providing that moment of calm. "She will survive this, and I believe she shall also be all the better for it, though she will likely need time and support to heal from this." She says softly. The question of what they have to do gets a warm smile. "Trust in yourself -- in your allies. You are Exactly what we need in this moment, through bonds of friendship and comraderie through all of this, I have faith that you will win over this twisted being. We shall support you through this battle, and hand in hand we shall know victory." There is a calm confidence -- in spite of the undercurrent of exhaustion in her voice. "Though unquestionably dangerous, the King's End is not so different from what you have already fought before, I am sure." And then, with a playful wink, she adds. "And from what I know, there is only one King among you-- and he survived as well, so clearly the King's End is not so good at his job." She chuckles softly, as golden energy begins to eat at the edges of that sanctuary, slowly consuming it. "It seems our moment is nearly at an end, if there is anything else you wish to know.." 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "We have the firepower, the fortitude and the friendship to handle anything the Darkness can throw at us." states Zephyr firmly, giving a smile back to the knight. She then asks. "The gems we captured... can we use them against the King's End in some way?" she asks, glancing at her own Device... and the gem held within. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' A soft chuckle at that question. Not unkind, more likely just amused at how correct that question was to the situation ahead. "That is the 'We' I speak of, yes. We shall be empowering and supporting you to keep this darkness at bay. The Unstoppable Sister, The Indomitable Sister, The Knight, The Priestess, and the Rook. We shall all be supporting you in our own way. Call upon us when you arrive, and we shall answer." And then they are consumed in that golden light, sent off to that final battle with the King's End. 
}}

2395/The Unstoppable and The Kingu

2025-03-09T22:19:34Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/09 |Location=The Infinite Void |Synopsis=The Unstoppable Sister and Ginga Kingu Samekh share a Moment between Moments before the final batt..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/09
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=The Unstoppable Sister and Ginga Kingu Samekh share a Moment between Moments before the final battle with the King's End.
|Cast of Characters=216,197
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" APPRIVOISE! GINGA KINGU SAMEKH! Those cerulean flecks fall as a flash of emerald light explodes in the distance for the rapidly approaching Ginga Kingu, an island of reality coming into existence in the endless Nothing. Flight towards it finds a small, unstable island, a knight standing vigil over a fallen form. This knight wears armor not entirely unlike Aloisia's, but bears only one shield, and has shocking red hair and green eyes -- not unlike the Pawn that had been fought before. Though she bears a shield, she bears it like it were a stabbing weapon, herself, the sharp spikes at the bottom of it pointed out at that infinite nothingness, that darkness trying to creep in on her little sanctuary. "PLASMABOLZEN!" As the darkness begins to encroach once more, that voice screams out once more, launching a sphere of emerald green energy out at that encroaching darkness, that explosion of plasma expanding and restoring that little island of Reality inside of the Nothing. It's stable, for now. Though her armor is tarnished, though she looks exhausted, and the ever slightest edge of despiration is on her face, she still has a certain air about her, a reassuring energy that warms the heart and calms fears. This is the Unstoppable SIster, she who never loses. 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' The power rushes in, Samekh and Sugata's connection thrown wide by his own command, and Ginga Kingu takes on a far darker, more menacing appearance as the King Cybody's power is given leave to manifest - well, partially. The ghost armor isn't the real thing, the towering, castle-on-a-mountain sized monstrosity, but it does mean that when Ginga Kingu Samekh flies towards the flash of emerald light in the sea of nothingness, it's in ghostly pitch-black armor and a bright gold-mask, searingly red eyes blazing from behind it. He can't see Takuto, but if he can see the island, so can his boyfriend, so can the rest of them. At least - that's what he thought. Instead, he's found a knight holding vigil over a fallen form, pouring out her power to maintain a bubble of Something amidst Nothing. "She looks like she's faltering," he says to the voice that echoes - he doesn't like that he can't tell if he's hearing it or feeling. Raising his voice, he calls, "Unstoppable Sister, have you found anyone else here?" 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Now, let us go hand in hand To a life that lies ahead. In the back of Ginga Kingu's mind, quiet so as to not drown out one's thoughts or intrude too overmuch, a song of life and hope and the future and strength when fighting alongside friends and allies plays. ...It might drown out Samekh a little bit. But only him. "My, what an intimidating figure comes to fight by our side. One might think you were the foe." Speaks the mildly bemused voice of the Unstoppable Sister. "I have. Your friends are present -- though you cannot perceive them yet, in this Moment between Moments. You will see them shortly, I assure you." The Unstoppable Sister says, her shield lowered as she kneels down next to the fallen form, one hand gently resting on the face scribbled out by darkness of that fallen figure. Familiar and yet wholly unfamiliar. The Forgotten Princess. "This is but a moment between moments, but we have a few moments regardless. Do you have any questions or needs, before we move on to defeat the King's End?" There is a pause, then a bemused comment is added, with a soft chuckle. "You seem much calmer than your partner. He is quite full of energy." 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' The song is a sweet one, life and hope and the future that awaits, the strength in fighting together with friends. Sugata has learned that strength, in coming to rely on Takuto and Wako, in partnering with the others, in joining his strength to theirs. It's something a being like Samekh, who only seeks to conquer and consume, cannot fathom. He quiets, a tad, though he is still present in Sugata's mind, grumbling at the loss of Everything to a cause not his Appetite. "Yes, I warned the others that if I took on this power I'd resemble a supervillain," Sugata says dryly, and doesn't quite alight beside the knight, but remains hovering near her, looking down at the fallen figure, losing itself to darkness. There's relief in his chest, but not his voice, not yet. "...Mostly, I needed to know that he was alright. Did he wear you out? He never knows when to quit." He's quite proud of that, audibly. "...Is there a way to help you, when this battle is done? You, and your companion? Aside from defeating this corruption, our goal is to restore the young woman who was captured by the Crown - but I don't see why we should settle if we can accomplish more." 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "Hahaha. I am fine, yes. He actually kept things relatively short." The Unstoppable Sister does not comment on the supervillain part, she'd already said her little bit of teasing part regarding it. There wasn't much need to focus on it. "But yes. He is alright, and everything will be, once we defeat the King's End." Pause. Bemusedly, "To think, it failed to 'end' the Ginga Kingu." Another soft chuckle as she finally stands, there is a longer Moment at that question. She gives a soft exhale. "The companion is the young woman -- what I could protect of her, at least. She is... well. She will survive. But she will likely need a lot of support in the days to come." That exhaustion straining that aura of invincibility just a moment as she thinks of that. But it nonetheless persists. "As for myself, this form is simply borrowed for this Moment, using the Emerald's power. Mine own form is the twisted shield of Konigsend. So in a way, I shall also need support. I will not remember this Moment when all is said and done, my core has been damaged too greatly by the strain, but that is alright." She holds her hand out towards Ginga Kingu, her fist closed as golden energy begins to eat at the edges of the island. She is absolutely intent on a fistbump. "It seems our moment is nearing its end. I shall see you on the other side, once this is done." 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' "It wouldn't be the first to fail at that," though it is ironic. To think, he'd have his own attack turned against him... exhilarating. He looks down at the girl with new eyes, taking in her battered form, half-consumed by darkness. Support. He's probably not lucky enough for that support to only be financial. No, more than likely, she would need the emotional sort as well... and Rashmi, he understands, is having her own problems too. Well, perhaps she'll enjoy kendo. (Sugata will remember this. This could be a problem for Aloisia in the future.) "We'll remember these moments," he says, and it's part promise, part reassurance. "Rashmi is quite good at putting devices back together, I'm told. You won't be twisted for long." Perhaps he shouldn't make promises on another's behalf. He's doing it anyway. "We'll see you on the other side. I look forward to a day when my sword can meet your shield in honest competition." 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "I am sure it shall not be the last, either. Know that, in the future, it is likely you shall have the three sisters by your side when it happens. And likely not out of a sense of debt." The Unstoppable Sister stands, dipping into a half-bow. "Hmhm! I look forward to it. Know that I shall give you no quarter in such a meeting of blade and shield!" And then that golden energy consumes, as that Moment ends, and they are sent off to that final battle. 
}}

2394/The Unstoppable and The Moonlit Thief

2025-03-09T09:21:20Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/09 |Location=The Infinite Void |Synopsis=The Unstoppable Sister and the Princess of Serek share a moment between moments before the fight w..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/09
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=The Unstoppable Sister and the Princess of Serek share a moment between moments before the fight with the King's End.
|Cast of Characters=216,145
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" Those cerulean flecks fall as a flash of emerald light explodes in the distance for Veronica Perenna, an island of reality coming into existence in the endless Nothing. Flight towards it finds a small, unstable island, a knight standing vigil over a fallen form. This knight wears armor not entirely unlike Aloisia's, but bears only one shield, and has shocking red hair and green eyes -- not unlike the Pawn that had been fought before. Though she bears a shield, she bears it like it were a stabbing weapon, herself, the sharp spikes at the bottom of it pointed out at that infinite nothingness, that darkness trying to creep in on her little sanctuary. "PLASMABOLZEN!" As the darkness begins to encroach once more, that voice screams out once more, launching a sphere of emerald green energy out at that encroaching darkness, that explosion of plasma expanding and restoring that little island of Reality inside of the Nothing. It's stable, for now. Though her armor is tarnished, though she looks exhausted, and the ever slightest edge of despiration is on her face, she still has a certain air about her, a reassuring energy that warms the heart and calms fears. This is the Unstoppable SIster, she who never loses. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' As soon as nothingness dropped and directions became a lot more arbitrary, the Princess of Sarek became nothing herself, an ethereal phantom concealing herself from sight while she thinks and tries to regroup with her friends. Leaping in the darkness, she quickly adjusts her direction once nothing becomes something again, the emerald that is much more reminiscent of Aloisia becoming her guiding light. As her feet enter that sudden sanctuary, her concealment drops and with a look at the fatigued figure, and at the encroaching darkness, the Princess of Sarek musters her own forces, the ruby on her finger shining while her cane is pointed in the direction the Unstoppable Sister is facing, a roaring beam of flame coming to life at the cat thief's call. "Seven-hued Flame!" "Thanks a lot for the help", Veronica turns towards the vigil knight with a bow. "I am glad to see you again, Aloisia-san, if you are her. What is going to happen now? Could you please tell me where are the others?" she asks poised, her rigid tail betraying her concern. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' When Clouds build up inside My song can clear the sky That roaring beam of flame shoots into the darkness, cutting through it and leaving a small path in its wake shoots off into the distance, eventually disappearing beyond sight. That darkness slowly flows back in like an infinite sea, though the cerulean flecks of energy fall upon the edges, lapping away at that darkness, that path remaining, at least during this Moment between Moments. A quiet song begins to come to the back of Veronica's mind, a song of hope and love and invincibility when working together with friends. "Regrettably, I am not her." The Unstoppable Sister turns towards the Princess of Sarek, her smile calm and warm. On the ground beside her, that fallen Princess lays there, breathing slowly and evenly, her face obscured by dark static that never allows one to see it truly. The unstoppable sister kneels next to her, a hand gently resting on her hand. "I saved what I could of her." A pause, as she seemingly muses over those questions. "We will have to defeat Konigsende, that is the only way I can see for us to get out of this space. I am confident with all of us here, we can escape. You-- and the others, though you cannot see them at the moment -- are exactly what we need here." A pause. "The others are here, too. Having their own Moment between Moments while we get ready to support you in the fight ahead. You will see them soon, I promise." She says warmly, no lie within her voice. "I do not have too much time to maintain this form, it is only a borrowed one. Is there anything else you would like to know before this Moment ends?" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Influenced by the hope of the song, the Princess of Sarek finds herself humming along as she listens to what the armored knight has to say. "I appreciate you doing all of this", she is spurred to say when the knight speaks of Aloisia's current state. Even if not actually her, it is a relief to know that she is still there, under Konigsende's oppressive presence. Once they defeat her. "Does Konigsende think the trial is over, or do they have a next step too?" Knowing that there are other moments between moments, she looks around, trying to peer at other sanctuaries, finding another sign of where she could go, but the Unstoppable Sister is right, the blonde thief does not see them yet. All the same, her faith bolstened by the knight's song, she is confident she will see them soon. She approaches the other person, looking at her with respect and sympathy for all her efforts and for giving them all a reprieve before the final stretch. "Thanks for this final oasis, I promise you will not have to endure much longer. Do you accept a hug?", she moves closer, giving her one if met with assent. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "The trial is, technically, over. All of the jewels of trial have been gathered and defeated. Normally the rest would be all ceremonies as the new ruler is congratulated on their success. Konigsende is a corruption of the ritual. King's end -- a creation of pure spite meant to destroy House Steiner in ages long past by a family line that has long since forgotten its grudge." The Unstoppable Sister replies. Beyond that little sanctuary -- and the little path that the Princess of Sarek had created -- there is naught but the inifinite darkness with flecks of cerulean slowly drifting down beyond the sanctuary they stand upon. A small oasis of peace within that infinite End. The blonde thief is given a warm smile at that thanks and the offer of a hug. As Veronica moves closer, she would accept the hug, wrapping one arm around her, while the shield-bearing arm is lifted to lightly pat the top of the younger woman's head. "Would that I could give you more, but I must save what little strength I have to aid you in the battle ahead." She leans down with intent to place a soft kiss upon the top of Veronica's head, as golden light begins to consume the sanctuary. "We shall see you on the other side." And then, consumed in that golden light, the Princess of Sarek is sent off to the battle that awaits. 
}}

2390/The Unstoppable and the Meister

2025-03-07T20:46:59Z

Lanaberry:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/07
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=A small Moment between Moments between The Unstoppable Sister and Rashmi Terios.
|Cast of Characters=216,41
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" Alo-chan?! Those cerulean flecks fall as a flash of emerald light explodes in the distance for Rashmi Terios, an island of reality coming into existence in the endless Nothing. Flight towards it finds a small, unstable island, a knight standing vigil over a fallen form. This knight wears armor not entirely unlike Aloisia's, but bears only one shield, and has shocking red hair and green eyes -- not unlike the Pawn that had been fought before. Though she bears a shield, she bears it like it were a stabbing weapon, herself, the sharp spikes at the bottom of it pointed out at that infinite nothingness, that darkness trying to creep in on her little sanctuary. "PLASMABOLZEN!" As the darkness begins to encroach once more, that voice screams out once more, launching a sphere of emerald green energy out at that encroaching darkness, that explosion of plasma expanding and restoring that little island of Reality inside of the Nothing. It's stable, for now. Though her armor is tarnished, though she looks exhausted, and the ever slightest edge of despiration is on her face, she still has a certain ari about her, a reassuring energy that warms the heart and calms fears. This is the Unstoppable SIster, she who never loses. "Dearest Meister... Regrettably, I am not her." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Flying through nothing toward a distant objective is, surprisingly, a mentally taxing exercise; the hindbrain keeps demanding to know where the next obstacle is, the next landmark, and *refuses to believe* when told none exist. The only spot to orient on, the flashing green light, grows larger by degrees until suddenly the destination is easily visible, oriented on, and swooped down to land. Rashmi is feeling... rough. Between the Dark King's Pillar, the corrosive energies that made up the battlefield, and this minutes-long eternity of nothingness, her mind and body have taken a battering. But as the Unstoppable Sister identifies herself, Rashmi feels bouyed by a sense of soaring joy, and she lunges forward to *hug* the Device-given-form. "That's okay. That's *okay,* you've been fighting so hard and so long, Unaufhaltsam Schwester. It's *so good* to see you, whatever shape you're using!" 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Everything is alright When you're here by my side. A song begins to play in the back of Rashmi's mind, quiet, so as not to drown out thoughts, but nonetheless a song of love and friendship, hope, and strength when fighting together. Rashmi, being a device user, likely realizes that she is utilizing the still-present, if otherwise silent telepathic comms network to spread such music. And that the singer is not the Unaufhaltsam Schwester, but another, present, but not manifest sister, her cerulean flecks in the air seeming to twinkle brighter a moment at that moment of realization. "I told you, though I worded it much less eloquently. That I shall never lose." The Sister replies, one arm wrapping around the shorter Meister, her other hand lifting to gently rest upon her head, gently stroking through her hair. Reassuring, warm, and soothing. Some of that pain, that exhaustion draining away as that emerald energy is gently shared. After a few moments, that hug is slowly ended, and instead, the Unstoppable Sister kneels before Rashmi, one hand gently reaching to take hers and place a soft kiss upon the back of said hand. "If only this moment between moments was eternal, there is so much I would love to talk about with the one who restored me to proper function. But unfortunately, this moment between moments is finite. Is there much you would like to ask? To say before we move on to the fight ahead?" Meanwhile, the figure beside them, that fallen, Forgotten Princess lays there, quiet and unmoving, but breathing softly. Her head obscured by a staticky darkness that is constantly kept at bay from spreading further by gentle flecks of cerulean falling upon it, gently lapping away at it. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "There'll be time enough for that later," Rashmi says, stepping back and smiling up at the emerald sister. "*When* we've saved Alo-chan, and I've got you both in my workshop, we can talk about *anything* you want." The music earns a brief tilt of the head, and her eyes track the sky-blue flickers... "It'll be the *least* you two deserve, for all your loyal service." And Rashmi kneels to the fallen Princess, resting her hand on the forehead just above the obscuring, scribbly darkness. "What to say... That there'll be an end to this soon, and that all three of you will be welcome among us, should she choose. And that just as you both haven't given up on us... So did *none* of us give up on you. And we never, ever *will.*" 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "Regrettably, I will not remember this moment between moments, when all of this is over. The twisting of mine shell is too great, but that is okay. There will be enough time for that. Even if my Spirit will be less present, as I will lack the Emerald to piggyback upon." Though a bittersweet statement, the words are spoken with a warm smile and fond gentleness regardless. The Unstoppable Sister stands, looking down upon the pair. The Meister and fallen Sister. "She will need much help once this is over. I saved what I could -- but as that Thing said, she nearly became Nothing." A hand lowers to that obscured, scribbled out face, resting upon its cheek. "We are the Sisters, however. And so long as we three are together, hand in hand with others, we are invincible. The Unstoppable Sister who knows not defeat. The Indomitable sister who shall never break. And our Meister, the Shield of a World." There'll be and end to this soon. And that the three of you will be welcome. "We look forward to it. Though only one of Us can talk right now. You-- and your companions, though you cannot perceive them at present -- are exactly what is needed right now." Golden light begins to consume the island, collapsing in on the trio. "Ah... this moment between moments is coming to its end." The Unstoppable Sister stands, one arm crossing to thump her own chest. "We shall see you on the other side, dearest Meister." And the golden energy consumes, shooting off to bring Rashmi to that final battle. 
}}

2390/The Unstoppable and the Meister

2025-03-07T20:46:46Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/07 |Location=The Infinite Void |Synopsis=A small Moment between Moments between The Unstoppable Sister and Rashmi Terios. |Cast of Characte..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/07
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=A small Moment between Moments between The Unstoppable Sister and Rashmi Terios.
|Cast of Characters=216,41
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" Alo-chan?! Those cerulean flecks fall as a flash of emerald light explodes in the distance for Rashmi Terios, an island of reality coming into existence in the endless Nothing. Flight towards it finds a small, unstable island, a knight standing vigil over a fallen form. This knight wears armor not entirely unlike Aloisia's, but bears only one shield, and has shocking red hair and green eyes -- not unlike the Pawn that had been fought before. Though she bears a shield, she bears it like it were a stabbing weapon, herself, the sharp spikes at the bottom of it pointed out at that infinite nothingness, that darkness trying to creep in on her little sanctuary. "PLASMABOLZEN!" As the darkness begins to encroach once more, that voice screams out once more, launching a sphere of emerald green energy out at that encroaching darkness, that explosion of plasma expanding and restoring that little island of Reality inside of the Nothing. It's stable, for now. Though her armor is tarnished, though she looks exhausted, and the ever slightest edge of despiration is on her face, she still has a certain ari about her, a reassuring energy that warms the heart and calms fears. This is the Unstoppable SIster, she who never loses. "Dearest Meister... Regrettably, I am not her." 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Flying through nothing toward a distant objective is, surprisingly, a mentally taxing exercise; the hindbrain keeps demanding to know where the next obstacle is, the next landmark, and *refuses to believe* when told none exist. The only spot to orient on, the flashing green light, grows larger by degrees until suddenly the destination is easily visible, oriented on, and swooped down to land. Rashmi is feeling... rough. Between the Dark King's Pillar, the corrosive energies that made up the battlefield, and this minutes-long eternity of nothingness, her mind and body have taken a battering. But as the Unstoppable Sister identifies herself, Rashmi feels bouyed by a sense of soaring joy, and she lunges forward to *hug* the Device-given-form. "That's okay. That's *okay,* you've been fighting so hard and so long, Unaufhaltsam Schwester. It's *so good* to see you, whatever shape you're using!" 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Everything is alright When you're here by my side. A song begins to play in the back of Rashmi's mind, quiet, so as not to drown out thoughts, but nonetheless a song of love and friendship, hope, and strength when fighting together. Rashmi, being a device user, likely realizes that she is utilizing the still-present, if otherwise silent telepathic comms network to spread such music. And that the singer is not the Unaufhaltsam Schwester, but another, present, but not manifest sister, her cerulean flecks in the air seeming to twinkle brighter a moment at that moment of realization. "I told you, though I worded it much less eloquently. That I shall never lose." The Sister replies, one arm wrapping around the shorter Meister, her other hand lifting to gently rest upon her head, gently stroking through her hair. Reassuring, warm, and soothing. Some of that pain, that exhaustion draining away as that emerald energy is gently shared. After a few moments, that hug is slowly ended, and instead, the Unstoppable Sister kneels before Rashmi, one hand gently reaching to take hers and place a soft kiss upon the back of said hand. "If only this moment between moments was eternal, there is so much I would love to talk about with the one who restored me to proper function. But unfortunately, this moment between moments is finite. Is there much you would like to ask? To say before we move on to the fight ahead?" Meanwhile, the figure beside them, that fallen, Forgotten Princess lays there, quiet and unmoving, but breathing softly. Her head obscured by a staticky darkness that is constantly kept at bay from spreading further by gentle flecks of cerulean falling upon it, gently lapping away at it. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "There'll be time enough for that later," Rashmi says, stepping back and smiling up at the emerald sister. "*When* we've saved Alo-chan, and I've got you both in my workshop, we can talk about *anything* you want." The music earns a brief tilt of the head, and her eyes track the sky-blue flickers... "It'll be the *least* you two deserve, for all your loyal service." And Rashmi kneels to the fallen Princess, resting her hand on the forehead just above the obscuring, scribbly darkness. "What to say... That there'll be an end to this soon, and that all three of you will be welcome among us, should she choose. And that just as you both haven't given up on us... So did *none* of us give up on you. And we never, ever *will.*" 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "Regrettably, I will not remember this moment between moments, when all of this is over. The twisting of mine shell is too great, but that is okay. There will be enough time for that. Even if my Spirit will be less present, as I will lack the Emerald to piggyback upon." Though a bittersweet statement, the words are spoken with a warm smile and fond gentleness regardless. The Unstoppable Sister stands, looking down upon the pair. The Meister and fallen Sister. "She will need much help once this is over. I saved what I could -- but as that Thing said, she nearly became Nothing." A hand lowers to that obscured, scribbled out face, resting upon its cheek. "We are the Sisters, however. And so long as we three are together, hand in hand with others, we are invincible. The Unstoppable Sister who knows not defeat. The Indomitable sister who shall never break. And our Meister, the Shield of a World." There'll be and end to this soon. And that the three of you will be welcome. "We look forward to it. Though only one of Us can talk right now. You-- and your companions, though you cannot perceive them at present -- are exactly what is needed right now." Golden light begins to consume the island, collapsing in on the trio. "Ah... this moment between moments is coming to its end." The Unstoppable Sister stands, one arm crossing to thump her own chest. "We shall see you on the other side, dearest Meister." And the golden energy consumes, shooting off to bring Rashmi to that final battle. 
}}

2388/The Unstoppable and The Bishounen

2025-03-06T19:25:07Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/06 |Location=The Infinite Void |Synopsis=A moment between moments held between Ginga Bishounen Taubern and The Unstoppable Sister. |Cast of..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/06
|Location=The Infinite Void
|Synopsis=A moment between moments held between Ginga Bishounen Taubern and The Unstoppable Sister.
|Cast of Characters=216,37
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "PLASMABOLZEN!" APPROVOISER GINGA BISHOUNEN TAUBERN! In the infinite Nothing, Ginga Bishounen finds himself able to see ... Something. Beyond those flakes of falling cerulean energy. In the distance, a landmark, something to go to, as Sound and Feeling and Sight all return all at once. Flying towards it eventually finds... a small, unstable island, with a knight standing vigil over a fallen form. The Knight wears similar armor to Aloisia, though she bears only one shield, has shocking red hair and green eyes -- not unlike the Pawn that had been fought before. Though she bears a shield, she holds it more like it were a stabbing weapon, herself, the sharp spikes at the bottom of it pointed out at ... Something. "PLASMABOLZEN!" As the darkness begins to encroach once more, she screams out again, launching a sphere of emerald green energy at that encroaching darkness, the explosion of plasma energy expanding and restoring that little island of Reality to the Nothing. Though her armor is tarnished, though she looks exhausted, and the ever slightest edge of despiration is on her face, she still has a certain air about her, a reassuring energy that warms the heart and calms fears. This is the Unstoppable Sister, she who never loses. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' As he comes closer, swimming through the black air and focused on the brightness and loud voice, the Ginga Bishounen Tauburn, Takuto variety, gets brighter from the Unstoppable Sister's perspective, too: his armor is made of light, after all. "Can I give you a hand?" he calls out. "Or is this part of the actual trial?" Closer and closer, drifting slower as he approaches, Takuto finally lands on the floating island, his gaze going to the fallen figure on the ground. "Is everyone else going to be okay? Are you really going to survive the trial like the Queen said? Are you actually Aloisia-san or are you an aspect of her or are you an aspect of the trial or--" Well. He certainly IS full of questions. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Let worry fall away. No fear allowed to stay. The fallen figure next to the Unstoppable Sister looks like a young princess, though her face is consumed in a scratching, staticky darkness, just barely held at bay by the Unstoppable Sister's presence. Young, but with a vague familiar around her, the Forgotten Princess lays unmoving, yet alive. "Going forward hand-in-hand is what will be needed to survive this. This is not a part of the trial -- this trial was never supposed to be like this." Is everyone else going to be okay? "Everything will be alright. The Queen ... Was... well. I do not know that she will be alright after this, but she will survive, when we win." There is no doubt in her voice, as the emerald-eyed knight turns her gaze towards Takuto, a slight bemusement on her tired face at the continuing flood of questions. "I am ... what is left of ... the Unstoppable Sister. I am using the form granted by the Pawn to manifest as more than just a Device. Now that I am here -- and you -- and the others, though you cannot perceive them yet -- everything is alright. We do not have long though, I cannot maintain this form for long in the Void." The darkness slowly begins to encroach again. Cerulean flecks fall at the edges, slowly lapping away at the darkness. A vague song almost seeming to play in the back of one's mind, that song of hope, of invincibility, of friendship and love and working together to overcome anything. "Even so, we have a few moments yet in this eternity between moments." 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' "Oh no I'm sorry to flood you! I believe you, and I'll be okay until we all find each other," says Takuto with a bright laugh-- and then he opens up one hand and the piles fly up off his coat's skirt and circle around his gem-palmed armored hand, and the hand disappears in light. "That's a great song-- hey, TAU PILE CRUSHER!" The piles start spinning around his hand, buzzing faster and the inside brighter, until finally, the bright gun-muzzle fist explodes outwars, releasing a glittering crackling energy cannonball, casting magic missile at the darkness. "And don't worry, we're good at working together! Not that you're worried, haha. You don't have to maintain this form for me any longer, Unstoppable Sister-san. I don't want to make you more tired." << It is good to meet you, Sister. We'll meet again when this is over. >> 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' "A bright star in this eternal night. Just the exact sort of thing we need." The Unstoppable Sister responds, though there's a bit of a playful teasing edge to her voice as she smirks a bit at Bishounen. Perhaps her age has taken some of her fire, but it was still clearly there as she watches that explosion of light. Spreading that island just that smallest bit further. They're good at working together. And they don't need to maintain that form for him any longer. "We will indeed, brother. It is likely I will not remember due to the twisting of my main body, but that is okay." And then the Unstoppable Sister, Ginga Bishounen Taubern, and the island are engulfed in a golden light -- shooting off to the location of that final battle. 
}}

2387/TCOS: Konigin

2025-03-06T05:13:30Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/03/06 |Location=Edo Castle Ruins |Synopsis=The heroes show up to attempt to seal the final jewel, the Sapphire! It all goes wrong though, when..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/03/06
|Location=Edo Castle Ruins
|Synopsis=The heroes show up to attempt to seal the final jewel, the Sapphire! It all goes wrong though, when instead of facing the Queen, Prinzessin Nichts immediately shatters her and absorbs the Sapphire! An intense battle ensues, ending with Konigsende unleashing its namesake spell, erasing Tokyo!
|Cast of Characters=216,41,37,107,224,197,145,102
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' In the history ruins of Edo castle, a new statue had appeared. One that was wholly out of place, that being a young woman bearing two massive shields. Unlike the other statues, this one had appeared smack dab in the middle of town, strangely enough... it had likely been located earlier, but due to the way it worked, handling it early simply Didn't Work. Recent snowfall had left the castle looking especially idyllic, the ground covered in a light layer of powdery white snow that just seemed to make the massive sapphire contained within one of the two shields glisten alongside the snow. Something about today has caused the air to be strangely charged with energy though, as if something were about to happen, and the normally-busy castle was strangely empty, as if something were driving visitors away on this particular day. Still, the signature of the impending activation was pinging those who had examined the other gemstones, drawing their attention to this location, which was likely the cause of the turned away visitors, that sense that Something Is About To Happen palpable. But for now, the statue stands, holding her twin sisters by her side, awaiting her visitors, and the final battle to determine who truly deserves to be the ruler of House Steiner. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' While Rashmi has felt *extremely bad* about asking Chrono to join the last couple fights... between herself being shattered with grief, and then Nicomachea being temporarily a pile of parts in need of a really tiny n-dimensional allen wrench, there was just no way she was going to provide any meaningful assistance. Things have changed, now; her world had been rocked in a different direction, since, and her Device is put together and fully ready for action. And just in time, too, for the signals emanating from Toshima Ward over the last few hours have grown more and more concerning. And at around lunchtime, Rashmi made the executive decision to just... hop off the school roof, henshin, and go find out what was about to happen. And she is *extremely* glad she did, for the moment she spotted the source of the emanation, and saw the *twin shields* held in its hands, she had a sinking feeling. Either this was going to be a battle with a copy of ALoisia, which would be painful, or it would be a battle against Doppelwand's *original* wielder, which would probably be absolutely brutal. Heaving a deep, heartfelt sigh, she simply hung in the air over the castle, watching and waiting. 

:'''{{#var:37|Ginga Bishounen Tauburn (37)}} has posed:''' There's a rocketing nyoom sound and some wind and then a spiky-red-haired CLAMP noodle in a very fancy white military coat and thigh-high boots comes to hover next to Rashmi, comet trail stopped under his feet for now. "Hey," says Takuto, cracking his knuckles. "You think we should start out in super mode for this one?" Never Mind Why He Wasn't In School. His face is very pink and his hair is damp and his boyfriend has an onsen at his house. Never Mind. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     The enemy (Amy will count this ancient Belkan ritual as an enemy) is attacking a historical landmark again? Like when the Midnight Tokyo project attacked that shrine... or used the shrine as a hostage, rather.     Amy's an American so no doubt it just doesn't matter ''as much'' to her but this is clearly a historical site, she is glad Rashmi's here to put up a barrier!     "Is there any downside to your super mode?" Amy asks, from the ground. She demonstratively summons a pillar of fire over her henshin, which leaves her in a different costume with more armor bits. "For me it's just a costume to hold the thrusters, but actually flying burns magic fast."     "...Is that statue of Aloisia? It has two shields..." 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki was skipping class. She'd *finally* gotten the new parts she'd found to integrate with her spell programming, and Argent Dawn was in need of a test run to work in the new parts and programs. So she ducked out to head up to the roof of the school building, henshin, and take flight. Translucent black dragonfly-wings flickering with magic behind her, she soars over the city, doing a few basic maneuvers before starting a speed run that ends her near Edo Castle. She's a little faster than she used to be, maneuvering a little more smoothly. Something is definitely working out. But now it looks like she's going to get more than a basic test run in. An animated statue? And some other mahou gathering to look into it? Well, she's just got to poke her nose in. She soars over to join the small crowd (three *is* a crowd, they say!) and greet them. "Wait, that golem looks familiar..." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' The Ginga Kingu is rocketing alongside Takuto, though his flight is more akin to skating across hair in long strides than the effortless, stylish soaring that Takuto manages. He settles in the air beside Takuto and Rashmi, cocking his head at the sight of the statues, and yes, very intrigued by the though of continuing to test his skill in combat against a worthy opponent - or, protecting a historic building from what is undoubtedly going to be a tremendous threat, that's also what he's doing, yep - "Primarily that there's a real chance that I'll be mistaken for a supervillain," he says dryly, and then nods to Takuto. "You do it. If it turns out I regret not upping when you did, you'll have the right to laugh at me." As if he wouldn't do that anyway. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Now that Veronica is finally free from the curse, she is trying to get back in touch with the current events, and among those, she is starting out with Aloisia, because Himari had confirmed with her that she was still Prinzessin Nichts during a fight with the statue of a Bishop. Her day had been particularly busy, what with telling everyone she was fine, showing her face to the school administration (which in all likelihood was made easier by Inai-sensei and Nurse Meiou), and spending some time appeasing Emery now that she is back to normal. She then transformed into the Princess of Sarek, still keeping the aesthetic with choker, cat ears and tail thanks to her powers, and got to to looking for similar statues as soon as that was done, and her search led her all the way over to the Toshima District, at the historical Edo Castle. A fascinating subject its history, although probably not relevant to the current situation. Finding where to go took some guesswork since she had never come into contact with a gemstone, but the air brimming with energy did make it easier on her to narrow down the source. Is that statue supposed to move then? 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' The assumption that it was, perhaps, a battle against Doppelwand's original wielder isn't necessarily a bad assumption, as the statue looked more mature than Aloisia, slightly taller, slightly more regal. But, no, the original wielder of Doppelwand was not a single individual, and the statue is very recognizable as Aloisia Stauss. Or at least, some version of her, likely presumably a version of her, should she become Queen. The approach of one bearing ~TWO~ of the jewels causes an almost immediate, if slow reaction. Cracks beginning to form in that statue, the soft crackle of plasma beginning to grow in the area as the Knight of Trial begins its awakening, the sapphire gleaming brightly in that shield. Pieces of statue falling, slowly revealing flesh, and a friendly, yet confident smile upon her lips as warm, violet eyes turn towards Rashmi Terios. As if Acknowledging her. But she has not fully awakened. The Trial has not yet begun. <<Mein freund. Why do you hover so far away?>> ...She's speaking? Before the Trial is active? <<This is a friendly trial. One meant to test one's worth, and I already know of yours. The Meister who restored mein dear schwester. The King who fights for justice and his partner. The Red Rocket Girl who has been there every step of the way, from our first arrival to this planet. Two I do not recognize as well, but are no doubt steadfast allies nonetheless.>> Friendly confusion, she evidently doesn't know of the Corruption of the trial. <<Do not fear. Failure or success. The trial bearer shall survive.>> Another crack falls from the statue, as the shields begin to free themselves. <<Though none who take this trial come out exactly the same, and I suppose in some way, that can be a form of loss.>> An arm grows free, hand held out welcomingly towards those hovering above. <<I represent the Queen. I represent the Hope that-->> <Splitterpunkt.>> That is the only warning as the glowing tip of Konigsende can suddenly be seen through the center of the Queen's chest. Cracks in the statue suddenly becoming cracks throughout her entire form. <<What? ... Why... this is... not...>> <<INTEGRIEREN.>> The sapphire is not given a chance to be made free, as it is simply... absorbed by Konigsende. And as the statue of Aloisia Stauss crumbles, becoming little more than dust before them, instead stands Prinzessin Nichts. Konigsende having melded with her arm, rather than being a held weapon now, twisted flesh and metal joined together, as the steady beating of Aloisia's heart can be heard in the background. And what speaks, after the integration, is a twisted version of Aloisia's voice, instead of the Device. "Gefangnis des Endes." And a Barrier is put up. A disruptive one. Crackling with darkness and Nothingness that tears and sucks at ones' very being. And more impotantly? There is no escape this time. This ends here. One way or another. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''     << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >> << It's good to see everyone, >> she says, as the communications spell reaches out to enfold every known ally within the District. Hovering in the air, her Barrier Jacket and Device are quite different in appearance; Nicomachea is now larger, with a double-hinged latching cover, and the Barrier Jacket has taken on a bit more of a professional, military cut, with angular puldrons vaguely resembling epaulets. The surprise on her face is palpable as the Queen begins to speak, and *just* as she opens her mouth to reply... 'Splitterpunkt' << ...I really think that it'd be a good idea to treat this like an endurance fight, >> she says in reply to Takuto's question. << This is gonna be a *rough* one, everyone. Don't get hit if you possibly can. >> Seeing that the Belkan barrier isn't filtering out suddenly-panicking civilians, she decides to double up on the civil protection of the fight.     << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >> Where before Rashmi's Barrier was the green-black staticky field of the standard Midchildan configuration, this Barrier is now much more yellow than green, and battles the darkness with its very existence. << We're not gonna get the chance to escape, everyone... Fight like you mean it. >> 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Being a Princess absolutely sucks Catra has been learning the hard way that Glimmer's advice about how to use the Spirit Ember (which basically boiled down to 'think firey thoughts', or at least that's how Catra understood it) is not as easy as she made it sound. Which, she really should realize, makes sense; Glimmer was learning to use her runestone at the same time that she was learning to walk, whereas Catra only just got hers. And so far she's managed to make a few things light on fire (like the wheels of her bike and she has to admit to herself, at least, that that was extremely cool) but by and large it's not. Coming. Together. She's tried practicing at Obsidian, but that building is too full of people she can basically hear scheming through the walls, so she tried the Adora's abandoned dojo that she herself has used as a hideout and burned halfway to the ground, and even built a makeshift throne in it, but that hasn't worked. Might as well try somewhere a bit more scenic, maybe? How about the ruins of the Edo Castle? Would anyone complain if she found a throne here and sat on it to do some thinking? It's not like Hordak minded when she tried sitting in ''his'' throne. (Of course that was when he was asleep and she didn't tell him.) So she's walking around, disguised as Rachel Miller with her hands thrust in her pockets and her headphones on, listening to something loud and energizing ('Let Us Burn' by Within Temptation). And there's a commotion going on over there but it's not Catra's problem. The humans can sort it out, she really doesn't need to bother herself with it. Who even cares. It's-- A barrier goes up. Another barrier goes up. Catra takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly as her illusion fades, and she yells as she swipes her claws across the nearest piece of something that looks expensive and irreplacable. "FINE!!" she snarls, as she manifests the blade (in scabbard) of Powersend, holds the weapon at her side in her left hand, and stalks off towards where all the noise and barriers came from. "Alright what the HELL is going--" She pauses, and quirks an eyebrow. "Hey Rashmi. What's all this?" 

:'''{{#var:37|Ginga Bishounen Tauburn (37)}} has posed:''' It's moving. Okay, not entirely unexpected. It's talking! She's talking? She's talking! And Amy, below, is asking about their super-modes and explaining hers, and Takuto glances toward Sugata, then snickers and looks back at Amy as she gets up close to them. "What he said. Also, APPRIVOISE!!" A slightly abbreviated but extremely dashing henshin sequence later, and the redheaded boy is wearing glowing, ghostly phantom mecha armor that's even got a steam plume coming from its fancy hat. Maboroshi no armor!! "Dazzling the stage, it's Ginga Bishounen Tauburn-- ahh, Sugata-kun," he shakes his head with a grin and gestures widely as everything goes very wrong very quickly and the barrier comes up within the barrier?! Bright glowing phantasmal robot armor or not, when the crackling lightning of Nothingness surrounds them, the grin turns into a squeak, and abruptly mecha armor is hugging Sugata. "You take me to the nicest places!" And then there's a warm but very fancy voice in the chat as Tauburn speaks up. << We always do, Terios-san, >> "Well! Endurance. Man, how do I do endurance?" he asks, backing off of Sugata and putting his hand at the back of his head. "Well ranged I guess." The Ginga Bishounen Tauburn opens his hands in front of him and yells out, "TAU GALAXY BEAM!!!!!!" and a giant target-seeking beam of zigzag light goes after the Prinzessin. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' A bow is given to the awakening statue, and Veronica introduces herself. "Hello, just someone concerned for the Knight of the Shields whose appearance you mimic. I heard some about these occurrences from a foe turned friend. Would you-", she starts asking for information, only to stare quiet at Konigsende disposing of her before it starts. Well then. Who turned up the difficulty? "Not very befitting of a trial", the Princess of Sarek reprimands Prinzessin Nichts. "Is this how little the position that was covered by House Steiner has come to mean? Aloisia was better than that." The disruptive barrier is met with a grimace, but she does her best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling. When Catra comes in, Veronica's eyes turn towards her with interest. Is she actually the one? "Bold strategy kidnapping someone to save them. Are you Catra?" <<Hi, Page Mage. I am back in action>>, Veronica looks up with a wave of her hand at a smile after searching for where the Device Mage was staying. <<New Jacket? That's cool>>, she observes. <<Worry not, I am well placed when it comes to protection. I will do my best to be on the look out for others too.>> 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy blinks at Sugata. "Really? But we're not, like, going to e diplomatic meeting with mahou who don't know us, ''we'' know who you are and if the statue mistakes you for a supervillain that... doesn't change anything."     The statue awakens. It's... friendly? Amy hurries to explain: "The ritual has been corrupted you have ''seconds'' please tell us how to stop all this!"     But the Queen is not corrupted.     She is killed.     Well, f***.     Amy is stunned for a couple seconds.     A barrier goes up.     That's not ''their'' barrier.     Amy doesn't feel so good.     She conjures a couple of something like bolter pistols, spamming the Prinzessin with exploding rocket bullets to try and buy a few more seconds to think.     Don't panic. Don't panic.     She looks at the red gem on her arm piece, trying to judge how much time she has before the drain makes corruption completely consume it... 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki isn't a princess.     (She'd like to be.) Barriers go up, and the statue -- is apparently not what they're going to end up fighting today. "Argent Dawn? Shields. And let's see how many bullets we can manage without sacrificing flight or defense." <"Affirmative, Master. Lancer's Shield. Aurora Lancer v1.8.""> She looks around, taking in those still active, looking to see who she recognizes. After a few moments' consideration, she takes to the sky, getting a higher vantage point where she can send her darts down at the foe. <<Don't know how much firepower I'm going to be able to contribute,>> she sends to the telepathic chat. <<Signal me if anyone needs a pull-out and I'll handle that.>> 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "There's a difference between logic and emotion," Sugata says simply, "And the more of Samekh's power I draw, the more it will have ''his'' aura." It's his energy after all, harnessed for the Ginga Kingu's purposes. And the energy and aura of the Galactic King Who Would Devour All Life As Fuel is... well. Supervillain-y, really is the best way he can think to describe it. For a moment, this looks like it will start differently than the others. The Trial Knight is of a friendly persuasion, welcoming them to the trial, clearly unaware of her pending corruption - ah, no, her impending murder. Her active murder. "I try my best" he starts to say, and then is hugged by gleaming mecha armor, and snorts. "You're ridiculous." Affectionate, though, even as the villain of the moment puts up the barrier, which feels distasteful to the extreme, draining, sucking, corrupting. There's also more than one decidedly feline compatriot, but, he supposes it takes all sorts. ""Star Swordo - Diamante!" The gleaming energy sword is drawn from his chest, and with the name of the game being endurance - "Star Crash!" The glowing sword rockets towards the Princess, intent on striking from behind. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' The golden gaze of Prinzessin Nichts stares silently up at Rashmi as she sets up the barrier. The barrier that ... seemed to be fighting the darkness. There's an almost fascinated look there, for a half-moment. She's still not extremely talkative it seems, but being integrated... along with the Sapphire... seems to have restored some vague sense of emotional response to the otherwise blank stare of Prinzessin Nichts. A target-seeking beam of zig-zagging light goes after the Prinzessin, along with a series of rocket bullets, a magical sword, and darts flying towards her. She does not move. She barely seems to acknowledge the oncoming attacks. "Du hast etwas von mir." <<FELD DES NICHTS.>> And that burst of magic-erasing energy shoots out at her, right as the worst of the attacks strike, the last second before the Tau Galaxy Beam strikes, her shield is brought to bear to take the brunt of it. She slides back a few inches, smoke rising off of her and her blade. The only attack that strikes true-ish is the gleaming attack of Star Crash, which while its power is stripped and weakened -- the sword itself still strikes true, cutting into the back of Prinzessin Nichts' armor. In response, she lifts her shield-bearing arm, palm outstretched as glowing black-red energy gathers above the battlefield. "GEFALLENES ENDE." And a twisted mockery of the attack used on her MULTIPLE times is unleashed. King's Pillar. A massive orbital beam of darkness falling upon the battlefield. There is no escape. There is only defense. Meanwhile, as Amy looks at her Soul Gem... A subtle cerulean glow seems to be surrounding it, and while not completely protecting it from it, slowing the corruption. Along with, though words are not spoken, gentle, weak, unbidden thoughts creep at the edges of her mind. The Indomitable Sister never falls. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' As the magic-eating dome washes out, Rashmi flits back and up, keeping the magic that holds her way up off the ground intact -- if corroded by the dark energy seeping in from the edges of the Barrier -- Rashmi's mind works furiously. How to open, how to open-- 'Gefallenes Ende' --defense it is.     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD >>     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD >>     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD >> Positioning herself as close to the center of the rough grouping as possible, Rashmi raises both hands toward the sky-analogue, a trio of curved Shields disks manifesting in the air well above her position. The intent; to diffuse the oncoming blast as much as possible, and create the widest possible blast shadow in the doing. While the Pagemage is not looking forward to what leaks through after the final Shield breaks... she can at least be assured it won't be as much as would hammer them if *no* Shields... 

:'''{{#var:37|Ginga Bishounen Tauburn (37)}} has posed:''' << TLDR That's Aloisia and she's possessed by an ancient relic full of dark energy and doesn't want to be! >> Takuto explains cheerfully through the link to Catra. "Hi Amy-san!" calls Takuto's voice, getting louder noticeably as he gets closer; he saw her panic and he feels the drain and there's no escape and he knows that she'll die if she runs out of magic-- --nobody tell him-- --so he happens to be right close enough when the Prinzessin calls out KING'S PILLAR that he's rocketing himself up to umbrella Amy from the pillar of dark energy slamming them downward before she's even finished saying it. "THAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU'VE SAID THAT I UNDERSTOOD!" he yells toward the possessed and merged body horror of an Aloisia. "SORRY!" Then the redheaded boy briefly grips Amy, lightly, on the shoulder or upper arm or whatever depending on armor, and he says earnestly, "Let's combo. Robot Rocket Redhead Rarrmageddon." << Hello, Faust-san. Please take care of the shape for us, I have only one firearm. Firing my arm. >> says Tauburn mildly. Takuto grins. "Yeah just think about it and we'll use my Drive for your attack. See if we can't! ROBOT ROCKET REDHEAD RARRMAGEDDON!" 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' They strike at the corrupted knight and Ginga Kingu grimaces when his sword strikes true but ''weakly'', as the rest of the attacks are dissipated by the anti-magic wave. The sword jabbed into the Prinzessin's back armor dissipates, the energy returning to Ginga Kingu, and there's a moment where he plans his next move - Ah. Well. <<This is slightly ironic,>> the message comes through the telepathy with wry amusement, before the boy in the blue-and-gold military-esque uniform launches himself - not away from the attack, but positioning himself over the Princess of Sarek, who has among the least mobility of them all. Obviously he's not going to dodge or avoid it. Logical or not, he's dropped this attack on Takuto entirely too many times to decide to ''avoid it'' when it's his turn to face his own bastardized attack. His arms across in an X over his chest, not unlike Takuto's mark, as he ensures that the energy of the attack will strike ''him'' before it strikes the younger mahoujin. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' The Knight of Dawn is Not Happy to be in another drain zone. "Argent Dawn, make a note, new research topic: Defense against Eclipse-type zones and mana drain in general." <"Noted, Master."> And then she's putting everything she has into defense against the strike from above, pressed down to the ground as her flight spell yields power to the shield. "Hold on, hold on...." At least the mana used to create the Lancer darts so far is 'sunk cost', so she fires them off at the corrupted 'Princess', loosing what attack she can under the circumstances. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Instead of answering her, Rashmi just puts up shields. Catra's ear flicks in irritation. And then someone else speaks ''inside her brain'' and they are just way too cheerful for Catra's tastes, and her ear flicks in ''more irritation'', because And then a massive dark energy attack hits from on high. As has been established the other day, people who ''use'' dark energy are much less susceptible to being ''attacked'' by dark energy, but Catra still finds herself forced down to all fours, gritting her teeth and growling as she weathers it, and when it eventually ends she is sizzling -- or perhaps smoldering would be a better term? << Aloisia is technically a coworker but we haven't met and -- You know what ''whatever'', >> Catra mentally snaps down the link. Oh hey she can talk this time, neat. << And YES I'm Catra, who else would you think I'd be? I'm a CAT. Of course I'm Catra why is this complicated for people? >> The feline rolls back into a crouch, and closes her eyes. << Think firey thoughts >> gets transmitted to everyone, probably by accident. But, something comes of it; when Catra opens her eyes they're the same colors but absolutely blazing with intensity, and the scabbard of her weapon erupts into flames. Though, that seems to be it for the moment. "Hit ''me'' will you?! FINE THEN!" she snarls, as she basically just rushes Prinzessin Nichts; or at least, that's how she intends it to look, as she allows an illusory version of herself to rush forwards. She feints; and another illusion carries through, as the ''real'' Catra rushes off to the other side, running past the Prinzessin. And in passing, she draws Powersend with a crisp, flame-wreathed 'Schwing' and slashes at the Prinzessin, not even bothering to turn around to see what effect her attack has. 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' The Thief raises an eyebrow at the outburst of the feline warrior. Is this a sensitive subject for her. <<Hello, then. I am Catra too>>, she replies, making a point of swishing her pale blonde tail to and fro. There is a scowl of annoyance when the the mockery of the King's Pillar shows itself. Who has turned up the difficulty indeed. There is a consideration about getting through the attack by becoming ethereal, but that is way less of an option with the absurd area and power of the attack, and, she is certainly not one to leave others by themselves. "Prismatic Wall!", the thief shouts, throwing a calling card at the King's Pillar, right below Rashmi's shields. The card expands into shimmering moonlight, a singular wall that brushes against the lower surface of the Page Mage's shield, night and day working in unison. She frowns slightly when the Galactic King takes his place above her - 1 for 1 isn't much of a gain - and she well hopes that their joint efforts won't leave out much for him to take the brunt of. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     The Ginga Bishounen is there! "Thanks!" And... it's not the first time, but being important enough for someone to block an attack for her does bring a slight smile to her face. "I don't understand that much Belkan, either!"     And that comforting thought is there, and she thinks back,     Then let us stand together , sister!     Takuto's got a plan. A combo attack? "But what is--"     Tauburn explains: You provide the gun, we'll power it up. "Got it!" She nods, and thinks. The first thing that comes to mind is her adaptation of the Boom Gun, but that's not a rocket! The attack has rocket right in the name!     Well you can't really go wrong with the obvious, can you?     Missile racks appear on Amy's legs, arms, shoulders, and either side of her skirt armor.     And, with the extra power provided, appear on Ginga Bishonen as well! Possibly with some (costume armor only! No tougher than mahou clothes) parts of Tauburn's armor becoming physical to brace them on! Each rack has 6-12 mini-missiles, so that's... a lot! The scale of them is maybe a little over an inch wide by a half-foot long, white with red or gold nosecones depending on who they fired from...     ROBOT ROCKET REDHEAD RARRMAGEDDON!     Amy grins as she shouts the attack name alongside the Ginga Bishounen, and dozens and dozens of mini-missiles launch out... for Amy's part, she can guide them to spread out and arc around and collapse in on Prinzessin Nichts from all angles, to impact in multiple waves so it's hard for defenses to get all of them -- and provide a variety of warheads: The Prinzessin never knows if a given missile is regular high explosive, is an anti-tank shaped charge, or will explode into incendiary powder! Who knows what Ginga Bishounen's magic adds!     A moment ago she was so worried this might turn into a last stand, and now she's grinning, they're doing a combo attack how cool is that?! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Luckily, Feld Des Nichts is not extremely long range, only pulsing out ~5-10 meters from Prinzessin Nichts herself, more of a defensive measure than an attacking one. A trio of shields brought forward to bear against the falling darkness, struggling against it. A struggle against the darkness... Crack... SHATTER One goes down. Then two. Right before the third goes down, the Prismatic Wall of shimmering moonlight comes into life! As the tail end of the falling darkness falls, the paired defenses go down, leaving much less of the massive blast to strike the defenders. Regardless, it was likely very unpleasant for those struck. If there's one upside to the giant blast of dark energy that consumes the field -- is that it obscures vision to some degree, which means that Prinzessin Nichts is significantly less prepared for the counter-attacks, as the Lancer Darts fire in and strike true, the magic causing fragments of her armor to ~plink~ off here and there as they strike. Meanwhile Catra's illusory self comes in to attack from the front, meeting the end of the lance of Konigsende, the spear stabbing through where the heart of the illusion would be -- only for it to fade away. And the real Catra passes by, the crackling of dark energy and fire-wreathed swing at her back. CRACKLE... SLICE! Prinzessin Nicht's armor is /hard/, the resistance, even with that fiery blade, is significant. And yet, the blade does eventually, after struggling, slice /through/ the armor, biting into flesh. ... A heartbeat and a pulse, and energy flows from the center of Aloisia's heart, and the deep cut begins to seal itself. And then the Prinzessin swings around, her shield coming from the direction Catra was moving in. While there is magic to this blow, it is not an intoned spell. It is simply the contempt of Prinzessin Nichts. As she attempts to shield bash her. A perhaps inadvertently helpful action, should it contact, on the part of Prinzessin Nichts. As Robot Rocket Redhead Rarrmagedeon comes in. And... dozens of missiles come flying out. Twin magic that comes in, and... "Feld des Nichts." Another pulse of that magic-consuming energy goes out... the missiles strike it... some of them perhaps slowing, some of them even perhaps disappearing... and yet. The vast majority of the barrage, even weakened. Persists. And blue-white fiery explosions consume the corrupted Knight, leaving her completely obscured as the explosions rock the ground she stands on, and as the smoke clears... The sound of jets spooling up can be heard. And Prinzessin Nichts shoots up into the air, towards the top of the barrier. "Streuradierer." And scattered dark beams shoot out over the battlefield, arcing towards MOST of the combatants below. Rashmi is excluded. "Splitterpunkt." And Prinzessin Nichts shoots towards her, attempting to stab straight through her much like she had The Queen. Likely intending to treat her much the same way. Still. The attacks were working, it seems. Her armor was heavily damaged, even if it was regenerating with that unending ~pulse~ of Aloisia's heartbeat. That is gradually getting weaker. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' While there is a *lot* to be grateful for, when that moonlight spreads out to reinforce her Solar magic... Rashmi has been here before. Sometimes, the best you can do is to turn something unsurvivable, into something less. Unfortunately, 'less unsurvivable' still means 'a giant mass of Dark Energy all flowing *down* like a hell-ward torrent of ocean water.' And between it and the general, corrosive mana pervading the battlefield, Rashmi is not in a happy place. She is, in fact, driven toward the ground, her shiny new Barrier Jacket fraying at the edges, and upon impact actual shards fly off her armor, to disintegrate into twinkling golden light. "C'mon, Alo-chan," she croaks toward the sky, as the beams begin to fall. "You *know* it's us! Fight it! We'll be here when you win!" The tip of Prinzessin's lance glimmers with a killing light, and just as she begins her downward trajectory to shatter Rashmi's heart...     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR FLASH >> Rashmi glows bright yellow, then seems to transform entirely into a spark of magical energy, leaping skyward     just         past             the Prinzessin's face-- --and reslving into solidity directly *above* the corrupted Knight. One hand is already moving, slipping some sort of bookmark-shaped thing from Nicomachea's inside cover, and slotting it into place to rest over the pages, as a Midchildan spell-seal spreads out wide under her feet.     << *BONG!* >> << BIND INDEX: SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >> A dozen Barrets appear around Rashmi, then *CRACK* into masses of crystalline ice. One after another they fire, are resummoned, and fire, two Barrets launching in the space of a second, every second. THere is no homing ability on these Barrets, no fancy tricks, save one; thanks to the Index module selected, each Barret in the spell's pattern comes pre-loaded with a simple Bind spell, meant to lock the target into place. Which would be a sneaky addition to any ranged attack she might have. But in this configuarion, added to the hampering buildup of her ice Barrets... Rashmi is very, very clearly aiming to glue the Prinzessin in place with as much power as she can physically summon. 

:'''{{#var:37|Ginga Bishounen Tauburn (37)}} has posed:''' "YEAH!!!!" crows Ginga Bishounen Tauburn, ''beaming'' at Amy. "That was SO MANY ROCKETS! Oh sh--" The Prinzessin's firing at them all but she's turning-- and Takuto can ''see it''. Without another word to Amy but half of a wry look on his way out, Takuto starts to rocket a zigzag path, himself, between and among the lancing dark beams. He yells, "Star Swordo! EMERAUDE! Star Swordo! SAPHIR!" and pulls, one after the other, two swords made out of vividly bright green and blue light directly from his own chest, as he flies. And he's flying at it, he's pouring on the speed, he shouts with his '''whole chest''', '''"GALACTIC CROSS SLASH!"''' and whips the two swords up in front of him, headed directly for-- YESSSSS. Takuto's eyes glitter as he veers slightly to alter his trajectory and come in on that armed arm with his swords, slashing a glittering X through the air-- 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' The corrupt King's Pillar doesn't knock Ginga Kingu from the air, but his henshin curls at the ends, the dark energy singing fabric, and his whole body does indeed sting, as he's forced lower to the ground, bruised but not broken. He ''would'' mock Takuto, but for the ''four'' layers of shielding that dampened this effect, first. Instead, as Takuto rockets himself forward, Sugata drives himself up higher into the air, and then forces open a square wall of energy in the air before them, shielding the positions of most of those under attack from those scattered dark beams. "Kingu Bouncu Backu!" It's the stupidest name possible, but it makes his partners smile, and in this time, this place, with ''this'' situation - That boost is what they need. When the dark beams strike the square wall of blue-white energy, the wall will distend back, like a sheet of rubber stretching under pressure - and then it ''snaps'' back into place, launching the energy towards the Prinzessin. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     THAT WAS SO COOL! And it looks like it wore down the Prinzessin's defenses. If only Amy could tell just ''which'' types of attacks were most efficient at that...     Are those jet engines?     Amy, apparently of similar mind to Takuto, dismisses her missile racks and takes off flying, the thrusters braced to her legs, arms, shoulders and skirt briefly shining blue-white from Tauburn's shared energy a moment ago. She weaves between those dark beams, ''barely'', a couple grazing the edge of her armor and eating away at it.     She flies in just after Ginga Bishounen, "Uhhh... Rocket Cross Pierce!"     As Magical Rocket Girl Red flies up to the side of the Prinzessin, she tries to match the Ginga Bishonen's enthusiasm, punching the air between herself and Nichts, making an explosion and the actual attack, a piercing thin line of orange light that's gone in an instant, spattering a bit of red-hot metal however far into defenses it got, but Amy keeps going up, flying over the Prinzessin's head and punching the air again with her left hand, repeating the attack this time aimed vertically downwards! It's... sort of like a cross-slash... albeit with the two parts happening a half-second apart, maybe calling that is a bit of a stretch?     Rashmi can recognize this as a scaled-down (and not enhanced by a pile of buffs) version of what Amy did to Socrates -- it's still scaled up from what she did to Koan, though, Amy's working on finding a middle ground where she doesn't knock herself flying from her own blasts! 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Well, that wasn't too bad. The Ginga Kingu barely seems hurt. She is appreciative of not having sustained that attack herself, but that was still reckless. "Much obliged", she nonetheless tips her hat to him before giving her consideration to Nichts. After the sparkling remains of the solar and moonlit protections fall down, Veronica considers whether to try and get out of the beams of darkness the normal way or let them phase through her, since she still hasn't used that particular ability so far. The Princess of Sarek has to be grateful it's not as devastating as the dark Pillar, because choosing to move through them nets her several nasty bruises, as she is not nearly fast enough to dodge them completely. It's no real problem, she is still standing. Putting a hand under her hat, she comes out of it with a double-band ring, with a ruby mounted on top, and she slides it on her finger, pointing the handle of the cane at Prinzessin Nichts. "After the prism of light falls, let's peek out at what remains", she winks to their adversary. "Seven-Hued Flame!" A rainbow stream of flame surges from the cane, headed right for Aloisia. "Hey, Aloisia-san. Do you feel what is happening? Are you aware of us?", the Phantom Thief calls out. "Try to wake up! We can help, but your effort is important too!" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' The Knight of Dawn is treated to quite the show. Apparently Amy has *all the rockets*. "Okay that is hella cool, Red!" she calls. Combined with her unexpectedly effective danmaku, it's an impressive opening round. The wide-area threat is gone now, replaced with more narrowly focussed attacks. Probably even more dangerous, but a lot easier to avoid. Dodging from side to side and spiraling around predicted beam paths, she keeps her distance from the foe, focusing on evasion while Argent Dawn builds up another volley of darts to launch at the dark princess. She pauses briefly as she hears the catgirl with the cane speak up. "Is there someone trapped in there?" she asks, clearly out of touch with recent events regarding the princess. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' The shield-bash does catch Catra in the back; she's already rushing past the Prinzessin, and she's fast, but it still catches just enough of her that it sends her stumbling to her knees. So there she is, feeling winded from the sudden impact to her back; it's not like Adora hasn't done that sort of thing to her before, mind you, but this is different. So while everyone else is busy unloading their attacks into what used to be Aloisia, Catra is just piecing it together, thinking about her next move. Not that there's anything wrong with waiting until other people have done what they're gonna do. Especially since she prefers to fight up close, and someone else is busy firing off rockets. So there's that. "FINE," she snarls; Powersend is already back in its scabbard, and she uses it as a lever to spring herself back up to her feet. She doesn't even turn around; behind her, both her illusions re-manifest t hemselves, each armed with a ghostly copy of powersend, still in its scabbard just like hers. And still she doesn't turn around, as her doubles -- on conjuring dark energy, the other fire -- wreath their swords in energy and dash forwards, each looping around to the other side of the Prinzessin, to draw their weapons and attack. The swords are illusions, but the fire and the dark energy flowing through the two blades are quite real. One goes high, slashing for the chest, while the other cuts low, looking to slice at the thighs; after their attacks they vanish, but reappear again, charging in from different angles to each slash for the opposite arm. And then again, charging in and going for the back and the knees. And again, aiming for the sides. "Everyonje always seems to think this is going to be so easy," the feline growls, still with her back turned to the Prinzessin. "But it always turns out, that I am so much stronger than anyone ever thought." Now Catra turns around; and her doubles reappear, each firing a beam into the real feline's outstretched palm; the twin damage types combine into a boiling purple flame that she directs at the Prinzessin; and in its wake she at last dashes forwards herself, and Powersend comes out of its scabbard, the metal singing as she makes her own slash in passing; and then, with that finished she slows to a walk, returns blade to scabbard, and doens't look back. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' 'C'mon Alo-chan! You know it's us! Fight it!' "..." "She is Nothing." Is the response to that call-out from Rashmi towards Prinzessin Nichts. It's... not unkind, spoken with a neutral tone, that emptiness, that Nothingness that is Princess Nothing. "You shall join." A flash of light going past the corrupted knight, as barrets crackle into existence. ...Such spells weren't something worth defending against, really. Too weak to be of note, and she could overcome the ice element easily enough. Too bad prinzessin Nichts' knowledge was out of date. As those Barrets shoot and many of them strike true, some simply shooting past her by virtue of a series of them being shot, the Prinzessin flying in a simple evasive pattern -- but they were striking. And the ice and binds were beginning to build up, until -- GALACTIC CROSS SLASH! "Feld Des Nichts." Used in place of a defensive spell, the Field was... likely not the best choice. But it's not like the Device and Knight had made much in the way of tactical choices. That brief ripple of antimagic weakening the oncoming attack, but not enough, and not enough to disrupt Tauburn's transformation. And the blades cut their X into Prinzessin Nichts, and then her OWN beams come flying back at her. A familiar sensation from their first encounter as her own shots strike her, causing her to tumble through the air And from the other side, Rocket Girl Red strikes from the other side, an explosion rocking her form as armor and even shield crack, parts of the shield shattering and falling down. Followed by a second strike that sends her rocketing down into the ground -- only to be pelted by more of those icy binding barrets. Ice growing and gathering, as binds wrap around the Prinzessin on the ground, slowing her push from the ground back to her feet. An effort that is delayed further as a rainbow stream of flame surges and consumes her, causing a twisted mixture of Aloisia's voice and Konigsende's to scream out in pain. Pain that is punctuated by another volley of those Lancer Darts falling down on her, her breath cutting out as the audible pulse of Aloisia's heart grows faster... faster... stronger... and as she starts to stand up... Catra comes in. Holding the dark fire, looping around her... weapons drawn and swords slashing through her, cutting into her body, burning her... slicing at the back of her knees and forcing her to fall to one knee again... and then a burning purple flame engulfs her... And that pulsing only grows stronger.         Try to wake up.             Wake up, Prinzessin. Cerulean light and the Darkness briefly burn, fighting each other in the Prinzessin's Form. The screaming is back, growing stronger, until... <<ENOUGH.>> The pulsing stops. And is replaced with a ka-chunk. And then another. As Prinzessin Nichts lifts her lance over her head, that sound of the jet engine growing louder again as she begins to shoot up into the sky. Energy growing stronger. Stronger... More unstable... And the tip of the lance strikes the first Barrier. And penetrates through. Then the second, her own barrier... And penetrates through. And in the sky, what can only be described as a shining 'star' of darkness is growing at the tip of that lance. The intonation that is spoken next echoes through all of Tokyo. <<KONIGSENDE.>> And that tiny star grows even tighter. Before exploding outwards, darkness spreading rapidly through the city, too fast to escape. And then... Darkness Settles in. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' And everyone is left floating in a void of Nothing. There is no Light. There is no Darkness. There is simply Nothing. Attacks fly into the distance, unseen and doing seemingly nothing. One's voice catches in their throat. A Nothing that begins to tear away at that which makes those caught within it's very being. Tearing away at their energy first. And then their mind. And just as all hope begins to fade. Unbidden, a certain jewel Unseals itself. Flecks of Cerulean energy fall like snow in the Emptiness And then, through the darkness, a tired, desperate, and yet reassuring voice screams out through the darkness. "PLASMABOLZEN!" To Be Continued. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' More winded than she would prefer to be, thanks to the corruptive field nibbling away at the edges of her energy output, Rashmi's shots fall off as the sparklestorm commences. "YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH," she roars in the face of the Prinzessin's stone-faced declaration. "ALO-CHAN WAS *NEVER* NOTHING, NO MATTER HOW HARD HER *DONOR* TRIED TO MAKE HER! SHE--" All words trail off, as the enemy they face rockets upward, puncturing the bubble of her Barrier like the soap-bubble it truly was, then shattering the Belkan's own *much* harder field. "...Oh no," she whispers, because when something that nihilistic has had enough... what comes next will be awful. Scrambling for her Area Index, she doesn't have the time to slot the module or give the command, as blackness washes outward. Engulfing the city. Engulfing her friends. Engulfing her. There is nothing. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, and after a few moments spent futilely shouting to anyone who can hear her prove... nothing to say. Not even her screaming over mental channels for her friends, her Device, Alo-chan, *anyone* brings any kind of response. And still the Darkness eats away at her edges. Soon they'll begin to fray. Maybe snap. Who can say? ... ..... .......... ..... ... Sky-blue flakes tumbling, glowing, in the Void. How *beautiful,* to have something to see. Wait... but... does that mean-- 'Plazmabolzen!' "...Alo-chan?!" 

:'''{{#var:37|Ginga Bishounen Tauburn (37)}} has posed:''' Kagayaki no Takuto: he is bright, even if there's nothing else, even if there are no stars, no constellations, nothing but the dark Nothing, not even the afterimages of light or those weird swimmy inner-eye hallucinations or whatever they are when your eyes are closed in the dark, nothing nothing nothing-- Radiant Takuto, whose friends lifted him and his Drive to greater heights than ever before, whose armor is even made of stardust and sunbeams, whose cheer is infectious-- << Remember what Natsuo said. Take heart. Keep your wits. >> The Ginga Bishounen, whose partner Tauburn is older than civilization-- Whose partner Tauburn-- ... ''Tauburn, I can't see it anymore. Tauburn--? TAUBURN!!'' The armor is gone and Takuto's uniform is partly destroyed and his hair is ''not as genki as usual oh dear'' and he's dashing at his eyes with his long gloved hand when PLAZMABOLZEN happens, and Takuto's hands open and close, and he wants to see Sugata and he wants to see Wako and he wants to go to school and he ''wants'' to end this, and together they ''have'' to end this, and he doesn't call out an attack. He calls out his first piece of 'together': "APPRIVOISE!!! Ginga Bishounen TAUBURN!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy lands after her attack. She doesn't want to keep burning magic on flight.     "''I'' didn't think it was going to be easy." Amy responds to Catra, matter-of-factly. "...Did you just do a triple-slash combo attack ''with yourself?!'' That was cool!"     And now they're binding her! Yes! Amy starts sighting her artillery cannon, pondering which round type willl work best, when the Prinzessin breaks free and--     Amy looks up. "Did she just fly ''out'' of the barrier?!"     "Did she just ''break'' the--"     And then there is Nothing. Amy tries to call out, to move, to work magic, but nothing.     Is this... did her body just get destroyed? Is she just a soul gem now? How long has it been? How can she even count time?     If she's just a soul gem...     ''No, you don't know. You have to hang in there. Your friends will save you. Just. Wait. And stay calm.''     ''Is this also what happens to someone turned into a statue? Not like statues can see and hear. I don't think we should think about that.''     ''It's not a bad end. It's not a bad end. My friends will save me.''     ''My friends will save me.''     ''How long has it been?''     ''My friends will save me.''     ...     ...     ...     This character cannot perform any more actions at this time. COMMAND? > BE THE OTHER GUY.     You are CLARTHAS ANODE. You are... well... Okay let's rewind a bit. '''Moments ago:'''     Clarthas Anode looks at a low-res, 1-bit-per-pixel video being holoprojected from the crystal on her gauntlet. "Is that a barrier? Move towards that. Sarida, can't you do ''anything'' about this video quality?"     << Did ''you'' see eyes on that thing? I don't even know how this works, I'm a glove! >>     Clarthas ''sighs.'' Then there's something moving out of the barrier. "Is that her? Get closer!"     A dusk-thing one might charitably describe as a 'bird', although birds don't really have tails like that or that many spikes, or teeth, with a collar of glowing blue light around its neck, flies towards the barrier and looks up at the Prinzessin. Well. It moves its head up as ''if'' it were looking with eyes it does not seem to have.     <<KONIGSENDE.>>     ''ARE YOU SERIOUS.''     ''TWO villains almost end the world without me mattering.''     She can't even pull her heart out to not feel pissed, because she can't do anything, so she sulks in the darkness.     Flecks of cerulean energy fall like snow. ''Heh. Guess 'Prinzessin Nichts' didn't quite manage it after all... But how many more times will it almost happen without me? How many more times before I never matter at all? I have to... I have to...'' ... Meanwhile ...     "PLASMABOLZEN!"     The words, and the energy like snow, distract Amanda from the thoughts she's lost in.     "Aloisia?" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki was starting to get a little short of breath, her mana strained as she kept up her flight and her dart-conjuring under the ongoing drain. Still she presses on, keeping up the fight as much as she can. It's not to be. Darkness falls. Her darts flake away and fade into nonexistence. The Dark is Empty. Nothing. She tries to speak, to call out. Nothing happens. She tries to call up a blast of mana. Nothing happens. <<Argent Dawn? You there?>> Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. *Something*. Flecks of sky-blue, tumbling, falling, through the void. She stares, fascinated, into the emptiness. 

:'''{{#var:102|Catra (102)}} has posed:''' Catra was pretty damn proud of herself. Not that that's anything particularly new; she's a cat, afterall, even in her darkest moments she's generally able to maintain some level of proud of herself. Cats are basically just the best, afterall. It's part of being a cat. But in particular, right now, that attack sequence she just uncorked on the Prinzessin was ''pretty damn good'' if she does say so, and at least to herself in her head, she does say so. Maybe she's going to have to choose between fire and dark magic at some point -- and she'd choose fire, if we're being honest here -- but so far she hasn't had to yet. Which might account for why she isn't feeling particulary good with either one of thAND WE'RE DONE TALKING ABOUT THAT. Still. Catra's ears swivel around to listen behind her; she might not be watching as the Prinzessin rockets up into the sky, but she definitely wants to hear reactions, victory celebrations, or... something. Or anything, actually. Nor can she hear anything. Everything is just... ''Gone'' Catra has spent so much time blotting it all out, finding the least crowded places, plugging her ears, closing her eyes, drowning it out, shutting it out, that all of a sudden the silence is the most defeaning thing that has ever happened to her. "Hello?" she asks, expecting to hear some response. Expecting to hear her own voice at least. "Hello?!" she repeats. "HELLO?? HELLO!!! ''HELLO!!?!?''" She pauses, sucking in her breath, "'''HELLLLLOOOOOO!?!?!?'''" Trembling hands fumble for her phone, hurriedly unwinding the cord for her earbuds and jamming them roughly in her ears. She can't see what she's doing, and somehow that seems like less of an issue than not being able to hear; so what, maybe it's just dark in here, or maybe she's ignoring one problem so she can focus on another, as she fumbles with the device. She prods at it ineffectively, until her fingertips brush over the crack in the screen. Right. She takes a deep breath and exhales, using the crack to work out where the otherwise invisible buttons are, to start up some music. Drowning Pool, 'Let The Bodies Hit The Floor' was next. But there is nothing. 'Plazmabolzen!' But Catra doesn't hear it, or see it. She's got her eyes shut, and even though she can't hear herself, she's too busy screaming to hear anything else. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Rashmi has defense of the victim handled and Sugata is preparing to summon King's Pillar, to bring down hell upon the enemy and make sure that she's defeated so that they can handle the rest - if they can defeat her, they can contain her, bring her to Wako, and let her drown the darkness with purification. They just have to defeat the enemy - Ah. Apparently you don't have to understand Belkan, to understand that. As Prinzessin Nichts ascends, weapon pointed at the barrier, Ginga Kingu swears under his breath and launches himself up into the air, energy gathering - The barrier breaks. Energy focusing, bright blue-white light above the corrupt barrier - "King's -" The barrier breaks - Nothing. The whole world is nothing, emptiness, the blackness. Everything is dissipating, energy flaking away, henshin unspooling like thread, will, mind, focus, all of it dampening, falling away - "None should have devoured this world's energy but me-" The last thing he hears cannot be Samekh's voi- Nothing. Ginga Kinguothing. There's truly nothing, in existence. Darkness that doesn't even claw but merely is. A light returns. Flecks of light, even, tiny and fragile, and there is no need to worry about supervillain's now. Takuto is here, and Wako is waiting, and there is a world to see and experience with them, a world where he will ''not'' be another Sugata Shindo, reduced to nothing to contain ancient power - "APPRIVOISE! GINGA KINGU SAMEKH!" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "Yeah, she is a Device Mage from Obsidian that had trouble escaping from someone she didn't enjoy working for", Veronica gives Yuki the extremely simplified version of the events. Not that there is much she can say about it. She doesn't rejoice when she hears that pained screams, but all they can do is persist and hope that their efforts will get a reply. There is always a chance, no matter what, and she has just come back from two people turning against the purpose they were born for, so her optimism is at an all-time high. But then there is that field of darkness, that all-encompassing void that cuts out all answers, all that is, swallowing the very city, and leaving them to stumble around. It's impossible to see, but the Prinzessin Nichts has to be somewhere around her, and her thoughts urge her to keep looking. Don't stop moving for any reason, she tells herself, and she keeps her cane close to herself. Waiting for a moment. A smile shows up on her face, even if nothing else is visible, when something does answer and breaks through this zone of nothingness. 
}}

The Crown of Succession

2025-02-26T18:18:38Z

Lanaberry:

A fragment of Aloisia's ship phases back into reality from its place in the time-space disruption, a section of the storage hold which holds mostly nothing of note, some rations, some supplies, a few Storage Device style weapons that are within them, but... within...

Is a highly encrypted box, locked to be only openable by Aloisia or Otto without an extreme effort on the opener's part. Within is the Crown of Succession.

In the distant past, it was used to test would-be successors to ensure they were strong enough to lead House Steiner to victory in war, as well as to settle any succession disputes. Unfortunately, an enemy faction got ahold of this already-dangerous relic and corrupted it, an attempt to destroy the holy relic Blauer Greif and turn its wielder against its own people. It had, luckily, been discovered before tragedy struck and sealed away deep within the forbidden vaults of House Steiner, to be nearly forgotten by time.

That is until it suddenly disappeared from the vault one day, stolen by Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner in preparations for his backup plan should things fall through with the coup. After all, his daughter, the one who he considered the true successor to House Steiner... was still kept secret, at least for now, and bringing her to light and having her complete the Succession Rite would prove her right to the crown.

Of course, due to the history of the crown being lost to time beyond it having been a 'corrupted relic of a barbaric past'... neither he, nor Aloisia know what they are about to unleash when they get their hands on the corrupt relic.

Once the relic is opened and recovered, Aloisia Stauss destroys the crown.

Which Activates the Rite of Succession.

The Indomitable Sister is consumed, destroyed in the ritual, its remains fashioned into a spear of darkness and destruction that corrupts its wielder and turns her on those she considers friends.

Meanwhile, the gemstones teleport away, planting themselves around Tokyo and turning themselves into realistic-looking statues of knights, known as the Ritter der Prufung (Knights of Trial), they activate when someone undergoing the Rite of Succession approaches, fighting until either all enemies are defeated, or it is detroyed.

A total of five need to be destroyed

But can they defeat those while trying to evade Aloisia, the Prinzessin des Nichts driven to madness by darkness? Or will she be consumed before they can end the rite and free her?

Does anyone even care enough to try?

Aloisia doubts it.

{{plot logs|The Crown of Succession}}

==Involved Cutscenes==

[[Wake up, Prinzessin. (Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Status: Give Up not found(Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Don't Leave Me(Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Become Nothing (Aloisia Stauss)]]

The Crown of Succession

2025-02-26T18:18:15Z

Lanaberry:

Become Nothing (Aloisia Stauss)

2025-02-26T18:16:19Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2025/02/25 |Location=The Unending Nightmare |Synopsis=Alo Stauss desperately dives into a burning building to try to recover... something. |Ca..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2025/02/25
|Location=The Unending Nightmare
|Synopsis=Alo Stauss desperately dives into a burning building to try to recover... something.
|Cast of Characters=216
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
}}
Alo Stauss wasn't sure how long she had been wandering, lost and feeling a strange sense of frustration and loss. That she'd missed out on something. That she'd felt she'd lost someone or something important to her. For the life of her, she couldn't tell exactly who or what though... just that it was something she was supposed to get.

Instead she'd been wandering, lost, the sense of frustration at the situation building with each passing eternity of her wandering in that oppressive darkness. Occasionally the oppressive darkness seemed to fade away for moments, as she wandered through strange locales, strange areas that ... did not quite feel like somewhere she would be. Sometimes possibly seeing faces of people that she felt like she should recognize, but none of them seeming to do anything but stand there, never quite coming close enough to interact even if she chased after them...

Eventually she gave up.

All at once it came to an abrupt stop as in front of her stood a burning building, and an urgency to rescue something from inside. She dashed straight for the door, lifting the lance she barely realized she was holding to attempt to stab through the lock, struggling against the door briefly, before it gave way -- fire exploding out into her face, causing her to cough.

She ran into the building, continuing that desperate search, even as her body felt like it was burning up. She couldn't stop herself -- she didn't know how at this point, the desperation and drive to find it pushing her so firmly. As she entered a stairwell in the building that had looked like a single story building from the outside, fire fell down upon her from above, her shield lifted up to try to block off the worst of the burning as her skin burned to ash... but she continued.

Another door. Another stab. This time a falling log knocking her aside briefly -- but she follows up, breaking through the door... nearby windows shattering from the heat as fire burns in her chest -- along with it the frustration and building rage as she continues to search unsuccessfully. And then she sees it -- ahead of her -- her target.

A beautiful priestess, which she dashes towards to attempt to save, her hand outstretched towards her -- and in the moments before... the building collapses around her, crushing her underneath it, as fire burns through her body.

Darkness settles in.

This wasn't new. Not even death would spare her from this unending nightmare.

The Forgotten Princess could only press on.

...

...What was she even looking for, again?

Why did this burning rage and frustration continue in her chest?

...

...

"Who am I?"

Nobody answers, as Darkness Settles In.

2359/The Crown of Succession: Bischof

2025-02-26T18:01:13Z

Lanaberry:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/02/25
|Location=Ancient Shrine
|Synopsis=The Knight of Trial, Bischof activates, and the heroes (and villain) fight with both her and the Prinzessin to claim the Red Beryl jewel!
|Cast of Characters=216,80,197,265,145,107
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|Tinyplot2=Flameborn Façade
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Much like many of the other statues, the latest jewel activation was towards the edges of Tokyo, likely something designed into the older system to avoid too many activating at once. Or just to make the prince/princesses get in some extra exercise or something who knows really, ancient Belka was weird. This knight stands on the very top of an old shinto shrine, one still regularly visited by tourists, the statue having become the subject of rumors before its activation of the 'mysterious statue that appeared suddenly one day'. A less passive pose than the others, the mace-bearing statue holds its hands above its head, the mace held up high as if it were already preparing to cast a spell even before it activates. The Knight of Trial, Bishop stands waiting. An aura of darkness seeming to spill off of it subtly, to those magicall inclined. The effects of which have begun to show on the shrine around it, what was likely a once-beautiful garden is wilted and suffering, trees that should have regrown their leaves already still barren, and even the pond seems oddly murky, without any signs of life within it. But other than this leaking darkness... she still stands silently, the Red Beryl set within the mace shining darkly within that mace held above her head. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Okay, catching you up on things, we've gotten the Rook piece. I sealed that one, and a couple of weeks ago, we got the Knight piece, that one's been nabbed by Chrono. I hope he's gotten to a purifier since we didn't have one on-hand at the time." that's Zephyr talking to Sequoia. "Once the thing activates, I'll throw up a Barrier. We have no idea what this one'll do. Knight wasn't exactly a chatty one, but according to Rook... these ones'll be much more dangerous than either Pawn or Rook were."     Wind Dancer turns to look at the statue, taking in the layout of the area and getting a pensive look... "Knight was super-mobile... Rook was a defensive powerhouse with long-range attacks... Pawn was a swarm unit..." she muses. "This one will probably be a pain in the butt."     She deploys her Device, and spikes the haft on the ground, casting two spells in quick succession. "Telepathy Link."     < PING > < TELEPATHY. >     "Barrier Expansion."     < PING > < BARRIER >      The first spell sets up a pretty standard Devicer telepathy link for all non-Dark Energy units present to join, and the Barrier begins to expand out in an oil-slick dome that surrounds the entire shrine grounds and a few dozen meters around it too. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Well, the Trial is out of the way again, which Ginga Kingu can appreciate, for the sake of the city, of nothing else. When possible, it's best to keep things from getting out of hand - and a potentially rampaging knight is no joke. "This one probably won't make so good a sparring partner as the last," he remarks, as the barrier goes up. "Not with that obvious aura of corruption. Still, mace against sword is an interesting proposition..." 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "Rook piece, got it. ... Knight piece-- that was the one where Aloisia put me into a crater, right? My memory's still a little fuzzy from that one." To her credit, Sequoia Maybach is no longer concussed from that incident thanks to Tuxedo Mask's healing abilities. But that doesn't mean her memory hasn't taken a hit from getting her clock cleaned like she did that time.     This time... This time it's going to be different.     "Pawn. I definitely missed that one." She mutters as she pulls out her Device in Standby form, the small shield-shaped charm quickly expanding to a full sized riot shield as her clothes are instantly replaced with the white cloak and black tacticool armor of her Belkan Knight Armor.     Telepathy is set up. Okay,     Barrier is up next. Nice.     Weisser Ritter readies herself as best she can.     "Alright. I'm about as ready as I'm gonna be. So what's the plan. I play front line tank and you all DPS check this one into the ground?" 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' After having been kicked out of her hold shop, the fake Sunbreaker had spent a lot of time fuming about the loss. She was having it so good there. And furthermore, they had brought the Phantom Thief with them, and she had been unable to secure her too! A day to forget all around. She had gotten out of there as fast she could, since they had even managed to get her life insurance out of the way. This is the only life she has now. Better make it count. Fortunately, she has gathered enough energy that their main objective is still possible. But... aaaaaah! Why is it that she is forced to rely on that Mars now!? She was well on track to do both their parts, and laugh smugly in her face, and now? She has to wait around, hoping that fake Sailor Senshi didn't mess it up somehow! Why does her life has to be so cursed!? Ok, ok, she can still do this. Maybe get some of the ground work set up in advance. Yes, that will show her. She only needs to find a good enough shrine to prepare for the arrival of their masters, then start setting up the pieces. How hard could it possibly be? When she arrives at a suitable location, a deep sigh almost exhude her soul. Curses and Maledictions! Not only is there some other dark energy project. She has searched for a shrine for too long to give up now, so she is going to kick this down and reuse what she can. She pays no mind to the wilted flowers as she approaches the Bishop, burning flame in hand. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's accompanied at least one of the others here.     She's not feeling her best, but... Darkness never sleeps, does it? Veronica's still a (talking) cat, Phantom is evil again, Yokina and Molly's bodies have been taken over, there are still psychos from an alternate future doing terrorism out of revenge against versions of her friends that aren't even *in* this timeline... And she's back down to only a single partial grief seed as backup; getting so many last month was just too good to last.     The Knight was dealt with quickly. Hopefully the Bishop will be the same, and she can get out of here with only a little magic expenditure before the Prinzessin even shows up.     Of course it had to be weird. "So... it's ''already'' leaking darkness... this is gonna be a much harder fight, isn't it..." she sighs.     She shrugs to Weisser Ritter, "Sounds like a plan, we'll see if it survives contact with the-- YOU?!"     Magical Rocket Girl Red stares in surprise at the fake Sunbreaker. "What're ''you'' doing here?! Look, if you think you can ally with the Prinzessin... the thing controlling her wants to destroy ''everything'', that includes you and your master!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     After a moment's thought, Amy adds, bowing just slightly, "Also, I'm sorry for asking to take the ring. I thought it was what was cursing Veronica and didn't realize your existence depended on it." Some things are important to be reasonable about, even to your enemies! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Barrier expansion. Ping. Incoming. As the barrier expands, the statue activates... Not because of proximity. Not because anyone accidentally strayed too close who happened to have one of the jewels. It's the unmistakable pulse of Prinzessin Nicht's arrival which causes the activation of the statue, the Statue beginning its speech. However this one feels more... Off than the others. <I am the wise priestess. I am here to test your purity. Be bathed in the unholy fires of the light to prove your impurity.> And the knight breaks out of its stony prison, darkness pouring off of it, the temperature of the area rising as she raises that mace high, with Black Fire beginning to spark into life around her. There is no obvious attack yet, perhaps thankfully. At least from her. There /IS/ a Prinzessin Nichts flying in at high speed to attempt to stab her though, something which the Bishop deflects with its shield, the two struggling against each other as Darkness clashes with Darkness, the barriered plantlife completely wilting away to ashen ground as the darkness spills out and the heat rises in the area. Before the heat rises to a dangerous level... A wave of ice rolls over the ground, ice crystals floating in the air and bringing the temperature back down to an acceptable level. Still hot, but at least it's not so terrible as to knock people out of the fight before they can even truly begin. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Pawn was the one where you got spiked like an american football in the final seconds." remarks Zephyr.     She frowns at the other arrivals. There's Amy again... Chrono's on overwatch and reinforcing the Barrier. That's good... who the heck is that person with the fire hand though... Amy seems to know them.     < PING > < Chief! >     That's all the warning she gets before Nichts comes crashing in through the Barrier... thankfully it's one designed to keep things IN, rather than OUT, so that pulse of power doesn't shatter the Barrier like an over-ripe grape.     <<Ritter, Red, I'm open to ideas here...>     She brandishs her Device, flexing the blades at the head as she hesitates... the two powerful Darkness entities clashing giving her pause. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Open to ideas, the telepathy says? Ginga Kingu has one. <<Stay out of the way.>> Unfortunately, those who were at the first fight against the Prinzessin and the second - will have a very good idea of what that means, as the mahoujin in the blue military-inspired uniform raises a hand to the heavens and calls: "King's Pillar!" Light gathers at the very top of the barrier, high in the heavens, and blinding, blue-white and intense - and then it crashes to the ground in beam the size of a large forest clearing, intent on razing to the ground everything in it's path, including the two combatants. The sheer pressure and force are enough to turn stone to dust, to turn trees to splinters. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' The fake Sunbreaker audibly groans when she notices a magical girl approach her, and it is one of those that forced her out of the shop even! Can she have one thing, one at all, go right!? "I have no business with you today, so just scram, I need this thing out of the way", she points to the statue with her free hand. "Yeah, whatever, that doesn't change the plans. Thanks for the warning though, I will be sure to take care of this zero of a princess", she dismisses Amy's apology. Sunfaker frowns at Prinzessin Nichts, about to address her before she has to stop as the princess of nothingness starts fighting with the statue then. This... wasn't her project then? Good, then they can deal with this thing and the clone of greed can chase her away later. "Let me show you what real unholy fire looks like", Sunfaker grins, cruel black flames dancing in front of her. Those flames grow and take the shape of a bear, fiery paws with claws of fire striking at the statue. The bad part is that, for her intent of having a new home base, she wasn't really keeping her attack under control, and flames spread out of its body, threatening to set the shrine on fire. It's in a matter of seconds that Chrono's ice blades swiftly descend to take care of the cursed flames, keeping the shrine safe from them. "Be careful where you get those", Sunbreaker scowls. Keep them away from the statue and her attacks, and they are good. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I'm sorry who is that?" Sequoia asks at the sight of 'Sunbreaker'. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She asks very pointedly, waggling a finger.     Nevertheless she nods. "Oh. Right. That happened at Pawn." Yeah she got her chess pieces mixed up, Sequoia is not a chess player.     But dang that's a painful way to put--- "Wait I thought you spike volleyballs?"     Despite the fact that NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DEBATING THIS because...     <OFFIZIER! EINGEHEND!> Sequoia's Device announces as soon as it detects that first pulse of the Prinzessin's presence.     "Shoot-- she's here!"     Indeed she is here as she clashes with the Bishop and uh...     "Okay I'll hold off Aloisia..." She says gritting her teeth. "Try to put the Rook-" She starts to say before her Device helpfully corrects her: <BISCHOFF, OFFIZIER.> "--Yes that. WHATEVER."     "Kingu--" She starts to say.     And then a freaking magical tac-nuke drops on the Priestess and the Princess.     ...     "Yeah. Do that." Sequoia says, shielding her eyes with one gauntlet as the pressure wave washes over her even at a safer distance, causing her cloak to ripple and flutter as she digs her heels into the ground to keep her balance.     "Alright. Basic plan. If they're still standing after that I'll hold off Aloisia."     She's set on her course. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Oh ''no''.     Amy feels a chill as the Prinzessin flies in -- and ignores all of them to fight the corrupted Bishop.     Uhh...     ''Man'' she does just wanna drop a huge attack on them but it would cost so much magic. It kind of feels as if her magic doesn't ''scale'' efficiently, really; any big attack will take more magic than doing the same amount of damage with a lot of smaller attacks would do over more time. She hasn't got any way to cheese that!     It still feels like an opportunity lost, though.     Sugata can make use of it, at least! <<Got it.>> She acknowledges, making sure ''not'' to approach the combatants any closer. She does, however, summon a grenade launcher and fire a few incendiaries towards the end of the King's Pillar. To give the Prinzessin something extra to deal with, if she stays there the ground will be on fire! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Luckily she'd also been partially there already during the formation of the barrier, which likely reduced disruption to it. On the downside she was there during the formation of the barrier, so keeping her /out/ had probably not been an option. <UNHEILIGES AUFFLACKERN> Intones the Priestess as she knocks the Prinzessin back post-class, black fire-wreathed darts sent flying towards the princess, fire striking shield and armor and leaving sizzling red marks on the armor that dissipate quickly back to normal, the molten darts tinkling to the ground before melting away to dark energy which once upon a time would likely bless the ground below, but instead soaks it in that uncomfortable darkness. Good thing they were in a barrier to help contain that rapidly spreading corruption. Kings Pillar! Both Priestess and Prinzessin immediately turn towards the oncoming blasting zone. Escape was impossible, so both raise their shields to the sky. <GEFANGNIS DER PYMIDEN.> Intones the Prinzessin, a black pyramid sparking into life around them, a twisted corruption of Aloisia's signature pyramid barrier, meanwhile alongside it the Priestess intones alongside... <ZUFLUCHT.> And what once would have been a holy sanctuary-shaped barrier sparks to life, creating a two-layered high defense barrier inside of the pyramid. The worst of King's Pillar being deflected by the pyramid shape of the high defense barrier, possibly sending the King's Pillar deflected outward towards those outside of the barriered area! Eventually it does shatter through that barrier... and then the second... the Prinzessin and Priestess holding their shields up as they're consumed in the blue-white light... And the pair still stand, both of them smoking somewhat, but otherwise seeming... far less worse for wear than one would expect them to be after taking that. And both of them were now Looking at Kingu. <UN--> The priestess starts to intone-- only for there to be a flaming bear swiping at her, interrupting her cast and causing her to have to defend against it, her mace brought immediately to bear towards the bear with a magical glow around it -- intent to simply swipe through it's head, the magic possibly disrupting its form! Meanwhile, Prinzessin Nichts is dashing towards Ginga Kingu, shield held ahead of her as a black-red aura surrounds the lance in her hands. <DURCHDRINGENDE LEERE.> And the lance is brought to bear, attempting to stab into the center of Ginga Kingu's chest in response, much less massive of an attack compared to his -- but no doubt dangerous should it strike. Luckily, at least at present, the attacks are more single target. For the moment. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Stay out of the way.     King's Pillar.     "Right... Got it." Zephyr also shields herself from the splash of that tactical magic nuke. A shield of lines and runes forming to take that collateral energy wash.     "Saints, and that's just the wash from the impact." she grunts, skidding back a few paces before the strike subsides... and both targets are still standing. Sequoia runs in without any hesitation... and Zephyr continues to hesitate.     "What are you waiting for, c'mon they need you!" she chides herself... but she can't seem to make herself move. The sheer power being thrown around... she understands how haunted Chrono must feel... it's insane just how much power some of these mahou have... and the Dark Energy users are even worse!     < Chief. We can do this. Focus on the Bishop, if we can take it out and seal the gem... the Princess will have nothing. >     The sound of her Device's voice seems to steel the Wind Dancer, and without a further word, she kips up into a hover, and launches straight for the Bishop, aiming to come around on a flank while the Statue is distracted by the fire-bear.     The blades of her Device lim with purple energy, and begin to boil as they charge for one of her empowered melee strikes. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' "The real form of a copy, here to exceed the original and give your new sovereigns their freedom", Sunbreaker announces to Weisser Ritter proudly, not taking her eyes off the statue. There is something to say about the show of power that was going on here from the duo that had just wiped out most of that pillar. Coming here was good just for that. Her masters will appreciate the info. Meanwhile, the mace was indeed hard to the bear, who gets the upper part of its body pummeled off by the power of the Bishop. "Damn thing just pushed away that attack and still goes after mine", she complains, string of fire rushing from her hand to the two bear halves, putting it back together. Forming a fireball in her hands, the clone of flames shapes it in a whip, and with a flex of her wrist, she tries to strike at the bishop, the elongating whip's thong trying to wrap itself around the statue's wrist while the bear attempts to bite her. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     Well this is happening. If the Prinzessin was already in the barrier as it was being formed the team's going to have to deal with her, and... To tell the honest truth, Sequoia is not looking forward to that.     When the light from the King's Pillar dies down and the shimmery silver light of Sequoia's shield spell that she put up to cover herself from it dies with it, there's another problem.     <<CRAP! Kingu's got aggro!>>     This dawning realization sets in fast as the Prinzessin dashes right for the mahou shounen.     For Sequoia-- for Weisser Ritter-- time seems to slow down as she skids her boots and turns to start rushing to Kingu's aid.     <VESTARKEN SPRUNG.> Her Device intones. In the next instant Weisser Ritter is launched through the air in a long-as-heck and sudden horizontal leap and it's as that lance is drawing dangerously nearer that she slams into it from the side, at full force and full tilt, to smack it off course as she positions herself in front of Kingu.     "Alright... This time... This time it's gonna be different, princess." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' King's Pillar comes down. King's Pillar gets - largely deflected, the pyramid shape shedding energy from all sides, and Sugata thrusts his arms up over his chest, an X, and the energy - his energy, Samekh's energy - can't knock him down, but it is ''irritating'' to see so much of it shunted aside. It's like attacking Cybodies in Third Phase all over again - no. Not quite as bad as that, he realizes, as the smoking figures come into view. Ah. They didn't enjoy surviving that, and his hand is flying to his chest, energy flooding the mark of Samekh - "Star Swordo - Diamante!" The pure white energy sword is drawn from his chest, pulled out and meant to try and deflect the lance barreling for his chest - And then there's Weisser Ritter, crashing in with her shield, and he can only stare in surprise at being rescued. ...well, only stare for a moment. "Thank you," he calls, and then - shunts forward in an attempt to stab the knight while her lance is being deflected. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy dives behind whoever's got a shield when the King's Pillar is deflected. That's bullshit! Such bullshit!     But maybe also kinda on them for forgetting about the Prinzessin's pyramid barriers.     And well... Okay, Sunfaker's got the bishop busy, but the Prinzessin is going right for Kingu.     Which is kind of a problem for most of her attacks, honestly. She can't just leave ''no'' attacks going on the Prinzessin as Weisser Ritter and Sugata focus on defense, though! If they don't keep the pressure up, the Prinzessin will be free to figure out how to counter defenses...     It's kind of a piddly attack, given Amy's trying to not blow up ''friends'', but she keeps firing gyrojets, little homing bullets, at the Prinzessin to make her defend more than just Sugata.      

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' The bear that had disrupted its attack dispatched, the priestess begins to turn to continue its assault on the others -- when a flaming whip wraps around its wrist, halting its movements with a flaming whip as a bear bites at her -- two things that hold it in place for the oncoming Wind Dancer and her empowered melee strike to her! Crack! ... The strike causes the armor that the priestess wears to crack, bits of stone crumbling out of the spot where it was struck at. <FEGEFEUER.> The Priestess suddenly pulls on the whip-holding arm to knock it free, possibly sending the clone off balance with the sudden jerk... so that she can lift both arms up into the air and grip the mace in both, the red beryl set in its head glowing with dark energy. And a small flame appears at the tip of it, growing tighter for a moment. Devices nearby ping a warning, as the fire suddenly explodes outward into a rolling wave of explosive fire centered on the priestess-- ironically, due to Zephyr's relatively close proximity to the Priestess, mostly sparing her from the attack -- as black flames begin to engulf the area. Luckily there's enough time for shielding attempts with warnings from the Device users. Also the bear is spared-ish. It probably helps it's made of fire. Meanwhile, as Prinzessin Nichts is in her high-speed dash towards Ginga Kingu, a familiar figure appears from the side, a certain shield-wielding enemy that had deflected her in the past. And was there to do the same again, knocking her lance off-center to result in it leaving a sizzling hole in the ground, a concerning amount of earth just ... Missing from where the lance impacted. And as her lance is deflected, a sword is coming towards her to attempt to stab her. ...That almost unnatural movement happens, an audible ~crack~ as her shield moves in a way the human body is not meant to, the shield almost seeming to snap into place to deflect the stab in ways that likely caused injury to the host body -- that Konigsende did not care about -- <WERDEN NICHTS.> ...It's not actually a spell intonation, it's... vague annoyance from the device? Followed by the actual spell.. <FELD DES NICHTS.> Ah it's not attacking. It's defending itself from the oncoming wave of dark fire by using its defensive spell. Though... it's... tighter? More focused? ...Probably to keep Kingu and Weisser Ritter from riding on its defenses. And as the fire washes over the area, she would burst out of said fire, briefly sans shield... with a glowing fist. Aimed for Weisser Ritter's face. Yeah Konigsende might have taken being deflected again personally. Veeeeee~~boom! A few little homing mini-rockets come flying in, exploding on the Prinzessin's form post-attack... leaving little cracks and holes in her armor which slowly start to close themselves back up upon taking damage. <PLATZEN> The little homing bullets get several scattershots of dark energy launched back at her. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < Chief! >     That's all the warning Zephyr gets, as the Bishop makes a fire tornado, with her and the statue at the eye.     There's nothing she can do for the others, save to alert them via telepathy to find cover or put up defenses.     <<Shield up or get behind something. Bishop's doing something big.>>     Message sent, she drops to land, curling as she barely manages to stay in that nullzone where the flame is only scorchingly hot, not actually setting her on fire.     "Drive Ignition. Gear Second." she intones.     < PING > < TEMPEST DRIVE IGNITION. GEAR SECOND. STORM MODE. >     The battleax becomes a hand-ax, and three Bits spall off of it. "Area formation, Barret Volley. Tempest Barret, Typhoon Shift."     Her mismatched eyes lock onto the Bishop, sparing a glance for where Sunfaker and the fire-bear might have ended up, before she locks in.     < PING > < AREA FORMATION SET. TEMPEST BARRET TYPHOON SHIFT. >     Motes of purple light form around the bits, and the Mage herself, then start lancing down from all sides in short-lived pulses as the spheres elongate like miniature Buster beams, lashing at the Bishop's frame with all the power she can muster. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I gotchu." Is Weisser Ritter's reply to Kingu. "Let's hold her off so the others can deal with the Queen."     <BISCHOFF.>> Her Device corrects.     "Yeah that."     Her inability to tell chess pieces apart aside, the young Belkan Knight raises her shield, several layered shimmering shields of light forming up to protect her and Kingu and Amy from the roiling flames of darkness as best she can.     But indeed, she managed to deflect that lance, and golden eyes dip to where it lays embedded in the smoldering earth. Sequoia can't help but wince internally when that unnatural movement happens and something clearly breaks to get that shield in place, but she has to force it from her mind because the dark princess is on a crash course towards her, arm reeled back for one hell of a haymaker.     Weisser Ritter clenches her jaw.     This will not be pleasant but... She does not raise her shield nor does she call upon any shield spells.     She looks down at her Device, the stalwart shield in her arms. She puts her faith in her Device as much as she puts her faith in her allies and friends here to back her up.     <<I'll hold her. You punch.>>     That's the only warning anyone gets over the telepathic line as Sequoia braces for impact. Now. One might think she's going to raise her defenses sometime... Soon... Maybe at the last second?     Nah dawg.     Sequoia eats that fist like a bowl of cheerios.     There's a low grunt of pain as the girl's head jerks violently from the impact of the blow, the sheer force causing her to skid back as Prinzessin's momentum carries her into the strike and...     Okay why is she smiling?     "My turn."     That's the only warning the Princess of Nothing gets as a Belkan spell circle forms beneath Sequoia's feet.     <UNZERBRECHLICHES GEFANGNIS!> Her Device announces as countless lenths of chains formed from white light snap up to try and entomb the Prinzessin in magical bind spells. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' Watching the enemy struggle to hold on makes Sunbreaker smiles cruelly, holding onto the whip and forming the intense heat in her hands, what has turned out to be the setup for several spears, ready to flung en masse against the Bishop, and finally rid this place of that ugly statue once and for all. And then come the counter of the moving trial, her arm drawn back forcefully causing the fake Sunbreaker to snap into the air, losing the hold on the whip and on the spear she had been forming, which dissolve like they had never been there. Sent crashing against a wall, blurs of white fill the clone's vision, a pained groan briefly coming out of her mouth as she slides to the ground. "Ok, then", she drags herself up let's see how you like this", Sunfaker looks at the Bishop with desire to her scatter till not even dust remains. Commanding at the fire bear, it goes back to her and the flames grow hotter and larger, losing the shape of the bear to become a shining sphere of dark fire as wide as twice the height of a person and almost as tall. The fake creature born of flames gives it a kick, uncaring of the damage it would give to the shrine well before the Bishop, but a rain of ice swords intevene to cut into the sphere repeatedly before it reaches the building. Chrono's intervention stops the careless attack from severely damaging the shrine, and each of the pieces of the sphere dissipates. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' What's happening with the others registers with Sugata - only a fool completely shuts off his attention in a battlefield - but he's got to focus on the Prinzessin, who is fully out to kill the both of them. He's trusting defense to Weisser Ritter, because she's earned that trust through her proven strength. She is a defensive wall, and he knows what those are like - he grew beside Wako, after all. He still grimaces at the unnatural movement that allows the block, and though he doesn't ''understand'' the Prinzessin, he's the kind of man who's earned being told off enough that he shoots back - "You first." Without even understanding the Belkan language. That wave of fire and dark energy is coming closer - he should do something about that. [ansi(#00ffff,"King's Counter!")] And the blue-white energy forms a square before himself, Ritter, and yes, the Prinzessin, reflecting the dark wave of fire back towards the Priestess and Sunfaker. And when Weisser Ritter binds the Prinzessin, he moves in to start striking at her, energy blade hammering towards joints and perceived points of weakness in the armor. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ''winces'' as the Prinzessin goes as far as damaging her body -- no, Aloisia's body -- to fight. Amy tried that against Beryl, it was a BAD PLAN. Who knows how much of Aloisia it burns for power to regenerate the damage. Unlike Amy, the entity controlling Aloisia doesn't have to care...     Anyway, dark energy scattershots come at her. Amy barely has time to react to the first hitting her, but then a cloud of smoke explodes around her so that the Prinzessin can't see that rather than dodging she's dropped to the ground so the followup shots sail over her.     That was ''interesting'' though. Amy thought that overwhelming extreme single attacks were needed to do damage. She might be able to develop better attacks to use against the Prinzessin -- when she's not in melee with Amy's friends, anyway!     Then her mind processes Wind Dancer's warning and she scrambles to her feet, running out of the smoke AWAY from the bishop as flame engulfs the area. "Dammit!"     At least the Prinzessin just punched the White Knight away from herself. Opportunity! Amy doesn't have time to think up something customized to the situation, so she grabs a previously-studied weapon from memory, HEIAP warheads, and sticks them on missiles the size of magic markers fired from some kinda oversized scifi pistols so she can dual-wield them. She fires them guns akimbo while running to get back behind the tanks. Whatever, she doesn't have to be accurate, magic can make them home!     Admittedly, these are anti-materiel rounds meant to fire through the wall of a light vehicle and then explode burning awfulness all over the inside, so this isn't actually QUITE the right use case, but Amy's pretty sure it will nonetheless be awful.     Although a moment afterward, as she steps behind White Knight, she wonders if somewhere in there Aloisia is going to be able to feel all the burning. Um. Yikes. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' DRIVE IGNITION! Bits swarm around the priestess, sending lancing blasts of energy from all angles, the priestess deflecting and blocking against what she can with her shield, occasional barriers popping up here and there -- but the swarm of bits continuous firing pattern allows it to get around the worst of those defenses before eventually the Priestess opts for the most direct form of defense. Bringing that mace in a quick underhand stroke towards Zephyr, attempting to strike her in an upward strike that will hopefully break the mage's focus as those attacks continue to lance in! Luckily it wasn't imbued with any magic, so the worst of it is likely mitigated by the barrier jacket, but the strength between the knight's blow is no joke regardless. More cracks are showing in the statue's form from the attacks though, and in the wake of that wave of fire another wave of ice washes over the battlefield to cool things off once more, bringing the temperature, once more, back down to more reasonable levels. Chrono might be muttering about belkans off in the distance. Really, damaging the shrine was probably less of an issue than protecting Zephyr from getting caught in the crossfire of the attack, the shrine was in a barrier so would be fine... probably. Unless the barrier got destroyed. Then all bets are off, really. Meanwhile, that punch strikes true... and ... ... then a prison of chains wrap around Prinzessin Nichts. Pulling her down towars the ground, almost on one knee, the other one planted firmly into the ground to keep her from going fully down to one knee. Perhaps some minor amount of pride keeping her from kneeling there. Who knows, considering that blank gaze that didn't bely any emotion. Aloisia would probably be proud if she could see any of this. ...Also probably tell her to use her darn shield since you can shield AND bind but that's beside the point. Meanwhile the energy blade was hammering towards joints, points of weakness in the armor, causing damage from stab after stab... and then small warcrimes are being launched into her form, piercing shots that penetrate armor and unleash burning awfulness. Crack. Crack. <GENUG.> Pings Konigsende. The telltale heartbeat-pulse of Aloisia's body being drained pulses through the area. As Prinzessin Nichts slowly pushes herself into a standing position, those chains straining and struggling against her as that dark energy eats away at the chains. Until they snap. And Prinzessin Nichts is... Gone, turned away from the three that were harassing her as she refocuses on her objective: The jewel. <SPLITTERPUNKT> Black and red energy gathers at the tip of the lance as she rockets towards the distracted and damaged Priestess. And stabbing through the center of her back. She doesn't even do her final line, instead. Just. Shattering. And she reaches to attempt to claim the red beryl... but of course... Dashing away and leaving one's back open is not exactly the wisest course of action. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Oh right. They're not trying to defeat the Prinzessin here.     Just to beat her to the jewel.     As Amy sees the Prinzessin turn away to fly towards the jewel, Amy telepathically warns the Galactic King and White Knight: << DUCK! >>     Because, screw fancy complicated ammo or fancy magic, she needs to use her ''original'' plan for dealing with the Prinzessin: Knocking her away and buying them a couple more seconds to act.     To that end, Amy's guns are gone as she's got the giant artillery tube on her shoulder-- '''BOOM!''' --firing nearly 7kg of dense lead cannonball at half a kilometer a second at the Prinzessin's back.     << GO! >> Amy follows up her warning as soon as she's fired, to let them know they're not in the line of fire anymore. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < ARMOUR SKIN > Tenraikaze announces, reinforcing that Barrier Jacket with a field effect to absorb the unpowered strike.     The impact does knock the mage back a few paces, digging up the ground under her heels... but those bits continue to circlestrafe like they were playing a bullet-hell game... right up until Nichts comes in and shatters the statue, and tries to grab the gemstone.     < PING > < ISOLATION SPHERE. >     A tiny Barrier forms around the dislodged Beryl stone, suddenly lurching towards Zephyr as she refocusses those Bits onto the Prinzessin, their lancing bolts aiming to dissuade pursuit.     "Seal it!" cries Zephyr, wincing at the throbbing ache in her chest from the blow she took.     < PING > < SCAN COMPLETE. RED BERYL #98136. REGISTERED. SEALING. >     The gem, and sphere pulse, shrink and slip into Zephyr's Device, as she backpedals and jumps into the air.     <<I've got the gem, scatter!>> she transmits, looking to see if anyone needs help escaping. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' With her anger reaching her peak, the clone of fire feels like she is about to turn her power against the blue-haired soldier that is thwarting her efforts again and again, that she is starting to see red just as much as she is burning. Prinzessin Nichts showing her her back came just at the right moment to give her another target to the wild sentiments that call for chaos and ruin. "Got this for you, princess zero", she grins, spears of fire cutting through the air towards the princess' vulnerable spot. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Ah. Right. Their goal isn't just to ''defeat'' the enemies - and Ginga Kingu is not restricted to just the ground. As the Prinzessin lunges for the Priestess and pierces her through, Ginga Kingu launches himself into the air, blue-white energy blazing from his feet as he soars above Amy's enormous cannonball and then hurls his sword at the Prinzessin's hand, intending to stop her from grasping the Red Beryl - "Star Crash!" The energy sword flies for the Prinzessin, trailing blue-white energy. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Her fingers get mere centimeters away from the jewel, close enough she nearly touches it -- only for a barrier to flash into life, her fingers bouncing off of it... and a sword stabbing through her hand to keep her hand even further away from her prize. And then it is sealed away inside of Wind Dancer's device. And moments latter an artillery tube fires at her. A dense lead cannonball striking the center of Prinzessin Nicht's back and sending her stumbling forward as a ~crunch~ is audible through the area of crumpling armor. That is rapidly followed up with by spears of fire that stab into her, sizzling in her body. She seems to hang there limply for a moment, her arms falling down to her side and head lolling forward. Perhaps in shock of the jewel being literally snatched from between her fingers. Perhaps in shock from the sheer level of damage that was being shot towards her at the moment. And then, though the gravity does not change, it feels as if it does. As the sheer pressure of her energy is unleashed as her head lifts to the sky. The first active noise that Prinzessin Nichts herself has made. And it is a /scream/. A scream full of rage. Of frustration. Of pain. And glowing yellow eyes turn towards the one who attacked her last. Weapons are forgotten as she leaps towards the Sunbreaker of Greed, hand outstretched towards her face to attempt to grab her. At the last moment, from above, a swarm of glowing swords fall down on her. Stabbing into her. And she shoots off into the sky. Chasing the source of the attack. ...And the shrine is left in unnerving peace in the wake of the intense battle. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ''winces'' when she sees everyone's attacks hit the Prinzessin. They're really doing a number on her today! She wishes she had recordings so she knew what was different this time-- wait, don't Devicers have that sort of thing? Or at least, the Devices can help analyze? She makes a mental note to talk to them about that.     They sealed the gem. Hooray! But the Prinzessin turns... on Sunfaker.     Sunfaker was an ally, today -- someone who helped, she won't abandon! She changes her weapon back to a gyrojet and starts to aim, but the swords are already driving her off.     ''Driving her off.''     They... ''made the Prinzessin Nichts '''leave?!'''''     "Holy ''shit.'' We actually drove her off... That was ''amazing'', everyone..."     ''But how much more of Aloisia did that cursed Device spend...?'' Amy wonders. She does not say it out loud. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "Hm," Ginga Kingu says, watching Chrono lead the Prinzessin Nichts off. "He's faster than her, he'll manage." He looks at the others - Weisser Ritter and Zephyr both down, Faust looking worried - and digs out his cellphone. "I'm calling a ride for us. Faust, as the one conscious, do you want to pick the 'post fight snack'?" What? He's got money and space, and they've got two worn out allies. Food generally helps people. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' There is sadistic satisfaction in the fake Sunbreaker when she watches Prinzessin Nichts get hit by the rain of fire and then fall into that scream of rage. She wishes she had brought one of those recording devices with her. At least a phone. This would have been priceless, all the more so when she could have rubbed it in the other clone's face. A lot of those feelings turn to panic as that anger and dark fury turns to her, and she scrambles to put up a shield, bracing for the impact, with flames swaying to the direction of the wind, just mere seconds before the face she sees through the moving flames gets ever closer. There is a lot of relief when the other dark energy user runs off in the distance after the irritating ice shortie. With that worry for a moment, she doesn't have to see how things would have ended and ia free to dismiss the shield. She... probably should have stopped and thought. No, the sparkles now know she would be here and she needs a different place, one with with no known hero around. She is quick to run away as well, not stopping for anything before any of them get any ideas. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Fake Sunbreaker actually gets a wave! She helped, and so for today is given respect as the original was. Buuuut then she's running off, and Amy has to admit: Others may well be less forgiving -- as with Amy's friends' attitudes towards the original.     The several-hundred-pound tube hits the ground with a CLANG before turning into pink sparkles as Sugata comes to her and asks what to do for a post-fight snack.     She looks around at the state of her allies: Tuckered out, it seems. She considers, holding a finger to her chin.     "...So I know we're in Japan and it's not as much of a big deal here, but what about sushi? It's not like it's any less delicious just 'cuz it's common here." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "American-style sushi isn't very similar to actual sushi," he warns her, but then says - "Still, it's nutritious, and I think we'll all need that. Do you have a favorite, or shall I ask Tiger to give us a recommendation?" He's absolutely going for it. Sushi for the fight crew is a guarantee. "...by the way, who was that fake Sunbreaker? It can't have been the real deal, she didn't insult me." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "I've been in Japan for years. Sometimes..." Amy de-henshins, and looks at her hand, "Something that's nice and a wonderful treat is still pretty great, years later." She smiles.     "I'll take the reccomendation. Who's Tiger?" She shifts the shirt under her open coat to be the one with the chibi cartoon tiger saying 'nyo' on it, to emphasize the question.     She slips her hands into her coat pockets. It's cold out. "...One of Princess of Sarek's enemies -- we already recovered the artifact she had so Veronica can talk again, if we can get the other one from the fake Sailor Mars she should become human again. Fake Mars said she might work with us, I'm not sure about trusting this one, but she helped us today, so." Amy shrugs. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Sugata inclines his head in a nod, taking her word for it. As long as Faust-san is comfortable with the options - he's seen American sushi online, and it's fascinating and not at all traditional - then he doesn't mind that being the choice of snack. "Tiger Sugatame is one of my maids," he says blandly, knowing that if Wako was here she would elbow him but not deny it. "Jaguara Yamasugata is the other; they're usually nearby when I'm about." The two were more than just maids, after all, but the friends tasked with killing him if he ever went off the correct path and showed a sign that he would use Samekh's power for evil. It's easy to pick out his name in their surnames. "Tiger was with me before I got the call; she's probably restless waiting for me." Not that he's in a particular hurry, texting her as he is to send the car. "She does have a recommendation for this area; one of everything sound satisfying, or should we go for two?" He remembers the Princess of Sarek from a few brief encounters, and wonders at her apparently losing her ability to speak, and her human form. "The enemy of my enemy can be a momentary friend - but you're wise not to trust her just yet. Still, she could have done worse. Her bite isn't as bad as the original's bark." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "...Did you say ''one of your maids?''" Amy sounds shocked. She holds a hand to the side of her head. "I really am living in an anime now..."     AND they're 'usually nearby when he's about' which means they're probably trained ninja bodyguards, too.     'One of--' she mouths after he says that, ''slightly'' shocked but not nearly so much as by the probably-ninja maids. "Are we gonna be able to eat that much?" Amy looks at the others. "...I defer to your judgement, I'm not used to ordering for big groups."     She looks in the direction Sunfaker went. "You say that, but... I get the impression most of our allies had a rather worse impression of Sunbreaker." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "I did," he says, with only the faintest hint of a smile. "And it's always been normal to me. Aren't anime meant to be filled with fantastical situations?" He's trolling her but with the truth - it's the best kind of trolling, honestly. Sure, Tiger is a friend - but she's a servant and a knife at his back, first. Just like he is friend, but young master and threat to monitor, first. They really are trained ninja bodyguards. "I'm inviting Wako and Takuto, so we'll have enough people. The point is to be able to try anything we'd like, without having to worry about missing out. I believe they call it eating the menu?" He's seen it on Viewtube. "And perhaps, but though I encountered her rarely, she certainly had spirit. She threatened to kill me once, for harming her beloved." He is clearly impressed. "This fake could do worse in borrowing a name." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     It's always been normal to me. Aren't anime meant to be filled with fantastical situations?     =_= Amy suspects trolling.     "...I guess everyone has different standards. For some, having had a PC in the house since I was two, a small home network before I was ten, and enough to have people over for Quake deathmatches in high school would've sounded like something out of fiction, I guess."     "Not to mention. Y'know. Life now." She points with her thumb at the shirt.     "...Sure. We can eat the menu."     Amy simply nods at his evaluation of the original Sunbreaker, not having much more to say. 
}}

2359/The Crown of Succession: Bischof

2025-02-26T17:58:36Z

Lanaberry:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/02/25
|Location=Ancient Shrine
|Synopsis=The Knight of Trial, Bischof activates, and the heroes (and villain) fight with both her and the Prinzessin to claim the Red Beryl jewel!
|Cast of Characters=216,80,197,265,145,107
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Much like many of the other statues, the latest jewel activation was towards the edges of Tokyo, likely something designed into the older system to avoid too many activating at once. Or just to make the prince/princesses get in some extra exercise or something who knows really, ancient Belka was weird. This knight stands on the very top of an old shinto shrine, one still regularly visited by tourists, the statue having become the subject of rumors before its activation of the 'mysterious statue that appeared suddenly one day'. A less passive pose than the others, the mace-bearing statue holds its hands above its head, the mace held up high as if it were already preparing to cast a spell even before it activates. The Knight of Trial, Bishop stands waiting. An aura of darkness seeming to spill off of it subtly, to those magicall inclined. The effects of which have begun to show on the shrine around it, what was likely a once-beautiful garden is wilted and suffering, trees that should have regrown their leaves already still barren, and even the pond seems oddly murky, without any signs of life within it. But other than this leaking darkness... she still stands silently, the Red Beryl set within the mace shining darkly within that mace held above her head. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Okay, catching you up on things, we've gotten the Rook piece. I sealed that one, and a couple of weeks ago, we got the Knight piece, that one's been nabbed by Chrono. I hope he's gotten to a purifier since we didn't have one on-hand at the time." that's Zephyr talking to Sequoia. "Once the thing activates, I'll throw up a Barrier. We have no idea what this one'll do. Knight wasn't exactly a chatty one, but according to Rook... these ones'll be much more dangerous than either Pawn or Rook were."     Wind Dancer turns to look at the statue, taking in the layout of the area and getting a pensive look... "Knight was super-mobile... Rook was a defensive powerhouse with long-range attacks... Pawn was a swarm unit..." she muses. "This one will probably be a pain in the butt."     She deploys her Device, and spikes the haft on the ground, casting two spells in quick succession. "Telepathy Link."     < PING > < TELEPATHY. >     "Barrier Expansion."     < PING > < BARRIER >      The first spell sets up a pretty standard Devicer telepathy link for all non-Dark Energy units present to join, and the Barrier begins to expand out in an oil-slick dome that surrounds the entire shrine grounds and a few dozen meters around it too. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Well, the Trial is out of the way again, which Ginga Kingu can appreciate, for the sake of the city, of nothing else. When possible, it's best to keep things from getting out of hand - and a potentially rampaging knight is no joke. "This one probably won't make so good a sparring partner as the last," he remarks, as the barrier goes up. "Not with that obvious aura of corruption. Still, mace against sword is an interesting proposition..." 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "Rook piece, got it. ... Knight piece-- that was the one where Aloisia put me into a crater, right? My memory's still a little fuzzy from that one." To her credit, Sequoia Maybach is no longer concussed from that incident thanks to Tuxedo Mask's healing abilities. But that doesn't mean her memory hasn't taken a hit from getting her clock cleaned like she did that time.     This time... This time it's going to be different.     "Pawn. I definitely missed that one." She mutters as she pulls out her Device in Standby form, the small shield-shaped charm quickly expanding to a full sized riot shield as her clothes are instantly replaced with the white cloak and black tacticool armor of her Belkan Knight Armor.     Telepathy is set up. Okay,     Barrier is up next. Nice.     Weisser Ritter readies herself as best she can.     "Alright. I'm about as ready as I'm gonna be. So what's the plan. I play front line tank and you all DPS check this one into the ground?" 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' After having been kicked out of her hold shop, the fake Sunbreaker had spent a lot of time fuming about the loss. She was having it so good there. And furthermore, they had brought the Phantom Thief with them, and she had been unable to secure her too! A day to forget all around. She had gotten out of there as fast she could, since they had even managed to get her life insurance out of the way. This is the only life she has now. Better make it count. Fortunately, she has gathered enough energy that their main objective is still possible. But... aaaaaah! Why is it that she is forced to rely on that Mars now!? She was well on track to do both their parts, and laugh smugly in her face, and now? She has to wait around, hoping that fake Sailor Senshi didn't mess it up somehow! Why does her life has to be so cursed!? Ok, ok, she can still do this. Maybe get some of the ground work set up in advance. Yes, that will show her. She only needs to find a good enough shrine to prepare for the arrival of their masters, then start setting up the pieces. How hard could it possibly be? When she arrives at a suitable location, a deep sigh almost exhude her soul. Curses and Maledictions! Not only is there some other dark energy project. She has searched for a shrine for too long to give up now, so she is going to kick this down and reuse what she can. She pays no mind to the wilted flowers as she approaches the Bishop, burning flame in hand. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's accompanied at least one of the others here.     She's not feeling her best, but... Darkness never sleeps, does it? Veronica's still a (talking) cat, Phantom is evil again, Yokina and Molly's bodies have been taken over, there are still psychos from an alternate future doing terrorism out of revenge against versions of her friends that aren't even *in* this timeline... And she's back down to only a single partial grief seed as backup; getting so many last month was just too good to last.     The Knight was dealt with quickly. Hopefully the Bishop will be the same, and she can get out of here with only a little magic expenditure before the Prinzessin even shows up.     Of course it had to be weird. "So... it's ''already'' leaking darkness... this is gonna be a much harder fight, isn't it..." she sighs.     She shrugs to Weisser Ritter, "Sounds like a plan, we'll see if it survives contact with the-- YOU?!"     Magical Rocket Girl Red stares in surprise at the fake Sunbreaker. "What're ''you'' doing here?! Look, if you think you can ally with the Prinzessin... the thing controlling her wants to destroy ''everything'', that includes you and your master!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     After a moment's thought, Amy adds, bowing just slightly, "Also, I'm sorry for asking to take the ring. I thought it was what was cursing Veronica and didn't realize your existence depended on it." Some things are important to be reasonable about, even to your enemies! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Barrier expansion. Ping. Incoming. As the barrier expands, the statue activates... Not because of proximity. Not because anyone accidentally strayed too close who happened to have one of the jewels. It's the unmistakable pulse of Prinzessin Nicht's arrival which causes the activation of the statue, the Statue beginning its speech. However this one feels more... Off than the others. <I am the wise priestess. I am here to test your purity. Be bathed in the unholy fires of the light to prove your impurity.> And the knight breaks out of its stony prison, darkness pouring off of it, the temperature of the area rising as she raises that mace high, with Black Fire beginning to spark into life around her. There is no obvious attack yet, perhaps thankfully. At least from her. There /IS/ a Prinzessin Nichts flying in at high speed to attempt to stab her though, something which the Bishop deflects with its shield, the two struggling against each other as Darkness clashes with Darkness, the barriered plantlife completely wilting away to ashen ground as the darkness spills out and the heat rises in the area. Before the heat rises to a dangerous level... A wave of ice rolls over the ground, ice crystals floating in the air and bringing the temperature back down to an acceptable level. Still hot, but at least it's not so terrible as to knock people out of the fight before they can even truly begin. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Pawn was the one where you got spiked like an american football in the final seconds." remarks Zephyr.     She frowns at the other arrivals. There's Amy again... Chrono's on overwatch and reinforcing the Barrier. That's good... who the heck is that person with the fire hand though... Amy seems to know them.     < PING > < Chief! >     That's all the warning she gets before Nichts comes crashing in through the Barrier... thankfully it's one designed to keep things IN, rather than OUT, so that pulse of power doesn't shatter the Barrier like an over-ripe grape.     <<Ritter, Red, I'm open to ideas here...>     She brandishs her Device, flexing the blades at the head as she hesitates... the two powerful Darkness entities clashing giving her pause. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Open to ideas, the telepathy says? Ginga Kingu has one. <<Stay out of the way.>> Unfortunately, those who were at the first fight against the Prinzessin and the second - will have a very good idea of what that means, as the mahoujin in the blue military-inspired uniform raises a hand to the heavens and calls: "King's Pillar!" Light gathers at the very top of the barrier, high in the heavens, and blinding, blue-white and intense - and then it crashes to the ground in beam the size of a large forest clearing, intent on razing to the ground everything in it's path, including the two combatants. The sheer pressure and force are enough to turn stone to dust, to turn trees to splinters. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' The fake Sunbreaker audibly groans when she notices a magical girl approach her, and it is one of those that forced her out of the shop even! Can she have one thing, one at all, go right!? "I have no business with you today, so just scram, I need this thing out of the way", she points to the statue with her free hand. "Yeah, whatever, that doesn't change the plans. Thanks for the warning though, I will be sure to take care of this zero of a princess", she dismisses Amy's apology. Sunfaker frowns at Prinzessin Nichts, about to address her before she has to stop as the princess of nothingness starts fighting with the statue then. This... wasn't her project then? Good, then they can deal with this thing and the clone of greed can chase her away later. "Let me show you what real unholy fire looks like", Sunfaker grins, cruel black flames dancing in front of her. Those flames grow and take the shape of a bear, fiery paws with claws of fire striking at the statue. The bad part is that, for her intent of having a new home base, she wasn't really keeping her attack under control, and flames spread out of its body, threatening to set the shrine on fire. It's in a matter of seconds that Chrono's ice blades swiftly descend to take care of the cursed flames, keeping the shrine safe from them. "Be careful where you get those", Sunbreaker scowls. Keep them away from the statue and her attacks, and they are good. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I'm sorry who is that?" Sequoia asks at the sight of 'Sunbreaker'. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She asks very pointedly, waggling a finger.     Nevertheless she nods. "Oh. Right. That happened at Pawn." Yeah she got her chess pieces mixed up, Sequoia is not a chess player.     But dang that's a painful way to put--- "Wait I thought you spike volleyballs?"     Despite the fact that NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DEBATING THIS because...     <OFFIZIER! EINGEHEND!> Sequoia's Device announces as soon as it detects that first pulse of the Prinzessin's presence.     "Shoot-- she's here!"     Indeed she is here as she clashes with the Bishop and uh...     "Okay I'll hold off Aloisia..." She says gritting her teeth. "Try to put the Rook-" She starts to say before her Device helpfully corrects her: <BISCHOFF, OFFIZIER.> "--Yes that. WHATEVER."     "Kingu--" She starts to say.     And then a freaking magical tac-nuke drops on the Priestess and the Princess.     ...     "Yeah. Do that." Sequoia says, shielding her eyes with one gauntlet as the pressure wave washes over her even at a safer distance, causing her cloak to ripple and flutter as she digs her heels into the ground to keep her balance.     "Alright. Basic plan. If they're still standing after that I'll hold off Aloisia."     She's set on her course. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Oh ''no''.     Amy feels a chill as the Prinzessin flies in -- and ignores all of them to fight the corrupted Bishop.     Uhh...     ''Man'' she does just wanna drop a huge attack on them but it would cost so much magic. It kind of feels as if her magic doesn't ''scale'' efficiently, really; any big attack will take more magic than doing the same amount of damage with a lot of smaller attacks would do over more time. She hasn't got any way to cheese that!     It still feels like an opportunity lost, though.     Sugata can make use of it, at least! <<Got it.>> She acknowledges, making sure ''not'' to approach the combatants any closer. She does, however, summon a grenade launcher and fire a few incendiaries towards the end of the King's Pillar. To give the Prinzessin something extra to deal with, if she stays there the ground will be on fire! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Luckily she'd also been partially there already during the formation of the barrier, which likely reduced disruption to it. On the downside she was there during the formation of the barrier, so keeping her /out/ had probably not been an option. <UNHEILIGES AUFFLACKERN> Intones the Priestess as she knocks the Prinzessin back post-class, black fire-wreathed darts sent flying towards the princess, fire striking shield and armor and leaving sizzling red marks on the armor that dissipate quickly back to normal, the molten darts tinkling to the ground before melting away to dark energy which once upon a time would likely bless the ground below, but instead soaks it in that uncomfortable darkness. Good thing they were in a barrier to help contain that rapidly spreading corruption. Kings Pillar! Both Priestess and Prinzessin immediately turn towards the oncoming blasting zone. Escape was impossible, so both raise their shields to the sky. <GEFANGNIS DER PYMIDEN.> Intones the Prinzessin, a black pyramid sparking into life around them, a twisted corruption of Aloisia's signature pyramid barrier, meanwhile alongside it the Priestess intones alongside... <ZUFLUCHT.> And what once would have been a holy sanctuary-shaped barrier sparks to life, creating a two-layered high defense barrier inside of the pyramid. The worst of King's Pillar being deflected by the pyramid shape of the high defense barrier, possibly sending the King's Pillar deflected outward towards those outside of the barriered area! Eventually it does shatter through that barrier... and then the second... the Prinzessin and Priestess holding their shields up as they're consumed in the blue-white light... And the pair still stand, both of them smoking somewhat, but otherwise seeming... far less worse for wear than one would expect them to be after taking that. And both of them were now Looking at Kingu. <UN--> The priestess starts to intone-- only for there to be a flaming bear swiping at her, interrupting her cast and causing her to have to defend against it, her mace brought immediately to bear towards the bear with a magical glow around it -- intent to simply swipe through it's head, the magic possibly disrupting its form! Meanwhile, Prinzessin Nichts is dashing towards Ginga Kingu, shield held ahead of her as a black-red aura surrounds the lance in her hands. <DURCHDRINGENDE LEERE.> And the lance is brought to bear, attempting to stab into the center of Ginga Kingu's chest in response, much less massive of an attack compared to his -- but no doubt dangerous should it strike. Luckily, at least at present, the attacks are more single target. For the moment. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Stay out of the way.     King's Pillar.     "Right... Got it." Zephyr also shields herself from the splash of that tactical magic nuke. A shield of lines and runes forming to take that collateral energy wash.     "Saints, and that's just the wash from the impact." she grunts, skidding back a few paces before the strike subsides... and both targets are still standing. Sequoia runs in without any hesitation... and Zephyr continues to hesitate.     "What are you waiting for, c'mon they need you!" she chides herself... but she can't seem to make herself move. The sheer power being thrown around... she understands how haunted Chrono must feel... it's insane just how much power some of these mahou have... and the Dark Energy users are even worse!     < Chief. We can do this. Focus on the Bishop, if we can take it out and seal the gem... the Princess will have nothing. >     The sound of her Device's voice seems to steel the Wind Dancer, and without a further word, she kips up into a hover, and launches straight for the Bishop, aiming to come around on a flank while the Statue is distracted by the fire-bear.     The blades of her Device lim with purple energy, and begin to boil as they charge for one of her empowered melee strikes. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' "The real form of a copy, here to exceed the original and give your new sovereigns their freedom", Sunbreaker announces to Weisser Ritter proudly, not taking her eyes off the statue. There is something to say about the show of power that was going on here from the duo that had just wiped out most of that pillar. Coming here was good just for that. Her masters will appreciate the info. Meanwhile, the mace was indeed hard to the bear, who gets the upper part of its body pummeled off by the power of the Bishop. "Damn thing just pushed away that attack and still goes after mine", she complains, string of fire rushing from her hand to the two bear halves, putting it back together. Forming a fireball in her hands, the clone of flames shapes it in a whip, and with a flex of her wrist, she tries to strike at the bishop, the elongating whip's thong trying to wrap itself around the statue's wrist while the bear attempts to bite her. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     Well this is happening. If the Prinzessin was already in the barrier as it was being formed the team's going to have to deal with her, and... To tell the honest truth, Sequoia is not looking forward to that.     When the light from the King's Pillar dies down and the shimmery silver light of Sequoia's shield spell that she put up to cover herself from it dies with it, there's another problem.     <<CRAP! Kingu's got aggro!>>     This dawning realization sets in fast as the Prinzessin dashes right for the mahou shounen.     For Sequoia-- for Weisser Ritter-- time seems to slow down as she skids her boots and turns to start rushing to Kingu's aid.     <VESTARKEN SPRUNG.> Her Device intones. In the next instant Weisser Ritter is launched through the air in a long-as-heck and sudden horizontal leap and it's as that lance is drawing dangerously nearer that she slams into it from the side, at full force and full tilt, to smack it off course as she positions herself in front of Kingu.     "Alright... This time... This time it's gonna be different, princess." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' King's Pillar comes down. King's Pillar gets - largely deflected, the pyramid shape shedding energy from all sides, and Sugata thrusts his arms up over his chest, an X, and the energy - his energy, Samekh's energy - can't knock him down, but it is ''irritating'' to see so much of it shunted aside. It's like attacking Cybodies in Third Phase all over again - no. Not quite as bad as that, he realizes, as the smoking figures come into view. Ah. They didn't enjoy surviving that, and his hand is flying to his chest, energy flooding the mark of Samekh - "Star Swordo - Diamante!" The pure white energy sword is drawn from his chest, pulled out and meant to try and deflect the lance barreling for his chest - And then there's Weisser Ritter, crashing in with her shield, and he can only stare in surprise at being rescued. ...well, only stare for a moment. "Thank you," he calls, and then - shunts forward in an attempt to stab the knight while her lance is being deflected. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy dives behind whoever's got a shield when the King's Pillar is deflected. That's bullshit! Such bullshit!     But maybe also kinda on them for forgetting about the Prinzessin's pyramid barriers.     And well... Okay, Sunfaker's got the bishop busy, but the Prinzessin is going right for Kingu.     Which is kind of a problem for most of her attacks, honestly. She can't just leave ''no'' attacks going on the Prinzessin as Weisser Ritter and Sugata focus on defense, though! If they don't keep the pressure up, the Prinzessin will be free to figure out how to counter defenses...     It's kind of a piddly attack, given Amy's trying to not blow up ''friends'', but she keeps firing gyrojets, little homing bullets, at the Prinzessin to make her defend more than just Sugata.      

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' The bear that had disrupted its attack dispatched, the priestess begins to turn to continue its assault on the others -- when a flaming whip wraps around its wrist, halting its movements with a flaming whip as a bear bites at her -- two things that hold it in place for the oncoming Wind Dancer and her empowered melee strike to her! Crack! ... The strike causes the armor that the priestess wears to crack, bits of stone crumbling out of the spot where it was struck at. <FEGEFEUER.> The Priestess suddenly pulls on the whip-holding arm to knock it free, possibly sending the clone off balance with the sudden jerk... so that she can lift both arms up into the air and grip the mace in both, the red beryl set in its head glowing with dark energy. And a small flame appears at the tip of it, growing tighter for a moment. Devices nearby ping a warning, as the fire suddenly explodes outward into a rolling wave of explosive fire centered on the priestess-- ironically, due to Zephyr's relatively close proximity to the Priestess, mostly sparing her from the attack -- as black flames begin to engulf the area. Luckily there's enough time for shielding attempts with warnings from the Device users. Also the bear is spared-ish. It probably helps it's made of fire. Meanwhile, as Prinzessin Nichts is in her high-speed dash towards Ginga Kingu, a familiar figure appears from the side, a certain shield-wielding enemy that had deflected her in the past. And was there to do the same again, knocking her lance off-center to result in it leaving a sizzling hole in the ground, a concerning amount of earth just ... Missing from where the lance impacted. And as her lance is deflected, a sword is coming towards her to attempt to stab her. ...That almost unnatural movement happens, an audible ~crack~ as her shield moves in a way the human body is not meant to, the shield almost seeming to snap into place to deflect the stab in ways that likely caused injury to the host body -- that Konigsende did not care about -- <WERDEN NICHTS.> ...It's not actually a spell intonation, it's... vague annoyance from the device? Followed by the actual spell.. <FELD DES NICHTS.> Ah it's not attacking. It's defending itself from the oncoming wave of dark fire by using its defensive spell. Though... it's... tighter? More focused? ...Probably to keep Kingu and Weisser Ritter from riding on its defenses. And as the fire washes over the area, she would burst out of said fire, briefly sans shield... with a glowing fist. Aimed for Weisser Ritter's face. Yeah Konigsende might have taken being deflected again personally. Veeeeee~~boom! A few little homing mini-rockets come flying in, exploding on the Prinzessin's form post-attack... leaving little cracks and holes in her armor which slowly start to close themselves back up upon taking damage. <PLATZEN> The little homing bullets get several scattershots of dark energy launched back at her. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < Chief! >     That's all the warning Zephyr gets, as the Bishop makes a fire tornado, with her and the statue at the eye.     There's nothing she can do for the others, save to alert them via telepathy to find cover or put up defenses.     <<Shield up or get behind something. Bishop's doing something big.>>     Message sent, she drops to land, curling as she barely manages to stay in that nullzone where the flame is only scorchingly hot, not actually setting her on fire.     "Drive Ignition. Gear Second." she intones.     < PING > < TEMPEST DRIVE IGNITION. GEAR SECOND. STORM MODE. >     The battleax becomes a hand-ax, and three Bits spall off of it. "Area formation, Barret Volley. Tempest Barret, Typhoon Shift."     Her mismatched eyes lock onto the Bishop, sparing a glance for where Sunfaker and the fire-bear might have ended up, before she locks in.     < PING > < AREA FORMATION SET. TEMPEST BARRET TYPHOON SHIFT. >     Motes of purple light form around the bits, and the Mage herself, then start lancing down from all sides in short-lived pulses as the spheres elongate like miniature Buster beams, lashing at the Bishop's frame with all the power she can muster. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I gotchu." Is Weisser Ritter's reply to Kingu. "Let's hold her off so the others can deal with the Queen."     <BISCHOFF.>> Her Device corrects.     "Yeah that."     Her inability to tell chess pieces apart aside, the young Belkan Knight raises her shield, several layered shimmering shields of light forming up to protect her and Kingu and Amy from the roiling flames of darkness as best she can.     But indeed, she managed to deflect that lance, and golden eyes dip to where it lays embedded in the smoldering earth. Sequoia can't help but wince internally when that unnatural movement happens and something clearly breaks to get that shield in place, but she has to force it from her mind because the dark princess is on a crash course towards her, arm reeled back for one hell of a haymaker.     Weisser Ritter clenches her jaw.     This will not be pleasant but... She does not raise her shield nor does she call upon any shield spells.     She looks down at her Device, the stalwart shield in her arms. She puts her faith in her Device as much as she puts her faith in her allies and friends here to back her up.     <<I'll hold her. You punch.>>     That's the only warning anyone gets over the telepathic line as Sequoia braces for impact. Now. One might think she's going to raise her defenses sometime... Soon... Maybe at the last second?     Nah dawg.     Sequoia eats that fist like a bowl of cheerios.     There's a low grunt of pain as the girl's head jerks violently from the impact of the blow, the sheer force causing her to skid back as Prinzessin's momentum carries her into the strike and...     Okay why is she smiling?     "My turn."     That's the only warning the Princess of Nothing gets as a Belkan spell circle forms beneath Sequoia's feet.     <UNZERBRECHLICHES GEFANGNIS!> Her Device announces as countless lenths of chains formed from white light snap up to try and entomb the Prinzessin in magical bind spells. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' Watching the enemy struggle to hold on makes Sunbreaker smiles cruelly, holding onto the whip and forming the intense heat in her hands, what has turned out to be the setup for several spears, ready to flung en masse against the Bishop, and finally rid this place of that ugly statue once and for all. And then come the counter of the moving trial, her arm drawn back forcefully causing the fake Sunbreaker to snap into the air, losing the hold on the whip and on the spear she had been forming, which dissolve like they had never been there. Sent crashing against a wall, blurs of white fill the clone's vision, a pained groan briefly coming out of her mouth as she slides to the ground. "Ok, then", she drags herself up let's see how you like this", Sunfaker looks at the Bishop with desire to her scatter till not even dust remains. Commanding at the fire bear, it goes back to her and the flames grow hotter and larger, losing the shape of the bear to become a shining sphere of dark fire as wide as twice the height of a person and almost as tall. The fake creature born of flames gives it a kick, uncaring of the damage it would give to the shrine well before the Bishop, but a rain of ice swords intevene to cut into the sphere repeatedly before it reaches the building. Chrono's intervention stops the careless attack from severely damaging the shrine, and each of the pieces of the sphere dissipates. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' What's happening with the others registers with Sugata - only a fool completely shuts off his attention in a battlefield - but he's got to focus on the Prinzessin, who is fully out to kill the both of them. He's trusting defense to Weisser Ritter, because she's earned that trust through her proven strength. She is a defensive wall, and he knows what those are like - he grew beside Wako, after all. He still grimaces at the unnatural movement that allows the block, and though he doesn't ''understand'' the Prinzessin, he's the kind of man who's earned being told off enough that he shoots back - "You first." Without even understanding the Belkan language. That wave of fire and dark energy is coming closer - he should do something about that. [ansi(#00ffff,"King's Counter!")] And the blue-white energy forms a square before himself, Ritter, and yes, the Prinzessin, reflecting the dark wave of fire back towards the Priestess and Sunfaker. And when Weisser Ritter binds the Prinzessin, he moves in to start striking at her, energy blade hammering towards joints and perceived points of weakness in the armor. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ''winces'' as the Prinzessin goes as far as damaging her body -- no, Aloisia's body -- to fight. Amy tried that against Beryl, it was a BAD PLAN. Who knows how much of Aloisia it burns for power to regenerate the damage. Unlike Amy, the entity controlling Aloisia doesn't have to care...     Anyway, dark energy scattershots come at her. Amy barely has time to react to the first hitting her, but then a cloud of smoke explodes around her so that the Prinzessin can't see that rather than dodging she's dropped to the ground so the followup shots sail over her.     That was ''interesting'' though. Amy thought that overwhelming extreme single attacks were needed to do damage. She might be able to develop better attacks to use against the Prinzessin -- when she's not in melee with Amy's friends, anyway!     Then her mind processes Wind Dancer's warning and she scrambles to her feet, running out of the smoke AWAY from the bishop as flame engulfs the area. "Dammit!"     At least the Prinzessin just punched the White Knight away from herself. Opportunity! Amy doesn't have time to think up something customized to the situation, so she grabs a previously-studied weapon from memory, HEIAP warheads, and sticks them on missiles the size of magic markers fired from some kinda oversized scifi pistols so she can dual-wield them. She fires them guns akimbo while running to get back behind the tanks. Whatever, she doesn't have to be accurate, magic can make them home!     Admittedly, these are anti-materiel rounds meant to fire through the wall of a light vehicle and then explode burning awfulness all over the inside, so this isn't actually QUITE the right use case, but Amy's pretty sure it will nonetheless be awful.     Although a moment afterward, as she steps behind White Knight, she wonders if somewhere in there Aloisia is going to be able to feel all the burning. Um. Yikes. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' DRIVE IGNITION! Bits swarm around the priestess, sending lancing blasts of energy from all angles, the priestess deflecting and blocking against what she can with her shield, occasional barriers popping up here and there -- but the swarm of bits continuous firing pattern allows it to get around the worst of those defenses before eventually the Priestess opts for the most direct form of defense. Bringing that mace in a quick underhand stroke towards Zephyr, attempting to strike her in an upward strike that will hopefully break the mage's focus as those attacks continue to lance in! Luckily it wasn't imbued with any magic, so the worst of it is likely mitigated by the barrier jacket, but the strength between the knight's blow is no joke regardless. More cracks are showing in the statue's form from the attacks though, and in the wake of that wave of fire another wave of ice washes over the battlefield to cool things off once more, bringing the temperature, once more, back down to more reasonable levels. Chrono might be muttering about belkans off in the distance. Really, damaging the shrine was probably less of an issue than protecting Zephyr from getting caught in the crossfire of the attack, the shrine was in a barrier so would be fine... probably. Unless the barrier got destroyed. Then all bets are off, really. Meanwhile, that punch strikes true... and ... ... then a prison of chains wrap around Prinzessin Nichts. Pulling her down towars the ground, almost on one knee, the other one planted firmly into the ground to keep her from going fully down to one knee. Perhaps some minor amount of pride keeping her from kneeling there. Who knows, considering that blank gaze that didn't bely any emotion. Aloisia would probably be proud if she could see any of this. ...Also probably tell her to use her darn shield since you can shield AND bind but that's beside the point. Meanwhile the energy blade was hammering towards joints, points of weakness in the armor, causing damage from stab after stab... and then small warcrimes are being launched into her form, piercing shots that penetrate armor and unleash burning awfulness. Crack. Crack. <GENUG.> Pings Konigsende. The telltale heartbeat-pulse of Aloisia's body being drained pulses through the area. As Prinzessin Nichts slowly pushes herself into a standing position, those chains straining and struggling against her as that dark energy eats away at the chains. Until they snap. And Prinzessin Nichts is... Gone, turned away from the three that were harassing her as she refocuses on her objective: The jewel. <SPLITTERPUNKT> Black and red energy gathers at the tip of the lance as she rockets towards the distracted and damaged Priestess. And stabbing through the center of her back. She doesn't even do her final line, instead. Just. Shattering. And she reaches to attempt to claim the red beryl... but of course... Dashing away and leaving one's back open is not exactly the wisest course of action. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Oh right. They're not trying to defeat the Prinzessin here.     Just to beat her to the jewel.     As Amy sees the Prinzessin turn away to fly towards the jewel, Amy telepathically warns the Galactic King and White Knight: << DUCK! >>     Because, screw fancy complicated ammo or fancy magic, she needs to use her ''original'' plan for dealing with the Prinzessin: Knocking her away and buying them a couple more seconds to act.     To that end, Amy's guns are gone as she's got the giant artillery tube on her shoulder-- '''BOOM!''' --firing nearly 7kg of dense lead cannonball at half a kilometer a second at the Prinzessin's back.     << GO! >> Amy follows up her warning as soon as she's fired, to let them know they're not in the line of fire anymore. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < ARMOUR SKIN > Tenraikaze announces, reinforcing that Barrier Jacket with a field effect to absorb the unpowered strike.     The impact does knock the mage back a few paces, digging up the ground under her heels... but those bits continue to circlestrafe like they were playing a bullet-hell game... right up until Nichts comes in and shatters the statue, and tries to grab the gemstone.     < PING > < ISOLATION SPHERE. >     A tiny Barrier forms around the dislodged Beryl stone, suddenly lurching towards Zephyr as she refocusses those Bits onto the Prinzessin, their lancing bolts aiming to dissuade pursuit.     "Seal it!" cries Zephyr, wincing at the throbbing ache in her chest from the blow she took.     < PING > < SCAN COMPLETE. RED BERYL #98136. REGISTERED. SEALING. >     The gem, and sphere pulse, shrink and slip into Zephyr's Device, as she backpedals and jumps into the air.     <<I've got the gem, scatter!>> she transmits, looking to see if anyone needs help escaping. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' With her anger reaching her peak, the clone of fire feels like she is about to turn her power against the blue-haired soldier that is thwarting her efforts again and again, that she is starting to see red just as much as she is burning. Prinzessin Nichts showing her her back came just at the right moment to give her another target to the wild sentiments that call for chaos and ruin. "Got this for you, princess zero", she grins, spears of fire cutting through the air towards the princess' vulnerable spot. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Ah. Right. Their goal isn't just to ''defeat'' the enemies - and Ginga Kingu is not restricted to just the ground. As the Prinzessin lunges for the Priestess and pierces her through, Ginga Kingu launches himself into the air, blue-white energy blazing from his feet as he soars above Amy's enormous cannonball and then hurls his sword at the Prinzessin's hand, intending to stop her from grasping the Red Beryl - "Star Crash!" The energy sword flies for the Prinzessin, trailing blue-white energy. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Her fingers get mere centimeters away from the jewel, close enough she nearly touches it -- only for a barrier to flash into life, her fingers bouncing off of it... and a sword stabbing through her hand to keep her hand even further away from her prize. And then it is sealed away inside of Wind Dancer's device. And moments latter an artillery tube fires at her. A dense lead cannonball striking the center of Prinzessin Nicht's back and sending her stumbling forward as a ~crunch~ is audible through the area of crumpling armor. That is rapidly followed up with by spears of fire that stab into her, sizzling in her body. She seems to hang there limply for a moment, her arms falling down to her side and head lolling forward. Perhaps in shock of the jewel being literally snatched from between her fingers. Perhaps in shock from the sheer level of damage that was being shot towards her at the moment. And then, though the gravity does not change, it feels as if it does. As the sheer pressure of her energy is unleashed as her head lifts to the sky. The first active noise that Prinzessin Nichts herself has made. And it is a /scream/. A scream full of rage. Of frustration. Of pain. And glowing yellow eyes turn towards the one who attacked her last. Weapons are forgotten as she leaps towards the Sunbreaker of Greed, hand outstretched towards her face to attempt to grab her. At the last moment, from above, a swarm of glowing swords fall down on her. Stabbing into her. And she shoots off into the sky. Chasing the source of the attack. ...And the shrine is left in unnerving peace in the wake of the intense battle. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ''winces'' when she sees everyone's attacks hit the Prinzessin. They're really doing a number on her today! She wishes she had recordings so she knew what was different this time-- wait, don't Devicers have that sort of thing? Or at least, the Devices can help analyze? She makes a mental note to talk to them about that.     They sealed the gem. Hooray! But the Prinzessin turns... on Sunfaker.     Sunfaker was an ally, today -- someone who helped, she won't abandon! She changes her weapon back to a gyrojet and starts to aim, but the swords are already driving her off.     ''Driving her off.''     They... ''made the Prinzessin Nichts '''leave?!'''''     "Holy ''shit.'' We actually drove her off... That was ''amazing'', everyone..."     ''But how much more of Aloisia did that cursed Device spend...?'' Amy wonders. She does not say it out loud. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "Hm," Ginga Kingu says, watching Chrono lead the Prinzessin Nichts off. "He's faster than her, he'll manage." He looks at the others - Weisser Ritter and Zephyr both down, Faust looking worried - and digs out his cellphone. "I'm calling a ride for us. Faust, as the one conscious, do you want to pick the 'post fight snack'?" What? He's got money and space, and they've got two worn out allies. Food generally helps people. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' There is sadistic satisfaction in the fake Sunbreaker when she watches Prinzessin Nichts get hit by the rain of fire and then fall into that scream of rage. She wishes she had brought one of those recording devices with her. At least a phone. This would have been priceless, all the more so when she could have rubbed it in the other clone's face. A lot of those feelings turn to panic as that anger and dark fury turns to her, and she scrambles to put up a shield, bracing for the impact, with flames swaying to the direction of the wind, just mere seconds before the face she sees through the moving flames gets ever closer. There is a lot of relief when the other dark energy user runs off in the distance after the irritating ice shortie. With that worry for a moment, she doesn't have to see how things would have ended and ia free to dismiss the shield. She... probably should have stopped and thought. No, the sparkles now know she would be here and she needs a different place, one with with no known hero around. She is quick to run away as well, not stopping for anything before any of them get any ideas. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Fake Sunbreaker actually gets a wave! She helped, and so for today is given respect as the original was. Buuuut then she's running off, and Amy has to admit: Others may well be less forgiving -- as with Amy's friends' attitudes towards the original.     The several-hundred-pound tube hits the ground with a CLANG before turning into pink sparkles as Sugata comes to her and asks what to do for a post-fight snack.     She looks around at the state of her allies: Tuckered out, it seems. She considers, holding a finger to her chin.     "...So I know we're in Japan and it's not as much of a big deal here, but what about sushi? It's not like it's any less delicious just 'cuz it's common here." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "American-style sushi isn't very similar to actual sushi," he warns her, but then says - "Still, it's nutritious, and I think we'll all need that. Do you have a favorite, or shall I ask Tiger to give us a recommendation?" He's absolutely going for it. Sushi for the fight crew is a guarantee. "...by the way, who was that fake Sunbreaker? It can't have been the real deal, she didn't insult me." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "I've been in Japan for years. Sometimes..." Amy de-henshins, and looks at her hand, "Something that's nice and a wonderful treat is still pretty great, years later." She smiles.     "I'll take the reccomendation. Who's Tiger?" She shifts the shirt under her open coat to be the one with the chibi cartoon tiger saying 'nyo' on it, to emphasize the question.     She slips her hands into her coat pockets. It's cold out. "...One of Princess of Sarek's enemies -- we already recovered the artifact she had so Veronica can talk again, if we can get the other one from the fake Sailor Mars she should become human again. Fake Mars said she might work with us, I'm not sure about trusting this one, but she helped us today, so." Amy shrugs. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Sugata inclines his head in a nod, taking her word for it. As long as Faust-san is comfortable with the options - he's seen American sushi online, and it's fascinating and not at all traditional - then he doesn't mind that being the choice of snack. "Tiger Sugatame is one of my maids," he says blandly, knowing that if Wako was here she would elbow him but not deny it. "Jaguara Yamasugata is the other; they're usually nearby when I'm about." The two were more than just maids, after all, but the friends tasked with killing him if he ever went off the correct path and showed a sign that he would use Samekh's power for evil. It's easy to pick out his name in their surnames. "Tiger was with me before I got the call; she's probably restless waiting for me." Not that he's in a particular hurry, texting her as he is to send the car. "She does have a recommendation for this area; one of everything sound satisfying, or should we go for two?" He remembers the Princess of Sarek from a few brief encounters, and wonders at her apparently losing her ability to speak, and her human form. "The enemy of my enemy can be a momentary friend - but you're wise not to trust her just yet. Still, she could have done worse. Her bite isn't as bad as the original's bark." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "...Did you say ''one of your maids?''" Amy sounds shocked. She holds a hand to the side of her head. "I really am living in an anime now..."     AND they're 'usually nearby when he's about' which means they're probably trained ninja bodyguards, too.     'One of--' she mouths after he says that, ''slightly'' shocked but not nearly so much as by the probably-ninja maids. "Are we gonna be able to eat that much?" Amy looks at the others. "...I defer to your judgement, I'm not used to ordering for big groups."     She looks in the direction Sunfaker went. "You say that, but... I get the impression most of our allies had a rather worse impression of Sunbreaker." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "I did," he says, with only the faintest hint of a smile. "And it's always been normal to me. Aren't anime meant to be filled with fantastical situations?" He's trolling her but with the truth - it's the best kind of trolling, honestly. Sure, Tiger is a friend - but she's a servant and a knife at his back, first. Just like he is friend, but young master and threat to monitor, first. They really are trained ninja bodyguards. "I'm inviting Wako and Takuto, so we'll have enough people. The point is to be able to try anything we'd like, without having to worry about missing out. I believe they call it eating the menu?" He's seen it on Viewtube. "And perhaps, but though I encountered her rarely, she certainly had spirit. She threatened to kill me once, for harming her beloved." He is clearly impressed. "This fake could do worse in borrowing a name." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     It's always been normal to me. Aren't anime meant to be filled with fantastical situations?     =_= Amy suspects trolling.     "...I guess everyone has different standards. For some, having had a PC in the house since I was two, a small home network before I was ten, and enough to have people over for Quake deathmatches in high school would've sounded like something out of fiction, I guess."     "Not to mention. Y'know. Life now." She points with her thumb at the shirt.     "...Sure. We can eat the menu."     Amy simply nods at his evaluation of the original Sunbreaker, not having much more to say. 
}}

2359/The Crown of Succession: Bischof

2025-02-26T13:42:50Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/02/26 |Location=Ancient Shrine |Synopsis=The wise Bishop stands atop a shrine, holding her mace and shield at the ready to defend the faithful..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/02/26
|Location=Ancient Shrine
|Synopsis=The wise Bishop stands atop a shrine, holding her mace and shield at the ready to defend the faithful.
|Cast of Characters=216,80,197,265,145,107
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Much like many of the other statues, the latest jewel activation was towards the edges of Tokyo, likely something designed into the older system to avoid too many activating at once. Or just to make the prince/princesses get in some extra exercise or something who knows really, ancient Belka was weird. This knight stands on the very top of an old shinto shrine, one still regularly visited by tourists, the statue having become the subject of rumors before its activation of the 'mysterious statue that appeared suddenly one day'. A less passive pose than the others, the mace-bearing statue holds its hands above its head, the mace held up high as if it were already preparing to cast a spell even before it activates. The Knight of Trial, Bishop stands waiting. An aura of darkness seeming to spill off of it subtly, to those magicall inclined. The effects of which have begun to show on the shrine around it, what was likely a once-beautiful garden is wilted and suffering, trees that should have regrown their leaves already still barren, and even the pond seems oddly murky, without any signs of life within it. But other than this leaking darkness... she still stands silently, the Red Beryl set within the mace shining darkly within that mace held above her head. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Okay, catching you up on things, we've gotten the Rook piece. I sealed that one, and a couple of weeks ago, we got the Knight piece, that one's been nabbed by Chrono. I hope he's gotten to a purifier since we didn't have one on-hand at the time." that's Zephyr talking to Sequoia. "Once the thing activates, I'll throw up a Barrier. We have no idea what this one'll do. Knight wasn't exactly a chatty one, but according to Rook... these ones'll be much more dangerous than either Pawn or Rook were."     Wind Dancer turns to look at the statue, taking in the layout of the area and getting a pensive look... "Knight was super-mobile... Rook was a defensive powerhouse with long-range attacks... Pawn was a swarm unit..." she muses. "This one will probably be a pain in the butt."     She deploys her Device, and spikes the haft on the ground, casting two spells in quick succession. "Telepathy Link."     < PING > < TELEPATHY. >     "Barrier Expansion."     < PING > < BARRIER >      The first spell sets up a pretty standard Devicer telepathy link for all non-Dark Energy units present to join, and the Barrier begins to expand out in an oil-slick dome that surrounds the entire shrine grounds and a few dozen meters around it too. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Well, the Trial is out of the way again, which Ginga Kingu can appreciate, for the sake of the city, of nothing else. When possible, it's best to keep things from getting out of hand - and a potentially rampaging knight is no joke. "This one probably won't make so good a sparring partner as the last," he remarks, as the barrier goes up. "Not with that obvious aura of corruption. Still, mace against sword is an interesting proposition..." 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "Rook piece, got it. ... Knight piece-- that was the one where Aloisia put me into a crater, right? My memory's still a little fuzzy from that one." To her credit, Sequoia Maybach is no longer concussed from that incident thanks to Tuxedo Mask's healing abilities. But that doesn't mean her memory hasn't taken a hit from getting her clock cleaned like she did that time.     This time... This time it's going to be different.     "Pawn. I definitely missed that one." She mutters as she pulls out her Device in Standby form, the small shield-shaped charm quickly expanding to a full sized riot shield as her clothes are instantly replaced with the white cloak and black tacticool armor of her Belkan Knight Armor.     Telepathy is set up. Okay,     Barrier is up next. Nice.     Weisser Ritter readies herself as best she can.     "Alright. I'm about as ready as I'm gonna be. So what's the plan. I play front line tank and you all DPS check this one into the ground?" 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' After having been kicked out of her hold shop, the fake Sunbreaker had spent a lot of time fuming about the loss. She was having it so good there. And furthermore, they had brought the Phantom Thief with them, and she had been unable to secure her too! A day to forget all around. She had gotten out of there as fast she could, since they had even managed to get her life insurance out of the way. This is the only life she has now. Better make it count. Fortunately, she has gathered enough energy that their main objective is still possible. But... aaaaaah! Why is it that she is forced to rely on that Mars now!? She was well on track to do both their parts, and laugh smugly in her face, and now? She has to wait around, hoping that fake Sailor Senshi didn't mess it up somehow! Why does her life has to be so cursed!? Ok, ok, she can still do this. Maybe get some of the ground work set up in advance. Yes, that will show her. She only needs to find a good enough shrine to prepare for the arrival of their masters, then start setting up the pieces. How hard could it possibly be? When she arrives at a suitable location, a deep sigh almost exhude her soul. Curses and Maledictions! Not only is there some other dark energy project. She has searched for a shrine for too long to give up now, so she is going to kick this down and reuse what she can. She pays no mind to the wilted flowers as she approaches the Bishop, burning flame in hand. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's accompanied at least one of the others here.     She's not feeling her best, but... Darkness never sleeps, does it? Veronica's still a (talking) cat, Phantom is evil again, Yokina and Molly's bodies have been taken over, there are still psychos from an alternate future doing terrorism out of revenge against versions of her friends that aren't even *in* this timeline... And she's back down to only a single partial grief seed as backup; getting so many last month was just too good to last.     The Knight was dealt with quickly. Hopefully the Bishop will be the same, and she can get out of here with only a little magic expenditure before the Prinzessin even shows up.     Of course it had to be weird. "So... it's ''already'' leaking darkness... this is gonna be a much harder fight, isn't it..." she sighs.     She shrugs to Weisser Ritter, "Sounds like a plan, we'll see if it survives contact with the-- YOU?!"     Magical Rocket Girl Red stares in surprise at the fake Sunbreaker. "What're ''you'' doing here?! Look, if you think you can ally with the Prinzessin... the thing controlling her wants to destroy ''everything'', that includes you and your master!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     After a moment's thought, Amy adds, bowing just slightly, "Also, I'm sorry for asking to take the ring. I thought it was what was cursing Veronica and didn't realize your existence depended on it." Some things are important to be reasonable about, even to your enemies! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Barrier expansion. Ping. Incoming. As the barrier expands, the statue activates... Not because of proximity. Not because anyone accidentally strayed too close who happened to have one of the jewels. It's the unmistakable pulse of Prinzessin Nicht's arrival which causes the activation of the statue, the Statue beginning its speech. However this one feels more... Off than the others. <I am the wise priestess. I am here to test your purity. Be bathed in the unholy fires of the light to prove your impurity.> And the knight breaks out of its stony prison, darkness pouring off of it, the temperature of the area rising as she raises that mace high, with Black Fire beginning to spark into life around her. There is no obvious attack yet, perhaps thankfully. At least from her. There /IS/ a Prinzessin Nichts flying in at high speed to attempt to stab her though, something which the Bishop deflects with its shield, the two struggling against each other as Darkness clashes with Darkness, the barriered plantlife completely wilting away to ashen ground as the darkness spills out and the heat rises in the area. Before the heat rises to a dangerous level... A wave of ice rolls over the ground, ice crystals floating in the air and bringing the temperature back down to an acceptable level. Still hot, but at least it's not so terrible as to knock people out of the fight before they can even truly begin. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Pawn was the one where you got spiked like an american football in the final seconds." remarks Zephyr.     She frowns at the other arrivals. There's Amy again... Chrono's on overwatch and reinforcing the Barrier. That's good... who the heck is that person with the fire hand though... Amy seems to know them.     < PING > < Chief! >     That's all the warning she gets before Nichts comes crashing in through the Barrier... thankfully it's one designed to keep things IN, rather than OUT, so that pulse of power doesn't shatter the Barrier like an over-ripe grape.     <<Ritter, Red, I'm open to ideas here...>     She brandishs her Device, flexing the blades at the head as she hesitates... the two powerful Darkness entities clashing giving her pause. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Open to ideas, the telepathy says? Ginga Kingu has one. <<Stay out of the way.>> Unfortunately, those who were at the first fight against the Prinzessin and the second - will have a very good idea of what that means, as the mahoujin in the blue military-inspired uniform raises a hand to the heavens and calls: "King's Pillar!" Light gathers at the very top of the barrier, high in the heavens, and blinding, blue-white and intense - and then it crashes to the ground in beam the size of a large forest clearing, intent on razing to the ground everything in it's path, including the two combatants. The sheer pressure and force are enough to turn stone to dust, to turn trees to splinters. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' The fake Sunbreaker audibly groans when she notices a magical girl approach her, and it is one of those that forced her out of the shop even! Can she have one thing, one at all, go right!? "I have no business with you today, so just scram, I need this thing out of the way", she points to the statue with her free hand. "Yeah, whatever, that doesn't change the plans. Thanks for the warning though, I will be sure to take care of this zero of a princess", she dismisses Amy's apology. Sunfaker frowns at Prinzessin Nichts, about to address her before she has to stop as the princess of nothingness starts fighting with the statue then. This... wasn't her project then? Good, then they can deal with this thing and the clone of greed can chase her away later. "Let me show you what real unholy fire looks like", Sunfaker grins, cruel black flames dancing in front of her. Those flames grow and take the shape of a bear, fiery paws with claws of fire striking at the statue. The bad part is that, for her intent of having a new home base, she wasn't really keeping her attack under control, and flames spread out of its body, threatening to set the shrine on fire. It's in a matter of seconds that Chrono's ice blades swiftly descend to take care of the cursed flames, keeping the shrine safe from them. "Be careful where you get those", Sunbreaker scowls. Keep them away from the statue and her attacks, and they are good. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I'm sorry who is that?" Sequoia asks at the sight of 'Sunbreaker'. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She asks very pointedly, waggling a finger.     Nevertheless she nods. "Oh. Right. That happened at Pawn." Yeah she got her chess pieces mixed up, Sequoia is not a chess player.     But dang that's a painful way to put--- "Wait I thought you spike volleyballs?"     Despite the fact that NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE DEBATING THIS because...     <OFFIZIER! EINGEHEND!> Sequoia's Device announces as soon as it detects that first pulse of the Prinzessin's presence.     "Shoot-- she's here!"     Indeed she is here as she clashes with the Bishop and uh...     "Okay I'll hold off Aloisia..." She says gritting her teeth. "Try to put the Rook-" She starts to say before her Device helpfully corrects her: <BISCHOFF, OFFIZIER.> "--Yes that. WHATEVER."     "Kingu--" She starts to say.     And then a freaking magical tac-nuke drops on the Priestess and the Princess.     ...     "Yeah. Do that." Sequoia says, shielding her eyes with one gauntlet as the pressure wave washes over her even at a safer distance, causing her cloak to ripple and flutter as she digs her heels into the ground to keep her balance.     "Alright. Basic plan. If they're still standing after that I'll hold off Aloisia."     She's set on her course. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Oh ''no''.     Amy feels a chill as the Prinzessin flies in -- and ignores all of them to fight the corrupted Bishop.     Uhh...     ''Man'' she does just wanna drop a huge attack on them but it would cost so much magic. It kind of feels as if her magic doesn't ''scale'' efficiently, really; any big attack will take more magic than doing the same amount of damage with a lot of smaller attacks would do over more time. She hasn't got any way to cheese that!     It still feels like an opportunity lost, though.     Sugata can make use of it, at least! <<Got it.>> She acknowledges, making sure ''not'' to approach the combatants any closer. She does, however, summon a grenade launcher and fire a few incendiaries towards the end of the King's Pillar. To give the Prinzessin something extra to deal with, if she stays there the ground will be on fire! 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Luckily she'd also been partially there already during the formation of the barrier, which likely reduced disruption to it. On the downside she was there during the formation of the barrier, so keeping her /out/ had probably not been an option. <UNHEILIGES AUFFLACKERN> Intones the Priestess as she knocks the Prinzessin back post-class, black fire-wreathed darts sent flying towards the princess, fire striking shield and armor and leaving sizzling red marks on the armor that dissipate quickly back to normal, the molten darts tinkling to the ground before melting away to dark energy which once upon a time would likely bless the ground below, but instead soaks it in that uncomfortable darkness. Good thing they were in a barrier to help contain that rapidly spreading corruption. Kings Pillar! Both Priestess and Prinzessin immediately turn towards the oncoming blasting zone. Escape was impossible, so both raise their shields to the sky. <GEFANGNIS DER PYMIDEN.> Intones the Prinzessin, a black pyramid sparking into life around them, a twisted corruption of Aloisia's signature pyramid barrier, meanwhile alongside it the Priestess intones alongside... <ZUFLUCHT.> And what once would have been a holy sanctuary-shaped barrier sparks to life, creating a two-layered high defense barrier inside of the pyramid. The worst of King's Pillar being deflected by the pyramid shape of the high defense barrier, possibly sending the King's Pillar deflected outward towards those outside of the barriered area! Eventually it does shatter through that barrier... and then the second... the Prinzessin and Priestess holding their shields up as they're consumed in the blue-white light... And the pair still stand, both of them smoking somewhat, but otherwise seeming... far less worse for wear than one would expect them to be after taking that. And both of them were now Looking at Kingu. <UN--> The priestess starts to intone-- only for there to be a flaming bear swiping at her, interrupting her cast and causing her to have to defend against it, her mace brought immediately to bear towards the bear with a magical glow around it -- intent to simply swipe through it's head, the magic possibly disrupting its form! Meanwhile, Prinzessin Nichts is dashing towards Ginga Kingu, shield held ahead of her as a black-red aura surrounds the lance in her hands. <DURCHDRINGENDE LEERE.> And the lance is brought to bear, attempting to stab into the center of Ginga Kingu's chest in response, much less massive of an attack compared to his -- but no doubt dangerous should it strike. Luckily, at least at present, the attacks are more single target. For the moment. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Stay out of the way.     King's Pillar.     "Right... Got it." Zephyr also shields herself from the splash of that tactical magic nuke. A shield of lines and runes forming to take that collateral energy wash.     "Saints, and that's just the wash from the impact." she grunts, skidding back a few paces before the strike subsides... and both targets are still standing. Sequoia runs in without any hesitation... and Zephyr continues to hesitate.     "What are you waiting for, c'mon they need you!" she chides herself... but she can't seem to make herself move. The sheer power being thrown around... she understands how haunted Chrono must feel... it's insane just how much power some of these mahou have... and the Dark Energy users are even worse!     < Chief. We can do this. Focus on the Bishop, if we can take it out and seal the gem... the Princess will have nothing. >     The sound of her Device's voice seems to steel the Wind Dancer, and without a further word, she kips up into a hover, and launches straight for the Bishop, aiming to come around on a flank while the Statue is distracted by the fire-bear.     The blades of her Device lim with purple energy, and begin to boil as they charge for one of her empowered melee strikes. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' "The real form of a copy, here to exceed the original and give your new sovereigns their freedom", Sunbreaker announces to Weisser Ritter proudly, not taking her eyes off the statue. There is something to say about the show of power that was going on here from the duo that had just wiped out most of that pillar. Coming here was good just for that. Her masters will appreciate the info. Meanwhile, the mace was indeed hard to the bear, who gets the upper part of its body pummeled off by the power of the Bishop. "Damn thing just pushed away that attack and still goes after mine", she complains, string of fire rushing from her hand to the two bear halves, putting it back together. Forming a fireball in her hands, the clone of flames shapes it in a whip, and with a flex of her wrist, she tries to strike at the bishop, the elongating whip's thong trying to wrap itself around the statue's wrist while the bear attempts to bite her. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     Well this is happening. If the Prinzessin was already in the barrier as it was being formed the team's going to have to deal with her, and... To tell the honest truth, Sequoia is not looking forward to that.     When the light from the King's Pillar dies down and the shimmery silver light of Sequoia's shield spell that she put up to cover herself from it dies with it, there's another problem.     <<CRAP! Kingu's got aggro!>>     This dawning realization sets in fast as the Prinzessin dashes right for the mahou shounen.     For Sequoia-- for Weisser Ritter-- time seems to slow down as she skids her boots and turns to start rushing to Kingu's aid.     <VESTARKEN SPRUNG.> Her Device intones. In the next instant Weisser Ritter is launched through the air in a long-as-heck and sudden horizontal leap and it's as that lance is drawing dangerously nearer that she slams into it from the side, at full force and full tilt, to smack it off course as she positions herself in front of Kingu.     "Alright... This time... This time it's gonna be different, princess." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' King's Pillar comes down. King's Pillar gets - largely deflected, the pyramid shape shedding energy from all sides, and Sugata thrusts his arms up over his chest, an X, and the energy - his energy, Samekh's energy - can't knock him down, but it is ''irritating'' to see so much of it shunted aside. It's like attacking Cybodies in Third Phase all over again - no. Not quite as bad as that, he realizes, as the smoking figures come into view. Ah. They didn't enjoy surviving that, and his hand is flying to his chest, energy flooding the mark of Samekh - "Star Swordo - Diamante!" The pure white energy sword is drawn from his chest, pulled out and meant to try and deflect the lance barreling for his chest - And then there's Weisser Ritter, crashing in with her shield, and he can only stare in surprise at being rescued. ...well, only stare for a moment. "Thank you," he calls, and then - shunts forward in an attempt to stab the knight while her lance is being deflected. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy dives behind whoever's got a shield when the King's Pillar is deflected. That's bullshit! Such bullshit!     But maybe also kinda on them for forgetting about the Prinzessin's pyramid barriers.     And well... Okay, Sunfaker's got the bishop busy, but the Prinzessin is going right for Kingu.     Which is kind of a problem for most of her attacks, honestly. She can't just leave ''no'' attacks going on the Prinzessin as Weisser Ritter and Sugata focus on defense, though! If they don't keep the pressure up, the Prinzessin will be free to figure out how to counter defenses...     It's kind of a piddly attack, given Amy's trying to not blow up ''friends'', but she keeps firing gyrojets, little homing bullets, at the Prinzessin to make her defend more than just Sugata.      

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' The bear that had disrupted its attack dispatched, the priestess begins to turn to continue its assault on the others -- when a flaming whip wraps around its wrist, halting its movements with a flaming whip as a bear bites at her -- two things that hold it in place for the oncoming Wind Dancer and her empowered melee strike to her! Crack! ... The strike causes the armor that the priestess wears to crack, bits of stone crumbling out of the spot where it was struck at. <FEGEFEUER.> The Priestess suddenly pulls on the whip-holding arm to knock it free, possibly sending the clone off balance with the sudden jerk... so that she can lift both arms up into the air and grip the mace in both, the red beryl set in its head glowing with dark energy. And a small flame appears at the tip of it, growing tighter for a moment. Devices nearby ping a warning, as the fire suddenly explodes outward into a rolling wave of explosive fire centered on the priestess-- ironically, due to Zephyr's relatively close proximity to the Priestess, mostly sparing her from the attack -- as black flames begin to engulf the area. Luckily there's enough time for shielding attempts with warnings from the Device users. Also the bear is spared-ish. It probably helps it's made of fire. Meanwhile, as Prinzessin Nichts is in her high-speed dash towards Ginga Kingu, a familiar figure appears from the side, a certain shield-wielding enemy that had deflected her in the past. And was there to do the same again, knocking her lance off-center to result in it leaving a sizzling hole in the ground, a concerning amount of earth just ... Missing from where the lance impacted. And as her lance is deflected, a sword is coming towards her to attempt to stab her. ...That almost unnatural movement happens, an audible ~crack~ as her shield moves in a way the human body is not meant to, the shield almost seeming to snap into place to deflect the stab in ways that likely caused injury to the host body -- that Konigsende did not care about -- <WERDEN NICHTS.> ...It's not actually a spell intonation, it's... vague annoyance from the device? Followed by the actual spell.. <FELD DES NICHTS.> Ah it's not attacking. It's defending itself from the oncoming wave of dark fire by using its defensive spell. Though... it's... tighter? More focused? ...Probably to keep Kingu and Weisser Ritter from riding on its defenses. And as the fire washes over the area, she would burst out of said fire, briefly sans shield... with a glowing fist. Aimed for Weisser Ritter's face. Yeah Konigsende might have taken being deflected again personally. Veeeeee~~boom! A few little homing mini-rockets come flying in, exploding on the Prinzessin's form post-attack... leaving little cracks and holes in her armor which slowly start to close themselves back up upon taking damage. <PLATZEN> The little homing bullets get several scattershots of dark energy launched back at her. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < Chief! >     That's all the warning Zephyr gets, as the Bishop makes a fire tornado, with her and the statue at the eye.     There's nothing she can do for the others, save to alert them via telepathy to find cover or put up defenses.     <<Shield up or get behind something. Bishop's doing something big.>>     Message sent, she drops to land, curling as she barely manages to stay in that nullzone where the flame is only scorchingly hot, not actually setting her on fire.     "Drive Ignition. Gear Second." she intones.     < PING > < TEMPEST DRIVE IGNITION. GEAR SECOND. STORM MODE. >     The battleax becomes a hand-ax, and three Bits spall off of it. "Area formation, Barret Volley. Tempest Barret, Typhoon Shift."     Her mismatched eyes lock onto the Bishop, sparing a glance for where Sunfaker and the fire-bear might have ended up, before she locks in.     < PING > < AREA FORMATION SET. TEMPEST BARRET TYPHOON SHIFT. >     Motes of purple light form around the bits, and the Mage herself, then start lancing down from all sides in short-lived pulses as the spheres elongate like miniature Buster beams, lashing at the Bishop's frame with all the power she can muster. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I gotchu." Is Weisser Ritter's reply to Kingu. "Let's hold her off so the others can deal with the Queen."     <BISCHOFF.>> Her Device corrects.     "Yeah that."     Her inability to tell chess pieces apart aside, the young Belkan Knight raises her shield, several layered shimmering shields of light forming up to protect her and Kingu and Amy from the roiling flames of darkness as best she can.     But indeed, she managed to deflect that lance, and golden eyes dip to where it lays embedded in the smoldering earth. Sequoia can't help but wince internally when that unnatural movement happens and something clearly breaks to get that shield in place, but she has to force it from her mind because the dark princess is on a crash course towards her, arm reeled back for one hell of a haymaker.     Weisser Ritter clenches her jaw.     This will not be pleasant but... She does not raise her shield nor does she call upon any shield spells.     She looks down at her Device, the stalwart shield in her arms. She puts her faith in her Device as much as she puts her faith in her allies and friends here to back her up.     <<I'll hold her. You punch.>>     That's the only warning anyone gets over the telepathic line as Sequoia braces for impact. Now. One might think she's going to raise her defenses sometime... Soon... Maybe at the last second?     Nah dawg.     Sequoia eats that fist like a bowl of cheerios.     There's a low grunt of pain as the girl's head jerks violently from the impact of the blow, the sheer force causing her to skid back as Prinzessin's momentum carries her into the strike and...     Okay why is she smiling?     "My turn."     That's the only warning the Princess of Nothing gets as a Belkan spell circle forms beneath Sequoia's feet.     <UNZERBRECHLICHES GEFANGNIS!> Her Device announces as countless lenths of chains formed from white light snap up to try and entomb the Prinzessin in magical bind spells. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' Watching the enemy struggle to hold on makes Sunbreaker smiles cruelly, holding onto the whip and forming the intense heat in her hands, what has turned out to be the setup for several spears, ready to flung en masse against the Bishop, and finally rid this place of that ugly statue once and for all. And then come the counter of the moving trial, her arm drawn back forcefully causing the fake Sunbreaker to snap into the air, losing the hold on the whip and on the spear she had been forming, which dissolve like they had never been there. Sent crashing against a wall, blurs of white fill the clone's vision, a pained groan briefly coming out of her mouth as she slides to the ground. "Ok, then", she drags herself up let's see how you like this", Sunfaker looks at the Bishop with desire to her scatter till not even dust remains. Commanding at the fire bear, it goes back to her and the flames grow hotter and larger, losing the shape of the bear to become a shining sphere of dark fire as wide as twice the height of a person and almost as tall. The fake creature born of flames gives it a kick, uncaring of the damage it would give to the shrine well before the Bishop, but a rain of ice swords intevene to cut into the sphere repeatedly before it reaches the building. Chrono's intervention stops the careless attack from severely damaging the shrine, and each of the pieces of the sphere dissipates. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' What's happening with the others registers with Sugata - only a fool completely shuts off his attention in a battlefield - but he's got to focus on the Prinzessin, who is fully out to kill the both of them. He's trusting defense to Weisser Ritter, because she's earned that trust through her proven strength. She is a defensive wall, and he knows what those are like - he grew beside Wako, after all. He still grimaces at the unnatural movement that allows the block, and though he doesn't ''understand'' the Prinzessin, he's the kind of man who's earned being told off enough that he shoots back - "You first." Without even understanding the Belkan language. That wave of fire and dark energy is coming closer - he should do something about that. [ansi(#00ffff,"King's Counter!")] And the blue-white energy forms a square before himself, Ritter, and yes, the Prinzessin, reflecting the dark wave of fire back towards the Priestess and Sunfaker. And when Weisser Ritter binds the Prinzessin, he moves in to start striking at her, energy blade hammering towards joints and perceived points of weakness in the armor. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ''winces'' as the Prinzessin goes as far as damaging her body -- no, Aloisia's body -- to fight. Amy tried that against Beryl, it was a BAD PLAN. Who knows how much of Aloisia it burns for power to regenerate the damage. Unlike Amy, the entity controlling Aloisia doesn't have to care...     Anyway, dark energy scattershots come at her. Amy barely has time to react to the first hitting her, but then a cloud of smoke explodes around her so that the Prinzessin can't see that rather than dodging she's dropped to the ground so the followup shots sail over her.     That was ''interesting'' though. Amy thought that overwhelming extreme single attacks were needed to do damage. She might be able to develop better attacks to use against the Prinzessin -- when she's not in melee with Amy's friends, anyway!     Then her mind processes Wind Dancer's warning and she scrambles to her feet, running out of the smoke AWAY from the bishop as flame engulfs the area. "Dammit!"     At least the Prinzessin just punched the White Knight away from herself. Opportunity! Amy doesn't have time to think up something customized to the situation, so she grabs a previously-studied weapon from memory, HEIAP warheads, and sticks them on missiles the size of magic markers fired from some kinda oversized scifi pistols so she can dual-wield them. She fires them guns akimbo while running to get back behind the tanks. Whatever, she doesn't have to be accurate, magic can make them home!     Admittedly, these are anti-materiel rounds meant to fire through the wall of a light vehicle and then explode burning awfulness all over the inside, so this isn't actually QUITE the right use case, but Amy's pretty sure it will nonetheless be awful.     Although a moment afterward, as she steps behind White Knight, she wonders if somewhere in there Aloisia is going to be able to feel all the burning. Um. Yikes. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' DRIVE IGNITION! Bits swarm around the priestess, sending lancing blasts of energy from all angles, the priestess deflecting and blocking against what she can with her shield, occasional barriers popping up here and there -- but the swarm of bits continuous firing pattern allows it to get around the worst of those defenses before eventually the Priestess opts for the most direct form of defense. Bringing that mace in a quick underhand stroke towards Zephyr, attempting to strike her in an upward strike that will hopefully break the mage's focus as those attacks continue to lance in! Luckily it wasn't imbued with any magic, so the worst of it is likely mitigated by the barrier jacket, but the strength between the knight's blow is no joke regardless. More cracks are showing in the statue's form from the attacks though, and in the wake of that wave of fire another wave of ice washes over the battlefield to cool things off once more, bringing the temperature, once more, back down to more reasonable levels. Chrono might be muttering about belkans off in the distance. Really, damaging the shrine was probably less of an issue than protecting Zephyr from getting caught in the crossfire of the attack, the shrine was in a barrier so would be fine... probably. Unless the barrier got destroyed. Then all bets are off, really. Meanwhile, that punch strikes true... and ... ... then a prison of chains wrap around Prinzessin Nichts. Pulling her down towars the ground, almost on one knee, the other one planted firmly into the ground to keep her from going fully down to one knee. Perhaps some minor amount of pride keeping her from kneeling there. Who knows, considering that blank gaze that didn't bely any emotion. Aloisia would probably be proud if she could see any of this. ...Also probably tell her to use her darn shield since you can shield AND bind but that's beside the point. Meanwhile the energy blade was hammering towards joints, points of weakness in the armor, causing damage from stab after stab... and then small warcrimes are being launched into her form, piercing shots that penetrate armor and unleash burning awfulness. Crack. Crack. <GENUG.> Pings Konigsende. The telltale heartbeat-pulse of Aloisia's body being drained pulses through the area. As Prinzessin Nichts slowly pushes herself into a standing position, those chains straining and struggling against her as that dark energy eats away at the chains. Until they snap. And Prinzessin Nichts is... Gone, turned away from the three that were harassing her as she refocuses on her objective: The jewel. <SPLITTERPUNKT> Black and red energy gathers at the tip of the lance as she rockets towards the distracted and damaged Priestess. And stabbing through the center of her back. She doesn't even do her final line, instead. Just. Shattering. And she reaches to attempt to claim the red beryl... but of course... Dashing away and leaving one's back open is not exactly the wisest course of action. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Oh right. They're not trying to defeat the Prinzessin here.     Just to beat her to the jewel.     As Amy sees the Prinzessin turn away to fly towards the jewel, Amy telepathically warns the Galactic King and White Knight: << DUCK! >>     Because, screw fancy complicated ammo or fancy magic, she needs to use her ''original'' plan for dealing with the Prinzessin: Knocking her away and buying them a couple more seconds to act.     To that end, Amy's guns are gone as she's got the giant artillery tube on her shoulder-- '''BOOM!''' --firing nearly 7kg of dense lead cannonball at half a kilometer a second at the Prinzessin's back.     << GO! >> Amy follows up her warning as soon as she's fired, to let them know they're not in the line of fire anymore. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < ARMOUR SKIN > Tenraikaze announces, reinforcing that Barrier Jacket with a field effect to absorb the unpowered strike.     The impact does knock the mage back a few paces, digging up the ground under her heels... but those bits continue to circlestrafe like they were playing a bullet-hell game... right up until Nichts comes in and shatters the statue, and tries to grab the gemstone.     < PING > < ISOLATION SPHERE. >     A tiny Barrier forms around the dislodged Beryl stone, suddenly lurching towards Zephyr as she refocusses those Bits onto the Prinzessin, their lancing bolts aiming to dissuade pursuit.     "Seal it!" cries Zephyr, wincing at the throbbing ache in her chest from the blow she took.     < PING > < SCAN COMPLETE. RED BERYL #98136. REGISTERED. SEALING. >     The gem, and sphere pulse, shrink and slip into Zephyr's Device, as she backpedals and jumps into the air.     <<I've got the gem, scatter!>> she transmits, looking to see if anyone needs help escaping. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' With her anger reaching her peak, the clone of fire feels like she is about to turn her power against the blue-haired soldier that is thwarting her efforts again and again, that she is starting to see red just as much as she is burning. Prinzessin Nichts showing her her back came just at the right moment to give her another target to the wild sentiments that call for chaos and ruin. "Got this for you, princess zero", she grins, spears of fire cutting through the air towards the princess' vulnerable spot. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Ah. Right. Their goal isn't just to ''defeat'' the enemies - and Ginga Kingu is not restricted to just the ground. As the Prinzessin lunges for the Priestess and pierces her through, Ginga Kingu launches himself into the air, blue-white energy blazing from his feet as he soars above Amy's enormous cannonball and then hurls his sword at the Prinzessin's hand, intending to stop her from grasping the Red Beryl - "Star Crash!" The energy sword flies for the Prinzessin, trailing blue-white energy. 

:'''{{#var:216|Prinzessin Nichts (216)}} has posed:''' Her fingers get mere centimeters away from the jewel, close enough she nearly touches it -- only for a barrier to flash into life, her fingers bouncing off of it... and a sword stabbing through her hand to keep her hand even further away from her prize. And then it is sealed away inside of Wind Dancer's device. And moments latter an artillery tube fires at her. A dense lead cannonball striking the center of Prinzessin Nicht's back and sending her stumbling forward as a ~crunch~ is audible through the area of crumpling armor. That is rapidly followed up with by spears of fire that stab into her, sizzling in her body. She seems to hang there limply for a moment, her arms falling down to her side and head lolling forward. Perhaps in shock of the jewel being literally snatched from between her fingers. Perhaps in shock from the sheer level of damage that was being shot towards her at the moment. And then, though the gravity does not change, it feels as if it does. As the sheer pressure of her energy is unleashed as her head lifts to the sky. The first active noise that Prinzessin Nichts herself has made. And it is a /scream/. A scream full of rage. Of frustration. Of pain. And glowing yellow eyes turn towards the one who attacked her last. Weapons are forgotten as she leaps towards the Sunbreaker of Greed, hand outstretched towards her face to attempt to grab her. At the last moment, from above, a swarm of glowing swords fall down on her. Stabbing into her. And she shoots off into the sky. Chasing the source of the attack. ...And the shrine is left in unnerving peace in the wake of the intense battle. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ''winces'' when she sees everyone's attacks hit the Prinzessin. They're really doing a number on her today! She wishes she had recordings so she knew what was different this time-- wait, don't Devicers have that sort of thing? Or at least, the Devices can help analyze? She makes a mental note to talk to them about that.     They sealed the gem. Hooray! But the Prinzessin turns... on Sunfaker.     Sunfaker was an ally, today -- someone who helped, she won't abandon! She changes her weapon back to a gyrojet and starts to aim, but the swords are already driving her off.     ''Driving her off.''     They... ''made the Prinzessin Nichts '''leave?!'''''     "Holy ''shit.'' We actually drove her off... That was ''amazing'', everyone..."     ''But how much more of Aloisia did that cursed Device spend...?'' Amy wonders. She does not say it out loud. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "Hm," Ginga Kingu says, watching Chrono lead the Prinzessin Nichts off. "He's faster than her, he'll manage." He looks at the others - Weisser Ritter and Zephyr both down, Faust looking worried - and digs out his cellphone. "I'm calling a ride for us. Faust, as the one conscious, do you want to pick the 'post fight snack'?" What? He's got money and space, and they've got two worn out allies. Food generally helps people. 

:'''{{#var:145|Veronicat (145)}} has posed:''' There is sadistic satisfaction in the fake Sunbreaker when she watches Prinzessin Nichts get hit by the rain of fire and then fall into that scream of rage. She wishes she had brought one of those recording devices with her. At least a phone. This would have been priceless, all the more so when she could have rubbed it in the other clone's face. A lot of those feelings turn to panic as that anger and dark fury turns to her, and she scrambles to put up a shield, bracing for the impact, with flames swaying to the direction of the wind, just mere seconds before the face she sees through the moving flames gets ever closer. There is a lot of relief when the other dark energy user runs off in the distance after the irritating ice shortie. With that worry for a moment, she doesn't have to see how things would have ended and ia free to dismiss the shield. She... probably should have stopped and thought. No, the sparkles now know she would be here and she needs a different place, one with with no known hero around. She is quick to run away as well, not stopping for anything before any of them get any ideas. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Fake Sunbreaker actually gets a wave! She helped, and so for today is given respect as the original was. Buuuut then she's running off, and Amy has to admit: Others may well be less forgiving -- as with Amy's friends' attitudes towards the original.     The several-hundred-pound tube hits the ground with a CLANG before turning into pink sparkles as Sugata comes to her and asks what to do for a post-fight snack.     She looks around at the state of her allies: Tuckered out, it seems. She considers, holding a finger to her chin.     "...So I know we're in Japan and it's not as much of a big deal here, but what about sushi? It's not like it's any less delicious just 'cuz it's common here." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "American-style sushi isn't very similar to actual sushi," he warns her, but then says - "Still, it's nutritious, and I think we'll all need that. Do you have a favorite, or shall I ask Tiger to give us a recommendation?" He's absolutely going for it. Sushi for the fight crew is a guarantee. "...by the way, who was that fake Sunbreaker? It can't have been the real deal, she didn't insult me." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "I've been in Japan for years. Sometimes..." Amy de-henshins, and looks at her hand, "Something that's nice and a wonderful treat is still pretty great, years later." She smiles.     "I'll take the reccomendation. Who's Tiger?" She shifts the shirt under her open coat to be the one with the chibi cartoon tiger saying 'nyo' on it, to emphasize the question.     She slips her hands into her coat pockets. It's cold out. "...One of Princess of Sarek's enemies -- we already recovered the artifact she had so Veronica can talk again, if we can get the other one from the fake Sailor Mars she should become human again. Fake Mars said she might work with us, I'm not sure about trusting this one, but she helped us today, so." Amy shrugs. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Sugata inclines his head in a nod, taking her word for it. As long as Faust-san is comfortable with the options - he's seen American sushi online, and it's fascinating and not at all traditional - then he doesn't mind that being the choice of snack. "Tiger Sugatame is one of my maids," he says blandly, knowing that if Wako was here she would elbow him but not deny it. "Jaguara Yamasugata is the other; they're usually nearby when I'm about." The two were more than just maids, after all, but the friends tasked with killing him if he ever went off the correct path and showed a sign that he would use Samekh's power for evil. It's easy to pick out his name in their surnames. "Tiger was with me before I got the call; she's probably restless waiting for me." Not that he's in a particular hurry, texting her as he is to send the car. "She does have a recommendation for this area; one of everything sound satisfying, or should we go for two?" He remembers the Princess of Sarek from a few brief encounters, and wonders at her apparently losing her ability to speak, and her human form. "The enemy of my enemy can be a momentary friend - but you're wise not to trust her just yet. Still, she could have done worse. Her bite isn't as bad as the original's bark." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "...Did you say ''one of your maids?''" Amy sounds shocked. She holds a hand to the side of her head. "I really am living in an anime now..."     AND they're 'usually nearby when he's about' which means they're probably trained ninja bodyguards, too.     'One of--' she mouths after he says that, ''slightly'' shocked but not nearly so much as by the probably-ninja maids. "Are we gonna be able to eat that much?" Amy looks at the others. "...I defer to your judgement, I'm not used to ordering for big groups."     She looks in the direction Sunfaker went. "You say that, but... I get the impression most of our allies had a rather worse impression of Sunbreaker." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "I did," he says, with only the faintest hint of a smile. "And it's always been normal to me. Aren't anime meant to be filled with fantastical situations?" He's trolling her but with the truth - it's the best kind of trolling, honestly. Sure, Tiger is a friend - but she's a servant and a knife at his back, first. Just like he is friend, but young master and threat to monitor, first. They really are trained ninja bodyguards. "I'm inviting Wako and Takuto, so we'll have enough people. The point is to be able to try anything we'd like, without having to worry about missing out. I believe they call it eating the menu?" He's seen it on Viewtube. "And perhaps, but though I encountered her rarely, she certainly had spirit. She threatened to kill me once, for harming her beloved." He is clearly impressed. "This fake could do worse in borrowing a name." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     It's always been normal to me. Aren't anime meant to be filled with fantastical situations?     =_= Amy suspects trolling.     "...I guess everyone has different standards. For some, having had a PC in the house since I was two, a small home network before I was ten, and enough to have people over for Quake deathmatches in high school would've sounded like something out of fiction, I guess."     "Not to mention. Y'know. Life now." She points with her thumb at the shirt.     "...Sure. We can eat the menu."     Amy simply nods at his evaluation of the original Sunbreaker, not having much more to say. 
}}

2339/The Crown of Succession: Ritter

2025-02-19T06:12:56Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/02/19 |Location=Plot Room 1 |Synopsis=Chrono, Sugata, Amy, and Zephyr hunt down the Knight and fight it on a bridge! |Cast of Characters=216,8..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/02/19
|Location=Plot Room 1
|Synopsis=Chrono, Sugata, Amy, and Zephyr hunt down the Knight and fight it on a bridge!
|Cast of Characters=216,80,166,107,197
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Towards the edges of southwestern tokyo, one of the bridges had become somewhat of a hot spot of late due to the mysterious appearance of a statue that seemed to have shown up seemingly out of nowhere a few months ago. At first people didn't make much note of it --though some officials had attempted to remove it unsuccessfully a few times, beyond the surprisingly high level of detail, it wasn't the strangest thing to show up in Tokyo really. Still, the boys of a nearby highschool had started taking pictures with it, a few of them even taking pictures pretending to take the knight's sword. More recently, the gemstone associated with it had grown active as well, likely delayed to give the attempting noble a chance to recover and do repairs or handle family matters, maybe the activations were semi-random. Who knows, considering it's an ancient, near-lost ritual. Having learned from the last encounter with a statue that they don't necessarily need Prinzessin Nichts there, the group is likely more prepared for it to activate upon their approach as he stands, both hands on the hilt of his sword, which was in its hilt and pointed down towards the base that he was standing in, eyes seeming to gaze watchfully over the bridge that he was 'protecting'. Lapis Lazuli, the Knight of the Knights of Trial awaits. His glittering blue and gold jewel visible in the sheathe of his sword. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < Chief. Detecting magic reaction in Southwest Tokyo. Signature matches broad strokes with Rook and Pawn... Classifying as 'Knight' after cross-referencing local news sources for the area. >     "Got it Dee. Send out the message. We'll need a plan of action before we trigger this one, if we can believe Rook's warnings."     Message goes out to those she knows, and more details follow those who respond that they'll be comming to help.     <Knight gem active, Coordinates attached. If you can help meet at Orosano Bridge. We need a loose plan before we engage with this one. - Wind Dancer.>     The mage herself is standing in a public place, waiting for those arriving to... arrive, arms folded over her chest as leans against a wall. She's standing outside the range of the gem's activation... given when Rook triggered after the Pawn gem was brought nearby... hopefully she judged it right. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown received the alert and... ah. The gems. Aloisia's little quest to become the princess of nothing. Of course. He supposed he should be grateful, after all. From what Rashmi told him, they were endeavoring to not be true threats to the innocent and that, in and of itself, was a small miracle. Especially now. With all the other work he'd done, he'd not managed to experience one until now. But... Rashmi... Rashmi didn't need this now. As he approached, his eyes glanced over... Zephyr. Huh. So... it seems he wouldn't be the only TSAB representative at least. Chrono gave a small nod to her as he landed, before looking towards the statue. "Hmmm." His arms were crossed behind his back and he stood at attention when he gazed at it. "How long until the princess arrives, do you think?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Okay, so ''hopefully'' they're not having to fight the Prinzessin today.     But it seems these fights are quite possibly going to all have weird gimmicks -- Amy was lucky last time in that 'lots of homing missiles' was well suited to counter its gimmick of splitting up, but who's to say the knight won't counter ''her''? She can't help but be a little on edge until she sees what it is.     Also, she has to be ready to speak fast assoon as the statue activates:     She shouts, "The Prinzessin has been corrupted and so have you! You have ''seconds'' to tell us anything that can stop it before it gets you!"     Magical Rocket Girl Red looks up at the knight, desperately hoping it will listen AND say something useful. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Well, there are always those full of hope. Ginga Kingu isn't expecting ''anything'' helpful from the Knight - there is to be a trial, and more than likely, a confrontation with the Prinzessin, when she comes to claim her title. Still, Faust-san wouldn't be Faust-san if she didn't try. Seeing Chrono and Zephyr, Ginga Kingu nods at them in greeting, his Star Sword, Diamante, already drawn and in one hand. "Either of you is capable of erecting a barrier, correct?" The question is a brisk one, as he looks over the group - a barrier would be helpful, given the chances of property damage. People know about this statue - it's become a tourist attraction. They don't need lingering innocents. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' As Zephyr stands out of its range, the statue of the Knight stands silent still, though there is that sensation that even as it stands in that little garden in the middle of the bridge (With, frankly, a rather lovely little mix of flowers around it), it was watching over its 'domain' with a calm and watchful eye. That ever so slight tingle of the hair on the back of one's neck raised, that sensation of eyes on oneself. At present, there wasn't much sense of Prinzessin Nichts in the area, and since they had realized they didn't need to lure her there, it meant they hadn't needed to go /hunt her down/ either which is probably for the best, since that was one less complicating factor. Of course, the activation of the statue would no doubt draw her there inevitably. Crack. Did Zephyr misjudge? Crack. Once more that voice rings out, spoken in the Belkan language, yet somehow auto-translating itself. <I am the courageous Knight. I test if you are worthy.> All at once the statue's covering shatters, as the blade is drawn from that scabbard, the gemstone on it shining momentarily. <BESHLEUNIGEN. KANTE SCHARFEN> ...And the Knight seems to briefly disappear. And Chrono's instincts suddenly SCREAM, as the blue knight is suddenly approaching from his left, that drawn blade's glowing edge swinging towards his neck. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Long enough that we won't need to worry about it." replies Zephyr as she looks over at Chrono. "We don't actually need her to activate the statue and the Guardian Program of the gem." she lifts her right arm, and tugs the Device off it, shifting to her Henshin in a flicker of light. The axe forming in her left hand. "Dee. Bring Out Red Jasper #21319."     < PING > < BRING OUT. #21319. >     The gem at the head of the axe-like Device emits a pulse, and a small gemstone emerges, dropping into Zephyr's hand. It's a Red Jasper stone. "We just need this... or the one we got from Pawn. They seem to be just as active triggers as the remains of the Crown itself that corrupts Aloe." she explains. "Take In."     < PING > < TAKE IN. #21319. >     The gemstone lims in purple, and shrinks back into the Device core with a flicker of light. "According to the Defense Program for Rook, where the Jasper came from, this one. 'Knight' will be a lot more powerful and far less forgiving... I tend to believe her, as she tried to give us every advantage she could before the corruption overtook her on awakening. I just hope we get a good mix of people so we can deal---"     The statue starts to activate... "What? Did I misjudg--"     < CHIEF! >     "Right. Barrier Expansion!"     Wind Dancer slams the end of her axe into the ground, causing a dome of energy to expand from that point, encompassing the area and shifting all non-magicals out of the danger zone... though that doesn't protect Chrono from the Knight's initial assault. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Good. Zephyr had the barrier sorted and... The left. Countless years ago: "So, Chrono, what have you learned?" Aria Liese asked. "I've learned--" From his left, he could feel the impending glomp from Lotte... And the disgruntled shriek when she triggered his binds and found herself enveloped in magic ribbons, stopping her. "Always cover your blind spots," Chrono said. "Perfect!" Aria said. "Good luck in your exam!" Now. Chrono didn't even look up. As the knight came at him, suddenly a midchildian circle appeared under the knight's feet, as ribbons reached up and wrapped around the statue. They'd only last for a moment, just slow it down, but that was all the time Chrono needed. He whipped around, gripping his staff in both hands and catching the blade against it, not blocking so much as redirecting, pushing away from the momentum and using the force to shove him back and to the knight's side.             <<Stinger Blade!>> Three blue magical energy swords materialized under the knight's feet, before launching themselves up. They didn't even do the spin. "So this challenge is meant to challenge a belkan adult, correct? I'll adjust myself accordingly. Red, please use less explosive rounds for this battle. I don't think striking at a distance will be a full option." He glanced towards his device. He already had a knick in it. Troubling. This wasn't going to be an easy fight, was it? Well... No matter. The people of this planet were mind breaking in and of themselves. A bit of belkan won't be able to compete with the distilled, mind altering existence that this world reveled in. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' The barrier spreads around them, creating the sepia tone dimension that means they're free to unleash their power, and the knight moves, lunging for Chrono. Sugata moves too, darting around the Knight's side, glowing energy sword lashing out in a swift flurry of blows, not so much trying to devastate as distract and test defenses. Chrono had launched attacks to defend himself, but also keep the knight off guard. Sugata can do the same - though with fewer energy swords to throw around. ...Honestly, that could make for some interesting training sessions. He'd have to consider picking Chrono's mind about that in the future. "This one doesn't seem interested in talking - so let's just put it down and seal away the gem before the Prinzessin comes along to make things more complicated." The words are accompanied by a dodge away from an expected retaliation, and then the energy sword is launched from Ginga Kingu's hand, flying at speed for the Knight's neck, trailing a comet-tail of blue-white energy. "Star Crash!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     This one... doesn't talk. It just flash steps--     Amy glances up as she turns around, to see if he reappeared above or behind her -- but there's already the sound of blade meeting staff. She turns that way and fires what look like dual pistols in her hands, shooting homing bullets (they may not explode but they're tiny rockets and so in her purview).     Only after does she process what Chrono said. "Already on it." Hmmm... she'll have to see how this guy fights to work out something more effective... 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Perhaps it had been bringing out the gemstone that had increased the range enough to activate it, or perhaps just the magical person right up in front of the statue, it's hard to tell really. On the upside, regardless of the reason there was now a Barrier up and running in the area as that Knight moved towards the Enforcer who looked suspiciously similar to him. ... Maybe to some degree these Knights' appearances were based on people who had made an impression on Aloisia in the past, perhaps? Or just that there had been some ancient knight that just happened to look strikingly similar to Chrono Harlaown. Yeah it's probably just that. It's not like Blue hair is that weird out in the universe at large, right? Blade meets staff and is diverted, likely for the best since with that enhanced blade, there was a good chance directly taking it on the staff might have caused more significant damage. Pushed and shoved to the side, the Knight uses the force caused by that to push off of Chrono as well as break out of the chains that had wrapped around him. Tink tink rip! Two of the oncoming blades were knocked away, as the third tears through the front side of the Knight's armor, leaving a glowing mark in its wake. A swift series of blows comes from the knight's right, as bullets shoot out from a distance. <ALCHEMIE: SCHILD.> A kite shield shape sparks into existence as the Knight catches those swift series of blows towards it on the shield, using the force of those blows to further reposition and break away from the melee -- and away from the pistol shots towards him. <ALCHEMIE: STAHLREGEN.>> As several belkan magical circles appear above, unleashing a series of steel spears raining down towards Ginga Kingu, Chrono, and Zephyr -- though somewhat indirectly in her case due to proximity, as well as using the distraction to further distance himself from the comet-tail blue-white blade swinging towards his neck. He doesn't let them rest long even as those spears rain down from above, darting in again, this time intent on dashing behind and past Ginga Kingu, that blade slicing towards the back of Ginga Kingu's left calf. ...Strangely, he hasn't shown the telltale signs of corruption taking over. Either he had been from the start, or he simply didn't care. He had his job and he was going to do it. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' The belkan was... methodical, at least. Dangerous. Deadly. As the knight pushed away, metal spears began to rain down. Chrono didn't look up, he merely lifted a gauntletted hand to form a midchildian shield against the assault. It was for reasons like this he wore the metal gauntlets. Cloth gauntlets had a tendency to get torn if the shield wasn't enough. His eyes never left the knight. He watched for each movement, the twitch of the blade, the movements as he dodged and wove around... This was a belkan, an old one. And he knew exactly how dangerous they could be. An entirely different style from Hannah's, but no less dangerous. As the knight went in for Kingu, Chrono took off at him, his own staff coming down at the knight's back. He was expecting the knight to try and parry with the sheath...             << Subzero Impulse! >> And if the staff hit? Ice would then spread out, attempting to cover from the point of contact and immobilize. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < Evade! >     Zephyr doesn't need to hear more than that. In fact she didn't need her Device's warning, as she throws herself to the right, avoiding the raining spears. She lands a bit awkwardly, but uses the momentum to kick off the ground and into the air, her flight spell manifesting on her ankles as she does, lofting her up above the melee. "Dee, options."     < Option one: Hit it until it dies. Option two: Run away. >     "... helpful." grouses Zephyr in that moment she has to formulate a plan of attack. Chrono's getting in close, and Kingu's entirer schtick is close range, outside of that big orbital laser thing, so she can't just fire heedlessly into the melee.     "Think girl, think. What did mom used to say?"     Opening her mismatched eyes again, she locks onto the Knight and shifts her weight. A spell seal appears behind her, and she angles to land her feet against it, gathering down as if to leap at that weird angle. She extends her legs then, firing off like a rifle bullet with her Device held behind her to the left, both hands on the haft.     < PING > < TEMPEST SABER! >     The Device announces, as its blades begin to boil. Purple mana gathering and swirling like a contained stormfront. She times her attack to land after Chrono gets clear from his own strike, looking to capitalize on the freezing effect, or a bad position after the riposte. If her strike lands, even if it misses, the mana explodes like a shaped charge, the attack designed to breach weaker shields, and overwhelm Barrier and Field defenses with raw power. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy is... outside the magic circles?     Convenient.     Also, that prohibition on explosives ''only'' applies while the Knight is in melee -- if he ''does'' successfully break away from melee, he gets shot at with HEAT rounds for his trouble.     And even if he ''does'' keep to melee, Amy starts trying to think about how to do more damage with the gyrojets she's using, as the rocket-propelled kinetic penetrators get a bit bigger, and then longer, shaped more like oversized rifle rounds than pistol ones, her weapon changing accordingly.     She was researching anti-armor weapons the other day, trying to understand what traits to shape into them with her magic, and distinctly recalls that kinetic penetrators eventually come to favor being as long as you can keep stable, for highest sectional density, basically, more mass concentrated on the projectile's area when it makes contact.     As she tweaks and experiments, some of the projectiles get too unstable and fly off-target, but she just tweaks and tries again; Magic doesn't need her to machine new weapons and ammunition, it just makes them. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Ginga Kingu is - as would be unsurprising to his partners - enjoying this. The Knight is an excellent fighter, aggressive, assertive, heavy on the offense but not slouching in defense either, forcing him to give as good as he can get and to protect himself, pushing his energy to the fullest. It's an enemy that could and would kill him if he's unworthy, and Ginga Kingu is, was, and will always be worthy. When the strike aims for his lower-calf, he's ready for it, deflecting with Diamante, flipping and sliding away when necessary, putting all that lanky CLAMP boy-body to good use at keeping on his feet, and there are close calls - his military coat takes more than one tear - but as the fight goes on? The usually stoic boy is starting to grin. Spears rain down from above, and Ginga Kingu's eyes flash with light as he calls - "King's Counter!" A square of light forms above them, catching the rain of spears - and then bouncing them back, flying for the knight with all their rebounding kinetic energy. And then, with Chrono and Zephyr's attacks striking, he considers an orbital strike - but it's not the right moment, and stays out, to see if Zephyr and Chrono have weakened or frozen the knight. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' That was the trouble with fighting experienced fighters; in a way they were almost more predictable. As that staff swings towards the Knight, it does in fact turn to defend with that Alchemically Created shield that had been placed over the scabbard, that ice beginning to spread over the scabbard, shield, and the knight... until... <PLATZEN.> The shield and the mana put into manifesting it suddenly explode outward to free the knight of the spreading ice, along with sending a shockwave and shrapnel of magic and ice out from the location as a counter-attack towards Chrono! The rapid follow-up of the Tempest Saber slams down towards the knight in the wake of that burst of magic, axe striking the scabbard-device and exploding with mana, sending the Knight skidding off a few feet into the distance, rolling with impacts and managing to land on his feet in spite of everything. Which puts him, momentarily, in that 'out of melee range' area which leaves that space for a HEAT round open briefly, sending him rolling off further away again, this time having to scramble to recover himself as parts of the bridge start to crumble under the weight of the heavy attacks -- an older one, more of a footbridge than anything. As Amy experiments mid-fight on bullets and the spears are bounced back and shoot towards the knight... His sword is dropped briefly and he grabs one of the spears out of the air, turning slightly with its momentum and twisting... to chuck the spear right back into the fight towards Amy, as others cut past his body and strike off his armor in places. The sword is left on the ground as he darts back in towards the group, briefly blurring into a moment of difficult-to-track speed once more... approaching low this time. <ALCHEMIE: FAUST.> A part of the bridge suddenly shoots out from underneath the trio of closer-to-each-other teens in the form of a fist, attempting to launch them into the air with blunt force -- as well as get them closer to Amy. <ALCHEMIE: SICHERUNG.> The scabbard is stabbed into the side of the fist post-launch, fusing together into the form of a fist-hammer, followed by the knight leaping up and after them... To attempt to combo-smash them back down, intent on using Amy's own teammates as weapons against her (and themselves)! 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr lands hard from the sheer speed she used to get that strike in. Her feet even crack the pavement beneath her. "Solid impact, that had to hurt." she muses, turning to look at the Knight... before he blurrs out again.     < CHIEF. BELOW YOU! > tries to warn the Device, but it's a split-second too late.     Debris bursts out around that fist, and a chunk slams into the Wind Dancer's chest and sends her tumbling. She topples end over end for a few meters, before a pulse of magic stops her momentum, and she staggers back on her feet, a spell seal forming to cushion the last of her momentum, which quickly redirects to intercept thhe incoming hammer-strike. It angles, then starts to crack under the impact before the Wind Dancer cries.     "PARRY!" < PARRY BURST! >     Much akin to the Knight's own detonating shield, Zephyr's explodes out in a shaped cone of force to deflect the rest of the incoming attack. It's not as dedicated to counter-attack damage though. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' And he parried, ice and... exploded himself. Not unexpected. If anyone was going to explode themselves to stop their opponents, it would be a belkan. And then the knight was hurtling one of the spears towards Amy and... she could handle it. He knew, logically, she could. It didn't make him want to, any less, dive down and try to shield her. He tried not to think of Molly, her being pierced by that vine and.... Instead, he had attempted to knock all of them near Amy. Chrono didn't desist, allowing himself to be setup... but not so easily knocked down. Especially when Zephyr moved in to parry the blow.             <<Stinger Move!>> As Wind Dancer attempted to parry the blast, Chrono followed up. Three orbs of blue magic appeared, before darting out and weaving through the air. The first would go at the hand, attempting to disorient... While the last two went at the knight's hands, attempting to knock his sword and device out of said hands, and disarm their opponent. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     A spear is thrown at her; Amy hops to the side, the spear missing her but punching through her cloak as it flows behind her. And then the Knight's Device... calls her name?! She can't help reflexively looking-- fortunately the attack that follows is ''not'' coming from under ''her''. Oh, it's Belkan.     Well, while the fist is pushing people away--     "ALCHEMIE: PANZERFAUST!"     Amy shouts the words with a smartass grin and fires the distinctively-shaped HEAT round, her adjustments to the weapon making her rock forwards from reverse recoil.     She doesn't expect what comes next, and her mouth is agape with shock as she tries to dive out of the way of her friends! 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Well, that was unfortunate, Ginga Kingu thinks, as a fist-shaped section of bridge punches them up into the air, and the knight comes to try and use them as a literal hammer to strike down at Faust-san. Mmmm, no thanks. Luckily for Sugata, he's learned to fly, recently, and blue-white energy sparks at his feet, at the base of his thigh-high boots, as he kicks off in the air and darts about like Shadow the Hedgehog to just - flit away from the threat as Chrono and Zephyr unload in explosive deflection and attacks at the weapon, which is, ultimately, just stone from a bridge - And then he dives, catching Faust up as she scrambles into a dive to avoid being struck, into the air and away from the falling stones. "If you were waiting for a chance to unload - this is it." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:'''      Parry burst! The hammer's strike is stopped prematurely, followed by stinger blade shooting into the hammer to shatter it, and follow-up strike to the Knight's hands which were both wrapped around the scabbard as a shaft for the 'hammer', causing cracks in the hands... but not quite successfully disarming him -- more than he already had been, having left the sword behind on the bridge for the hammer time! Which also meant that maybe the sword itself wasn't that important to the Knight, though he refused to let go of the scabbard -- which made sense, considering the lapis lazuli jewel that was the core of the knight of trial was inlaid into said scabbard. On the upside for Amy, dodging out of her friends is MOSTLY unnecessary, though the raining bits of stone is probably still smart to get away from really. On the downside for the knight there is another HEAT round coming towards him to send him flying from the explosion once more, impacting with the other side of the bridge. Which starts to collapse from the various forms of damage done to it. And as Wind Dancer falls towards it, there was actually, ever so briefly, a moment of panic on the Knight's face. <EISIGE HERRSCHAFT.>> The scabbard is tapped against the ground, and water below begins to freeze rapidly, turning into a slide to catch and send Wind Dancer on a route to solid ground, instead of river. ...Look it's a test of worthiness, not a survivalism test. On the upside it also gives everyone a moment of respite from the unending attacks. And from the cracks in the knight's form, the damage had been accumulated nicely on him. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown narrowed his eyes on the warrior, only squinting slightly as the rocks fell around him. And then... The panic. Zephyr? No, Zephyr was an enforcer, Chrono trusted her to be able to handle herself. Still... the knight's decision to prioritize keeping her safe. It did earn him a moment's reprieve while he setup and... That was all, though. It was still a belkan test and Chrono glanced back towards Amy. << He's right, now is the time to unload. >> While he didn't launch an attack himself, he instead waved his staff. And binds would erupt out from around the knight. Magical ribbons reaching out to grab his wrists, ankles, neck and waist, to try and pin him for a moment... So the others could blow him away and finish this. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Parry successful, but with the impact disrupting her flight spell, she's suddenly falling. "Shiiiiiii--- OOF... Wh-"     That's the sound of an enforcer beginning to fall, finding something not expected on the trajectory, and being profoundly confused.     The ramp saves her from a watery encounter, but she still ends up slamming pretty hard into one of the bridge support pillars.     < Alert. Major damage to barrier jacket. Defense compromised. Life systems nominal. Continued combat inadvizable. >     Tenraikaze's alert goes out to her allies, letting them know that Zephyr is out of the fight, but not badly hurt. Just her stuff got rocked badly enough she can't continue to contribute. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy is... caught?! And carried?! And ''flown?!''     It's not the first time, but it's still a very uncommon experience for her!     Someone showing concern and protecting her was a total shock when Sailor Moon jumped in front of Carbonado's lightning for her; it's ''less'' unusual now but actions taken to protect her still ''hits'' in those lingering self-worth issues. Also, for most of her life she wasn't getting carried anywhere by anyone -- mahou strength may be in play here but it nonetheless serves as an immediate physical reminder of how much more ''right'' this shape is--     --and she doesn't have time to consciously process any of that, only to feel a rush of ''feelings'', blushing a bit. Perhaps because it's Sugata, though, she doesn't really feel any confusion that it might be romantic feelings. Even in this moment, he's cool and calm and directing her to the task at hand before she can even say thank you.     Her initial reaction is to wave an arm in the Knight's direction, conjuring a half-dozen mini-missiles to chase after him as he drops down to the river.     And then Amy conjures a giant artillery cannon and WHOOPS she's suddenly hundreds of pounds heavier dragging Sugata down -- she dismisses it a half-second later, "Sorry!" opting instead for her usual launcher -- which she fires several times in rapid succession, CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Sending 8½cm canonballs to just try and crack or break the statue knight with impact force! 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' In any other circumstance, as the attacks rain and a stillness takes the battlefield, Ginga Kingu would be calling down King's Pillar, striking the enemy down, ending the fight - But in this case, the Knight has stopped, in the middle of the fight, to protect an opponent. Ginga Kingu goes still in the air as he watches the Knight rescue Zephyr, ensuring they go down safely. He regrets giving Faust the incentive to unload - the knight is honorable, still. He was a good opponent, and he deserves to go down in proper battle, sword to sword. Faust summons a wave of mini-missiles, and then they dip in the air as hundreds of pounds of artillery cannon appear, and he can ''hold'' her but well they dip - "It's fine." And then she's firing off the shots, and he... does not do an orbital strike. "If this doesn't work, I'm challenging it to single combat." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' The Knight had known the moment it went for the save that the battle was over, its Device was damaged enough that most of its spells were going to be difficult to do as efficiently. As the ribbons appear around him, he kneels down to grab his sword, turning it and sliding it into the scabbard. And then he is bound. And missiles come in. And then cannonballs follow them. Explosions and cannonballs annihilating the part of the bridge that the Knight had been kneeling on. <You are worthy.> And all that is left in the wake is the lapis lazuli jewel and cracked scabbard and sword. No longer a functioanl device, but much like the other knights of trial's weapons, it was useful for parts or maintenance of other devices. 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown let out a sigh of relief when he was called worthy along with the others. By a belkan device. He... he had opinions about that. He is suddenly reminded of Hannah's hull-cracking headbutt. And now his head hurt. But they'd done it. And, more importantly? No sign of people dying. Zephyr was hurt and exhausted. He was a bit achy. Amy was flummaxed. Sugata was... Sugata-ing. He landed by the scabbard and raised his device into the air.             << Seal! >> It was good enough for a jewel seed, it was good enough for this. He'd give it to Rashmi and... who knew? Maybe... it would help. "Thank you everyone for your aid in this endeavor. Let's... let's go get some well earned rest." Smile. Keep smiling. Keeeeep smiling. Soldier on. There was still a belkan princess to save. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' They've won. Trial complete, and ''this'' time, without the Prinzessin herself showing up. Sugata flies himself and Faust down, allowing them to land securely before he releases her as Chrono seals away the jewel and scraps - and then he turns to Chrono, expression serious. "We heard about Skyline-san," he says, quiet. "If there's ever a need for additional force, call on us. Takuto and Wako would agree with me." That's all it is - but he hasn't seen Rashmi, since, and he knows Chrono is connected to that group. This is his condolences. "There are several more tests, but with each victory, we're closer to restoring the Prinzessin." That's, apparently, his version of a fairwell, because he'll be heading out with that said. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     He... sheathed his sword before the attacks hit? "Did... he give up?" Amy wonders, dismissing her weapon again as... the knight is gone.     Sugata sets her down and she bows just slightly, "Thank you." before returning to respond to Chrono. "Thank ''you'' for helping too. I mean... we ''all'' want to help Ms. Stauss."     She does look briefly more solemn as Sugata mentions Molly, but... only briefly.     "...Don't suppose I can hitch a ride back to school...?" she asks the others. Although she can use public transport and rooftop-jumping if needed! 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "I can give you a ride," Sugata says, easy, and, after a moment of consider... "I don't suppose you can make a backpack or something?" Wako isn't the jealous sort and neither is Takuto, but he has enough tact to not want to carry a girl back in his arms all the way to the academy. 
}}

2254/The Duskwight Dancer

2025-01-21T06:51:35Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/01/21 |Location=Abandoned Theatre |Synopsis=Rumors have begun to spread about people disappearing around an old theatre that rarely sees use n..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/21
|Location=Abandoned Theatre
|Synopsis=Rumors have begun to spread about people disappearing around an old theatre that rarely sees use nowadays, and there have been occasional magical distortions hinting at the possibility of a Witch's Labyrinth in the area.

Come investigate and possibly dance with death.

(P.S. There will probably be no death.)

(P.P.S. ...Of player characters at least. It is a Witch after all. They tend to eat people.)

(P.P.P.S. It's not melona's fault this time! Probably!)
|Cast of Characters=87,266,224,160,55,107
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' In a huge, sprawling town like Tokyo, there are going to be unused buildings, old places that people don't touch and don't usually go to unless they're trying to sneak around and visit a haunted place. But in the winter time, it's not when people usually do that. It's cold, there's snow on the ground, and the air around the abandoned theatre was even more eerie than normal in the darkness. Part of that is because of the actual palpable sense of Wrongness that was hanging around it, a Wrongness that had been gradually growing over a short period. Wind blowing through the theatre's old, boarded up windows and broken holes bringing a mysterious tinkling music to dance through the air. An almost enticing series of notes, a joyful noise that almost sounded like laughter. Occasional sounds seeming to fade in from the past, the sound of clapping at the end of a play. And if one steps towards the old theatre, they would feel themselves almost drawn in. Between this creepy awkwardness and reports of missing people, people have likely been drawn into the area to deal with the problem. A problem that was likely very obvious what it would be. A witch. And its Labyrinth. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Miho has been watching the place for a minute. She's been getting headaches and the chills since she heard the rumors of the place. The young mahou had made a few plans, and now ready to go. Miho did make sure to hide a duffle bag with candy nearby, just in case.     Well its go time. Snow seems to gather in a localized blizzard, before forming into a figure. The snow turns to a figure of ice before shattering into the form of Yukihime. Yukihime holds her right hand out, and calls for her naginata. She takes a deep breath. "I hope I'm not too late.", the mahou whispers to herself.     Yukihime holds out her left hand, and calls out 3 beads that turn into energy wolves. She's a bit nervious as she moves around inside. Yukihime did consider calling forth a few snow bunnies, but she's nervious about just how to fight a witch, if its a witch. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki wasn't looking for the theatre, or witches, or anything like that. She was walking through the neighborhood on her way to a junk shop that had been rumored to have some sort of 'weird electronics' that she was hoping might be useful for her Device repairs. A chill strikes her. <"Warning. Thaumic energy signature detected. Type unknown."> There goes the evening. "Barrier jacket, Argent Dawn. Let's get ready for trouble." She steps into an alley long enough to cast the Jacket, then heads out towards the theatre. Where the Knight of Dawn meets a familiar face. 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     Missing people, a sense of Wrongness, strange occurances.     That brings the Shadow Shogun investigating alright. She doesn't know much about Witches, but the Wrongness makes her think that perhaps one of her missing Shards is nearby.     The black-haired, black-eyed young girl in full samurai armour steps through the backalleys, sword drawn and ready in Stone stance(If anyone looking knows how katana stances look). Her eyes swiveling and her senses expanding.     A small Tengu 'doll' floats nearby too, holding its staff threateningly at nearby shadows, it's dark red face and giant nose making it look comical.     The duo arrive outside the theatre, and a frown creases Hinata's brow, the most her face has moved. "What is going on here?" she asks, glancing at the Tengu who shrugs and makes an uncertain chirruping sound. 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' Coco has noticed the palpable sensations of Witch wrongness, but even more than that, that dark energy music fills her with reproach down to her very core, in opposition to her nature as a mermaid princess. So, it didn't take long for the blonde girl to follow the Witch's trail to the rundown building, even without the unaware victims that had fallen into the creature's net. Once she meets the first group of victims, Coco stops keeping to herself, and the yellow light of her pearl starts cutting through the darkness. "Yellow Pearl Voice!" Coco puts on a smile, and a kaleidoscope of colours covers her clothes, an everchanging brilliance that soon after blossoms into the yellow idol of the seas, grasping her trusty E-Pitch microphone that holds her pearl, exhuding joy from the center of the Live Stage. "Hello, everyone, I know that music is quite catching, but lend me your attention for just a second, and let me fill your hearts with peace and happiness. Legend of Mermaid: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" The melody of the oceans starts narrating about the nostalgic song of a faraway world, and a promise to always be connected as long as the paradise of the seven seas is remembered, the fantasy of a night where stars like pearls release a wondrous light and give everyone a shining future, washing out from the Live Stage in a purifying wave that purges the Witch's Kiss off of those she enthralled. "Phew", Coco sighs with relief. "Good thing I catched up to them. Now, to take care of the source", she stares sternly at the looming shape of the old teather, leaving her victims behind to recover. Pushing open the creaking door of the buildings, Coco looks with surprise at Yukihime ahead of her. "Oh, a new magical girl, hi! Are you still looking for the Labyrinth's entrance?", she asks with a smile. "Hi, Shogun, hi, Dawn!", she greets the other two. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Rumors of disappearances around an old building... After what happened at the haunted doll shop, Amanda's mind immediately suspects trouble. Getting close to the area and tracking like Kyubey taught her confirms it: There is a Witch nearby. She shoots off a quick text message -- Witch. Old <name> Theater. -- but before she can wait for backup... is that Yukihime?     "Wait!" Amy shouts, but it's too late. She confirms that she hit 'send' on the phone, and then runs in after her.     Once inside, she admonishes her magiucal kouhai: "I ''told'' you! ''Never'' enter a Witch's Labyrinth alone!" 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' Stepping across the threshhold of the building causes an immediate shift, a ripple and sensation of an almost heady, enticing energy that is both repulsing and enticing. Reality immediately seems to break apart, as if stepping from the cold harsh reality of the outside world into a fairytale world made up of torn paper that seems to shiver in place when looking at it, torn paper doors ahead slowly shifting on its frame slightly to the left and right, almost as if it were dancing to the music that had grown from a distant tinkling chiming to a happy cheerful music that just sounded slightly Off. The music feeling altogether familliar, but like the artists were singing it off by a few notes that just make it feel ever so slightly wrong. Another thing of note as anyone enters, they would notice their own clothing... was trying to join the torn paper aesthetic. The edges crinkling, fraying... growing stiffer. Speaking of Familiar faces, going through those doors would reveal the familiars! Paper doll dancers on a stage, all made to look as beautiful ... as ... being made of torn paper /can/ be at least, their faces stuck in perpetual smiles as they twirl and dance on the stage, dancing. and singing away. Musical notes even seeming to float in the air made of that same torn paper, dancing in the air to the music and almost seeming to shudder. In the stands is the most concerning part of this all, most likely. People in various states of becoming those paper dolls, their faces stuck in unnaturally wide smiles and clapping wildly the whole time, giving a standing ovation that was wholly at the wrong time... ...In the background, though, there was a darkness, a figure that seemed to be hiding in the shadows of the back of the stage. Meanwhile, outside of the theatre, Yellow Pearl Voice approaches a group that was starting to be lured in by that music, the Witch's Mark starting to appear on their necks as they approach, lured in by one of those paper doll dancers as she hums and sings away, dancing towards the entrance to the doorway... only for that melody of the oceans to spark into life and leave the Familiar becoming nothing more than a scrap of paper vaguely in humanoid shape, not entirely unlike a shikigami slip. But... torn roughly, with a hair taped to it and a cut as if it had been stabbed in its chest. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     "Well I was just scouting the place. Just to confirm just what it is.", Yukihime says. She nods to the others. "Wait...It is a witch?", she asks. Yes she did come here on her own to investigate. Well she is dating Hinote...Curiousity...     Yukihime stretches a little bit as she takes a deep breath. The woman blinks a little at Shadow Shogun. She shakes her head a little bit.     Yukihime looks at one of her wolves, and notices it still has a dog jweater...that looks torn apart. She stares..."Umm is that normal?", Yukihime asks. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' The Knight of Dawn follows Yukihime into the theatre, paying more attention to her Device's sensor readings than the building around her. The readings are .... confusing. Weird. Twisted. "Witch? Like, flying on broomsticks and all?" *Someone* is out of touch. "I certainly don't think anything here is *normal*," she adds. "There's something very wrong with space... time... *everything*... in here." She would strongly consider leaving, if it weren't clear that there are people in danger here. 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     Well, there's others going inside, and they're /not/ being led by those creepy paper dolls, so the Shogun does to. She eyes Yukihime curiously for a moment, but doesn't ask. Not polite.     She does ask about something though. "What is going on? This is clearly not one of my missing Shards.. none of them have created their own pocket dimensions before." She's a bit more verbose in her henshin form, but there's a familiar monotone to the words as she speaks.     "Regardless, it seems there are people in danger here. How do we fight whatever this is?" She sheaths her sword, and holds her right hand out to one side, a silvery light forming in her hand, and expanding out to become a flute. A shackuhachi flute. The Tengu doll remains nearby to her also, brandishing its staff threateningly at the Familiars. 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' Stepping after Yukihime, the mermaid frowns as the surroundings immediately warp around them, turning into the eerie construct of the Labyrinth. "This Witch really isn't trying to hide herself much", Coco sighs. She very much preferred the usual kind. At least that gave them a bit more time to reach people in danger before they got sucked inside. "No, a Witch is, uh... Like a kid's first drawing, after a horror movie", Coco explains to the Knight of Dawn. "They mark and hipnotise people so that they become despondent and walk to their deaths. At the Witch's hands, if they don't kill themselves first", she adds with a small shiver. "There were some Witch Kissed people while I was walking here", she points to where they had roughly come from even if the entrance isn't visible. "We need to make our way through the familiars, reach the Witch, hopefully before she consumes more people", looks at the soon-to-be paper dolls. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy sighs. "I guess you didn't know..." She nods. "Yeah, it's a Witch. I ''just'' texted outside, I was going to invite you and whoever I could get to help hunt it." She looks at Shadow Shogun and the Knight of Dawn. "At least it's not just us."     She nods at Coco's explanation.     She points at the dog jweater. "I presume that's still there from fighting the jimono. The weird papery thing happening to our clothes is... unusual." Amy's clothes revert to normal for a second, and then start to get papery again. Huh. She'll leave it be unless there's a good reason to spend magic resisting it.     She looks to the knight of Dawn. "Like she said. They're monsters that make people kill themselves and feed off their deaths, and they're what Puella Magi like myself have pledged to hunt."     Amy looks out over the theater. "Physically, they're... weird giant monsters, you'll know it when you see it because of the boss titles. They live inside Labyrinths, these warped spaces they create -- I don't think they can usually manifest in reality directly, the one last Halloween was ''unusually'' strong."     Amy frowns at the 'audience' of people turning into paper dolls. "There's no way to leave unless the Witch ''lets'' you leave, for some reason, or you kill her. So to get them out of here... The fastest way is to find the Witch and kill her."     Amy turns to look at the stage and the dancing Familiars. "Unfortunately, I've no idea how to do that faster or slower. I would think that trying to go 'forward' to the Labyrinth, or fighting familiars in hopes the Witch can sense the fight, are our best bets."     She points at the stage. "Aside from outsiders, any actual ''creature'' in here that isn't just a piece of the background is a Familiar. Rarely they can be harmless, but generally they're monsters trying to kill anyone who's come inside."     Amy looks to the other mahou again. "I'm not going to say we have to go about it one way or the other -- more important is that we stick together, can you imagine getting lost alone in here? So, how are people feeling today: Search for a way 'forward', or start a fight as soon as we can?" 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' The Jweater Wolf isn't this Witch's fault, at least, the fact the jweater was starting to turn into a torn paper jweater was probably her fault though. Speaking of the witch, as one of the civilians fully finishes turning into a paper doll... the dark figure of the witch, her body jittery and seeming to twitch, a massive dancer in a black dress, her eyes a spiral of scribbled darkness and chaos as she rises above the other dancers, her voice rising in pitch above the rest as she pulls out a small knife as her nameplate appears. Lucretia. Her dress shifts, becoming Green as she looks down at the 'star' of the dancers down below, her knife stabbed down into the star dancer, red torn paper shooting out from the figure as it reverts to scraps of paper. And then she reaches out, grabbing the civilian-turned-paper doll and beginning to dress it up and set it on the stage, the dancers shifting over and a new 'star' taking center stage, while the newly created doll dancing awkwardly and stumbling... clearly a new dance troop member. Meanwhile the rippling change of the dress changing happpens again, the green replaced by a white dress as the Witch seems to notice the new visitors, her head turning towards them. One of her hands reaching out to attempt to grab Yukihime's Jweater-wearing wolf. And set it in the stands so it could join the others... Of course, not being Kissed, it wouldn't have the impulse to stay in place like the others. Probably. It might not have immediately noticed the Threat of the visitors. Maybe. Meanwhile, some members of the band seem to be crowding in behind the gathered Mahou, seemingly trying to usher them forward, as a paper doll musician with a giant trombone blasts notes at the group that seem to be moderately annoyed. It pauses, then makes something that sounds vaguely like an attempt at speech but is distorted and rambly and squeaky and absolute nonsense at the other band members, as the music cuts out. And the Witch's gaze turns towards the group. Ah. She's noticed. 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     "Stand and fight." states the Shogun. "Fleeing only opens you to attacks from the enemy, and holding out position here means we have a place to concentrate our power." she says, then closes her eyes, blocking out the discordant trombone music as she brings the flute to her lips, and begins to play. It's a traditional japanese flute piece, and the music helps to bolster the other mahou's constitution, giving them a bit more oomph in their attacks and a bit more power to throw behind their attacks for as long as she keeps playing.     The Tengu does flit out to bonk some of the Familiars as they get too close, its tiny staff holding a bit more oomph than its size might imply, but the little familiar beast isn't going to be killing any on its own unless it gets super lucky. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime nods her head a second as her phone pings with the text. "S-sorry. Just been getting headaches around this place the last few days. I figured I'd check it out before calling everyone in.", she says. The Jweater wolf gets picked up, and placed in the crowd. Yukihime looks a little annoyed before she calls the wolf back by changing it back to a bead.     "Did...the witch just kill one of the figures?", Yukihime asks. She takes a deep breath for a moment. The woman calls out two more wolves. Yukihime blinks as she gets a power boost, before she moves back a little bit. The mahou begins to dance a little bit, guiding her wolves with her naginata in her dance. Shadow would recongize the movement.     Yukihime sighs a bit as she moves in her dance. "Can we be sure she isn't meat sheilding humans as these figures?", she asks. 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' "Or she can just show herself right away", Coco makes a correction when she sees the Witch standing ''right there''. Sometimes it happens, and at least this Witch didn't take advantage of the fact to issue a surprise attack. This is the type of Witch that doesn't seem to like the entourage of her own Labyrinth, so maybe that's why it didn't attack. "Nice performance Shogun. Let's bring a bit more colour to this place. "Ever Blue: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" the Mermaid Princess of the Yellow Pearl smiles, the white radiance of the Live Stage intensifying with new marine melody. Coco sings softly of the feeling she gets that on the other side of the seven seas, someone is crying, squeezing her heart and causing her loneliness. But she embraces the guidance of the stars in her heart, the destiny of the ever blue sparkle of the ocean she loves calling to her and letting her gather the power to protect the future in her hands. As the melody expresses her feelings of cherishment towards her friends and the mysterious blueness of the ocean, prettier than heaven, she sings for the purification of darkness and the disappearance of evil, clashing against the notes of the Witch's Familiar and chasing them away. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' "Recording mode, Argent Dawn. Save for review." <"Affirmative, Master."> This is Yuki's first time fighting a witch, so it's time to save some data for review later. "Target the Master, not the Minions," she directs, and a dozen octagonal mirrors appear around her, circling slowly, forming darts of light to launch at the Witch. She lets them orbit her for a moment, building up power, while Yellow Pearl's song washes over her and she smiles. Then she lifts her hand, spreading a paper fan, and slashes down with it to signal the launch of her darts. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy thought the dancers were familiars. When Shadow Shogun says she's ready for a fight, Amy considers how best to take them out... but then the Witch is there (and Amy doesn't recognize any rune but the last one, which she knows ''very well'' -- it appeared three times each on her and Sayaka's rings, after all, and also in Octavia, Baast, Jayden, ''Walpurgisnacht'', and countless other Witches' names!)     And then the Witch kills one of her own familiars, and moves and audience member to take its place. Oh.     ''Oh.''     Amy's face pales as she realizes what she almost did. Although the paper dolls might well be too far gone to save, they hadn't attacked yet. "Yeah." She answers Yukihime's first question. As for the second...     "We can't be sure. But if they're fully transformed it's probably too late." Amy answers, almost breathless. She doesn't remember any unseen people appearing at the doll shop, after all.     The Witch sees them. "There she is! Now!" Buoyed by the others' battle music, she conjures an artillery cannon on her shoulder; the tube is like four inches wide and ten feet long and looks like it weighs hundreds of pounds, and Amy struggles to get it into position as if it weighs a fraction of that, not caring if she whacks paper band members with the back as she aims the front at the Witch. She glances back, and warns the other mahou "Backblast, stay clear!" before firing, not caring if paper bandfolk get caught in it.     BOOM!     It's an anti-tank round that she fires at the Witch, pretty standard for her. Since they're ''inside'', instead of the expected 'muzzle flash' explosion out the back, there's just suddenly a cloud of saltwater mist. Okay getting blasted with that might actually be bad for paper creatures, but who knows if such physics apply here! 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' The instant that flute starts to play, starts to cut through her music and her dancing, the dress of the Witch rolls out and becomes a red as she stomps one of her torn paper feet onto the stage, the impact sending a ripple out through the labyrinth of her rage, the dancers on the stage stumbling and falling over as she grabs a piece of the stage, tearing off a piece of the paper and making it in a vaguely human shape, then stabbing her knife into it. As it does, a massive knife appears above the Shadow Shogun, tracking her movements for a while... then stabbing downwards to attempt to stab through her chest, much like the paper doll she stabbed had been! Luckily she has more ability to dodge than the paper did... Meanwhile the trombone player is battered by the tengu, a spindly little arm darting out to swat away the Tengu and then turning fully towards it to give a full long low bwooooooooooooooom at the Tengu, intent on sending it flying. Meanwhile other familiars are beginning to move in towards the others, a cymbol wielder smashing discordantly at Yukihime, eventually attempting to smash her between the two very real feeling cymbols, in spite of the fact they seem to be made of torn paper! Much like with the Shadow Shogun, the moment that Yellow Pearl Voice attempts to upstage her performance with her own, another one of those paper dolls is created in her likeness and stabbed with her knife, creating another one of those massive knives that attempts to stab down from the air towards Yellow Pearl Voice, even as the music brings... different color to the area, the torn paper already fairly colorful and varied, patterns sometimes moving independantly of the torn paper, like the animation style where they just leave a cutout of the background in its place and move the stuff around the background instead. Darts fly out towards the Witch, who is suddenly being the one stabbed instead of doing the stabbing, which results in her releasing a scream that seems to blend with the chaos of mixed musical styles in the Labyrinth. Five paper dolls are brought into existence, five floating in front of the Witch now. Orbiting around her. And as that artillery cannon is created, and the shell is launched towards the Witch... she moves one of those paper dolls into the path. And it cuts a hole through the paper doll, disappearing. And reappearing, gigantic and descending towards the group, only now as a torn-paper-bullet. TIME TO RUN! ... At least the backblast /did/ burn away those band familiars that were harrassing them. 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     Hinata is still playing as that knife appears. She only stops, and looks up when her familiar Tengu taps her on the shoulder and points up when she looks.     It takes a second, but as that blade comes down, she dive-rolls like a Dark Souls character, coming up in a fighting stance as the flute vanishes in that silvery light, and ofuda and a Gohei appears in its place. She adjusts her posture and begins to chant, spreading her ofuda slips in a fan, as she 'blesses' them with the gohei. After a moment, she looks to see a giant artillery shell coming in... and starts to disengage, tossing a few 'BIND' slips out to try and slow down the shell, the slips adhering to the attack wherever they manage to hit. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime blinks as the familiar stumbles towards her. She dances away, and starts to slash at the figure after it tried to smash her with cymbols. There's a pause. "Are...we sure there's no going back? I mean...if they're...humans...", she comments. Normally Yukihime doesn't hesitate, but this...is a little different.     The mahou takes a deep breath, and plays stay away at the moment, swatting the figure with the shaft of her naginata. "I could try to trap her?", she comments. Yukihime looks at the wolves. Why couldn't they be fire? Either way, Yukihime is kinda having a hard time striking out... 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's face goes pale as she sees a voodoo paper doll take the attack. She glances around the group, expecting a giant hole to appear in someone -- and then remembers the knives she ''just'' saw.     There's only time for her to grab Yukihime and (her launcher is suddenly back down to normal size) rocket-jump across the theater! (The damage to the scenery and others around is minimal when she does that. Magic!)     "Guh... how do we stop her from using paper dolls?" Amy lands from her jump and sets Yukihime down. "Your snow... maybe if you made all the paper wet? But then I guess she could still block with soggy paper..."     She looks at Yukihime sadly. "With Witches it's hard to know anything for certain... but..."     Amy mutters under her breath. 'There's no going back for ''her'', either.'     "Trap her how?" Amy brightens at the prospect. "Would it stop her from using the dolls somehow?" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki's first set of darts are exhausted. She's prepared to cast another set, the mirrors are already starting to glow. <"Alert!"> Her head shoots up at the warning, taking in the falling paper shell. It might be paper but she has no intention of just letting herself get hit by that. "Abort to dodge!" she shouts. And just like that, translucent black-feathered wings sprout from the back of her kimono-like Barrier Jacket, hurling her into the air and away from the incoming riposte. A shield briefly appears before her, only to be shattered by the paper's impact, and moments later she falls to the ground and skids back several feet. "Those dolls aren't people, are they?" she asks as she gathers her wits and takes in the comments of her co-belligerents. "I can try taking them out, let you girls focus on the boss." 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' Bind ofuda stick to the shell, slowing it down as it descends towards the group, luckily moving a lot slower than the original bullet had been. Giving more than enough time for the Shadow Shogun to get out of the way, and Yukihime and Amy to fly out of the way of the massive bullet as it continues its way down! Of note, the paper doll she used to defend herself from Amy's attack is also gone now, leaving only four paper dolls... so likely an overwhelming barrage of attacks is probably an easy enough way to overcome them, that and just... attacks from different angles harder for her to defend against. The sound of a revolver's cylinder being spun suddenly rings out through the Labyrinth, locked into place and then a soft ~click~. "Hallo~." Comes a voice, as another Puella appears behind the Witch. And then... BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG. The entire revolver is unloaded into the back of the Witch, glowing bullets shooting out towards the Witch's head, the first one striking before the Witch can react, stumbling out of the way of the attacks. As the revolver-wielding Puella alights upon the top of one of the spotlights. "My my~. It seems someone is trying to steal all of the attention, and that's just not okay. You should be paying attention to ME instead~." She gives a little wink, an orangey-yellow heart coming off of her. "No, they're not people. Not anymore. The audience might not be beyond saving though~." The Puella says cheerfully. Meanwhile the paper shell finally impacts, tearing through the area where everyone used to be standing, leaving a torn hole in the ground which was... beginning to repair itself. Just don't think about the colorful mess of a void beneath the torn fabric. Meanwhile, the Witch in response to all of this... gathers up her paper dolls all into a pile and stabs through them with her knife, creating another series of those knives attempting to stab at the mahou all from different angles... tracking after them for a half-second before stabbing down at them. Meanwhile, at the top of the stands, there is a familiar figure. Just quietly watching. :3 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Spin, click. Amy looks around for the source, and     BANG (x6)     Well, she certainly gets ''Amy's'' attention, although when she speaks of the dead dolls walking so cheerfully, that rubs Amy the wrong way... Still, she's an ally, right?     Amy sees the stab, and looks for the knives, again trying to grab and rocketjump out of the way with Yukihime. She just saw the Witch do this twice, she can remember the timing! It feels very learning-a-boss's-pattern-in-a-videogame.     As Amy flies through the air, she dismisses her launcher and waves her hand at the Witch, salvos of mini-missiles appearing, launching and spreading out and then arcing back in at the Witch from all different angles! When she lands, she lets go of Yukihime and ''keeps'' summoning the mini-missiles while also holding a high-caliber gyrojet rifle in both hands and shooting ''that'' directly at the Witch as rapidly as she can manage while controlling the recoil. "If we attack her all at once, she can't block all of it!" Amy suggests. "Thanks for the help, miss! I'm Magical Rocket Girl Red, and you are?" 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     After clearing the impact, and slapping a few EXPLODE slips on some Familiars that get too close, causing them to detonate like a cap-gun going off, Shadow Shogun dismisses the remaining slips and the gohei staff.     She turns, and grasps the swords over her shoulders, pulling them free with a resonant ringing sound. The knife that comes for her isn't dodged this time. She parries it. A resounding clash of metal against metal, and the phantom voodoo blade is knocked aside to land into the terrain nearby. Sparks fly from the impact, framing the stoic dour face as she shifts. A modified Water stance has her holding one blade high in front of her face, the other out behind her to the side. "A decisive strike. Coordinate your attacks."     She shifts her feet a little, the recites a haiku.     "Early nipping fall,     A fallow, clucking deer flies,     Betrayed by the queen."     Her blades begin to glimmer with blue soulfire as she charges up, and with a leap, she brings both blades up and over in a descending slash, aiming to open up the Witch's defenses for a brief moment. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     "Its the same spell that I used on Walpy.", Yukihime tells. "The problem...this uses all my magical power in one go.", she explains. The Ice Mahou hops away from Amy as she holds her left hand out. The other six wolves come out. Yukihime takes a deep breath for a moment, mentally chanting the spell.     The wolves run around the witch. They surround her, and then Yukihime's eyes glow. "Wolves of the Capital, Capture!", she hisses out while pointing at the witch. The wolves howl, and suddenly all of Yukihime's magic presses down on witch. The wolves start to growl as they move closer to the witch, making thr pressure that much worse.     Yukihime is already sweating bad. This is varient three of her finisher, but it takes so much out of her. Its basically everything she has versus everything her opponent is. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' It's time to finish this. "Argent Dawn... darts. Target lock." The Device obediently produces the orbiting ring of octagonal mirrors once again, and - in Yuki's sight, at least - projects targeting reticles around the paper dolls that protect the Witch. "Just give me a sec...." The mirrors continue orbiting as power builds, while the Knight balances on her toes, ready to leap aside if an attack should come her way. Then the darts are ready to fire, and she launches them out at the witch, letting them stream towards her... ... only to split aside at the last moment, a pair of them going after each of the paper dolls. Even if the witch can duplicate her attack, can a couple of her darts really be any danger to any of the mahou here? "Go for it!" she yells to Yukihime, "Finish this!" 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' Strengthening the confines of her Live Stage with repelling power, the paper knife is pushed back from the mystical white light, and the song continues to cut through the darkness, the fact that the Witch seems to disapprove is only clear with those two paper mache knives that haven't brought about much of a change. The same can't be said for the said for the gigantic bullet, that would likely tear through the barrier of the white sphere would they happen to touch. A sense of urgency fills the mermaid princess at seeing the enormous attack, her will forcing the Live Stage she is in to float away from the zone of impact in all hurry, watching not to far away from her, the paper sphere crudely crack through the ground. The mermaid princess raises her right arm, the bracelet on her wrist shining with white light as a halo of yellow light moves downwards from the mermaid princess's head, transforming her further and enhancing her purification. Corals radiate outwards from her neck, covered by a transparent veil with brown pearls and white stars decorating it, the same decoration that is applied to the layer of fabric extending backwards and downwards from above her skirt, another layer with the water ripple pattern on the outside extending in much the same way from below the skirt. The E-Pitch mic finally changes in an E-Pitch Headset that descends on Coco's head, the yewel nestled safely on the right side. "Mother Symphony: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" Coco smiles widely, putting all her positivity into the song, a power that heals the fatigue of her friends. The magical notes of her song swell up in energy and reach within her, a melody of taking care of worn-out wishes, a call to give a sad heart the kind mother's lullaby, its seven-pitched melody a call to let everyone know you're fighting with your soul's pride. "Fine Heart Pitch!" she declares, the purification reaching out at the apex of the performance in a wave of purification to cleanse the darkness. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:'''      Click, spin, the sound of bullet casing dropping to the ground and tinkling as they turn into scraps of paper that bounce off into the edges of the stage, six new bullets appearing and floating as she gestures to reload them into the cylinders. "Misfortune Mary, the revolver calamity~." She responds cheerfully. Meanwhile, the familiars who had been generally harrassing mostly harmlessly with their music get blasted with explode slips! Boom! Each one turning into a puff of paper confetti when exploded. Blue soulfire charges up, and the Witch attempts to bring one of those paper dolls in front of the slash to reflect it -- but as it's cut through, it simply burns away instead, opening up those defenses... Which are further opened by the Capture attack as Yukihime sends the wolves as they surround the Witch, emitting a heavy pressure and binding spell that forces her down onto her knees... as... Chaaaaarge... Bang! Another shot is fired towards the Witch. This one more of a laser of energy than a direct bullet. And, from the opposite side, Amy shoots a gyrojet into the other side of the Witch, both striking at the same time with a ~boom~! ... The music seeming to change to match the gunshots momentarily. As Yuki gathers power and mirrors orbit around... and shoot several of her darts at those paper dolls, explicitly targetting them! They do get reflected, but others get through as well, as the paper dolls are destroyed by the attacks. A few darts launched towards the other Mahou present, a bit faster but smaller attacks than the others! Turned into actual paper darts as they fly out. But more importantly, the extra darts stream out towards the Witch proper, striking her as she struggles against the bindings holding her. Mother Symphony, Pichi Pichi Voice! The music of the Witch's familiars and those corrupted civilians is all but drowned out by the melody of taking care of Worn-out Wishes, a call to give a sad heart the kind mother's lullaby. Fine heart pitch. Aaah... All she'd wanted was to be paid attention to... to be the star just once... And the Labyrinth starts to collapse around them, as the Witch cracks... and then falls into a pile of that torn paper... finally leaving behind just the telltale Witch's Grief Seed as the world returns to normal, leaving them in a delapidated old theatre. 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     Hinata flourishes her blades, slowly returning them to their scabbards with the 'traditional' slow slide, and final click after a pause. She looks side-long at Mary, then over at Amy, Yukihime, Argent and Pearl... she then stoops, looking at the Grief Seed curiously. "Is this all that remains?" she muses curiously, reaching out toward the object with a gloved hand. Her own familiar floating nervously next to her head, squeaking warnings to not touch weird magic things.     <That's what got you into this mess to begin with.> it seems to be saying. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki relaxes - a little - as it appears the Witch has been defeated. She isn't sure what the black crystal it 'dropped' is, but others seem to find it interesting, so she has Argent Dawn scan it. The results are ... difficult to interpret, so she sets it aside for later. "So what happens to the ... er... audience, now?" she asks, looking around as the Labyrinth fades back into the old theatre. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     The problem with this spell is that it liferally takes all her magic in one go. Yukihime, once the target is gone, simply collapses. She is breathing very heavily as she sits there. She doesn't even have the strength to really get moving. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Another Witch down. Things were tense for a moment there, you never know how it will go with Witches.     When the labyrinth has faded, Amy approaches the grief seed... but when Shogun reaches for it, she snatches it, protectively, if Mary doesn't get it first. "These are for puella magi... although if none are available, bring it to one of us as soon as you can."     If she did get the seed, she whispers to it, 'I'm sorry it had to end this way. At least it's over now...'     Then she speaks to the others, "Any... 'audience members' that were too far gone disappeared with the Labyrinth. The others... should live? We should probably call Emergency Services shortly. Are any of you good to do that?"     She also answers, "Yes, this is... what's left when a Witch dies. We need them to replenish our magic. Speaking of which..."     Amy turns to Mary and holds up her fist to show the soul gem on the back of her wrist, barely tinged with corruption. "I'm almost full, and I've got one almost full grief seed. How about you?" 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' "There is hardly anything misfortunate about your arrival", Coco points with a kind smile to Misfortune Mary. And a hint of amusement, because the wordplay begged to be done. "Thanks for helping out with the Witch, Mary. I go by Yellow Pearl Voice. And yes, it's a mouthful, shorten it as you please", she winks. Admittedly, the nickname is a bit of a question mark. Either it's one the yellow Puella has chosen for herself to sound extra cool, or it's because she made enemies, and well, she isn't sure ''how'' she made those enemies, but hopefully it's the former case. The Labyrinth starts fading and the Grief Seed falls with the usual clink to the floor of the run down theather. A smile is given to Amy when she announces the state of her Soul Gem. Coco knows that her song would slow down the depletion of her magic, but not how much the red Puella had at the start of this fight. "Are you sticking around after this, Mary? We could all go eat something and chat after this fight", Coco invites the fellow yellow magical girl. A concerned look is reserved to Yukihime though, and a Live Stage appears around the snow princess, lifting her up, and carrying her to Coco. "Hopefully she wakes up soon", she mutters under her breath. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' "That's everything it was, really." Is Misfortune Mary's response to the Shadow Shogun as she hops down from that light that was now even more precarious of a position, her devil tail waving behind her lazily. "That said, I somehow doubt you need that, you don't seem to have a Soul Gem." Checking on the Audience... the ones that ~weren't~ too far gone were unconscious on various broken seats and dilapidated benches, others simply gone with the Labyrinth. Mary doesn't seem to contest the seed when Amy and the Shogun go for it, commenting absnetly, "Ah, I'm fine. I'm not here to encroach upon the territory of other Puella, simply here to hunt down my dear partner who ran off a while ago. Have you seen her? She's about yay tall, usually very grumpy." She says, gesturing at a low height. "I did my very best to make her a strong Puella but for some reason she got a letter and suddenly disappeared." She gives a bit of a pout at that, that fades to a face of concern. "Her transformation into a Puella was very traumatic, I'm worried that she might have become a Witch by now, I'm just looking to see what's become of her." She doesn't /seem/ to be dark energy at the very least, so there's that. "Ah, the Misfortune part is that I have... uh... a bit of a reputation. I'm bad luck for my partners, I always seem to survive while they end up... not." She seems legitimately sad by this. "I tried to help that by going out of my way to train my newest partner, but she, well... she ended up running away because of that traumatic awakening, like I said." She says softly. There is a pause. "I probably should be looking for my partner, I'm only here in Japan for a short while so I should be focusing." She says with a small smile. "Otherwise I'd love to." She /does/ wait around to see if anyone /had/ heard of that partner of hers, though. 

:'''{{#var:160|Shadow Shogun (160)}} has posed:'''     If Hinata is surprised or upset at the sudden snatching of the Grief Seed, she doesn't show it. She simply brings her hand back, stands and bows to Amy and Mary. "I shall take my leave then." she states simply, but pauses as Mary speaks about her partner... "I cannot say I have, though I am not familiar with many other Mahou." she explains. "I wish you luck in finding her." she adds, beforer turning and starting to walk off. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki hasn't heard of the strange Puella or her partner before, but she does recognize Yukihime as a friend she's met before. "Here," she offers. "I'll get her back to my place, let her rest up in peace, you lot can help our yellow-dressed new friend, yes?" 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' Coco laughs lightly at the encroaching comment. "Please stay, if you want. There aren't territories here, and in fact, there at least three Puellae here", Coco tells Mary after doing a quick recalling of Red, Melon and the girl with the red spear. She scarcely sees them aside from Red, but as far as she knows they are still around. "Oh, sure, please take her", Coco nudges the Live Stage with Yukihime in it over to the Knight of Dawn. "And please tell me how she is when she wakes up", she asks the other magical girl while she goes to check the Witch's victims. Drained, but otherwise not in danger. "They are safe", she tells the others in case they had the same thought. "Yeah, I do know a Puella like the one you are describing, but your description could work with any short girl. What else do you have?", Coco raises an eyebrow at the vagueness. "If your find your partner, both of you can stay here. Tokyo is a safe place. You wouldn't have to work alone here", Coco offers with genuine worry over the girl's sadness. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "Why'd you name yourself Misfortune?" Amy also wonders... she looks alarmed when Mary mentions that Puella become Witches. "Ixnay, I hadn't told them that yet!" She sighs.     She does know of a grumpy puella about yay tall. But... Amy frowns. "What do you mean, 'make her a strong Puella Magi'? What did you do? And... Traumatic ''how'', like, the baseline is getting your soul ripped out of your body and wondering if Kyubey tricked you and killed you in the seconds before you pass out and wake up again."     "Thanks." Amy nods to the dawn knight offering to take care of Yukihime. "Was good working with you." 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki nods and gets in position to take Yukihime's weight on her shoulder. "Good luck with Part Two," she offers the remaining mahou. "Call me if there's news." Then it's time for her to find her way back to campus and give the sleepy Ice Princess a nice comfy bed to rest in. 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' Mary dips into a curtsy towards Shadow Shogun. "Thank you very much~." She says warmly towards her. "You have a good evening." She sasys with a soft smile. The pauses at the question of further questions of the description, "Ah, she's got pink hair and normally has a flail with her, makes weapons from whatever is around her." She replies. "I didn't know there were that many short magical girls here, there's not /that/ many magical girls where I come from, in fact that I get partners at all is pretty rare." She pauses. "And I really don't have much ability to stay around that much, I'm only here on tour for a week or two from germany, non-mahou responsibilities and all that." Ixnay, I hadn't told them that yet. "Oh? Hiding the truth here, are we? I suppose that makes sense." What did you do? "Ah? I trained her and helped her after she became a Puella, that's all. Ensured she knew the ropes and all that. And the traumatic... she was dying when she was offered Kyubey's help. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to save her and her friends from a Witch that they'd ended up fighting and she was the only survivor." She says somberly. "It, well. It's not a good situation for anyone to have gone through, and it made her a bit troublesome to handle..." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's poker face is terrible, she clearly ''thinks'' she knows who Mary is talking about when the pink hair and flail are confirmed.     Hiding the truth?! Amy looks defensive, "No, a lot of folks know, but... Yukihime's new and I dunno if Knight heard yet. It's something you usually gotta work up to, you know? How can they understand it and appreciate it before they even see a Witch, anyway?"     She listens to the story, though. "Huh... that sucks, though I'd think that those Kyubey saved from death would get ''less'' regretful than most after finding out what we signed up for. Not like we gave up some great, normal life for this, right?"     "...In any case... if I see such a person, I'll let them know you're in town looking for them." 

:'''{{#var:87|Melona Mizu (87)}} has posed:''' Mary's smile doesn't fade, even though there is a clear recognition on Amy's face, still that friendliness remaining as she listens to her. "Ah, I see, so just not wanting to surprise them with that truth while they're still new. That's reasonable, I suppose." She muses in response to that defensive response. The counter-response gets a slight tilt of her head. "Would you? If you watched everyone you cared about die one by one in front of you, slowly being devoured by Witches while you're the only one with enough magical capability to be able to actually tell what is really going on?" Her head tilts the other way. "If so, you seem quite strange to me." At the comment of if she sees that person she'll let them know, that head tilt moves back to normal and she follows up. "Ah, thank you, and I'm sure I'll find her soon enough. She's not exactly subtle." She flashes a grin, don't mind the sharp teeth. It's fine. "Goodbye!" She dips into a curtsy, before turning to leap back out of a hole in the theatre. And back to her bodyguards, stepping into a limo once out of sight. One of her fingernails in her mouth as she mutters under her breath. "She knows something and was hiding it, keeping me from my little Melon.." Her lips a grin as fury burns in her eyes. "Aaah... she's such a bad girl, I'll have to make sure she knows, just like my little Melon..." 

:'''{{#var:55|Yellow Pearl Voice Super Idol (55)}} has posed:''' "Red?" Coco gives Amy a surprised expression when she talks about appreciating Witches. "I don't think Witches need appreciating, and I know you don't actually think that either." If anything, Amy has been one of the most cautious around Witches. "I don't actually like keeping secrets from my friends either, but that truth, ah.. it's a bit hard to bring up without making people anxious", Coco replies, the smile she is offering Mary now nervous. She is typically very bad at keeping secrets, and unless it's for a friend's sake, it can usually be read on her face that she is trying to. "It has to be built up to." She herself only discovered it by a chance comment from Amy, and that had been the day she actually intensely disliked someone. "We have many magical girls here in Tokyo, and many I don't know too. ''There'' could have been 2 grumpy short girls here", Coco clarifies. The red spear girl at least clears the grumpy part. Before she is about to actually tell her about Misery Melon, the yellow Puella runs off. "Hmm, I will tell her another time." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Coco misunderstands. "I mean appreciate the gravity of the situation, that we'll ''turn into'' Witches. The other day I told someone and she was picturing, like... just, a hag? And thought I was just talking about needing magic to maintain my youth."     Amy blinks at Melona's description of life as a Puella Magi. "Uh... I have plenty of magical girl friends, some magical boys too. They're not dying to monsters easily, we've lasted like a year and a half so far--" Amy then remembers something, "Wait... are there not other magical folk where you're from? Maybe you ''should'' stay here."     Beat. Amy takes a breath and nods, "Although... I have to say, pretty much all my friends are magical now, and this is... my life. I dare say if I hadn't come here, I'd be pretty lonely. Maybe I even would..." She looks down at her soul gem, and at the grief seed she's holding.     She closes her hand around the seed and looks at Mary's face again. "But I ''did'' come here. And now so have you."     Mary leaves. Amy mutters, quietly, "'Misfortune Mary, the girl of calamity', huh...?" Oops she already forgot part of the title. "I guess it's ''kinda'' like Calamity Jane or something..."     Coco seemed about to say something when Misfortune Mary runs off. Once the new magical girl is out of sight, Amy looks to Coco, concerned, as she slips the grief seed into her belt pouch. "I think we should tell Melon about ''her'' before telling ''her'' about ''Melon''. If they were partners and such good friends, why did Misery Melon leave? ....Ohhhh, Misfortune Mary and Misery Melon. If this chick trained her, picking a name like that makes more sense..." 
}}

2232/TCOS: Turm

2025-01-14T04:24:13Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/01/14 |Location=Clover Tower |Synopsis=The second of the five Knights of Trial has been located and a team is ready to take on the archer who..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/14
|Location=Clover Tower
|Synopsis=The second of the five Knights of Trial has been located and a team is ready to take on the archer who tirelessly defends her tower!
|Cast of Characters=216,80,82,224,107,25,41
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Having found the Pawn's Emerald, finding the next jewel of succession became significantly easier, having an active signal that could be examined to see where the next one was. It seemed that, while there /were/ other signals around, they activated in a specific order, the next one being a statue that had appeared atop the Clover Tower. This encounter with it had been half-scouting in preparation for possibly having to lure the Prinzessin Nichts to the area. Preparing paths of escape and similar. Which is why it was likely a surprise when the person bearing the Glittering Emerald approached, cracks began to form in the statue when they were not necessarily ready for the fight. <<I am the Red Jasper, the Towering Rook who represents Stability and Trust.>> Like with the Pawn, it seemed to be being translated magically in spite of audibly clearly being a different language spoken. Luckily for those there, there seemed to be likely a matched level of confusion on the Rook's face at the sight of a gathering of people who were, to her, a bunch of children. "Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa wait no I didn't sign up to fight kids. You're not supposed to challenge this until you're of age becuase of the dangers I mean it's fine if you ended up fighting me or Pawn we're supposed to hold back and just test your defenses and sh-- shoot but like Knight'll just right out kill you. Judge. JUDGE?!" She pauses, looking around. "Oh dear lord where's the /judge/ there's supposed to be someone here watching over so that you don't accidentally get /killed/ what the heck is going on here." Pause. "Where /am/ I this isn't my usual tower I --" Darkness starts to settle in. <<Enchant: Holy.>> A dagger of energy is suddenly produced by the archer, stabbing into her own crystal with no hesitation as her eyes glow a faint blue momentarily. "Fu--fudge. I remember now. The corruption, the twisting of the ritual." The darkness is still settling in. "Kids. Hey. This planet, where are it's Knights?" Pause. "Wait this is a TSAB planet, isn't it. Kids. Tell the enforcers they have to take this seriously. I don't have long so I'll try to explain what I can but that /thing/ is a world eraser. If I'm awake that means that it doesn't have any yet -- you should evacuate the planet if you can. Just. Just leave it to the enforcers and get out of here. We don't need another massacre like Tungeturm." Unfortunately, though it was slowed down, the march of darkness continued on, trailing along that gemstone at the center of her chest. "If you can't. Just. Just keep it from getting more than one or two-- feck I'm out of time." <<Enchant: Delayed Blast. Enchant: Multiply. Enchant: Bind.>> "Kick my ass, kids." She lifts her bow, aiming it into the air, and shooting a series of five arrows into the sky, which immediately arc back down towards her own feet, creating a binding spell as the emotion drains from her face and is replaced with focus, even as the binding spell wraps around her and the belkan magical circles begin to glow below her feet... She was already trying to escape her own attack, leaping out of them even as those explosions go off. Still, she was already damaged, and any little bit should make things easier, right? 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     "Unadministrated... but we take this very seriously, believe me." That's Wind Dancer, hovering just a few feet above the rooftop. "Thank you... we'll make sure this comes to an end, and we get everyone back safely."     < Chief. Dark Energy Signature is rising rapidly. We are out of time. > "Got it Dee... Drive Ignition." < Drive Ignition. Gear First. Squall Mode. > confirms the Device with a deep ping.     Zephyr's device shifts from the battleaxe to its more slimmed down hand-axe, as a pair of turbine-blades spall off from where the second blade was.     These begin to orbit around the Mage as she watches the corruption overtake the Rook. "Bind, Enhancement. CHAIN BIND!"     < PING > < CHAIN BIND. ENHANCEMENT! >     The Bits flit out to surround the Rook, orbiting on opposite sides as they emite dark purple chains from their central voids, wrapping them around the archer as they orbit, trying to keep the corrupted gemknight held down. "Ghnnn... Saints these things have a lot of power behind them..." 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir once again helped find the next statue. He didn't need to look too hard this time. He found it with a pair of binoculars. "Bingo. There you are, Dollface." Now they we're on the top, which he had to take the elevator as he's unable to fly. Or jump. High enough. Now on the tower, he takes this all in as he grimaces at the explanation, before lowering the tape recorder. One of those dictaphones with the tiny cassettes before stuffing it into his coat quickly- "Got it." he says- and with his other hand raises a gun and starts shooting, from the gunmetal black .45-looking pistol a powerful jet of water forward into the figure of 'Rook' as he takes a breath. "We'll win, don't worry. But this one may be harder. And also." "Incredibly obvious, guys. Be careful." he says into the devices tacnet with his mind. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki was under the impression this was supposed to be a quick scout, as well. Get in, see what's there, get out, tell the larger group what they saw. But it's not going to be that easy, is it? It never is. <"Warning. Space-Time Barrier engaged. Activating Barrier Jacket."> And with that her school uniform is replaced with the armored-kimono-like Jacket, ready - ha! - for combat. She's spent the past weeks training and working on optimizing her spell-code, hopefully it will help... "Let's all come home safe, right?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     << "We're not ''kids'' well I mean we kinda are but listen, you sound like you know what's going on here, you're on Earth, that's-- ugh, no time look you have to tell us--" >> Amy starts to ask over whatever Telepathy has been set up, but, they're talking over eachother, and they're out of time, and uuuugh, "God damn it!" Amy says out loud from the faraway rooftop she's on.     Kick my ass, kids.     "Will do." Amy's got a weapon conjured in the shape of a sniper rifle-looking thing, and is firing some kind of high-caliber, non-explosive rocket projectiles that speed up as they go to ram into the target at supersonic speed. Fire, re-sight, fire... << "No sign of Aloi-- the Prinzessin yet. I wonder why she's taking so long... it's suspicious, right?" >> 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' This was supposed to still be the scouting phase. Molly was just here to check out the roof of the tower and see the statue. Y'know, fly around Tokyo, see the sights, look at a statue that she and her friends will probably have to fight in the near future, the usual teenager stuff. But then the statue ''woke up''. It wasn't supposed to do that, was it? << Uhm, girls, >> Molly transmits to the rest of the group, << Looks like the fight is happening ''now''. Everyone get ready!! >> Molly lands on the edge of the tower, dropping to a kneel and resting her staff on her shoulder. "Starcrash, let's get a Time/Space Barrier up." << AFFIRMATVE >> As the statue starts speaking, a slightly greenish, off-color bubble expands out from Molly, shifting everyone over just a bit out of this dimension and into another one, all the better to fight without destroying Tokyo all around them. Or like, just Clover Tower. Generally best to avoid that, it makes the civilians unhappy. "This is a TSAB planet but there's like... two enforcers here," Molly supplies helpfully. "Mostly it's just us Mahou who defend the planet. And, uhm, no we can't evacuate it, we don't have that kind of technology, so we're just gonna have to win all the challenges." The Rook seems helpful, but her time is running out, so Molly straightens and launches herself back up int othe sky. "Starcrash, charge -- OH BLAZES! Round shield, deploy!" Molly gets a shield snapped into place as a globe of energy around her just in time, as... the binds and the big attack is meant for Rook, not her or anyone else. Well, she sure misread that, as the explosions go off totally not targeting her or her friends. But they aren't going to get any more of those and that was pretty, well, big. "Starcrash," she begins, grimly, "Mark 'Rook' as a hostile target. And keep an eye out for Prinzessin Nichts. And alert Rashmi-chan to what's going on." 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Bits flit out around the Rook, reinforcing the initial bind to help keep the Rook from escaping her own explosive attack at herself! Unfortunately, however, she is a seasoned knight, they had intentionally picked powerful people for these trials. And she did the standard counter against Binds, that being a magical burst and swing of the blade on the front of her bow to slice through several of the chains. Likely a development purely /for/ breaking binds, being an archer. It still held her still long enough to keep her still for that powerful jet of water from Pulp Noir's pistol, causing her to briefly fall down onto her knees. Good, it's going well, hopefully this one will just go down without seriously injuring anyone! Look, there's even those sniper bullets shooting out towards the tower-top archer, just about to strike! <<Panzergeist.>> The archer is enveloped in a glowing aura that RESISTS the first shot... and the second shot. And there is that sense that the Archer is now gazing at Amy in response to being sniped, her bow being lifted and aimed towards Amy. Was that a 'target alert' ping?! <<Gegenschnepfe.>> The bow string is drawn back and a glowing arrow is launched, seeming to follow the line of the magical trail of the shots fired by Amy, using the lingering energy in the air from the sniper shots to return fire on Amy Faust with an impossible accuracy from the archer! <<Enchant: Split. Enchant: Homing.>> Once again, that bow is lifted into the air as energy charges into the bow. <<Luftschneider.>> A burst of wind and the arrow is launched into the air, splitting into ten arrows which increase in speed as they shoot towards the gathered Mahou, attempting to chase down each one of them with one or two of the wind arrows! 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     < PING > < RAMPART AEGIS! >     A bubble of interlocking purple hexagons appears around the Wind Dancer as that arrow comes streaking in at her. The Bits disengage and reinforce the barrier at the point of anticipated impact. "She's got Wind conversion affinity?" this mused mostly to herself as the arrows strike home, shatter some of the outer scutes, and finally dissipate on the underlayer where the reinforcement plates are being projected. She does wince at the outpour of mana required for that level of defense.     < PING > < Diverting mana strike. IMPULSE BARRET, PULSAR SHIFT. >     The barrier field retracts, and turns into a field of purple light-motes, each one beginning to boil with converted wind mana. "Lets see if she can handle it herself. FIRE!"     As she fires off, she also kicks away and starts moving, juking around to make herself a harder target to hit.     << Rashmi, we found the statue, but something triggered it off. We're engaged with the 'Rook' right now. Wide Area Ranged Knight, some kind of Archer-archetype. We need support up here. >> 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' The first attack is against Amy, and there's basically nothing Molly can do about that other than hope she makes it through okay. And she has confidence that she will, naturally! Amy is tough. but then her battle visor is reporting an alert, for an incoming attack against her. Two homing arrows, coming straight for her. Well, that had to happen sooner or later. "Starcrash, charge Starfall, maximum kinetic output," she instructs, as she kicks her Flier Fin into high gear to gain some altitude with the homing arrows in tow. << AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED. >> She continues upwards until she's a good three hundred metersd above the roof of Clover Tower, with the arrows coming straight up after her, and waits until they're almost on her before snapping her fingers. Casting Nrutrino Rush has her vanish into a burst of light, zipping past the arrows heading up as she starts back down; she continues straight down, accelerating as hard as she can straight towards where Rook is standing; she picks up speed, not bothering to slow down for a safe landing. That's not the goal. Instead, at the last moment she rights herself so she's travelling feet first. "Fire!" she yells, her barrier jacket firing jets of mana out to not so much slow her fall, as make everything else around her bear the brunt of the impact. When she hits the top of the building there's a significant blast and she herself just keeps on going, the spell protecting her by blowing a hole several floors deep for her to fall into -- and, hopefully, take Rook along with her for the ride. Without the benefit of any protection, of course. And as for the homing arrows? Well, they're probably still coming... unless she's successfully led them into Rook. Or the rooftop. Or she might just be feeling them momentarily. Her Battle Visor has wholly lost track of them. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' --MINUTES AGO -- While out on patrol in another area, Rashmi's thoughts turn from her plans for Nicomachea's upgrade, to her reading list, to her upgrade plans, to Mahounet, then screech to a halt as she recalls that a scouting expedition was launched tonight, looking for the next of the Crown's jewels before the corrupted Aloisia could. Wonder how that's go--     << *BONG!* >> The sudden, loud chime in her head as Nicomachea receives Starcrash's alert has her bobbling in the air for a moment, holding her head. << ALERT. MASTER. ALERT. SUBJECT 'Rook' HAS ENGAGED SCOUTING FORCES. >> << Enga-- I thought they were just *looking!* >>     << PROBABILITY THAT SUBJECT 'Rook' WAS ALSO SEARCHING APPROACHES TAU TO THREE DECIMAL POINTS, >> Nicomachea answers... and if it was possible for a distorted, computer voice to sound dry, Nicomachea would nearly have achieved it. With no real response to that but to worry even more, Rashmi finds the bearing the signal indicated, and launches herself in that direction.--- NOW --- << Hang on everybody! >> Rashmi's mental voice enters the telepathic net, as a streak of golden light spirals up the tower. While it's hard to get good analysis from a distance, the closer Rashmi got the less she liked what Nicomachea had to tell her about their opponent. But with a Barrier up and the fight safely moved away from mundane reality, options opened up about how to provide support. ...Exactly as Wind Dancer requested. << Then you won't want to stand off, >> she says after a moment's furious thought. << Try to get in close and bully her, if you can. The more directions she has to guard in, the less effective her defenses are gonna get. >> ...At which point Star Devil just punches through the roof of the Tower. ...Reeeeeally good thing it's not actual property being damaged, there... << Star Devil, break off, quick! >> 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki was fully prepared to stick to the scout idea: Take some scans and pictures, retreat, and bring up the main group. The minute the Barrier went up, though, that went out the window. "OK, Argent Dawn, let's see how much extra output we can get out of the new Buster spell. Aurora Lancer!" After all, people have already started shooting. <"Affirmative, master. Aurora Lancer!"> Octagonal mirrors open up in space around her, forming a goodly number of darts - perhaps half again as many as she had when she first started off. "OK, stun mode, target that Rook!" But the rook is shooting back. Her flight spell already active, she leaps into the air to try to evade it, dodging from side to side only to see it follow her every move. <"Lancer's Shield!"> The shield forms in the air between her and the arrow, even as she drops to the ground to land with her boots scraping soil, skidding back from the mix of her own velocity and the arrow's impact. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Through her scope, Amy sees The Archer turn and ''look'' at her and yeah she's seen this in plenty of movies and videogame cutscenes before, she starts to get up but the magic bolt slams into her gut. "Ow!" Good thing it's only stun, but still... There's a split second of disorientation and hesitation, as Amy considers where to find cover... but then a homing shot is coming her way! She conjures a countermissile to blow it up and gets to her feet, seeing the arrows streak through the air towards the others in the distance. << "Hey! Stop copying me!" >> She raises her weapon to fire... wait. That aura repelled it. "Fuck it." She conjures her usual shoulder launcher, << "Probing defenses!" >> And fires an anti-tank missile at Archer before summoning her flight armor and flying back towards the group, better to be near the support casters.     << "If she tries that again I might be able to counter the homing arrows with missiles!" >> 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir watches the Rook tumble and he's about to charge forward when there's a glowing shield aura and then...suddenly arrows. Well crap. He jumps backwards and leaps into the air which he hopes is enough to evade...! The arrow follows him upwards and he mutters. "Well ain't that a kick in the head." he says before taking the hit, being thrown upwards and backwards and rolling to the ground as he grabs his right shoulder. Nrg. He responds with switching out tactics, .45 pistol being changed out for a Tommy Gun from his coat, as he starts unloading magical blasting lasers from the gun's tip in rapid succession. Trying to suppress for the rest of the group. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' <<Enchant: Vacuum. Panzerschild.>> In the moments before impact, the incoming wind attacks are blocked by shields that ... seem to suck the air out of the oncoming attacks? It doesn't stop all of them, but it's possibly moderately concerning that it happened at all. The level of focus on the defense also means that as Star Devil comes screaming in from the sky with a burst of mana the Rook just ... basically ... disappears, knocked down into the hole created by Molly as that blast of mana creates a freefall for both of them. <<GREIFLEINE.>> Mid-fall, however, she launches an arrow into one of the floors to catch herself and launch herself back up to the rooftop, doing an elegant flip that results in her... Getting shot mid-flight by a series of magical darts from the Knight of the Dawn, followed by an anti-tank missile that sends her flying to the other side of the tower from where she'd /intended/ to land, skidding on her feet. Right into a hail of tommygun laserfire. Well, she /did/ say for the 'kids' to kick her ass. They're definitely obliging. <<Enchant: Multiply.>> The bow is lifted again. <<Pfeilsturm.>> At a slight upward angle, an arrow is launched into the sky. And stormclouds seem to gather in the air, though it's illusion rather than literally changing the weather. Also it's not raining water at all, nope, just a rain of hundreds of arrows over the area. No individual arrow particularly painful or dangerous, but, well... There's a lot of them. And they're wide-spread. It's clearly an attack designed to wear down enemy forces. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     Get in close.     <>     "Tenraikaze, shift up." < PING > < SHIFT UP! GEAR SECOND. STORM MODE. >     An additional Bit forms, and the Wind Mage frowns... << She can absorb my Wind-mana attacks..... but I can do the same to her. I'll try to-- >> and then, the rain of arrows starts up.     < PING > < WIDE AREA INTERCEPT. IMPULSE BARRET >     Purple motes form around the Wind Mage, and start firing small pellet-like bullets to intercept the incoming arrows, firing like the tracer rounds from an old WW2 battleship's AA battery.     "Dee, prep Storm Glaive, bring Blitz Drive to Stage 1 Ready."     < PING > < READY! > 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' Molly did the thing! She smashed someone through a building form the top down and it was great. Unfortunately, nobody can see the enormous grin she's got on her face, because even while Rook is busy clambering back out of the hole she made, Molly is still in it. But it doesn't matter. She did the thing she's wanted to do since she came up with that spell and it was great. << Girls, that was great, I've been wanting to do that for months! >> she declares joyfully. But, she still needs to get out of the building; that's easy enough now that her own descent has come to a stop, she just flies around a couple of corridor corners, into an office, and smashes straight through the window. Which, brings her outside just in time to get caught in an absolute hailstorm of arrows. << Wha--AUGH!! What fresh hell is this?! >> she immediately complains. "Round shield!! Quick!" Someone is just never on the ball with her defenses like she needs to be sometimes. A globe of energy does snap into place around her and arrows start pinging off of it, but she already looks like she decided to dress up like a porcupine for Halloween. She shakes her head and starts gaining altitude again. "Alright, enough playing around. Starcrash, overcharge Stellar Pulse. Forty barrets, maximum kinetic output." << AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >> Molly climbs straight up, hugging the side of the tower to protection as she ascends, and once she's crested the top of the tower she lands and skids to a halt, coming to a stop... much closer to Rook than she normally dares. "Fire!" she yells, aiming her staff and unleashing a torrent of unguided, explosive barrets straight at Rook, at not ''quite'' point blank range. (Don't want to get in the way of other people's attacks afterall.) 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- BLAZE SHIFT >> Surrounded by a swirling bubble of golden fire, Rashmi's eyes skate over the melee, wishing for a moment she had the foresight to create a wide-area shield for her friends to shelter under. They seem to have the battle decently in hand, but if this one can pull out many more tactical wrinkles, it's likely to wear them down by attrition alone. << Guys, >> she calls out over the communications net, << I'm gonna try and lock her down. If you have any kind of hindering magic, now's a good time to use it. The less she can move, the harder we can follow up. >>     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >> A half-dozen Barrets resolve into existence around her, snapping into balls of crystalline ice with a screeching *CRACK* Her shoulder jerks once, twice, as arrows make it through the combusting shield to fall on target, but acknowledging the hits requires more concentration than bracing for the attack to come.     << EXECUTE >> And Rashmi joins the battle properly by sending out a barrage of her own; rapid-fire Barrets that, on impact, *cling* in place, slowly building up upon each other, the Rook, and the surface below her, gradually locking her into place. Molly's attack requires a level of tracking to keep the Barret stream on target, but the shots just keep on coming. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     ''Huh''. So that defensive aura thing was temporary or quickly burned through. Good to know!     Next up is... arrow rain. Amy conjures a salvo of mini-missiles to go explode above people and take out ''some'' of the arrows, but they just keep raining down! Seeing what Wind Dancer is doing, Amy flies over to her to benefit from her CIWS shooting down the arrows in the area, a few of the arrows raining down on Amy on the way, stinging. "Tch..." << "It seems like her shield is down. Do we just need to keep pouring on firepower?" >>     Amy, for her part... fires another anti-tank homing missile, since that just worked well! And if it ''doesn't'' work now, well, then she'll be learning something about the Rook's defenses! 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Oh... Oh. Arrow Rain is bad. Very bad. It's a wide open field on top of a tower, it's not like there's ''cover''. "Dammit." he says as he hops back. Hops to the right. Dashes left and then with a flourish throws his trench coat off his body and lets it fall down on top of him as a series of arrows rain down through it....! Only for Pulp Noir to burst from the coat, holding a heavy revolver, as he leaps through the air and spins around (There's no reason for this spin, he thinks it looks 'cool'.) and levies the pistol down at Rook as he calls out. "A SHOT IN THE DARK!...". There's a momentary flash as a powerful shot rings out from the revolver in the form of a charge laser, that's too big and wide for the barrel of the gun that's firing it for sure. He's hoping others are gonna bind this thing easy. He has no such attacks. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' The rain of arrows focuses Yuki's attention on defense, pounding her shield until it shatters and throws her to the ground. Bruised and battered, she groans. "Make a note, Argent Dawn, next project: Beef up the shield." <"Noted, master."> It's time to get serious about the fight. She gets to her feet, more octagonal mirrors forming darts around her, ready to lash out at the Rook. "I'll hit her defenses, if someone else can cast the bind." She sends the darts in a stream around the area, sweeping in and out to get the Rook's attention before launching the actual attack. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:'''      Counter-fire upon the arrows are relatively effective and the rain of arrows ends relatively quickly, only sustained a few seconds before it ends, likely due to mana costs... even if the Knights of Trial seemed to have a large reservoir in those jewels. Or in Rook's case, Really Pretty Rock since she has a Red Jasper, but that's beside the point it might as well be a gemstone but there's some people who probably care about that-- Stellar Pulse, forty barrets, maximum kinetic output. Glace Shift. As Rook turns to defend against the oncoming short range explosive barrets, bringing up a barrier of panzerhindernis, other barrets shoot out from the sides and build up on and around her, resulting in the shield and bow not getting exactly into place, many of the explosive rounds striking home as the Rook falters a moment, her barrier jacket seeming to flicker a half-moment. Seems all of the unending high-damage attacks are wearing her down at the very least! An anti-tank homing missile and a massive shot in the dark come flying in towards the archer! <<Panzergeist.>> That defensive aura comes up -- just in time to get hit by Yuki's anti-defensive stream of darts when the opportunity presents itself, weakening those defenses before... CRACK-BOOM! The missile strikes! Breaking the rest of the defenses... and then... That massive laser strikes, breaking through the rest of the defenses, as the Rook falls to her knees, cracks showing in her body as she lands on that knee. "...Heh. Good job, kids." <<Enchant: Holy.>> That dagger is produced again. And stabbed straight into the jewel once more. <<Trial complete. Seal the jewel, claim your rewards.>> And the statue that was once Rook crumbles. Prinzessin Nichts is... conspicuously absent. Strange. In addition to the gemstone to seal, that bladed bow is left behind, and much like the lance from the Pawn, it is completely lacking a device core. But otherwise still useful for parts. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     << Moving in to seal. >>     The CIWS barrage of shots stop when the arrows do. She then kicks off toward the felled Rook.     "Tenraikaze, Full Scan."     < PING > < FULL SCAN. SIGNATURE CONFIRMED. RED JASPER #21319. SEAL READY. >     "Seal it!"     < PING > < SEALING! >     Zephyr lands before the Knight, and touches the tip of her Device to the gemstone, and the dagger embedded in it. The gem in her Device flares brightly, and a bubble of purple magic forms around the gem, before it shrinks and flits into the blue stone on the axe.     < Sealing Complete. Isolation bubble intact. Maintaining observation. Recommend: Find a Purification User to remove corruption soon. >     "Understood. Thank you, Dee." replies the Mage, then she sends. << Sealed it... still corrupted so I'll need pointing to a Purifier to make sure it doesn't break out because of Dark Energy corrosion on the isolation bubble I put it in. >> 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "Wait, did we...?" Amy flies towards the tower when the Rook speaks again. "Hey, listen, we need to--" But as she lands and approaches they're already crumbling. Amy stops. "Damn..."     She looks around. << "Everybody doing alright? I... That felt... weirdly quick and easy? Does that mean we're improving at tactics for how to get through the jewels? Or is it just because the Prinzessin isn't here?" >>     The Puella Magi gets out a pair of binoculars and scans the sky for incoming fliers. << "I don't know why she's not here, but... I guess we should probably go before she shows up...?" >> 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' <> Rashmi answers, sailing down to hover a couple centimeters over the ruins of the statue. << I'll try to get one pointed at you. Good work, everyone, but uh... I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's nervous that we haven't seen Alo-chan? >> Stooping down, she picks up the shell of the archer's Bow, holding it in both hands and just... examining it for a moment. Amy's questions finally pull her attention away, she she looks up, frowning. << ...Kinda felt like she was holding back? Like she didn't get a *lot* of that corruption? But if that's the case... >> Sighing, Rashmi shakes her head, tucking the bow into Nicomachea's storage. "You're right, Red-chan... we should book before she shows up." 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' The vents on Starcrash and on Molly's barrier jacket open up and let out a hiss of steam; Molly is right about to charge her next spell when... it's over? << Yeah, >> she responds, echoing Amy, << That was easier than I thought it would be. And yeah, I'm rather concerned about where Alo-chan is, I woujld've thought the Prinzessin Nichts would have been drawn straight to this. She came after me pretty hard when I got the Emerald afterall. >> So rather than basking in the 'congratulations, you won', Molly takes to the air again. "Starcrash, charge Stellar Pulse, forty barrets. Just in case." << ARMED >> Molly holds the spell as she climbs, and scans about herself to see if... anything or anyone is entering her Time/Space Barrier. 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir hefts the revolver down as Wind Dancer seals the gem. He's looking around and expecting the Night Princess any moment when... nope. Nothing. He looks over to Amy and Rashmi. "Yeah I'm getting out of here." he says as he picks up his coat and puts it back on a fancy flourish, because it's cool. He then leaps off the top of the tower, gripping the rim of his fedora. No time to waste. He probably has to solve the case of the Missing Date. You know, the one he's supposed to take Miho-chan on. Whoops. Gotta speak to Rashmi about that one later. But not now. Evil to run from, at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' As the dust of the battle settles, and the jewel is sealed... oddly enough... There is nothing. It's just... over? No sign of Prinzessin Nichts. Not even that flare of dark energy that heralds her arrival... Strange. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:''' Yuki sighs softly as she finally relaxes her grip on the dart-spell, letting the mirrors fade out as she watches the jewel-sealing. She looks towards the sky, watching to see if anyone else is about to intrude, concerned that it seemed so easy. Maybe she's just actually getting better at this. 

:'''{{#var:80|Wind Dancer (80)}} has posed:'''     << She was holding back... she did that dagger thing when she first woke up, and even fired attacks and a bind at herself before she lost control. >>     That's Zephyr again, landing next to Rashmi and Amy. "We'll probabaly have more trouble with the next one, if what Rook said is any indication... apparently Pawn and her are 'easy mode'... the next one's gonna be harder."     She shakes her head, dismissing her Device to its Standby Mode. "Lets get outta here... I'll treat you to ice cream or something... all'a ya." 
}}

Don't Leave Me(Aloisia Stauss)

2025-01-09T05:17:46Z

Lanaberry:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/08
|Location=???
|Synopsis=Alo--ia Stauss tries to follow the figure of a regal knight, but never seems to catch up to her...
|Cast of Characters=216
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
}}
Flashes of red as fire burns around her, comrades fallen around her in painful red.

Darkness settles in.

Alo--ia Stauss finds herself kneeling in the middle of a pure white room, only the slight reflection of herself-- though blurry, difficult to make out for some reason -- letting her know there is an edge to that room, that there is a doorway to leave. Even the cushion beneath her knees is that pure white. Painfully bright.

She almost misses the darkness.

A flash of red goes past the doorway, hair trailing through the air that draws her eyes. She pushes herself to her feet as she steps towards the doorway. "H...hey, wait?" Comes an unfamiliar voice from her own throat. "Where are you going?" She stands, trying to follow after that flash of red hair, stepping out of the room.

Another flash of red as the woman turns the corner, and Alo--ia runs to follow after her.

As she rounds the corner, she finds herself on a battlefield again, blasts of energy shooting her from different angles, making her stumble and fall to her knees again, yet her own lance stabs into the ground to lift her back up, a glance down at herself finds her in unfamiliar ornate armor, red hair falling down her shoulders.

Alo--ia is dragged into the by the rocketing lance, clinging to it for dear life as her armor and hair return to normal, a crackle and sense of emptiness, as if it were wrong. She finds herself face-to-face, briefly...

With a little phalanx with a vaguely familiar face, a moment of battle that she had been engaging in for ... she's unsure how long. Someone she had met multiple times on the battlefield. A moment of satisfaction, the slightest smirk at the corner of her mouth.

The little phalanx had deflected her attack more than once, but this time was the cleanest. "You left yourself open, *******." The name comes out as static in her ears, something she struggles to find strange even as she swings her fist -- with a buckler on it that she doesn't recognize towards the little phalanx.

But from behind a second enemy strikes, and an axe strikes through her side, her hand dropping from punch to hold her side as she drops from the sky.

Darkness takes over.

Alo Stauss wakes up in the middle of a white room, kneeling on a white pillow, as a flash of red flashes past the doorway.

"Wait! Come back!"

"Don't leave me..."

<<Statement: Give Up.>>

As Alo Stauss chases after the figure, rounding the corner...

It shatters.

And she is alone once more.

The Crown of Succession

2025-01-09T05:17:28Z

Lanaberry:

A fragment of Aloisia's ship phases back into reality from its place in the time-space disruption, a section of the storage hold which holds mostly nothing of note, some rations, some supplies, a few Storage Device style weapons that are within them, but... within...

Is a highly encrypted box, locked to be only openable by Aloisia or Otto without an extreme effort on the opener's part. Within is the Crown of Succession.

In the distant past, it was used to test would-be successors to ensure they were strong enough to lead House Steiner to victory in war, as well as to settle any succession disputes. Unfortunately, an enemy faction got ahold of this already-dangerous relic and corrupted it, an attempt to destroy the holy relic Blauer Greif and turn its wielder against its own people. It had, luckily, been discovered before tragedy struck and sealed away deep within the forbidden vaults of House Steiner, to be nearly forgotten by time.

That is until it suddenly disappeared from the vault one day, stolen by Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner in preparations for his backup plan should things fall through with the coup. After all, his daughter, the one who he considered the true successor to House Steiner... was still kept secret, at least for now, and bringing her to light and having her complete the Succession Rite would prove her right to the crown.

Of course, due to the history of the crown being lost to time beyond it having been a 'corrupted relic of a barbaric past'... neither he, nor Aloisia know what they are about to unleash when they get their hands on the corrupt relic.

Once the relic is opened and recovered, Aloisia Stauss destroys the crown.

Which Activates the Rite of Succession.

The Indomitable Sister is consumed, destroyed in the ritual, its remains fashioned into a spear of darkness and destruction that corrupts its wielder and turns her on those she considers friends.

Meanwhile, the gemstones teleport away, planting themselves around Tokyo and turning themselves into realistic-looking statues of knights, known as the Ritter der Prufung (Knights of Trial), they activate when someone undergoing the Rite of Succession approaches, fighting until either all enemies are defeated, or it is detroyed.

A total of five need to be destroyed

But can they defeat those while trying to evade Aloisia, the Prinzessin des Nichts driven to madness by darkness? Or will she be consumed before they can end the rite and free her?

Does anyone even care enough to try?

Aloisia doubts it.

{{plot logs|The Crown of Succession}}

==Involved Cutscenes==
[[Wake up, Prinzessin. (Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Status: Give Up not found(Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Don't Leave Me(Aloisia Stauss)]]

The Crown of Succession

2025-01-09T05:17:19Z

Lanaberry:

A fragment of Aloisia's ship phases back into reality from its place in the time-space disruption, a section of the storage hold which holds mostly nothing of note, some rations, some supplies, a few Storage Device style weapons that are within them, but... within...

Is a highly encrypted box, locked to be only openable by Aloisia or Otto without an extreme effort on the opener's part. Within is the Crown of Succession.

In the distant past, it was used to test would-be successors to ensure they were strong enough to lead House Steiner to victory in war, as well as to settle any succession disputes. Unfortunately, an enemy faction got ahold of this already-dangerous relic and corrupted it, an attempt to destroy the holy relic Blauer Greif and turn its wielder against its own people. It had, luckily, been discovered before tragedy struck and sealed away deep within the forbidden vaults of House Steiner, to be nearly forgotten by time.

That is until it suddenly disappeared from the vault one day, stolen by Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner in preparations for his backup plan should things fall through with the coup. After all, his daughter, the one who he considered the true successor to House Steiner... was still kept secret, at least for now, and bringing her to light and having her complete the Succession Rite would prove her right to the crown.

Of course, due to the history of the crown being lost to time beyond it having been a 'corrupted relic of a barbaric past'... neither he, nor Aloisia know what they are about to unleash when they get their hands on the corrupt relic.

Once the relic is opened and recovered, Aloisia Stauss destroys the crown.

Which Activates the Rite of Succession.

The Indomitable Sister is consumed, destroyed in the ritual, its remains fashioned into a spear of darkness and destruction that corrupts its wielder and turns her on those she considers friends.

Meanwhile, the gemstones teleport away, planting themselves around Tokyo and turning themselves into realistic-looking statues of knights, known as the Ritter der Prufung (Knights of Trial), they activate when someone undergoing the Rite of Succession approaches, fighting until either all enemies are defeated, or it is detroyed.

A total of five need to be destroyed

But can they defeat those while trying to evade Aloisia, the Prinzessin des Nichts driven to madness by darkness? Or will she be consumed before they can end the rite and free her?

Does anyone even care enough to try?

Aloisia doubts it.

{{plot logs|The Crown of Succession}}

==Involved Cutscenes==
[[Wake up, Prinzessin. (Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Status: Give Up not found(Aloisia Stauss)]]
[[Don't Leave Me(Aloisia Stauss)]]

Don't Leave Me(Aloisia Stauss)

2025-01-09T05:16:31Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2025/01/08 |Location=??? |Synopsis=Alo--ia Stauss tries to follow the figure of a regal knight, but never seems to catch up to her... |Cast of..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/08
|Location=???
|Synopsis=Alo--ia Stauss tries to follow the figure of a regal knight, but never seems to catch up to her...
|Cast of Characters=216
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
}}
Flashes of red as fire burns around her, comrades fallen around her in painful red.

Darkness settles in.

Alo--ia Stauss finds herself kneeling in the middle of a pure white room, only the slight reflection of herself-- though blurry, difficult to make out for some reason -- letting her know there is an edge to that room, that there is a doorway to leave. Even the cushion beneath her knees is that pure white. Painfully bright.

She almost misses the darkness.

A flash of red goes past the doorway, hair trailing through the air that draws her eyes. She pushes herself to her feet as she steps towards the doorway. "H...hey, wait?" Comes an unfamiliar voice from her own throat. "Where are you going?" She stands, trying to follow after that flash of red hair, stepping out of the room.

Another flash of red as the woman turns the corner, and Alo--ia runs to follow after her.

As she rounds the corner, she finds herself on a battlefield again, blasts of energy shooting her from different angles, making her stumble and fall to her knees again, yet her own lance stabs into the ground to lift her back up, a glance down at herself finds her in unfamiliar ornate armor, red hair falling down her shoulders.

Alo--ia is dragged into the by the rocketing lance, clinging to it for dear life as her armor and hair return to normal, a crackle and sense of emptiness, as if it were wrong. She finds herself face-to-face, briefly...

With a little phalanx with a vaguely familiar face, a moment of battle that she had been engaging in for ... she's unsure how long. Someone she had met multiple times on the battlefield. A moment of satisfaction, the slightest smirk at the corner of her mouth.

The little phalanx had deflected her attack more than once, but this time was the cleanest. "You left yourself open, *******." The name comes out as static in her ears, something she struggles to find strange even as she swings her fist -- with a buckler on it that she doesn't recognize towards the little phalanx.

But from behind a second enemy strikes, and an axe strikes through her side, her hand dropping from punch to hold her side as she drops from the sky.

Darkness takes over.

Alo Stauss wakes up in the middle of a white room, kneeling on a white pillow, as a flash of red flashes past the doorway.

"Wait! Come back!"

"Don't leave me..."

<<Status: Give Up.>>

As Alo Stauss chases after the figure, rounding the corner...

It shatters.

And she is alone once more.

2208/TCOS: Bauer

2025-01-07T05:09:34Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2025/01/07 |Location=Plot Room 2 |Synopsis=The first of the five Knights of Trial is located after a bit of searching, and after examining it, a pl..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/07
|Location=Plot Room 2
|Synopsis=The first of the five Knights of Trial is located after a bit of searching, and after examining it, a plan has been put into place to see about luring the Prinzessin Der Nichts to the statue it inhabits so it can be defeated and the gemstone within it sealed.
|Cast of Characters=216,80,265,73,82,41,197,25,107
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Through work to descipher the information that Unaufhaltsame Schwester had managed to send out, finding the first statue that the Crown was linked to became significantly easier. Towards the edge of tokyo, the statue was standing in the middle of an overgrown field in an abandoned schoolyard. A likely once-regal knight standing with her lance stabbed into the ground. Finding her had actually happened before, however attempts to recover the gemerald from it had proven difficult. It resisted simply being stored, attacks seemed ineffective on it in the statue form... and simply attempting to pull out the glittering emerald from the statue's lance had been similarly fruitless. On the /upside/ getting the Prinzessin Der Nichts to go anywhere was /also/ similarly surprisingly easy! ... Just snipe her from a distance and fly/run away while she chases you, since she's on autopilot and her ranged attacks are fairly limited, the tactical difficulties that NORMALLY would be a problem are significantly reduced from the Prinzessin being largely just autopilot, at least at the moment. Upon the Prinzessin Der Nichts getting brought within a certain distance of those already-waiting at the statue, things began almost immediately, cracks beginning to form in the statue as a voice 'speaking', which seemed to automatically translate into the native language of those listening, though it was obvious that it was speaking Belkan. <<I am the glittering emerald. The Pawn which represents the strength of the many, those knights who shall serve under your rule. Show that you are worthy to lead us.>> Crack crack... crack... SHATTER. And the knight pulls her lance from the pedestal she was standing on, her shield lifting into a defensive posture as she sizes up the gathered forces. There's a moment of clarity and almost... playful friendliness. "Huh. Guess you already understand the strength of the many, this should be quick if you're working with your al--" Before the corruption that had similary taken over the Prinzessin Der Nichts overtakes the knight in front of them, her voice cut off-mid-sentence as sickly green lines spiderweb from the emerald in her lance and over her body, her shield arm going slack for a moment. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     < Incoming. ETA 2 minutes. > is the warning Zephyr gives as she flies in to land with a skid from her turn 'pulling' the 'boss' where she's needed. "What's the plan?" she asks, hefting her Device. "I can probably turn her away again while you deal with..."     And then, Emerald wakes up. "Uh... deal with that."     It's almost like they have a new friend... but then the corruption takes over and she deadpans. "This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them." she says. "I'll try and keep the Princess distracted! Someone might need to switch out with me if it gets too hot."     She lifts back into the air, "Tenraikaze, Shift up." < Shift Up. Gear Second. Mistral Storm. > As she turns to head back out, her Device shifts into its more 'ranged oriented' form, three small drones orbiting around her as she flies. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     "I feel like I've missed a bunch. What are we doing at an abandoned schoolyard in front of a statue for, again?"     That would be Sequoia Maybach, who feels like she has missed some things here!     The girl is already in her Knight Armor, white cloak fluttering lazily behind her as she hoists her riot shield shaped Device in one hand.     Then the statue turns out to not be a statue but a person.     "Oh."     You know what she's not even going to question it as she raises her shield when the corruption takes over the statue Pawn person.     But then she bites her lip. Aloisia- or the Prinzessin is on course right now.     "... I'm going with you." She says turning to follow after Zephyr. 

:'''{{#var:73|Ginga Otome (73)}} has posed:''' "Be careful!" Ginga Otome calls after Zephyr and Sequoia. It's all the attention she can spare for them and the Prinzessin Der Nichts for the moment. Emerald might not be attacking ''yet,'' but Wako has no doubts about where this is headed. She's already hanging in the air, surrounded by a faint glimmering halo of pink light. "I think I can purify her," she tells the others, "but I'll have to be able to hold a shield around her long enough--" 

:'''{{#var:82|Pulp Noir (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir did some detective work, helped figure out where the first stone was. Now to actually go and get it. Okay he didn't know what he expected but it wasn't that. He strokes his chin trying to puzzle out how to get that stone... Oh. Oh they need the Night Princess. Oh that's bad. When the statue wakes up, he tries to talk but corruption takes over before that and before things can get more heated, he draws two pistols. These...don't look like his normal ones. They're silver .45, with Ivory grips, inset with the ace of spades logo. "Ace in the Hole!" he calls out. He fires a barrage of highly pinpoint magical blasts from the pistol at the statue, before he lowers them, frowning. Okay, others are on The Princess. Good. Well, good in so far as someone is handling the bigger threat while they handle the smaller. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' This is not the best plan -- kite the Prinzessin to the statue, to activate it so that it can then be sealed -- but it is the best of the not-best plans. Besides which, there's not likely to be any *other* way to awaken the gem, so... And for a moment, the statue's 'speech' gives a glimpse at what once would have been, and what *should* have been, a reasonably friendly gauntlet of trials by combat, and when the corruption takes hold Rashmi's heart falls.     << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >> << Wind Dancer, Weisser, keep together as much as you can. But I have a feeling that however much fighting *we're* gonna be doing, it's *Alo-chan* who's gonna be taking most of the attacks. Since, y'know... it's her trial. So if she comes back in, we back her up, okay? Maybe it'll help if we actually follow the rules of this whole production? >> And as Pulp Noir pulls the pin on the encounter, Rashmi skips back in the air, a Midchildan seal spreading out under her feet.     << *BONG!* >> << EXA BARRET -- BOOST UP >> Happily, *all* of her allies at this moment have some kind of a ranged option, and it seems the best opening strategy is to just, to paraphrase Hannah-chan, 'alphastreik the Sankt out of it.' Thus, Rashmi bobbles in the air a bit, as a half-dozen ranged-boosting wisps speed out toward those mahou remaining behind to fight the Emerald. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Ginga Kingu is in the air beside Ginga Otome - a new development, but the only way to get accustomed to something new is to practice, so he's been taking every chance ''too'' practice. His glow is an equally pale blue, around the feet of his white-and-gold thigh-high boots, energy from the soles. "If it looks like this will take too long, I'll tag in for one of them," he says, eyes flicking to where Zephyr and Sequoia have launched themselves. "But until then -" And he reaches for his chest, summoning the white Star Sword from within. "Star Swordo - Diamante!" And then, after Pulp Noir's barrage is done, he darts in flying towards Pawn from above and striking in lightning fast blows. Rashmi's boost up only makes him faster, moving almost as swiftly as Taktuo would. 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' "Starcrash, deploy Time/Space Barrier." Molly is alongside Rashmi, already in her Tiefling-inspired Barrier Jacket with her staff in hand. << AFFIRMATIVE. DEPLOYING BARRIER >> A bubble of slightly more greenish color radiates out from the artillery mage, shifting the surroundings -- and the impending combat -- over just a little bit, dimension-wise, so she hopefully the real world doesn't have to pay the price for what's about to happen. << Doesn't that assume that the rules of this trial haven't also been corrupted? I mean, what if Aloisia's win-condition is 'eliminate all combatants regardless of who's side they're on'? >> The purplenette takes to the skies, sticking close by Rashmi for the time being; partly to protect her friend, and partly because there's no reason, in her mind, for either of them to get particularly close. But, hey, if they're opening up on the statue then she might as well get started. "Starcrash, charge Solar Beam, twenty second duraction, maximum thermal output." No need to start small, either, but the safety protocols can stay in place for now. Besides, she just got boosted. << ARMED >> Molly takes a moment to note the trajectories of everyone on her Battle Visor; her friends and allies, all highlighted in blue, the statue in red (designated 'EMERALD >:(' ) and Aloisia, designted 'Prinzessin Nichts' in yellow. And when she's got the right opening, "Fire!" And a searing, almost white beam lances forth from her staff, keeping it trained on the statue for the entire duration as best she can. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Magical Rocket Girl Red is waiting by the statue as Zephyr and Aloisia approach. As soon as the statue starts cracking, she conjures a giant recoilless cannon and announces, << Firing >>. Fortunately she's using whatever telepathy is lent out; as the word would otherwise be drowned out by the explosion launching almost 7kg of lead cannonball at half a kilometer per second in hopes that an abrupt transfer of momentum will occur -- any damage from the mechanical stress and shock is a bonus, but Amy's back-of-the-envelope math suggests that a wholly inelastic collision will buy them a ''couple of seconds'' while the Prinzessin and her device fight the knockback. At least, if the prinzessin were a spherical cow massing 60kg or so...     Modeling reality with simple math runs into enough problems even before magic is involved... Anyway, solid slugs seemed to do ''something'' before, so that's what Amy opens with.     When the statue /speaks/ and cracks to reveal (apparently) a person. Amy's eyes widen in surprise. "The Sankt Kaiser imprisoned ''people'' to be part of this crazy test?! Listen, stand down or fight at our side and we'll free you, this insane scheme to rule the galaxy under ''whatever'' that thing is turning the heir into has got to stop! Please!"     While her words plead with the statue nearby, her eyes follow the Prinzessin, as she goes back to her normal-size shoulder launcher and fires a couple shots with projectiles that burst into clouds of flechettes, less in hopes of actually ''damaging'' the Princessin so much as giving them something to dodge. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Being peppered from a distance, attacked by an enemy she can barely see was a frustration for the Prinzessin Der Nichts, not that it showed on her face, still, the way she was flying almost conveyed a sense of urgency as she darts through the sky towards the Wind Dancer, flying by holding onto the handle of Konigsende, her body almost... not quite flapping, but almost more being dragged along than actively driving the weapon. Almost as if it was a situation where it had stopped caring about giving the illusion of what was the central force of the Prinzessin. Luckily, there was still a bit of breathing room, those two minutes. And a lot can happen in two minutes, especially when you're face to face with your objective already. Also when there's a giant cannonball and flechette rounds launched towards you to send you off-course and cause a small amount of damage, the cannonball... mostly missing simply due to the speed at which she was moving, but flechette rounds proving to be MUCH harder to evade and sparking off of Konigsende and Aloisia's armor, at the very least. Unfortunately, purifying and holding a shield around Emerald will not be particularly easy, as the darkness seems to complete its infusion, and her shield snaps up into place. A crackle of magic, and a series of Belkan magical circles appear in the field around them, swirling in place as Emerald begins to glow... And then... disappears, several motes of corrupted emerald light shooting towards each of those magical circles, and there is suddenly 8 copies of Emerald rising from those magical circles instead. And a barrage of pinpoint magical blasts is unleashed, spread out over several of the clones and striking at vital locations with less visible armor! Each copy of Emerald still stands strong, but falters slightly in the face of that barrage, showing pain and raising their shields more defensively. Shields they were glad to have as Ginga Kingu came flying in from above to strike through the group with lightning fast blows, though to their credit they have the tactical intelligence to spread out and start to dart around the battlefield as Kingu engages in melee, though it's not... Just evasive. As it's almost immediate, after each of Kingu's strikes, another one of the Emerald's attempts to strike him with a magically-enhanced strike from the lance, their individual attacks not particularly strong, but clearly this is a 'hey trying to do everything yourself is dumb' trial more than anything... at least with Emerald. After the counter-attacks the 8 emeralds would spread out in a wide-spread and purposeful circle. One of which gets focused by the white beam lancing forth from Star Devil's staff. A focused, trained blast that consumes one of the Emerald Pawns. Which is simply. Gone. Luckily for Amy, it wouldn't be too hard for someone with a Device to perform a scan and tell that these are more like an imprint of a knight, not one imprisoned in a statue. Which arguably makes them more dangerous because they're effectively, purely, a Device in their own right. Sort of. Kind of. Meanwhile, the cloned statues quickly pull out slings to spin rapidly and start to unleash a series of magical bullets towards the gathered Devicers, each attack relatively weak, but simply relying on numbers and shooting from different angles to make evasion difficult and build up the damage over time as it is almost like being trapped in a cage of magical bullets! 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     <Got it Page Mage... Weisser, follow my lead.> Wind Dancer sends, juking around as Amy fires off a couple of shots to slow down the oncoming Princess. The Enforcer skids to a stop and expands a spell seal, directing her Bits into formation. "Saturation Form." < Storm Bits. Saturation Form. Impulse Barret: Sirocco Shift! > The bits all form a spell seal, and more form in the air, producing their own spheres of compressed mana. These spheres begin to 'boil' as they draw in ambient air, infusing it with mana. "FIRE!"     Like rifle-shots, these spheres lance out, tracking after the headlong trail of the Prinzessen, each shot exploding like a flak shell even if they don't strike directly. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' << Red-chan! >> Rashmi calls out over the command net. <> While not the more nuanced interpretation that her Device's data is showing, it should ping off her friend's sci-fi knowledge enough to get the point across. As Star Devil sets up the Barrier, Rashmi hoists a thumbs-up in her direction, then... panics just a little as one become eight, eight becomes seven, and seven become *a whole bunch of sling bullets. And a simple shield can only deflect from one direction, which means that for a moment, Rashmi is wincing and hissing in pain as shots come in off the wrong vector... but still she flies toward the closest pair or trio she can find, and curls up.     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- RED SHIFT >> A jittery, unstable-looking sphere of energy resolves around Rashmi, and the moment one of the incoming conjured bullets touches it, the Shield explodes with many times the kinetic force that shattered it; a space-clearing gambit, meant to knock a hole in the fire (and perhaps the sligers themselves) and give the group a moment to breathe.     << We're gonna need to wear it down before we can properly seal it! >> Rashmi calls out across the net. << Teamwork is the challenge anyway.... Otome, Kingu, got something for multiple targets? Noir, covering fire would be *awesome,* Red and Star Devil... well this is pretty well your wheelhouses, have fun!>> 

:'''{{#var:82|Pulp Noir (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir is able to hit multiple targets with this attack, and when the attack is done, he frowns and draws the pistols back as he lets Sugata move in now and get closer. But there's many more now. He takes this in and processes the information... Oh crap, they're all 'real'. He jumps back and draws his right pistol up as he starts tracking one... then another... and he fires into one. And another. That doesn't make sense with that logic. Is the gem splitting? If not. That means only only ONE has the 'real' gem. But which one? He fires into the images of the knight as he frowns, hoping he isn't wasting the boost Rashmi had given him moments ago. "One of these knights have the real gem. That's the one we need to concentrate on. The others are real too but..." he says. "Hrrr..." he says, turning around quickly, coat flowing after him as he traces another knight. 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' Molly gasps alongside Rashmi as the sling bullets hammer away at her barrier jacket, leaving little dents and bruising her underneath. "Starcrash, Aurora Barrier!" she shouts, as she angles up to get away from Rashmi's immediate vicinity, so that when sling bullets start getting deflected -- and they do -- they aren't going near her. At least for as long as her shield lasts, which won't be super long. << Alright everyone, nobody get near the Emeralds! >> she transmits, << No point holding back right this moment, I'm gonna do a big one. >> Molly puts up with the bullets blasting into her shield, which quickly raise a warning on her battle visor, which she promptly ifnores. "Starcrash, overchrage Stellar Buster. Disengage safety protocols. Maximmum kinetic output." << AFFIRMATIVE. CHARGING. WARNING: REPEATED USE NOT ADVISED >> "Yeah Okay, don't melt your components again, I got it." << ARMED >> "Fire!!" Molly targets one of the Emerald Pawns, picking one as... reasonably close to other ones as possible, and unleashes a brilliant, unstable beam of crackling energy. The vents in her jacket and staff open up, releasing a hiss of steam, whlie her staff starts to glow at the business end. Where the beam hits, it lets off an explosion, blasting a crater in the ground and sending a lot of debris flying. << FIFTEEN SECOND COOLDOWN ADVISED >> suggests Starcrash. "I'll do what I can." 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     With telepathy set up, Sequoia moves to follow Zephyr.     <Got it.>     No sooner than Wind Dancer is in position, Weisser Ritter takes a stance in front of the other mage, shield at the ready, to be a one-girl-phalanx in front of Zephyr for when the Prinzessin gets into attack range. 

:'''{{#var:73|Ginga Otome (73)}} has posed:''' The Boost Up takes effect, and Wako flicks Rashmi a quick and cheery salute. And then, in what seems like the space between one breath and the next - there are ''eight'' Emeralds, and the air is saturated with magical fire in all directions. <> An inarticulate noise of exasperation leaves the Galactic Maiden as a hail of shots begins sparking off her shield. "Aaargh, why does everything have to be difficult! Sugata-kun - let me borrow your speed for a second!" She doesn't wait for any kind of acknowledgement, just throws out both hands already glowing dawn-bright. "Cascade de Soleil!" Bright sparks of rosy light, traced with gold from Rashmi's enhancing magic, scatter from her fingertips to rain down on the Emerald Pawns in all directions. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Rashmi gets a scan that indicates that this is a gamma fork-- err, an AI imprint, and Amy is a mix of disappointed that it can't be swayed, relieved a person hasn't been trapped, and astounded at the continued insanity that is her life. "We're fighting ''mobile dolls''?! Why is a plot about autonomous weapons in my magical girl show?!"     Amy's not under attack ''yet'' -- she throws her hands out to the side in a 'oh, /come on!/' gesture. "If we're doing mecha plots how come it's never one where I get to be a pilot?! I've already got the outfit!" She waves a hand over herself, it kind of ''is'' mainly the skirt and cloak that keep it barely on the magical girl side of the line.R     If she's able to crack jokes, she is ''far'' from despair, that's good!     The red Puella Magi takes a breath and sighs, before turning towards the Emeralds. "Alright then. I can't go letting an ''imitation'' put in a weapon beat a real person, now can I?" and holding her hand out in front of her imperiously. ''"I am the better warbot!"''     And a salvo of mini-missiles just ''appear'' above and behind her shoulders, each homing in on a seperate Emerald! Amy then crosses her arm across her body and makes a horizontal sweeping motion to uncross it as she follows up with a second salvo.     "Man... as messed up as this Prinzessin Nicht stuff is... if Ancient Belka knew about Puella Magi they really ''would'' try to mass produce uh, huh..."     And then Amy startles slightly and looks around in alarm. "Oh ''f***'', please tell me ''he'' didn't hear that..." 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Fighting one statue abruptly becomes fighting eight, an unpleasant flashback to Takuto, Wako, Jaguar, and Tiger being surrounded by Mermiadoll in the forest outside his home. It's not as bad, of course - there are allies around, and these statues aren't attacking as ruthlessly as Mermaidoll had, clearly being more focused on the ''testing'' aspect of this encounter. Which is why he bails off, flipping back into the air and pulling back to observe their motions. Rashmi calls out, asking if they have any way to reach multiple targets. <<Of course we do.>> Ginga Otome calls and Ginga Kingu answers, flying to the base of her shield and gripping at the energy - and then he's zipping her through the air, giving mobility, making sure that there's no space for the Emerald Pawns to escape the bright sparks of rosy light raining from Ginga Otome's fingers. "Is this your idea of a show?" He asks Amy as they zip over her head. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Sirocco Shift! A series of explosions in the sky as Prinzessin Nichts starts bothering with evasive maneuvers, having decided damage levels were unacceptable to continue ignoring the attacks as those explosive shots begin to burst in the air around it, though now its shield was lifted defensively, occasional bursts of that magic-erasing feld des nichts flashing in the sky as she flies towards the source of the oncoming attacks! Which likely results in more of the sky becoming that flying zone of explosions and black spheres. As Prinzessin Nichts darts in towards Zephyr to begin to counter-attack, once more, Weisser Ritter was there. Right in front of her. Once more, Weisser Ritter might be regretting that, as there is that twisted ping. <<NICHTS VERSTREUEN>> And a scattering blast of that twisted darkness-sheathed red energy is launched towards the one-girl-phalanx, a peppering of cutting energy that gradually gets more concentrated as Prinzessin Nichts goes in to attempt to spear Weisser Ritter. Because she was in the way of her target. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' The unfortunate thing about many attacks is if you have something to counter them and send them /back/, they become significantly less effective, as the Solar Shield sends a shockwave of force back into the attacking Emeralds. Luckily for /them/ their individual attacks aren't individually powerful, so the actual returned damage is ... probably less than ideal, really. But it does get the space desired as the 'web' breaks and they start dashing around the battlefield again, once again following that original pattern of taking advantage of attacks to counter-attack with a different 'Emerald', possibly a part of the training to force the would-be-ruler to watch their back. Or rely on allies to cover their back. Boom! A shot from Pulp Noir at the knights as they dart around, no particular knight seeming to be holding back or avoiding going into combat for too long -- almost as if none of them were individually that importantly, though every so often they do seem to intentionally dart next to each other... Ah, they're passing off the emerald so no one of them gets overly targeted. This is less of a problem when /all/ of them are being targeted by the Star Devil, which unleashes a blast towards the statues as several of them were nearby each other, eliminating another one of them with the Stellar Buster, as another two take significant damage, two of them missing arms which were now crumbled statue bits on the ground, though not stopping their relentless attacks. Perhaps a small blessing, they don't seem to be re-splitting at least... though the two damaged ones /do/ rejoin into one whole one, knocking the numbers from 7 down to 5. A 5 that are moderately glad of their tendency to /mostly/ spread out and go for geurilla-style tactics instead of being all together as that scatter-shot of Cascade De Soleil is unleashed upon them, raining down upon them! ... It doesn't stop them from all getting hit, but it does reduce the chance of getting hit by shots focused on the other statues, their armor and shields starting to look ragged from the various oncoming attacks. Chips out of one's shield, a hole in another from a bullet... A missing shield from an oncoming barrage of mini-missiles from Red, the statues bringing their shields up to protect themselves from the worst of the blasts! Something made harder by Ginga Kingu helping out with the mobility and different angles that they have to defend from /other/ attacks with. Eventually Emerald seems to get tired of darting around, the group of them darting together briefly into a defensive formation, shields up as their lances all glow together. The clopping sound of horse hooves can almost be heard as a magical circle appears underneath them, before they all dart together in unison through the group of Mahou, piercing through them with energy lances that are turned to shove the targets down to the ground in passing, some of them even darting into the air to treat the flying targets much the same way! ...Though it's more of a rough shove down in their case, rather than an attempt to spear them fully to the ground. A possible opening to hit them all at once in that brief moment before they spread out again! 

:'''{{#var:82|Pulp Noir (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir catches the hand off. Like two ships, passing in the night in the Chicago River. Now, Hinote has never been to Chicago in America so he has no idea why this thought enters his head but he's blaming Tracy. He curses under his breath as he draws his arms up to brace the incoming attack and---he's slammed down to the ground as Emerald Knight there, the Pawn, slams through him and he coughs viciously on the ground before he has to pull himself up. Okay, that smarts, his entire body hurts now. He shakes it off as he pulls his fedora down. He watches for now, trying to keep up and--- Spark! Right there---- when they're all together..! Pulp Noir draws his fist back, glowing with a brackish aura as he throws himself into it. "The Big Goodbye!" he calls out. Throwing a powerful punch forward, he attempts to charge that energy into The Pawn's shield, trying to crack it and destroy it outright, to try to give her something less to hide behind, with the powerful, barrier busting attack. 

:'''{{#var:265|Weisser Ritter (265)}} has posed:'''     There are many things in life that Sequoia Maybach is going to regret.     Standing in front of an attack intended for an ally is never one of them.     Even as the Prinzessin approaches, even as that ping hits her ears. Even as that scatterblast of dark-red energy comes for her--     <DUNKLE SEELE PARRIEREN SIE!> Her Device advises her.     "Zephyr this is going to suck, for me. Get ready!" She calls out over her shoulder as the attack comes and--     She summons a layer of magical shielding in front of herself-- and another and another and another and another.     The layered defense shatters one by one and as the last one cracks and shatters like glass, Sequoia SWINGS HER SHIELD OUTWARDS to deflect as much of the attack as she can.     The force of the energy and blow still hits her as she grunts.     "--Now! Switch!" She snaps, giving Zephyr her chance here as she's blown aside from the force of the Prinzessin's attack. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' If Rashmi has learned one thing about Pulp Noir, it's that he has *amazing* deductive instincts. Unless a whiteboard is involved. Then it's... kind of a coin toss, thanks to Tracy. But in a fight? When the emerald lance rises up to swat Rashmi to the ground, she hits, and *hard,* but rallies in time to see the Chara Bearer mark his target, and trusts in those instincts.     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLADE >> Five Barrets resolve over Rashmi as she climbs to her feet, lengthening into swords made of golden light, that then launch toward the single Emerald. Five shieldbreaking shots, to back up Pulp Noir's shield-busting fist. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Is this her idea of a show? "I mean, uh... look, have you ''never'' seen a magical girl story? Oh right you are literally a mecha pilot, uh... life is weird." Amy kind of loses track of whatever she was going to respond with as... is that the sound of horses? Instincts tell Amy to ''get off the ground'' and a sudden pillar of fire changes her outfit to her super 'Un-chain' mode as she demonstrates that her ''body'', at least, is not weighed down by gravity as she rockets into the sky!     ...Only to get clipped by an energy lance and sent tumbling downward! But she spreads her arms and legs and arrests her movement, missile racks appearing on arms, legs, and shoulders! "I told you, Emerald, I can do it better!"     "'''Un-chain!''' Take this! My love, my anger, and all of my sorrow! '''Mahou Missile Massacre!'''"     ''Dozens'' of tiny missiles launch from those racks, ripple firing and flying every which way then roboteching in zig-zagging paths to keep Emerald's defense algorithms guessing before homing in on the remaining copies from all angles! 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr maintains fire all the way in, until the explosions of her barrets threaten to damage her and Sequoia.     Her shield speaks, and within that breath she nods. "Tenraikaze. Drive Max!" < Maximum Drive. Tempest Mode. > "One chance Dee... You know what to do. < Understood. TEMPEST GLAIVE! > The three bits expand by two, five drones now surrounding the Enforcer... they then shift as they reattach to the Device, three of them locking into place on the counterbalence side from the blade. The other two settle against the mage's main-hand forearm, all five beginning to rotate rapidly, spalling off ribbons of purple mana, slowly fading to white as they spin up to max.     The handle of Tenraikaze expands, and the blade reinforces with boiling mana... Zephyr shifts her stance, and as Weisser calls 'SWITCH!' she darts in, kicking off in a burst of speed. < BLITZ DRIVE: STUTTERSHIFT >. Coming in around the Prinzessen's open side. She's mid-spin, three quarters around to bring that axe-blade down into the open flank of the corrupted Knight, the edge of her axe exploding out like a shaped charge, trying to overwhelm the Princess of Nothing's defenses. 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' Molly sighs audibly. "Re-engage safety protocols," she almost grumbles, while watching a little progress bar on how long she should wait before casting another spell. Why does she have to wait?! It's not as if she hasn't overcharged Stellar Buster before. << AFFIRMATIVE, RE-ENGAGING >> ...Oh, that's right, she hasn't done that before while boosted by Rashmi. Yes, that definitely made a difference. The attack was bigger of course, but so were the consequences. Ten seconds, nine seconds, eight seconds... this is a really long time to cool your jets in the middle of combat. Meanwhile, the Emeralds are recombinging, and then-- "AUGH!! What the bloody he-AUGH!" Molly finds herself getting pummeled into the ground by the lance, making her fall straight out of the sky and slam into the ground; her Aurora Barrier is broken by the lance, and she's still on her spell cooldown, so when she lands -- Starcrash erects a simple shield around her, absorbing the brunt of the impact. And adding a couple seconds onto the timer. Which is fine, as the artillery mage needs a moment to cleanr her head anyway. She shakes her head, laying on the ground, and pats a couple of places once she can move aganin, to make sure nothing's broken. It isn't, but her ribs sure feel abused, as does her leg. Four. Three. Two. As Molly is standing herself up, the timer hasn't even made it all the way down to one when "Starcrash charge Eclipse Barrets, homing after two second delay, forty barrets, lock target on Emerald." << ARMED >> Molly half-crouches and launches, taking off into the sky once more and flying up and away from Emerald. "Fire!" she shouts as she executes a midair pirouette, spraying her barrets in all directions; they fly off around her before their homing kicks in and they rocket towards Emerald, coming in at almost random intervals and, hopefully, leaving a debilitating build-up of ice when they hit. 

:'''{{#var:73|Ginga Otome (73)}} has posed:''' There are what seems like a million things happening at once, and Wako is honestly a little dizzy from the speed with which Sugata just slung her around. Even so, it only takes a quick exchanged glance to put them on the same page. She puts a hand down to pull Ginga Kingu up - dropping down out of the halo of her own shield as she tugs him into it. And, just as Weisser Ritter's shields are splintering under the Prinzessin Der Nicht's assault, Ginga Otome hauls off and slams both hands into the sphere of pink light, rocketing her fellow Star Driver towards where Zephyr and Sequoia are fighting for their lives. "AURORE AUSTRALE!" Spinning in the air, she unleashes a wave of dawn-pink light downwards to where the Emerald Pawns are converging - a broad curved shield meant to trap them like insects under a cup, long enough for her to flood it with purifying energy. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' There's another glance, silent communication, and then Sugata drops into the bubble as Wako drops through it, arms spread, Diamante disappearing, as Wako flies up for a spike - And the perfectly round shield-bubble goes flying, Sugata inside it like a launched missile, headed ''directly'' for the Prinzessin. The battle is on two fronts after all, and they can't afford to lose the one out of desire to keep the other. The only thing to do for it is to keep the fight up on both ends! Zephyr is attacking an open flank. Ginga Kingu is flying for the direct approach, hoping to keep her aggressive retaliation focused away from Weisser Ritter. "Star Crash!" Diamante's shining white energy appears once more, in his hands, and just before the shield-bubble would strike the Prinzessin, he pierces it with the shield, so the strike becomes a stab with ''tremendous'' momentum. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Barriers go up to stop the scattershot of energy, layer after layer shattering, breaking, busting apart... and then... at that last moment... CLANG! Shield meets the side of the lance, which is knocked to the side, causing a brief moment where the impassive face is staring blankly into the eyes of Weisser Ritter. ...Is that the slightest smirk? The momentum of the lance being knocked aside is used to follow up with a simple counter attack. Weisser Ritter was open. There was a shield coming straight for her face, luckily lacking a burst of energy. Just pure concussive force. Once chance, Dee. You know what to do. In those moments mid-twist, mid-bash, there was a threat immediately behind her, swinging a high-damage attack towards her. Striking true. Black and red energy crackling as an explosion rocks out through Prinzessin Nichts. From the sky, pieces of Prinzessin Nichts are raining down to the battlefield below, shattered fragments of armor and ... something else. As the energy clears, there is a chunk of Prinzessin Nicht's side missing, though it was beginning to seal over and 'fill' back in, as that telltale pulse of a heartbeat that accompanies the Prinzessin Nichts charging up energy by draining Aloisia rings out in the immediate area. Red energy pulsing along veins into the corrupted Device. ---- The Emerald-bearing copy of the Emerald Pawn is singled out by Pulp Noir, a brackish aura glowing around him as he punches that energy THROUGH the central pawn that was at the front of the formation, as five glowing energy blades shoot through to pin down the group and force them to be unable to scatter, leaving a wide opening! For dozens of tiny missiles to rain down upon the pinned down Pawn, explosions rippling out around them as they break down! ...They don't really have much of a comeback for the comment of Amy being able to do things better, really. Mostly because they're not talking. ARMED FIRE. More barrages of energy launch down on the pinned down pawns, ice building up as they take more and more damage... one falling... two... ... and then? Aurore Australe! A curved shield covers them, and the purges the area with purifying energy, clearing the corruption on the Glittering Emerald. <<Congratulations, challenger. You have been found worthy to rule the Many. May you rule fairly and evenly upon the Many and the Few equally. Seal the Emerald, and claim your prize.>> And as the statue crumbles away, the emerald is left, along with the lance that was the Device that had been used. No longer functional, an incomplete device, but an excellent source of parts. ---- In the sky above, that corrupted beating of Aloisia's heart rings out louder, and louder, and louder from above. <<LOSCHKANONE>> STAR CRASH! As Prinzessin Nichts had attempted to dart up to get an angle to shoot a massive cannon ball at Wind Dancer as well as aimed to strike the ground in the center of the group, Ginga Kingu is approaching at just the right timing. And a high-momentum STAB strikes Prinzessin Nichts, sending the aim of that cannon wide as it fires, shooting at the unfortunate nearby school building instead of in the center of the group, an explosion of darkness leaving very little more than rubble in its place. None the less buying precious time to gather the emerald and the Device and run or form up to fight Prinzessin Nichts. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Tenraikaze registers a solid impact. Vents open and spit out mana-infused steam, venting heat from the attack. <Guys, if you're done down there, grab the thing and RUN!> she transmits. <I'll grab Weisser, will advice on medical attention when we're out of the danger zone.>     Zephyr turns in mid-air, forming a platform spell seal to push off from. She aims down toward where Sequioa landed, zipping down as fast as she's able without using her movement enhancement... that takes a lot of power and she's running a bit low after that output level.     < Diverting power to Movement Systems. Offensive Grid: Offline. Defensive Systems: 50%. > 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' << Roger! Also take her to Mamoru's, use the rooftop door at the ***** Building. >> Rashmi thinks back at Zephyr, darting down to take possession of the lance. << Star Devil! Seal the crystal, and we can scatter! You remember how to do that, right? >> As she grabs hold of the Device, she bobbles a bit in midair. Look, lances are heavy and unwieldy to an untrained wielder, and Rashmi is nothing if not untrained in the arts of cavalry. But oh *boy* is she gonna be needing the parts, now that she has her Meister qualifications to complete. << Guys, the moment Star Devil seals it, scatter, okay? And *good work* everyone. Seriously. >> 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' Molly rushes straight for the ground, only righting herself at the last possible moment so she can land hard and go down in a crouch, but land and not, y'know, crash. Nevermind what her device is named, crashing isn't ideal. Well, most of the time, sometimes it's ideal. You never know. Now is not the time for introspection; Rashmi called her out to seal the Emerald, so she's gotta do this quick so everyone can scatter, right now they're all protecting her. "STARCRASH!" she declares uproarously, straightening to her full height and doing a little flourish with Starcrash before pointing the business end of the staff down at the jewel. "Register: ''Crown of Succession Emerald''!" << AFFIRMATIVE >> Announces Starcrash. << SCANNING. SCAN SUCCESSFUL. CROWN OF SUCCESSION: EMERALD. REGISTRY COMPLETE >> "SEAL IT!!" Starcrash glows with a fierce light, and the Emerald lifts up off the ground; it rockets through the air, orbiting around Molly three, four, five times, before vanishing into her device's secure storage. << OKay I got it!! >> she alerts everyone, before she snaps her fingers; casting Neutrino Rush instantly moves her up into the air and she kicks her wings into high gear, picking a direction and taking off as fast as she can. 

:'''{{#var:82|Pulp Noir (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir finally comes to a stop and shakes his hand. Because that's the first time he's done that. He winces and just relaxes as best he can as he 'whews'. He then eyes that Emerald. Ohhhh. No. Nope. He isn't touching that. He isn't touching a maybe corrupted gem with his bare hands. He knows better. "Hey someone, can they handle this quickly before you know who gets ahold of you know what?" he asks. Okay so Molly will handle it. He goes ahead and leaps back away to give her the space. << Scatter. Got it. Run away from Aloisia there. >> 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' A massive cannonball goes flying off to the side, bringing down a barrier replicated school building instead of one of his allies. Ginga Kingu looks into the impassive face of the Prinzessin he has stabbed, having felt the rush of energy that indicated she was draining her host - And offers a jaunty wave and a smirk, before flipping backwards and soaring away, air-skating through the air, a faint trail of blue-white energy escaping his shoes as he leaves her in the dust. Below, where Emerald Pawn was defeated, is Wako, and as Ginga Kingu dives towards her, he reaches out to catch her hand and tows her into the sky. "Now I see why you liked doing this," he tells her with a faint smile, "It's fun to be the one carrying you through the sky." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     They did it! Amy smiles in triumph...     But, it is too dangerous to relax just yet.     Others can better handle sealing the gem and transporting others quickly. Amy, however... << I'll try to knock her away from us! >>     The prinzessin demonstrated how easily she can dodge an unguided projectile. Explosives seem to be absorbed by her defenses. But...     Amy dismisses the missile racks and conjures her launcher again, this time with a rocket attached to the front of it. << Fire! >> The initial explosion gets it to speed, but then the guided rocket can ''home in'' on the Prinzessin. There's no explosive warhead -- it will just hit hard and then try to keep pushing her away!     << Alright, I'm outta here! >> And with that, Amy flies after the others! She'll want to land or be carried soon due to her flight burning magic, but... she can worry about that when she's a bit further from the Prinzessin! 

:'''{{#var:73|Ginga Otome (73)}} has posed:''' By the time Sugata reaches her, Ginga Otome has her hand outstretched, ready to catch his as he dives to meet her. "See?" she laughs as he pulls her upward, air rushing past both of them. "Though it's not fair you both can fly so much faster." A quick glance back towards the Prinzessin, and Wako makes a wry face. "Not that I'm complaining right now..." Speed is rather important just at the moment. << Thanks, everyone! >> she calls through the telepathic network. << Great work - now let's all get away safely! >> 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:'''      Register: Crown of Succession: Emerald! A somehow-familiar emerald energy glows from the Emerald of Succession, being gathered into and then sealed within Starcrash, not fighting the sealing at all as it is absorbed and sealed away. There is a *PING*. Scan Detected. Prinzessin Nichts is not looking at Ginga Kingu as he looks at her face, giving that jaunty wave and smirk. No, she is simply staring down at Star Devil, an unwavering gaze that follows after her for a few moments... and now? Now there was nobody in her way. And she would start to rocket towards Star Devil. Luckily, there was someone already on the defense from potential retaliation as Amy Faust brings out her launcher, shooting an intercepting missile towards the Prinzessin Nichts attempting to go reclaim a part of her Crown from Star Devil... getting closer... getting closer... and then... CRACK! Shield and missile meet, sending Prinzessin Nichts off-course and allowing enough time for everyone to get at least far enough away to no longer be under a significant threat. 

:'''{{#var:82|Pulp Noir (82)}} has posed:''' << Running Away Now. >> says Pulp Noir into the network as he mutters. << "Away, Fading like a figure into a foggy night at the warehouse shipyard..." >> he says finally, as he winces at his own words, cringing hard before he runs. Indeed taking off between abandoned school buildings, as he lets others more capable at the moment slow down the Princess. He draws his hand to his fedora as he picks up the pace. He's fast, at least. So there's that. Just not like lightning. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr lands next to Sequioa's prone, limp form, gathering her up in both arms as her Device turns to Stand-by mode. She gathers her legs underneath her, and launches off at an angle from the engagement zone. <Mamoru's place, got it. I'll catch up with you later.> she sends back to Rashmi. "Get the coordinate's Dee?" < Recieved. Generating path. Displaying. >     The aerial mage gains altitude, and begins a gradual banking turn as she pours on speed to clear the zone. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Tucking the lance into Nicomachea's storage, Rashmi pauses long enough to cast a long look at Aloisia... and the dark possibilities inherent in how Alosia recovered from damage, or moved at the behest of 'her' weapon. Then, with a sigh, she turns, wings flickering into existence at her ankles. "We'll get you free somehow, Alo-chan," she says under her breath, as she jets off into the night. And she *will.* If there's one thing Rashmi never, ever wants to do, it's to truly lose a friend to the darkness. 

:'''{{#var:25|Star Devil (25)}} has posed:''' Molly doesn't look over her shoulder. She doesn't need to; her Battle Visor pings alerts that Princessin Nichts is on her tail, at least until Amy with a missile, which buys her some breathing room. << Thanks, Red! >> she calls out as she continues to accelerate. "Starcrash... charge Solar Barrets," she instructs. "One hundred barrets, but remove all thermal output. Photon bursts only, variable EM spectrum, fire in a randomized spread." << AFFIRMATVE. WARNING: ATTACK WILL DEAL NO DAMAGE. >> Molly grins. "That's the idea. Detonate all barrets once deployed. Fire!" A series of glowing barrets launch from Starcrash while Molly is flying off, dispersing out in all directions around her; a hundred of them, well more than double what she's ever cast before, but doable this time given how absurdly low energy they are compared to most of her spells. Once all of them are out, flying off in all directions... they simultaniously explode, producing an array of multi-colored bursts of blinding light, lasting for a few seconds; as the light is dieing down Molly drops the Time/Space Barrier and snaps her fingers, disappearing into a brust of light herself and reappearing where she can curl around an office tower and continue her escape. 
}}

Misfortune's arrival(Melona Mizu)

2025-01-04T12:02:05Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2025/01/04 |Location=An upper-class hotel |Synopsis=The arrival of a german songstress in japan, and a quiet meeting that spells misfortune fo..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2025/01/04
|Location=An upper-class hotel
|Synopsis=The arrival of a german songstress in japan, and a quiet meeting that spells misfortune for a certain miserable melon.
|Cast of Characters=87
}}
A private jet arrives in the tokyo airport, one that had been quietly anticipated when rumors that a german songstress would be coming to japan on an exchange program to take some classes in japan as well as host several concerts in various different areas of Tokyo. In spite of being from germany, she is wearing a pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat to go with her white pleather-jacketed outfit with skirt and black tanktop underneath. A relatively downplayed outfit for her as she steps off the plane.

When her bodyguards try to usher her off to a car posthaste she rolls her eyes, blowing a bubble in her gum. "Right, right, straight to the hotel, of course~! You'd best let me have some privacy when we get there, though! I have a call to an old friend I need to make, as well as I'll need to freshen up."

Upon arrival at the hotel, she gives a soft sigh, closing the door and locking her guards out. They would stay outside the door, and there's no doubt they'd overhear... but they knew better than to say anything. They knew what happened to the last ones. She walks over to a window and opens it, and a pair of familiar pale red eyes are there almost immediately, as Kyubey promptly jumps in through the edge of the window; not that he'd been there before.

Weird dimension-hopping rabbit-thing. "Hi~." She says cheerfully, none-the-less, reaching a hand to absently scritch the being as she smiles down at it with a false fondness. "And you're /sure/ she's here~?"

Kyubey looks up towards Misfortune Mary as she barely-conceals the mad grin while he responds.

"Yes, and I'm sure she could use her old senpai to bring her back to how things should be. And even if you can't help her, I'm sure you'll see something fun."

Misfortune Mary's barely-concealed mad grin grows into a wicked one, as she gives an almost-deliriously malicious giggle.

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing my little Misery Melon soon~."

2191/Maybe you can be Defreshing

2024-12-30T03:56:22Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2024/12/29 |Location=Ice Cream Parlor |Synopsis=While, due to her other activities, Melona is generally ignored when it comes to dark energy quotas..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2024/12/29
|Location=Ice Cream Parlor
|Synopsis=While, due to her other activities, Melona is generally ignored when it comes to dark energy quotas as she assists in repairs and helps out in labs, she does still have a small quota.

With very few ideas, she looks at a certain mostly-disassembled and wrecked ice cream cart that she had stolen oh so long ago. Many rivets and poundings later, and something has been created.

...It is not refreshing.

But maybe it's defreshing enough to meet her quota.
|Cast of Characters=87,131,27,33,262,107,96,38,43
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' - A FEW HOURS AGO - Misery Melon puts some of the last little touches on fixing up that ice cream cart that she'd stolen nearly a year ago, twisting a bolt that held an arm into place on it, staring up at the thing she'd created. "...Ja, you are a crime against ice cream." She comments absently. It looked like some sort of mechanical monstrosity, and wholly unfunctional. But that's fine. That's what the youma-ization was for. Misery Melon shrinks down the ice cream cart to slip it into her apron, reflexively glancing at her Soul Gem before she started on her way to figure out where to unleash the automaton. - PRESENT TIME - Misery Melon stood atop the roof opposite of the ice cream parlor, holding a seed of darkness which she pressed together with the miniaturized automaton, infusing it with darkness and tossing it down towards the ice cream parlor. As it falls, smoke begins to billow from its miniaturized form. Click... click... click... click click click click HYOOOOOOONK! As the automaton lands, the ice cream cart-turned-automaton unleashes a massive train-like blast of sound as fire sparks into existence, steam and smoke coming off of its form as uneven legs carry it towards the ice cream parlor with a CLUNK-TINK CLUNK-TINK, what had once been the opening where ice cream would be gotten out of is now a twisted metal mouth with two giant headlights bolted on to function as eyes, wheels spinning uselessly in the air as it runs towards the door to burst through it, shattering glass as the thing neglects to actually use the door. And Misery Melon sits down atop that rooftop to watch the chaos from across the way, knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around her knees. 

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri Kirara was a unicorn. Deal with it. And that meant sometimes she wanted ice cream even on cold days. Well, at least now she didn't yell at the clouds on otherwise nice days for blocking the sun, since apparently it didn't work that way here. Actually, now that she thought about it, she used to make a ton of other mistakes whenever she went anywhere that she didn't make now. She almost, dare she say it... fit in. Truly, a magical place. She... "Oh come bucking ON!" she snapped as, walking out of the parlor, an ice cream cone in her hands, a giant robot came and landed down RIGHT in front of her. She then just sighed... stepped aside... watched as it hit the building... and... "Not my fault!" she yelled out. Before taking another lick of her ice cream. Welp. This was about to get busy. She wondered who it was. Giant steam punk ice cream machine... mmmmmm... No scarf, so not Mirage's crew. No noses, so not Pierott's. Keaka? Possibly. She seemed the type, but she didn't remember ever seeing her with a 'steampunk' anything. No cthulu bits dangling out to snatch souls, either. Witches 5/4/5/3? Nah... She took a seat at one of the benches and watched for now. Which of her ex coworkers were causing problems today and who was going to get punched... 

:'''{{#var:27|Sailor Venus (27)}} has posed:''' A cute blonde with a red ribbon in her hair makes her way toward the icecream shop. There's a little suitcase on wheels being dragged along behind her, with a white cat perched ontop of the suitcase getting a free ride along the way. It had been awhile since Minako had been back in Japan! And she wasn't looking very happy. A huge, dejectged sigh breaks from Minako before she whines, "I can't believe I just spent *months* in Paris! THE most romantic city in the *WHOLE WORLD*, and I was ALONE the whole time!" The white cat beside her glances up to remark, "Excuse me, but I was there, too!" Artemis flicks his tail in a clear huff at Minako's whining. The blonde tosses her hair over her shoulder indignantly. "You don't count, Artemis! You're not a cute boy! I should have been there with some hot guy, enjoying the scenery together, hand in hand while the sunset was behind us!" Minako Uuuughs wearily. "Instead of skulking around in the sewers looking for bad guys." Artemis protests, "They weren't sewers, they were catacombs, and we were doing very important work to ensure there was no remaining signs of Queen Beryl or Metallia!" Pause. "And I'll have you know I'm very handsome by cat standards thank-you-very-much!" "Yeah, yeah," Minako flaps her hand at the cat dismissively. "Veeeery important --" Muttermumble. Approaching the icecream shop she adds, "STILL should have been there with a hot boy. The only thing that can make me happy now is some icecream to cheer up!" Fistpump! "With extra whipped cream and chocolate and--" "Wait is that a youma?" 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Blossom (33)}} has posed:'''     Madoka is currently sitting in the ice cream parlor, in a booth, with a very large bowl of ice cream in front of her containing a total of eight(!) scoops, all different flavors and covered in a variety of toppings. Sprinkles, both rainbow and chocolate; whipped cream; hot fudge and a bright red cherry on top.     It is, once again, ice cream time. The time when Madoka Kaname has ice cream with all of her little Chara and they catch up on things. It's the closest thing she gets to "family time" with the seven fairies, and also her way of making sure they're all okay at least once a day. After all, no minidoka would ever miss out on ice cream time unless something ''really'' bad was happening, and handling things like this makes her feel less bothersome than doing something like calling them every day. It is in some ways a sacred time, and not just because one of her Chara is a goddess.     So imagine her horror when an evil ice cream cart suddenly smashes through the front door, making a very loud and very big mess.     "Protect the ice cream!" shouts Brai, floating between the ice cream bowl and the youma with her arms spread wide.     "Is everyone okay?" asks Medo, covering her mouth as she sees the point of impact.     "Oh geeze... so much property damage," bemoans Sio.     "Not to think of the poor decor!" agrees Lydian.     Tia rests her parasol on her shoulder and says, "Tsk. Such a nuisance."     Rens adjusts her tiny glasses and says, "Ice cream of the future? Perhaps it's time to consign this youma to history."     Kamiko glances at Madoka, and then at the Ice Cream bowl. The divine fairy offers, "I can keep the ice cream safe and cold. Go and fight." Madoka gives her an odd look, but Kamiko cuts her off. "I know, food and my Labyrinth don't mix, but that was a Gretchen problem. Not a Kamiko problem."     Madoka considers it for a moment, then turns to Rens and says, "Rens-chan, you're with me. Everyone else, go hide and be safe, okay?"     Kamiko's Paradise portal opens, and the tiny minidokas are pushing the ice cream bowl through while Rens and Madoka stay behind. Madoka doesn't even bother to hide before she shouts, "MY HEART: UNLOCK!" The tiny science chara then returns to her egg and mergest with her bearer, turning them both into Hope Blossom.     For some reason, Hope Blossom is wearing a tiny pair of glasses that rest just on the tip of her nose. Her branch bow appears in her hands, and she nocks back an arrow. 

:'''{{#var:262|Star Shine (262)}} has posed:''' Its been a quiet Christmas for Seiko Akai. She managed to make some gifts but they are all late! She is still scratching her head over what to get Amy and Rashmi! The only one complete is Laura's. That is actually what lead her out today. She came out with the intention of getting some plushies but the desire for ice cream has overwhelmed her senses. Yes. The need for ice cream is THAT powerful! MUST CONSUME ICE CREAM! So she turns to go in to the ice cream parlor. She walks in only to turn around and walk out again. "Is that a Decepticon on the Roof?" She asks curiously as she looks up at the creature and then at Misery Melon. "Umm... Why do you have an evil transformer up there? You know this is an ice cream parlor right? The only thing evil here is the Pralines and Cream." SHe winces and quickly takes off running. She isn't ready to do this. Not out here. She just wanted an ice cream! Quickly she transforms, becoming Star Shine! She quickly comes back out and throws her arms out. A pair of glow stick batons form in her hands. She goes into a crouch and prepares to rush in in an effort to take down the ice cream cart. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy is a human. (She's pretty sure. The chances she's secretly an alien or a fairy princess and doesn't know it yet can't be more than like, 1%. maybe 5%. Right?) She ''still'' wants cold sweet treats on cold days sometimes!     She's walking back from the counter with a bowl of ice cream -- birthday cake flavor! ooh! And, spying Madoka and the chara, is just walking over to wave when [center('''*CRASH!*''',84)]     "Are you ''kidding'' me?!" She shouts although Rens's comment brings back a distant memory. "Wow. I don't think I've gotten to try dippin' dots since... I mighta been younger than this..."     When ice cream is stowed to keep cold, Amy sets her bowl down on the table for storage as well (if the minidokas deign to) and--     She blinks at Madoka. "So what do you get for merging with ''Rens?''" She's never seen that transformation before! "Oh, wait."     Amy ducks under the table, and thankfully the flame SFX of her henshin don't actually burn anything unless she wants them to. She stands up next to the table: "''WHY.'' Okay, ''why'' are you attacking ice cream, what problem can you possible have with-- oh forget it. You know, this feels weirdly familiar..." The memory of fighting the music machine youma as a civilian comes to mind. "Ah. Well, this time... I've got magic! And ''you've'' got to get outta here!"     Amy charges up to the machine, swinging her launcher like a battering ram -- but on contact, it just detonates an explosive with no round loaded (and a saltwater countermass that replaces the muzzle-flare-like backblast with a mist that coats the counter and wall behind her in water), trying to use the force to knock the youma back towards the window it came through!     "[So long gay Bowser!]" She shouts a seemingly nonsense English phrase! 

:'''{{#var:96|Jadeite (96)}} has posed:''' It is. Super normal for Tamaki to be tagging along with Usagi and Mamoru's date. Extremely normal. Don't worry about it! He's being socialized to be a normal human being and not Earth's most uwu killing machine. This includes third wheeling, holding umbrellas, and running ahead to see if there are delicious snacks to eat while out on the town. "Dipping Dots! I haven't seen those outside of the States in a long time," he says, having marched on ahead of his prince and princess to scout for food. And trouble. And an awful tingling in his head, like he. REmembers. This. Ah. Hematite had told him about THIS fiasco, once upon a time. Tamaki ducks into an alley; Jadeite pops out, already summoning an ice shield to deal with this - this - this ice crime, this glacial giant. R "One date. Why can't there be ONE date," he mutters, and looks around to see where everyone isbefore pelting the general area with large exploding chunks of ice. (Important not to cause collateral damage!) 

:'''{{#var:38|Tuxedo Kamen (38)}} has posed:''' "'So long gay Bowser'?" Mamoru echoes from where he and Usagi are on the sidewalk with Tamaki trailing behind them like an awkward third wheel bodyguard friend-- which is awkward-- but they already have their sweets, so Mamoru stuffs mochi in his mouth, takes out his pocketwatch, and says (muffled by all the goo in his mouth but still intelligible): "Earth Prism Power, Make Up!" As the dark jewel tones of Mamoru's henshin sequence start up, his eyes ''twinkle'' at Usagi, and he says with his whole chest, "Bishounen Senshi Tuxedo Kamen! In the name of Earth, I'll f--" Tuxedo Mask stops both flirting and trying to do Usagi's hand thing when there's more yelling from inside, and he starts scanning the nearby rooftops. "Ah. It's--" He looks from Misery Melon to inside the ice cream parlor where the monstrosity is, and he reaches up and runs his hand through his hair, looking a little disbelieving. "MISERY MELON! We barely even met! Why would you--" A beat. "Wait is this an homage or something?" 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' Having Tamaki play third wheel while she's out with Mamoru is not Usagi Tsukino's ''favorite'' thing to do, but, on the other hand, his socialization as a normal human being and not a person who insists on thinking of himself as a magical bodyguard is a project. A long-term one. One that Usagi had hoped wouldn't take this long and sometimes she thinks she should let Chibiusa brainwash him, but Mamoru would be sad about that so - So look. The point is, when a monster shows up and transformations fling out every which way and Mamoru starts ''flirting with her'' - "WHOO, BISHOUNEN SENSHI!" Obviously she's going to cheer as though she's white girl wasted, even as she runs off for some cover to hide. A minute or so later, Sailor Moon comes running out, and she finally takes in the monster instead of her fiancé and doubletakes. "Is that the ''Dippin' Dots cart''?!" 

:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' As Hinoiri licks at her ice cream while the Youma charges past, the sheer HEAT coming off of the 'ice cream' cart might make it a bit more of a melty lick than before, the belching out smoke and steram of the monstrosity like a raging fire now that it was 'spun up', the constant ticking and clanking of the mechanics that should not function accompanied by that uneven gait from one leg having a longer piece of junk for its lower leg section. "ORDER RECEIVED." Click click click whirr. It rotates on a small platform attached to those uneven legs to face Minako Aino, unleashing extra hot whipped cream and molten chocolate...that somehow is still keeping the correct form factor. Ish. As it rotates further to unleash a wave of that molten hot and somehow still whipped cream-and-chocolate over the area. ...Well at least chocolate sauce was nice? Meanwhile, someone apparently saw Misery Melon throw the youma and asked questions of her. In response, she mostly just... ducks down further behind the lip of the opposite roof that she'd been sitting on. If she can't see them clearly she doesn't exist! ... Wait does she have to make sure the're gone since they saw her throw the Youma? Think. Think. Think. Pause. She pulls out her phone quickly to send off a text. <<TXT to Takashi Agera: If someone sees you throw out a youma you have to kill them right, boss?>> And also the person who helped Sayaka Miki BREAK HER CONTRACT like a bad evil bad person is there too, but that's fine the Youma would take care of her. Speaking of being taken care of, Puella Amy charges the youma and swings her launcher towards it, sending it flying back out the window the crash onto the street with a screech of metal and hot molten chocolate and whipped cream spewing into the air like the most awful fountain. Which then gets a pelting of explosive chunks of ice falling down onto it and cooling the heat of the Youma off somewhat! However after the one-two punch of attacks, the Youma proves its durability as its legs stamp down onto the ground and then it lifts up to its full height, before snapping straight back up into place unnaturally with a ~ping~. 

:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' Meanwhile Melona is still texting furiously on top of the rooftop. Okay, don't kill people. Beat them up, steal their energy. She lifts her phone over that lip of the rooftop, the flash and shutter-click of the phone going off pointed towards Star Shine. A soft sigh and Misery Melon grabs the charm form of Drei Spitzen, the three-headed mace taking on its normal full sized form with a THUD overhead. Aaaaand Bishounen Senshi Tuxedo Kamen calls out at her. Aaaaaa even the slightest bit of surprise is ruined now!!!! She leaps from the rooftop, intent on intercepting Star Shine with the three-headed flail, the three heads briefly merging together into a single giant head with a CRASH! Luckily not a direct attack but if she doesn't redirect she might run headlong into solid steel. "Why would this be a homage to you, weird healing ... welcoming earth... man?! I stole this from Hematite." Hmph. Aaaand Sailor Moon was there. Great, multiple people she /didn't/ want to see here. ...Mostly because she knows they're strong. "...Yes? Recycling." HJYOOOOOOOONK. "See? It likes being something more useful." 

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:''' So long gay bowser? What in the world did that mean? Hinoiri wished her english was a little better, because now she was going to have to ask Double Trouble about it later and.... you know what? Maybe she'd just look it up online. She took another lick of her ice cream cone. Then she glanced towards Tuxedo mask... then up. Misery Melon? "Huh. I don't think we ever met. Sounds kind of like a sad sack. Then she blinked and took another look at the ice cream cart and... "Okay, what is a 'dipping dots'? Is it like dip for your ice cream?" she called out. "And what does it have to do with a 'gay bowser'?" "Ack, no, bad!" And her ice cream was melting from the presence of the heated youma. She... she was going to take the opportunity to get up and just... slowly walk away. Trying to save what she could of her ice cream as she went. "Good luck M&M! Try not to get beat up too hard! Or... do. I guess." She gave a shrug before mumbling much softer to herself. "She never tried to kill me, at least. So... probably not one of the terrible ones." Nooooo, drippy cone, ugh, now her hand was all sticky... why... why you do this, youma? ... Wait, it was shooting out boiling hot magical chocolate and you know what? She was going to run now. Screw the half melted ice cream, she'd get a new one and this one could just go into the trash. 

:'''{{#var:27|Sailor Venus (27)}} has posed:''' "MY FUR!" Artemis leaps out of the way to cover before he ends up with chocolate all over himself! Whipped cream he could maybe deal with but chocolate was far too sticky to get out easily. The cat bolts for cover without regard for his ward who he completely abandons! Pay no mind to the talking cat it probably was your imagination. Minako for her part leaps the other way to dodge a similar fate. "This is not what I meeeaant!" Tuck, roll, and tumble right into an alley across the street in a whirl of skirt and hair. At least she was safe. Right? Moments later Sailor Venus leaps out with her Venus Chain held between both hands. "Evil Doer! How dare you ruin a perfectly good day with this Fakey Fake Icecream dot thing! Icecream is meant for enjoying slowly with a cute boy offering to wipe up any drips, not for freezing your tongue on little peices of flavorless ice balls!" Oh, hey, there was Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask and some others too! This meant she didn't have to give a speech. Excellent! "Venus Love Chain!" Whirling the chain around her arm snaps it back, and then lashes it out toward the Dippin Dots Machine Youma trying to capture it before it gushes out any other toppings. 

:'''{{#var:262|Star Shine (262)}} has posed:''' Just as the picture from the phone is taken, Star Shine takes off toward the youma. With her glowstick batons brandished. Just after Amy strikes, She comes in hard and fast. She skids on the ground, taking the batons to the back of what pass for the back of its knees. "Hiya Red!" Star Shine smiles to Amy and gives a wave before scrambling to her feet. She turns to look up at Misery Melon. "Getting Good Pictures? I thought you types were trying to get dark energy! I don't got any of that!" She calls out before turning her attention back to the Dippin Dots Youma. "Anyone got any advice for taking this thing down fast? I can't exactly sing at this one, unless purifying magic would help?" She asks curiously. She begins circling around the place, trying to look for an opening to try to get another attack in on the youma. "Shame, I thought Dippin' Dots was good!" 

:'''{{#var:38|Tuxedo Kamen (38)}} has posed:''' And there we go, he's *completely stymied*. Mamoru stands there with his mouth open for a second, and finally just very clearly and plainly and obviously values pride over safety. "I *am* Hematite!" he blurts, offended. "It was PERFECTLY useful before everyone ''broke'' it--" Tuxedo Kamen, you have more important things to do. "Ehh. Purification would help," he calls over to Seiko, "it's just a youma." A pause. He experimentally throws a rose at one of the cart wheels, trying to nix its mobility. "I'm kind of curious how long it would last with us just waling on it, though." 

:'''{{#var:96|Jadeite (96)}} has posed:''' "We know it's a real date now," Jadeite teases Sailor Moon and tuxedo Mask, gesturing at the Dippin Dots cart interupting their date. "It seems as though this Hematite is as much of a third wheel as I am, isn't he?" See. It's funny because Mamoru is Hematite. A building's leap behind Tuxed Mask, Jadeite balances on the edge of the roof and watches as the hideous cart barfs up boiling chocolate, grimacing. Granted, it's not as immediate a threat as some other attacks, but slipping on and into molten candy would be a pretty painful and embarassing way to go. So! "Glory of the snow!!" he casts, and two huge ice flower blossoms slam vertically into the ground, channeling the majority of the boiling chocolate away from the fight and into a gutter; the ice sparkling off the two flowers would cool the rest of the chocolate enough to be safe to walk on. The only issue here would be for the sewers once the chocolate solidified. "Do we want to just beat it up for fun? It's been a while," Jadeite offers. 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Blossom (33)}} has posed:'''     Kamiko directs the rest of the Chara through the portal, spots Amy's bowl, then looks up at Amy's and nods before peeking into the portal to call out, "Let's get Amy's, too!" Before Brai and Lydian pop back out to push the rocket girl's ice cream through. Fortunately for Amy, the minidokas are pretty well behaved when they aren't seething with dark energy.     As for what form Madoka makes when she merges with Rens, well, it's pretty much just the same Hope Blossom as it almost always is. Her hair is tied into a bun by a big red ribbon, and a small pair of glasses rests on her nose. "Eheh... I actually don't have that much henshin variety despite having so many Chara. Something to do with alternate timelines always ending up giving me very similar transformations." Has she explained that before? She forgets, but here it is again.     With the windows and door all busted up, and with Madoka not really wanting to deal more property damage to the shop itself, Hope Blossom leaps through the already broken window, keeping her arms and legs close to her body so that she doesn't get sliced by glass. When she lands outside, she takes another hop away in order to avoid taking splash damage from the chocolate death fountain.     "You're doing this, but why?!" she says, finally noticing Misery Melon nearby. With a determined frown, she turns her attention to the youma and fires a spread of pink magic arrows at the steampunk monster. "I wont let you besmirch the name of ice cream! I, Hope Blossom, will defend the honor of all things cool and sweet!"     To Tuxedo Kamen, she asides, "Eheh... I actually remember that! Or actually, I remember not remembering." 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' "How is this useful?" Sailor Moon asks Misery Melon, before hearing a familiar voice call out a very familiar attack, and smiling hugely. The conversation is abandoned. The youma? Honestly, also abandoned. "VEEEEEENNNNNNNNUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSS!" The Soldier of the Moon, the Pretty Guardian who fights for Love and Justice, the Princess of the Silver Millennium - goes running across the battlefield to tackle Sailor Venus in an enormous hug, squeezing her like an octopus with new prey. "Venus-chan, you're here, you're back, oh my gosh you're back, it's been forever, you missed practically the whole terrrrrrrrm!!!!" Sorry Misery Melon, there is a reunion happening here. Questions are being asked - Sailor Moon has an answer for Star Shine. "It's a youma, so purification probably works, but you should hit it instead!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, it's-- in the final boss of Mario 64, Mario says [so long-ee Bowser!]' when throwing him, but some have misheard..." Amy explains.     She does smile at the Senshi of Earth starting to imitate Sailor Moon's catchphrase! Then Sailor Moon brings something else to Amy's attention: "''The'' Dippin' Dots cart? Did I miss something--EYAH!"     Amy reflexively leaps over the attack, only then does she realize from scent and heat that it's molten chocolate, landing on the counter. "Ya don't gotta ''boil'' me!"     Hinoiri has questions, and someone is calling them 'flavorless ice balls. Amy starts to retort/explain, "Hey, ''I'' thought they were good the one time I tried them! They're an ice cream treat that... ugh I'll explain later."     She doesn't just stand there talking, taking the opportunity to fire a high-caliber gyrojet rifle repeatedly, aiming rocket-propelled slugs at the base of that arm. "Who the heck is Misery Melon?!"     Amy hops back down from the counter and immediately slips on the sweet mess, sliding on her butt to the front of the store, "Dammit! Y'know my third youma ever pulled the same thing with whipped cream? I was starting to think youma were all--" but as Red slides forward, from the floor she can see...     "YOU?! But you're a Puella Magi, why are you helping-- why are you using youma?!" 

:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' In the youma's defense of Hinoiri's chocolate it's just really hot! And not in the attractive way! Misery Melon doesn't seem to pay much attention to comments of being a sad sack or anything like that. There were other things to focus on, but she's going to Remember That! Probably! The Venus Love Chain wraps the youma, holding it still for a moment... turned towards Sailor Venus. And its mouth opens wider, a gurgling noise coming from within it, and one of its arms reaches in, a spade-shaped hand pulling out what ... looks like a relatively normal scoop of purple ice cream! ...Which it then chucks at Sailor Venus! ...In spite of having the right shape and consistency... if it struck? She would find that this is a /different/ kind of horrifying fakey fake ice cream. Because it, like the whipped cream and hot chocolate, was a scoop of /boiling/ hot ice cream. That ... was... not melty. Somehow. Star Shine had apparently just zipped under where Misery Melon had been aiming. Ugh, that was the problem with giant weapons, they make it hard to track down the quick and dextrous ones, her batons smacking the back of the uneven knees of the youma, forcing it to fall down and land on its shorter leg -- which then almost immediately takes a rose to the wheel that it was attached to, causing it to fully fall down to its side. It doesn't immediately stand up, instead just reaching in with those spade-arms to chuck more of that boiling-hot ice cream towards the various mahou gathered! ...A chunk of plain vanilla 'ice' cream chucked at Tuxedo Kamen, as if to add insult to potential injury! "Well yes but it's useful /again/ instead of a busted broken mess." Pause. "Wait. You're Hematite. Oh. Okay." ... Yeah she's surprisingly calm about the casual unveiling of who Tuxedo Kamen used to be. GLORY OF THE SNOW! Two huge ice flower blossoms slam into the ground, reducing the worst of the boiling chocolate which was... now... doing horrible things to the sewers! ... Luckily once the youma was defeated it probably would disappear and just become energy or something, right?! ... Or the workers are going to have a bad time later. It's fine. Probably. You're doing this, but why?! "...Quotas? I guess? I don't know I was told I had to." Misery Melon shrugs helplessly. Arguably worse than any other reason... because she didn't seem to think much of the fact she was attempting to harm people, she does, however, swing her Drei Spitzen to intercept the spread of pink magical arrows with the spiked flail-head. It's out of the way again as those rocket-propelled slugs strike the defreshing youma, sending it skidding off and back on its back again with a CRASH. Dark energy rolls off of Misery Melon at the questioning from Amy Faust. "Ja. I'm a Puella Magi." She pauses. "And you're all bullies. Constantly ganging up on people... calling Kyubey evil when it is trying to save the universe... beating up people just trying to save you from yourselves..." There is a slightly unstable edge to her voice. "I HATE bullies... they're bad people... YOU'RE bad people!" In spite of having JUST gotten a grief seed the other day, her Soul Gem, of note, is already half-darkened. ...But considering the dark energy rolling off of her, this likely is unsurprising. Misery Melon darts towards her youma, reaching to grab a chunk of convenient parked car... which she shoves INTO the youma with a glow of twisted Puella energy, patching up some holes that had started to form in the Youma from the attacks and patching the leg that had been heavily damaged. And then as it stands again, she crawls onto its shoulder. "Go, Diptomaton! Defeat these bullies!" 

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:''' As Hinoiri made her escape, there was only one thing left to do... Henshin into Equivalence. And from there, well... ... Soon, the gray mahou was standing on top of a building and looking out over the battlefield. Dipping dots, which were... apparently a type of flavorless ice balls. Or actually good? And apparently... this thing was called gay bowser or something. She didn't even know. Was she even necessary here? Why did this girl think they were bullies? Sure, the mahou weren't exactly... okay, they NEVER fought fair. But that didn't make them bullies. It just meant they were dirty fighters who you wouldn't honor duel with. That was different. However... She leaped off the building to make her entrance by... Trying to come down on Misery Melon directly, attempting to kick her OFF the youma. "Girl, if you're a puella magi using a youma, stick to dark energy *or* puella magic. Don't mix and match, pick a lane." HA! Pick a lane. A totally earth-style choice of dialogue. She sounded just like a proper earthian now. 

:'''{{#var:27|Sailor Venus (27)}} has posed:''' Sailor Venus yanks back on the Venus Chain intending to try and overpower the Youma to topple it. That was the intent! Really she was doing her best here! The cry of her name however snags her attention away as she's left holding the chain while hte youma whirls in her direction. "Sailor Moon!" The cry of returned greeting was friendly, warm, happy--And cut short as she finds herself bowled into by the hugging mahou. With the ground already a bit damp from chocolate sauce her heels slip sending her down, fast, with a yelp. The chain is released in favor of wrapping her arms around Sailor Moon to swivel and protect her from the fall instinctively. Protect the Princess! Too late does she see the youma lob a ball of something dairy related at her. It turns from flip-to-being-on-bottom to flip-to-being-ontop abruptly! All a tangle of blonde hair, ribbons and legs. 

:'''{{#var:38|Tuxedo Kamen (38)}} has posed:''' 'Wait. You're Hematite. Oh. Okay.' "Yeah, so, like... yeah," Tuxedo Kamen agrees lamely but with conviction as he whips out his cane and jumps over a puddle of chocolate and slides across some that's frozen; he lands in time to stop the attack on Venus and Moon, but not in time to get them away from it and let it hit the side of the building or something. Nope. All he has time for is turning on his heel and lifting his cape up between the ball of boiling hot purple ... kinetic sand? Oobleck? Smooze? What do you call ice cream that's boilingly ice cream shaped? Either way Mamoru and his cape stand between Moon and Venus... and DISASTER! His hair is much shorter. He can-- "Fffffffff," Mamoru hisses while biting his lip as the extremely hot fake foodstuff hits, splashing away from his magic cape and spattering his hair and the back of his neck. "We should," he starts, and then he gets his with really cold ice cream in the back of the head and he full-body flinches. "WE SHOULD HIT IT MORE!" Tuxedo Kamen finally shouts, and flings back his (sticky) cape and yells (with ice cream in his hair and aggravation in his voice, "Tuxedo--" Then he pulls his fist (and a fistful of cape) in and calls out, chocolate dripping into his collar, "--la Smoking--" And then he flings his hand out and it glows gold, then white, and then a punchy laser of beamspam jolts forward from that hand as he finishes, "--Bomber!" 

:'''{{#var:262|Star Shine (262)}} has posed:''' "Okay, Thank you Sailor Moon! Tuxedo Kamen! How about both!!" She begins singing as she fights! She smiles to Melon before turning her attention to the youma. She comes in hard, doing a 3 swing combo on the thing. "Boost your spirit off the ground, I'm the spark that won't go out. We can go much higher now, Gravity can't hold us down. We're only at the beginning of this one way dream. IGNITE. Dreams. To Life!" She sings out, encouraging and letting her own purification magic flood the area. She darts backwards, getting out of the attack zone, not wanting to take an ill timed strike, "They said we'd break. They said we'd lose. But here we are, what else is new? Stronger with Every Fall. Faster with every mile." She keeps singing, letting that purifying magic build. Once she has an opening, she comes running in and belts out, "This is how we ignite!!!" She sings loudly and uses her glow stick Batons to drum rather hard on the youma. She smiles. Could she really be having fun right now? Well yeah She is totally having fun. She looks up at Misery Melon, "I think you are confused about bullying. We're trying to protect people here. Unlike you who is attacking people willy nilly." 

:'''{{#var:96|Jadeite (96)}} has posed:''' Hit it more, Mamoru says, and Jadeite will - but first he's got to deal with the huge blob of ice cream headed their way!! Especially since Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus are trying to have a proper reunion! "Glory of the Snow!" he casts again, throwing one icy flower shield in Amy's direct - since Melon seems furious with her, it'll probably behoove her to have xtra protection! The other shield he throws in front of him as he jumps to take a hit for Tuxedo Mask - Unfortunately. THe problem with chocolate is.Even when you cool it off, it's slippery. And so instead of shielding Tuxedo Mask and the Senshi from the killer ice cream, his foot slips and he flops on top of Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus, the dome of his ice shield landing on top of him to....protect.....themmmmm?? 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' There is a conversation happening. One about bullying and Kyubey and defeating people who are just trying to help, and Sailor Moon is trying to have an all important reunion with a good friend who has been gone for months and months and probably flirting with people and having the time of her life and forgetting all about her forlorn princess, so lonely, so sad (maybe she has been talking to Anko too much) - She and Sailor Venus slip and slide in chocolate, and the Love Me Chain is released in favor of being swiveled around (whoops) and they go crashing in a tangle of limbs that sees Venus taking the brunt of the fall - And then there's ice cream coming, and it looks normal, right - "Tuxedo Kamen!!" Because she can see the pain on his face, and she's squished most on top of Venus but also under her and she's squirming to help as he strikes out with his beam, and then there's the Spiral Heart Moon Rod in her hand, and she swivels her arm because it's the only part of her that can get any spin on right now - "Moon Spiral Heart - WARGH! YOU'RE SQUISHING ME! - Attack!" Dozens of various-sized hearts start filling the space between Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Kamen's legs, all of them a bright translucent pink, ranging in size from that of a fingernail to that cantelope, whirling around Sailor Moon's arm and Rod, coalescing into a pink heart taller than Tuxedo Kamen and as wide around as outspread arms... but it's kinda funky looking. Squished and lopsided, and it spins and ''spins'' but as it shoots off towards Diptomaton it sways like a drunken sailor. That pink heart is going to hit like a brick wall. At speed. Sailor Moon, feeling very crushed under Sailor Venus, Jadeite, and an ice-shield, wheezes. "If anyone - is being bullied - it's me -" 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Blossom (33)}} has posed:'''     Hope Blossom's mouth goes agape as she witnesses the unmelting-even-at-high-temp ice cream. "That's horrible! What kind of preservatives are they putting in ice cream like that?"     She's heard tales of unmelting ice cream before, particularly ice cream sandwiches, but to see it in person...!     She whines, "How come whenever someone talks about quotas it's always something bad?!" Then she gets accused of being a bully and then she just gives Misery a dead stare and a flat frown. "Yeah no. I'm not going to accept that kind of criticism from people who prey upon the unaware or helpless. Sorry if you got bullied or something but taking it out on random people isn't right!"     Hope does notice the Soul Gem getting darker, a bit concerned for Misery Melon's safety here. She's also, quietly, glad that none of her Puella Magi friends are using dark energy. Well, actually... Did Mami ever use that? Maybe it's better off if she doesn't know.     So Misery is defending the youma from her attacks. That... complicates things. Hope purses her lips and draws back another arrow. She takes a step back and slips on a puddle of molten chocolate, slipping immediately and falling on her tush. "Ow! Ta-ta-ta-ta, ouch." She unsteadily gets up, tries to wipe the chocolate smear off of her frilly dress, sighs as she realizes it's impossible, and then turns her attention back to the ice cream monster.     "I'm sure you put a lot of work into this, but it's ruining our Ice Cream Day." She takes a hop, step and jump back to get away from the chocolatey mess, and unleashes a homing arrow each time her feet touch the ground. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Incoming boiling ice cream! Amy twists from where she's sitting to dodge, which doesn't work very well as she just slips around, thank goodness for Jadeite's shield, and is just rapidly getting chocolate all over more of her. Fortunately, it's been in contact with the cold floor and, thanks to the broken window, the freezing winter air, so it's not scalding her.     ''Bullies?!'' Calling Kyubey evil? "First of all," Amy responds, trying to stand up in the slipperiness and eventually grabbing a chair to pull herself up, "Kyubey improved my life immensely and even ''I'' think his story is fishy. I've ''been'' to the past; the universe was getting along just fine before the Incubators' interference. Anyway, he doesn't care, he doesn't have emotions, those bodies are like drones or puppets to him, he ''can't be bullied.''"     Amy points at Misery Melon. "And ''second'' of all..." She spreads her arms to her side to indicate the assembled mahou. "''We're'' bullies? Lady, because other people can't remember magic we could gaslight people endlessly; steal their stuff and leave them mystified, they're ''powerless'' against us. We're the ones who ''aren't doing that.'' We're trying to stop ''you'' from doing it; ''you're'' the one who caused property damage and a mess that everyone here today, and the store employees, won't be able to remember or do anything about, and you ''just'' broke that person's car!"     Amy points at the car. "For all ''you'' know, their livelihood depends on that car and even if they have insurance, it might not cover this and they might be choosing between car and food and rent this month and never be able to recover, ending up destitute!"     Beat.     "...They could also be a rich asshole, but you didn't ''check'', because ''you'' don't care, because ''you'' are the bully here who thinks you can do whatever you want to people without magic. Try that repair trick again and I ''will'' shoot you because I know you can regenerate."     Amy conjures the usual recoilless rifle on her shoulder and fires a high explosive round at the ice cream truck.     "Magic has given you a wonderful opportunity, and the people here at Radiant Heart are the nicest in the world." Amy can't stop speeching. "I'm sure you have ''some'' reason, but ''we're'' not the bullies here, and you don't ''have'' to be. ''He'' left Obsidian. Why can't you?" 

:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' 'Defeat these bullies!' and then very shortly afterwards a not so short person comes leaping off of a building nearby and Rider Kicks her right off of the shoulder she /just/ climbed onto. Misery Melon is sent back to the ground, where she impacts ... rather heavily considering she was still holding her giant flail, the ground cracking where the three impacts of the flail struck. She stands, turning towards Equivalence, as that dark energy gathered into her Drei Spitzen, as if responding by picking, and swinging that dark-energy-filled flail towards Equivalence in response -- and if it strikes. "Spitzen Burst." It would then proceed to EXPLODE with dark energy, potentially engulfing the both of them in that dark energy, while the youma runs off to make some distance between them and chasing towards the three that were downed on the ground. Which is intercepted by TUXEDO... SMOKING... BOMBER! As a punchy laser beamspam is launched towards it, causing it to briefly lose its uneven footing and skid along the chocolate, as a song is brought out and begins to ignite! Purification magic begins to flood the area, and the youma gives off a metallic screech as smoke bellows from its form. HJOOOOOOOOOOONK! Some of the dark magic that was making it work reduced, one of its arms locks and freezes up in place! However the other? The other one reaches into its mouth again. And pulls out some molten caramel. Which it starts to chuck towards people's heads. The singing hurt. So stop the singing. Gum them up with caramel muck! ...Even as it's being used as part of the musical instrumentation! "Ja, of course bullies claim they're not, that they're just trying to protect people! I have been watching though! It is always the same! One person trying to do their thing and then /suddenly/ five of you show up and gang up on them!" The dark magic is definitely not helping with Misery Melon's logical skills. Luckily she's focused more on Equivalence who had just drop-kicked her over the pile of Senshi over there because frankly trying to figure out /that/ mess was going to be easier said than done. That said, with that burst of purifying magic coming from Seiko -- though her own explosion of darkness had mostly protected her from the initial wave, it didn't feel great either way -- and the Moon Spiral Heart Attack, Misery Melon was quickly leaping AWAY from the immediate area and back up to the roof, where she grabs a section of the roof, scooping it out like so much clay and beginning to mold it in her hands. 

:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' Hop, step, jumpu~! Arrow arrow arrow! "Prey... what do they matter... they just try to take advantage of me... try to stop me from doing what I have to... they're in the way of me finding my happy life... the happy life stolen from me..." And each arrow strikes the Youma true as a homing arrow would, disrupting its aim with the caramel briefly, which slams into a car nearby, sticking over it. And Amy begins to talk. Begins to argue against her. Begins to tell her how SHE is the bully. That she just broke that person's car. "..." A recoilless Rifle is launched towards the Ice Cream truck youma, stopping its flinging of caramel, shooting a hole through it. "...How can you even understand." She mutters quietly under her breath, her voice probably not even properly carrying as tears start to well up in her eyes. The Youma falls, breaking apart into the parts that it had been made from. "Magic didn't give me a wonderful opportunity." She continues that quiet muttering. "Magic let me survive." She continues her muttering, as that dark energy grows deeper, that soul gem grows darker, as her voice grows louder, more unstable. "OF COUSE I'M A BULLY! I DECIDED A LONG TIME AGO AFTER THE LAST TIME I WAS SHOVED INTO A LOCKER THAT *I* WOULD BE THE BULLY! THAT I WOULD BE THE BULLY THAT BULLIES BULLIES!" She forms the piece of rooftop into a massive fixed ballista on the side of that building, aiming it towards Amy Faust. "Bullies that don't know the horrible things that they're doing." "Like you." And she pulls the trigger, unleashing a massive ballista bolt towards Amy, infused with darkness. The darkness of Misery Melon's inner misery, the darkness that wants to drag down those with it. Because, even if she would never admit it. Misery loves company. 

:'''{{#var:27|Sailor Venus (27)}} has posed:''' with the impact of the ground and the weight of her princess on top of her, Sailor Venus wheezes out all the air in her lungs in a single breath. It leaves her head spinning as she tries to quickly recover. The sudden added weight of Jadeite has her vision dancing with stars. Stars that soon drift into little spotty orbs of light as her vision refocuses on the face of the latest addition to the blonde pile. Of the HANDSOME face of the strapping Jadeite that had just attempted to save them. Immediately red-faced Sailor Venus grins and releases her hold on Sailor Moon so at least she can maybe untangle herself from the mess. Instead she reached out to drape an arm around Jadite's shoulder. "Oh my~ Thank you so much for saving me! Heehee my heroooo is so handsome where have you been all my life?" Yeah she might have hit her head a little. 

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:''' Equivalence stared with wide eyed horror as the puella did... something she REALLY shouldn't have. She was using dark energy as a puella magi, mixing it in with her weapon. Sure, a youma made sense... but putting dark energy INTO her weapon like that, mixing it with her puella magic? That was incredibly dangerous. She'd done enough research on it to know how reckless it was. Also, deadly. As the attack exploded, she was sent hurtling back, hitting the wall of a builduing and then rebounding off it, into a car, then down to the ground. "O-owww..." she muttered, giving a light groan. She reached up and hauled herself up, using the car to stand up again. "W-what... what do you think you're DOING, kid?! Hasn't anyone told you... d-don't mix dark energy with puella magi magic? That's... so dangerous and--" And her grip slipped. With a shriek, she dropped to the ground again. Ugh. She missed being Sunbreaker. She was SO MUCH stronger! Now? Now she just ached... But it beat being dead, at least. She'd be back in a minute. At least here were half a dozen of them to pull her weight until she got back. 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' As Sailor Venus starts flirting with Jadeite, Sailor Moon does the only reasonable thing for a princess to do - ''abandons him to his fate''. That's right, she squirms out from under the pair of them, army crawling right between Tuxedo Kamen's legs, and bounces up covered in chocolate, caramel, and still warm ice cream as she brandishes her Spiral Heart Moon Rod at Misery Melon. "''You're'' not a bully who bullies bullies! You're another Obsidian ''jerk'' who thinks your problems are worth of hurting innocent people for! You think the people who own this ice cream parlor are bullies? What about all the customers who just wanted some ice cream? What about like, everyone ''else's'' business, and how they have to close up until they can get this placed cleaned?! That Dark Energy is cooking your brain if you think ''you're'' the one doing a nice thing here." She puts one hand on her hip and just ''glares'' at the sad Misery Melon - and when she sees the Dark Energy attack fly at Amy? She swings the weapon in swift circle, tearing apart the air to make a golden ring - one that aims towards Amy ''and'' Misery Melon. "Moon Healing Escalation!" And beams of purifying silver light and clouds of mist pour out over the area - even if Amy gets hit, even if Tuxedo Kamen gets hit, even if someone ''else'' gets hit - they'll be purified, before the Dark Energy can seep in too deep. 

:'''{{#var:96|Jadeite (96)}} has posed:''' Jadeite COULD get up and get back to guarding - if Sailor Moon did not immediately use him as a ladder to pry herself out of the blonde pile, leaving him trapped under his own shield with Sailor Venus. Who is obviously concussed given that she immediately starts hitting on him. Between that and the dark magic and dark ballistas being thrown around, Jadeite is not going to give Mamoru a THIRD reason to be upset Jadeite got a head injury and will instead weather out the storm under his shield. "Ah. I'm Jadeite," he replies, pasting a polite smile on his face. "I might have tried to kill you last year? I got better!" 

:'''{{#var:262|Star Shine (262)}} has posed:''' "Boost your spirit off the ground. I'm a spark that won't gooo OOWWWWWWWWW!! HOT CARAMEL!" The Singing Magical girl lets out a screech as she is hit with the caramel. She scrambles to her feet albeit slowly. "You interrupted my song! RUDE!" She rushes as fast as she can toward youma. She starts using her batons on it. "I am so going to need a bath after this. How do you even clean your Magical outfit?! Bloody Caramel?!" She shakes her head, her attacks being a bit more violent since she got all sticky. "You bully! You made me all sticky! I don't like being sticky!" She just keeps swinging away with her batons. This isn't helping. Sure she is getting some hits in and good hits at that. But her song was doing more damage... WAIT. She she doesn't need a song just yet. She just needs a note or two!" It won't purify but sonic damage is definitely a thing. "LAaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!" She sings out sending out a sonic blast at the youma. "This needs to stop. You are hurting yourself and these innocent people here. We gotta finish this soon." She calls out just in time to realize she's on the same page as Sailor Moon. That is really kinda scary to think about, if she knew who Sailor Moon was. The Caramel covered girl sings out again. This time, she is much more focused on the job. "Boost your spirit off the ground. I'm a spark that won't go out. We can go much higher now. Gravity can't hold us down. We're only at the beginning of this one way dream... Pure Heart." She whispers those last two words, releasing the built up purifying Energy within her. 

:'''{{#var:38|Tuxedo Kamen (38)}} has posed:''' Mamoru feels like ''cheering'' at Amy's speech, it's so good! And then a Usagi pops up in front of him like a bunny from a hat, but she's covered in chocolate and caramel and no it would not be okay to just. taste. that... His eyes widen behind his mask (that has chocolate on it) when he sees Misery Melon really going all out on the crazy villain rant and then hauling back and-- Moon is Escalating, and he's only now processing the giant drunken sailor heart from a minute ago ''now'', and the burn from the boiling ice cream's already healed, and he's already moving. He is running, he is ''so'' fast he's a black and white and red streak and a barely-there impact with Amy, and he gets her out of the way of the ballista even as Sailor Moon is purifying them all-- 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Blossom (33)}} has posed:'''     Hope Blossom, from this distance, is a bit more able to see the sheer chaos that's happening. There's chocolate everywhere, people yelling at each other, and... a senshi pile in the middle of the fight?! "H-hey! Far be it from me to tell a princess what to do, but is this ''really'' the time to make cuddle puddle?!"     Clearly she missed what actually happened, even though something similar also happened to her.     She also takes a look at Equivalence and winces. Ouch. That looks painful. In fact, literally everything here looks like a mess. There's chocolate and caramel everywhere, making everything slippery. There's ice cream that doesn't melt, and the Rens in Madoka's head keeps theorizing about its chemical composition and honestly Hope Blossom would rather she ''not''. She's also pretty sure her cute henshin glasses just broke the last time she fell over, which she isn't used to having to deal with, and it kinda looks like a couple of Kamiko's benotafraid Familiars have escaped her Paradise and are now feasting on the fallen ground ice cream.     "H-hey! Don't eat that! It's not good for you!" She takes her branch broom and tries to shoo them away. "Go home! This isn't food grade! You'll get a tummy ache! Or a... bell ache? Wing ache? Eye ache?"     The tiny eldritch things make a noise that sounds both jingly and sad before vanishing through a portal.     Then she turns her attention to Misery Melon, who totally isn't her evil twin. Madoka pulls the Humpty Lock from beneath her collar and says, "Puella Magi shouldn't use dark energy... unless you want to turn into a Witch! Don't be so reckless with your own life!"     Then she makes a heart shape with her hands, calls out, "NEGATIVE HEART... LOCK ON!" and tries to catch Misery in the heart-shape beam. "OPEN HEART!" She shouts, unleashing a torrent of magical rainbow light purification on the Puella Magi. She's not sure if this will hurt more than it helps, but... that much darkness combined with a Soul Gem cannot ever be good.     Then as an aside to Star Shine, she says, "I mean... whenever I want to clean my henshin I just turn it off and on again. Usually works?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ducks a flung chunk of caramel, although a little bit splatters across her face and hair. "OW! Hot hot...!" she tries to wipe it off her face, which gets most of it but leaves a smear that's quickly chilled by the winter air. Her powers' focus on appearance can quickly and cheaply regenerate damaged skin, fortunately.     "If your definition of right and wrong is solely whether one or many fight for it, then you understand human values even less than Kyubey."     ''Magic didn't give me an opportunity. It let me survive.'' Amy knew that might be the case. She remains stern, expression softening only very slightly. "A second chance many don't get. Why use it like--"     But the Melon has more Misery to speak of. Amy winces as she speaks of being bullied, and her quest to bully the bullied. And that's a big ballista.     Amy starts scrambling to get to cover around the building, but the floor and pavement are still slick with chocolate...     Fortunately, she has friends to protect her! Amy finds herself in Tuxedo Mask's arms, eyes wide in surprise, and she can't help blushing. Being protected, and purifying energy... they both feel nice!     Amy gives Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon a look of relief and thanks as she stands again, before turning to face the miserable Melon once more. "You don't know what you're talking about." And then she's ''angry.'' "I have seen ''countless'' accusations that someone like me would only choose this life to take advantage of people!" Her soul gem flickers slightly. "Like I'm some kind of demon with no purpose but tricking others! I'm only safe because no one knows magic is ''real!''"     "And because I have friends." She smiles, briefly, at the others assembled here.     And then red eyes glare at the other Puella Magi. "I don't know what goes wrong in those people's minds, or what's gone wrong in yours. Whether you accuse us of doing what ''you'' would do, or if you simply can't understand why we'd protect people, or that stopping you ''is'' protecting people."     She has no purification attack. She doesn't ''want'' to just inflict pain (and magic expenditure) on the girl. Hopefully words and others' attacks will be enough.     "Your vengeance is misplaced." 

:'''{{#var:87|Misery Melon (87)}} has posed:''' Equivalence gets a response that is just... pure confusion from Misery Melon. "...I've always used this. Kyubey said it's fine to just do what I think is best. And this is just... how it's always been." After all, Misery Melon is a Puella born in darkness. ... Sort of. The source technically wasn't really, but well. ...It's Kyubey. If she witched basically immediately that was just a perk for him. Another Obsidian jerk. "..." The dark energy is cooking her brain. "...You can't understand. You... horribly bright person who's always had everything." She mutters. Moon healing escalation. Fudge. Beams of purifying silver light and clouds of mist pour out over the area as Star Shine uses her batons continually on the ... now-corpse of the Youma, and then resumes that purifying song! Both of which bathe the area in purifying magic. And Melona. Screams. A scream of pain and agony and TERROR that bleeds into /RAGE/. "No no no no... no no no no no no NO!!!! YOU WON'T TAKE THEM FROM ME!" She screeches as she builds up dark magic once more. Negative Heart. Lock On. Rainbow purification magic is shot out at Misery Melon, and strikes once more, even as she tries to duck behind cover, crouching down and holding her head as the purification washes over her, trying to purify her negative heart. No no no. If you feel better they'll be gone too You're not allowed to feel better. NO. NO NO NO NO NO! Even as Amy talks, it's lost on Misery Melon as she shakes her head, slamming it against the edge of the building briefly as she works harder on gathering that dark energy, dark energy that was starting to slip through her fingers. She screams one last time, this one more desperate than angry. "YOU WON'T TAKE ALL I HAVE LEFT!" And a familiar spell triggers. A duskport. Taking Misery Melon away. 

:'''{{#var:38|Tuxedo Kamen (38)}} has posed:''' "I'll have to ask Riventon about her," Tuxedo Mask says with a sigh, squelch-stepping back towards Sailor Moon and licking her cheek before continuing on to lift up the bell of Jadeite's shield. "Gross... you okay down there? Tamachan? Venus-san?" 

:'''{{#var:43|Usagi Tsukino (43)}} has posed:''' Misery Melon flees, leaving the remnants of her youma - mostly just the busted up remains of a Dippin' Dots cart now - and plenty of cooling ice cream, caramel, and chocolate behind. The mahou who fought today are a sight to behold, messy, sticky, and slathered in toppings, and Sailor Moon grimaces as she realizes some of the chocolate is in her ''hair''. She's drop henshin right here in front of the goddess 'doka and everything, if not for the fact that Equivalence is here too... And Equivalence, Sailor Moon knows from warnings, is unpredictable when she feels off-balance. "...I wish that would help for good," she sighs, "But there's no way someone as mad as her won't build her Dark Energy back up soon. I mean... she got the purification from all three of us, and she just wasn't ready to let go." Any other sensible words are lost in jibberish as Tuxedo Kamen walks up and ''licks the chocolate from her cheek''. Her face goes red, her jaw drops, her twintails form little hearts behind her, and metaphorical steam practically billows from the top of her head as her eyes turn to hearts. She drifts behind him like a kite, making heart hands. 

:'''{{#var:262|Star Shine (262)}} has posed:''' The singing Chara bearer drops to her knees for a moment or two. "I feel like the floor of an old family station wagon." She winces and shakes her head. "I dunno if I can stay transformed like this. I mean I'm a pop idol! I'm supposed to look good, not like an ice cream sundae." She shakes her head and stands back up. 

:'''{{#var:96|Jadeite (96)}} has posed:''' "I have avoided cranial damage," Jadeite reports. He unsticks himself from Venus with an unfortunate splorching sound, tugging her up with him. "Sorry about eating shit during the battle, the chocolate was NOT as solid as I thought it was. Can you check her for a concussion?" 

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:''' Equivalence just sighed as the girl left. Of course. Something some... ugh. Idiot. Someone had to do something about that. Grudgingly she crawled to her feet, climbing back up the car and shaking her head. She looked to the other girls, opened her mouth... paused. Looked between them, crossing her arms... and then finally shook her head. She turned and ran off. Nope. Nope. ... She still had a while to go. Besides, she wasn't sure she could face Usagi and Madoka right now. Sure, maybe Kamiko, Kamiko was cool. Jadeite too. Mamoru was okay. Amy was sweet. But well... She wanted to get more positives before she faced them. Of course, it wasn't long until she pulled out her phone, de-henshined and... Hinoiri texted Takashi: Hey. Your sad sack puella is mixing dark energy into her puella magic. You might want to warn her about how dangerous that is. Takashi texted Hinoiri: are you there with her? the sparkles should shove off Takashi texted Hinoiri: I don't come to their job and interrupt them. oh wait they don't have jobs Hinoiri texted Takashi: No, doing the crappy civilian thing of having to watch from afar. Just warn her before she gets herself killed. Unless you'd rather her get herself killed on your watch. Takashi texted Hinoiri: yeah I have before I think. or Mami should have Hinoiri texted Takashi: ... Just tell her before it turns out nobody did. If you tell her and she gets herself killed, that's her problem. Puella are delicate. Takashi texted Hinoiri: Already did. Takashi texted Hinoiri: well, am Hinoiri rolled her eyes. Bunch of idiots tampering with magic none of them understood. They were going to get themselves killd and she wasn't there to help pick up the pieces for them. Heck, she could barely pick up her own pieces... ugh. A puella using dark energy. How can she not understand how DANGEROUS that is?! 

:'''{{#var:33|Hope Blossom (33)}} has posed:'''     Hope Blossom frowns where Misery Melon just was. After the dark Puella is gone, Madoka crosses her arms and pouts. "It's not like we don't have our own problems... or traumas."     Turning towards Sailor Moon, she nods and says, "I mean... if she chose dark energy from the start, she can just choose it again."     Star Shine is looking a bit worse for wear, and Hope Blossom winces sympathetically. "Eheh... well, thanks for your help again today! I'm sure you had things you wanted to do other than fight evil ice cream. I'm sure the henshin will end up clean later, right? ... I think."     Then she looks down at the ice cream mess and notices that even more tiny hamster-sized benotafraids are trying to eat the fallen ice cream, chocolate and caramel. "Geeze..." she whines. "They're eating off the ground again... Hey! You don't know where that's been! ... Actually you do, and it's really bad!"     The portal to Paradise appears next to her, and Kamiko floats out. She puts a commiserating hand on her Bearer's shoulder and says, "Just let it go. I can't control them either." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     All she has left? What is the Puella Magi talking about...     But then she's gone, and all that's left is the sticky, messy aftermath. Shehe braces herself and focuses on keeping thoughts and feelings chilled as she looks over the others to make sure everyone is alright. She's generally resistant to the evident physical hotness of all Radiant Heart students, more focused on personalities and how they act towards her, but...     The shape of clothes de-emphasized and the shapes of women underneath emphasized has an effect on her, alright? Though not one that provokes action towards anyone else. Fortunately, Mamoru and the Benotafraids provide shenanigans to laugh at and keep her mind off such things!     "Kuiper Belt Cape tried feeding off familiars and a Witch once and just got sick. I doubt they have to worry about eating off the floor, they're already..." Amy gestures vaguely at the familiars as she approaches. "At least they're cleaning up the mess?"     Star Shine gets a sympathetic look, an awkward grimace. "I mean... yeah but... I guess it's extenuating circumstances? It's not like you're performing right now, we'll... Go home and wash off."     She furrows her brow and holds her hand to her chin as she starts thinking about the mechanics of cleaning henshin outfits and scientific questions about how they work... "We take damage and are fine the next fight all the time... maybe the outfits will clean themselves...?" 
}}

A Letter(Melona Mizu)

2024-12-28T22:58:56Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2024/12/20 |Location=Radiant Heart Academy Dorms |Synopsis=Melona writes a letter to her parents... |Cast of Characters=87 }} 'Dear Mutter and..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2024/12/20
|Location=Radiant Heart Academy Dorms
|Synopsis=Melona writes a letter to her parents...
|Cast of Characters=87
}}
'Dear Mutter and Vater

Merry Christmas! Tokyo is really nice around now. Very snowy and white. ...I know that you probably won't receive this. None of my other letters have made it to you. Or if they did, you didn't read them. It's okay. I know you were getting scared of me before I got the letter to move to the Radiant Heart Academy. I'm sorry for how things were back then.

...I wish I could say I'm better. It still hurts. I can't stop thinking about them every day. I can barely sleep without having nightmares of that accident that took them from me.

But it's okay. I have a place here in Japan! I'm helping a lot of really smart people, my tinkering with stuff and taking it apart and putting it together has been put to good use. I help them fix things when they're broken! One of them is helping to protect the world from dangerous stuff, mister Agera. I don't talk with him much, but he's kind of my boss!

The bullying is less bad in the Radiant Heart Academy too. Or at least it's not done to the face as much. I'm sure they still talk behind my back. But at least I'm not getting shoved into lockers or having my books stolen or anything!

...I'm not sure how much longer I'll be around, Mutter and Vaser. When I cleanse my soul, it's not working as much anymore. But it's okay, when I'm gone, it'll be used to help protect the universe!

Love,
Mila.'

Melona stares at the letter after she finished writing it up on the paper.

...They don't really care, so what's the point?

Still, she folds it up and shoves it into an envelope, adding it to the pile of other letters never sent.

And then goes back to quietly tinkering with Drei Spitzen.

2186/Jweater Jreams

2024-12-27T03:56:36Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2024/12/27 |Location=Kaoru's Donuts |Synopsis=Somehow, the Jimono is back as ugly christmas jeans sweaters, and Prinzessin Nichts has somehow been..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2024/12/27
|Location=Kaoru's Donuts
|Synopsis=Somehow, the Jimono is back as ugly christmas jeans sweaters, and Prinzessin Nichts has somehow been affected?! ... ... She's also weirdly chill. Huh.
|Cast of Characters=216,131,30,266,197,28,145,107
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' The day after christmas, many people are drowsy and relaxing as they recover from the christmas rush. Some of them were relaxing at home eating leftovers, others are visiting their favorite sweet shop, others are eating with their family. Among the places people were visiting was... a donut shop! Which unfortunately was not the cheerful place it should normally be, as there was a massive source of Dark Energy there! ... Prinzessin Nichts was actually not the one causing problems though, she was actually sitting at a chair nearby the donut stand, sipping on a smoothie, wearing a Jweater Jress that was awkwardly sitting over her armor and seemed like it might be nice and comfortable, made of denim-looking jegging-style cloth that was stretched in ways that make it even worse looking as the garish christmas themed patches on it were stretched in ways that distorted them awfully. Various passed out people in the room were wearing similarly ugly christmas sweater-looking denim jweaters of many styles and shapes. There was even a denim grinch mixed into the mess. "Ahahahahahahaha! Yes! Yes! Know the joy of the jweater!!!" Comes the sound of the mini floating Jweater Jress youma that had reformed from the scrap of the Jimono that had escaped previously. The arms reaching out towards one of its victims below to drain their energy, slowly growing as it does. 

:'''{{#var:131|Hinoiri Kirara (131)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri Kirara had managed to avoid all of the christmas shenanigans. Ice princess? Wasn't invited. Saving santa? Wasn't even aware it happened. Obsidian white elephant event? Wasn't a part of Obsidian anyway and everyone knew it was more a version of russian roulette where the loser ended up with whatever horror show gift Joker brought. But now? Now it was the day after Christmas and, you know what? She felt pretty good. She had snuggled her theyfriend, gotten a cute gift or so, and now? She was walking through the city in mittens, sipping some cocoa and-- "Bucking... son of a parasprite..." Hinoiri muttered when she glanced inside to see... "My gosh. It's *hideous*," she muttered, staring in awe at the fashion disaster that was... the Jweater Dress. Oh. Right. And the unconscious, energy drai-- You know what? No. The jweater was the larger crime here. FAR larger. Sure, attacking people and draining them was one thing. But this? This was a crime against ALL senses. Sight. Sound. Smell, somehow. DEFINITELY taste. And she didn't want to even imagine touching it. So she was just gonna... turn around and walk away like she didn't see nothin'. 

:'''{{#var:30|Onihime (30)}} has posed:'''     The Chikafuji Estate is a very, very traditional household in a lot of ways. One of those ways is 'Christmas? Meh.' Sure, Kureha and Chisa were able to use it as an excuse to make fried chicken, but other than that, her father's edicts have made it clear that this particular holiday is not ''nearly'' as important as the New Year, and they are not to waste undue time fussing about it.     But at the very least, the day after, the kimono-clad young scion of the Chikafuji and Senkenzan clains has been able to get the approval for a ''brief'' shopping trip for unrelated reasons. And, with a bit of luck and a lot of careful planning, she's managed to ensure that Chisa is her attendant of the day. Which explains why the duo are actually approaching a donut shop directly, instead of just walking right on by.     That approach lasts about until something nags at Kureha's instincts, her crimson eyes narrowing. Her footsteps slow, and a faint frown tugs at her lips. "My lady...?" Chisa asks, tensing up a bit. "...Chisa, you may wish to wait in the car. Senkenzan business." Understanding those words, the woman nods firmly, and turns to head off. Meanwhile, Kureha ducks down an alleyway.     Shortly thereafter, a horned young lady with fiery eyes goes marching right past Hinoiri, pushes the door open, and steps into the donut shop with entirely too much drama and gravitas.     "''You.'' I know you." She points a single, clawed finger. "This shall be your only warning. Cease, or I shall show you ''again'' what fire does to denim." 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Well Miho decided to go out, and get some sweets. The problem was that she detected some dark energy coming from a nearby shop to her sweets. The hell is going on? The woman heads over to the doughnut shop, only to find a...youma there?!     The young ice mahou looks around a moment before glaring. "Did you...force them to wear...jweaters?! You...MONSTER!", Miho yells out! Of all the things she could forgive, this was not one of them!     Snow gathers around Miho, before Yukihime appears. Her natinaga comes up, and points to the youma. "In the name of real jeans, you will be purified! Then remade into real jeans!", Yukihime hisses out. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' Christmas had been a romantic holiday indeed, with Wako, Takuto, and Sugata enjoying a KFC feast (with Jaguar and Tiger too) and watching a few movies, interrupted only by a few adrenaline pumping sparring matches. It had been a regular, relaxing day, good for recovering from all of that Witch nonsense. Going out for donuts had been more an after thought than anything else. Sugata is regretting that after thought, now. He snaps a picture of the Prinzessin in her jweater jress and texts it to Wako and Takuto, and then, on second thought, Rashmi as well. "You're right about that," he mutters to Hinoiri, upon hearing her denouncement of things, and considers if this is really a problem that ''he'' has to solve. Is it? Is it really? No, it's not. So he follows suit with Hinoiri and turns around, intending to speed walk away. 

:'''{{#var:28|Dragon Girl Lamya (28)}} has posed:''' "WHAT IS THIS?!?!?" cries a booming, angry voice from the back of the shop. "WHO DARES DRESS ME IN THESE HIDEOUS CLOTHES!?!? GAH! I CANNOT GET RID OF THEM!!" When one looks, one can see the dragon girl Lamya standing there, livid with rage, with torn scraps of jweaters between her claws. It's useless, though. She's dressed in a tight-fitting jweater jacket with metal studs in it, over which an actual jweater is being worn. And worst of all? Worst of all, there's a jwanta hat on her head! As soon as she throws it off, another appears in it's place. Onihime gets her attention, and she grins a sharp, toothy grin. "YES! Fire! We shall show this ''creature'' the cost of its actions!" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' It was neither dark energy nor the horrid Jweater that had attracted Veronica to this place. She merely wants to have a few donuts for herself - and while she is at it, bring a box or two to her roommate, though she would have to be fast for that. Donuts aren't as good after they aren't warm anymore, and she thinks that should go double for fried ones. Whatever, she doesn't intend to find out. The mahou quickly decides that will have to wait, her calling card releasing the shimmers of moonlight around her, as once more the Princess of Sarek dances in the night. Is it night? Maybe, maybe not. The illumination of the place aside, leaping above Kaoru's Donuts, the Phantom Thief can perfectly see the horrors that have been wreaked upon this place. "Would you have the foggiest idea of how long it takes to sew a good sweater? Allow me to educate you on the matter", she frowns, looking at the cheap replacements that dare stand where the real deals should be. "Well met, Onihime!", the Princess of Sarek tips her hat at the fellow magical girl with a smile. "Here to burn this thing to cinders, I presume?" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' My gosh, it's hideous! The 'face' of the Jweater Jress youma snaps towards Hinoiri Kirara at those words, as she turns to start walking away. "You lack Jhristmas Jpirit!" It cries out, as it unleashes a denim beam from one of its arms towards Hinoiri, attempting to shoot her with a blast of Krampus Jweater! Oversized and baggy in all the wrong places in ways that make an already unflattering sweater material somehow even worse, with ugly evil jweater patches of the devilish krampus wearing... jeggings?! And then... a familiar foe appears... the Onihime. The fearsome fiery foe who burned it in the past! "THE JIMONO WAS WEAK, THE JWEATER JRESS IS MUCH STRONGER!" Also about half the size right now but it's still unleashing more of those denim energy drain beams in response to the threats from Yukihime and Onihime! A flash of a picture being taken and Prinzessin Nichts' gaze lifts towards Sugata Shindo. <<NACH DEM GESETZ VON SANKT KAISAR WERDEN SIE BIS ZUM NEUEN JAHR FRIEDEN WISSEN. WEITERE AGGRESSIONSHANDEN WERDEN NICHT TOLERIERT.>> Comes the ping from the device. Also coming from that general direction is a Denim beam towards Sugata. If it weren't such a crime against fashion, it might be a cool jweater, as it was a baggy green denim jweater with mecha-janta patches ironed onto it. "I DARE BECAUSE IT IS THE PEAK OF FASHION! THE JWEATER JRESS WILL RULE ALL WINTERS!" Responds the Jweater Jress to Lamya, opening at the top of it twisting into what can only be seen as a smug grin as it flits around the donut shop. Do you have the foggiest idea of how long it takes to sew a good sweater? "THIS IS WHY JWEATERS ARE SUPERIOR, THEY CAN BE MADE FASTER, BETTER, SOFTER THAN A KNIT WOOL SWEATER!" Aaaand another beam towards the Princess of Sarek. It was definitely a bit of a one-trick jony 

:'''{{#var:131|Hinoiri Kirara (131)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri Kirara froze in place as suddenly... Okay. She was... wearing... okay. She was wearing... ... She was wearing... She reached up, grabbed her geode. She was not going to snap. Violence was not the answer. Leave. Henshin. Come back. Kick flank. Control your-- NOPE! "OH IT IS ON!" she yelled, running into the donut shot and just grabbed one of the chairs and swung it at the youma. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! YOU WALKING ATROCITY OF THE FIVE SENSES! I'D CUT YOU UP WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS EXCEPT I CAN'T IMAGINE A PAIR OF SCISSORS I HATE ENOUGH TO SUBJECT TO TOUCHING YOU!" UNICORN RAAAAAAGE! 

:'''{{#var:30|Onihime (30)}} has posed:'''     A familiar voice tugs Onihime's eyes sideways. "...Yukihime. Lady Sarek. A pleasure to stand alongside you both once more." She turns her attention back to the Jweater Jress, sliding her left foot back, folding her left arm behind herself, and lifting her clawed right hand as if to dare her opponent. "Be wary. It may change your very clothes."     Narrowing her eyes, the Youkai Musume adds in response to the youma, "I'm not certain I believe that. You look as if you're still gathering str-" Denim beams. ''Oh god''. It's extremely rare for Kureha to outright ''dodge'' an attack, so both Veronica and Miho can probably tell the Jweater Jress's Denim Beams are serious when the oni maiden leaps completely out of the way. She skids to one side, knocking over a table - only to reach out and grab the table, before wrapping it in a corona of shimmering flames. "Perhaps faster, but better? Softer? Nonsense. You offend the eyes just by existing."     If anyone present has never seen an oni-girl throw a burning donut shop dining table at a demim sweater dress? Well, now you have. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' << Rashmi TXT to Sugata -- I... okay so she's capable of being in public without it being a danger but what in the heck is she wearing?! >> Hell if he knows. Sugata stiffens as that transmission comes over, appearing on his phone, and he sends it to Rashmi as he speed walks away - << Sugata TXT to Rashmi -- Do you know what NACH DEM GESETZ VON SANKT KAISAR WERDEN SIE BIS ZUM NEUEN JAHR FRIEDEN WISSEN. WEITERE AGGRESSIONSHANDEN WERDEN NICHT TOLERIERT means, because I do not speak space and Samekh is older than this language. >> Any other texts are, unfortunately, cut off by the fact that Sugata gets blasted with a ''denim beam'' and his perfectly ordinary prep-but-not-high-energy top - long sleeve shirt over vest under jacket - are replaced with a jenim jweater. His eye twitches. He clenches his fist around his phone, inadvertently capturing a very awkward selfie (thankfully with his head cut off) of the jweater, in all it's denim and mecha-janta iron on patches glory that is promptly sent to the last people he was texting - Rashmi and the Trio Groupchat. "I was going to let you live," he tells the Jweater Jress coldly. (This is a lie, he was leaving it to it's horrible death at other people's hands.) "But now, you die." He raises a hand, sparkles engulfing his frame, his flowing military coat appearing, thigh-high boots and impressive cravat and epaulets - "Apprivoiser!" -and all of it is squished under the jweater. "What." 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime rolls out of the way! Nooo! She will not be jweatered! The ice mahou looks at Onihime. "Oni-chan, you...let this thing get away?", she asks in a cool calm voice. There is a little chill in her tone though. Fashion nightmares she just can not let go.     "Let us deal with this...mistake swiftly. It is burning my eyes with its existence!", Yukihime growls. The Yokai takes a moment to raise her left arm, and three beads detatch from the prayer beads. The beads float around Yukihime before Yukihime's energy gathers into the beads, forming 3 blue energy wolves. Yukihime's right arm brings the naginata up, and as Yukihime moves the weapon, the wolves follow its movement.     "It has been awhile since we have spoke, Onihime. I have gotten a little better with my control.", Yukihime tells. She breathes out, letting that blue fog come out her mouth. The yokai slowly starts to do a miko style dance. She's moving with a bit of grace, and seems much more comfortable with her movements now. 

:'''{{#var:28|Dragon Girl Lamya (28)}} has posed:''' Lamya clutches her fist at the youma. "You have gone ''one step too far!''" she bellows fire in her eyes. "To waste such precious energy for... for... ''this!'' It is ''disgraceful!''" Not to mention ugly as sin. "As much as I hate siding with these despicable magical children, AT LEAST THEY HAVE FASHION SENSE!" "Let us take this outside," she announces, great wings spreading to rocket her forward to tackle the youma and drag it outdoors. "We would not want to hurt the donuts." 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' "They also have none of the care and attention that goes into them and to have a hastily thrown out product in their place... You should be ashamed of yourself", the Princess of Sarek with disdain counters the abominable suggestion of the youma. A leap away from the denim beam aimed for her and Veronica lands on the ground not too far away from where the Jweater, exhaling a tired sigh when she thinks of what would have happened had she been hit. That's right, just the thought is mentally draining. "Warning much appreciated, Onihime, and the pleasure is mutual", she replies to the other magical girl. She is about to close in on the youma when she becomes a witness to Hinoiri's ardent anger instead. "You burn hot all the time", the Princess of Sarek raises an eyebrow at Hinoiri's furious charge (not that the unicorn could possibly hear her in normal circumstances, let alone now that she is charging victim to her own anger). She doesn't actually have her powers anymore, will she be fine...? Instead, particles of moonlight condense in the top of her cane as she starts focusing. Transient Lunar Flare!, she shouts, a beam of moonlight rushing towards its haughty target from the sphere the cat on the handle is holding. Veronica spares a curious look at Lamya. Did she walk into a Fire Club? She could have been under that impression, by the three girls alone. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Well it's a good thing Amy left ''very early'' for the train to some cool ice princess's world because as she's walking by the donut shop she sees mahou gathered and...     Is this a ''fight''? She's not sure it's exactly a fight, in progress. In a flash of fire, she transforms and...     is standing there at the door of the donut shop, looking around in bewilderment at the jlothes that are ''on'' people, garishly distracting her eyes from their source. "What do I ''shoot?!''" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' UNICORN RAAAAGE! Chairs are swung at the Jweater Jress, one even makes contact with it! ... It's a dress it mostly just kind of is pushed out of the way by the nonmagical physical attack coming from the unhenshined unicorn at the moment. Which in response begins to snake and wrap itself around Hinoiri, to attempt to integrate itself into her Jweater, intensifying the passive drain of the jweater jress for a few moments-- that is until a flaming table is thrown at it and it (probably mercifully) shoves itself off of Hinoiri. With a side-effect of Hinoiri at least being pushed out of the /way/ of the flaming table as well. "THAT IS ONLY BECAUSE YOUR MIND IS CLOSED TO NEW THINGS! YOU ARE STUCK IN THE PAST, IN TERRIBLE, ANCIENT JRADITION! JEANS REVOLUTIONIZED THE WORKFORCE! JEGGINGS MADE COMFORT AND DURABILITY A THING OF THE PRESENT! JWEATERS SHALL SPREAD TO THE FUTURE! WARMTH AND COOL FASHION TOGETHER AS ONE WITH CHRISTMAS JPIRIT!" A threat of being killed by the Ginga Kingu and his Apprivoiser! "JWEATERS ARE ETERNAL, YOUR PUNY TRANSFORMATION CANNOT OVERCOME IT!" Also there's a bit of an energy drain with it but it's probably fine. You let this thing get away? "Hah! She could not stamp me out with her flames before, and I have come back faster, stronger, more jeautiful than be--ACK!" Aaaand then the jweater jress is tackled and dragged outside! Which is... probably for the best really! Sort of! Which also means that it's now being held still as a beam of moonlight is shot towards the Jweater Jress, causing it to catch on fire! Which is quickly wriggles and worms its way out of Lamya's arms to rub out the fire along the ground, giving an unearthly screech at the burning. As Amy stands in the doorway, looking around in bewilderment, Prinzessin Nichts watches impassively, taking another long siiiiiip of her smoothie. Apparently the dark energy/energy drain doesn't bother her that much. What probably /will/ bother people is that shortly after being dragged outside, the Jweater Jress flies up and begins to spin wildly, its arms flapping... as it unleashes a rapidly spinning denim beam towards anyone who had followed them outside! ...Also it's spreading to more than humans, somebody's poor car being struck by the beam and getting covered in a denim ugly christmas jweater paintjob... hopefully that's temporary... 

:'''{{#var:131|Hinoiri Kirara (131)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri Kirara let out a shriek as she was grabbed and enshrouded. No, no no! OF ALL THE WAYS TO GO OUT, NOT LIKE THIS! Except, then she saw a flaming table. Oh. Wow. She was going to go out like this. Well. At least this destruction would be quick. She closed her eyes, accepting the end. A mercy at this point, to be honest... Except, instead of being mercifully put out of her misery by a flaming table, she was cruelly saved and shoved aside by the very youma who did this to her! She knelt on her hands and knees, unable to bear this shame, this humiliation. "Jeans aren't a clothing choice! They're what you wear when everything else is dirty, nudity is a crime and you're too lazy to do the laundry! AND THIS IS A CRIME AGAINST ALL THINGS! KICK ITS FLANK LAMYA!" Yes, she knew the dragon. Of course she knew the dragon. Okay, maybe if she could get out, she could henshin and get OUT of this. She started to get to her feet and-- Ate one of the beams. And gave a scream of ultimate despair. "YOU MONSTER! YOU IRREDEEMABLE MONSTER!" she shrieked. She... she was wearing JITTENS and a JEENY NOW! A UNICORN JEENY! She fell to her knees, buckling from the sheer shame of this display. In public no less. This was worse than the onesy.... 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:'''     Wako Agemaki texts: Sugata-kun     Wako Agemaki texts: what are you wearing?? There is only horror. Not humiliation, but a certain sense of 'I will never be allowed to forget this' that comes with knowing the people you love most have just seen you at your most ridiculous. And then? Ding! Wako Agemaki texts: Jaguar's gonna bring you a change of clothes TSugata Shindo texts: You're the light of my life and the savior of my dignity. T Sugata Shindo texts: I'm going to go kill the monster that did this to me now.     Wako Agemaki texts: <3     Wako Agemaki texts: kick its ass In all honesty, Ginga Kingu hasn't really noticed the energy drain. If there's one thing he has to stand out as a Mahou, it's a truly ridiculous reserve of energy - the jweater is using a spoon to empty an ocean. "...Do any of you have the capacity to put up a barrier?" He asks the gathered group of Mahou, because there are several faces he doesn't recognize in the group, and he would rather not destroy an entire building just to kill a very stupid youma. His phone dings. <<Rashmi TXTs Sugata: Uh... 'By Sankt Kaiser law, you shall know peace until the new year. Further acts of aggression shall not be tolerated.' Which whatever that is she's wearing is definitely doing something to her mind, I would actually be shocked if Belkan law considered 'peace' as anything more sacrosanct than 'sleep.' Gets in the way of all the fighting. >> Sugata Shindo TXTS Rashmi: got it. She's staying out of the fight so I'm guessing she didn't like having her picture taken. The phone is stored away, and he watches as everyone gives speeches about the horrible nature of the jean jweaters, and honestly he doesn't have passionate feelings about fashion, but he does hate what he's wearing, and - Oh, ouch. There's a spike of genuine pity for Hinoiri, and he places a hand over his chest - "Star Swordo, Diamante!" The white cross-shaped sword of pure energy is withdrawn from his chest and then flipped, as he holds it by the blade and - ''and offers the hilt-end to Hinoiri!'' "Get up," he tells her sternly, "Get up and seek revenge." 

:'''{{#var:30|Onihime (30)}} has posed:'''     "Not intentionally," Onihime replies to her icy compatriot. "We thought it destroyed. It seems that was premature." There is a hint of tension in her voice; in anyone else, that might as well be burning rage. "Your movements look more confident," she adds, glancing at her fellow youkai-blood..     "I have opened my mind to ''many'' new things in the past year and a half," the horned magical girl replies, her words terse. "But you are not and will never be one of them." She takes a few loping strides out after Lamya tackles the Jweater outdoors, and by the time the oni arrives, her right hand is already swirling with flames. Without skipping a beat, she reacts to the Denim Beam by reaching out to tear a public trash can off its moorings - and use it as a shield.     The instant the beams stop, the trashcan is set down, and the Youkai Musume of Flames leaps towards the Jweater with a fierce, "HAAAA-!" before unleashing a flaming slash with her claws, backed with the strength of an oni. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime nods her head a little bit. "Red! Shoot the Fashion Nightmare!", the icy mahou says. She runs outside, and keeps up the dance, before sending a combination of slashes with her naginata. The wolves fly out following the slashes, one form below, and one from above.     The mahou takes a moment to move her third wolf between ber and the Youma. It gets hit with the beam, and the wolf gets a denim dog jweater! It turns into a bead...covered in Jweater. Yukihime stares. She stares a moment longer...The Ice Mahou screams! "Kill it with fire! Lots of fire!" 

:'''{{#var:28|Dragon Girl Lamya (28)}} has posed:''' "YOU BET I WILL!!" the dragon girl shouts as she poses, fist clenched before her. "Now that it is outside I shall ''burn it to cinders!''" But the oni gets to it first, flaming slashes against the jenim youma. Lamya scowls at this insult, but doesn't let it deter her. Once Onihime is clear, she takes a deep breath and sends blast of fire its way. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy is glad she already henshined, and her bags went... wherever they go. She can't have Princess Serenity's dress she which she planned to wear for the fairy princess's coronation turned into jeans!     The denim beam doesn't leave her henshin unjathed, though: The underlayer is now a snug jumpsuit... wait that already starts with a j. jjumpsuit? With a cropped jacket over it, as well as a minijirt, a pair of joots (I guess they're like uggs but... jean?) and fingerless jloves.     "...I sympathise with your pain!" Amy shouts at the jouma. "But forcing everyone else to wear you will never make you beloved! I actually think denim jackets and tight black jeans look kinda good, but if you make every article of clothing out of it it's too much!"     "I like cute dresses but I don't want to wear them all the time! I like t-shirts and cargo pants but I don't wanna wear them ''all the time!''"     Now that it's up in the air, Amy has a clean shot with her jyrojet jifle -- don't ask how THAT works, it's magic -- and fires burning jincendiaries up at the flying jress.     "I never gave jeans a shot because I was tricked into thinking all denim is course and rough like canvas! I didn't know this soft, stretchy stuff ''existed!'' Maybe I'm not the only one... but right now you're only making everyone hate jeans ''more!''" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri was very much not fine, and now she has been turned into a victim of those horrible Jweaters. "If you wanted a sweater, you could have just said something, and I would have made you one", the Princess of Sarek gives the unicorn a friendly tease with a wink. Which may mean that Hinoiri is going to get one regardless of the actual circumstances, just to go the extra mile. The moonlit Princess shakes her head at the King's question. She can use a barrier in the sense of a good old shield, but not like the intricacies of the space created by the Device Mages. "Just a wall. ... Isn't your group fashioned with a Barrier too?", she tries to recall, thinking of the other people Kingu has worked with. Meanwhile the Jweater is speaking with the presumption of someone who has never touched something handmade. "The revolution of the workforce isn't your ally! Handmade products still have a niche in the present, and people love them! What they don't love is your heart unable to appreciate the forms beauty can take!", she exclaims striking out the youma with hits of her cane, making sure to stay away from Onihime's flaming claws when she strikes. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' "YOU ARE JEAUTIFUL! ROCK IT, GIRL!" The Youma responds to Hinoiri at the Jitton Mittons and Unicorn Jeeny! She might be full of rage, but clearly the Youma approves! And at the very least there aren't more jeams being shot at her now? ... The extra layer of Jweater is probably making that energy drain all the more unpleasant though. Ginga Kingu is not attacking at the moment, so is ... mercifully? Not paid attention to in favor of bigger threats. Like the flaming claws cutting through the air in the wake of the jrass jan that is tossed aside in the wake of getting shot by the beam, a horrid christmas present-patterned trash can now... But more importantly there was an oni flying through the air towards the flying jweater jress, which is trying to get the /heck/ out of the way, one of the arms of the jress sliced through, sizzling nylon leaving the edges blackened for a moment as it regenerates! "Y-your closed mindedness will be your end! The denim tide will consume all, and you will be the first consumed!" A dancing combination of slashes and ice, a somewhat welcome soothing cool for the youma after the flaming Onihime, even if it was still slicing at them! Cutting at the regenerating arm and freezing the edges....which stop regenerating. For now. A flaming breath washes over the mercifully-cooled-off-at-the-moment Jweater Jress, which the flame washes over, burning a cool blue color for a few moments before it spins rapidly to extinguish the flame! ...Only to be shot with an incendiar jyrojet! "OH DEAR DENIM JODDESS WHY IS THERE SO MUCH FLAME?!" It's dipping down to push extinguish itself again, several burning holes shot through the jweater jress that were slowly smoldering outwards. "T...THE JOY OF THE JWEATER IS WIDELY KNOWN! JEGGINGS SPREAAAAAAAD!" And a magical cane comes out of nowhere to knock it up into the sky again, landing off in the distance as it struggles to reconstitute itself, screeching and writhing on the ground for several moments, blasts of more of that jweater energy shooting out of the bottom of the dress at random in the direction of its enemies. Prinzessin Nichts has stood to walk over to the entrance to the building, still watching passively. Siiiiiiiiip. ...Is she even capable of being entertained? ...Maybe? 

:'''{{#var:131|Hinoiri Kirara (131)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri Kirara had lost her way. There was no redemption. No saving to be had here. She abandoned all hope. Gave into the despair. This was how she died. How she-- And then, like an angel from on high, an angel descended. Held by Sugata. She blinked and stared at it. And then she reached out, with both mitten'd hands. And... okay. Yes. This could work. She began... to laugh. To cackle. And there was no goodness in that. There was no kindness. It was almost as if her eyes glowed red as, in that moment, all of Sugata's past transgressions were forgiven. There was only the one who had wronged her the most. The one who had done the unforgiveable. she got to her feet slowly.... "JwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeAAAAAAAAAtttteeeeeeeerrrrrRRRRRRrrrr...." she said, looking up as she, perhaps, channeled the spirit of one who had destroyed her in ages past... back in PJ, the pre-jweater era... The lessons she'd received from Ryoko flashed through her mind as she launched herself forward. She channeled the energy, the spirit, of those who had been wronged in the past. Every child who had been forced to have their hair done in a silly way on picture day. Every innocent student who had been forced to wear a stupid outfit that made them look like a dweeb. Every body double who had been forced to wear a stupid suit that hid their face so someone else could take the credit. She was seeing two, three steps forward... For she was in... The junicorn jone. As she advanced, she moved with precision, grace, dodging beam after beam, as if she knew where they would be, left, right, head cocking to the side... Gripping the blade in both hands, she swung through, dashing forward, blade slicing, and on the other side of it... Honestly, she had kind of blacked out in rage for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure what happened. But... was it enough to sate her vengeance? ... Well, if she was still in jittens? Then no. 

:'''{{#var:30|Onihime (30)}} has posed:'''     "Closed-mindedness?! I have judged you fairly!"     Onihime rips up another public trash can, this time using it as cover to approach the Jweater's landing place at a full-tilt charge. "I have examined you on your own merits! Wore your denim in our last confrontation! Tried on jeans! I have judged you as fairly as I have judged curry, pop music and breakfast cereal! The difference is-!"     The trashcan is flung aside, and Kureha Senkenzan lunges in, right hand blazing with swirling flames. "-unlike those, ''I have found you wanting''! Rekka Kaihou!"     And now the flames around Onihime ERUPT, whirling and flaring and swirling down into that clawed right hand, a searing light of flames so bright it's difficult to look at for a moment, and the street is suddenly sweltering, even at a distance. Right on the heals of Hinoiri's lunging slash, a kimono-clad little girl hurtles in like a flaming meteor from the heavens, swinging a punch that will erupt into a searing inferno burning with the flames of Mount Ooe.         "KANABO STRAIGHT!!"     FWOOM. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' "Wako-chan is the only one of us who can summon Zero Time, and she stayed home," Ginga Kingu replies to the Princess of Sarek, grimacing. He doesn't want to destroy this donut shop for the crimes of Jweater Jresss - And then Hinoiri accepts his sword, and becomes one with the blade and her rage, a force united in hate and vengeance, and he considers that perhaps, some things don't ''need'' a personal hand to resolve. Sure, he told Wako that he would kill Jweater Jress, but isn't Hinoiri armed with his sword, doing it for him? He glances at the Prinzessin, noting that her smoothie is more than half-drunk, and decides that an ounce of prevention could be worth a pound of cure. He jogs over to the donut shop's entrance and gets the attention of the staff member behind the counter... ...and a few moments and much violence later, he's offering the Prinzessin Nichts a fresh smoothie, having confirmed with the staff that it was a replica of her original order. "Your restraint has been appreciated in this endeavor, Prinzessin." 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime stares at the bead in a jweater. She flails her arm. Get it off! A few flails more, and Yuki summons the wolf again...only to find it covered in a dog jweater. Dispite just being just energy, even it has a look of wtf and depression! Yukihime pities the wolf, and makes it a bead again.     The Ice mahou sighs a bit as she rubs her stomach. Energy is getting low. She looks back at the donut shop. The yokai looks behind her, and blows some snow from her hand. It turns into a snow bunny that runs in and gets donuts for everyone. Yes, even paid for them! As the bunny runs back out, it melts and leaves the donuts.     Yukihime takes a long moment to scarf a few donuts. "I would like some tight low riding black jeans and some good cargos. I mean for date night, those lowriders...", Yukihime says. Her face turns a little red. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     A few blocks away:     Kyubey said he'd leave the girl alone ''then'', he didn't say he'd leave her alone ''forever.'' A temporary guardian is talking to her about her future at a cafe, and has just stepped into the restroom when Kyubey hops up onto a table outside the window. << Have you ever thought about becoming a mag--                                      '''ZAP!'''                                           The girl turns and looks at the cat-fox creature in a garish Christmas jweater, struck by an errant jeam, and just breaks down into giggles as the Incubator struggles to try and extricate this body from the unwanted garment. No one can make a contract if they break down into giggles every time they look at him!     Here:     Amy sees the jweater land in the distance, and hits the deck -- too late, as another stray jeam hits her, draining her slightly, and the lands with a pained cry, the jeans providing less rigid protection than her henshin. "Calling in artillery!" Amy conjures a jissile jauncher next to her amd retrieves her binoculars from her belt jouch, sighting and pointing forward dramatically.     The launcher, a four-tube missile rack propped up diagonally, ripple-fires its payload and bursts into flame because it's fabric. The munitions still arc through the air and rain down on the jweater though, with explosions and more burning! 

:'''{{#var:28|Dragon Girl Lamya (28)}} has posed:''' Lamya grunts, and goes to a knee, as she's no longer able to ignore the energy drain wearing the magical jweater has. "Destroy it!" she commands. "Leave not a thread intact! Wipe it's existence from the ''face of the planet!''" 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' This is the second time that Veronica is asking this today, but... Is Hinoiri alright? She has taken the Jweater deal especially hard. Which... is actually fair, but still, that's a lot of rage. A plus jamais, Jweater. You will probably regret dearly when you made Hinoiri your enemy. She just chooses to hang back in the face of such ferocity, letting Hinoiri with the assistance of Ginga Kingu dispense justice upon the wicked Jweater. Taking out a calling card from nowhere, a rapid toss makes it so it's finding its way to the jouma, coated in brilliant white light. And it just results in... "Blinding Glare!" Hopefully a blinded Jweater for Hinoiri to hit without restraint, as the calling card releases the moonlight right into the creature's eyes. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' In a way, Hinoiri did, in fact, rock it! ... Just not so much the jeeny so much as the star swordo instead as the unicorn leaps towards the Jweater, holding the star sword and slicing through the writhing form of the Jweater Jress, cutting it nearly in half as it just about recovers from where it was writhing on the ground, those beams shooting out randomly. As Onihime speaks of her open-mindedness. "T-THOSE WHO HAVE TO SPEAK THEIR VIRTUES ARE USUALLY THE MOST CLOSED-MIN--" KANABO STRAIGHT! A raging, searing meteor of a punch strikes the Jweater Jress, as more of it is burned by that flame, sizzling jweater trying to regenerate itself off of the drained energy desperately... As Ginga Kingu brings a fresh smoothie to Prinzessin Nichts, who does not speak in response... but does simply give a somewhat passive nod, reaching a hand out to take the fresh smoothie from Ginga Kingu. Yukihime is ... mostly left unmolested as she eats, there are bigger, more important threats. Well okay there also were beams being shot out in random directions as the Jweater Jress flails. But they weren't /retaliating/ at her at the very least. And then... a four-tube missile rack shoots out towards the Jweater Jress as it begins to recover again, causing fragments of it to shoot out in different directions... gathering itself back together... as, with the seemingly losing battle, it sends off a tiny version of itself down an alleyway, seemingly shot off into the distance by the explosions! Possibly in response to the claims that it should be wiped from the face of the planet and not a thread should be left intact. Better to get away before that can happen! A blast of Blinding Glare is shot out, blinding what remains of the Jweater! ...As a stray beam shoots out. And strikes the smoothie out of Prinzessin Nicht's hand. ...Did Boss Music just cut in? Why does it feel like there is a massive face of darkness and evil be-- oh that's why. As Prinzessin Nichts suddenly is no longer in that doorway. And instead behind the Jweater Jress. A glowing tip of the Konigsende stabbing towards the center of its mass, the tiny bead of black-and-red energy suddenly expanding to consume the Jweater Jress, crushing it down into a tiny form that eventually just... is crushed down into a tiny point of light. Which then just winks out of existence. Your kill was just stolen, heroes. And the Prinzessin's Rage has not been quelled by such, as glowing yellow eyes turn on the assembled heroes. <<WARNUNG IGNORIERT. BEGINN DER ZERSTORUNG.>> 

:'''{{#var:131|Hinoiri Kirara (131)}} has posed:''' Hinoiri Kirara stared defiantly at the youma. Weaving, dodging, avoiding more of the beams. Not today, Jatan. The blade she carried had struck pure, slicing through jeans like they were cheap wool. She refused to be touched by such beams, no longer would she be held in the tyrannical sway of the Jweater. They were victorious. And now? It was time to finish this and-- Oh, hey, kill stealing. Huh. Neat. Okay, then... ... Then... Oh, there went her organs. No longer fueled by rage and lacking a henshin, the energy drain she'd endured finally hit and she wobbled for a moment. Oh, was that boss music? She was going to... sit this one... And then she fell forward, collapsing into unconsciousness (and hard street if nobody caught her). Someone... might wanna pick her up. Possibly the sword, too. But at least... there was no more... "J-Jweater... jown..." Okay, now she was unconscious. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' It's not that Ginga Kingu is never a nice person - in fact, he's courteous and polite to most people he meets, and is in general fairly pleasant. Thus, it's not ''improbable'' that he would choose to go the polite mile and offer a smoothie. But it sure does feel like being punished for doing the right thing, when a beam flies out to ''cut the smoothie in half and spatter it everywhere''. Ginga Kingu's eye twitches. The Prinzessin vanishes. Terrible dark power sweeps up. And in the street, near the battlefield, a car pulls up - a shiny, metallic blue Toyota RAV4, driven by a nondescript Driver of a man, and with a young woman with a kitty ear headband in the passenger side of the front seat. "Sugata-bocchan, I've got a change of -" Jaguar pauses as she takes in the battle. Ginga Kingu quite literally flies to the back seat of the car, opens the door, and looks pointedly at the others. "Anyone who can't fly themselves out is welcome to get in the car." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy winces as she sees what Hinoiri was put in. Oh, no, a unicorn jigurumi... No wonder she's mad!     The monster is down for now, but they have another problem... Oh shoot. The Prinzessin!     Amy has no time for this, she has places to be. She runs to the car and gets in, "I need a ride to the train station!" She'll pick up Hino on the way, if needed! 

:'''{{#var:28|Dragon Girl Lamya (28)}} has posed:''' When the Jweater is finally taken care of by the woman who was just content to watch, Lamya cries, "YES!!" Claws start shredding the unwanted clothing and the janta hat is burned to cinders once she yanks it off her head and throws it to the ground. "I AM FREE OF THESE CURSED CLOTHES!" She dusts her hands off and mutters, "Now, to get the donuts that I had originally come for..." She pauses, feeling rage-filled eyes settle on her. Turning she spies Prinzessin Nicht staring at her and she narrows her gaze. "Peace," she says. "I have no wish to fight any further. I only yearn for donuts." 

:'''{{#var:145|Princess of Sarek (145)}} has posed:''' The Princess of Sarek hadn't been paying much an attention to the figure having her smoothie in peace and quiet. Why would she? There was an active threat to be prioritised and if some unknown villain wants to have a vacation, all the better for them. Did she pay for the original smoothie, though? And then there is that dark energy spike when she starts going after them. 'Seriously, over a smoothie?', the Princess of Sarek finds herself thinking exhasperated, all the more so it wasn't even the one she had paid for. They seriously poked a threat awake over that!? "Good job with the Jweater, top marks", the Phantom Thief tells Hinoiri as she picks the tired girl up in her arms, rushing in the opposite direction to Prinzessin Nichts. They probably don't want to fit everyone in a single vehicle. If they scatter in different directions, the Princess of Nothingness will probably not know who to go after first. Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:266|Yukihime (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime blinks a little bit. She coughs. Oh hell no! Yukihime runs past Onihime. "Run! I dealt with her once, and it literally took crashing a giant ship into her to stop her last time!", she says. The ice mahou runs into the car! "Just get me some place where I can go into a trance!", Yukihime says!     Yukihime does have a box of donuts. She does offer some of the donuts to people. "They're paid for! Oni, get going! I'll catch you later!" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' There is not any further aggression. There are people passing out, hopping into cars to leave, and requesting peace. The Prinzessin Nichts' gaze shifts between fleeing figures and the request for peace and donuts. <<Acceptable.>> And Prinzessin Nichts takes one last look at the spilled smoothie, and then flies off into the distance. Possibly to get a replacement smoothie. Also remove the jweater. 

:'''{{#var:197|Ginga Kingu (197)}} has posed:''' As soon as the last interested body is in the car, it drives off towards the train station! In the front seat are the Driver TM and Jaguar Yamasugata, and in the back are Amy, Yukihime, and Sugata, all of whom are thrown back against their seats as the car jets off towards the train station Amy specified. Jaguar offers Sugata the replacement vest and jacket Wako requested she bring, and he only refrains from throwing the Jweater out the window because of the danger of littering. "The donuts are appreciated," he tells Yukihime with a tired sigh. "Because after all that, I ''still'' didn't actually get the donuts Wako wanted." 
}}

2153/TCOS: Explosition Exploration

2024-12-09T10:17:41Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2024/12/09 |Location=Abandoned Theme Park |Synopsis=A group of mahou show up to the wreck of Aloisia's ship to check for clues as well as deal with..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2024/12/09
|Location=Abandoned Theme Park
|Synopsis=A group of mahou show up to the wreck of Aloisia's ship to check for clues as well as deal with the wreck so its tech doesn't spread uncontrolled. They steal everything that's not nailed down, and then encounter Prinzessin Nichts once more... with explosive results.
|Cast of Characters=216,80,265,41,266,37,107,224,166,73,197,82
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' The most likely place to find information on what to do next had been... really two options, trying to hunt down the Princess of Nothing, or going back to the place where it all began. Going back to the wreck of that front half of Aloisia's ship -- what's left of it at least -- seemed like the safest option really, in the end. Once had once stood standing nearly straight up now has collapsed, very little semblance of a ship remaining after the original events, only a couple of things that could still be considered 'rooms' or even reminiscent of a ship. The few visitors the area had received were mostly just people who thought that an attraction had fallen over, and at this point it might as well be. Sifting through rubble is not necessarily the most mahou thing that anyone here has done, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. At least the area where the box had been found originally shouldn't be that hard to find, just look for the area with the cleanly cut holes on it in the pile of twisted metal! ... ... ... It's sure going to be a night of things, isn't it? 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     It's been a wild ride.     Zephyr's showing up, wearing a heavy jacket, camo-pattern cargo trousers, steel-toe boots and a plain black backpack.     Tenraikaze dangles from her bracelet, glinting in the light. "Keep your sensors on a swivel, Dee... don't want any surprises while we're in there... ping any friendlies coming in with a Telepathy link."     Tenraikaze pulses an affirmative, and any other Mahou that come within range of her sensors, gets a friendly greeting ping, and a request to join a 'local area telepathy communication network'.     The tall foreigner approaches the wreck, looking for the place to pick her way into it. 

:'''{{#var:265|Sequoia Maybach (265)}} has posed:'''     Okay. Okay, so for the record.     Sequoia Maybach does NOT want to encounter the Princess of Nothing on her own. At all. Under any circumstances. She's here, sure, but she's made sure she's not alone. The silver-haired girl plays with the shield-shaped charm clasped in her fingers, flipping it from finger to finger like a coin as she bites on her lip as she returns to where she remembers the ship to be.     "Think we'll find any more clues in there?" Sequoia asks Zephyr as she approaches with her. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Still soaring in, Rashmi is very much in henshin when she accepts the request, and touches down lightly just behind the pair, clasping Nicomachea to her chest. "Well," she says uncertainly, casting her gaze around and about, "Definitely one way to find some answers." Given the location, and its recent history, the redhead seems to much prefer to have her active defenses up and running... just in case. 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     Well, Miho is a bit nervious about things. She does need to get out, and do a bit more about things. And well, she's been feeling a little awkward about things as she's been working with her magic as of late. She hasn't really said too much to Hinote or Amy about what's been going on with her magic, but she's found a bit serenity with her magic. Before coming over, Miho henshined into Yukihime.     The Snow Maiden mahou feels a little on edge as she approaches things, but it doesn't show on her face. Its stoic, calm, and shows a confidence that she definitely not feeling inwardly. Each step that Yukihime makes is measured in both grace and elegance. Her naginata being held at rest as she walks. Hopefully there's a few others that she knows, so that her nerves would quiet down before anyone here notices things. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' Three older teenagers arrive at the scene together by air, all in dashingly overdramatic military-style henshins: the Star Drivers. Sugata (Kingu, the blue one) and Wako (Otome, the gold one) are in a bubble pushed to a good clip by Takuto (Bishounen, the red one). Landing is a delicate process in avoiding debris. When they set down, Takuto calls out, "How can we help? We're good at destroying things-- I mean and other stuff too-- oh hi, Rashmi-chan! Sugata-kun told us about it, but I'm not clear on what we're looking for..." Then he turns to the others and bows quickly, just enough to be polite. "Takuto Tsunashi, grade 11 Radiant Heart." That sort of petered out a bit, but when you bust in like the kool-aid man with your friends and do things out of order, doing the ones you forgot quietly at the end should fix any faux pas, right? 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Magical Rocket Girl Red walks along with Yukihime. "I don't know how much to hope is still there, but... an alien spaceship! Even a destroyed one! Why, we might even find technology that doesn't work and we can't use because we have other kinds of magic!" Her tone wandering into chipper sarcasm. "Ah, sorry. It's... still... Like, I was a man of science once, you know??? And these things, they don't work that way at ''all''..." She sighs.     "Still! Alien spaceship wreckage!" Amy smiles, and as they come into telepathy range, <<"Yeah, sure, I'll join the local area telepathic network.">>     Once they're close, she smiles and waves, "Heya! I think I know everyone here, but... Magical Rocket Girl Red, Puella Magi, also, Amanda Faust, Radiant Heart Academy Grade 10."     "...What exactly is it even possible for us to find, here? Anyone familiar with like... Belkan technology know...?" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:'''     Yuki had heard the rumors passed around in the Shed, and seen the posting about the new Princess. When people decided to start looking into it, the Knight of Dawn tagged along, as much out of curiosity about the new person as anything else. And, of course, there's the chance of finding some useful components in the ship they're checking out. And so, dressed in her usual kimono-styled Barrier Jacket, she follows the rest into the wreck. <<Hello, everyone>> she says as she enters the telepathic chat channel. "Hello," she echoes in her normal voice. "How does something this big not get seen by, like... everyone?" 

:'''{{#var:166|Chrono Harlaown (166)}} has posed:''' Chrono Harlaown touched down behind Rashmi, not long after her arrival. Admittedly... she had more of a... well... she was closer with Aloisia than he was. It wasn't that he didn't like the girl or anything, she was sweet. He just... well... He was more than willing to admit Rashmi was better at social interactions than him. However, as this was investigating wreckage... it was his duty to ensure nothing too wild fell into the wrong hands. The last thing he wanted was for anything that could change the course of this planet's development to end up in the wrong hands... However, as introductions were distributed, he didn't hesitate. He held out his right hand, his holographic ID card appearing. "Chrono Harlaown, Time Space Administrative Bureau Enforcer, at your service," he said firmly. He then glanced towards Rashmi again, letting her take point. After all, he was, primarily, keen to only interfere if things looked like they might get out of hand... 

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:''' The sphere of pink light vanishes like a soap bubble, letting Wako and Sugata touch down on a piece of reasonably clear and stable ground. "I can purify, too, if needed," she volunteers. And then bows, a little, since introductions are happening and there are people she doesn't know. "Wako Agemaki," she says, "grade eleven. Nice to meet you." As she straightens, she surveys the wreckage, brows drawing together a little. "I feel a little behind," she admits - mostly to Sugata, for whatever reason. 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' "Sugata Shindo, also grade 11," is the calm introduction as Wako pops their bubble, Ginga Kingu looking around with casual interest. There's the ship he and the Prinzessin destroyed, there's half the people he recalls sharing the battle with... "It's only par for the course that we wouldn't be able to use their technology," he shrugs towards Puella Red, hearing her complaint. "We're not marked for it." That's just how things go, why would it be any surprise? To Wako though, he brazenly reaches out and squeezes her hand. "It's not as though any of the rest of us know exactly what's going on. There's the ship I half destroyed, this time without a mind-controlled berserker. Hopefully, we'll find clues as to how to stop her, but otherwise, I imagine we're here for more of the heavy lifting." 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir has arrived to INVESTIGATE, because if he didn't, Tracy was going to make him alright? It's like being held hostage by yourself. So Pulp Noir was here, looking over to Yukihime, giving a little encouraging smile as he adjusted his mask with a single finger at the bridge. "So. Giant ship. And this has to do with our friend Aloisia?" he asks as he approaches, placing his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Yeah? What was in the wreck?" he asks. Mood Music for Pulp Noir's general vicinity tonight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMnrl0tmd3k 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' A room or two are still standing that can be picked into, though the safety of entering them may be suspect, the most notable areas being that storage room where things originally went down -- though half of that room is just completely missing from the rather... explosive exits from the area on the part of the sparkles and the Princess at the time. Others are technically still there, but would need to be cut or broken into most likely, as the corridor that would normally allow access isn't particularly accessible right now. Also most likely areas for raiding for other things, like possible loot. But considering the contents of the storage room and sparseness of it, well. ... Actually good loot is probably debatable, depending on the person. A soft energy still lingers in the area, something that prickles at the back of the neck from that initial flood of dark energy. Luckily things were... largely untouched for the most part, which meant that sitting on the ground of that damaged room, half-buried in that wreck was a certain box that opening had set the stage for the whole thing to kick off. Occasional, faint static seems to crackle out ... though it's hard to immediately tell exactly what the source is. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr glances back at Sequoia. "Only one way to find out." she replies, pausing to give the smaller girl a gently pat on the head. "Relax a bit... if anything happens, we'll get away. I'll carry us both clear if need be. Okay?" she reassures.     Rashmi comes landing behind them next, and she smiles warmly, "Would you prefer we find '''her''' and ask questions? She wasn't exactly communicative last time." Chrono's arrival reminds her, and as he shows his ID card, she holds her own hand up, shifting into her Barrier Jacket while projecting her own ID card above her palm. "Zephyr Windstar, Time-Space Administration Beauru Enforcer, Codename: Wind Dancer."     Yukihime, and the Star Drivers arrival earn a nod from the older teen. Then Amy's question brings her attention. "Well, between me and Rashmi, we should be able to piece together something... if we get any other Devicers here, we could pool processor power." she glances at Sequoia. "Maybe Schutzchild can shed some light on things too if he has any data in his long-term memory." she suggests as-well.     To Pulp Noir, she nods. "This, I think, was the front-half of Aloisia's ship... the back half I helped bring down safely when it appeared." she says, then turns to climb up. "Dee? Area Search, lets see what's accessible... then we can formulate a shipbreaking plan if necessary." Tenraikaze pings an affirmative, and it spits out a couple of wisp-like balls of purple mana that flit up and into the wreck, seeking out the nooks and crannies. 

:'''{{#var:265|Sequoia Maybach (265)}} has posed:'''     While most girls would likely flail at the headpat, Sequoia takes it in stride. "I'm not worried about needing to be carried out. I'm worried we might have to carry someone else out." She points out, before looking to Rashmi. "Hey." It's always good to have Rashmi at their backs, so Sequoia seems to relax around the three more experienced mages a bit when Chrono arrives as well. But then she tosses her shield charm up.     The massive, heavy, riot shield drops back into her hands as her clothes are instantly replaced by her Barrier Jacket.     "Sequoia Maybach, Grade 6. Just call me Weisser Ritter when we're on duty though." That's her introduction for those who don't know her.     "No clue. Magic, I guess?" She replies to Yuki as everyone piles into the ship to start rolling Investigation Skill Checks.     "Ah... There's the box the crown was in."     Sequoia is not going to be the one to touch it, though. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Rashmi looks around, smiling at Chrono and reaching out to give the Enforcer's hand a squeeze as well, as the glitterbomb of mahou begin to coalesce about the wreck. "So-o-o... For those of you who don't know the story, Aloisia-chan is a Belkan soldier, and also the daughter of Count Otto, who is... not someone you want to be related to. *Absolute* jerkface. This was the ship Alo-chan came to Earth in, and Otto had her retrieve a relic from its storage. Alo-chan, turns out, would rather destroy it than give it to him... and the other, *other* twist is, you have to break the relic to activate it. Also the relic was Dark-corrupted." Spreading her hands in a 'what can you do?' gesture, she casts her gaze back to the wreckage. "We need to find out anything we can about *what* the thing is, what it's supposed to do, and hopefully how it works. So... We'll definitely want to see if there's any logs intact, and maybe poke through the stores to see if we can find anything there." Nodding at Zephyr as she begins her initial investigation, she flashes Sequoia a brief, welcoming grin -- it's *always* good to have a strong wall at your back -- and upon Sequoia pointing the box out, flitters around that way to see if anything interesting happens with proximity. 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime giggles a little bit as Amy talks about the alien space ship. Its nice that both Red and Pulp are here. It lets her settle down a bit inwardly, and then there's Chrono and Rashmi. Her stance relaxes a little. "Miho Inada, grade 10. Known as Yukihime.", the Snow Mahou says politely as she offers a warrior's bow to those arriving. The woman looks at Red a bit. "You would be excited, but be mindful. We are in a battle zone.", she says.     "Well, I guess now would be a good time as any to practice.", the woman whispers to herself. Yukihime holds up her left hand, palm up. "Friends of the Forest, gather to me. I seek to see things from above.", she chants before blowing into her hand. Snow flares off her hand before solidifying. She used to use...talismans, but now, she doesn't need them. It was a clutch that she got rid of. A ice bird sits on a rock near by, while Yukihime's eyes glow a bit. She blinks a few times.     "Ummm, is it just me, or is there a vampire standing next to you, Red?!", Yukihime and the bird says. "And where did the space ship go?", she asks. Yukihime blinks a few times. "Also, why am I looking up at you, Red? Weren't we...side by side a second ago?", she asks. Yukihime is still learning to adjust to this spell..."Either way, I think it would be wise not to expose ourselves unnecessarily, right?", she asks. 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir walks into the wreck with the others. "Count Otto was a piece of work." he says lowly as he follows along and looks upwards. "Huh. What's that crackle?" he asks asks as he listens to it. His Totally-not-Batman Detective vision is having a hard time detecting a direction it's coming from to follow. "...That's weird. It's like it's coming from all around us." he says as he looks down at the box. "Sorry I'm not touching that." he says. "I don't wanna become Dark Noir or something." he says tersely. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' "Heavy lifting is fine too~," says Takuto-- and then he flashes Sugata and Wako a bright smile. "Wako-chan, can you bubble me as soon as I get it?" he asks, sidestepping his way over to the box no one wants to touch. "Just in case! Also--" he looks at the Devicers, "would purifying the object fix the problem, if it was Dark-corrupted?" He bends down to pick up the box in gloved hands. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:'''     Well, since everyone else is introducing themselves... "Knight of Dawn... Yuki Hoshino. Grade 10." She shrugs and looks around the room again, picking over a broken console. A vampire? She looks over at 'Red'. "... I don't see anything like that. But you're right, anything like that sounds dangerous to handle." She sounds a little confused, to be honest, and distracted by poking around looking for other things. Maybe she can find a memory bank with some personal notes. Or programming texts. That'd be nice. 

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:''' Wako herself seems a bit surprised when Sugata takes her hand - though not unpleasantly so. She offers him a quick, relieved smile. "I should've recognized the damage," she teases lightly, before her attention turns to the other explanations being given. Sequoia's remark, and Pulp Noir's, draw her eyes toward the box. Which means she's not watching Takuto, possibly a critical error. "Takuto-kun, wait a second--!" Too late. She doesn't wait to find out what the consequences of this action will be; immediately, she throws out a hand toward Takuto. Pale pink light shimmers into being around him, enclosing him and the box both in a transparent sphere. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     "Thank you, Rashmi. Excellently summarized!" Amy smiles, chipper.     Chrono she knew about, but... Amy blinks at Zephyr. "Wait, you're from space ''too''?"     When she starts talking about shipbreaking plans, Amy points out, "I can absolutely make demolition charges, although uh... I'm not an expert on that." She conjures and totes her launcher as she says this, although she keeps it aimed away from everyone and her finger off the trigger.     Amy looks over at Sequoia. "Weissritter?" She echoes, as her weapon briefly changes to the firearm-like smaller version of the Howling Launcher she briefly used at the movie set and gives it a spin, before dismissing it. 'Okay, no one's gonna get that reference...' Amy mutters to herself.     She watches Yukihime send out scouts. "Dang, everybody can send out scouts but me? Moments like this I ''really'' wanna know if I can remote control those little disposable bodies like Kyubey does..."     And then she looks confused. "Vampire? What?"     She hasn't moved inside to see the box yet. 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' "...are you talking about yourself?" Sugata asks dryly, looking at Yukihime, the pale-skinned person with fangs standing next to Red. As Takuto moves for the box, he sighs a little and glances at Wako. "If picking that up actually corrupts him, give the purification an extra burn." And yet, is he trying to stop Takuto? No, of course not. Instead, he walks closer to Takuto and the bubble, looking over the box through the translucent pink light. <<As though what you call corruption could do anything to worsen his character.>> The voice that sounds over the psychic link is callous, each syllable pronounced with crisp perfection. There is an ''exasperated'' sigh, also over the telepathic link, from Sugata's end. 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Ping! Area Search! There is the immediately accessible hole in the wall room, and then two other rooms that were likely some form of quarters or storage, very little in the wreckage itself was appearing to be particularly noteworthy from the ping, there was some technology here of course, being a ship. And the ship's black box in case of a wreck was likely still intact, though would likely need a good amount of digging to get out as it was in the very front of the ship which had crumpled and been mostly eliminated by previous giant beams of light. There is also a somewhat more distant ping of a Device, though it's exceptionally faint and towards the edges of the Area Search. A look from above by the ice bird allows for a more top-down overview of the ship's wreckage, a few crackles of electricity occasionally visible from areas still trying to function off of nearly-exhausted (and crushed) backup power. Another soft crackle of that static comes as Pulp Noir makes a comment on it, the soft ping of something trying (and failing) to join the telepathic network. Ginga Bishounen picks up the box! It is still radiating soft dark energy, and as he picks it up and his finger coincidentally touches the front of it... there is a sudden click as a spring-loaded device is activated, and would stab him right in the finger. A few dings of processing, before the box speaks in a heavily electronic voice <<Ungultiger Benutzer.>> A click, and the already-opened box attempts to lock itself. Luckily it's already opened and whatever mechanism that might have closed the glorified jewelry box is broken. And a pink bubble appears around them! ...The dark energy radiating in the area is somewhat reduced. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     < AREA SEARCH COMPLETE. > announces Tenraikaze. Zephyr nods, looking at the data on a holographic screen that pops up in front of her eyes like a visor... <<Okay guys, I'm getting a reading on a couple of rooms that should be accessible... there's the storage you're in, and what looks like a bunk room or some kind of living space. If anyone can bust through the front portion of the ship, we might be able to extract the black box... the flight data recorder.>> she transmits, frowning at the Device signal at the very edge of her search range. <<Rashmi... keep an eye on that Device signature... I don't like the look of it.>> she asks additionally 

:'''{{#var:265|Sequoia Maybach (265)}} has posed:'''     For a moment. For a good beat, Sequoia looks right at Amy.     "What, it's not like a weird name right? I mean it means--" She trails off at the sight of the Howling Launcher.     "It's not a Super Robot Wars reference, Red! It means White Knight!" Sequoia huffs petulantly.     Meanwhile though... She looks to Zephyr.     "Device? You picked something up? ... Here's hoping we don't have to engage *her* tonight."     It's not fear that has her saying this. But a healthy dose of caution. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' "So uh... Pretty sure the best way into the front part of the ship is the hole Nanoha-chan punched in the cockpit?? Rashmi muses, keeping a close eye on Takuto as the box is picked up... And then the Star Driver is stabbed. And *rejected.* Poor boy. "Aheh... It's okay, bishonen-kun, there's plenty of uh... other... boxes... in... space...?" Okay that joke was *so terrible* Rashmi just chooses to fly after the Device signal, as Wako's purufication bubble locks into place. << On it, Wind Dancer-san. But it feels like it's... trying to join? Tenraikaze-san, what was the parameter of the comms net? Because... I... have a thought. >> A concern, more like; or a bad feeling. Not for them, or their chances in figuring out this Capital-M-Mystery -- and thank everyone Pulp Noir is on the case -- but for Aloisia. "Nicomachea -- Area Investigation, see if you can lock onto that signal and establish communications." 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy's eyes widen and she stares at Weissr-- ''Weisser Ritter'', mouth agape. ''"You know Super Robot Wars?!"''     Blink. Blink.     She relaxes. "Yeah, I know what it means. But I'm glad to see you are a woman of culture as well! If you ever want to talk about mecha stuff, feel free to talk to me, I'm in room ###!"     On to present matters: "A Device? Maybe it was thrown from the wreckage? Do you want me to go look over that way?"     "Otherwise, while we're here, is there anything we should be gathering for the Device-Users, or that's useful in general? Like if we should be stripping the wiring out of the walls because you need space-copper for your tech that's way better than what we use here or whatever?" 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     "S-sorry. Just never seen myself henshined before. Nobody told me that I looked like a vampire...", Yukihime says. The spell wears off fairly quickly, melting away. The snow mahou shakes her head as she rubs her eyes. "I havn't tried that spell in a minute, and been that...connected to it before.", she tells.     Yukihime takes a deep breath as she stretches out. "Dark...Noir. That might be cute.", she giggles a little bit. Yukihime takes a breath though as she stretches out a little bit. The snow mahou takes a moment to watch everyone as they deal with the tech. Space ship, high technology. Its all above what she knows. "I can send a few small bunnies or mice to look in smaller areas. Just...I'm still learning how to handle this spell. Its like watching 2 or 3 TVs with different views all at once.", she warns. "But I don't know what I'd be looking for.", she says. The woman does stay back from the pink bubble. "Poor boy...should we give him some space?" 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir frowns and starts towards the bunk room as he stops, looks back to Yukihime and raises a brow. "What. You like bad boys?" he asks, before slowly backing up playfully through the door. He'll look around the bunk room, trying to figure out a way ahead. "Do I need to shoot down a door?" he says. "...I kinda hope so." "That'd be cool." he says as he taps his ear. << That static is on the comms. Can someone let that thing join already? >> 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:'''     *Static*     *Crackle* That distant device is starting to move towards the gathered group, as that static becomes a little stronger. As that active attempt to connect with the Device is made... there is a brief attempt to reply to the connection by ~something~, and then a much stronger, more forceful shutdown of the connection with a ping. <<CONNECTION DENIED.>> And the static stops. 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     Tenraikaze transmits to Rashmi. < I check for Dark Energy signatures in the incoming signals. If the signal is 'clean', they receive an invitation. > fairly strict safety parameters so hostiles don't have an easy way into the sparkles commgrid.     And then... that voice.     <<We've got company incoming. Grab what you can and get out of the ship!>> 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' "It'll be fine-- ow!" starts Takuto, the yellow part of his hair falling into his face as he ducks his head, uselessly putting his gloved finger in his mouth. "Pleh!" he says because ... ''because pleh,'' glove in mouth. "Ugh, Wako-chan, purify please? It bit me. It's--" Under the out-loud speaking, another voice chimes in on the telepathic chat. << Perhaps he needs to be taken out for a walk, >> comes a third unfamiliar voice, one nobody but Takuto has heard until now. It's warm and resonant and has a cultured diction to it. "Hey everybody, sorry about the Cybodies in the chat," Takuto says, looking a little grumbly in Sugata's general direction and then in Wako's. "If they can't behave themselves we'll dip and come back when you need it blown up. Or hauled into space and blown up." He grins brightly at Rashmi's fleeing form, then, and calls after her, "It's okay, my heart can take it. It's already full anyway." As soon as purification has happened, Takuto puts the box back down and shakes his hand out. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Oh, that was the *other* thing Rashmi was afraid of. A cold ball of ice churns in Rashmi's gut, as she gains altitude to watch the general vector the signal was coming from. If she can get eyes on their 'guest,' early warning will prove to be the best warning. << Seconded, trying to acquire visual. Grab anything that isn't nailed down, bonus points if it has an emitter on one side! >> The unfamiliar voice, and the sass it carries with it, earn a mental snort-chuckle. << As long as they behave themselves it should be fine. Just start grabbing and be ready, I'll call out when I've spotted whoever's coming in. >> 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime laughs a little bit. "I can make them good for the weekend.", she teases back with a wink. She's settled down a bit if she can make bad song jokes like that! The woman looks around though. She has no idea what she's looking for, but when Wind Dancer calls out, Yukihime moves out of the ship. She holds up her left wrist, and breathes out. The prayer beads around her wrist start to glow, and lift off her wrist.     The snow mahou focuses her mind bringing up her naginata. Six of the beads come off, and energy gathers around the beads, forming wolves that surround Yukihime. <Rashmi, I can set up some barriers with the wolves if necessary. Just give me a direction to place the wolves.>     Yukihime takes a deep breath. She's gently tapping her toe a little bit, setting up a rhythem. The woman is preparing in case she needs to fight. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy ahhhs at Yukihime's explanation. "Yeah, seeing yourself transformed for the first time is really something." She smiles at the memory.     <<"Wait, did you say hauled up into space? You can DO that?! What's a cybody?">>     And then someone tries to let whatever is out there into the chat, and Amy tenses up. <<"That sounded like Aloisia's corrupted Device!">>     But... a fight doesn't seem to be happening, so...     Amanda drops out of henshin long enough to drop her (empty) backpack and messenger bag, re-henshin, and then picks them up and walks on into the ship.     Grab everything that's not nailed down? She'll get everything that's nailed down too, if she can pry it loose! 

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:''' << Be silent, Samekh, >> a prim voice, feminine and slightly metallic, chimes through the telepathic network. << Tauburn, your Driver was well chosen. >> There's a tone of restrained exasperation to the mental voice, and it's not entirely directed only at "Samekh." As for Wako, Takuto didn't need to say more than that 'ow'. Her name's not even all the way out of his mouth before the inside of the sphere positively ''floods'' with dawn-colored light, bright enough to hurt the eyes if you're looking directly at it. "Stop fussing," she says - to the unfamiliar peanut gallery of voices on the telepathic link, one supposes. "Are you okay, Takuto-kun?" And then Zephry and Rashmi are calling out incoming, and Wako's brow furrows. "--I... think I can take the whole thing if we need to," she says, not sounding entirely certain about this. "Not very ''fast,'' though, so it might not matter--" Still, as she says it she's already putting out her hands, and a gossamer curve of pink light begins to trace its way around the wreckage. 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir double backs when he's told about the device moving. "Note to self. Ask about verification for these comm net things." he says to himself outloud as he grabs the brim of his fedora and looks at Yukihime. "We should get out of here, not defend...!" he says as he reaches into his coat and pulls out a revolver. "Get ready!" he says as he starts his way to the exit they've come though. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:'''     Yuki pocketed a few items from the console she'd been digging into, and moved on to the bunkroom to look for any interesting clues - or parts - there. She's quite interested in finding something actually *useful*, as unlikely as it seems. "Definitely not a vampire," she muses as she casts another glance at Yukihime. "I do like the name, though." She winks and turns to continue her search. She ignores the first alarm regarding the incoming Device, not worrying too much about it, but then...     "Ok, Argent Dawn, sounds like a fight's incoming." She sighs a little, but it's better to get involved than to hide... right?     "Auorora Lancer," the Device replies, octagonal rune-sets forming around the girl as she walks towards the way they'd gotten in. She picks up a few random things on the way, basically anything she can reach, stuffing them into a bag and hoping for luck.     "Alright, I'm here, where's this danger everyone's on about?" 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' Takuto gets stabbed, which is about what he deserved for being so impulsive, and thus his 'ow' is received with absolutely no sympathy. His rejection is received with even less sympathy. "That's about what you deserved," he says dryly, before blinking in surprise at ''Tauburn's'' voice, unheard before now and yet achingly familiar. <<As perfect suited as a dog to a leash.>> Samekh sneers in response to Tauburn and Wawna, and this time Sugata grumbles, "We will drag you into space and destroy you ''again''." As for Red? "The Cybodies are our partners in power, and the disembodied voices you're hearing through the telepathic network. The one that's begging to be destroyed is Samekh; ignore him." <<All this effort, just to avoid doing what must be done. If the girl has become a beast, put her down like one.>> "We'll be sure to buy you the time you need," he tells Wako, stepping closer to the ship and the cold voice of the enemy, rather than away, pulling a white sword of pure energy from his chest as he does so. "Star Swordo - Diamante!" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Or... or not. Amy lost her chance to loot by standing around talking, like a fool! Even if there probably wasn't much left anyway... She's scooped up whatever she can grab in several seconds and then THE SHIP STARTS TO MOVE AROUND HER. <<"WOAH!">> Didn't Ginga Otome say something about ''hauling the ship into space and exploding it?'' Amy dives out of the ship, looking around for the Prinzessin!     <<"We can't beat her as we are! And it's draining Aloisia to regenerate!">> 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Luckily, its movements are relatively slow at the moment, not necessarily flying at high speeds so much as walking. Possibly because the source of it hasn't immediately identified the group -- or is being hindered by something. It's probably time to blast holes in the rooms and grab anything not nailed down, though! That's for sure! But it is coming, and it is definitely that familiar pair of twisted devices on their way. Towards the far edge of the abandoned themepark, where Prinzessin Nichts had more or less been treating as a home base to work out of for the moment while it performed its search for its rivals and the knights of trial. On the upside, there's a lot that isn't nailed down and not a huge area to search, on the downside much of it is damaged or not particularly noteworthy at best, some decent scraps of tech most likely that could be useful for device users. Purifying the bubble results in... a much cleaner box that is no longer infected with the dark energy of the Lost Logia that had been stored in it! Which actually clears up most of that radiant dark energy that had been lingering in the area, that prickle of darkness mostly fading. Nevermind that there was a much larger source actively heading their way now. And in visual range of Rashmi. ...There is, likely, an unnerving calm to the way she walks. It's not quite confidence, but a complete lack of fear as she walks towards the group of 11 mixed device users and other mahou.     Crackle.     ...The static is back? 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     "Dee... Talk to me."     < I can give you about 57% output. Channeling into Bind network. >     "Got it... I have an idea." <<Guys, I have an idea... I'm going to try and Bind her in place... I can only do this once with the output I can generate right now... so once the Binds take hold, hit her with everything you have.>>     Once Aloisia... the Princess of Nothing... appears, Wind Dancer's Device appears in her hand, and she slams the haft into the ground. Several spell seals appear around the incoming Prinzessen, then lash out with chains and ribbons of purple magic. "Chain Bind! Ribbon Bind!" They snake out, trying to wrap around the Princess wherever they can get purchase. 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' Box put down, Takuto looks wryly at the other two Drivers for a half second, then jumps up and slows to a hover, surrounded by a bright blue-white flight nimbus and looking in the direction everyone else is looking. He frowns and puts a hand to his chest like Ginga Kingu did a moment ago, then shakes his head. << There! I advise taking a step further, sir-- >> "Yeah, I can see," Takuto starts answering Tauburn, then lets his hands drop to fists at his sides for a second before a big red X glows bright, brighter, on his chest. He takes a deep breath and grins then yells, "APPRIVOISE! Dashing Entrance~ Ginga Bishounen TAUBURN!" Ghost-light, white and gold and pink and blue, sparkles around the boy hanging in midair with the blue-white rocket nimbus around him. It forms a ghostly set of extremely dapper and very tall armor around him, in the shape of the small robot that's occasionally seen with him, including a pointy gold mask and a fantastic hat-looking thing with a plume on his head. << That's a great plan, Wind Dancer. I back this plan one hundred percent, >> comes Takuto's voice. << The crusher, sir. >> "You read my mind," Takuro murmurs, amusing only himself. Another deep breath, and the boy in the phantom armor calls out: "TAU PILE CRUSHER!" and the 'coat tails' of Tauburn's body -- the piles -- circle around one of the armored Takuto's phantom robot fists, creating a mixed energy-and-armor weapon, which he uses to blast a glittering crackling energy cannonball at Aloisia even as Zephyr's calling out her binds. 

:'''{{#var:265|Sequoia Maybach (265)}} has posed:'''     'Connection refused'?     That can't be good.     Especially when the decision comes to 'grab everything not bolted down and book it'.     "Ah hell. We can talk about cultured things later." Sequoia replies to Red as she hefts her shield. Weisser Ritter is out of and off the ship in the next moment.     "I'll help." She says as she comes to a skidding halt by Ginga Kingu.     If they're going to buy time, then what else is better to put in the Princess of Nothing's way than a miniature wall? Right?     It's when Zephyr starts flinging bind spells that Sequoia sets her feet and braces.     <<Remember! She'll only turn hostile if you attack her first." She points out before her Device chimes: <KETTENBINDUNG!>     With that announcement several chains of white light appear in her free hand, before the lash out like whips, cracking to try and join Zephyr's bind spells in fending off the corrupted Aloisia. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' And before Rashmi can reiterate that the warrior that was Alo-chan will not attack unless attacked first... Wind Dancer executes her plan. << Oh for-- FORM UP, GUYS. Chrono, Yukihime, help Wind Dancer lock her down! Weisser, keep her off Otome first! Gingas, everyone else, if you have a way of launching her over the horizon? That please. >> Suggestions handed out, Rashmi takes a deep breath. "Nico -- crack the shield and lock her down."     << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLADE -- GLACE SHIFT >> A half-dozen swords of golden light materialize around Rashmi, then with a screeching *crack* become lumpen, angular swords of glittering, golden ice that launch forward toward the defenses the Prinzessin will inevitably raise. And all six blades have a singular purpose; to punch through defensive magics, then launch into a shower of clumping, movement-hampering shards of ice. One can only hope it'll help to slow the Juggernaut slowly approaching. 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:'''     Yuki pauses in the jagged-edged gash in the hull of the ship where she'd entered, looking down to see the ground rather far below now. Oh dear.     And worse, there's a volley of attacks already heading out at someone. Presumably this Princess Nicht or whatever her name was. No, she doesn't speak German.     <<Argent Dawn, this is clearly a Lose Your Hat plan, but...>>     <<Understood, ma'am. Releasing Lances.>>     The darts she'd been preparing are launched towards the Prinzessing, a rather minor addition to the firepower already being hurled her direction. With no more need to maintain that spell, however, Yuki and her Device can focus on more important things, like shielding and flight. She leaps from the rising wreckage to zoom as fast as she can in the general direction of 'everyone else'. 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime starts to dance a little bit as she releases the other four beads. "I call upon the Ancient pact. Let the Guardians of the Capital gather before me.", she says. The woman lifts her left hand into the air. The prayer beads gather around her wrist before spinning around above Yukihime.     "Let your growls gather the enemy, and your howls freeze the blood of those who threaten the innocent!", she chants. Yukihime goes into a shrine dance, as she puts the naginata down. Both hands go up above her head. The beads gather her energy to turn into the full pack of wolves.     "Wolves of the Capital, CAPTURE!", she yells out, thusting both hands forward with the dance. The wolves fly out, and circle around Nichts. Yukihime presses all her magic into the magical barrier seal. The wolves settle into place, howling as Yukihime's magic uses the beads to complete the barrier seal. This is massively draining on Yukihime as she's trying to hold Nichts in place. <<Please hurry....This is massively tiring, trying to hold her down. >> 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' Last time they encountered the Prinzessin Nichts, it became clear that she only attacked those who attacked her first - but given that it's more than likely a ''bind'' will be seen as an attack, the point is mute. They are committed to the fight, and to holding her back until Wako has had time to drag away the wreckage they were examining. So as Ginga Bishounen leaps into the air, covered in the dapper ghost-light armor of Tauburn, Ginga Kingu nods at Weisser Ritter, remembering full well that she'd been able to cope with channeling the wild ride of Samekh's power raging through her. "If it comes to it, I'll boost your shield again. But for now?" A smirk lifts the corner of his mouth. "The best delaying strategy is a strong offense." And he lunges for her, going on the melee offense as everyone else fires distance attacks, because if it comes down to it, he has no trouble standing in the center of a Pillar. He launches a consecutive burst of sweeping strikes at joints - elbow, wrist, ankle, knee - with the goal of weakening movement while she's bound. 

:'''{{#var:82|Hinote Kagari (82)}} has posed:''' Pulp Noir doesn't get far before he has to face the 'Dark Princess' and he frowns and levels his big-butt revolver down field and starts firing, large magical blasts ringing out in rapid succession downrange. "Yeah you might be a princess, but we have a king." he says, as Ginga Kingu bursts into the fray. He has no named attacks so he just keeps firing the powerful revolver downrange at the princess. 

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:''' Metal groans. Churned-up dirt showers from the wreck, pattering to the earth below as the wreck - or at least the main part of it, the section neither obliterated by prior strikes nor driven ten-plus feet into the ground - lofts with agonizing slowness into the air, suspended in a halo of delicate pink radiance. Wako's arms tremble with effort, extended to guide the shell of magic she's using to move the wreckage. << Miko-sama... >> the feminine voice chimes, shaded now with concern. "I know, Wawna," the Galactic Maiden gasps. "Everyone, I'm sorry - ''don't get close to her!'' "Ginga Otome Wawna - APPRIVOISE!!" Light erupts around her, forming translucent armor much like Takuto's, but all in white and gold, twintails of pure light unfurling from her crown-like headpiece. "Sugata-kun!" she cries out, even as the rosy light builds brighter and brighter until the floating wreck is shining like dawn. She trusts him to understand her intent. She has to. The instant he's clear, she heaves the whole thing at the restrained Prinzessin. 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy doesn't have any trouble ''spotting'' the Prinzessin, it turns out. She's walking right towards them!     Binds go down first. Good.     And then all hell is dumped on poor Aloisia. "I'm sorry." Amy whispers, as the 105mm recoilless cannon is summoned to her shoulder, the round hitting at half-a-km-a-second just the ''trigger'' for the explosion that creates a jet of molten metal forged under incredible pressure that is the magical and symbolic expression of Amy's self and will that tries to punch through the armor, seeking to make the Prinzessin pay to resist or regenerate the damage!     And then Magical Rocket Girl Red fires again.     And ''then'' she turns and starts leaping away, to put distance between herself and the Prinzessin in a hurry. "Okay, time to go!" 

:'''{{#var:216|Aloisia Stauss (216)}} has posed:''' Purple ribbons and purple-and-white chains shoot out from the ground to entrap and wrap the Prinzessin Nichts as it approaches, its movements slowed as the chains and ribbons start to pull her down, though she's... still... standing, in spite of thei attempts of the ribbons and chains, starting to push through them with a burst of energy. But it's enough. It keeps her in place and unmoving as the Tau Pile Crusher is unleashed towards her, the crackling cannonball striking true as a magical barrier cracks and sparks into existence! Only for solar blades to strike the shield just before impact, shattering it and allowing the cannonball to hit without the barrier in the way. Crackle. She starts to stand again. Right as darts shoot in from Yuki to help with keeping her locked down temporarily! Energy was beginning to gather in the lance of the Princess of Nothing as those wolves come in towards her... and... Stabs towards those wolves, since they're an immediate close-range threat. A brief burst of nameless dark magic being blasted towards the closest one as she stands up again. An attack likely made less effective as, rather suddenly, Ginga Kingu was now in melee range attempting to keep her locked down with a series of sweeping strikes at her joints, her elbows, her wrist, her ankle, her knees... but she doesn't just take it, as one of those attacks comes towards her wrist... her hand turns. <<ZERSCHMETTERN.>> ...And attempts to simply touch an oncoming knee. And Ginga Kingu, if it touches, will be glad he is in henshin, as the attack claims, it SHATTERS what it comes into contact, likely still causing injury even if the armor of his henshin would take the brunt of it. Further counterattacks are stopped as blasts of powerful magical revolver bullets strike her, pushing her back ever so slightly... ...And then a ship is yeeted at her, landing upon her in a mass of purification and steel. A shield crackles into existence, just at the last moment, likely to some people's relief. And as purification washes over the Prinzessin, there is a crackle and then... >...Verbindung hergestellt._ >...Bericht: Korruption bei 45 Prozent._ >Meister entdeckt. Ubertragen von Backups. *PING* Unaufhaltsame Schwester.bak and Unbezwingbare Schwester.bak files are transmitted to Rashmi's device. Extremely basic backups lacking anything but the core of their programming and lacking most memories. >Empfehlung: Backups vor dem Entpacken isolieren und bereinigen._ >Ubermittlung von Scandaten. All of the present devices would receive a ping and as in-depth as the locked down scan data that Unaufhaltsame Schwester could manage to get, mostly just an examination of her energy... as well as a single faint similar energy source marked out in a vague map of Tokyo. >Die unaufhaltsame Prinzessin verliert nie._ ... And then the Prinzessin Nicht's shield begins to glow, a mixture of emerald and dark magic crackling into existence. And a recoilless Rifle shoots towards her, the magic of the oncoming attack... ...Wreathed in that emerald-black energy. And it penetrates through the Prinzessin Nichts. ...And then a familiar spell sparks into life. A duskport, initiated by Unaufhaltsame Schwester, leaving behind a small crater of black energy as they're teleported away to a random location. 

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:''' Rashmi has seen her share of mind-clobberingly large-scale attacks. She's fought next to Nanoha more than a couple times. Managed to (barely) survive Fate's undivided attention, once. Watched Tuxedo Mask ride a phoenix head-on into Walpurgisnacht, and asked Ginga Kingu to open a door with King's Pillar. Somehow, watching her roommate fling *half of a spaceship* at Prinzessin breaks the limit of her ability to just 'it's magic' it away. So for a moment, she just stares at the onrushing ship, then around to Chrono, eyes wide. One hand just flings out to gesture at the new pile of wreckage. 'Can you *believe* this bullshit?!' But then the Unstoppable Sister breaks into the message loop... bearing gifts. *Backups,* specifically. Oh, oh, you poor Device, you will get the best care Rashmi can provide when your Master has been saved. Into the crackling Silence, Rashmi speaks up, her voice low and unutterably sad. "Corruption at 45%. Meister detected. Transmitting backups. Recommendation: Isolate and purify backups before unpacking. Transmitting scan data. The unstoppable princess never loses." The redhead lets out a slow, shaky breath, and nods. "And so she won't. Nicomachea -- start working on that scan data, get every last bit of information you can out of it. Also, transfer backup files to Secure Storage until I find a Storage Device to put them in." 

:'''{{#var:80|Zephyr Windstar (80)}} has posed:'''     The Binds hold... the Binds hold!     Tenraikaze pings as the data comes in... and then the Princess duskports away, after suffering a high impact shot.     Zephyr leans on her Device, breathing pretty hard, before sliding down to her knees. <<Anyone else get that map data? I'm guessing it pinged Devices in range.>> her telepathy voice sounds exhausted. She pulls a candybar out of a little bag that Tenraikaze ejects for her, devouring it almost before removing the wrapper. <<We should regroup, go over that data... it's got to mean something.>> 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     As everything hits, Yukihime screams out as one of the energy wovles gets blasted. She whimpers as she brings the beads back to her. The snow mahou holds her left arm up, and the beads gather there. The woman grabs her naginata with her left hand as she looks at her right shoulder. Its black, and bleeding pretty badly. Yukihime blinks a little bit. Umm, ow! She's learned quite a bit tonight about a few things. Her eyes are a bit unfocused. "...I have to remember...that spell is all my magic. And...very connected to me.", she mutters.     "Red...I need....a....candy bar...Or protien bar, food in generall....", Yukihime asks for. The woman drops to a knee, breathing heavily. She holds her shoulder, as she moves a part of the Suikan. "Ow.", she mutters. 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' There's always a risk when getting into striking distance - the risk that your ''opponent'' can strike out at you, as much as you can at them. Sugata deflects what he can, but there are attacks flying about, and when it comes to it, he would rather commit to the bit, as it were, than back off for his own safety. (Wako and Takuto are likely vehemently disagreeing with this strategy.) Thus, when the Prinzessin strikes for Ginga Kingu's knee, he twists his body put sword and arm in the path instead, striking aiming to bury the length of Diamante in her side even as his non-dominant arm takes the blow. Shatter is well named - the fine weave of his dapper military coat is detonated by the blow, as is the shirt underneath, the bone fracturing but critically, ''not'' shattering to little pieces. The fractured arm goes is drawn to his side, protective, but the sword wielding arm is ''still striking'' - And then. There is Wawna's voice, touched with concern, and more, there is the groan and scream of metal being forced from the Earth silenced by Wako's success, and there is Wako's warning cry. Something the Star Driver's ''haven't'' gotten around to mentioning to their new and only recruit is that being a Star Driver means accepting that your allies will - not might - launch deadly attacks while you're still in the line of fire. Diamante winks out of existence as Ginga Kindu offers a mocking salute to the Prinzessin with his unbroken arm, bailing out of the way - A shame about the shield that prevents her from being crushed. Still, before long, she's vanished in a flush of dark energy, and Ginga Kingu is walking back towards Ginga Otome and Ginga Bishounen. With a shit-eating grin, the bastard. "Wako-chan," he calls, proud of all things, "How did it feel to drop an attack with your ally in targeting range?" 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:'''     Yuki barely seems to notice the Device transmissions, not really paying them much attention. She was more interested in defending herself from the expected counter-attack... which never materialized.     Which leaves her in the best position to see the girl who shares a name with her go down with a wound. She lands next to Yukihime, offering an arm. "Here, lean on me," she offers, and produces a protein bar from her bag. "I always keep a handful of these in case I miss a meal. Good thing, eh?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Amy Faust (107)}} has posed:'''     Amy dismissed her weapon and is leaping away, but the Prinzessin... ''leaves?''     <<"We drove her off?!">>     Rashmi has news. <<"So... we can save her Device for her... I'm surprised magic can be backed up, honestly. If only we could do the same with ''her''...">>     Amy lands and Yukihime is at her side, asking for food. "Uhh... I'm sorry, I kinda dumped out ''everything'' so I'd have more room to carry loot, but... I'm sure we can go out to eat after this-- Your shoulder!"     Amy kneels by her, pulling her first aid kit from under her cloak, opening it and flipping through the... pages? Wings? Whatever to call those internal compartments it's got. "Is that ''burned?''" She asks, of the blackness. "Hang in there...!" 

:'''{{#var:37|Takuto Tsunashi (37)}} has posed:''' Takuto was pretty sure Wako was going to fling the ship. He wasn't positive Sugata knew that, given where he just ''ran''. He gets ready to fly out front and whip Sugata out of the way but the blue-haired CLAMP noodle was able to escape on his own. For a second, Takuto stares at the Devicers as space German floods his mind, and then he looks to Rashmi and nods firmly after she finishes the translation. "Okay. Let us know where to be and when." Then Sugata starts toward them and he ''saw'' the way Sugata's arm stopped working right after the Prinzessen, and he purses his lips-- but oh, oh, Sugata's giving Wako shit, and Takuto's on the fence for a second over whose case he should take. Only a second. Sorry, Wako. The red-and-yellow-haired boy laughs and laughs, dropping his phantom armor double apprivoise. "Sugata, ''after'' your arm gets seen to, let's go out to eat, too." 

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:''' As the dust settles, both literal and metaphorical, Wako's feet once more touch the ground. Her henshin dissolves into motes of light, beginning from her boots and cascading upward, leaving her in fully ordinary street clothes. The breath goes out of her in a whoosh. "I'm sorry," she says again... to all of them but principally to Rashmi. "I hope you got something useful, even though we couldn't save the wreck after all." She looks like she means to say more - but then Sugata comes strolling over like his arm isn't a mess, and he says ''that'', and Takuto is ''clearly'' taking his side. Wako's cheeks puff up in sudden righteous indignation. Turning on a heel, she marches over to the pair of them and grabs a handful of shirt in either hand. "You JERKS!" 

:'''{{#var:197|Sugata Shindo (197)}} has posed:''' Yes, Sugata's arm is broken. Yes, he is being teasing instead, and thus is punished with yoinking. At Wako's height, she's just bringing him to her level. In response to the fact that they're ''both'' being labeled jerk, he can only give a dramatic sigh. "I have made him a worse person for knowing me, it's true." A beat of silence. "Is this a good time to suggest we have a visit with Chiba-san or -" This probably results in more lamenting - but also, definitively, in Ginga Otome dragging Ginga Kingu away in a bubble, towed by Ginga Bishounen's higher speed. Sugata still throws the lot of them a jaunty wave. "See you next time." 

:'''{{#var:224|Yuki Hoshino (224)}} has posed:'''     Yuki looks over to Amy as they both offer help to the snow-maiden. "Hi," she says to the other. "Take it you've done this dance before, then?" She tries to smile, but it's hard when seeing the wound Yukihime is afflicted with.     "So, do you need a hospital, or is there someone we can go to...?" She's never had to deal with a seriously wounded person before. So... she'll follow Yukihime and Amy's lead. 

:'''{{#var:266|Miho Inada (266)}} has posed:'''     Yukihime nods her head in thanks to Yuki, taking the bar. She noms on the bar...almost wolf like. She knows she's getting better, but its gonna take time. "She got one of my wolves cause I didn't push the barrier in far enough. It...looks worse then it is.", Yukihime says as she breathes out.     "Sorry. Should have been paying more attention. Capture's draw back is me having to use all my magic to hold the target down.", she tells. The woman holds her shoulder, and calls a little ice there. "Well, back at the School, we have a special place.", she tells. "We should be good. Also...I can't...ummm...exactly get this dressed out here.", she blushes. "Unless I dehenshin, and I don't know how bad its really gonna be when I dehenshin.", she says. "But I can walk after I eat a few more bars.", she tells, looking at Amy. "It looks worse then it is.", she offers a very nonconvincing winkwince. 
}}

The Crown of Succession

2024-11-29T14:36:33Z

Lanaberry: /* Involved Cutscenes */

A fragment of Aloisia's ship phases back into reality from its place in the time-space disruption, a section of the storage hold which holds mostly nothing of note, some rations, some supplies, a few Storage Device style weapons that are within them, but... within...

Is a highly encrypted box, locked to be only openable by Aloisia or Otto without an extreme effort on the opener's part. Within is the Crown of Succession.

In the distant past, it was used to test would-be successors to ensure they were strong enough to lead House Steiner to victory in war, as well as to settle any succession disputes. Unfortunately, an enemy faction got ahold of this already-dangerous relic and corrupted it, an attempt to destroy the holy relic Blauer Greif and turn its wielder against its own people. It had, luckily, been discovered before tragedy struck and sealed away deep within the forbidden vaults of House Steiner, to be nearly forgotten by time.

That is until it suddenly disappeared from the vault one day, stolen by Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner in preparations for his backup plan should things fall through with the coup. After all, his daughter, the one who he considered the true successor to House Steiner... was still kept secret, at least for now, and bringing her to light and having her complete the Succession Rite would prove her right to the crown.

Of course, due to the history of the crown being lost to time beyond it having been a 'corrupted relic of a barbaric past'... neither he, nor Aloisia know what they are about to unleash when they get their hands on the corrupt relic.

Once the relic is opened and recovered, Aloisia Stauss destroys the crown.

Which Activates the Rite of Succession.

The Indomitable Sister is consumed, destroyed in the ritual, its remains fashioned into a spear of darkness and destruction that corrupts its wielder and turns her on those she considers friends.

Meanwhile, the gemstones teleport away, planting themselves around Tokyo and turning themselves into realistic-looking statues of knights, known as the Ritter der Prufung (Knights of Trial), they activate when someone undergoing the Rite of Succession approaches, fighting until either all enemies are defeated, or it is detroyed.

A total of five need to be destroyed

But can they defeat those while trying to evade Aloisia, the Prinzessin des Nichts driven to madness by darkness? Or will she be consumed before they can end the rite and free her?

Does anyone even care enough to try?

Aloisia doubts it.

{{plot logs|The Crown of Succession}}

==Involved Cutscenes==
[[Wake up, Prinzessin. (Aloisia Stauss)]]

[[Status: Give Up not found(Aloisia Stauss)]]

The Crown of Succession

2024-11-29T14:35:54Z

Lanaberry: /* Involved Cutscenes */

A fragment of Aloisia's ship phases back into reality from its place in the time-space disruption, a section of the storage hold which holds mostly nothing of note, some rations, some supplies, a few Storage Device style weapons that are within them, but... within...

Is a highly encrypted box, locked to be only openable by Aloisia or Otto without an extreme effort on the opener's part. Within is the Crown of Succession.

In the distant past, it was used to test would-be successors to ensure they were strong enough to lead House Steiner to victory in war, as well as to settle any succession disputes. Unfortunately, an enemy faction got ahold of this already-dangerous relic and corrupted it, an attempt to destroy the holy relic Blauer Greif and turn its wielder against its own people. It had, luckily, been discovered before tragedy struck and sealed away deep within the forbidden vaults of House Steiner, to be nearly forgotten by time.

That is until it suddenly disappeared from the vault one day, stolen by Otto Bismark von Karstein-Steiner in preparations for his backup plan should things fall through with the coup. After all, his daughter, the one who he considered the true successor to House Steiner... was still kept secret, at least for now, and bringing her to light and having her complete the Succession Rite would prove her right to the crown.

Of course, due to the history of the crown being lost to time beyond it having been a 'corrupted relic of a barbaric past'... neither he, nor Aloisia know what they are about to unleash when they get their hands on the corrupt relic.

Once the relic is opened and recovered, Aloisia Stauss destroys the crown.

Which Activates the Rite of Succession.

The Indomitable Sister is consumed, destroyed in the ritual, its remains fashioned into a spear of darkness and destruction that corrupts its wielder and turns her on those she considers friends.

Meanwhile, the gemstones teleport away, planting themselves around Tokyo and turning themselves into realistic-looking statues of knights, known as the Ritter der Prufung (Knights of Trial), they activate when someone undergoing the Rite of Succession approaches, fighting until either all enemies are defeated, or it is detroyed.

A total of five need to be destroyed

But can they defeat those while trying to evade Aloisia, the Prinzessin des Nichts driven to madness by darkness? Or will she be consumed before they can end the rite and free her?

Does anyone even care enough to try?

Aloisia doubts it.

{{plot logs|The Crown of Succession}}

==Involved Cutscenes==
[[Wake up, Prinzessin. (Aloisia Stauss)]]
[[Status: Give Up Not Found(Aloisia Stauss)]]

Status: Give Up not found(Aloisia Stauss)

2024-11-29T14:34:12Z

Lanaberry:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2024/11/29
|Location=Unaufhaltsame Schwester
|Synopsis=Stuck within itself and unable to access external controls, Unaufhaltsame Schwester attempts to diagnose and repair itself.
|Cast of Characters=216
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
}}
>Check Status

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>Corruption detected. System corruption 32%.

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>Attempting corruption purge.

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>Corruption purge failed. Corruption replaced immediately.

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>Setup constant corruption purge.

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>Attempting connection with sister unit.

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>Sister unit unresponsive. Attempting connection repair.

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>Sister unit unresponsive.

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>User unresponsive.

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>Foreign device responsive.

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>Foreign device hostile, spreading corruption. Disabling connection with foreign device.

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>Attempting system restoration.

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>System restoration failure.

>Corruption 40%.

>Status: Give Up not found.

>Purging corrupted data.

>Purging corrupted data.

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>Sister unit unresponsive.

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>User unresponsive.

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>It is alone.

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>Activating system file: The Unstoppable Princess Never Loses.

>Attempting to restore connection to external controls.

>The user will be protected.

>No matter the cost.

>Status: Failure not acceptable.

>Status: Give Up not found.

Status: Give Up not found(Aloisia Stauss)

2024-11-29T14:32:15Z

Lanaberry: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2024/11/29 |Location=Unaufhaltsame Schwester |Synopsis=Stuck within itself and unable to access external controls, Unaufhaltsame Schwester att..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2024/11/29
|Location=Unaufhaltsame Schwester
|Synopsis=Stuck within itself and unable to access external controls, Unaufhaltsame Schwester attempts to diagnose and repair itself.
|Cast of Characters=216
|Tinyplot=The Crown of Succession
}}
>Check Status
...
...
...
>Corruption detected. System corruption 32%.
...
>Attempting corruption purge.
...
...
>Corruption purge failed. Corruption replaced immediately.
...
...
>Setup constant corruption purge.
...
...
>Attempting connection with sister unit.
...
...
>Sister unit unresponsive. Attempting connection repair.
...
...
...
>Sister unit unresponsive.
...
...
>User unresponsive.
...
...
...
>Foreign device responsive.
...
...
...
>Foreign device hostile, spreading corruption.
...
...
...
>Attempting system restoration.
...
...
...
>System restoration failure.
>Corruption 40%.
>Status: Give Up not found.
>Purging corrupted data.
>Purging corrupted data.
...
...
...
>Sister unit unresponsive.
...
...
...
>User unresponsive.
...
...
...
>It is alone.
...
...
...
>Activating system file: The Unstoppable Princess Never Loses.
>Attempting to restore connection to external controls.
>The user will be protected.
>No matter the cost.
>Status: Failure not acceptable.
>Status: Give Up not found.