2985/Battle for the Hope Labyrinth

Battle for the Hope Labyrinth
Date of Scene:	20 March 2026
Location:	KFC - Karaage Fried Chicken
Synopsis:	The Black Beauty Sisters add breaking into peaceful alcoves to their list of crimes, and with Coco a step away from collapse, Hope Concept, Ginga Kingu, Tuxedo Kamen and Puella Red have to defend the Labyrinth of Hope from the two water demons' final onslaught.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Delrieu, Madoka Kaname, Mamoru Chiba, Amanda Faust, Sugata Shindo, Rihito Amagi
Tinyplot:	An Ocean Aria

---

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"Sister Sheshe?", Mimi asks the other demon, sending an empty box of juice soaring right into one of the bins at Penguin Park. "Yes, Sister Mimi?", the red-haired shadow replies, looking away from the group of pigeons pecking at the stony path between the grass.

"Remember that time Sunbreaker went on her own power rampage and covered the sun with those Witch runes?", she asks, kicking up a small cloud of dust when she stands up. Sheshe doesn't reply, and looks at her silently while she recovers that distant memory.

"I feel we are really close, and wouldn't it be great if we got the power of a Witch for our return?", the blue-haired shadow adds triumphantly.

Sheshe hums, bouncing the idea around in her mind. Witches are weird creatures, but the sparkles are surely by now expecting them to not be in Tokyo, and their Labyrinths would help maintain that facade. "You are brilliant, Mimi", she says, opening up in a bright smile. "What would I do without you?"

"Oh, come on, you would do perfectly well by yourself, Sister Sheshe", Mimi laughs, focusing her senses on the flow of magical energy. "Let's go get ourselves a Witch then."

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Elsewhere, Coco and Rihito are on the street leading to Mitakihara's KFC, leaning close to each other, and Rihito's hand is resting on the blonde girl's left arm, keeping her close to him. "I hope you will enjoy the change of air. It has been a while since we had a date, and I think this will be fun for you."

At the sight of the place, Coco smiles at him. She doesn't really feel like she has it in herself to eat today, but maybe that will change once they are close enough to the smell of chicken. Why is the place making her feel odd, though? She tries to think and reason, and when the thought arrives, it hits her with a brief 'oh' that Rihito wouldn't normally pick this place, though. There is enough grease in there to last them a whole week. Did somebody suggest it to him?

She is about to ask him that, but she feels a chill that has nothing to do with her illness at the sight of the Black Beauty Sisters standing just in front of the KFC's left wall. It settles over her in a way that feels almost wrong against the lingering warmth beneath her skin.

Their presence gives her mind a jolt that breaks through the fog. What are they here for, the power of grease?, she jokes acidly to herself, while moving slightly in front of Rihito. "Over there, there are Sheshe and Mimi", she says, pointing them out to him.

Coco grows impossibly paler when they start pushing dark energy into the wall, and there is a glow of magic in response, resisting the pressure briefly before shattering and forming the door to Kamiko's Labyrinth.

'No, they can't, not Kamiko too', she realises with wide eyes, and tries to push back against the tiredness clinging to her bones, drawing out the magic of her Pearl.

Curving her hands in a vague x-shape around her shell locket, yellow light radiates in around Coco, and a kaleidoscope of colour flourishes over her form.

"Yellow Pearl Voice!" The rainbow energy glimmers and clings, warping into pale yellow boots that flow into overlapping fabric. Rising up, a golden yellow dress and a short yellow pleated skirt blossom onto her and her pearl gleams and expands, settling comfily into her hand as her trusty E-Pitch microphone, with the yellow jewel nestled safely in the head's center.

"Stay here. I will meet you later", she adds, but Rihito's hand snaps to her wrist and hangs on tightly. "I may not have magic, but I am not leaving you alone, Coco. You need someone in your condition."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco's heart beats a little faster at the resolution in his tone, and she gives him a small smile. It's true she probably would be too tired to go back by herself afterwards, and she can't deny the relief of his presence would have a positive effect on her magic too. She just needs to be careful, and the Live Stage is big enough to protect both of them.

"Ok", she whispers. "Thank you, Rih."

He moves his hand down and gives hers a squeeze, then with no further words, they move after the anglerfish demons.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Inside the Labyrinth, somewhere deep within, is Kamiko sitting on a tiny Chara-scale circular table along with Tia and Sio. On top of the table is a little teapot, in the middle of the three of them, and there are tiny teacups that they are sipping from. They also are sitting in fragments of teacups that are normal human sized that have been sanded down. The three of them are chattering at a speed that is probably difficult for humans to keep up with, which is fine because no humans are there.

    Suddenly the Labyrinth shakes as Kamiko looks up. "Uhhh... that's not supposed to happen."

    Tia complains, "Surely you can control your own Labyrinth! I'm going to spill my tea."

    Sio hms. "You know... this energy kinda feels like a hostile takeover. I'm gonna go call Doka." While the business fairy taps on her smartphone, Kamiko floats away from the tea party, out the door of the gingerbread house, floats over a road paved in pink and yellow wafer cookies lined by pocky sticks taller than an adult human, past several winged bell Familiars flittering about in a panic, all the way to the circular mandala marking the entrance. She pokes her head out and yells with all of her tiny rage.

    "What dumb thing are you dumb dummies doing?! Cut that ou--" Then she sees who it is. "Oh no! I gotta go tell Hope-chan."

    Then she dives back into the Labyrinth and flies deeper in, shouting to everyone Familiar and Chara alike that they need to get away from here. Just moments later, the Black Beauty Sisters have forced the doorway open.

    There are many strengths of a Labyrinth, but keeping people out is not one of them.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Is it coincidence or fate that two tall bishounen are on their way to that self-same KFC to pick up buckets of fried food for their loved ones? Mamoru and Sugata are sloping up the sidewalk looking like a pair of models, the black-haired boy wearing a dark red button-down short-sleeved silk shirt over a black turtleneck and tightrolled black mom jeans with black socks and expensive dark red shoes. The tips of his hair are dyed green on one side and blue on the other, which does not match his colorscheme and that has disgruntled him.

That only matters for the walk there, though, because first Mamoru sees Coco and Rihito on the sidewalk way ahead, and he tags Sugata's arm and waves to them, and then he sees Sheshe and Mimi and he remembers them and they're opening a PORTAL in the side of the FRIED CHICKEN PLACE? And Coco's looking worse than Usagi even said.

"Come on! Earth Crystal Power, Make Up!" he calls as he starts running, his pocket watch glinting in his hand, and he transforms as he goes, ribbons resolving into a billowing cape behind him. He enters after the other two.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Some students are sitting inside, talking and eating.

    "I know, I know, but actually even back in America I only had KFC like a few times?" Amy explains, to the others' surprise. "I just... don't like eating around bones, y'know? So I guess the only thing I particularly like is the popcorn chicken. I guess they must have chicken strips or chicken nuggets or something but it's just not a place I think of going to. I was never really big on eating out..."

    There's a mix of responses ranging from similar to her to a student who loves KFC.

    Life is normal, for a moment.

    And the popcorn chicken is tasty.

    And then she feels it. Oh no. "...I'm sorry. I have to go." She starts wrapping up what's left of her food in napkins to stick in her jacket pockets. "I uh... forgot something I was supposed to be at. Can one of you cover the-- text me the amount and I'll payfriend it to you. Thanks!"

    She stands from the booth and runs out, to see Mamoru and Sugata and transforming and she looks over and there's a portal. "What's going on?!" She runs after him, henshining once she's out of sight of the windows.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Two tall bishounen on a pathway to chicken, not for themselves (partially for themselves) but for their great loves, unstoppable eaters who are currently in the depths of study. Sugata is dressed in a long-sleeved green button down, a wool jacket thrown over to fight off the faint chill in the air, his shirt tucked into loose enough blue jeans to allow easy motion and a pair of neat oxfords.

"How likely is it that they're already reading manga instead -"

The casual quip is interrupted by the sight of what's going on, and Sugata exhales in a combination of annoyance and satisfaction.

"Another chance to send you packing? You two truly don't learn."

His mark flares, and he calls the command to transform, light spilling about as his clothes become the old military-style suit of Ginga Kingu.

"Those two trouble making fish are at it again."

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"Candy Witch?", Mimi suggests with a headtilt when they break through, looking at all the pink and all the sweets making up the composition of the Labyrinth. She was something a little bit more... dignified? Scary? This feels like something Hosshiwa would enjoy having, not her.

"Must be the case. I thought it would be a bigger Labyrinth", Sheshe muses. The whole thing seemed a little weird to her. They did find a Labyrinth, but the noises from the KFC were very happy, and not really filled with misery. Wasn't that a Witch's whole deal?

"Let's begin, Sister Mimi. Let's go with those familiars, first, then we can Hansel and Gretel this place", Sheshe says, raising a hand towards one of the panicked winged bells. A subtler blast of dark energy comes out, and instead of hurting it, it latches onto it, dragging the familiar close to Sheshe and then absorbing it.

"What does it feel like?" Mimi asks curiously. "Like eating needles", Sheshe grimaces, and reroutes the dark energy on another bell Familiar, grabbing that one too, but there is a familiar sound of music in the air, and that second dark rope is hit by a Live Stage, sending a jolt through it that weakens the grip enough to let the Familiar fly free.

The Black Beauty Sisters turn towards Coco, watching her panting and already a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and smile. "What do you think you are accomplishing, freeing one? We can just get another later." Whatever is going on with her really has done a number on her, they observe gleefully.

They scoff when Ginga Kingu shows himself. "You are gonna be wishing you packed extra power, pretty boy. Things have changed already. After we are done with this Labyrinth, we can come after your spirit next. And how many more of you sparkles are coming here."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The angel bell Familiars are in a panic, and so is Kamiko. Because those Familiars are made out of her energy, and if they are being absorbed then it's pretty similar to just draining her. Worse, since she is still the most powerful minidoka, she's rich in energy and oh godoka what are they going to do with her magic?! The divine fairy hides with her sisters in the gingerbread house, hoping that Madoka isn't that far away.

    Homura Akemi appears in a flicker, standing on the wafer cookie road, in full henshin. She shouts out, "Of all the Witches you could have drained, this is the worst possible choice! You have no idea what you're doing."

    Suddenly Madoka is here, kneeling next to the gingerbread house, making shush noises and reaching in to pet Kamiko. She cups the divine fairy in her hands, and then turns around to face Sheshe and Mimi. She frowns at the two of them, and then runs through a doorway, into a deeper part of Kamiko's private world.

    While she's gone, the Labyrinth changes. It's hard to say how, but the energy is suddenly richer, the Familiars are suddenly larger, and the ground is more solid.

    A heavenly sweet voice calls out from all around them. "You wanted to face the Witch of this Labyrinth?" There is a psychic imprint of a name in Witch Runes that suddenly nudges on everyone's mind, like a polite introduction instead of an invasion. Four letters, space, and a seventh. Even if one can't read them, they might be able to guess that they spell out the name of Hope Concept. Above, there is a flash of light and Hope manifests in front of them. Her infinite pink hair flows endlessly behind her, and her white dress wavers in an unfelt wind.

    "Well... you found me, and I'll not allow you to terrorize my fairies!"

    The flying bell Familiars that were once fleeing Mimi and Sheshe suddenly form up and attack. Before they were the size of a baseball, and now they're about the size of the kind of stability fitness balls you find in the gym. In swarms they charge at the two of them.

    As for Homura, she's gone again. She's gone elsewhere with Tia and Sio to keep them safe.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"How about you SHUT UP," suggests Tuxedo Kamen when the Sisters taunt Coco and! EAT!!? A FAMILIAR?!, and he jumps to get between them and Coco and Rihito before he plants his feet in the forgiving ground of Hope Labyrinth and pulls a hand to his chest, eyes locked on-- oh, flip a coin-- Sheshe. "There's zero point in you taunting us or us arguing with you, this fight is happening." His hand has been glowing against his chest for a second now.

Then Homura shows up, and Mamoru's blue eyes widen behind the mask; then Madoka shows up, and Mamoru looks-- so relieved. "And Hope Concept isn't just cooler than you two in every way, and she doesn't just have allied familiars here. Yellow Pearl Voice has... familiar allies!"

His hand's glowing brighter and brighter.

"Tuxedo," he starts, then flings his glowing fist out in front of him.

"La Smoking," he continues, voice growing more strident, and then he opens that glowing hand and a growing ball of energy forms in front of it again--

--and then he yells out, the force of the laser blast enough to kick him back a half step, "Bomber!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Through the portal is... Kamiko's Labyrinth?!

WEEKS AGO, AT THE SHED:

    Amy looks curiously at Madoka. "Targetting you through exploiting odd properties of your Labyrinth sounds awfully esoteric, though. Something to worry about from an enemy with some sort of special connection to or knowledge of Witches, or an assassin targeting you, perhaps, but it doesn't sound like something they can just stumble into, is it?"

    Kamiko shrugs and says, "I wouldn't underestimate what someone could stumble into. Weird stuff happens by accident all the time, and esoteric doesn't always mean inaccessible." Then the divine fairy floats over to Madoka's shoulder and rests on it while Madoka reaches up to scritch Kamiko with her finger.

NOW:

    "Shit, she was right."

    Amy calls out, "Hey! Stop this right now! Who'm I kidding, you never listen..."

    She conjures the artillery cannon, aimed at them. "I don't have to hold back in here and I have a grief seed. Leave."

    She does glance at Coco, her eyes flickering with concern. << Are you able to sing? If not, I'll manage, don't push yourself. Ginga Kingu, are you able to King's Pillar in here? >>

    And then she processes what Homura was shouting. << Wait, Witch? But this looks like Kamiko's Labyr-- >>

    And then she feels it. Her friend, the Goddess of Puella Magi, and the feeling of hope that anything is possible.

    The Witch runes are new, though. There aren't enough letters for Kriemhild Gretchen. There's one of those circles with the bump inside and the dot under it, just like on her ring, in the second word though. She can guess what it might say.

    She steadies her grip. "Go. Now."

    CRACK. The cannon fires, and then again. And again, and again -- Amy cycling through different ammo types, explosive, a bunch of flechettes, one big one, a cannonball, seeing what works on the sisters and their defenses. Trying to seem threatening and drive them off before they realize she didn't call anything out yet, while she waits for Coco's reply.

    She'll be spending a lot of magic shortly, one way or another. Amanda doesn't want to imagine what happens if her friend... that her mind keeps slipping off of right now... if Hope Concept gets drained.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"Oh, look who it is, Sister Mimi. It's the Panthalassa copycat. Wanna see in what ways we can hurt her today?", Sheshe immediately proposed, and a faint chill gets released from her person. "Wanna guess what's going on?", Sheshe comments cheerfully.

They are so used to fighting Homura that they don't notice Madoka sneaking ahead of them and rescuing Kamiko. The water demons' smile twists when the Labyrinth changes and they get that directionless voice.

"This is not a Witch, right?", Mimi asks, staring at how everything seems larger. "No idea how, but this must be that of a sparkle", Sheshe adds, and gives out a laugh when Hope Concept appears. "So it's you! We were just about going to drop from the boredom, so this works well!", Sheshe exclaims.

"Your fairies, huh? Call them that for as long as you can. We already got a Familiar. What's a fairy going to be like?" Sheshe threatens, and with a snap of her fingers, there is a blast of fire taking the shape of a unicorn and galloping through the air at full throttle.

"And this is for your girlfriend!", Mimi adds, clapping her hands together, and causing the appearance of their usual red Live Stages. "If she wants to ambush us, we will feel it first!" Though they still aren't shields or barriers, so they would be taking the full brunt of the attack. "And we will take those bigger familiars too!"

A portion of the red energy splits, and forms into the small bell Familiar, which flies to its bigger "cousin". When it gets close enough, it throws itself into the other bell, merging with it and taking it over. "We can really feel the power in these ones! Thank you for coming!", both anglerfish shout to Hope Concept.

She immediately follows that by whistling when Mamoru gives them little advance warning. A thick spike of ice reaches outwards, and there is a clash between the beam of white and the frozen attack. Shards of ice fall off every second as the two attacks try to best the other one. There are strong vibrations through the air with the continued collision, and several cracks appear through the spike of ice.

Mimi's attack presses on through the Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber still, and finally pierces through, dissipating the white beam, however also breaking in thousands of shards from all the cracks it got left with.

Sheshe grins and joins her hands together when the red Puella appears, and slowly distances them, leaving dark energy in between that solidifies into a clarinet. Blowing air into the instrument, she releases notes that turn into spectral clarinets homing in on all the various ammos and explosives, sacrificing the copies for the protection of the two water demons. More shadowy clarinets come in, and these zero in on the red Puella, cutting through the smoke left by her attacks.

<< We are in this together. >> Coco sends back through Puella Red's telepathy. << I will also be doing my part! >> However, her words come through distorted and punctuated by interference.

"Let's try the Familiars on the Mermaid Princess first, shall we, Sister Sheshe", Mimi leans forward with a sharp smile, and the lone winged bell glows red and starts duplicating. Soon there are 6 of them all throwing themselves at the white Live Stage.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!", Coco says weakly after a few seconds.

If a rainbow-colored morning comes, let's unfold the map of light
Can you hear it too, I wonder?
Hey... this planet's melody

The rhythm of the clock is faster
than the speed of my heartbeat
Sometimes it rushes me, and I take a deep breath
When I get lost in the future
I want to believe in my honest, calm self...

With a "Good morning!", reset yourself, listen closely with the ears of your heart
The things you'd forgotten will surely come into view

From the seven-colored prism, catch the seven lights
Just being alive, hey, you already know love
That summer's coral reef, the birds circling the cape
I love them!!
All of this planet is...
Hey... a melody without sound.

The song isn't really what they are used to from her: sometimes, words are skipped, and it is so quiet to be barely audible. Several cracks form over the repelling layer of the Live Stage, and it looks so brittle that a breeze could fracture it for good.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Concept smiles at Tuxedo Mask's 'familiar allies' wordplay, but then frowns again as she sees her Familiar getting taken over, presumably being controlled by dark energy. Her mind thinks back to Gretchen and all the mess caused by her inability to get purified. Would they do something like that to her again? Would they force her to revert to Hope Witch?

    No. Hope Concept can't allow that to happen. Not even temporarily.

    "My fairies are precious and I'll not let you near them... but the Familiars... well..." The goddess draws an arrow onto her branch bow, aiming down at the corrupted minions. "... They're bullets meant to be fired." The top of her bow ignites with pink flames as she looks down at them with sadness. "I'm sorry, little ones, but I'll be sure to reform you later."

    From her high place in the sky above, she lets loose her arrow which splits into many, raining all over the battlefield. The Familiars going after Coco are targeted first, and unless they've been boosted in some way Hope is confident that they wont get further. At the same time, 3 meter long pocky sticks shoot up out of the ground and bar the path, providing a physical barrier for the yellow mermaid to hide behind.

    Homura, meanwhile, still is absent from the battle itself. Of course, Madoka could summon her at any time if needed, so Sheshe and Mimi aren't unwise to protect themselves from her.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Amy had asked if it was possible for Ginga Kingu to make use of King's Pillar here, in a land of hope and whimsy, a Labyrinth maintained by the Divine Chara. The answer to that question?

"King's Pillar!"

A resounding yes. From the highest points of the ceiling falls a flood of power, a crushing force that seeks to not simply destroy but immolate all in its path. It's not an unstoppable force - Riventon has stopped it, Phase 3 Cybodies have stopped it - but it's hopefully enough pressure and power to make them fall back at least somewhat.

While the King's Pillar falls, Ginga Kingu's heels glow with energy as he hovers and flies to Yellow Pearl Voice's defense, pulling the gleaming white sword from his chest with the sharp call of "Star Swordo! Diamante!"

Like Hope Concept, he works to defend Yellow Pearl Voice, trying to keep the attackers from destroying her brittle barrier.

There's no point in taunting these enemies - this is a time to strategize, while the enemy is inside of their allies defenses.

"Thank you for your singing, Yellow Pearl Voice," he says, voice taking on a rare, gentle cadence, "Getting them out of this Labyrinth would seem to be the best strategy we could focus on. Do you - or you, Hope Concept - have any ideas on what might tempt them away?"

He trusts that here, in her territory, Hope Concept will hear him, though with Amy and Mamoru under attack, he's not anticipating much response from that quarter.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's a damn good thing Ginga Kingu takes point on defending Coco, because it takes so much effort to just meet that ice attack's strength with his own that Tuxedo Kamen doesn't have time to pull up his cape to tank the shards of the beam, and they rip into his henshin armor as he hisses in sudden pain from the sharpness and cold. Belatedly he lifts his cape, now using it as a shield against the corrupt Familiars beginning to attack the Live Stage, then flinging it away with a sudden cry of, "Razor Roserade!"

It's a huge spray of roses, flying out from his flung-aside cape, all razorsharp stem first, at the familiars.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Tch..." Amy frowns as summoned instruments tank the shots she fires, and more come for her. She feels Yellow Pearl Voice's song, and summons a salvo of minimissiles, sending two at each clarinet coming for her...

    ...But it's not enough. And in all the smoke, she doesn't see until too late, when a clarinet sweeps out of the smoke and bashes her.

    Her chestplate shatters and there's a crack and she's sent tumbling across the ground.

    Oh that hurt. She struggles to get up and breathe--ow. That's not good.

    She then stands up as if nothing's wrong. Worry later, she has to stop this now. "Mahou Missile Massacre!" She spreads her arms, and doesn't even bother with the costume change this time -- dozens of mini-missiles just appear in the air around her and launch, at the Sisters, at their copy-Familiars trying to blow them up before they can take out the Live Stage, at their instruments.

    Amy hopes that between the four of them they can overcome the Sisters' attacks and push onto the offensive...!

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco really appreciates the breaks her friends have given her: just that last song has made her limbs feel like lead, and she can feel the droplets of sweat travel down her forehead. Rihito isn't saying anything, but his wiping it away, and what she can see of his blurry expression is enough to let her know his thoughts anyway.

"Bullets... Bullets... We will take your word for it then", both demons comment casually, watching the rain of pink arrows and Diamante pierce through the Familiars that are just outside of the white spheres of light surrounding her and Rihito while Tuxedo Kamen holds them back with his cape tank, buying the time necessary. The Black Beauty Sisters are hardly worried about losing them when they can now just make more.

And that is what they do, making more and more, but the process is not as fast as they would prefer, with the cascade of roses cutting down their numbers, with a newfound scowl on the shadows. There is still a substantial amount, and more and more winged bells are made once the Razor Roserade stops falling. "Go after him. Show him what happens when we are crossed." That entire swarm is now directed solely towards Tuxedo Kamen.

Time around Amy slows down as well, when Sheshe shapes the clarinet she is holding into a giant trombone, and blows into it, leading to a disarray of the Mahou Missile Massacre when the sound waves clash. The number is vastly reduced, and only a few make it through, landing right on Mimi's foot. "Ow, ow, ow! That burns, you trigger-happy fool! Sister Sheshe, can we send some heavy harpsichords at her?"

"Right away, Sister Mimi", the other Black Beauty Sister grins, and she plays more music, sending out two small pianos at the slowed down Puella.

The King's Pillar being called down however is another matter. They recall the damage that it did last time, and this is (soon to be) theirs, they can't just let it just wreck its way through before they have fully taken it over.

"Hey now, we don't appreciate you going after our property", they chide the Ginga Kingu. "Keep your hands off of it. We shall now draw you in our Dark ~Concerto~!"

Dark energy washes out from the song steeped in cruelty, and the negative sound waves cluster under the King's Pillar, forming three of the red spheres, rotating and eroding the attack. There is a loud thunder that echoes across the Labyrinth, and nothing is left of the contending attacks, nothing but fine sparks that slowly float down.

Voice In the Dark!
Folia of darkness,
Seize the pearls of bonds!

Voice In the Dark!
Now! The beautiful, splendid show begins
Voice In the Dark!
Carried on this song,
The resonating power of darkness echoes

Peace is nothing but an illusion
A trick unseen in any mirror
If the threads of the waves become tangled,
They'll turn to ebbing tides
The magic inside hearts
Turns into a mischievous aphrodisiac
Bewildering the weak as it spreads

Voice In the Dark!
This melody plays with the black waves
Voice In the Dark!
Stop love! Become a formless chain!
Through the swirling refrain...
Seize the pearls of bonds!

"Go get her too", the Black Beauty Sisters call on a fourth Live Stage, blasted at the goddess of the Puellae Magi. "It's either your Labyrinth or ours, nothing personal", they add calmly.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope really doesn't like the idea of her own Familiars being turned against her, but it can't be helped. They caught Kamiko unawares and were able to drain her power. Typically Madoka doesn't have to worry about what her Chara get up to, because she can't track all seven of them and they can generally handle themselves. Ice Cream Time and Bed Time are basically the only times she gets them all in one place.

    What's worse... what if they get their own Labyrinth? They've been gaining so many powers lately, and the mahoujin haven't been able to stop it. Hope has to stop the drain somehow.

    To Sugata, Hope responds, because of course she can hear him here regardless of distance. "All I can think of is driving them off by force. I'm not very good at being tricky, sorry."

    Mask gets chased further in, and Hope can help him a bit with that, bending the terrain constantly to give him the advantage... but he's going to be gone for a bit and there's only so much focus she can give him. He'll be safe, and she's confident about that, and she suspects he'd rather she focus on protecting Coco anyways.

    Speaking of, the mermaid idol is being kept safe for now, but before Hope Concept can really get on the offensive the Sisters are already gearing up to sing. She gasps. That song, in a place like this...

    The evil melody washes over the otherwise sweet landscape. Pocky sticks break and fall to the ground, the cotton candy is ripped apart and blown up into a sky of forced smiles, and the wafer brick road shatters. Worse, those Familiars that haven't been claimed or created by Sheshe or Mimi shrivel up and fall in droves. Can brass metal shrivel like that? It can now. With a silent command, Hope orders all of her Familiars to flee, refusing to send any more out. The Live Stage, meanwhile, is coming right at her and well...

    Hope Concept doesn't really uh... do dodging.

    The goddess takes a direct hit, and then spirals down to the ground. Immediately Homura is there to catch her in her arms, glaring at the two evil Sisters but still not firing. After a moment, the two girls are gone.

    There are, however, a lot more Madokas here. Each of them looking like a translucent, ghostly version of Hope Blossom, and each of them appearing from all angles to fire massive barrage of magic arrows at Sheshe and Mimi. Their combined pink fury erodes the terrain itself even further, fighting more strongly in the absence of the original.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Disappointing but unsurprising - Sugata had not expected a simple's King's Pillar to finish this fight, as it had so many others, not when their enemies are glutted with power and smug with the fruit of stolen power. The fact that environment is changing to reflect that theft, and the power of their counterattacks is only growing, that is concerning.

There's no option to trade his own power for Hope Concept's, not when Samekh would only imbue them with greater hunger, not when it would be a threat to the world and more worlds besides, and a signature on his death warrant to boot, but the thought still crosses his mind, as he hisses at the disruption of his power.

"Could you be less cliche," he calls disdainfully to the sisters. "This isn't your property - even if you steal her power, whatever foolish thing you create will be born of your own idiocy. Neither of you can be so stupid as to think you could make this landscape."

Is antagonizing his enemies so thoroughly and directly the best idea? No. Is it the idea he's going with? Yes.

"There's nothing to apologize for," he says shortly, "Some enemies can only be killed - its seemed more and more likely that that will be the case for these two."

They just have to do that, though, and the attacks that are getting through - Ginga Kingu weaves through the battle where he can, but attacks connect regardless, beginning to tear through his henshin coat, leaving bruises, digging.

The song is worse, pulling away at strength and spreading corruption. The Star Sword in his hand glows, as he launches his blazing sword at them -

"Star Crash!"

- in an effort to disrupt that song.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Sugata wondered, earlier, what could lead the Sisters away. Amy replies, << If they want to drain a Witch, I have a grief seed... but I doubt they'd go for it first, when they think they can take us all on here. >>

    After firing the missile massacre, Amy's already thinking ahead to how she can follow up with an expanded attack. She can push her magic more, conjure more at once--

    And then she watches in slow-motion horror as all their attacks together are countered without even breaking a sweat. Harpsichords are flung her way, she probably can't dodge, she has to run

    But then she remembers no, they can't run here. If they drain her friend through the connection of her Labyrinth... She doesn't want to think what it would mean for her friend or Puella Magi, let alone what Sheshe and Mimi would do with such power.

    The goddess goes down, is teleported away by Akemi-san, and dozens of her friend appear. Okay, giving a little ground doesn't have to be a full retreat -- Amy tries to get out beyond the Madoka horde, in hopes their attacks will get the instruments too.

    And at least she can perceive at normal speed, think at normal speed, even if her body can't act that fast.

    A series of explosions start launching her through the air backwards. Then a bigger one. Then she's switching her costume to flight mode and rocket thrusters all over her costume are propelling her. Then several times more rockets appear braced to her, pushing her more. Her subjective acceleration is able to exceed human norms, she's not sure how much -- mental note, look up later what aerospace engineers have calculated for that sort of thing, and practice emergency egress -- only that she probably can't black out, and just needs to not do terrible physical trauma to her body.

    One of the harpsichords still wings her, even with all that rocket exhaust pushing against and burning them. She's sent off spinning rather than getting another terrible injury, but she's already working to stabilize it.

    She can't feel nauseous in this state she thinks of as 'puppet mode', it turns out. It remains to be seen whether that means she'll be seeing her dinner again anyway without feeling it happening.

    This thought, too, has to be pushed aside while worrying about staying alive for the next second.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco watches on filled with concern when the red Live Stage hits Madoka, and she is taken away by Homura. How was she hurt? She couldn't see well, and the fact she is not here any longer only slightly doesn't really fill Coco with confidence. She tries to think about what to do, but the magical girl doesn't really manage to break past the haziness brought forward by her fever. Good thing Rihito at least is here to provide her with support.

The Black Beauty Sisters have been gradually becoming more and more accustomed to the energy of the Hope Labyrinth, and all the magical energy moving back and forth is stimulating their internal flow, and when their song corrupts the environment of the Labyrinth, they immediately reach for the broken down sweets.

The broken pocky, the wafer street: there is nothing they haven't tried in a matter of minutes, and the malevolent power floating around them intensifies, and to the two demons, it feels like a layer peeling away, and them gaining substance at the same time.

"Really? You promise?", Mimi says in response to Ginga Kingu. "I was really worried I would be stuck making sweets. I will look forward to what I will make!"

"Don't worry, my dear Sister Mimi, I know you will make something beautiful that will ensnare everyone's hearts", Sheshe adds in a suave tone.

There is a subtle layer of darkness hanging in the air now, and reducing the reach of positive emotions. All colours are less sparkly, and everything that would normally appear enticing in Madoka's Labyrinth is like a stain trying to resist being washed away.

A minor pulse breaks away with a snap echoing in the air multiple times, and both of them look down and at each other, even starting to stretch. "Finally. We were so tired of being shadows, we were losing our minds."

Coco grimaces as she hears their words. Did they really just... She tries to say anything, but her mouth is so arid she feels like her tongue is stuck, and she only manages a few broken words. She tries taking a few steps forward, but she overestimates her strength and her legs cede, leaving her to fall.

The attacks of Hope Concept and Puella Red converge, and the myriad of arrows and explosives all bear down on the duo of darkness. "Shadow of the heart within, defend us!", they shout confidently, and there are just as many illusory Black Beauty Sisters, each holding harps, and fighting head to head with their opposition.

It's a show of light and darkness, and a few attacks reach the originals, making them fall and leaving clear bruises on their bodies, but they stand up anyway as if nothing happened, brushing dust off their arms.

"We are back, and now it's a new showtime!"