View source for 1963/Between a Roc and a Hard Place

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2024/09/21
|Location=Dream Kingdom
|Synopsis=Ember deploys one of Eudial's portal towers, but doesn't manage to defend it. She got what ''she'' came for though: she found the dust emblem she was looking for, and some clues as to just who it is that has it. Big new Grimm debut and try to put a strain on Ember's relationship with Scorpia.
|Cast of Characters=203,131,227,246
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:203|Ryoko Gushiken (203)}} has posed:'''<br>It was a beautiful, late-summer day down near the water. The skies were clear and the sun shining down, which made the salty sea breeze a cool relief for many of the patrons at Dream Kingdom. Everyone knew it would be one of the last perfect summer days before the weather started turning colder, and so the park upon a platform was packed with people.<br><br>It was perfect.<br><br>Just as everyone had gotten buckled into their seats for the next run of the Dream Ride, the operator--and everyone else on the ride, indeed, most everyone else at the park--just slumped forward. But in the case of the operator, that had him slump forward against the lever that sent the Dream Ride out over the water along its track.<br><br>Up on one of Dream Castle's turrets is a rather familiar looking tower with a, potentially familiar looking portal in front of it. Ember stands at the console of the tower tapping away at buttons. The portal seems to lead to some sort of strange, dark place.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Hinoiri Kirara was enjoying the Dream Kingdom today. She wasn't really the most... theme park-minded person. But she was trying it out!<br><br>... She was miserable. She'd wanted to go with her girlfriend, but some stuff came up at her work and so she was alooooone. She didn't want to be here alone. She wanted to be hanging out with her girlfriend and so, accordingly, was spending more time typing on her phone and occasionally glancing up and around than she was actually enjoying herself. She'd even taken some videos of herself while doing it, to be posted on ShimmerCode.<br><br>But, it wasn't really a bad place. She just.... wasn't in much of a theme park mood. she was in the mood to--<br><br>Aaaaand then there was that *feeling*. Energy drain. She ugged, looked at the phone. "Uhhh, looks like there's a commotion, I gotta check this out. Later." Quickly turning it off, she ran off before things could get out of control and...<br><br>OH THAT BITCH! THAT WAS HER TOWER! ONE OF HER TOWERS! WHAT DID THEY DO TO HER BABIES?! THEY FRANKENSTEINED IT!<br><br>It. Was. SO ON!<br><br>Equivalence would announce her arrival from above... by bringing her foot down on Ember in a mighty axe kick!<br><br>Rude, didn't even announce herself. "You know, that toy seems a bit outside of your level of expertise, Ember. You probably shouldn't be playing with things you *can't* understand."<br><br>Yes, the gray haired heroine seemed... oddly heated for some reason.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>Before most of everyone at the park slumped forward, Yaling was just a few meters away, tossing rings over the various prizes at one of the booths. "Come on, almost there", she says deep in concentration after the previous two tries kept bouncing off the cylindrical box of a poster for a new manga she had been reading the last few weeks.<br><br>"Hooray!", she shouts as her concentration finally pays off and the ring finally falls down the length of the tube. "Can't wait to hang it up!" she smiles as she gets handed the prize. "Good job, Yaling", BaiBai replies, glad that her protegée got what she wanted before she had to make a choice between financial responsibility or the prize. "Was it fun?" the white snake asks the green-haired girl. "Absolutely! Things were really tense, but I really enjoyed getting it to fit in there."<br><br>Before she can walk away from there, the seller slumps forward, a sign that has Yaling jump behind the booth to check on her health. "She looks very tired, BaiBai, and weak", she says after carrying out a few of the checkups the snake had taught her. Putting her in a comfier position, Yaling says "Hey, miss? Madam? Hearing me there?"<br><br>"Leave her be for now, you can feel it, right?" BaiBai taps her neck. "Oh, an enemy!", the girl replies, noticing the feeling of dark energy. "Right then, this is a good place, so..." Magical energy forms a jade pipa in the magical girl's hand, and soon enough, the swirls of emerald and white light attracted by her playing attach themselves to her and change into clothes. "<span style="color:#50C878">Wellness, Warmth and Wisdom from</span> <span style="color:#FFFFFF">White Snake</span><span style="color:#50C878">'s Gaze! Historic Legacy! Cure Suzhen!</span>"<br><br>"You just can't respect people enjoying themselves, can you? Prepare to be taught a lesson!" the Pretty Cure exclaims after jumping towards where Ember and Equivalence are.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sarah hadn't wanted to stay home alone. Not again. Not with all the thoughts that had been racing through her mind over the last week or so since the emotional talk with her girlfriend. She'd heard good things about Dream Kingdom. That it was supposed to be fun. In the hopes that it would be, she dressed up a casual outfit of cutoff jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt, complete with her normal black combat boots.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Upon arriving at the entrance, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she was instantly on high alert. Something was ''off''. It was then that she noticed that most everyone was slumped forward. Were they all asleep? Cautiously, she approached the attendant at the ticket booth and shook their shoulder, "Hello? Ma'am? Are you ok?" Her attention is caught by the telltale sign of a magical girl transformation. Without hesitation, she takes hold of her pendant and quickly does her own transformation, pincers reforming where her hands were, black and deep red armor replacing her casual street clothes, and her scorpion-like tail curls up behind her. Bolting towards the gathered group of girls, she lands close by, energy crackling around her, "Now, let's get to the point!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:203|Ryoko Gushiken (203)}} has posed:'''<br>Ember tapped at the controls of the tower, following the instructions Eudial had given her for setting it up. It was programmed to detect two different signals when it sent out its ping, but it needed more time to collect enough energy. And that's why ''she'' was here.<br><br>Cure Suzhen announced herself, and then Scorpia showed up. Because of course Scorpia showed up. It was never going to be easy. She had a job to do. Hopefully her girlfriend could forgive her later.<br><br>But right now her girlfriend was ''distracting'' her, and so she does not notice Equivalence's descent upon her until the tower emits a ping. "What?!" Ryoko exclaims. "That's not supp--" She hears the swoosh of the mahou's rocket boots coming down toward her head and manages to leap back away, drawing her swords as she lands on her feet a few steps away.<br><br>"Bold words for a fresh face," Ember sneers as she pushes her semblance into her blades and they ignite in flames. "I ''don't'' understand this tech, you're right, there's ''very few people'' who do. Which really makes me wonder ''who stole my dust emblem''." She practically rage-yells those last few words as she charges toward Equivalence on the parapet with her swords ready to strike.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Equivalence landed rather roughly, missing and hitting the tower itself, causing some surface damage that was definitely NOT going to just wash out.<br><br>"What in the world is a 'dust emblem'?" Equivalence asked. Despite the fact she was kiiiiiind of using one. "And I've always been a bit bold."<br><br>She didn't charge in, though, instead having stopped in front of the console.<br><br>One might think she was memorizing it, learning about what had been cobbled to the towers and was making it work...<br><br>Truth was?<br><br>She was doing that AND... also kind of nervous about the flames. Last time she'd fought fire, she'd been helpless and those flames had been...<br><br>No. Time to shake that off. She had a tower to disable. Her hands reached for the console and... were repelled. Damn it. Of course. She didn't HAVE dark energy so OF COURSE she was bucking repelled.<br><br>"So, is a dust emblem what you're looking for? Maybe you could put up some fliers, setup a neighborhood search! Less running around and draining theme parks!"<br><br>She launched herself forward, leaping into a spinning corkscrew kick, definitely propelled by magic!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>Is that a scorpion lady? ''With lightning?'' "You look cool! Are those claws actually real?" Cure Suzhen exclaims at Scorpia's arrival. She can have lightning on her hands too! Should she show that off? She is about to do that, when she notices Equivalence's hands not reaching the console. So much for pairing up with another lightning user.<br><br>"Ok, then... <span style="color:#33D4FF">Pretty Cure Torrential Embrace!</span>", she exclaims, drawing in her Historic Pact a river flooding forth, with silver hearts in it. Pointing it towards the tower, the flood erupts out of the Pact's pages, headed straight for the tower of darkness that is at the center of the attack of the No-Fun-Allowed Lady.<br><br>"I don't know what that is either, but there are surely better ways to search it than this!", the Pretty Cure tells Ember. "You could have even asked for help, even with fliers like the other magical girl has suggested. Why not not try that? You can still call off the tower." She doesn't really have a good estimate of the odds of that working, but better than not trying at all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This wasn't the first time Scorpia had run into Ember. Far from it. Could this be her girlfriend? Going off the assumption... The blonde shakes her head and focuses, replying to the excited girl with a grin, "Yes, they're real. But we can talk more after we kick some butt." Her dark eyes turn towards the flaming swords and into the enemy girl's face, electricity forming small orbs between both pairs of spread pincers, "You would think. After losing so many times to any number of us magical folk, you would learn your lesson. You shouldn't use poor innocents for your own gain. Even if what you're looking for is important." As she's talking, she releases the orbs towards the tower, her eyes never wavering from Ember.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:203|Ryoko Gushiken (203)}} has posed:'''<br>Rage boils hot under Ember's skin. One can practically see the heat radiating off of her. Or maybe that's just her flaming swords. "At least I can admit when I don't know what I'm talking about," she sneers as she rushes forward. Equivalence leaps up in a spinning kick and she dives down, sliding along the stone floor of the turret with her swords raised up to try and slice across the mahou as she gets back over to the console.<br><br>Just in time to see ''two'' attacks incoming. She drops one of her swords and reaches for a horn attached to her belt. She brings it up to her lips and blows a loud, ear-shattering note on it. There is a rumbling sound from beyond the portal and a ''huge'' serpentine sea-dragon looking creature made entirely of shadow and bone erupts from the portal, the spray of water hitting the armor along its belly, with the electrical orbs impacting it a moment later.<br><br>Ember had never had a grimm like ''this'' before. It starts to circle around the area undulating like you'd expect some sort of flying sea-dragon, dipping down into the water and then back up with a crackling ball of electricity in its mouth poised to zap at the ground where Suzhen and Scorpia are both launching their attacks from.<br><br>The grimm whooshes by so close that it knocks Ember over and sends her sword clattering across the parapet toward Equivalence. Great. ''Just great''. "You shouldn't play with toys you don't understand," she sneers, trying to sound confident as if everything ''wasn't'' going wrong. "You might get hurt."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Equivalence only had a moment to re-adjust as the other girl slid under her! And she couldn't--<br><br>Okay, she Could. Magic erupted from her boots, allowing her to launch herself into the air and only get a small cut from the swords, not fully caught by them. She landed a dozen feet or so away and gave a small shrug. Yup. totally meant to do that. Not a panicked reaction and the boots helped. "I mean, I imagine you're used to it by now? Toying with things you don't understand, playing with magic that you couldn't begin to comprehend. These towers are dangerous, you know."<br><br>Then the sword was there... And Equivalence put her foot under it... And...<br><br>Kicked it.<br><br>To Ember, so it'd land with the blade on the ground by her. "Pick it up," Equivalence said, her arm up and over her head, shielding her from the winds. "I'm going to kick your fl-- ass, Ember. You two, take care of the dragon!" she yelled, before glaring at Ember. "I'm going to kick your ass, then you're going to turn off that tower and, hopefully, you'll have learned your lesson. But, either way? Next time you decide to play with energy like that, maybe you'll stick to something SAFER!"<br><br>Then she charged at Ember, her boots erupting to launch her forward...<br><br>Only for her to tumble forward at the lasdt moment, roll and then launch herself feet first and up, at Ember's chin.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>"What do you mean by that?", Cure Suzhen asks Ember while she sustains the flood of her attack. Equivalence has admitted it, she did too... Is it the scorpion lady she is chastising? But she is right, what really is the matter here? "You get what she is talking about, Shifu?", she asks the fairy snake. "She just has it with the boldness of the magical girl with the rocket boots, I don't think that's a real concern."<br><br>A real concern? That's the serpentine dragon whose armor takes her flood head-on. "On it!" Cure Suzhen replies to Equivalence. "We are covering for you, but be careful, don't rile her up too much!", She wasn't pulling her punches before, but someone calling a dragon in here? Just a fair bit more dangerous than they thought.<br><br>"Let's join forces, electricity against electricity!", Cure Suzhen tells Scorpia when the creature starts preparing her own lightning attack. She had wanted to join lightning together, and now it was likely happening. "Pretty Cure Li Shan Shock!", she calls out, lightning gathering from the clouds right onto her fist before she jumps forward punching the other lightning, trusting in Scorpia.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If the serpent wasn't trying to kill them, Scorpia would think that it was pretty. As it were, it ''was'' trying to kill them, so instead of staring, the tall blonde put the tips of her pincers together and gathered up a very, very large orb of lightning. Grinning over at the powerful magical girl next to her, she nods and hurls her gathered electricity straight at the point of contact the other girl was aiming for. Here's to hoping it worked.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:203|Ryoko Gushiken (203)}} has posed:'''<br>The ball of electricity gathered up in the dragon's mouth crackles and then arcs out toward the mahou, and Cure Suzhen is right there to practically catch it with her punch that has been magically charged with her lightning and Scorpias. There is a bright flash and a shower of sparks, and then nothing. The attack was successfully deflected. Nobody was hurt. But the dragon was circling overhead. It did not, however, seem to be charging up another attack. Not yet at least. But it ''was'' making sure it was between the mahou and the tower. Most of it wasn't armored. Just it's face and underside. It did a good job keeping that armor toward the girls. Not only was it big, but it was also smart.<br><br>Ember didn't feel especially smart, but she felt smarter than she thought Equivalence was. Crouching down to pick up her sword and then leaning back in a defensive stance, her blades held out to the side as she bent her back leg to let Equivalence's up-kick fly centimeters from her face. For just a moment, it all seems to happen in slow motion before the gray-haired mahou ends up hitting the tower again. This time a little harder. Warning alarms start sounding.<br><br>The raven-haired girl strains to look at the console read-out. It's ''almost'' done with gathering the energy to send out the ping to find whatever it is ''Eudial'' is looking for. But as far as Ryoko is concerned, this job was already a success. Because she ''did'' find what ''she'' was looking for, even if she won't give Equivalence the satisfaction of knowing. Hopefully the ping would get off before her ride got there. She just had to summon it.<br><br>Doing a backflip jump away from the tower, she jams the two pommels of Nightfall together and pulls an arrow out of her quiver. It's all one fluid motion and she pulls the arrow back, aiming up into the sky letting it loose as soon as her feet hit crenellated edge of the parapet wall. A loud shrieking noise fills the air as the arrow streaks through the sky to nowhere.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Equivalence frowned when her kick hit the tower. Dang it. Making her kick her own creation?! Well, okay, she wanted them broken anyway. But broken on her terms. They--<br><br>Wait.<br><br>These weren't her normal towers, they were.... different. A grin formed on her lips. She then landed on the ground before looking back to Ember... And she fired an arrow up?<br><br>Oh, that was going to be a problem, wasn't it. Some kind of raining arrow assault? Perhaps making it rain? Or maybe it was an alert of some kind?<br><br>"You know, usually when people try to hit me they aim in my general direction. Not that I mind, just, you know. I'm starting to think you aren't taking me seriously. So how about... this?!"<br><br>She rolled back, onto her hands and spun! Her feet kicking out, bursts of magical power swirling out and then around her, in a flurry of magical bullets emitted from her feet and...<br><br>Then she turned and brought her feet down AT the tower, the bursts of magic swirling down at it! Hopefully this would get her attention! "Gale Chorus!" she called before rolling to her feet, smirking towards Ember... Oh, this was so going to bite her in the flank. But she didn't care. She was TOTALLY the awesome one here... at least, in her mind.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>Would you look at that, their combined thunder did actually put a stop to the dragon's attack. Turning around, Cure Suzhen shows Scorpia a V sign with a big smile. Actually punching lightning? It felt ''awesome''. "Be sure to thank the scorpion girl after this", BaiBai reminds her, glad that the whole thing paid off. That attack would have been no slouch had it actually hit them. "Sure thing!" the green-haired girl replies. She did intend to do that. Just, after the fight was done.<br><br>Though on that front, the dragon is still hanging around, and it is even showing them its armored belly. She looks between it and its mistress, a bit perplexed at how they are both doing nothing.<br><br>"May I offer you a calming music?", she tells Ember and Equivalence, though the latter is really the one who needs it the most. For now, it was at least a good thing. The jade pipa reappears in her hands, and the pleasant notes rise to the sky, in a plea for the gentle touch of rain to wash impurities away. "Pretty Cure Li Shan Drizzle", she announces as purifying rain gently falls down from the cloud.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>Scorpia focuses her attention on the black-haired girl after she shoots an arrow up to the sky. Cringing at the loud noise, she manifests a whip of red lightning in each hand and flicks them quickly towards their enemy, hoping to keep her here. Looking to the music playing girl beside her, she nods her gratitude for the calming effects of the music, and the rain. her inner turmoil raged through her, but she buckles down and focuses on the fight in front of her. Whether or not this girl was the one who stole her heart or not, she had to be stopped from doing whatever it is she was trying to do.<br><br>Turning her gaze to the bullets the other mahou created to shoot towards the tower, her eyes blacken as she calls upon more of her magic, her pendent rising and shining a bold red. Electricity encompass each individual bullet and add to their speed as the head for their target.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:203|Ryoko Gushiken (203)}} has posed:'''<br>Everything happened so fast. Ember shot off her arrow into the sky, it's shriek piercing the ears of everyone still conscious. Equivalence flipped back onto her hands to and started gathering bullets while Suzhen started gathering purifying rain. Scorpia's electricity wrapped around the bullets sending them hurtling toward the tower.<br><br>A loud shriek sounded from the other side and a huge black bird shot out of the portal just as bullets hit the tower, shattering it and causing the portal to flicker and then disappear. The bird, though, is on a mission. It was supposed to grab the tower, but the tower is just a pile of rubble, so it grabs the only other thing it came for. Huge claws wrapping around each of Ember's arms it starts to lift her up off the parapet as Scorpia's red lightning wraps around her legs.<br><br>So there Ember is, caught between a roc and a heart place. The bird's powerful wings flap and it takes off into the sky stretching the raven-haired girl out. Either the lightning will let go, or Scorpia's taking a ride.<br><br>Meanwhile, the purifying rain pours down from the sky soaking into the shadow black stuff of the dragon, almost causing it to melt right out of the sky, leaving behind only a cloud of dust.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Equivalence was getting ready to launch her next attack at the monster... unfortunately... the tower was destroyed and the monster that came through? Grabbed onto Ember.<br><br>For a few moments, Equivalence just stared. She opened her mouth, but well...<br><br>Scorpia on one side, the grim on the other. There... wasn't... this was not turning out good for her. She opened her mouth to try and say something, only to stop herself.<br><br>Nope. She had nothing. Tower was broken... So... while Ember got the height-increasing experience of a lifetime, Equivalence made her way towards the tower, kneeling down by the remnants to see if she could gather what she could.<br><br>... And admittedly wishing she'd maybe not designed the towers with so many failsafes, because she was doubting she'd get much, if anything, from them. Doh.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>At the very least, the dragon is out of the way, the only sign it had been here the cloud of dust floating in the air. Having done its job, the jade pipa fades away, even as the arrow finally unveils its purpose. "This one seems to have a fondness for renowned beasts", BaiBai observes looking at the roc with a tone of displeasure. "Can you hang in there?" the white snake asks her protegée.<br><br>They have been fighting for a while, so she can't really say she is fresh anymore, but Cure Suzhen can't really stop either if Ember still intends to fight. "I can", she looks at Equivalence and Scorpia. She is not going to be facing it alone, at least.<br><br>Though, Ember actually intending to use the roc to run away is quite the relief, and now that the tower is completely broken, they can be sure the day has been saved. "Good job!" Cure Suzhen brightens up towards her allies, her own rain fading away. "And thank you for the help!"<br><br>"Are you ok?" she asks perplexed when Equivalence kneels down in the rubble. "Should we expect more problems?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>Like hell would she lose her grip on her electric whips. She wouldn't get away this time. She ''always'' got away. It was time that she was held accountable for her misdeeds. So, Scorpia looped the ends of the lengths of energy around her wrists to solidify her hold on them, and used all of her strength to pull. Digging her heels in, she sent waves of shockwaves through the whips, in an attempt to have them flow through Ember and weaken the hold of the roc.<br><br>The blonde internally winced, not really liking the idea of hurting the girl in her efforts to defeat the bird, but sometimes, bad things had to happen for the good to prevail. Brow creased and eyes still black as night as her magic swells up inside of her, Scorpia hangs on for dear life. Whether or not her attempts to stop the roc and the girl from getting away, she would not let go.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:203|Ryoko Gushiken (203)}} has posed:'''<br>Not only were there safeguards, but the supercharged combo attack really did a number on the tower. It wasn't just destroyed, it was obliterated. Failsafes or no, there's not much to be recovered. That's the one downside to overkill: sometimes it over kills.<br><br>But while Equivalence sifts through the debris and Suzhen kneels down to check in on her, Ember's problems are only just starting. Stretched out between her ride and her ride-or-die, all she can do is hope the bird doesn't drop her. And then Scorpia puts electrical current into those whips, sending it arcing through Ember's body into the Roc. The bird lets out an ear-splitting shriek and with a powerful flap of its wings it rockets up into the air pulling a stretched out Ember with it, lifting Scorpia right up off the ground.<br><br>That has ''got'' to hurt. Are shoulders even meant to ''do'' that? Dislocated shoulders or not, Ember--and Scorpia--rockets away as fast as the roc can take her, which is fast. And if she's screaming in pain? Well nobody can hear it over the damned bird.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Equivalence sighed and shook her head. It looked like there wasn't going to be any chance of her getting anything from this.<br><br>"I'm fine," she called out to Suzhen. "I was hoping there'd be something to salvage, but... this stuff is busted. We're not going to get anything... from... it..."<br><br>Then her eyes fell on what was happening. "Hey. HEY! New girl! Don't--"<br><br>And then she was lifted up. And Equivalence paled slightly behind her mask. What. THE BUCK?!<br><br>Seriously, Ember was a pain, but she wasn't that much of a--<br><br>And Equivalence leaped before she could stop herself. As as Scorpia was lifted up, she'd find a boot coming down *at her*. And after it connected, if it did, Equivalance snapped.<br><br>"Let her go! You're going to kill her! Even if she's one of the bad guys doesn't make it okay to tear her APART! What's WRONG WITH YOU?!" she snapped, the fury rising in her voice.<br><br>Of course she was mad. She'd been on that side too often. The one it was 'okay' to hurt. She was a bad guy, right? So whatever happened to her was her fault. That was just the way it was.<br><br>Bull. She hated it. She hated THIS. And she wasn't going to let a girl, jerk or not, just be torn apart in front of her.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>"Why would there be anything good to salvage there?" Cure Suzhen asks to the masked magical girl. It was a dark energy device, a work of the enemy. Isn't anything it could be repurposed for trouble?<br><br>BaiBai had noticed the problem Equivalence is addressing too, and while she can't address it the same way (and she would have things to say about the way Equivalence is addressing it), for now the priority is Scorpia. "Let go, holding on is foolish, you are just getting dragged away!", the snake chastises her. To say nothing of the brutal condition she is inflicting on Ember.<br><br>Pupil and mentor alike wince when Equivalence adds to the brutality with her kick. "Why not aim for the whip?", Cure Suzhen frowns at her, calling on more of her reserves, though she is uncertain as to what she should use them for. Trying to sever the connection? Keep it for healing if the kick has put an end to the issue?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>She'd already let go. Boots landing on solid ground and electricity dissipated, the blonde's warrior instincts stop the trajectory of the furious girl, her hand coming up and grabbing hold of the heel of her shoe. Her gaze is on the bird as it flies away, the now injured enemy in its grasp.<br><br>Slowly, she turns her blackened gaze to the girl beside her and she releases her, stepping away. Shoulders slump forward and she shakes her head, "I just wanted her to be held accountable. She always gets away. I only meant to stop the bird from flying away."<br><br>The normally high energy, golden retriever energy filled girl is gone in that moment. Something had shifted in her. If her girlfriend could work for a company that was known to have girls like the one they'd just fought, and she was good. What if the others could be good too? Her eyes lighten once again, returning to normal as she offers, "Anyone want to go get some ice cream?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:131|Equivalence (131)}} has posed:'''<br>Equivalence had her foot get caught... but that was okay. The whip was gone, the other girl was free. And uhhh...<br><br>... Oh wow this new girl was strong. Maybe trying to kick her was a bad idea... She uhhh... kind of dangled there a bit until she was let go, catching herself on her hands and then bouncing back to her feet. Admittedly, it was more the magic letting her do that than her own skills. But she'd never admit that.<br><br>"Because if I kicked the whip, it would send more ripples through it and it was already doing enough damage. If I had a blade, I'd have cut through it, but I don't. So blunt force."<br><br>"As for salvage... hopefully something to neutralize those towers. But... there wasn't... really much of anything left. Ugh... and don't worry. She will be. But she's not a monster. Like it or not, she's... a girl. A girl who's possibly making bad choices, or the wrong choices, or maybe the only choices she feels she can make. But that doesn't make her any less of a person. If you want to hold her accountable, punch her in the face later... Surprised she didn't just dusk port out... if she can't, it means she's likely not using dark energy."<br><br>And then.<br><br>Then Scorpia asked THE question.<br><br>Equivalence jerked for a moment, as if she was upset or worried to be asked such a thing. She wasn't, though.<br><br>OH MY GOSH IT WAS A POST BATTLE HANGOUT AND ICE CREAM! EEEEEE! She was being invited to post battle ice cream! Like a REAL magical girl! She was a SPARKLE!<br><br>Fortunately, her mask hid the fact she was stary eyed. However, after a few moments, she sighed. "Sure, why not? I got enough time for one scoop. We did clear her out pretty fast."<br><br>EEEEE! POST BATTLE ICE CREAM! POST BATTLE ICE CREAM! She was OFFICIALLY A SPARKLE!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:227|Cure Suzhen (227)}} has posed:'''<br>With the problem of Scorpia being dragged away solved, the choice gets made for Cure Suzhen. She starts playing her instrument again, an aromatic energy spreading around them, the fragrance of medicinal plants that start growing and blooming even here despite the lack of fertile soil. "<span style="color:#50C878">Pretty Cure Verdant Harmony</span>", the Pretty Cure announces, healing starting to soothe aches and wounds anybody here may have.<br><br>'Are kicks really all she can do?' BaiBai thinks as the grey girl explains her rationale. What is she going to do if she meets someone who cannot be kicked, or worse, repeat what Scorpia just did? "You should work on some variance on what you can do, for your own sake as well."<br><br>Having finished with her part, Cure Suzhen stretches and looks at the other two. "Things did end well, even with everything, so we are due for some celebration, and introductions too! I am Cure Suzhen and my Shifu here is BaiBai, glad to have met you!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:246|Scorpia (246)}} has posed:'''<br>Scorpia closes her eyes as the healing magic flows across her skin. She was not hurt, but her body ached from using so much of her magic and her arms being stretched by her whips. Reopening them, she grins and grabs both girls into a big bear hug, "I am Scorpia. Well met, you two. Let us go and celebrate this win! My treat!"<br> <br>
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