2635/The Dying Of The Light

The Dying Of The Light
Date of Scene:	19 June 2025
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Seriss Nyx has found what she's looking for. She has found Hotaru, and means to attack; but Molly managed to get a warning off to Rashmi, just before it could happen. Will it be enough? Can enough people intervene? Amy, Coco, and Souta all answer the call.
Cast of Characters:	Molly Skyline, Rashmi Terios, Hotaru Tomoe, Coco Kiumi, Souta Camero, Amanda Faust

---

Molly Skyline has posed:
Somewhere in Tokyo, a purple-haired woman clad in armor with two pairs of transulucent red wings folded against her back was sitting on the corner of a skyscraper rooftop, her device still in close-bcombat mode as a greatsword on her back, reading a... diary? One gauntleted hand was busy thumbing through the pages, as Seriss looked over one of the 'treasures' that Molly had been hiding in the secure storage of her device, which thanks to a little trade and the minor sacrifice of an hour of her time, she now had access to.

And certailny there had been one worthwhile treasure in the secure storage, but the rest of it was... entirely a load of teenage crap. Seriss had hoped to find useful, actionable intelligence in the diary; maybe something about where the Mahou were keeping their secret hide-out, perhaps, or whatever it is children do these days. Or maybe the suspected locations of powerful artifacts. Or at least something. But no, it's just scattered notes about future plans for Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, character builds, musings about automobiles (a lot of that actually), and dreamy garbage about girls (and the occasional boy) who are 'cute'.

One low-powered spell later and the book is reduced to ash. "Cygnus Lich, purge the rest of the secure storage except for the power regulator. Update on the target?"

<< AFFIRMATIVE. STORAGE PURGING. SUBJECT hotaru tomoe WILL ENTER TARGET AREA IN TWENTY SECONDS >>

Seriss pushes off from her perch, initially just plummeting as she orients herself to angle straight down before spreading her wings, flying out over the traffic. "Time Space Barrier," she instructs, and the world ripples as a distortion radiates outwards, shifting everything slightly purple and removing the civilians. "Atropos."

Down below in a black Corolla, where Hotaru had probably been enjoying a perfectly normal Uber ride, everything suddenly goes off the rails -- particularly as the driver of her car vanishes.

Then one of Seriss' strange sarcophagus creations rockets down from some high altitude, stopping just above the ground in front of her car.

<< ## dARK STaRBUst ## >>

The attack is immediate, as eyes open all over the monolith and emit pulses of searing dark energy, blasting cars and debris and rocking Hotaru's ride onto its roof; before it can come to a stop it lifts off the ground, tugged by a beam of blue energy from Seriss as she swings the vechile up into the air and hurls it through the side of a skyscraper at around the tenth floor, sending it crashing through the office space.

Into the hole she just made, the dark sorceress alights, landing softly on the floor.

"Hello, Hotaru," she calls out. "I've been looking for you. Mistress 9 misses you dearly."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Hotaru-chan! >> comes the frantic text on Hotaru's phone.

<< Seriss Nyx is *actively looking for you!* >>
<< She probably wants Mistress 9 back! >>
<< Hotaru-chan are you there?! >>

While she had been flying across Pikarigaoka toward the Outers' home, she spotted a very Familiar Barrier go up... across a hefty chunk of Mitakihara.

...Well that has *all* kinda of dire implications.

Rashmi pours on the speed as she sails toward the Barrier, sending a fairly-frantic-sounding text to all available mahou in her vicinity.

<< SERISS IS BACK AND SHE'S FOUND HER TAGET HELP HELP HELP. >>

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe blinked as, wait, a barrier? Why was--

OH SHI--

The car went off the--Oh, wait, no, it went off so, so much worse. The car, or what remains of it... just kind of... lays there. Pieces of it... falling off, lightly spinning in place... rumble... rabble...

<< I. Noticed. >> A rather ANNOYED voice of Hotaru's comes through to Rashmi. Which, from HOTARU. THAT was likely impressive.

"Silence Glaive Surprise!"

Suddenly there was a crunch as the top of the car (or its remains, at least) were less than ceremonially cut off and the silent glaive spun through the air, sending a purple, spinning blast of... death... towards her...

Ah. That glaive. Seriss... likely remembered that glaive. That was the glaive that had driven Mistress 9 and Phantom 90 away. That was the reason she was here, alone. So if there was any doubt, this was the target? This was it...

Also, she likely... didn't want to be hit by that blast... On the other hand... Depending on how close she looked... she might notice just how much that one single attack... was already making Saturn pant. How heavily she was breathing...

But she didn't have nearly that terrifying, all crushing aura she did that one day...

"You know... The barrier? Ow. The tumble? Even more ow. But the words? Words can really, really hurt, you know?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Another day, another occasion to have the displeasure to witness a dark energy barrier spread rapidly everywhere, and as a consequence leave you without that chai latte you were about to order.

"What does she want now?", a scoffing Coco says to the empty space seconds prior occupied by the cashier, hand half-raised to give away the money she is holding.

At this point, she was taking it for granted that whenever dark energy kilometers away assails your senses, it's because Seriss Nyx has gotten ambitious once again.

Could have been worse. Had she waited a few seconds more, the cashier would have disappeared with her money, and then she would have been left without latte and cash both.

Curving her hands in a vague x-shape around her shell locket, yellow light radiates in the now empty cafè, and a kaleidoscope of colour raises to cover Coco's form. "Yellow Pearl Voice!" Said rainbow energy fades away to reveal her Idol clothes, and the her pearl gleams and expands, settling comfily into her hand as her trusty E-Pitch microphone, its blue shape, the yellow jewel nestled safely in the head's center.

She has been grumpily flying towards the epicenter under the transportation of the Live Stage when she receives Rashmi's telepathic call. << She has?? I am almost there! She really is doing her best not to be subtle... >>

'Aqua Regina, give me the patience...'

Souta Camero has posed:
    Souta Camero was still unsettled from his last run-in with Seriss Nyx, not least of all because he never really found out what exactly she was looking for. He only had the vague impression that whatever it was, it'd probably be bad if Seriss actually found it.

    He's riding a crowded bus, standing and holding onto the handle with his right hand, and holding a travel guide book in his left. He reads with a pensive frown, seemingly focused but never truly unaware of his surroundings. When Paradise Spectrum warns him of another barrier, he glances up only to see everyone around him vanish.

    Now alone, his frown deepens. He takes his glasses off as he walks off the now empty bus and commands, "Deploy Barrier Jacket."

    < Mission Start >

    Moments later, Inspector Camero is rushing through the empty streets when he hears Rashmi's desperate plea. << Inspector Camero reporting. Do you have the target's position? >>

    He turns a corner and sees what looks like a hole in the side of a building that Seriss is standing in. << Nevermind. I found her. >>

    Souta's range abilities are pretty limited, but he can fly even if it's not his preferred travel method. With his device in twin tonfas mode and Flier Fin cast on his feet, he's ascending rapidly in Seriss's direction.

    Paradise Spectrum warns him of honestly quite unnerving readings regarding the blast of ruin that Hotaru just released. Probably a good day to avoid friendly fire.

    "That's far enough, Seriss! Stop this."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    SERISS IS BACK AND SHE'S FOUND HER TAGET HELP HELP HELP

    Well that's... worrying...

AMY to GROUP: On my way.

    At least Seriss's giant barriers are easy to find and easy to find the middle of. As Amy flies through the air on a rocket she finally realizes why Seriss is using barriers: Not to keep her experiments from contaminating the world, but to keep her target from escaping.

    (She tests this after flying through the top of the barrier, seeing if she's able to fly out again or if it's like one of those assassination barriers.)

Molly Skyline has posed:
Seriss snaps her fingers, and becomes a burst of purple light that reappears a dozen feet from where she had been standing -- though Hotaru's attack still impacts her shield and makes the Neutron Wall surrounding her glow harshly with the impact. But through it all, Seriss just smiles.

"You're weak, Hotaru," she observes, unable to keep a triumphant smile off her face. "You're already winded. No doubt your friends are on the way -- so I'll make you an offer. Surrender yourself and come with me, now, and I won't have to kill any of them. Atropos!"

Outside the skyscraper, the weird Sarcophagus is rising into view; the eyes close, eyelashes become teeth, and the mouths open to reveal long tongues snaking out of them, all covered with little suckers like the tentacles of an octopus, but it just hovers there, waiting.

"Lachesis," Seriss continues, "Prepare to repell medlesome children. Deploy Euryale."

Medlesome children who are already penetrating her barrier -- Amy will find that she can leave, but it takes effort. it's like pushing your hand through a tub of honey.

Even without Camero's help, finding the center of the barrier certainly isn't hard; Souta is arriving just in time to see a second sarcophagus drop out of the sky and hurl a writing mass of dark energy into the side of a building, opposite the one Seriss just hurled Hotaru's uber ride into. A writhing mass that grows, absorbing material from the building around out, though it doesn't look like this one will be nearly as big as Argus.

"Oh, here's one of yoru friends now." Seriss tilts her head to look over her shoulder. "Oh, it's you again. Cygnus, charge Magnetar Beam, repulsor shift, four second duration."

<< ARMED >>

"Fire." Seriss points her greatsword at Souta and unleashes a brilliant blue beam at him, meant to send anything metal (along with him) flying away with force.

After firing, Seriss turns her attention back to Hotaru. "Words can hurt," she agrees. "Words like all your friends are dead. Think carefully about your next decision."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And in... and *through.*

    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

A proper comms net established, now that multiple people are under Barrier, rashmi's first message is for the poor target; << We're almost there, Hotaru-chan! Try to come out to us! >>

Rashmi's first clue that this will not be fun, is the sarcophagus whose eyes become wiggledy mouths -- and oh boy will *that* never stop giving Rashmi the screaming collywobbles -- and the second clue is that it begins to target the building across the street to make *yet another* kaiju of a goop monster. The *third* clue is that one of those weird magnetic beams is flying toward poor Inspector Souta, as once more the new-to-Earth Devicer is given a literal crash course in The Cost Of Being Magical On Earth.

Now if only she could get line of sight on Hotaru-chan...

Well in the meantime there's plenty to do.

    << *BONG!* >> << TERA ACCEL -- BOOST UP >>

Speed boosts for Amy, Coco, and Souta, whose positions are known and locked in, because they need to group up and *fast.*

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
<< Not REALLY an option! >> Sailor Saturn told Rashmi. Oh, it was NOT not an option right now. And worse? She sounded SNIPPY. HOTARU. Sounded SNIPPED. HOTARU!

And Seriss was right about one thing... She WAS winded. She still wasn't the best at using the Silence Glaive. It really only had two buttons 'All life' or 'A lot'. And she was still struggling to hold it back at all. Frankly, it took more energy to hold it back than she unleashed in the end.

"You know... I used to work with your department, Seriss... and it has *realllllly* gone downhill since Riventon and I left. And Mistress 9 can go suck a lemon," she said, sticking her tongue out. She then lifted the glaive up. "But you know what? You're right. Maybe I am weak, like your boss. But... Fine. If I'm so weak, why don't you show me how it's done? Hit me with your *best shot.*"

"Silence Wall!" She brought the glaive down and formed a wall of silence around herself, panting with exhaustion. At least she didn't have worry about wiping out all life this way...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"You have really stooped low this time, Seriss. But I actually agree with you. Words can hurt, and especially the purifying words sung from the heart of a Mermaid Princess. I trust you know the beats already", Coco gives Seriss a smile, coming in just in time to hear the villainess' words. Even with how close by she was, she is here a lot of minutes earlier than she would have been thanks to Rashmi's speed boost.

"With the energetic beat of my Pichi Pichi Voice, the Live Starts!", Coco announces, and the Yellow Pearl shines radiantly, at the same time the Live Stage produces the song's beat and melody.

Although the stormy sea
Pushes me violently towards defeat
I look into the eyes of love
That makes me fight with the strength it gives

For every time I fall
I can get back up and thus keep
That promise I made
With a sincere voice, believing in love

It is an incandescent light
That warms more than the sun
So clear that it reveals reality

For Hotaru, she may actually feel her fatigue lessen under the melody of Coco's song, and for Seriss and her minion, the music echoes discortant and painful with the dark energy it's purifying. Unless they are giving themselves an heavy concentration of it, as a shield.

She could use the Live Stage to blast one of her minions, but as always she is keeping that ability as a reserve in favour of her ace.

<< How is Hotaru? Did Seriss get her? >> the mermaid reaches out to the others, eyeing the girl she presumes is Hotaru with the corner of her eye.

<< Do you need support for that, Hotaru? >> Coco asks with a bit of apprehension at her challenge. << I can shield you. Also, is there a name you are using like this? >>

Souta Camero has posed:
    Souta is flying when the Magnetar Beam hits him, so there's not a lot of metal bits to get dragged along, but he does get hit head on and sent right back into the ground with a crash. Rashmi's accel buff hits him while he (and his poor, beautiful hair) are sprawled all over the asphalt, and once the beam hits the end of its duration he's finally able to stand up again. "And that's why I don't like to fly."

    < Slider Fin would not have helped. >

    The sarcophagus is a problem, but right now Seriss is cornering Hotaru and that can't really be allowed either. Then again, Seriss isn't the only one who can make holes in walls.

    "Paradise Spectrum, give me the floor plan of that building. We're going around. Deploy two Sparks, targeting the... eye mouth... thing... over there."

    < Confirmed >

    Souta gets back up on his feet and speeds around the side of the building, leaving behind two mana sparks that spam barrets at the sarcophagus for a few seconds before dissipating. Staying out of direct line of sight, Souta scales up the side until he reaches the same floor as Hotaru, and then smashes a plasma tonfa through a window before getting inside.

    Hopefully the others can handle... whatever monstrosity Seriss decides to unleash today.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Ohshitohshitohshit Seriss found her target and has to be stopped. Amy has half a grief seed left... she really would have liked to have more, if it comes down t out-endurancing Seriss...

    "Ghrk!" Amy grunts when her rocket slams into the barrier like it's honey, and she slooowly pushes through. Okay. So escape is possible, but, more difficult than usual! Important tactical information gained. << The barrier can be escaped, but it's like pushing through a wall of honey. >> she thinks to the telepathic comms, or through kyuulepathy to anyone she can see if it doesn't reach outside the barrier.

    Once back in she repeats, just in case: << We can escape the barrier, but it's like pushing through a wall of eeeeEEE why is it all mouths?! >>

    Suddenly she's flying faster. << Can we just grab Hotaru-chan and run?! >> Amy flies over the cityscape towards the lights and sounds of magic battle, while firing missiles at the sarcophagi that explode into clouds of smoke. Can mouths see through smoke? They'll find out.

    Coco's song sings of getting back up and trying again. Amy thinks of her friends, of Rashmi saying just a couple days ago that she'd fight for her. 'Look into the eyes of love and fight with the strength it gives'...

    Coco's singing about love, and Seriss is summoning monsters with greek names again. << Then we've got the strength of agape and philia on our side... They'll best anything she can throw at us! >> Although seconds ago she was worrying about magic, now her spirits are flying high!

Molly Skyline has posed:
"My best? No." Seriss shakes her head. "Not necessary to achieve my goal. I'm not here to call you, I'm here to take you home. Why do you not see that?" But, just the same. Cygnus, charge Magnetar Barrage, attractor shift, five hundred homing barrets. Target: Hotaru."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >>

Outside, Hotaru's freinds and rescuers are gathering, but so are the forces arrayed against them. Inside the oppositve building, a hand of goopy black ichor covered in armor reaches out of the hole made by Lachessis, followed by another; whta drages itself into view is the towering body of what one would generously call a female form, over a distended snake's body; as it grips the hole in the wall on either side and turns to face the first of the heroes, it... doesn't have a face.

It looks like it's gathered up everything from a storehouse of concert-grade speakers, and that's it's head and chest. It makes a sound like it's sucking in a deep breath, and then sheer sonic hell is hurled indiscriminately into the battlefield, shattering windows and pushing cars across the ground, adding the screeching complaint of rubber to the cacophony.

Not that Hotaru will be bothered, behind her Silence Wall. But nobody else seems to have that benefit (not that it seems to be bothering Seriss any either.)

"Your friends got here quickly," she comments to Hotaru, gritting her teeth as at first as she hears Coco's song, and then doesn't hear it quite so much, thanks to her most recent monster. She rests her greatsword on her shoulder, "Molly must have managed to pass a wraning to Rashmi. I will have to think up an appropriate punishment for that. Perhaps I can make her watch me hurt that annoying mermaid."

Coco's song creates an island of calm, with all of Euryale's assault flowing around it; but it will certainly be a strain to keep it up.

<< TRACKING LOST ON MALE SUBJECT >>

"Irrelevant," answers Seriss. "Fire."

And a torrent of brilliant blue barrets is uncorked against Hotaru, and as they impact her sheild they pull the building around her in after them, hurling pieces of metal at her and threatening to collapse the skyscraper in around her. Seriss, of course, moves back, to hover just outside the building on her translucent wings.

"Atropos," she instructs, with her voice speaking -- and heard -- quite clearly amongst the howl from Euryale, "Capture the subject. Lachessis, prepare to defend Atropos."

The Sarcophagus hovering outside the building, with all those writing tentacles, lashes out with its many rubbery appendages, all seeking to sieze hold of Hotaru.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Speakers emerging from its entire upper body is a dire, dire warning. All Rashmi can manage is a soft "Oh no..." Before a Shield snaps to life around her, and she's blasted away on a cacophonous tide, tumbling end over end inside her shield.

Unfortunately, being air-permeable, there's not a *lot* that hard light can do to mitigate an all-out sonic assault, and vertigo swims in the pit of her stomach. Fighting for every inch, Rashmi shoves her way forward to the pocket created by Coco's singing, panting for breath. << Well... *This* is awful... >>

At which point Seriss orders Hotaru's capture, and the clock is ticking *fast.* << Hey Red-chan... don't suppose you could load flashbangs with more bang than flash? Need to knock out that noise for Yellow Pearl-chan's sake-- >>

Her voice cuts off as rubbery tonguetacles lash out toward Hotaru, well out of sight.

<< Inspector can you get up the building from the back side and cut your way in? >>

Absent much of a better idea, Rashmi whips a hand out toward Euryale.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >>

Bitterly cold, sticky, and heavy ice pellets blast toward the goop-naga, walked up and down any area where a speaker can be spotted. It may not be much help, but it's *something,* and it might be good for a follow-up from someone else.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Once inside the skyscraper, Souta's Device shifts into greatsword mode. He may not have any way of picking the locks of all the doors between himself and Hotaru, but a strong enough weapon makes for an effective master key regardless. Especially when property damage isn't really a factor. The Inspector cuts his way through locks, doors, sometimes walls, getting more reckless with his damage as desperation mounts.

    < Structure Integrity Compromised. > warns his Device.

    "How much time to I have?"

    < Unknown >

    There's really nothing more he can do aside from put every bit of his focus into finding Hotaru even as Seriss destroys the building around him, cutting and smashing and running.

    Eventually a green plasma blade pokes out of a wall behind Hotaru, then slices up and down to create a hole that Souta rushes through. "A Sailor Senshi?" he notes out loud, before seeing the assault that she's currently under.

    << Exactly my thinking, Terios. >>

    With a burst of magic at his feet, he dashes towards Hotaru before turning his back to her. "Return Shield!" He calls out, creating a magic circle in front of him. Bits and pieces of metal impact the shield, causing it to ripple and shake. It's not really designed to handle them, but it works in a pinch. Once the shield hits its capacity and seems like it's about to break, he throws it into Seriss's beam with the intent of striking her with it.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sonic blasts, harsh words, blue barrets and even a building begin to rain down around Sailor Saturn, oh my!

Unfortunately, or fortunately, she couldn't really hear the smack talk very well behind the giant barrier of silence... But she couldn't hear much of anything, really. The glaive was vibrating so much in her grasp as the tentacles now tried to force their way through it.

But she was holding it back.

But she couldn't *move.* She couldn't let anything in, but she couldn't get out, either. She was trapped, in the middle of this barrier, spending her energy out and just trying to hold back the assault against her. Worse... the others would find they couldn't come close enoguh to actually help her her much, either. With the plethora of an assault against her, while they could dampen the load on her, if she let them come close enough, it'd mean letting the rest of the wall down...

Saturn was, more or less... indisposed for the time being.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Is that a snake?

    Commander, I don't know what it is! We've got some new kind of x-ray incoming!

    **ShRiEk!!!** But instead of a hiss, it destroys windows and eardrums, knocking Amy off-course -- she almost hits the roof of a building before swerving back up, regenerating any ear damage, and conjuring hearing protection into her helmet. (It doesn't protect as well against this as it does against her own powers, but it's at least as good as mundane earmuffs and that's something.

    << It's not like I can counter the soundwaves! >>

    But the sarchophagi are making their move and she's not. Close. Enough. Yet! "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

    Maybe she can kill two birds with one stone here. She swings by Euryale, leaping off the rocket to land atop the building it's crawling out of, above the hole, and with Coco's song lifting her heart Amy conjures a Boom Gun. Not scaled to her but full-size this time, a cannon meant to be wielded by someone in twelve-foot-tall power armor, all those railgun internals she can't conjure replaced with more boom. She fires it the instant it's summoned--

    And the windows that would all shatter already have been, and the sound doesn't throw cars, but if Euryale has invisible ears, it is not pleasant as a cloud of finisher-magic-enhanced flechettes goes by it at hypersonic speed -- aimed right for the tentacles that are stretching towards Hotaru!

    The explosive charge and the sonic boom echo across the barrier as Amy collapses under the weight and the giant cannon hits the edge of the building and falls and drags Amy down with it towards Euryale's snake-back. It's not an aimed strike but maybe the impact will still hurt?

    Amy's in kind of an awkward position though...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Uh, so apparently Amy had been looking for escape routes. That's good thinking. Might be difficult with Seriss' three youmas and her likely chasing after them if they try that, and besides, Hotaru is currently determined to fight Seriss, and yeah, that's understandable. She did just make an attempt on her life.

<< I am not sure we could do that. We would have to fight Seriss anyway, and she would try again bot too late. If we could take at least away one of her sarcophagi, we would have it easier next time. What does everyone say? >>

Seriss is definitely piling on the pressure right now on Hotaru, and with the count being 2 on the offensive and 1 on the defensive, she is probably more useful shifting that number to a clean 2 and 2.

But much like last time, another sonic attack is tried, and it definitely grinds at her, but it's just shapeless negativity, it doesn't have a direction it's trying to sap her through. Even if she has to push herself together, she can hold on, and Rashmi is there too, taking consideration of her, sending Amy a request. She can hold on till then!

Voices united to sing
To defeat the silence
It will be strong, it will be clear

Look in a mirror
Your reflection, it's clear
And all of it will be there

It will be that strong beat and love, that
Will give us strength and hope to face
This storm that brings with it
The strong wind that surprises us from the sea

With the charm of her purifying voice, she is thinking about the mix of love and affection, the two crossing bonds that best support someone's foundation, and a Live Stage forms in front of Seriss' attack, trying to repel it and force it away.

Molly Skyline has posed:
The damn children just. Won't. Quit.

The suckers on Atropos' tongue-tentacles secret a sickly green acid, hissing as they try to burn through the barrier protecting Hotaru. In spite of the interference, Seriss remains confident; quite confident, that Hotaru will be in her possession by the end of this fight.

And then a blast of flechettes sever oer half of Atropos' tentacles, making Atropos shriek in outrage. Seriss turns her gaze upwards, and her eyes narrow. "Lachessis, kill the red one," she snarls; while for the moment the assault against Hotaru abates.

The Live stage gets in the way, and Souta is there, absorbing as much as he can with his Return Shield. The tentacles all retract, and for a moment it might seem like the attack is over.

<< ## DARk dOWNfALL ## >>

All the mouths close across the sarcophagus' surface; and in the middle, a big open forms, opening to reveal an eye the size of a truck wheel framed by teeth with a pupil like a big black line; it widens, glowing purple and finally firing a crackling beam of dark energy at Hotaru and just sustaining it; the live shield takes it for a few moments before it is drilled straight through.

Souta releases his Return Shield at Seriss, and then incoming fire blasts over the Neutron Wall surrounding her, making it glow as it takes the hit. "Funny thing," she says over the shrieking hell in the strets, "I'm not going to be felled by my own attacks, little boy. Cygnus! Magnetar Blade."

<< AFFIRMATIVE >>

Seriss blade takes on a searing blue glow and she charges Souta, bringing the weapon up overhead and swinging it down against him; and where the blade goes it tears loose metal from the surrounding building, sending it flying at Souta in the process.

Outside, the shrieking from Euryale continues as Rashmi's ice pellets land all over it, which does diminish it's volume a small but noticeable amount, until it comes to an abrupt end. For a moment, there is relative piece; just the much more managable sounds of combat one usually hears. Is it over?

No. Euryale is just taking a breath.

The Youma identifies Coco, zeroing in on her and the shelter she gives Rashmi; the ice covering the speakers shatters as they reconfigure, change shape into a myriad of smaller, more directed speakers.

And then it all starts again; for everyone else, it's a much more manageable situation, but for Rashmi and Coco it's like being in Chernobyl but with noise instead of radiation, as the decibels go up and up and up.

Lachessis, meanwhile, gains altitude to confront Amy directly; it comes up into full view of the Puella, and stops, hovering there a few meters away, seemingly inoccuous at first.

<< ## ExECUTiON ## >>

A mouth like a big verticle slit from top to bottom of the weird monolith opens, with huge pointted teeth; there's an ear-grating whine and a ball of dark energy comes flying out, annihilating the top several floors of the building Amy is standing on.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << *BONG!* >> << AREA INDEX: SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >>

The moment Rashmi sees the speakers reconfiguring, she has a sinking feeling what's going to happen next. Hurriedly slotting the Area module into Nicomachea, Rashmi creates a wide, wide shield; crystal-like golden ice, *almost* wide enough to cover the street, festooned with spikes like spear-points, it's the best possible thing Rashmi can do to create enough of a sound baffle for Yellow Pearl to get out of the way.

This Shield is *much* more physical than the last, though; there's not a lot of hope of it standing up to the entirety of Euryale's directed ire.

<< Switch! Yellow Pearl focus on Souta-kun and Saturn-chan! If you can break away, change targets! >>

Souta Camero has posed:
    Souta would probably have to take a moment to process being called 'little boy'. This is part of what Amy meant when she said he probably wont be treated like a responsible adult anymore. Sadly, he doesn't have time to consider his feelings about that because Seriss is suddenly coming at him.

    < Warning: Further Damage to Structure Will Accelerate Collapse. >

    "I know!" responds Souta. "Tonfa mode!"

    As his weapon turns from a greatsword into pair of tonfas, he braces them against Seriss's magnetic blade, which unfortunately locks him down as he gets smashed left and right by metal railings, rebar, window frames and various other metal bits. Blue and green sparks fly from the impact point, and once the weapons are separate again he backdashes away from Seriss, then circles around and charges her from an angle, trying to smack her with the left tonfa, and then the right.

    "You talk a lot, and your minions sing out of tune."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn had never done this before. She... was Saturn. She was...

... Sailor Saturn. She was the one they called when all was said and done. When the world ended, when it was over. She didn't get to fight, to give her all. She was the one who cleaned up the mess. She wiped the slate clean. She wasn't experienced. Hotaru... had more training, more experience... and she still had so little.

And they were helping to lighten the load, to slacken it... But... it wasn't enough. Seriss Nyx was sending an unstoppable fury, an unending assault...

And this was something she hadn't considered. Saturn, for all her power... didn't really know how to fight. She couldn't really control her attack, it was destructive, but wild and exhausting. Her defense was powerful, but it wasn't MEANT to be sustained for this long. And the silence wall was getting smaller, the glaive could be seen, physically shaking within the wall... The senshi within the barrier struggling to hold it back, her eyes closed tight. She couldn't see or hear them anymore. She could feel the darkness outside, but... She'd tried to defend herself, but she couldn't actually--

And then the wall collapsed.

And Saturn fell, her eyes wide, as those attacks rained through... But... it also meant all of her allies could break through and get in there with her, now. Which were faster, and stronger?

Coco Kiumi has posed:
There comes a point where even directionless dark energy sounds become too much to resist, and Euryale's sound blast has definitely reached that point and more, and Coco's knees give way while she holds her hands over ears, crying out under the increasing dark sound's negativity.

She would be blocked like that if not for the cold aura of Rashmi's shield, shifting and moving to cover her, muffling the sound and providing the mermaid princess relief. Breathing out in relief, Coco gets to her feet and gives Rashmi a thankful smile.

<< Thank you, I am on it! >>, the blonde Idol replies, raising her right arm.

The bracelet at her wrist glows with white radiance and the Yellow Mermaid Princess reaches out to Aqua Regina's blessing, as a halo of yellow light moves downwards from the mermaid princess's head, granting her yet newer ornaments.

But uniting our voices in a song that
Will be heard in the truest depths of the heart
I only want to fight for you
And I want to be the strong beat of love with you

You can feel it
You can feel it
If you want to

It's a fiery light
That warms more than the sun
So clear it reveals reality

The white light of two Live Stages envelopes Souta and Saturn, coated in a yet stronger repelling effect.

Souta's quip to Seriss adds a crystalline laughter to Coco's song at the end with the amusement at his words.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy crumples under the weight of something almost twice as heavy as the artillery cannon she usually summons. The Puella Magi oofs as she falls atop the edge of the building, very glad for her armored chestpiece; The boom gun KLONKs the edge of the building and tears free from her hands as it careens downward, sadly just missing hitting Euryale's back.

        She looks up and sees a      M
                                     O
                                     U
                                     T
                                     H

    She conjures her launcher to rocket-jump

    Too late. She is far too close to ground-zero of a dark energy explosion and is sent flying, dark-burned with her costume in tatters as she slams into another building -- she can't feel it, pain automatically shut off thank goodness -- and falls amongst the rubble in shock.

    The ringing in her ears is drowning out the song. All she can manage for a moment is to frantically look for Lachesis and make sure a follow-up attack doesn't measure her fate short.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Lachessis hovers where it is; unmoving, for the moment, with that g9igantic mouth slowly closing. Amy would see, probably to her great relief, that it isn't following her, at least not yet; it might seem that just as she needs a chance to recover from receiving such a destructive attack, the sarcophagus needs to recover from delivering it.

Seriss smashes her sword into Souta again and again, the attacks deflecting by his Tonfa, but it seems less like Seriss is trying to get an attack past them as to simply batter her way through them. Her assault is powerful, and she knows it; but the 'little boy' is able to get one past her. After the damage that's already been sent her way and some incedental damage by the destruction she's wreaking on the building herself, the Neutron Wall goes down after the first hit, letting the second catch her right in the kidney. For a brief moment, she stumbles, but it seems a very temporary respite.

Euryale pauses, its sonic assault tapering off after taking just long enough to destroy Rashmi's shield for Coco to escape the worst of it. The Youma is taking another breath, when Amy's discarded boomgun hits it in the back; and it stops mid-breath, turning its speaker-face this way and that, trying to work out where that came from as debris rains down on it from Lachessis' explosion. It slithers forwards, dropping out of the hole and revealing itself fully in the street, as its speakers reconfigure once again; this time into a pair of massive subwoofers, and once it sucks in its breath a deep, thunderous blast issues forth, shorter and much more indisriminately aimed, simply going for Coco's general vicinity. It sucks in another breath, repeating the assault aimed at Rashmi.

Inside the building, Hotaru's wall has fallen; which means that Atropos ceases its assault, and once more it opens small mouths across its surface, horrible tentacles snaking out to claim the prize -- only to be met with resistance from the live stages, just as Seriss swings her sword at Souta and encounters another one of the same. Looking at what is happening with Hotaru, she lets out a howl of frustration.

"Cygnus, deploy Neutron Wall. Disable safety protocols. Overcharge Event Horizon."

<< NEUTRON WALL DEPLOYED. UNABLE TO CHARGE EVENT HORIZON IN CURRENT CONFIGURATION >>

Another snarl of rage, as a protective globe snaps into place around Seriss. "RECONFIGURE!" she orders, while swinging the weapon at Souta in a wild, powerful but poorly aimed strike.

What follows is Cygnus Lich screaming, like a piece of metal in desperate pain, as its shape shifts and bends from a greatsword and eventually back into its previous appearance as a staff; a function that takes precious seconds.

"Now," seethes Seriss, "Charge. Event. Horizon."

<< AFFIRM-M-MATIVE >> Cygnus Lich seems to gasp, << CHAA###RGING >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As Euryale slides out of the building to splat upon the ground, Rashmi lets the last remaining shards of her Shield drop, and in the blessed silence...

...Hears the Device scream.

Oh *hell* no you do not.

"STARCRASH!" she roars out into the night. "GUEST USER: RASHMI TERIOS! MAINTENANCE MODE ENGAGE, TSAB MEISTER AUTHORIZATION: FIVE-EIGHT-LIBERTA-SEVEN-CALNAROG-TWO-VAIZEN!"

Oh she is *seething* right now, and this desperate order is followed up with a brief, person-to-person telepathic message to Seriss:

<< If you can't treat your Device well, *you don't deserve to have one.* >>

For however long it lasts, the Meister will use that time to bring all she has to bear on Euryale.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- BLAZE SHIFT >>

Did Nicomachea sound *smug* when he called out that spell? Possibly... but the stream of flaming Barrets that rain down upon Euryale is *fact,* and Rashmi will hold it up as long as she can--

--And when she recovers from the Omega Woofer, she'll to it *again.*

Amanda Faust has posed:
        Amy sees                     M
                                     O
                                     U
                                     T
                                     H
                    but it's closing, now, apparently not able to do that again -- and nothing seems to see her in the rubble.

    Regenerate hearing. Regenerate outermost skin layer and resummon uniform. She gets to her feet looking pristine if not feeling it. Love is a light that warms more than the sun, that reveals reality. Cling to that thought.

    Problems are happening. People are yelling. The boom gun vanishes as Amy's usual launcher appears in her hands and

    CRACK

    a shell airbursts into burning fragments that hail sideways into those tentacle-tongues

    CRACK

    A 3½ kg cannonball flies at Euryale's head at nearly 300 m/s.

    CRACK

    More incendiary fire raining on tongues

    CRA-CK-RACK

    A high-explosive this time, again aimed at Euryale's head!

    Amy frantically sweeps her aim from target to target like she's watching a tennis match, desperately trying to slow two monsters with attacks she knows aren't enough to stop them. But it's the first plan that came to mind. Maybe she can use the next few seconds to think of a better one.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn was exhausted, one hand holding the glaive and... experiencing... an understanding. Was this... why she was ut to sleep? Was this why it was right?

Put her to sleep, so she couldn't be targetted? Because like this... she couldn't... fight. If she exhausted herself, she couldn't glaive. If she glaived, she might wreck the world, so she couldn't fight. If she couldn't fight, she might die. Leaving them vulnerable to Phantom 90. But if Phantom 90 came, she had to...

And she was stuck in an unwinnable situation, she needed the others, and she couldn't actually fight like this. She shot Seriss a dirty look, scowling at her for her foul play. The ambush, the consistent, repeated assault, the threats to her friends... Oh, she did not like this girl. The fact they were using one of their former allies against them? Made it even worse. And she LOATHED her... so much... She tried to get up, to pull herself to her feet, using the glaive to try and get up, but she was exhausted. Shielded within the stage, at least, was helping a lot. It let her recoup. She desperately needed more experience, more chances to raise her stamina... And this was not the kind of fight to get it in. She could barely even hold her glaive steady anymore. But for now, at least, she was still safe.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Each impact of Seriss's blade smashes against Souta's plasma blades, sending sparks of mana into the air, sending shockwaves through the Inspector's whole body, cracking the ground underneath him to the point where he might fall through--

    Oh, there's a light bubble surrounding him. Well, at least he isn't going to drop, and it seems to be protecting him a bit, too. << Thanks. That was Yellow Pearl Voice, right? >>

    He has a moment to assess himself, but only just. His barrier jacket has seen better days, torn and ripped as it is, and he aches deeply in a way that's getting difficult for him to push past and ignore. Yet he really doesn't have time to worry about his own problems, because Saturn is down, and floating in a light bubble of her own, and there's only a brief moment to act.

    << Disable the repelling effect on my signal. I'm going to grab the target. >>

    < Paradise Chain >

    Glowing green chains appear, stretching from floor to ceiling, making a temporary wall with Seriss on one side and the two Live Stages (and their occupants) on the other. << Now! >> Souta calls out.

    < Slider Fin >

    With magical dustclouds forming around his feet, Souta dashes out of the light sphere that is a Live Stage with a burst of magic, charging into Hotaru's and scooping her up in his arms. Then he carries her to relative safety by...

    ... jumping out of a building.

    With his hair and the tail of his jacket whipping behind him, he drops several stories away before Paradise Spectrum turns back into a halberd. He smashes it through a window, ducks inside to break line of sight, and then speeds his way through the building to come out the other side. When he finally lands on the ground level, he transmits, << I've got her. How is everyone else? >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
And just like that, right in the middle of charging Event Horizon so Seriss Nyx can annihilate Souta like the irritating little bug that he is, Cygnus Lich just... shuts down. Seriss' rage reaches boundless levels as her wings blink out of existence and her battle visor goes dark, but for a little message that says 'Repair Mode' with a progress bar.

"Cancel repair mode!" she snaps. "What is this?!"

<< UNABLE TO EXIT REPAIR MODE FOR THIRTY SECONDS >>

As Seriss looks like she's about to rip the building down with her bare hands, she runs to the edge of the hole and stares down at the continuing battle.

Rashmi.

Of course.

"LACHESSIS!" she screams, "FOCUS ALL FIRE ON RASHMI! ATROPOS, *BRING ME HOTARU NOW*!!"

Lachessis appears to have finally recovered from what it did to Amy, and it turns to face Rashmi from its high up vantage point. All across its surface, eyes open up, blink a couple of times and grow teeth around the eyelids, as the eyes retract to reveal yawning, empty spaces.

<< ## LOCUsT bARRAgE ## >>

Tiny rockets propelled with purple flame issue forth, flying out of the strange mouths one after another; following random, unpredictable flight paths they tear after Rashmi, some coming straight on and some rushing past to swing around and come at her from other angles. And they are tiny; none bigger than a cellphone, but there are just... so many of them, they number almost uncountable (though Nicomachea can probably manage it in a pinch.)

Auryale roars, and then the sound tapers off; a sound comes from it that can only be summed up as some sort of electronic coughing, as it buckles under the weight of Amy's firepower. It shudders and almost tips over before it looks up in Amy's direction, somehow looking baleful without a face. Its hand comes to rest on a car and it becomes up the sedan, hurling it at Amy as it coughs again, leaking black ichor through holes in its armor.

As Seriss watches, Souta gets away with Hotaru, in part thanks to Amy's incendiary rounds burning away more of the tentacles; and together they make it to the ground; but Atropos is not to be denied. The weird monolith plummets after them, and comes to a stop in front of the two Mahou, blocking their escape.

<< ## sTYX PrOTOcOL ## >>

A fresh wave of tentacles, armored ones this time, snap out of the monolith to grab hold of Hotaru -- and Souta, if he isn't careful. It doesn't matter; capture one, capture two, whatever is good. It's all perfectly fine.

Up avoe, Seriss is watching, unable to do anything about what is happening for at least another 15 seconds, and she glares with an aopcalyptic hatred at Rashmi, at Coco, and... where the hell is Amy... yes, her too, as she waits tensely for her plan to work, and for Atropos to get away with Hotaru.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Oh good, so it *might* be possible for apoplexy to carry Seriss Nyx away. >>

Gallows humor, and fairly unsteady following being thumped with a near-subsonic hammer... But Rashmi has not felt *this* satisfied in a while at seeing the Daimon's helpless fury. And then, of course, eyes turn to her.

Yup, time to evade.

Wheeling around, Rashmi takes off through the skyscrapers in a familiar evasive scramble, and part of her sighs a brief thanks at Chrono for literally preparing her for this exact flavor of combat insanity.

Nicomachea's sensors seem to hiccup briefly upon spotting Lachesis' sheer weight of fire; vectors that were mostly plottable under a Stinger Blade swarm, are mere confident guesswork now, but Rashmi has... most of a plan? Evasive maneuvering around and through buildings, accompanied by the occasional flash-step to alter her vector completely, plotting her route to gradually circle back as the swarm is winnowed down...

Ending in a street-level death ride, speeding directly toward, then *past,* Euryale, checking the accumulator readout on one arm as she does.

She's taken fire, and eaten more than a couple of those cellphone-sizes missiles... but she's still combat-capable, and as she banks around, she utters words Souta has not yet heard;

"Verbal Command: Accumulator Purge."

    << *BONG!* >> << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE. PURGE CHANNELS GREEN. ALTERNATE GRIMOIRE LOADED. AWAITING COMMAND. >>

Counting down the meters for optimal coverage, she draws in a deep, deep breath as she closes on Souta, Coco, and Hotaru. "SOLAR BLESS!"

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLESS. >>

It's like being touched by the sun.

Not in the 'ow I am flashing instantly to ash' way, but like this brilliant, *radiant* ball of golden light is reaching out for you, and you specifically, because it wants you to *win.* To shake off the ash of every failure, and rise higher than you ever fell. And it will share a piece of its fire with you, to *make you even better* because *that's what you deserve.*

And then she's off again, and if there are still missiles following her, maybe they can hit Atropos too for being a stupid jerk creation.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn lets out a low squeak as she was grabbed and hauled away! "H-hi!" she said, giving a little squeak and a wave, holding the glaive. "I'm Sailor Saturn, guardian of-- eep!" she squeaked, looking up as...

Tentacles come out, attempting to impede their way. "... She is incredibly persistent... I do not like her. I..." And then blinked as she felt that rush of energy. She took a slow, deep breath. "Put... me down for a moment... will you? I think I have one more in me..." she said.

"HEY! SERISS NYX!" she yelled. "Silence Glaive Surprise!"

She'd land on her feet once more, spin the glaive... and oh, would you look at this... Some tentacles impeding her way. How fortunate of them to come so close. She twirled as they approached... And spun out... Before unleashing the spinning vortex.

And this time? They'd all *feel* that purple, spinning glaive that came out. As it flew out, into the tentacle.... and as it flowed up, through it, towards the core of the beast. The essence of silence. Of destruction. Of death. The finalality of all things. The end of all things. The--

Speaking of the finality of all things? Saturn... wobbled... And... Souta would likely have juuuuust enough time to launch his own attack, before the girl's henshin faded and then she dropped, Hotaru falling over, her eyes little swirls.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Souta's escape route is cut off by the horrifying tentacle sarcophagus, and he skids to a stop right in front of it. "How quickly can I get another charge of Paradise Chain?"

    < 12.49 seconds. >

    "Return Shield!" he commands, and this time the magic shield that appears between him and Atropos doesn't really absorb any tentacles but it does force them to reach around it.

    "Mana Filter: Fire!" Suddenly the green energy of his halberd is set ablaze with fiery magic, and he swings his polearm at the mass of tentacles that get to close, even as he backpedals away from the youma. He has to do this one handed, because he's holding Hotaru with one arm, and it makes his aim a bit less sure. On the bright side, there are so many tentacles coming his way that he's bound to hit something every time he swings. 8.34 seconds left...

    One of the weird limbs manages to wrap around his ankle. Another grabs onto his hair. He attacks them quickly to try and force a release, but he can only do so much until he has backup. 5.21 seconds...

    Suddenly he's being touched by the sun. Praise the sun! He fights harder, strikes faster, gaining ground instead of losing it. Hotaru is well enough to be put on her feet again, and he obliges her, and that gives her just that little bit more of an edge. 0.13 seconds...

    "Paradise Chain!" he shouts, and more chains appear out of the ground between him and Atropos, each one grabbing onto a tentacle to try and force it back, or break trying. It buys him the one narrow window he needs in order to...

    "Spectrum Overdrive!" he yells out, lunging forward and thrusting his halberd through the Return Shield as it blazes with brilliant burning energy for a brief moment. Souta tries to jab the evil tentacle sarcophagus with that brief flash of energy, before retreating a few steps away.

    "Oh, it's you," he says reaching out to catch Hotaru as she falls. She was at the Casa too, right?

    Souta looks over his shoulder to see if he has to run again, and if so how fast.

Amanda Faust has posed:
Focus fire on Rashmi? Amy doesn't think so! She swings her launcher around towards Lachesis and

    CRACK!

    A high-explosive shell ...soars under it and blows a big hole in a building way over there. Uh, whoops. Thank goodness for barriers.

    She doesn't get another attempt, Euryale is throwing a car at her. It is, however, an extremely telegraphed move, and Amy is ready to rocket-jump over towards Souta and Hotaru as the car smashes into the rubble where she was.

    As she soars through the air, she sees Atropos blocking escape up ahead. "No." CRACK-CRACK! High-explosive and incendiary as fast as she can double-tap the trigger. Trying to knock it back and burn the-- hmm.

    SPIRIIIIIIT

    Amy's dismissed her launcher, her hands together in imitation of a two-handed pistol grip with her finger gun.

    Coco's song fills her.

    The light of the sun fills her, revealing reality. The reality that supercharging her primary armor-piercing weapon just keeps being a good idea against Seriss's creations.

    She lands next to Hotaru, finger aimed through the mass of tentacles right at Atropos.

        GUN                    B A N G !                                

Sheunfire lashes out. The attack itself deals its damage in an instant, a tiny fraction of the sun's heat converting the thick jet of magically-empowered hyperkinetic copper droplets into plasma with the same mass. Woe betide any matter it collide with within several feet in front of Amy, such as tentatongues or monsters. It tears through alongside the destruction of all things, an impromptu combo of ancient magic of destruction with new magic and new methods of destruction!

    The explosion that launched the attack releases a cloud of smoke with a tongue of flame and knocks Amy on her butt -- and maybe knocking over Sailor Saturn just before her henshin fades, sorry about that.

    "Oh, shit... is she okay? Get ready to move!" Amy looks up at Souta and points, as the rocket she was riding earlier flies towards them over the rooftops -- ready for her to grab onto and anyone who takes her hand to be pulled along on a high-speed exit!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The way Seriss is treating Cygnus is absolutely monstrous, and Coco would want to try and rip it away from the villainess if they had the chance to, but there a lot of things going on right now, so best Coco can do is to let her feel her best.

Shining light of stars,
Shining beacons up there,
We call you all together,
Let's build a better world together
Us, from here
Let's repair land and sea because
That's how the rain's roar
It will stop,
It will end

It's a concert of love to
Live and hope for a great emotion,
From a stage of lights and shadows
I will hear the melody
Of our hearts

Hold me even tighter,
Follow me into the sea because
You give me all the courage
To fight and keep on winning

At the apex of the song, Coco snaps her fingers with a "Fine Heart Pitch!", pointing them at Seriss, shaping her hand in a 'fingergun' position, and hearts fly out in all directions with a wink while the purification reaches its max intensity for the villainess, pure love directly from her heart.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Coco has finally managed to catch Seriss unshielded, and levelled a purifying attack at her.

if the Mermaid thought today might be the day to finally get Molly back, she'll be sadly disappointed; though the attack forces Seriss back from the window and leaves her Barrier Jacket absolutely smoldering, it does not, in fact, force her from Molly's body.

Atropos does not fare nearly so well.

Sailor Saturn's attack slams into the weird monolith, and the tentacles reaching for her, coiling around her, abruptly shrivel up and die; the monolith takes the assault, and seems to... lose its color, as it retreats from the suddenly much more combative warrior. But the damage is dun. Souta's attack sends a deep vibration through the strange machine, and for a moment the form of the terrible creature, chained up inside, is visible through the armor as it shrieks and wails.

<< ## sLAUGHTER ## >>

A collection of mouths and eyes open up all over it, charging up for... something, with an ear-splitting whine; and it might be about to fire, when Amy's ancient magic of destruction hits it and goes through and through. The armor cracks, light shines out as the inside of the monolith goes molten; it shrieks, a howl of outrage turning to pain turning to fear.

It opens a massive mouth, right down the middle, and then it just splits into two halves entirely, falling to the ground one after the other and leaning apart from each other, still connected by gross tendons and weird bits of ichor and flesh.

<< REBOOT COMPLETE >>

"Neutron Wall."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. DEPLOYED >>

"Delete all guest users. Disallow any further commands that are not given with my voice."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ALL GUEST USER DATA PURGED. >>

Seriss comes back to the edge of the building; at least if Atropos has gotten Hotaru under control, that would solve her current mood. And when she sees what has happened, it does not solve her mood. Hotaru has escaped. Atropos has been destroyed.

Seriss grips her staff hard enough that her knuckles pop, and her teeth grind against each other almost to the point of breaking. Rage blazes in her eyes as she steps forwards, preparing to simply leap down there and slaughter these fools who oppose her one at a time.

But.

No. Regain focus. Think coldly. She watches lachessis descending, focusing its gaze upon Amy, the one who struck the final blow against Atropos.

<< ## EyE FOR aN EYe ## >>

It shrieks as it comes towards her; and across its surface eyes open, glaring balefully at the Puella mage.

"No. Lachessis. Withdraw." Seriss brushes her armored fingers through her singed hair. "Euryale, detonate to cover our escape." She takes a look down at Hotaru, being carried off by Souta; after watching long enough to make sure that Lachessis does indeed duskport out, she turns to walk away, back into the building to follow suit.

Which leaves Euryale; the Youma shudders, a ripple passing over it from head to tail, as it starts to shriek, a sound of growing intensity as its armor cracks and light shines out.

Nicomachea will give Rashmi a warning of two things; Euryale's impending death, and the fact that Seriss' barrier is... right about to fall.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The great thing about Device Magic; when you know what to do, you can just *do it.*

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

The sickly lighting of Seriss' Barrier is replaced with a warmer, orange-yellow staticky sky, as Rashmi turns to leg it the *hell* out of there.

<< Move move move it's *gonna blow!* >>

It was the biggest Barrier Rashmi had the energy to set and maintain indefinitely; maybe three blocks in diameter, *much* less than the most-of-a-district that Euryale's master had lain. Hopefully it's big enough to keep the blast in, as Rashmi rockets up and out towards its boundary. << Head to the KFC, I'll patch everyone up on the roof! That was *amazing* you guys! >>

Rashmi knew, the moment she spoke the authorization code, that it was a one-time trick. Could it have been deployed at a better time? Probably. Probably it may mean the difference between saving Molly and losing her.

But she *could not abide* what it was doing to Starcrash.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Inspector Camero really has no choice but to run, so after making sure that Hotaru is safely tucked under his arm he runs as fast as his magic will allow him to. It's around then that Paradise Spectrum issues a warning that one of the monsters is going to detonate... at roughly the same time that the barrier goes down? Wait... then that means--

    << Rashmi, do you need assistance? >>

    Souta stops, turns towards where his device calculates the explosion will be, and wonders for a moment. "Paradise, calculate the exact moment the barrier goes down. If need be..."

    Oh, good. Rashmi is already on it. "Nevermind. Calculate the exact amount of mana that Slider Fin will cost to take us to the rendezvous point."

    < 5%. Current reserves: 7% >

    With a click of his tongue, he says, "Nevermind. Divert 6% to reinforcing the Barrier. I'll take Amy's offer."

    < Confirmed >

    To the others, he transmits, << Acknowledged, Rashmi. We'll see you there. >>

    Paradise Spectrum turns into the unlit hilt of his greatsword, and Souta throws Hotaru over his shoulder, then reaches out to grab Amy's hand so that the three of them can fly to safety.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stands up and glares at Lachesis with defiance and confidence. With Coco's song in her heart, she's confident she can outlast the monolith if it comes to it.

    But Seriss calls it off, and also: ROCKET.

    Amy's rocket she rode in on swoops past. Amy grabs on, anyone else nearby can hitch a ride too. "Hang on tight! The barrier is... sticky!" Now that Souta's right there, he can see there are handholds... although that's not much help when one hand is holding Amy's and the other is holding Hotaru.

    Rashmi can fly. Souta's got Hotaru and is either flying or is with Amy. That's... wait a second.

    "CO-- YELLOW!" Amy shouts, and swerves the rocket around to pick her up. "Grab on!" She holds out a hand for Coco, and after picking her up or the mermaid princess demonstrating she has her own way out, the rocket flies up, and against the barrier...

    ...and it's out! "Phew..." Amy then turns the rocket towards the meeting point. "Thank you so much, ...Yellow Pearl Voice. You've helped my magic last longer, again." << I don't suppose anyone's up to doing healing? I'm not sure how bruised I am, but... I'm not turning pain back on while driving a rocket. >>

    If it comes to it, she can call Mamoru, but... ugh, that probably means dealing with New Moon again. She'd almost rather just regenerate with Coco's help...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
So it's going to blow this time!? Nyx really is full of surprises. The worst kind, really. After seeing Inspector Camero grab Hotaru, Coco makes a hasty getaway, glad that at least Rihito wasn't anywhere near here this time around, or that it didn't happen close to the Pearl Pier.

Let's leave the surprises for Hotaru being Hotaru later.

The Veil sure is a trip sometimes.

She gives a quick glance to make sure there is no sudden obstacle, but all of them seem fine, though they can check the exact values of 'fine' for Hotaru as soon as they are out of this mess. Most likely she just needs a bit of a rest.

"I'm fine!", Coco reassures Amy with a smile, gesturing at the Live Stage around her. "And you are welcome!" It's still a surprising and useful interaction of the way her magic and Puellae Magi work.

Once they are away from the blast range, she nods to Amy. "My song has healing properties too, but it is not specialised at it, so it will be just a bit slower than normal."

She then approaches Inspector Camero. "Thank you for saving Hotaru. Are you going to bring her home? She doesn't live at Radiant Heart. I could come along with you."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Luckily for this portion of downtown Tokyo, Rashmi is able to get her barrier up just in time, so that when Seriss' falls and Euryale finally explodes, the catastrophic damage that follows is done only to empty, ephemeral buildings, and not to the real infrastructure and people of Tokyo.

In the wake of the explosion, the inside of Rashmi's barrier falls silent; but it doesn't last for overly long, as the damage wrought was vast, and it's likely that Rashmi won't be able to keep the barrier up for long. When it does come down, it is to return the Mahou to the real, populated version of Tokyo, full of people who have absolutely no idea that a battle was just fought, and the fate of the world may have hung in the balance.

Any trace of Atropos is gone, the wrechage having been lost when Seriss' barrier fell. Of the dark sorceress herself, there is nothing to be seen or heard; not even a message of rage or some sort of threat. There is simply silence.

Until Nicomachea records an incoming message, sent from device ID Starcrash; like once before, a recording of Molly's voice.

"Help me... Please help... Ple--####"

Souta Camero has posed:
    Inspector Camero watches as Rashmi's barrier falls. His Device registered the sound and shockwave of the explosion, which thankfully happened in the empty ghost town copy within the barrier, and not the actual streets of Tokyo. Grim thoughts of a future now avoided cross his mind.

    Later, when they are safe, Camero watches as Coco approaches with a studious glance. After her offer is made, he explains, "Her housemates were gracious enough to grant me a room recently, so I know where she lives. However..." With a slight smile, "I most certainly wouldn't mind the company. That was a taxing battle, and an extra bit of safety wouldn't hurt."

    He remains blissfully unaware of the message sent to Rashmi's Device, unless the Meister decides to share it.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Between Yellow Pearl and I, >> Rashmi says over the comms net, << We can probably get most of the way okay. I'll see you guys there. >>

And it's as she's banking toward the KFC's building, that the message comes in.

Molly's voice.

Begging for help.

...Rashmi is not nearly so jubilant, as the four (and sleepy smol) converge on the building. "...She's taking it out on Molly-chan," she says flatly, as the magic circle of her patch-you-up battle-medic magic spreads out to project its soothing, healing light. "And she *let me know it.*"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Oh, so he lives there too. "I am glad you found a place quickly", Coco smiles at him. "I hope you are having a good time there. Hotaru is really lively and a joy", she adds, letting the Live Stage fade, and starting to walk in Pikarigaoka's direction alongside him.

The next few moments are much less pleasant, and a shade appears on Coco's face when Rashmi reveals what she has gotten. "Try not to listen to that message. She won't have her way forever", the blonde girl remarks seriously.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The rocket stops on the roof, and Amy at last can address the regeneration of internal bleeding, wishing she'd remembered to get to it earlier. It's so easy to forget in the middle of battle...

    Her bones are okay. Some of her flesh has... suffered extreme brute-force trauma. She's been operating on damaged muscles held together and forced to move by magic, which isn't good for healing. So after they've had a moment to assess damage, she tries to stay still.

    Amy doesn't know what to say to the news of Molly's torture. She wonders if she should have tried to kill Seriss while her device was down. But then, Molly...

    Amy looks uncomfortable, as she lies down in the circle.

    "...I'm not sure it's right, to just... not even be aware of the message. Is that fair to Molly? ...I don't know." She sighs, and turns her head towards Coco. "I hate to bother you, but..." Well, it's healing time, after all. "...I'm sorry. I should've... if I hadn't..." But she's not sure she could have stopped the tentacles any other way but the extreme force she used, that left her vulnerable to attack by Lachesis.

    So she sort of just trails off, and rests.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I already did," Rashmi says, giving Coco a sickly smile. "But I know what you mean... I can't let it *get* to me. It's--" Rashmi pauses, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath. "It's *Seriss'* fault this is happening. She could have chose to do so. *Many.* *Other things.* But *this* is how she decided to go. Well... Okay then. This is how it's gonna be."

Opening her eyes, she looks among her gathered friends.

"Now she gets to find out what that *really* means."