1453/The Heart-Stealing Baroque

The Heart-Stealing Baroque
Date of Scene:	25 April 2024
Location:	Beach
Synopsis:	The Black Beauty Sisters cause disasters at Yumegahama coast while gathering energy for Gaito's new plan and it's up to Yellow Pearl Voice, Steam Sentinel Propel and Magical Rocket Girl Red to stop them. Is Propel ok?
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Yuuto Shiraishi, Amanda Faust

---

Coco Kiumi has posed:
An odd meteorological phenomenon was currently affecting the coast at Yumegahama: despite the sky being completely clear, the calm it conveyed didn't extend to the waters below it. Whirpools that grow deeper the further one moves away from the beach dot the surface of the sea. As a result, all navigation has been prohibited until the unusual phenomenon ceases, and double red flags are raised.

While scientists mutter among themselves over the unusual circumstances, two girls, one red-haired, one blue-haired, are on the beach right now, looking out at the raging sea with a pleased expression on their face. One of them, dressed in red and black, her ponytail gently swaying with the breeze, is standing upright with her back to the city, while the second girl, dressed in blue and black, is kneeling, her short hair decidedly motionless, her finger doodling random lines onto the sand, a bored expression onto her face.

A sphere with a white tending to yellow is floating slightly above the outstretched arm's hand of the redhead, whisps of energy connecting to it from the sea, slowly filling it up.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
Yuuto had been out on patrol near the beach and was considering coffee at Gullwing when he comes around the corner to the situation that's unfolding. With the beach closed, there's a frown as the teenager takes it in - noticing the women on the beach - that noone else seems to notice.

Making his way behind the building, Tinker makes his appearance. "Did you see that? It's the Sisters that you can Coco faced before!"

"I saw!" Yuuto responds. "I'm sending her a message now... but in the meantime..." he turns his watch, and prepares, pressing down on the plunger and calls out. "Steam Sentinel Propel!, Evil's Time IS UP!"

With that, he goes into his henshin into his Steam Sentinel form of muted browns and greens as he rolls out on his skates from behind the building and onto the boardwalk of the beach, heading towards the Sisters.

<TEXT> Yuuto sends a message to Coco: Hey! The Sisters are on the beach making whirlpools. Heading over to try to stop them.

"You're supposed to put out warning flags about rough surf! Not be the rough surf!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The weather is weird.

    It's probably magic.

    At least with the beach closed, there's no one around to wonder why someone is dressed like a cosplayer approaching the beach.

    Magical Rocket Girl Red approaches the water. "Alright, what's this about? The beach is empty, there's no princesses here to kidnap. You're just disrupting shipping and stuff. Or was the point just to get our attention? If so, you've got it. What do you want?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Mimi gets up when she hears Propel and Rocket Red's voice, as does Sheshe, who also tosses the sphere in midair right behind them, where it stays floating. The blue demon certainly doesn't look bored anymore as she exclaims at Yuuto: "Look, it's the little love of the yellow princess. Was our last encounter so terrible you forgot it? What makes you think we care about what use people have for the sea?"

Sheshe meanwhile sets her attention on Rocket Red, pointing to the sphere behind them. "We are looking over at our handiwork while the sphere Gaito gave us gathers energy, of course. And your info is outdated, kid. He has put his plan to gather the princesses on hold for now. His current aims will bring out Gaito's true potential, and then not the divided princesses, nor any one of you will be able to oppose him", she smirks, not really deeming their presence important.

Coco was already on the way when she receives Yuuto's message, and she quickly types that back to him while she is heading there. She had heard about the whirlpools currently ruining the sea, but she was impeded from coming over by the need to make sure that no ships were navigating through the affected areas when it happened. Luckily for everyone, that wasn't the case. So now, she is heading towards the ones responsible for the alterations.

"Red, Propel, are you alright?", she asks once she sees they were already confronting Sheshe and Mimi, conforted by the fact they had clearly not started singing. "Your efforts are as hideous as always! Want me? I am here!" she shouts. "Calm down, princess, new orders, like we were saying to Gaito. You and your pearls are safe for now."

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
"Oh no, I remember you, I remember you well. And I will not let you harm Coco!" Yuuto responds as his attention moves between the two sisters, to the sphere, and as he frowns. Even if the sisters have changed their objective, it doesn't mean that they are less dangerous.

And it is with that in mind, as he hears Coco's arrival and the sisters' challenge to him that he starts forward. "I will not let you and your kind or Gaito harm the Princess or the seas. We may not be great at it, but that doesn't mean that it can change!"

Arming his blasters, he lowers them, sending a pair of shots out - not at the sisters - but towards the sphere, assuming that if he disrupts or destroys the sphere, that will make short work of this situation and send the two water demons packing. "Why don't you go back to Gaito and nurse his wounds, he's probably still smarting from the beating he took a bit ago!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    They're going to make Gaito even more powerful, and then he'll come for the princesses directly? "Honestly, that's probably a smart play..." Amy has to concede that much. Worrying, but it buys them time to find a way to stop Gaito.

    While they talk, she conjures a gyrojet rifle and takes aim at the sphere, sighting and firing those rocket-propelled bullets. Her accuracy is not pinpoint, so it might take several shots to actually get it.

    "Yeah, I'm fine, aside from these two making me take hours out of my day to come all the way out here and investigate."

    "So, what's this orb thingy? What happens if I can hit it?" She tries to affect a casual, unbothered tone in hopes of annoying Gaito's minions into letting information slip.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
A few of those bullets and shots actually get on the right trajectory, but they clash with a grey barrier that wraps around it before they could actually reach the sphere. "Try it again, I am sure it will go better next time", Mimi taunts Red. "Calm down, Mimi, it's not her fault she chose to underestimate Gaito. Better she learns this lesson now before she decides to go through the palace with her friends again. But I suppose we could send the boy a postcard of Gaito still in his best shape if he is so interested in seeing him, maybe even get him to sign it", Sheshe laughs slightly.

Sheshe just shrugs at Amy's question. "If you hit it, the sea's heart fragments we gathered will spread in this area, of course. But you are train 10 years more before you can actually do that. And enough, Coco, we are not after you. We just want to smash through the protections Aqua Regina has placed through Tokyo in one single strike", Sheshe gloats.

"Come on now, it's showtime!" the two of them exclaim in their red Live Stage before singing again their melody of darkness, a song full of poisonous and hurtful energy that drives away all hope and positivity, with the addition of columns of water erupting from the sea towards Propel and Red. With the white Live Stage around here, Coco sings her song that is the direct opposite of the Sisters'.

Legend of Mermaid: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!", Coco exclaims, her purifying voice singing of a nostalgic melody, with stars that like pearls start releasing a wondrous light, a miracle filled adventure like the kind mother wishes for everyone in her heart.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
As the song duel starts, Yuuto tries to close off his ears with his headphones so that he can try to avoid the effects of the Dark Sisters song of depression and dismay. There's the whole explanation of what the pair of them plan to do, and Yuuto starts to gather steam, his wheels rolling along the ground as he powers up his attack. "All I want to see is Gaito defeated and the seven symphonies free to live in their harmony without your dark desires!" he responds.

Sure. He may not get along with some of the mermaids - but he's learning about them slowly but surely. It is part of wanting to be in Coco's life. And while he's a human, he's willing to give his all to make sure that she can live free without the threat of Gaito ever putting her in captivity again.

Another pair of shots are sent towards the sisters, keeping them occupied, as he works to prepare to unleash a powerful blast. He just needs a bit more time and a bit more speed to build up the static electricity he needs to charge up.

That's until he notices the column of water heading towards him. "We need more speed, Tinker!" The chubby fairy gives a grunt of acknowledgement. "The sand is slowing you down. I don't know how much more we can..."

Moving towards the side, he considers. "We'l getting closer."

"CLOSER?!"

And that seems to be the idea, heading towards the column, he seems intent to rush into the column of water, but at the last moment, he cuts to the side, intent to have the column pass him by and give him an opening to fire again.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Ugh. Sheshe's words are getting under Amy's skin; she frowns as she's talked about like she's incompetent.

    And then they start up a song that Amy has to admit has a good, if sinister-tinged sound to it. The bad guys singing is a rare enough occurance to distract her so that she only barely dodges the column of water, twisting out if the way as she's grazed, the water splashing around her on contact. Ugh, wet clothes feel awful...

    "Geh... well, come on then! If that's how you want to play, let's fight!" She whips the rifle around to fire rocket-bullets at each of the sisters in turn, testing their defenses. If there's more magic, she's watching for any sign that they need, say, hand gestures to control it or anything like that. There's got to be a way around those forcefields, right?

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The Black Beauty Sisters don't actually have a defense per se, despite what their red Live Stage may make it look like, and yet, they seem only happy that they have gotten the attention of Propel and Red's attacks, as if they are playing right into their hands. Their response? They keep singing, the duo overpowering Coco's song, while a red pulse from their Live Stage bounces their attacks away. The pain caused by the song is clearly getting to her, the 1 grimace of her expression barely hidden, despite her best efforts to keep her expression a secret.

"Don"t like the sand, kid? Can't imagine why you would. You didn't even try to maybe not rely on other powers. That's pathetic, I can see why a bunch of one trick ponies got together, but please be useless together."

They certainly don't seem to care that both Yuuto and Amy have dodged their column if water, instead they gets a mocking applause. "Oh, well, you can do something, I was worried you were like the singing princess over there." Coco was in fact not looking good, despite her own song helping her stay focused and diminish the darkness what she can.

"It won't be much longer before we have gathered enough energy to smash Aqua Regina's talismans, and soon enough Gaito's magical Sight will have no hindrances and all of you are doomed." Then they continue singing, a red, violet and blue pulse pulses headed for Yuuto, while a wave travels through the sand, trying to get at Amy from below.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
"Have you not realized yet that Coco is not alone here? The seven Princesses are not alone? Didn't the butt-kicking that Gaito just took not enough to make you realize that you're going to lose!" Yuuto calls out, as he pushes across the sand. Glancing towards Coco, he can feel the pull of the dark energy on him. And while he's weakened, he's moving to try to defend Coco. "Hang in there!" he calls out to her encouragingly. "Your song is much better than those hacks!"

In the midsts of attempting to cheer on Coco, the energy rushes at him. Usually he could move faster and dodge the attack, but here, on the sand, it slows him down and the energy hits him and he cries out in pain. "...ugh. That the best you got?" he asks between gritted teeth. Shifting around on his weight, he aims towards Sheshe's stage, but at the last moment, he connects both pistols and turns on the orb. Energy coalesces at the end of the cannon and he cries out, "PROPEL BLAST!"

The sand is kicked up as a massive electrical blast is fired, sent towards the orb of energy to try to overload it.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Hmm, the live stage is stopping the attacks. Gods, it's frustrating when the bad guy can do that!

    There's got to be a way to get through it. Of course, any weakness Amy finds is one they can exploit against Coco too, but... well, they don't have ready access to the same tools she does.

    At least a sand wave attack is straightforward to dodge. Amy leaps over it, like countless videogames trained her to!

Propel shouts that Coco isn't alone. "Yeah, they know that! Kind of the basis of their whole 'even together, we're useless!' line of insults here!" Amy comments. She's annoyed at the situation, not at Propel, but... she's the sort to correct things without thinking, sometimes.

    Think, Amanda, think! Sound goes through the field. Does air go through the field? Well, there's an easy way to test that.

    Amy conjures a large box with a round hole in one side. Wait, no, there's gotta be a better way. She pulls out her phone and runs a quick search. Okay, there's a definite trend towards cylinders, that'll have to be good enough.

    She conjures a much. Much. Larger launcher than she usually carries. The diameter is like a couple of feet and it's several feet long, though aside from a reinforced section near the base it looks a lot lighter and thinner too. Still, she clearly moves as if she only has to handle a fraction of its weight as she points it at one of the Sisters. What's she going to do, fire a giant explosive shell?!

    There's a loud BANG! and nothing visibly fires.

    A fraction of a second later, an invisible ring vortex of air hits or passes through the Live Stage. If it passes through... well, it's enough to stun a bird or break a drone's quadrotors, but to a human or mermaid? It's a 'what the heck was THAT?!'-grade blast of air that might make them need to take a step back or really mess up their hair. Not really a weapon, but if it distracts them from singing for a moment, Amy keeps firing it to try and buy Coco a break from the song!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
There really isn't much that Coco can do against the song of the Black Beauty Sisters, despite the encouragements she is getting. After all, her song is just one, and the song of the Black Beauty Sisters is doubled. Even if she got the strength to turn into a Super Idol, the gap would still be too wide. She can only trust that Red's and Propel's attack are going to stop them sooner or later. "Go ahead, I will be fine", she smiles at Yuuto.

Yuuto is partially successful at trying to overload the barrier, which starts flickering after. Combine that with the vortex of air that Amy unleashes, which ends up being slightly to the right, so centered right onto the orb that has been all this time still quietly collecting the magical energy of the heart fragments from the sea.

The result is that it looks definitely worse for the wear, even if the Black Beauty Sisters don't quite notice, absorbed as they are into their song. They definitely look and feel content, with Coco being pushed back, soon it will only be Propel and Red they can focus on.

They do look visibly annoyed that Amy dodged the wave that was coursing through the sand like she has been keeping perfect count of the timing (which she probably was, Sheshe thinks), so Sheshe tells with a temporary break in her part while Mimi still goes ahead. "You don't realise still, don't you? Well, I hope you enjoy the best part". And then, they are four piranhas impressively jumping out and falling towards the two gun-users. "You are not the only one who can jump, it seems", Sheshe gloats.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
"Aim for the barrier!" Yuuto yells towards Amy, trying to get her attention. "They want you to focus on them, and not it!" Firing off a pair of blasts now that his blasters are back to their normal pistols, he glances again towards Coco to make sure that she's fine, and when she says she is, he charges up another attack.

As he rushes towards the orb, he's going to try to go between the two sisters, and unleash his blasts further into the orb. "Time for you two to return back to Gaito and tell him that you lost!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Okay yeah the vortices definitely aren't getting through the Live Stage. Amy will have to go to her next plan, setting everything around it on fire to see if she can cook the Live Sta--

> Aim for the barrier!
    Huh? Amy focuses on the orb and sees the barrier does seem to be taking some sort of damage. Well then.

    She summons another giant cannon. This one is ten or eleven feet long and looks like it might actually be a cannon cannon, rather than a vortex gun. That is, it looks like a piece of field artillery that even with magic she's struggling to hold.

    She certainly can't dodge the piranhas while holding that. "OW! Damn it!"

    Okay. Turn off pain. Take a breath. She fires blazing tracers and adjusts her aim until she's got the trajectory right, at least at this relatively short distance, and then

                                   BOOM                                  

    It's LOUD, and the kinetic penetrator has a LOT of force behind it, but... is it enough to beat magic forcefields?

    She'll shoot it again if she has to!

    Hopefully the piranhas will go away...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
With Yuuto and Amy doing nothing to stop the falling piranhas, they get their teeth onto him, and it's definitely not the best. Luckily for him however, the fact they are out of water, means they soon let go, and fall to the ground, jumping about weakly.

When the sphere breaks under all the attacks, and the energy disperses in the air, that's enough to get the Black Beauty Sisters to stop singing from the surprise. They take a look at themselves and then at the energy that is spreading through the air, colouring it in a white mist while it lingers there.

"Gaito won't really be happy about this", Sheshe murmurs, lowering her mic with frustration. "What do we do now, Sheshe?" Mimi exclaims, both of them having seemingly forgotten everyone else there. Seemingly.

"We give that irreverent sparkleboy a tour of our home", Sheshe exclaims, appearing behind him and using a red pulse to launch him into the raging sea, before teleporting off alongside Mimi, laughing.

"Propel!", Coco shouts, terror grasping her heart, as she is about to rush after him, before a hand falls on her shoulder, stopping her. "Aqua Regina, why are you here?". The goddess shakes her head sadly. "I came here to stop you as soon I saw how things were going. It's not something you'd want to see."

With eyes barred open, the yellow mermaid looks at the gentle mother. "Please, do something then. You can, right?" Aqua Regina slowly says "I...", before turning around at the supercharged white mist, pity in her gaze. "I may be able to do something, but I am not strong enough to bring him back as he was. The same way I gave your Pearls their power, I can avail myself of that, just this once. Do you understand, Coco?"

The realisation clear in her mind, Coco nods. "Sing with me then, Coco, let me give you what I can, that your love may blossom with my blessing." Coco her and raises her arm up high and the bracelet on its wrist releases a gentle white light as a halo of yellow light descends, unlocking the everpresent current of hope that is Aqua Regina's gift.

"The Tale of the Seven Seas ~Pearls of Mermaid~: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start! Together, the Goddess of the Seas and the mermaid princess sing of the story shimmering beyond the seven seas that leads all lives to paradise, of the lute's melody that on the beach at dawn reawakens the memory of that hometown's sweet lullaby, giving assurance than dven when the sea is stormy, bonds and heartbeat will still be conveyed.

That song promises that before long, the sadness of the seven countries will become a song and cross the seven seas, becoming love by the time the large rainbow fades away, at the end of the dreams an overflowing rain of happiness. The hovering energy concentrates itself in Aqua Regina's scepter, and soon it is released, flowing towards the seas, and bringing Yuuto out for the shortest moment in a merman's guise, before he is given human form again. Coco runs towards him, silently and tearfully giving him a tight hug, so tight that it seems like she is holding onto him like onto salvific flotsam for a shipwrecked person.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
For a moment, Yuuto's life was over.

And he knew it. He was going to regret it, he had given Coco his heart and made promises that he will never get to keep as he feels the attack hit him. As it rips into him, he feels it and it hurts - at least until there's something else. A song. The song of his beloved and that of her goddess as Aqua Regina makes her appearance known.

As the pair sing and work to revitalize Yuuto, and change his form - forever making him part of the merfolk as well, Tinker appears from within the watch. "Kid... kid. Hang in their Yuuto. The girls are doing something to you, and your powers... well, they ain't synching up with it! I need to fix some things and you're gonna... well, hopefully you'll be happy." And with that, the Steam Fairy begins to change the armor and colors of the Steam Sentinel...

When he's finished, Tinker returns to the watch. "You're no longer Steam Sentinel Propel, Yuuto... we're gonna call you..."

                          "Steam Sentinel Cascade!"                          

As Yuuto's feet touch the sand again, he stumbles for a moment before Coco catches him in her arms and he presses against her, as if hanging on against hurricane force winds. "Y-You brought me back..." he manages, a gasping sob in his voice as he presses his face into her shoulder. He's safe, he's in her arms...

...and his whole life just changed.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The sisters are all 'Gaito won't like this' and teleporting away, and normality is restored. That's how it should be, rather than the villains being freakishly competent-- Oh shit, Yuuto! Amy dismisses the artillery piece and is about to rocket-jump after him, but... Damn, that sea looks rough. She's probably not in danger of dying to that, but how's she actually going to navigate it?

    It kind of takes her a moment to realize how terrible that must be for Yuuto. Amy may have gotten used to the idea of being nigh-unkillable...

    Fortunately, Aqua Regina is here with a solution, and her words make Amy turn and stare. Ohhhh this had better not turn Yuuto into a fish or something.

    She listens to the song, trying to remember as much as possible.

    And then it ends, and Amy turns and watches the flow of magic, and sees mer-Yuuto, before he regains human form.

    "I didn't know you could do that." the redhead comments to Aqua Regina, before walking towards Coco and Yuuto to look him over. Saved from death in such a way. It's been over two decades since she read stories like that, but the mental images and bits of memory return to mind. Huh. Never thought she'd see that in real life.

    "So, um. Do we have to worry about him turning into seafoam, or...?" Amy scratches her head. "Well, I guess merfolk orientation will be later. Not really my business..." she says, but boy would she love to know just what you tell someone who's just become a merman.

    She watches the pair, and she'd offer a hug but doesn't want to intrude too much. Their happiness is infectious, though, and she can't help smiling.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"That was just something similar to what I put in the Pearls", Aqua Regina says in response to Amy's surprised question. "Had I been at my prime, I wouldn't have needed to do that, and I could have saved him as a human. I hope he won't mind it like this. His life won't be that much different, and he doesn't have to worry about turning into seafoam."

Though, her gaze is really concerned with something else now that the threat to Yuuto's life is over. "You have to be careful in the coming weeks. Gaito is clearly trying to destroy the talismans I placed in Tokyo that prevent him from perceiving his younger brother. Today, he would have destroyed them all in a single strike without having to find them had the Black Beauty Sisters succeeded, but he will surely try the slow way now. Please, be on guard: if even 1 is destroyed, he will get what he wants."

Coco slowly detaches herself from Yuuto, and looks up at the sea goddess. "Of course, I will pay attention, and thank you so much for saving Yuuto." With a smile, Aqua Regina replies "I couldn't have done otherwise."

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
"Hi." Yuuto offers quietly to Coco now that he has his bearings back. His gaze turns up to Aqua Regina, and the young man offers a polite bow of his head. "I thank you, your majesty, for the second lease on life and the chance to continue to be by Coco's side. I shall not fail her. Or you." he says with quiet reverence.

"We're going to need to find ways to shore up our defenses if Gaito is making his big push..." And then Amy mentions something he didn't think about. "I'm really a merfolk now? I mean, I don't have to announce I'm one to everyone, right? That's something that only happened with the Princesses."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Aqua Regina explains Gaito's current plan. "That easily? If they'd been farther out to sea, we'd never have been able to stop them from gathering power. Does he already know where all these talismans are? If so, we should as well... let folks at the Shed know so everyone can keep watch, like we did with that... whatever the hell it was Obsidian was attacking historical sites over."

    And it begins to dawn on Yuuto that he's a merman now. "Looks like it!" she pats him on the back with a grin. "Welcome to the transformed club, I guess!" Is this something to make light of? Or maybe she's just trying to find comisseration in some small way among friends.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"If you were susceptible to becoming seafoam, you absolutely wouldn't be announcing yourself", Coco reminds him. "Cho was doing it for me, because others revealing it wouldn't trigger the consequences. But it's ok, because Aqua Regina says you aren't at risk of that! So talk about it as much as you like."

"He doesn't know, Amy", it's Coco who replies to Amy. That was why they were doing things like this in the first place. And if they had done things further out at sea, they would have had to more closer to the city anyway, after gathering enough energy. But we did great today, so let's go eat something, it's my treat", Coco smiles.