2980/Portal of Call

Portal of Call
Date of Scene:	15 March 2026
Location:	Beach
Synopsis:	Hinoiri find a portal to KiraKiraFantastica, and this time it's Mimi and her youma Nema causing trouble, with Yellow Pearl Voice, Hope Blossom, Puella Red, Cure La Licorne and Geode Girl Loyalty to defend it.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Coco Delrieu, Madoka Kaname, Niji Dasshu, Amanda Faust

---

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara stared at the portal from one side before looking at Yuyami (the KKF original, not Obsidian brand). "Welp. Eeyup. That. That right there? That's a portal," she said. "Good news? I don't think anybody knows about it, yet."

"To that world?" the unicorn asked.

Mmmm hmm," Hinoiri asked. "Well, probably. Only one way to find out," Hinoiri said before she started to trot towards it, only to get grabbed by the tail and yanked back.

"You're going to just walk INTO IT?!" Yuyami asked, her voice cracking. "Without doing research? Sending in scouting spells? ANYTHING?!"

"I mean... yeah," Hinoiri said, before pointing. "... I can literally see the beach on the other side. I know that beach. Listen, just close things off on this side so nopony ends up in trouble, I'll call everyone on that side, make sure to keep people out of trouble over there, we'll make sure that like... nobody falls into it and figure out what to do. Relax, I've been in dozens of portals. It's fiiiiiine. You worry too much. What'd magic be without a bit of fun now and again?" With those words, she then tugged free of the overly anxious unicorn and dashed through the portal, only to step out as a human on the other side.) She then turned to see the unicorn on the other side and waved. "See? Totally fine. You can come and try, if you want."

"Errr... n-no t-t-thank you," Yuyami said sheepishly, pacing in place a few steps, though she obviously wanted to. "N-not without at least three surveys. B-besides, I've still a lot of work to do on this side. Errr..."

Hinoiri snickered, before pulling out her phone and then glancing up. Well... at least the portal was directly under the pier before it headed out further to sea... but if some kid wandered in, or during high tide, if it opened, there could be trouble... she didn't wanna know what would happen then. Best they figured out how long it'd be open before then. She started sending out some quick texts for backup. Some ponies just didn't understand the excitement of really digging their hooves into the magic... Besides, what was the worst that could happen?

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco is at her desk, sitting on her padded swivel chair. The light of the laptop screen shines on her at the desk, showing a long page full of dense information. Her study material for the last exams before graduation. As hard as her illness was making it to focus, she doesn't really want to fail the year. Just in case.

Still, by now, she had a headache severely boicotting her, and the young woman had turned away from the artificial lighting, slowly spinning around and staring at the collection of plants that fills her room, as well as the star cushions on her bed. She really likes the room here, and all the small photos that have filled bookshelf and dresser. It's a welcome distraction whenever she needs that five-minute break from studying.

She takes a deep breath, taking the smell of salt coming in through the balcony and whispers a hum, still spinning around until she finds herself face to face with her desk again, and the silent screen of her phone lights up with a message.

Hinoiri needs help with a portal? And she is not too far from here... Well, this counts as a distraction too, and it has been a bit since she last did anything quiet with Hinoiri.

<PHONE> Coco Delrieu texts Rihito Amagi: Hey, Rih, wanna come with? Hinoiri is asking to watch over a portal for her.
<PHONE> Coco Delrieu texts Rihito Amagi: Should be easy enough.
<PHONE> Coco Delrieu texts Rihito Amagi: She just needs to wait until it closes, I think?

<PHONE> Rihito Amagi texts Coco Delrieu: Hello, Coco. Would Hinoiri be the friend that studies magic music?
<PHONE> Rihito Amagi texts Coco Delrieu: I would love that.
<PHONE> Rihito Amagi texts Coco Delrieu: I would have to check how Michal is doing.
15 minutes later
<PHONE> Rihito Amagi texts Coco Delrieu: It will have to be quick, but I am coming right now.
<PHONE> Rihito Amagi texts Coco Delrieu: See you there, my Utahime.

<PHONE> Coco Delrieu texts Rihito Amagi: See you!

A few minutes later, she is by the pier, wearing a full tracksuit, and raising her arm in greeting towards Hinoiri. Rihito is by her side, and holding a pair of thermos, one per hand. He gives Hinoiri a piercing gaze as if he wanted to see into her soul, and then smiles, giving a slight bow. "Sorry about this. I know I wasn't part of the guest list. Nice to meet you, Kirara-san."

"Hello, Hinoiri-chan. This is Rihito, my boyfriend", Coco explains, speaking in a quiet tone that is a distinct. "He is at RHA too. Started Uni last year." She peeks through the portal, and at the purple unicorn. "Is that a friend? Hi, I am Coco!" She had a bit of a similar feel to her, but she couldn't really place where she would have seen her before.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Well if someone needs someone to watch over a weird portal, Kamiko is probably one of the least bad choices. She's invisible to most, very aware of how portals work due to constantly using her own, and probably could use Witch Stickers to make non-magicals walk away in case of an emergency.

    She is also very unlikely to cause trouble for Coco specifically, both because of her health downturn and also just in general.

    (She might cause trouble for Hinoiri, or with Hinoiri, depending.)

    The divine fairy leaves almost as quickly as she gets the text. Of course, where Kamiko goes speeding away without explanation, Madoka follows in a concerned panic. Sio clings to her Bearer's shoulder tightly, just as confused as she is. Eventually the pinkette has to henshin just to keep up with the divine fairy who is flying over buildings without concern. When they arrive, Kamiko lowers down to a couple meters above the ground and looks at the portal. The pony on the other side gets a wave from the tiny Chara.

    Hope Blossom lands behind her, slightly annoyed that the fairy didn't explain anything to her but thus far not really complaining. "Kamiko-chan... what's the matter?"

    Kamiko turns to Hope saying, "Oh, you came too? I'm gonna watch a portal with Hinoiri-chan."

    Madoka whines, "You didn't even notice me following you? Geeze." Then she looks at Hinoiri, the portal, and the pony beyond. She waves also. "Hi, Hinoiri. Hi, pony I don't know." Then she looks at Coco and Rihito with a smile. "Hi! Guess this ended up pretty close to your home, didn't it?"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    The baseball sails easily into the leather glove worn on the hand of one Niji Dasshu, as though it had been perfectly aimed for it. Of course, that glove is attached to an outstretched arm, and as the glove closes, the rest of the girl goes skidding through cold grass and comes to a stop as it collides into the fence.

    "That's an out - but it's just practice, Dasshu-san!" the coach calls. "You didn't need to dive for it so dramatically!"

    "Caught it, that's all that matters!" the girl says, getting up slowly and wiping dirt and grass off her uniform with a grin. Her phone buzzes and she reaches into her pocket with her other hand to pull it out. She reads over the text. Duty calls, she supposes. Which is fine, as practice is just now wrapping up. She one-handedly texts her intent to be there, and runs up to the rest of the team and coach to toss the ball back. "Good job, everybody, we're all coming along great! Gotta run, though." she says, and rushes off basically before anyone can stop her.

    One of the students looks to the other, watching Niji run off in dust cloud. "Wonder what other team is practicing today?" a student teasingly asks the one next to them.

    So Niji arrives at the pier, still in a grass-and-dirt stained baseball uniform. "Portal, huh? The kind bad guys come out of or the kind we gotta make sure they don't go into?" Niji asks popping up basically directly to the side of Hinoiri.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Some people just don't understand the excitement of really digging their hooves into magic. Others...

    Just a few minutes after Hinoiri sent the text, Rocket Girl Red's coming in sight of the beach far below. Amy grabs the binoculars from her pouch, dismisses her visor, and looks through the binoculars shakily at the distant specks on the pier. She puts them away again and comes in for a landing.

    The rocket she's riding slows, and loops to bleed off speed -- as if it had wings instead of the small fins it actually does, this is all magic after all -- and lands neatly in the sand near the pier.

    Since it's a neat landing, it has to land backwards, with Amy standing on the nose. She leaps off and dismisses her helmet. "Heeeey! So we have a new portal linking Earth to KiraKiraFantastica? How does that happen?" She approaches, eagerly trying to get close enough to get a good look through the portal but making no moves to go through. Yet.

    "And... what do we do about it? I mean I guess there's the veil and all, but... Wait, where is it on their side? Is it someplace we have to worry about anypony just blundering through?"

    Amy taps her chin as she considers. "Although, I guess there you could put up a 'caution: portal to dangerous world, do not go through' sign and people might actually listen..."

    She goes on like this, circling the portal and asking questions ("Do we know how long it's been here? Any idea how long it'll stay open? Can it only be entered from certain angles? Do magic or polluted air leak through from their respective sides? What about magical wildlife or plants or stuff, come to think of it?") and excitedly rambling, for the time it takes everyone else to show up.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara focused on her phone for a few minutes as she texted, a small smile on her lips. "Well, looks like my crew should be able to help after all," she said, sounding pretty chipper about it." Ohhhh, sweet. Looked like Kamiko would even show. Gotta love the chara help.

Of course, when Coco and her boyfriend showed, she urked a little. That piercing look... "Eh... heh heh. I don't know what I did, but you know what? Fair. I probably deserve it. Yeah, that's Yuyami. The one from Kirakirafantastica. She-- hey!" Aaaand there she went, the portal now just show... an empty valley. "... Yeah, she's gonna try and make sure nobody sees anything through the portal and whatnot," she said with a light chuckle. "And she's a little... shy, still. Or freaked out by humans. Funny, though. Apparently hydras? Easy. But humans? You all still freak her out. She-- GAH! Hey, Niji. Did you just... err, yeah. Kirakirafantastica portal. Figure it'll close in... well, not sure how long. But hopefully not more than... judging for runoff... applying Sutazuwaru's theorum of sprinked dosages..."

"I know that one!" A voice, the figure now-hidden from view on the other side of the portal, called over.

"Of course you do, Yuyami! You know, you could come over here, too!"

"You can't just dive in, unprepared, through strange portals!"

"I do it all the time!" Hinoiri yelled through it. "Annnnyway. I'd say it'll... likely stay open... anywhere from... seven hours more hours to three days. Its already been open at least eight hours, though," Hinoiri said. "... I'd need a lot of tools to narrow it down further. It's not the first time a portal has opened between our two worlds, as far as we know. They're usually pretty small and most things just innately avoid them. But when they're big like this, they draw some notice. This one is near a populated area on their side. It's closed off, for now, so no worries of anything wandering over. We just need to make sure nothing wanders over from here to there. Between the veil and everything, I don't wanna imagine the kind of hijinks that would play on their poor mind, trying to process that."

"The only stable portal is the one I've shown you all, and that one is at least protected and secure. As far as we know, nobody has wandered over there, or from there to here, and I'd rather not cause someone the kind of mental damage THAT'D do to them," Hinoiri said with a shudder.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
"It's just nice to get to know you, Kirara-san", is what Rihito goes with when Hinoiri shares her uneasiness. "You seem a good person, and I am glad to know a friend of Coco.

The yellow gives a hug to Hinoiri, and adds "She is very nice. I am sure two two could get along great. Maybe you could even discuss music theory", she suggests. Though there is nothing Rihito would know that Hinoiri wouldn't have already found out on her own through any book here in Tokyo.

Coco's hair starts flipping a bit when the rainbow speedster shows up at the unicorn's side. "Hello, Niji-chan. Ditched training?", she asks noticing the stains on her uniform. "Have you been going well?", she asks politely.

When Madoka arrives, Coco steps closer to hug her too. "Pretty surprising", Coco replies to Madoka grinning. It did make it very convenient for her, though she had to wait for Rihito to come over, so it still took them a while to show up. But there definitely wasn't any sudden teases or kisses playing a part in the delay. Not at all.

"I don't think Blossom would leave you alone, Kamiko-chan. It's not really like her", she lightly admonishes the Chara, taking a pause when a cough comes up twice. "It's good to see both of you. How have the exams been so far?"

Coco doesn't bat an eye when Amy shows up via rocket riding. They were pretty audible from afar. She turns towards the redhead and whispers "Hello, Red! The speed route here, right? You got here on time."

Rihito hums, and consider Niji's questions, and looks at the unicorn on the other side, glossing over the fact he is talking to a magical horse. That's just another oddity by now. "What kind of place is your world? Mostly peaceful, or dangerous?" He cannot do much himself, but if enemies could appear any second there, wouldn't she do much better with more people on her side?

No concern about enemy is unfounded, and two small whirpools twist in the sea not too far from where Hinoiri and her friends are, and standing on top of them, a tall blonde guy with blue eyes, a skin-tight blue shirt and a red cape starting from his waist is looking down at Mimi, who is instead staring at the beach with a smirk.

"That seems to be where the magic trail leads, master", the tall guy muses, and slightly bends forwards, raising his arms and ejecting pale blue blades with a red tint out of them. "That's right, and it's another portal. Seems like I have an occasion to do better this time. It's either this or bust!", she exclaims excitedly. What are the odds she is going to find another portal?

She looks up at her youma. He may just be a dartfish, but they make for quite good youmas. She would have to remember it for another time. Sister Sheshe will appreciate knowing that, at least. With a tap of her foot, both whirpools start speeding towards the beach, and in the span of a minutes, both her and the youma are leaping on the sandy ground.

"Quite the neat group you got here", Mimi observes haughtily. "Is this just for me and Nema? You won't do anything to stop our success this time, you know that?" Her eyes glow blue, and a trio of instruments appear in the air as warning: giant cymbals, clarinets and a single trombone. "Just step away from the portal, and nobody will get hurt."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji makes an aghast look at Coco. "Ditched training? I'd never. Just finished is all." she says, wiping some sweat from her brow. "Been going well. Team's been getting better, we're gonna go farther this year than last for sure!" she says with a grin and a thumbs-up.

    Of course as things continue to unfold, that chipper attitude is not one she can keep - not for the moment. "Apparently, magical stuff draws jerks to it like jerk moths to a jerk flame." she growls under her breath. From getting to sit around a portal and chat with friends to having to bash youma, such is life.

    She gets up and flexes her fingers out, before finding the nearest stall or other line-of-sight blocker to henshin into - thankfully the Veil and henshin magic gives her some deniability as she steps out from behind it.

    "You know, the very fact that you had to say 'this time' proves that you know you've got a losing streak already. You realy think today is going to be any different?" She asks as a rhetorical question. "You know, not only do you lose all the time, but there's nobody even in the stands rooting for you to win, because you're also a jerk. Which is really just pathetic."

    "How about you stop doing things that make us have to stop you, then nobody really has to get hurt." she says. "But instead, here you are, looking to a thing you don't know anything about as a new way to cause trouble. That's what's gonna get your butt kicked."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Sure you can!" argues Kamiko back. "Honestly as far as portals go this one isn't that strange. They could be a lot weirder than this, you know. At least you can see on the other side!"

    Hope Blossom scratches the back of her head. "Well... the fact that it showed up at all is pretty strange. I don't think she's wrong for refusing to judge a book by its cover."

    Hope Blossom hugs Coco back with a smile, while Kamiko crosses her arms at the sunshiney singer and says, "Yeah well... I mean yeah that makes sense." The tiny goddess doesn't really have a strong reason for Madoka to not be here considering what an issue this is.

    Madoka laughs a little sheepishly when exams are brought up. "Well... I'm fairly confident! Though you can never be too careful with exams." She knows she's not Ami Mizuno, so there's always going to be some room for improvement. Is Hinoiri still hyper competitive about that too? Madoka guesses she'll find out in a bit.

    Kamiko speaks up when Rihito asks about what kind of world it is, "Well... they have really great snacks!"

    As the whirlpools get closer, Hope looks at them with suspicion and summons her branch bow just in case. When it's revealed to be Mimi and... some new guy, Madoka jumps between them and the portal and nocks back an arrow. "No. You leave."

    Kamiko floats higher in the air and shouts, "Leave the ponies alone you dummies!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy simply beams at Coco observing she got here fast. "Yup!" She doesn't want to seem too eager, although twelve miles from here to Radiant Heart divided by the few minutes she took to get here is absolutely math Hinoiri can do in her head.

    If Rihito comments about feeling like he doesn't belong, Amy offers at least some brief reassurance: "You're Coco's boyfriend, of course you're welcome with magic stuff! We're just lucky you can remember it!"

    But she is far more fascinated and excited about the portal. "Ooh, that's the other side's Kagayaki-san? Hi!" Amy shouts through what she assumes is the illusion now covering the KKF side of the portal.

    Hydras are one thing. But humans? You all freak her out.
    There is rather less wind in Amy's sails for a moment. "I mean... that's fair..." But then she's back at it. "...Unless she's shy with ponies, too? Hey!" She calls through the portal, "I'm autistic I don't care if you follow bullshit social rules or not! C'mon, this is your chance to meet alien life, don't you guys have stories about that? We can talk! And we want to be friends!"

    Amy blinks and looks at Hinoiri. "...Do ponies have anything like Star Trek? I guess maybe spaceships wouldn't make sense, unless they're like sailing ships, but maybe something where they explore other worlds through, well, magical portals or something? Like Stargate! ...Do you have a spell like the MALP you use to check the other sides of portals? Uhh, like a drone..."

    Amy holds her fingers to her chin, furrowing her brow. "Wait, but if magic works differently on the other side, the spell might not work... would pony sci-fi authors expect that?"

    Once Hinoiri's gotten a chance to explain the situation more: "So what you're saying is, we need to camp out by the magic portal and keep watch? Maybe talk to pony researchers who come over? Maybe go take a look around the other side?"

    And then she hears Mimi's voice, and jumps, and turns, and glares.

    To the portal she notes, "Okay, now it's a hydra situation. Or evil sorceress situation. If you're not a fighter can you put a barrier spell around your side?"

    Amy turns back to Mimi and takes a combative stance. "Oh we are absolutely stopping you." She chuckles at Dasshu-san's observation about Mimi's words. "If you think everything is for you..." She shakes her head. "You won't listen to a justice speech, anyway. But people like you can't be allowed to have more power."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a light chuckle. "Good to know. Coco helped me out a lot when I was, well... figuring out where I slotted in, more or less, again," Hinoiri said with a light chuckle, rubbing the back of her head...

And honestly... She was still... Well... Red arriving via rocket wasn't... the weirdest arrival she'd seen this week, she she was mostly rolling with it. And questions about home? "Ehhhh. Depends where you go. Some peaceful places, some mega dangerous places. Dragons, hydras, all those things. But the place the portal ended up was pretty peaceful and safe." And oh, Amy had... so many questions. "I'll be hoest, I didn't pay much attention to fiction? I... think there's some? I wasn't big on it, though. We just really need to make sure nobody falls in and... that..."

Unfortunately... While the other side of the portal was safe, this side? Not so much. She face palmed. "Mimi? I... don't suppose you'd be willing to just... move along, for old time's sake? I don't want you getting hurt," Hinoiri said in as soft and soothing a voice as she could muster.

"Really glad I called in so many people now, at least..." she said, reaching into her back pocket for her own henshin device, only to realize too late... she couldn't henshin. If the others saw her henshin... Dang it! She couldn't in front of Mimi!

She gulped and took a small step back... Without her henshin, she knew better. "But... since I know which way the winds are turning... I'm going to go ahead and stay out of your way, okay guys? Good luck! Thanks for coming!" And away she went, cowardly she go!

A pretty cure was definitely going to be dropping in shortly.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Mimi frowns at Loyalty's comment. She doesn't really want anyone in the stand, but there is someone else she would like here, and she is really not. Because of the plan.

But she will make her proud, and when they are back side by side, all of them will understand why they are called the Black Beauty Sisters. "Have it your way. Last time was a fluke, and today you will end like a stain on the ground. It's a surprise chrushing for you." The giant cymbals immediately move with those words, and coated with glowing silver light, they throw themselves down on top of Loyalty.

"Nema, get rid of those two. I think they will be good testing ground of your abilities", Mimi comments when Blossom's comment draws attention to the pair of Chara and Bearer.

"Right, master." The youma obeys, and throws himself at the pinkette, trying to slash at her with the blades on both his arms.

All that Hinoiri gets from Mimi is a neutral stare. "Who? Are you trying to trick me? That is dumb and useless", she says with a wide smile. Were they even be supposed to have ever met? The Black Beauty Sister doesn't even recall someone like her.

"We can't? Oh, that's great. Some good recognition around here." She laughs sharply at Puella Red's comment. "I am quite sure you want to stop me so badly. You can't afford not to be around when I find a new source of magic Immediately the Trombone releases a blast of dark magic sound towards the red Puella, and a second weaker one for good measure.

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.

"This again, Mimi?", Coco says, immediately grabbing Rihito's arm, and slightly stepping in front of him. Rihito bites his lips, holding back a protest. He really wouldn't want to make her do the work when her health is this bad, but even now, is there anything he could do? "Just be careful", he says with a slow sigh.

"What's wrong? Speak up, Mermaid Princess! I don't pay heed to mumblings", Mimi snarks, and with a flash of blue light, the clarinets throw themselves at Coco.

"Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!", Coco immediately reacts, and as her voice starts turning into song, the perimeter of the Live Stage shines brighter, starting to repel the clarinets flinging themselves at it. The rain of musical instruments thuds and again, but eventually they fade into nothingness.Gliding through the waves
the white yacht looks just like origami
Where will the calming wind carry it?
It becomes small

Even though we are so close together
I can't touch your feelings
Make me believe it, confirm that we are
for real

I'll unlock the treasure chest for you
and we can be more honest with each other
Our feelings of frustrations
will turn into courage
And we'll be able to say
"I love you" anytime

The similar refreshing effect of Coco's song washes over her friends, and they can now feel anything they do is going to be less taxing. It's admittedly hard to make out the body of the music, and the accompanying soundtrack by the Live Stage is definitely a lot clearer than what Coco is singing.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Mimi and her youma seem to realise it too, because they don't even look annoyed, much less troubled by the purifying song. "This is going to make things a lot easier. Guess hurting your boyfriend had a lot more to offer than just his paltry magic!", Mimi doesn't waste any time in twisting the knife, and she also leaps for the portal, hand briefly making contact with it, and starting to glow brightly.

Coco frowns. She would like to sing louder, but her insistent cough hasn't really been kind on her throat, rather completely opposite. "You think that's going to matter? It's the only thing giving you a chance, and nothing is stopping her. You should quit while you are ahead", Rihito speaks up in her defense, staring at the now still demon.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Geode Girl Loyalty is abnormally fast, but there's still the matter of reaction time and processing in the brain to contend with - which is why as Mimi taunts her and suddenly the symbol comes down, even though she manages to dodge out of the way, the attack really came closer to grazing her than she would have liked. Still that doesn't mean that she won't ACT like it was easier than it was. She instead, once she comes to a blurry stop just on the outside of the symbol's area, and the cloud of sand finishes being kicked up, the blue-fleshed mahou waggles a finger at Mimi. "It's not halftime yet, your band's early, but it's also still too slow to catch me." she teases.

    Niji winces at Coco's singing; and it's not because Coco's signing is bad, but because she can feel it's lacking its usual gravitas, the usual power it provides. The girl's really pushing herserlf too hard, but she knows this isn't the time to begin that discussion. Plus, the demon's going for the portal and Niji doesn't have to know what it means to know it's not good!

    Stressed as she is, she doesn't call A Bat Named Friendship to her hand like she wants to, but she's still closer than usual, as there's a hockey stick in her hand instead, and she tries to bring the L-shaped stick down upside down, to hopefully hit Mimi's wrist and then jerk her hand away from the portal. "Get away from that and stop whatever you're doing!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    When Hinoiri leaves, Kamiko watches her for a moment. There is actually no judgement from her if the girl needs to leave. Plus considering the whole thing with Equivalence, she can't discount the idea that she has something up her sleeve.

    Rihito on the other hand is sticking around, and while there's nothing wrong with that, the divine fairy thinks that it would be just a little bit safer if she stayed close to him during the fight. Partly for her own protection, but mostly for his. She'd hate a repeat of the events that preceded Coco's illness to begin with and it won't take her that long to get him into her Labyrinth if needed.

    Hope Blossom, henshined with Sio, is mostly left to her own devices. She's got henshin armor, and it's a good thing she does too. Nemu is coming at her with blades on his arms and the first one manages to cut through her branch bow as she hops back, causing her to grimace as she considers what that would've done to her henshin if it connected. Another hop keeps her away from Nemu's slashes and gives her a chance to summon a new bow while the old one vanishes into pink flame. She has to nock another arrow and doesn't have time to charge it up, instead firing at Nemu from point blank range.

    Bow users do not generally like being in melee range, and Madoka is clearly not an exception. She has to put so much effort into keeping herself safe that she doesn't have the ability to help with anything else.

    Coco's song is making things easier for her, but it also makes Hope a little sad. How long will this illness hold onto her? She doesn't want to annoy her friend by worrying too much, but how can she not be at least a little bit concerned?

    On the bright side, the fact that Coco is willing to put others first even in a situation like this is admirable.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> You badly want to stop me. That you keep being there to fight me proves it!
    "...Yes?"

    "Agh!" Music blasts her, and she hops aside and still gets winged by the second blast. "Tch! Ow..." She winces, and swings her hand towards Mimi, palm out.

    BANGBANGBANG! Three shots in quick succession, each a tight spreay of little bits of metal like hypersonic shrapnel, orange-hot. Will probably hit a shield but she has to do something to not let Mimi keep her on the defensive.

    Out of the water this time, it also puts up a bit of a smokescreen between her and Mimi.

    When Coco transforms, she decides the Live Stage is better protection than smoke, and dives onto it.

    The music is weight off her. But Coco's singing isn't as clear as it usually is... Well, that has to be a problem for 'not right now'.

    Mimi's at the portal. Loyalty's engaging her. "She's draining the portal! If there's anything you can do from that side...!" Amy calls out to keep Yuyami apprised. All she can do is rather more physical interference.

    Dash is used to melee, but Madoka's having some difficulty. Amy leaps from the stage towards Nemu, conjuring a sledgehammer in her hands as they're already moving, to strike at the youma!

    Of course, there's an explosive charge on the impact side of the hammer, which explodes point-blank, as well as impact of the strike itself. She hopes it can knock Nemu away. "Hey you!"

    ...She doesn't have more banter thought up yet. She didn't decide to hammer a fishman until a second ago.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Today, the sound of music wasn't enough to stop this malevolent creature of the sea, however... There was still one creature on her way to still help! And, after Hinoiri had broken line of sight, and a quick henshin later, Cure La Licorne was ready to fight! And now? It was just a matter of making an entrance.

"Stellar aspirational EXPLOSION!"

And she did so, by launching a ball of flaming magic at Mimi! When it struck, it'd erupt, like the setting sun...

However, even if it did knock Mimi away, the portal was already smaller, sputtering and showing signs of fizzling out, partially drained by the sister.

It seemed the fact the portal was kind of free range also made it quite easy for her to absorb, leaving it simple for her to drain away and take the power for herself. While it wasn't fully drained, enough was already taken that the effects were quite visible.

"Sorry I'm late!" Cure La Licorne said. "Heard there was trouble."

It was only then that it dawned on her... wait. Did... Kamiko even know she was a pretty cure now? She... she had told her, hadn't she? Oh shoot... She may owe her a very, very tiny cake later.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
That Mimi is resisting her songs doesn't really get to Coco much. The Black Beauty Sisters have always been hard to affect, while that was together and in their full power, but youmas on the other hand... She has never had trouble with those, no matter what was happening.

She wasn't quite sure what things were going to be like after they had defeated the Black Beauty Sisters, but she still could help out in other ways. Her Live Stages can offer plenty of help to others, even if her voice can't.

Nema grunts when the first of Hope Blossom's arrows hits, and the youma stops for that second or two that might give the Chara Bearer space, but he is immediately after the goddess magical girl again, this time putting his hands together and trying to bring them down in a single punch in a downward motion, clad in dark energy about to erupt in a blast.

"Worry less about the other side, and more about this one!", Mimi replies, forming the giant cymbals to catch the shrapnel from opposite direction, closing in on them and causing dents all over the instrument, each accompanied by the shrill noise of small gongs.

Nonetheless they stop eventually, and with a wide smile, she kicks the cymbals, sending them flying, closed as they are towards the redhead. "Try not to lose your munition, I am giving it back!"

Coco grimaces as she sees the plates coming, and she goes into her song again, quietly singing every word, even as she struggles to make the words heard, and the purifying song impactful enough to reach Mimi's or the youma's ears.

Beads of sweat start travelling down Coco's pale skin as she puts as much energy as she can into stopping the attack. After all, she cannot afford herself to fail. She and Amy could probably take it if she did, but Rihito has no resistance, and she doesn't know what would happen to him if he was struck.

Between Loyalty's speed and Mimi's focus on draining the portal, hitting the water demon is child's game for the speedster, and the hockey stick slams into her with force that would turn the hand red on impact if the shadow-y mass still obeyed any such logic.

Mimi immediately leaps away from the rainbow-haired magical girl with a pained gasp, and giving her a glare, she glows intensely.

"A hockey stick? Is that all you could find? Are you even being serious right now?" Mimi scoffs and finally launches the rain of improvised arrows down. "If you really want me to have this portal so badly, I won't complain", she raises her hands, glowing blue with dark energy, and about to strike the speedster when the sun comes for her, sending her well away.

For a few moments, only the fire of the Aspirational Explosion is visible, but eventually it fades and Mimi's form becomes visible again, panting and glaring at them. "Fine, I have had enough. Have this!" Her magical energy flares, and deep blue consumes her, that soon spreads takes the shape of a monumental trombone.

The dark instrument immediately starts charging, and then, a blast large enough to sweep through the beach is fired. The sound wave distorts the air, and even before it reaches anyone, there is an intense pressure that muffles any other sound.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Kamiko waves at Cure La Licorne as she shows up, but her focus is on looking out for Rihito... which is probably smart, because the attacks coming from Mimi don't seem to care who they hit. Coco's struggling is also noticed by the divine fairy, but there's only one person here without the protection of a henshin so he gets protected first. The shrapnel flying around makes her nervous, but when the trombone appears and starts charging the tiny Chara panics.

    "I'm sorry, Rihito-san. This is going to be weird!" warns Kamiko, before opening a portal right on top of him. She's not strong enough to distort reality all by herself, and she needs Hope Concept in order to do anything particularly wild. Nor is it an easy feat to put a whole human inside a portal usually better suited for Chara, but there's plenty of room for him in the fluffy white expanse that awaits him on the other side, and some of the cake trees are even edible if he's curious enough to try.

    Kamiko follows him in to keep herself safe too. This is the best she can do for him at the moment, without henshining with Madoka.

    Madoka meanwhile is focused on her own fight. She notes that Mimi is just about done draining the portal, which she has mixed feelings about, but Nemu is too much of an immediate threat for her to focus elsewhere. She's grateful that a new ally has shown up, but she can't afford to spend even the fleeting second it would take to greet her.

    As she hops backwards, she does not do so without awareness of her surroundings. She lures him along the coastline's edge, where the waves gently roll in and out as nature remains heedless of their struggle. When he's far enough away from the main fight, Hope Blossom leaps high into the air, aims down and---

    --- then the beat hits her.

    Well, it's less of a beat and more of a blast. The sound wave is loud and harsh enough to knock her out of the air and into the sea. As she wades in the water, dripping wet, she sees the distance this granted her and doesn't even bother to aim at Nemu before firing. She doesn't need to. That's what homing arrows are for. Firing as many as she can all at once, she aims to destroy the youma so that she can eventually focus on the portal.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "I'm being way more serious than you are ri- wait, you know what a hockey stick is?" Loyalty asks, interrupting herself mid-thought. Then a giant fireball resolves any follow-up questions Loyalty might have, or at least, makes them irrelevant for the moment!

    On the other side, there's... a problem, in the form of a giant trombone trying to pump an ocean's worth of Dark Energy (or, that's what it feels like) at them. Not only is that bad for them, maybe it's bad for the world on the other side of the portal, and that much Dark Energy might even qualify as an environmental problem!

    "Don't pollute the beach, you terrible thing!" Yeah, Niji was avoiding saying a lot worse words there than 'terrible thing'. "Fine, if you don't like hockey... then maybe you'll like THIS!" she says, dispatching the stick and holding out her hand, concentrating... and the bat finally materializes in it. And she totally didn't say THIS in case she got something other than the bat again. Nope. Not at all.

    She doesn't have much time before the pressure wave of the energy gets close, so she outstretches her hand and focuses, creating an orb of pastel multicolored energy. "Time to make sure you stop that! And lose again! Loyalty.... HOMERUN SMASHER!" she calls as she hits the 'ball' after the bat slams into it, it grows to the size of a small bus worth of pastel energy and tries to roll through the torrent of energy and stop the trombone. With any luck it'll keep going past that and maybe curve into the Dark General, but she'll accept silencing the Terrible Noise for now.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne landed on the beach with a light grunt. Right. This is... the second time she had fought with Madoka against them. She really needed to make sure to talk with her and Gret-- Kamiko about her new swap. She didn't like the idea of leaving friends in the dark, after all. And Madoka was Kamiko's bearer, so she should know, too.

On top of that, seeing Coco's music so week, seeing HER struggle so much... it was one thing to be sick, but this? This was definitely worrying.

But for now? She really needed to focus on Mimi. "Okay, you have got to stop this! Before you get hurt! You've been lucky so far, but if you keep going out like this, you're going to bite off more than you can swallow, Mimi!" Cure La Licorne said before drawing her Heart Rouge Rod.

On the upside, it seems Kamiko has Rihito protected and well in hand... on the downside? Hope Blossom seems to be having a bit of trouble on her own. She--

Any thoughts she might have are shattered when Mimi drops the beat. Cure La Licorne is sent flying back with enough force that she slams into one of the railings on the beach, denting it, and is once again *incredibly* grateful she has magical girl durability. "R-right..." she muttered. "F-focus fire i-it is..."

"Scorching ray piercer!"

She lifted her rod into the air and unleashed the power of the sun, sending burning sunrays at... the youma, turning them to blazing swords to try and pierce through and purify it... Why?

Eliminate the one fighting Madoka, then all gang up on Mimi. Because if there was one thing she learned as a dark general, it was having everyone able to gang up on you at once was VERY frustrating. And covering your friends was always nice...

And hey, as Sayaka's best friend, Madoka could probably even tell the inspiration of where those blazing, fiery swords came from.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Rihito reaches safely the space of the small Labyrinth, and look around perplexed as he finds himself in a small and soft alcove away from the conflict. He only barely hears Kamiko's words before the change of scenery, and his mouth stares agape. Weird does describe his situation, but he can only wait for the resolution of the conflict and hope that Coco is still fine by the end of it.

It did not escape him how much she was struggling, and it's his fault in the first place if she is in this situation, no matter how much she says she would have done it without doubt. His thoughts aren't really on the edible material of the Labyrinth at the moment.

Myriad of arrows fill the air, and this time it's not Mimi's replacement clarinets, but Hope Blossom's own magic, filled with power and intent, homing on the youma that has been trying to strike at her directly with the blast. The first round of arrows knocks his arm out of position, stopping the flow of magic, and then more arrive, knocking him around from every direction and wearing down even more the magical energy giving it shape with each strike.

The Scorching Ray Piercer, blazing and burning hot, crossed the distance from the beach to the open sea, bearing the effort of La Licorne's concentration, and making the youma feel the heat long before it arrives, burning and purifying anything that is left of it.

What is left? A small goby, plopping into the open sea, and the dartfish immediately swims away, circling around Hope Blossom.

Coco's song is still ongoing, and chips away at the darkness of the blast, at the same time as the Loyalty Homerun Smasher forwards it back to sender, and Mimi is blasted roughly by her own attack, about to plummet into the sea... but then a hand catches her, and pulls her up to its owner's side.

"Sorry I was gone so long, Mimi", Sheshe says, supporting her, and then teleports close to what is left of the portal, absorbing it just as Mimi did. "I found a new prospect for us, and you are coming with me this time."

The taller shadow stares at the group of mahous. "If you come, we won't hold back. If you can find us, of course. Sayonara, and thanks for the portal", Sheshe says pleased, and then disappears with Mimi.

Coco stares wide-eyed where the Black Beauty Sisters disappeared, breathing in and out slowly to calm her racing heart. She lets the Live Stage fade, and lands on the sand, waiting until she feels ok before checking in if the others are well.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty points her bat menacingly at Mimi and Sheshe until they're gone - and the moment they're out of sight, drops it to the floor where it hits with a clatter and clang, and then drops down to one knee. That attack always takes a lot out of her, but at least, it usually helps get the job done.

    It's a few moments until she gets up and staggers over to the Yellow Pearl mermaid. "Are you alright?" she asks, despite being exhausted visibly herself. "Is everyone alright?" she asks, looking around.

    "Her taking energy out of that portal - what does it mean? Is it going to be a danger to the world on the other side, like... can she use it to go there?" she asks, worried. Not just for her world, but for others.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom watches the goby fish swim away, circling around her. It's hard to think that such a tiny little thing was just about to stab or blast her, but dark energy is a heck of a thing.

    Of course, as Sheshe appears, Madoka gets ready to fire another arrow, but the Black Beauty Sisters are gone before she can get another shot off. Her concerned eyes go to Coco for a moment, but... if she asks to help her, will she just get brushed aside?

    She bets Rihito wouldn't. He's probably also reliable enough to make sure she's well.

    Hope Blossom calls out, "Kamiko-chan, it's safe to come out now." Almost as soon as she says it, her words echo with Kamiko's Labyrinth. As the divine fairy allows her pocket world to collapse, Rihito should find himself back on the beach, exactly where he stood before, no worse for wear.

    After that, Hope makes her way over to Coco and looks into her eyes. "Hey. Are you really okay? Coco-chan..."

    Turning to Loyalty, she says, "I'm fine... though I was about to not be. Thanks, Cure La Licorne."

    Kamiko floats over to the portal to get a closer look at it. "Um... I don't know what it does for them, but I think it's a lot closer to collapsing than it was. We're not really sure what they're doing with the magic they drain, but I know they were able to use some amount of orange pearl magic after their energy drain at the Orange Mermaid Kingdom." Then the tiny fairy turns to Hope Blossom and says, "Hey! You should henshin with me so we can isolate the portal, maybe. We don't want any other dummies getting bright ideas."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Victory!" Cure La Licorne called out, doing her little pose, before... Well... Oh. Oh no. Sheshe was here. She was NOT ready to face both of them. She didn't think any of them were. She was bracing herself for round two, only for the girl to move in and grab the remains of the portal and... leave.

On the downside, she got the magic. On the upside, she didn't cause much damage. Well, too much damage. As much as Licorne wanted to go after them, she knew that wasn't a good idea. Those two were dangerous and, more importantly? Coco was not looking well.

"I think we're all good, mostly..." Licorne said. "Coco?" she asked. "As for the portal, I think it's mostly just runoff from the portal itself. It's not even normal purification energy, it doesn't react negatively with dark energy or anything. So it likely shouldn't connect with Kirakirafantastica directly. It... might... connect them with... something... semi-adjacent to it, but... errrr... well... we'll find out."

"Oh, and ummmm..." She rubbed the back of her head and gave a sheepish smile to Kamiko and Hope Blossom. "So, uhhh. I... thought I told you two, but... now that I think about it? I think I might have forgot to mention this... it's me, Hinoiri. Sorry I had to run off like that, but I can't have Obsidian know I got powers again, otherwise... well. They might start sending hit squads again and while those two don't seem to be working with Obsidian... yet... I can't take the risk, you know?" she said sheepishly. "Eh heh... Sorry I didn't mention this."

"But no, I don't think it'll be any good at opening a portal to Kirakirafantastica, itself. The magic itself was only ever useful for like... singing, sun magic, some fire magic, things like that when it came over here. So it'll likely end up something along those lines."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    There's a lot coming at them, and Amy's already hurt. The Puella Magi's back to ducking behind the Live Stage, glancing down at her soul gem -- now a fifth corrupted, it was a stupid waste of magic to rush here so fast, but who knew if the portal was going to disappear before she could even see or something was going to come out of it (there are hydras, apparently!).

    Of course, she could still use the unexploded rocket as an attack, but if she doesn't she could call it down later--

    While she's thinking about it and taking cover in the Live Stage, everything happens so fast. Mimi got the magic, but not all of it, and Sheshe is here, and then they're gone and the Puella Magi lets out a breath. "Sorry. I was... I was too slow." She chuckles at the irony of saying that after how she got here.

    She stands up straight. "I wonder if she got any energy from KiraKiraFantastica... and what would that mean?"

    No good for opening a portal, at least. Amy nods. "That's good... wait, singing?! Shit, they use musical attacks, and now..."

    She looks at Coco, worried. With Coco's singing in this state, if the Black Beauty Sisters' music gets even stronger than it already is...

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco looks up from her position when she is approached by a trio of concerned mahou. Of course she would worry them: she isn't really feeling so good right now, and she probably doesn't look the part either, with her skin all pale and drenched in sweat. She has seen better days, at least.

"Well... I need a bit of rest... I think", she speaks faintly, and tries to get herself back to her feet. Before she can actually try, Rihito is at her side, and hoisting her up and letting her use him as support, and good thing, because just that movement has made the world spin around her.

"You really need the rest", he says with a sigh. "Good thing that the Pearl Pier is just over there." Coco looks at the other, and then back at everyone. "Sorry, I know I don't... Really look good right now. I will be sure not to take on too much", she promises with a smile. It's still not over though, not until she is sure the Black Beauty Sisters are no longer an issue. That much, she has to see through.

"I would be surprised if Nanami-san doesn't confine you to your room as soon as she sees you like this", Rihito murmurs.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty winces as LaLicorne indicates what sort of problems might arise from the magic that was stolen. "Oh great, more powerful evil singing. We're gonna have to invest in earplugs." she says, rolling her eyes petulantly.

    But then to Coco, Niji sighs. "I think you need a little more than just a little rest." At least Rihito is the good guy that he is and letting her lean on him like he should.

    "I'm coming to visit you soon, like it or not." Niji says, forcefully. "This is exactly the kind of thing you should be checked up on." she continues. "And... Rihito, do you have our numbers in case something happens to her? Like... probably get her to a hospital but given her situation I think a lot of the rest of us should know and be involved?" she asks. And if allowed, she'll give him her number to call for any Coco Emergencies. Or magic emergencies. Or similar.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope looks at Coco with a concerned frown. She wishes that she didn't feel so helpless, but it's not as if Medo had any ideas about this. Instead of bothering her with more questions, Madoka walks up to Coco to give her a quick hug. After she pulls away she asks, "Hey... do you need help getting back? I'll walk with you. Especially since it's not like it's very far."

    Madoka doubts that Rihito needs any help carrying her, but they might need someone to get a door or something. More realistically though, the offer is more so that she can be around for emotional support for a moment.

    Kamiko, after seeing that the portal is basically a done deal anyways, returns to Hope's side. The fairy does worry about Coco. She hasn't been right since giving up her pearl. She can't really disagree with what Loyalty's saying, either. "You've been like this for a while and honestly you look a little worse, health-wise. Do you want a cough drop?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> We're gonna have to invest in earplugs.
    "Well that I can do." Amy points up at her head as there are pink sparkles on the sides of her head and ear protectors -- in a headphone-like formfactor but looking a bit more like industrial safety equipment although in bright red to match her armor and skirt -- appear on her. And then her grin fades to look more serious. "I doubt they'll stop magic, but they might help a little." She dismisses them back into pink sparkles.

    Amy looks over Coco, and holds her arms out to offer a gentle hug, not caring that she's drenched.

    Whether Coco takes the hug or not, she then shares a glance with Madoka before looking back to the mermaid. "I'll walk with you too."

    And take the opportunity to make note of Coco's symptoms, and start thinking about the medical implications.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne gave a small nod. "I'm with Nanami-san at thos point. You really do need your rest."

She then glanced to Loyalty and Amy. "And, uhhhh... actually... they were kiiiiind of the ones who got me started on dark energy singing here. They taught me Baroque of darkness. So... more singing darkness."

Oh joy.

"Either way, though... let's get Coco somewhere safe... then I need to head back to the school to check on Kirakirafantastica, see if the sudden portal closure had any negative consequences. It closing like that shouldn't have any real effects, but Yuyami is going to have a dozen questions, anyway. But... they can wait until after the little mermaid princess is safe and secure."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy grins at Licorne, "Do you want a ride back to school on something way faster than a motorcycle?" She points her thumb at the rocket. It's already summoned, she's gonna get all the use out of it she can!

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne stared at the rocket... she should say no. She HAD to say no. She couldn't. She mustn't. It was a terrible idea.

"Sure, why not?"

Dang it.

Coco Delrieu has posed:
Coco slowly shakes her head when a hospital is brought up. If she goes there, there won't be many chances to sneak out to fight Sheshe and Mimi, if she actually gets any. "We can worry, later. We have things to do right now", she pants. She really doesn't want to end up at an hospital. "How would we... explain it to them?"

Rihito bites his lips. It's true that this has no natural cause, and he doesn't want to have them find out something they shouldn't, especially if they get into incidents. He makes sure to get everyone's number, though. If he didn't already have them.

"I would be glad to have you with me", Coco smiles at Madoka at her offer. She would hug her back, but her arms feel like they are made of lead right now. "Thank you, Madoka-chan."