589/It's Pronounced Rifle 4

It's Pronounced Rifle 4
Date of Scene:	12 October 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	La Crima shoots Sayaka Miki with a heartstealer rifle because...blue hair. Madoka Kaname and Amy Faust disagree with this action. A lot.
Cast of Characters:	Sayaka Miki, Madoka Kaname, Amanda Faust, Norie Okana

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Sayaka Miki has posed:
In Mitakihara, the air is heavy with humidity, clinging to people, animals and objects alike. The sky is a dreary grey, threatening rain, and in fact a light drizzle has already begun to descend, setting out to form small puddles on the road.

Sayaka is out in a light coat, safely protected by the umbrella she is holding. "Hey, Madoka-chan, what do you think of going to see a movie one of these days?" Everyone around them is quickly hurrying home, so she has to occasionally dodge some speedy passerby.

"People are really in a hurry. I hope the rain doesn't get too heavy", the bluenette comments, looking up at the grey sky.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka has an umbrella of her own, resting it on her shoulder at an angle as chats with Sayaka. She tries to stand out of the way of traffic as she visits with her friend. The pinkette holds her hand out to feel the light drizzle as it falls.

    "We should! It's been a while since we had a real chance to hang out, so watching a movie would be good. Did you have one in mind?"

    On the comment regarding the hurrying people, Madoka thinks out loud, "I bet their anxious to get home... or wherever it is they're going."

    Brai, ever present in Madoka's company, is hiding within her Bearer's bookbag. She peeks out occasionally, to see what's going on, but when she sees the weather she hides again.

    A moment later, the tiny Chara is floating out of Madoka's bag with a tiny pink umbrella, opening it and holding it over her head.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy never got around to buying a raincoat. At least she had the presence of mind to grab one from her apartment when she moved. It's worn open over her T-shirt and slacks, a red coat hanging down almost to her ankles and with the sleeves hanging out past her hands whenever she hasn't pulled them back to use a hand for something.

    Seeing the two familiar girls, she runs up to them. "Heya! How's it goin'? You two doin' alright?" She looks to Sayaka, "I saw you when you came by homeroom, but I had stuff on my mind, sorry..."

    Overhearing the conversation, she comments, "I guess some people like the rain, but it's best enjoyed from under a roof, yeah. Days like this even the normies are gonna spend the day inside... Movies, huh? What sort of um... what movies are people in our grades watching these days...?"

Norie Okana has posed:
It's drizzling. That's okay. A little rain, a little water doesn't bother La Crima. And she's hunting, hopping rooftops and looking down from skyscrapers and hoping down to the rooftops of shorter buildings and basically being quick about it, carting this ridiculous rifle around and wishing it was a shorter pistol or... even better. Not need the gun.

Still, she was on one of the shorter downtown buildings when a shock of blue caught her eye. Ah. Then a shock of pink and then red. She knew the shock of red hair. She was that Puella Magi. She didn't know the other two. That blue haired one though was the first that brought her attention however. She was valid a target as any other.

So La Crima aimed from her elevated spot down at the blue haired girl and with a pull of the trigger... the shock of sudden building up dark energy and the sudden phoom from the gun she shot the heartstealing pulse at the girl, keeping aim down the barrel to see what would result from her shot. Or if she even hit her target to begin with.

"Come on..." she muttered under her breath, dourly. "...give me what I seek..."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka hmms pensively, the hand holding the umbrella tapping on the handle. "That renewal of Sailor V they are pushing out. You can give me your direct opinion as an expert now", Sayaka smiles at Madoka. She knows Madoka mustn't have actually been doing this for long, but even if the movie disappoints, a commentary by Madoka would make it fun.

When the redhead comes up to them, Sayaka is quick to greet her. "Yo, Amy-san, right?" She looks up and down the oversized coat she is wearing. "Why are you wearing something so big?" the bluenette asks, perplexed. "Do you want to come under one of our umbrellas?", she asks, preventively moving hers to her hand closer to Amy.

"Movies for our grade? I doubt it's any-" the rest of the sentence dies in her throat when the bolt of dark energy strikes, a shimmering crystal emerging from where she was hit, leaving her to collapse on the ground, her eyes dimmier, the umbrella she was holding rolling away from her loosened grip.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka sees Amy approaching and gives her a smile. When Sayaka mentions the Sailor V movie, she makes a strange face. It's weird to think about seeing a movie about Sailor V when she's actually seen her in action before. It was only the one time, and it was a while back, but still.

    "Eheh. I wonder how accurate a movie like that could be, with the Veil erasing people's memories and everything."

    As they talks about recent movies, Brai suddenly frowns. The tiny Chara feels the burst of nearby darkness a mere instant before the heartstealing shot is fired, not nearly enough time to react.

    Madoka, for her part, is shocked. She's never seen this happen before, and has no idea what this weird crystal star thing is.

    "Sayaka-chan?!" she yells, rushing to catch her childhood friend as she falls, trying to soften the blow of her landing. "Sayaka, what's wrong?"

    Brai crosses her tiny arms and looks at the shiny Pure Heart Crystal, floating closer it. "I think this came out of her. What should we do?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at her name, and then just sort of cocks her head to one side as Sayaka asks why her coat is oversized. ...Oh right, this one doesn't know. She waves off the umbrella without thinking, "I don't want to crowd you..."

                                     BANG!                                      

    "Sayaka-san!" Slightly slower than Madoka, she looks at the fallen girl, then around for danger--

    --Brai's words get her attention, and she looks down at the crystal. "...We need to get it back inside her!" She picks it up, gingerly, like it's a papercraft sculpture that she's afraid of creasing, then looks at the fallen Sayaka and places it against her chest, pressing with steadily increasing force, though stopping before it feels like it would bruise Sayaka -- 'pushing it in' probably won't work if she's pressed *that* hard and it still didn't work.

Norie Okana has posed:
Amy has contention for the Pure Heart immediately. La Crima isn't running towards it. She isn't leaping off the building, no, a dark energy construct tentacle wraps around it, at the same time she grabs it. She isn't playing at it this time that she wants it.

The tentacle exploding from her stomach as she starts to tug it fighting for control of the heart crystal. She frowns. "I don't want to fight you for this." she says. Her usual tag line. Amy's heard the usual sadgirl's tagline before.

"But I'm going to, anyways." she adds, darkly, as she raises her left hand, dark energy building up as she launches a spray of dark energy bolts forward, an un-named weak attack. But With no one in a henshin, this may hurt if it strikes them. Nevermind Sayaka sitting there prone.

"Give it to me, and this ends!" she commands, loudly. She's playing hardball today. She's tired of coming to Riven-senpai empty handed.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Brai, with her eyes on the Pure Heart Crystal, sees whats happening first. Without asking or even explaining to Madoka what's going on, she shouts, "Chara Change! Become a magical protector!"

    Immediately Madoka's hairstyle changes from pink pigtails to pink twinbraids, matching Brai's hair. A fancy magic bow that looks like a gemmed tree branch appears in her left hand. When Madoka looks at Brait to see what prompted this, she's suddenly blasted by darkness. Chara Change doesn't... really come with magical armor, so getting hit is still ouch. Doubly so since her first instinct is to bodyblock for Sayaka, turning her back to the blasts. Oof!

    "Don't let her take you out this early, Madoka-chan!" shouts Brai. "You have to fight back!"

    With a thin, wincing smile, Madoka wraps her free arm around Sayaka's body and super jumps out of the way, landing next to a tree and hiding behind it. When she steps back out, she pulls her bow's drawstring back, which causes a pink glowing arrow to form between her fingers.

"Give it back! That doesn't belong to you!" she demands. When she looses the arrow, it flies towards La Crima, even chasing her a bit if she tries to move out of the way.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A tentacle? Amy's grip reflexively tightens and she pulls -- albeit, without mahou strength.

    She realizes, too late, that this is futile and she needs to transform.

    She realizes, even more too late, that an attack is coming.

    "AAH!" She cries out, knocked away from the crystal and the tentacle, stumbling and falling and too late lowering her center of gravity to compensate, although it helps some, and at her present size the penalty for that is only brief discomfort rather than serious injury. Looking at La Crima, Amy clutches the pendant under her shirt, and the fire surrounds her, and then leaves her standing, in Puella Magi battle mode.

    "You know we can't do that! I knew I might *die* protecting people--" She spins, and the launcher appears in her hand, and an explosion propels her towards La Crima. She spins the rest of the way around, swinging it like a club to try and knock the wind out of La Crima and leave her on the ground.

    "--You think I'm going to give up this easily?! Stop this! Don't take this from others! I want to *find a way to help you*, and you know that! Please, don't make me--"

    She winces at the implication. 'Don't make me hurt you' or 'don't make me kill you' are horrible things to say to any person. She's very nearly treating La Crima like a monster. She fumbles for other words, "--choose between you and someone else."

Norie Okana has posed:
The Pure Heart, with no one left to grab onto it, gets pulled by the tentacle to La Crima, where she marvels at it momentarily. She moves to touch it with her hand when a 'thunk' hits her and a magical arrow lodges into her form and she winces and grips it and rips it out, looking at it, as a tentacle appears from her back ovwerhead to meet Amy's launcher, causing her to be knocked away from the force, but preventing a direct hit, as she flips through the air and lands back down. She frowns a little as she looks back to Amy.

"And when you can't. Then what." she asks blanky as she lets the gun hang from it's strap, calling out. "FALCATA!" summoning a curved blade of dark energy as she moves to swing it through the air, sending a wave of purple , slicing energy through the air towards Amy.

"I tired of this song and dance." she says lowly, choosing to stand and fight rather than try to run with the Pure Heart.

"Leave me be with my prize."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka frowns thoughtfully at the conversation happening in front of her. "Faust-san, is this someone you know?"

    Does La Crima need whatever that crystal is for some reason? Even if she did, Madoka can't just depend on that, and it's not like Madoka has any guarantee that Sayaka will wake up again. For all she knows, she's fighting for her friend's life, so she can't afford to let this person get away. "I don't know what that thing is, but it belongs to Sayaka-chan! You can't just steal magic crystal things from people!"

    Madoka aims her bow high into the air, knocking and releasing a handful of arrows at once. They fly up and then arc back down, spraying La Crima with a shower of pink magic from above. The pinkette decides to risk moving closer, leaping from tall thing to tall thing until she gets close enough to make a grab for the Pure Heart.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy deforms the launcher to break contact with the tentacle, leaps back, and reforms it just in time to fire at the ground and launch herself into the air, far above the Falcata energy wave. She fires a rocket at La Crima from above, assuming she's tough enough to take it. "What kind of magical girl would I be if I give up on saving her... and on saving YOU, just because you asked?! If you want me to stop, then you'll have to break my body or my spirit."

    "If you're really so tired, then give up and let us help you!"

    When she lands, she asides to Madoka, "Innocent girl cursed into energy vampire. I'm not sure what the deal with the crystal is, maybe she thinks it can make her human again?"

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima is swinging that blade, sending waves of energy towards Amy. When she takes a rocket to the body. She gets blasted backwards, taking it to the center of her mass. She doesn't drop the Pure heart during this process, which means Madoka has to work a little harder to get closer when she's sent backwards. Madoka makes a grab for the pure heart and finds purchase.

But another tentacle lashes out for it, trying to double the resistance. If anything, this stops her from fighting as she tries to pull it backwards, trying to keep ahold of it.

"No...!" she sputters. "I need that." she says laying on the ground and flailing as she tries to fight Madoka for Pure Heart supremacy.

As to what she wants with it, she doesn't answer Amy back or Madoka, just fighting for control of the Pure Heart. Madoka can feel it starting to give, even with the second tentacle, as La Crima pulls back.

"GIVE IT TO ME." she yells angrily.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka hear's Amy's short version of La Crima's story and is mortified, but she doesn't really have time to respond to that right now. The pinkette pulls on the Pure Heart Crystal with one hand, and then drops her bow to grips the gem with the other hand, digging her feet into the ground as she pulls with all her might!

    Brai flies up and grips the crystal too, pulling as hard as her tiny body can. It's... actually not that much of a contribution, but she's doing her best!

    "Well... I need my friend! Give her back!" Madoka grips tighter, clenches her teeth, and starts to cry. "I know it's not fair that you got cursed, but please don't take my friend away over something like that!"

    Could Sayaka live without this crystal thing? Madoka doesn't know, but she knows that most of the monsters she's seen will just outright kill someone.

    As La Crima lays on the ground, Madoka gets pulled along with her, taking some scrapes as she hits the ground. At some point Brai gets knocked back, and is sent spinning through the air like a Smash Bros. character.

    Madoka shakes her head emphatically at La Crima's demand, kicking with her feet as she maintains a death grip on the crystal. "No! Never! It's not yours!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The problem with making long jumps through the air is it's difficult to alter your trajectory. She trades blows, rocketing La Crima but catching an energy wave -- "AH!" and landing badly, dropping to her hands and knees. "Nngh..."

    The red puella lifts her head to see Madoka fighting with the tentacles for control of the pure heart. Maybe, if she takes a careful shot...

    But is now *really* the time to conserve magic, with Sayaka's... something? Possibly life? on the line?

    It's barely a decision. Even if it's overkill. Amy focuses on what she wants the rockets to do and holds out her arm, a massive arm-braced launcher appearing and firing a larger rocket as pure red soul gem on her left wrist is tinged with darkness. She doesn't... belittle her enemy by shouting a non-serious attack name.

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    The rocket splits into a bunch of little rockets which spread out and then converge on La Crima from the top and sides so Madoka won't get caught in this. They don't actually collide with her -- each detonates feet away from La Crima, turning into lances of light, spears of violently high-energy physics, heavy particle beams, high-speed superheated metal nuclei, however you want to think of it, a magic-created imitation of weapons dreamed up by man for war to punch through any barrier.

    ONE of these days it's gonna actually put a hole through something... Amy wonders, too late, if there's actually a chance she just turned a cursed girl into swiss cheese. She's magic, she'll be fine, right?

    ...Right?

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima is fighting for control of the Pure Heart and she suddenly just lances out with suddenly MANY tentacles, not just around the pure heart, but trying to surround Madoka's arms and pull her away at the same time. She might win this, she thinks. She needs more leverage. How many tentacles can she explode into!?

That's when mini-rockets explode around her and lance into beams of light, into her and her eyes go wide and indeed, turn her into swiss cheese, sending up a cloud of dust and smoke around her from the explosions.

In the ensuing chaos, she lets go of the pure heart AND Madoka (If she managed to grab her), thick, ichor starting to pool around the location of where La Crima is as she has thick, obvious holes through her. You can see through them even, but more importantly, she's still standing. She looks angry.

"That. HURTS." she says she clenches her entire body. This looks weird. She lets loose some sort of unearthly squeal of pain that sounds more like a youma yelling than a girl.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's teary eyes widen as La Crima suddenly explodes in tentacles. She tries to kick one or two of them away, but there's no real way to avoid the extra limbs without letting go of Sayaka's Pure Heart. So it is that the pinkette ends up wrapped in prehensile tendrils. Suddenly there are explosions, and Madoka rolls away the very moment she feels her opponent let go.

    She lifts her legs up and then rolls forward, staggering back up to a kneeling position. Clutching the Pure Heart to her chest, she leaps away from La Crima. Brai hovers next to her, and Madoka tosses the crystal to her Chara, who grips the relatively huge spikey thing with her whole arms. "Wah! Don't throw it!" complains the chara.

    Madoka, roughed up from the exchange turns back towards La Crima and starts brushing her off. "Brai, I want you to take that crystal back to Sayaka-chan. I'll make sure she doesn't get in the way."

    "B-but..." interjects the Chara. "You dropped your bow!"

    Oh geeze. Madoka looks. Where is her bow? Pretty close to the enemy, actually. Worry fills her eyes for a moment, but then she insists, "Just go, Brai! Every second counts!"

    The Chara obediently flies towards Sayaka, carrying the Pure Heart Crystal that is way too big for her, while a roughed up, scuffed up Madoka walks closer to La Crima.

    "I know. I know it hurts, but it doesn't have to be like this!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh dang, it DID put holes through something for once.

    And something looks pretty pissed. Amy winces, that's GOT to hurt. "Yeah." She stands, the launcher suddenly a little gyrojet pistol in her hands -- no, she reshapes it again to a more SMG shape for better aim, sighting it as she fires one every half-second or so while advancing. More as discouragement than trying to finish the job. "And how much will Sayaka hurt if you take her whatever-that-is?"

    If La Crima isn't running yet after a few seconds of that, she reforms her weapon into a rifle-pattern mini-rocket launcher like out of an FPS game and keeps firing and advancing. "I'm sorry. Our lives are filled with pain as long as we fight, but taking whatever that is from people won't make things better! It won't end this!"

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima stares at Madoka and frowns hard. She doesn't have the pure heart anymore. She's angry about this and angry about being filled with obvious holes. They're leaking and don't stop leaking she's hurt bad and she frowns as she manages to stop squealing as she holds her hands to her mouth. Was... was that sound... her?

She looks startled about this as frowns behind her hands and shakes a little.

Madoka speaks to her and she frowns. "What do you know about pain!? At least you can still feel relief about it... happy about it later..." she says, now being more talkative. She doesn't have what she came after. She can't shoot the gun again. So what's the point.

She's about to continue talking when shots, bullets start impact her, sending splashes of more dark ichor into the air. More (smaller) holes as she angrily yells. "STOP." she says. "IT'S OVER. I can't....I can't... get what I want anyways." she says as she continues to be shot, seeing if Amy will stop, as she sulks and slacks even as she takes the shots, wincing.

It's like she's just a useless sack of something right now. "Besides. All you're doing now is increasing the amount of people I need to drain to heal all this now. So stop!" she says angrily.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka, for her part, doesn't attack anymore. She just stands still, getting in between La Crima and Sayaka.

    Brai, meanwhile, reaches the place where the bluenette's body was hidden and starts trying to put the Pure Heart Crystal back in. How is this supposed to go? Is it like a Soul Gem? Brai fumbles around, trying a few different tactics or configurations until she finds something that succeeds in giving Sayaka her Pure Heart back.

    Madoka glances behind her for a moment, and looks back at La Crima. "I'm sorry we couldn't let you have what you wanted, but it's too important to us. I can't bear to see my friends hurt."

    She takes a single step forward, though the gap between her and La Crima is pretty wide right now. "Please, don't try to hurt my friend anymore. She didn't do anything to deserve this!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy winces again at La Crima making the voice and then covering her mouth. "You're still you. Still a person."

    Upon hearing 'I can't get what I want anyways', Amy stops shooting and runs up, her weapon disappearing as she tries to hug La Crima tightly.

    "That must suck. But will you really be happy if you steal happiness from someone else?"

    Thoughts run through her head. Endless stories of stolen lives. Not really her taste, but she's read them anyway. That's what people like her do, read the bottom of the barrel looking for diamonds in the rough. Or, something. The popularity of those stories means some people *would*. But how many of them are desperate and don't know it?

    Could she say if she stole happiness by accident, she'd be ready to give it back easily, even knowing she was hurting someone else by keeping it?

    If La Crima hasn't already fled the hug, Amy clings a bit tighter at that thought.

    "Maybe. I guess it can be both. You'd have her happiness and hate yourself for it but be unable to let go. We've *got* to find a way to help you. Please..."

    Did... *any* of those stories not suck? ...Huh.

    "Hey, uh... whatever that crystal thing is... is there a way for someone to bud off or grow and extra one? Or to split one in two and they both grow whole again? What *is* it, anyway?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka starts stirring when Brai puts the Heart Crystal back where it belongs, the bluenette groggily sitting up on the wet ground.

She looks around, only distinguishing grey spots and a smalled pink mass as her vision slowly comes back into focus. "Brai-san, is that you?" the bluenette asks with labored breaths, trying to remember what happened, the light drizzle still falling on her.

"What is going on? I was talking with Amy, where is she? And where has Madoka-chan gone?" Sayaka tries to get up as she goes to look for them, before her legs betray her and she slumps back to the ground dizzily. "I feel weak, like I haven't eaten anything."

Her vision back into focus, she notices her umbrella next to her, her grip solid enough to grasp it and hide herself from the dripping of the rain.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima gets hugged and she energy drains. This doesn't come on purpose, it's just what happens when she's touched without warning and she has to fight to turn it off. So Amy only gets the tingle for a few moment. Madoka speaks. Amy speaks. She just....flatly lets herself be hugged. As Amy clings tighter, she has to try harder to not drain.

"P..Please let me go. It's taking a lot of control to not drain you uncontrollably right now." she says.

"...it's.

She sighs. "It's called a 'Pure Heart'. And to be honest I'm unsure what happens if it's taken. Possibly death. But w...I... don't know. All I know is." she tenses a little. "I don't have one." she says quietly.

"I don't know." she answers Amy. "If I knew. I'd tell you."

"I think your friend is waking up." she says more quieter.

"Sorry." she says quieter again.

"I should. Go. I need to. Eat." she says, looking down at herself. The leaking stop. She's still full of obvious, see through holes though. "This hurts less than it looks like." she admits a little sheepish about it.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Brai floats next to Sayaka at eye level, keeping an eye on her to make sure she's okay. "You got shot by some weird gun, and a crystal came out of you. Then you passed out. A vampire girl tried to steal your crystal, but Amy and Madoka fought to get it back." Brai circles around Sayaka quickly to check up on her, before hovering in front again. "I'm glad you're awake. Do you feel okay?"

    Meanwhile, Madoka walks closer to La Crima and Amy, watching what's happening. It's not as if she doesn't have pity for the vampire girl's situation, but... Sayaka's an important friend. "You don't know...? I'm sorry, but I can't take a risk like that." A Pure Heart? Does this mean Sayaka is pure hearted? Well, Madoka wouldn't be surprised.

    Then La Crima starts talking about eating, and Madoka is pretty sure that she means to drain someone. She doesn't really like that either, but draining is a lot less dire in her mind.

    Madoka hops over to La Crima and offers her hand. "I'll... let you have some of my energy. I don't want you to have to take it from someone who isn't willing."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    At the threat of uncontrollable draining, Amy lets go, but holds out her hand with the soul gem, currently on her left wrist.

> All I know is, I don't have one.
    It's really hard for Amy to resist hugging her again.

> This hurts less than it looks like.
    She looks down at La Crima full of holes. "Weirdly enough, I kinda know what you mean. Once while keeping a friend from getting trapped in another dimension, a guardian stabbed a giant hole in my gut. I dunno how I survived, let alone remained conscious. It hurt so much... and then it stopped. Magic is weird."

    She continues holding out the soul gem.

    And then Madoka volunteers too.

    Amy is briefly surprised, then smiles at La Crima. "You see? There are people willing to help you. If you'll only let them."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka her head slowly. "Not really okay. I feel exhausted and bedraggled." Sayaka gets unnerved when Brai starts going all around her. "Can you not fly around me? It's irksome." She shakes a bit in her effort to get up again before her body ultimately forces her to give up.

"What happened to the gun? Is Madoka-chan safe? What about Amy-san?" She looks around again, spotting the trio of Madoka, Amy and Norie up there.

"Madoka-chan!", she shouts as much as she can, worrying over her proximity to the unknown girl. It seems like she has a gun if she squints, so she must be her assailant, right? "Get away from Madoka-chan!" she exclaims towards Norie, as futile as trying to get heard is, hesitantly standing up before walking towards the bulding. Surely there will be a door that will let her go up there, right?

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima has two people offering her energy. She looks at Madoka Kaname a little leerily. She then slacks. She can't turn down energy right now as she carefully takes Madoka's hand and there's an energy drain here, with a crackle of dark energy. Madoka's probably been energy drained before though. It hurts a little. It's uncomfortable, and La Crima let's go when she's taken what she thinks is enough. She ignores Sayaka yelling for her to stop. She does hear her though. Madoka can explain to Sayaka why she let her energy drain later. It's not like she's fighting for energy.

She then also takes some from Amy. She doesn't want to either. But she's taken from Amy before. Another drain of energy, another painful sensation. another crackle of dark energy. She then sighs and slacks a little again.

She feels guilty and awful now because of course she does. This doesn't help her dark energy state any. But she sighs.

"There." she says, as she manages to reform from most of the holes. There's still one. or two. But she sighs a little. She doesn't explain she'll need to drain more. It's obvious.

"Sorry but I'm not risking leaving either of you on top of a rooftop. Unconscious." she says gently.

"Besides."

"If you're friend gets up here. I think she's gonna try to punch me. With the way she sounded." she says quietly.

"-and I don't wanna deal with that right now because all it'll do is make me feel bad and her with an energy drain from the contact." she snorts.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "O-oh, I'm sorry," apologizes Brai. "I hope I didn't make you dizzy." The little Chara floats further away from Sayaka, to give her some breathing space and hopefully bother her less. When Sayaka starts standing up and walking towards the rooftop where Madoka, Amy and La Crima are, Brai starts getting worried. "U-um... wait! Don't push yourself. We don't even fully know what happened to you yet!"

    Brai follows after Sayaka, if nothing else to at least be able to call for help if she collapses or something.

    Madoka has been drained before, but she's usually not awake for it. It does hurt, but she didn't become a magical girl to avoid pain. She grits her teeth, whimpers quietly when the energy is taken, and afterwards withdraws her hand to rub the point of contact.

    "You're not wrong. Sayaka is... pretty headstrong at times. It might be best if you left before she came here," suggests Madoka. "I'll try to explain things, but..." Well, explaining things to Sayaka isn't always easy.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy glances down at her soul gem. Crima's taken far less than the energy spent attacking her. "You know full well you can take more than that. I have an actual *energy meter*, for crying out loud."

    She opens her mouth to comment 'as if she could hurt you' but La Crima says it first. She nods. "Take a little bit more and go. Find us and talk to us later."

    She also shouts down to Sayaka, "We're fine now!"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Luckily, that was a public building, so Sayaka pushes past her exhaustion and starts making her way up the stairs, ignoring Amy's comment about being fine, if anything focusing more on the 'now' part of her sentence. What happened to Madoka before then?

Sayaka opens the door at the end of the stairs, beads of sweat decorating her forehead, and her face now pallid. "Madoka-chan", she comments, finally overtaken by exhaustion upon coming out on the rooftop, leaving her to hold herself up by means of a nearby railing. "What happened?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is starting to feel sore and all kinds of beat up. As Lacrima leaves, her Chara Change fades. The branch bow vanishes, and her hair goes from braids back to pigtails. When she turns around to greet Sayaka, it's with a tired smile. "Saya-chan. You're back."

    Madoka glances to where La Crima was, and then back to Sayaka. "Well, we got into a magic fight with the one who tried to steal your Pure Heart. She fled, so it's just us now."

    Madoka glances to Brai, who returns to her side, before looking back to the bluenette. "You don't look good. Maybe we should go find a place to sit down?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh. La Crima's gone before she can offer more power. She stretches her arms over her head while Sayaka makes her way up.

    "Innocent girl cursed into energy vampire. She lost her ability to feel good feelings, and hoped that by taking your "pure heart" she might get them back. She doesn't know what that is or what will happen to you if you lose it, and we don't know how the hell she shot it out of you. So we deterred her by force and then offered her some of the energy she needed to heal... Hopefully one say she'll finally let people help her find a way to fix things."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka looks at Madoka from her spot on the railing, recovering her breath while she flights her body's intent to crash down. "I will be fine, Madoka. Did that other girl get you?"

She looks at where Madoka glanced. So she is gone, huh. "Next time I meet her, she is gonna get her due." And then the mention of her Pure Heart. "Did you bring me back to life then?" she says hesitantly, touching her bust where she felt the Pure Heart reenter.

She grits her teeth when Amy explains about La Crima. She is divided over the vampire putting other people at danger for her own good, and the cruelty of having such a curse. "Finding a way to help her is good", she concedes in the end. "But I am not going to let her out of my sight if she ever becomes our ally."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka finds a spot on the railing to lean against. It's better than trying to stand up, she supposes. Brai floats over to her Bearer and lands on her shoulder. Madoka turns her head towards Sayaka with a tired smile. "Um... well. We kinda hurt each other a bit. That's just what it means to fight. Actually it was Brai who too the Pure Heart to you. I wasn't going to let her leave with it, though."

    Madoka lets out a deep sigh and adds, "I was actually worried about you. I've come close to losing people a couple of times. There's a chance you could've lived even if we failed, but... I didn't want to take the chance."

    Madoka looks down at the ground and quietly thinks. It'd be nice if they could all just get along, but Madoka knows it's not that simple. Optimism and naivety are two very different things. "If you think that's fair. I can't really ask you to trust her when she's doing these things. I don't really know her full story, but I'd prefer to believe the best in people." After a thoughtful pause, Madoka adds, "But... you should be careful about picking fights with dark energy users. They aren't always completely evil, but they're usually not exactly nice, either."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka passes a hand through her hair, feeling the mud and dirt on it. "Thanks, Brai. So, I can add "dying and coming back to life" to the list of thing I have done. Maybe I should go do some misogi rites, if that would count. I doubt I can find regulations over this case." Sayaka looks at her friend like she is expectant of an answer.

"I am glad you didn't take the chance. I wouldn't have wanted to go around as a soulless body. No ablution that would work then. I can't imagine being around people like that."

She gives Madoka a thumbs up. "I will be careful, Madoka, don't worry. I just got unlucky Kyubey wasn't around today. If I ever find myself in a fight, I will do the sensible thing and run, or make a wish if people are in danger."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Brai gets shy and kinda hides behind Madoka's big fluffy pigtail. She almost squeaks as she says, "Don't mention it..."

    The mention of purification rituals earns a nervous laugh from Madoka. "Eheh. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of those things had a magical basis. I've seen a lot in the past few months, but I feel like I've only scratched the surface. It's kind of strange to consider how much of this has become commonplace to me."

    Madoka closes her eyes and shakes her head. "I wouldn't want to happen to you, or anyone else either. It'd be terrible."

    She purses her lips for a moment, and pauses as she considers what to say. "Kyubey is... he isn't the most trustworthy person. I don't think he's directly lying, but leaves out details. Such as the fact that a Puella Magi dies if she runs out of magic. If you take him up on his offer, you'll spend the rest of your life hunting Witches for their Grief Seeds."

    Madoka reaches up to her shoulder to fingerpet Brai's head. "That's kindof why I didn't want to make a Wish. I didn't ever want to be in a spot where I had to refuse to help someone because I was out of resources."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka recoils when she hears Madoka's revelation. "Like, die-die? That kind of die?" The bluenette bites her lips, her face losing the colour she has regained.

"That's... horrible..." Sayaka shakes her head, looking at the empty expanse of the rooftop. "Is that what his wish is for, to goad innocent people into his trap!? What does he even gain from it? I thought he was seeking people to do the right thing, and the wish was just to ease them. Is that a cruel way of enforcing them to never take a break?"

The bluenette's grip tightens on the railing. "That's just evil. I can understand why you preferred Brai. But I don't have that luxury. Kyousuke needs that wish. He hasn't really been himself ever since the incident. He is much more gloomy, and those doctors won't help him with that. Rather, they make it worse by trying to get him to acknowledge it's over."

She looks at Madoka. "I will do it on those terms, but I won't let myself ever play by his rules. I will help people, and won't actually have those limitations in practice."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks down on the ground, and nods in confirmation. She hasn't lied, as far as she knows. The fact that the truth is worse than she realizes isn't actually going to make Kyubey's case any stronger, when it comes out.

    She quietly considers Kyousuke's situation as she adjusts her position against the railing. A part of her feels bad for saying this, but... Sayaka should know what she's getting into.

    "You've really liked him for a long time, haven't you?" An obvious question, one that Madoka already knows the answer to, but in this moment the words have weight to them. "His music is really important to him, so if it matters that much to you... That wish only makes sense. I just wanted to make sure you really know what you're getting into, so you don't get tricked. I wish I knew what his goals were, but I really have no idea."

    Madoka looks back at Sayaka, meeting her eyes, and says, "Those people you saw the other day, the foreign Puella Magi, they aren't bad people you know. If you intend to become like them, it wouldn't hurt you to consider their advice. Homura's also a Puella Magi, but she's a bit of a lone huntress and she's often busy, so that's probably why you haven't seen much of her."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka looks agape at Madoka. "Madoka-chan, what are you saying? Kyousuke is a friend and I deeply admire his music, that's all there is to it. I don't want to see him like that, because of something out of his control. I just want things to continue as they were before."

Sayaka takes a deep breath. "I do know that they are wonderful people, and that they seem set on doing the right thing."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka suddenly feels a bit awkward. "Eheh. Did I read it wrong? Well, either way... as long as you know what it is you want."

    She starts to push against the railing. After having rested and chatted a bit, she can at least feel a bit more normal. There's no doubt that she'll need a shower when she gets back home, and the threatening skies aren't going to help.

    Madoka reaches for and opens her umbrella, hiding underneath it. "I think I should head home now. Let me know if you need help. Don't hesitate to call or text me if there's trouble."

    She takes a deep breath, and then starts heading for the stairs. It'll be a cautious walk home for her today, but she's sure she can manage.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"See you at school, Madoka-chan", Sayaka waves at her friend. A few minutes later, her strenght returned, she goes back to the dorm. She really needs a shower, or maybe a long long bath.