595/Make A Little Wish

Make A Little Wish
Date of Scene:	14 October 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	A Jewel Seed gets into the wrong hands and someone small wishes to be someone tall. Regardless of their wish though, Fate Testarossa desires to take the Lost Logia away from them. By force if necessary.
Cast of Characters:	Fate Testarossa, Nanoha Takamachi, Runealy Waldia, Takashi Agera, Chrono Harlaown

---

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    It's a bright and sunny weekend day in the park. The perfect kind of day for a picnic really. That's likely why Arisa and Suzuka dragged Nanoha out for one! There's snacks, drinks, and it looks like some stray kittens have come out to play! Though one of the small litter is much smaller than the others, they're friendly little kittens, and seem to have no issue approaching people for petting and attention, which makes for some nice company to boot!
    Though the smallest one seems to have wandered off after a little while and... Finds something.
    A small, glimmering, blue gem, full of hopes and dreams, and most importantly...
    Power.
    The power to MAKE those hopes and dreams real. All it needs is to sense desire. All it takes is a wish...
    A little wish... To be not so little.
    Anyone with a sense for magic will feel it- the sudden shimmery chiming sound and the pulse of energy of a Lost Logia swinging into full gear activation.
    And then comes the Barrier.
    In the next instant anyone NON-magical just vanishes from sight as the sky takes on a muted tone. And then...
    AND THEN...
    "Mmmmmeeeeeeeeooowww~."
    An absolutely MASSIVE grey kitten comes wandering out of the trees, the thing must be ten or fifteen feet tall. It looks right down at Nanoha.
    And gently noses at her with a purr that sounds like a sportscar engine.
    Which just leaves the question... Who could have put up that Barrier?

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi got dragged out on a picnic. Today, she wasn't gonna get dragged off. no. She was gonna enjoy a nice outing and nothing at all was going to ruin it. Nope. There was food. There was friends. And there we're kittens. Today she was gonna do what Inai-sensei suggested. TELL HER FRIENDS.

THE TRUTH!

"Arisa-chan? Suzukua-chan? I'm a----"

Then there's a kitten. A very big kitten. A huge kitten a nuzzling kitten and Nanoha gets BOWLED over from telling her friends the truth in favor or being nuzzled. x.x

"That is.." says Arisa.

"...a VERY big kitten..." says Suzukua with amazement. Nanaoha is making 'wagarbble' sounds.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune is nowhere near the picnic. She can see it off in the extreme distance, but she wanders the park with something else in mind today and leaves Nanoha to the festivities. The princess' lowered head and lidded eyes would not have made for good company, anyway.

Then... that pulse. The feeling. "Hnn?" Rune's attention perks up, and she goes tense as reality around her shifts. "A Labyrinth...? No, this seems more benign. Nonetheless... Summoning Princess' Tiara!" She's not taking chances; jeweled headwear appears in one hand. "The Line of Succession..." It's passed to the other hand, which brings it to her head in the same motion. "Transform!"

A flash of red light engulfs Rune. When it fades, she is in full magical dress and interrupted by... cat. Massive cat. She stares at it from a distance, and curiosity ends up pulling the princess in - she has no staff in hand as she walks up to meet it.

It's adorable enough that Rune is no longer tense, just confused. Confused enough to look over to Nanoha, Arisa, and Suzuka to ask them, "Is this normal for Tokyo? In Europe, our cats' heights are not measured in multiple meters."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi Agera was absolutely still feeling the effects of last night's battle with Chrono and Sailor V. He'd gotten his shoulder back into place, though, and at least none of his bones are broken. Which is a good thing, because naturally he gets zero days to rest and recover between having to fend off two Veteran magical people and one of the stupid jewel seeds triggering and oh he doesn't want to explain to Fate's Mother why he didn't respond to the Jewel Seed activating when that's the deal for Fate helping him out and ughhhhhh.

    The life of a genius is fraught with pain, but usually it's less pain in your entire dominant arm shoulder to fingertip. And he certainly wasn't going to drink another one of those concentrated energy vials. For one thing, it absolutely took him out of control and made him risk further damage to his body - and for another, he didn't have one anyways.

    So it didn't matter that the damage to his Device wasn't repaired, or that he was in the middle of repairing it, or that he hadn't repaired the damage to himself - he had to go. The most grumbly henshin sequence he'd ever gone through so far ensues, and Riventon stops only to grab a few metallic spheres off a nearby table before leaving his lab, hitting a Door, and heading over to the site of the magical energy surge that had a Jewel-Seed-esque signature. He doesn't need to call Fate and tell her - he knows she'll be getting there before he will in all likelihood.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had, well... been at the park. Once again the littlest TSAB agent was hitting the streets, on the lookout for fresh leads on where the crew of the Arthra could be. In this case, the park. That's right, the park. Nowhere more dangerous than your local park, filled with... a barrier. He frowned when it went up.

Then his sensors gave an alert. A JEWEL SEED! His breath stopped and he felt a moment of alert anxiety wash over him.

The things that brought him here. He took off, darting towards the scene! Okay, whatever it was, he'd be ready. Who knew what kind of horrible, awful, despair inducing, monstrous creatures could be affected by the jewel seed? He was getting closer and--

OH GOD IT WAS WORSE THAN HE THOUGHT! CATTE!

Well, Enforcer got to...

... Wait, was that Nanoha? Oh. Oh thank goodness. He could pawn the giant catte off on her. Slowly he lowered himself to the ground. "Nano-chan?" He called out. A magical girl he didn't recognize... and two other girls. One was henshined. He glanced to Arisa and Suzuka, then back to Nanoha. "You three should henshin quickly, go hide behind a tree if you need to!" he called out from about twenty feet back. Why?

Because he was staying about 20 feet from the cat. Because cats loved him. Especially ones that could pounce and lick and NOPE! HE WAS STAYING OVER HERE WHERE IT WAS SAFE! "Did you make the barrier?"

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Nanoha makes wagarbble noises while the massive kitten sniffs at her curiously before it lightly noses at Arisa and Suzuka as well. All in all it's... A kitten. Ultimately harmless even if it's absolutely massive. The Red Princess arrives and gets a curious look from the giant tiny feline, but then... It locks eyes right on one Chrono Harlaown.
    Because as everyone knows. The person who does not want to be around cats... Will be THE PERSON THAT CATS CHOOSE TO INVESTIGATE.
    Which means the kitten goes bounding over to the TSAB agent, skidding to a halt to nose lightly at him for his scent.
    Before rough and raspy GIANT kitten tongue swabs over his face in a broad lick.
    This is happening.
    This is your fate, Chrono.
    Accept it.
    That still leaves the question of who erected the barrier though.
    This is a question that is answered a beat later as a large golden gleaming, Mid-Childan, spell circle appears in the air above the group.
    Standing on that spell circle is Fate Testarossa, her faithful Device, Bardiche, clasped firmly in her hand. She stares down in silence with those vividly sad scarlet eyes as she shifts her grip on the black axe...

    [GLAIVE FORM.] Bardiche announces...

    [THUNDER SMASHER.] He says without further delay.

    Like a crack of thunder, a pillar of golden light erupts from the Device's head, screaming down from the sky like lightning on a course right for--...!

    "Meeeeeeooooooooooooow!" the kitten yowls in pain as it's slammed with a merciless blast of electrifying energy flooding its body.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi awks. "Chrono-kun!" she says as she stands up. "Three of us?" she looks to Arisa and Suzuka who look back at her and she blinks and they blink back and she looks to Chrono and says. "Chrono-kun... t..this is Arisa and Suzuka-chan. They're not ..."

Before she can say anything further the cat is bounding towards Chrono and she smiles a little. But she blinks.

"No. I didn't put up the barrier..."

"Barrier?" asks Arisa.

Oh no. Nono. That's when Fate comes and starts attacking the poor cat.

"RAISING HEART SETUP!" she just yells. < Yes, Master! > goes Raising Heart. As Nanoha is bathed in a magenta light and transforms into her barrier jacket. Arisa and Suzuka are too stunned to speak momentarily as they become baffled by what's happening, but Nanoha quickly yells. "Arisa-chan! Suzuka-chan! Go hide, this is dangerous now...!" she says as shots impact the kitten, moving quickly towards the chaos as Arisa and Suzuka go hide behind ... well there's a tree. They hide behind that and peek out.

Nanoha Takamachi blurts out. "FATE-CHAN! STOP THAT!" she cries. "IT'S JUST A BIG KITTEN!" she calls out. She looks to Rune and looks worried, but is a little too flabbergasted to answer Runealy just yet.

"NO!"

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"What is the meaning of this?!" Rune looks over to Chrono, voice raised to cover the distance. "You speak from shelter, as though this poses a grave danger! I grant this creature is unusually large, yet it seems kind enough!" She isn't angry, but she has to shout to be sure Chrono can hear her.

That's about as much response as she gets before the cat is on the move. Rune stays where she is, but turns to watch as the giant-kitten pounces over toward him. Nothing about it seems aggressive, but she has to wonder given the sheer size of it.

Nanoha is only able to provide the most basic insights on the cat's size, but this becomes a non-issue when the kitten is attacked. Rune's eyes go wide as the gold-lightning strikes down. "What?! Who...?" She looks around, and is able to figure it out when she spots Fate. "What would compel you to do such a thing?!" Now she's shouting out of anger and disbelief, not just a need to be heard. The princess rushes over to the kitten's side, ready to prepare a magic energy-shield and interpose herself between the giant cat and any further attacks. She glances aside to Nanoha in the meantime, mostly to keep track of her - Nanoha has made it very clear she too is on the 'pro-kitten' side in this shouting match.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon arrives just in time to have processed the situation - and be quite amused at the super-size kitten as it pounces on Chrono, of all people - just for that amusement to turn to shock as the electric attacks soar through the air. Yep, Fate put that barrier up. He was right on the money about her being here long before he was.

    But, he pauses a moment in the glow of Fate's assault on the kitten who - as far as Riventon can tell - is just a very big kitten. But... he knows how important Precia is to Fate. He isn't surprised by this on a logical level, just an emotional one. The nine year old girl has no chill - not when it comes to something coming between her mother's happiness and her. And well, Chrono is here, so he suspects someone is going to try. And he can also make out the Red Princess, one of the girls he's encountered before. And Nanoha Gives Her Whole Name Takamachi. Damnit, why didn't he grab a Daimon on the way out. With one last look at the poor kitten - he steps out, hand raised. Fate had handled Nanoha before, at the salvage operation. And before that. He felt confident she could handle the other mage her age. He just needed to make sure that the other two kept the interference to the minimum, and they'd return with another Jewel Seed for Precia. And... directly, this time.

    So, leave Fate to fight the small girl, distract the other two, maybe Fate would dunk on Nanoha and then could help him with the other two. Buy time. He channels Dark Energy into his hand and fires out two crackling warning shots. Of course, because it's Riventon, the unfocused non-spell 'warning shot' Dark Energy blasts are still directed at the center mass of both his targets, rather merely nearby. He's attacking from the left of both of them, trying to draw attention and fire away from Fate.

    "It'll be best for the cat if you stand down and let us return it to normal size and retrieve the Lost Logia." Riventon says. "Safer for you two as well. Step back and let us take possession of the Jewel Seed, and then you can return to your picnic or whatever."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown saw it coming. Knew it was coming. He lifted up his staff to defend himself, ready for the cat to pounce him and-- Oh, it didn't. Whew. It wasn't--

Liiiiiiiiick.

"Lotte-sensei, get off me!" he positively shrieked, pulling back, lifting his arm to wipe his face. And-- wait. Did he just yell that out loud? DOH! He couldn't deal with this! Ugh, he was so going to pawn her off on Nanoha.

Then, suddenly... LIGHTNING! WHAT?!

What the hell?! Okay, yes, fine, it... no. Oh gosh. FATE!

"Fate Testarossa!" he yelled out. Damn it! Did this mean Precia was here?! This just went from bad, to worse. A jewel seed and...

"Nano-chan, do not engage with her! She is a dangerous criminal!" he yelled. If Precia was here, then they were in trouble. He glanced towards the tree. Nanoha was magical, had a henshin. But these two had... potential? But no henshin. But there was a jewel seed. There was a kitten. And he didn't like kittens. But he needed to seal the jewel seed. But he also had to keep Nanoha out of danger. And it was just a kitten...

Unfortunately, he didn't yet know Fate and Nanoha's... relationship. Instead, he leaped into the air and flew up. "Nano-chan. Gather the jewel seed. I'll deal with Fate."

He then held his rod out, aimed at Fate. "Fate Testarossa. As a Time Space Administrative Bureau Enforcer, I am ordering you. Stand down and drop your weapons. The Jewel Seeds are not to be tampered with. They--"

And then Riventon's assault. His sensors alerted him and he didn't even look away from Fate, merely flicking out a hand to shield the blast and knock it aside. "Riventon. Delightful," he said, the ire evident in his voice. Judging by the look he was giving Fate, he viewed her as the far worse threat. Then again, she had almost bisected him.

If anyone was curious, there were currently a LOT of binds around him. Just TRY it, Fate.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    With a SNAKT-HISSSSSS Bardiche opens several vents to bleed off heat and steam from Fate's bombardment spell as she stares down at her handiwork. The kitten lays twitching and stunned from the impactt of her spell. Were her training more complete, it would be far less painful for the kitten, but that is regretfully something she does not have the time to think about.
    All that matters to her is the Jewel Seed resting inside that kitten, and nothing, or no one will get in her way.
    For a moment, she remains silent where she stands on the spell circle hovering in the air over the scene of her dastardly crime of feline flattening.
    "All I want is the Jewel Seed." She says, voice soft and level as Chrono orders her to stand down.
    Riventon arrives. Though Fate's cool demeanor doesn't show it, she's actually relieved to see one of the few people she can count on her hand as a staunch ally, supporter, and maybe even friend.
    ... If she had the time for friends.
    Unfortunately, Fate Testarossa does not have the time.
    To The Red Princess, Fate remains equally cool and composed as Bardiche finishes venting and prepares for another volley.
    "I don't want to hurt any of you. Just stay out of my way."
    [SIR.] Bardiche warns, and she narrows her eyes at Chrono.
    But... There's Nanoha as well. That girl... The last person she had expected to encounter in this situation. The girl that keeps getting in her way.
    Rather than go on the assault against Chrono, or Nanoha or anyone else, Fate takes aim again...

    [THUNDER...]

    If she's not stopped, she's going to just unload on the kitten again.
    This child has absolutely zero chill.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi jumps into the air and flier fin is autocast to get her airborne as she flies up into the air and it seems others have the new arrival handled. That boy with the black mask. She frowns as she looks over to Fate and quickly, before Fate can launch another attack at the kitten, she calls back at Chrono. "I got Fate-chan....!" she blurts out as she suddenly turns back and spouts off.

"DIVINE SHOOTER!"

< DIVINE SHOOTER > goes Raising Heart, as a series of orbs go shooting off into a series of rapid lasers towards Fate, aiming to interrupt her next attack and hopefully get her attention.

This isn't a series of warning shots though, this isn't just some shot barrets coming Fate's way.

Arisa looks down at Suzuka as the two are peeking head over head from behind the tree. The two blink, still baffled, but maybe.

maybe starting to understand why Nanoha's been disappearing a lot. Maybe.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune is so focused on shouting at Fate, that she is largely blindsided by Riventon's attack. She notices it a split-second before impact and is able to partially raise an energy-circle barrier between her palm and his blast, but she raises it just as part of the attack has already gone past her wrist - that much of it strikes directly as aimed, even though she blocks the rest.

"Ah?!" A hurt cry and a jolting step in reflex, then she stares at her attacker with narrowed eyes and sharp gasps in her voice. "You demand we stand idly by, as you pummel a kitten and insist this is best for all?! You are as absurd as you are cruel!"

Her boot wings begin glowing with a bluish-silver light, as she 'hover glides' over to Chrono's side. "I know of neither your nature nor authority, yet we share common cause and foe today; assist me!"

Reaching into her dress' bow, she pulls out her staff - which is longer than the bow it came out of, yet somehow had been invisible inside there until she reached in to retrieve this. She aims at Riventon, launching an emerald orb at him - it aims for a direct impact, and will 'explode' into green sparkles if it makes contact!

Takashi Agera has posed:
Nanoha's going to fight Fate. That's good, in Riventon's estimation. Chrono is trying to help, though, which is bad. He's got two choices now, he can either try and pressure Rune until Chrono has to break off, or try and pressure Chrono and avoid Rune until Chrono replies. Both of these would be good strategies if he was at his full satrength, but he's not. The fact that he isn't fighting at his full strength right now becomes painfully apparent when he raises his left hand to create a shield against the the green orb - and while it shakes off the direct impact, the sparkles it detonates into shatter the shield and instead connect with Riventon's Barrer Jacket, causing him to visibly shirk from the pain. Still beats not going through a table, though. "You can't get the Jewel Seed out of it without weakening it first." Riventon explains. He's trying to get through this with more talking than blasting which is a different perspective from him than normal. "What, are you just gonna leave it in there? You think cats are bad for local wildlife, imagine when that thing goes from kitten to cat and starts hunting. It's cute now, but it won't always be. One way or another the Jewel Seed can't stay inside it."

    "We're not gonna kill the poor thing. We just need the seed. Then one of you can adopt it for all I care."

    He needs to get Chrono's attention, so a runic circle opens up underneath him. He raises his hand like it's aimed at Rune, but mostly to try and get her on the defensive before he pivots to blast Chrono instead.

    <<SCHATTENSCHLAG!>> calls the device as Chrono's lack of focus on Riventon earns him a more powered blast - well, his lack of focus and the 42 binds set up around him. "Hey, Mister Agent. Try picking on someone your own age instead of someone your own size." he calls. It might bring into question how he knows Chrono's age, given that he called him ten early on... but it's hard not to when he's your next door dorm-neighbor.

    But he doesn't have a second attack for the Red Princess, even though she's the responsible for the burn marks in his jacket and the pain in his body. He needs to conserve energy and distract. Today... Riventon is relying on Fate.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown didn't expect either of them to accept the terms, but he had to try. No matter what, he couldn't jsut attack... unfortunately, it left the issue that Fate COULD.

Still, she gave her answer. Against her, he knew he'd need to go all out. She was a criminal, worse, she was an agent of Precia. She had to be stopped, now. He lifted his rod--

Then Nanoha was yelling she had this. And for a moment, he was about to tell her to not worry about it...

But then divine shooter. Right. Okay then. Some of her records had also mentioned her fighting Fate. So... he supposed... he had to focus on the jewel seed. Nanoha had power, a lot of it. Fate was dangerous. But remove the objective, remove the need to fight. If Fate came after him, well... that was fine.

However, Red's call made him look towards her. Well, Riventon was here. He lowered himself back down, and... no. She wasn't a device user. Well, she was. But device user. Not a DEVICE user. She likely didn't know how to seal such a thing.

Oh by the stars. He was going to have to take care of the kitten, wasn't he? Fate, your crimes are only growing, can't you see?

A larger attack was thrown at him from Riventon. This time, however, he turned to face the man. He held out both his hands, forming a shield in front of him and taking the blast. "Ah. I see you're back in sound mind, Riventon. That is good. Please try to maintain your mental stability this time, Riventon. A meister without a sound mind is like a belkan without a fist."

He lowered himself towards the ground, glancing back at the hurt kitten. Great. He had to protect it, didn't he?

Using his device, he telepathically spoke to Red Princess. < Can you keep him focused on you while I bind the jewel seed? I should be able to do it without hurting the kitten, but I won't be able to fight while doing it. I'll be depending entirely on you to face Riventon. Don't speak in response, just nod or shake your head. >

            <Stinger Ray!>

He held his staff out and launched a machine torrent of magical blasts at Riventon, attempting to drive him further back...

Was it truly terrible of him to hope that the princess would shake her head and he'd have to help her? Because giant kitty... whyyyyyy?!

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Fate Testarossa is not a cruel girl. It pains her to do such heinous things in the name of love, but when it comes to Precia Testarossa, there is only one thing that matters, and it is that Fate do her utmost to retrieve the Jewel Seeds for her ill mother.
    And it is because mother is God in the eyes of a child that Fate Testarossa quietly hardens her heart as she gears up to unload on the stunned kitten again. One more blast should dislodge the Jewel Seed and...
    She's interruped!
    Those aren't warning shots, Nanoha is actually intending to shoot her this time, forcing Fate to abandon her attack and juke aside as the pink spheres of light sail past her, grazing her Barrier Jacket as she dodges them at the last second on sheer reflex.
    Though it forces her to cancel her spell as she jinks in the air.
    "You're only making things harder." The longer this drags out the more likely it's going to be that the kitten DOES get seriously hurt.
    [PHOTON LANCER.] Bardiche announces, several arrows of golden electric light forming to spit off at Nanoha like voltaic bullets to fend her off as Fate shifts positions. She aims for the cat once again...

    [THUNDER SMASHER!]

    And she fires, aiming for the stunned kitten as it tries to pick itself up to limp away.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is busy lancing shots at Fate, who dodges aside and she's relived partially for that. She doesn't wanna hurt Fate. But...

But attacking a poor giant cat that's just being a big cat!? It isn't even rampaging! It nuzzled her! Even if that was a lot.

She summons up a round shield, electric bullets being absorbed as she winces a little every time a bullet hits he shield. It dissipates when the last one hits and Fate seems to be trying to end this sooner, rather than later.

"NO! STOP... LISTEN..."

< Divine >

"TO ME!" she calls out.

< BUSTER > as a big wave of bright, magenta energy lances out from Raising Heart's sudden appearance of cannon mode.

Arisa and Suzuka take this all in. This is. A lot, guys.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Your words ring hollow when your associates start with battle and not parley!" Rune shouts at Riventon, not convinced by his well-explained truth. His feint works, though; her boot wings light up again as she launches up and aside from an attack that never comes. By the time she realizes what has happened, he is already attacking Chrono and all she can manage is an alarmed "Ch...!"

As she descends, Chrono's voice is in her head. Her eyes widen, unused to this. She's about to speak, when Chrono warns her not to directly answer the question. Nonetheless, he's making it sounds like he has a better way to help the cat; this wins her unspoken support.

She lands, and her eyes narrow again... a single, sharp nod as she then shouts to Riventon, "Discount me at your own peril! Though not equal to a great many tasks before me, I still pose a danger to you!" She tries to make her tone imperious and demanding, wanting his full attention.

She's far enough away due to his feint that she doesn't go for a direct hit. Instead, her staff grows another orb and launches it at Riventon... but it detonates in mid-air, to split into a wide spray of emerald sparkles! Where the sparkle blast from her last orb was incidental, part of the 'explosion' itself, this time they are the attack; weaker than normal, but covering a wider area - Rune hopes this will compensate for being further away from him.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "If my words ring hollow it's only because of all the empty space between your ears giving them the space to resound instead of having something to absorb the soundwaves." Riventon replies to the Red Princess. There's a huge blast of pink energy above him and his device is annoyedly speaking about the power of it, and Riventon's pretty sure the thing's either broken or suffering from the half-done repairs. Or has watched too much YouTube because 'over nine-thousand' is a meme.

    Back to his own problems - one, Red Princess, two, the Jewel Seed. Or maybe the other way around, but, that remained to be seen. "I'm gonna discount you alright. Like a sale item." This doesn't make any real sense and it doesn't need to. He wants to go into melee with her, but he knows better. He starts trying to flank her, though - so he can get a shot on, ideally, her -and- Chrono, shifting to her right, and putting up a Round Shield to cover against the glitter storm. This one doesn't break, but it costs him precious energy every time he has to defend. He's just doing his best to not make that obvious, as he raises his other hand and fires a blast at Rune - trying to pressure her away from Chrono with the minimal investment he can. And also, maybe, prevent her from opening up full force like she might if he ignores her. He doesn't know how strong she is, but he knows how much the green orb's sparkles hurt, and it isn't zero.

    He's got to spend even more energy flooding Dark Energy into the shield that's already up now, since Chrono is also blasting him - it's annoying being outnumbered. Really, really annoying. Rune can cover Chrono, but who's going to cover for Riventon? Hopefully, Fate, soon. Sooner the better, Fate. But he doesn't say that to her, he doesn't want to distract her.

    "What, you're just gonna make us do all the work and feel like jerks zapping the cat only for you to steal the Jewel Seed? Come on." One of those shadowy youma-barrets suddenly tries to dive on Chrono from the side. Riventon knows it'll hit a bind, but maybe it'll distract Chrono. Especially since it's kind of a were-cat, almost Catra shaped shadow monster with claws. Anything more though, will require him to dislodge the Princess who's looking at him with such intensity.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown hoped that Nanoha would be okay. She uhhh... she definitely had this under control, right? But she was such a little thing. And... telling Fate to listen to her. Sigh. She--

And then he saw a miniature arc-en-ciel and he had an anime sweatdrop when he just... stared for a moment at that blast. Holy... holy...

Note to self. If Nano-chan ever asks for his attention, he better give it. If he wanted to live. Thank goodness he hadn't used THAT in their training battle. The girl was proving the age old comment about Midchildian Magic. 'Non-lethal' did not necessarily mean 'Non-destructive'.

"If you want to leave and let us deal with the trouble of grabbing the jewel seed, you're more than welcome to go," Chrono said.

He then turned towards the cat. This... was going to take some time.

To his right, the youma seed was captured and... one might mistake the fact that Chrono didn't even look at it before it disipated as a sign of how cool under pressure he was. That he was just that tough as nails. That he was that hard of heart.

HA! Nope.

He didn't look because, for the moment, giant kitty had to have his full attention. He held out a hand to it. "Shhhhh. There there... it's going to be okay. You're going to be safe, I promise," he said in a soft, soothing voice. It was going to take him a while to do this, but he was sure he could. So long as he just... didn't... panic. And the cat didn't jump on him. Why. Why Fate? Why? Why did it have to be a CAT? While his face was a mask of steely resolved... internally he was just sobbing.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    To his credit, Riventon is a shining example of what a friend is, right now. Fending off Chrono and The Red Princess while Fate does her best to deal with the kitten as soon as possible.
    Unfortunately it does not go the way Fate planned nor intended.
    The brilliant beam of her golden Thunder Smasher hits the kitten in tandem with Nanoha's Divine Buster and there's a brief squeak from the giant tiny feline as the beams crash into it from opposite sides.
    Fate puts everything she has into her spell. For a moment... The two bright lights, pink and gold, battle back and forth, locked in place in a deadlock for a good beat.
    Before Nanoha's plucky resolve and willpower shine.
    Sweat beads on Fate's forehead as she grits her teeth, disbelieving. Especially as that pink light begins to overtake her spell.
    Back and forth- back and forth before that pink light SURGES.
    "There's no way..." Fate whispers to herself in silent disbelief.
    How could this girl from some backwater planet who only picked up magic in such a short time be BEATING HER?
    It is at the last second, as Nanoha's Divine Buster completely overpowers Fate's Thunder Smasher that she jerks aside, the sheer wall of pink light streaming by her and searing her Barrier Jacket as she huffs while Bardiche vents heat and steam.
    [SORRY SIR]
    <<Riventon.>> She quickly pings him telepathically.
    <<... I failed. That girl she...>> She doesn't even sound like she believes herself right now, her normally ironclad resolve shaken.
    <<Let's retreat for now.>>
    [PHOTON LANCER!] Bardiche announced, firing several warning shots at Nanoha, The Red Princess, and Chrono to cover retreat.
    While a now, much tinier, kitten lays snoozing in the grass, the glimmering sight of JEWEL SEED XVII floating beside it.

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Tch." Riventon grumbles as Fate starts to pull back. He's got no desire to fight 3v1, not when Fate just had to pull out and Fate's a far better fighter than him (to an extreme where he will actually admit that out loud). He'll have to keep an eye on Nanoha Gives Full Name Takamachi. "I guess you can hold onto the Jewel Seed for now. I'll get it when I take your device. I can always use more parts." he warns, before he actually takes the smart choice for once, not needing to be beaten to an inch of his life first, and voluntarily Dusk-Teleports out of the combat zone without a small robot needing to appear and do it forcibly for him.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is busy meeting laser with... another laser, and the two lasers clash and she has to keep it up. She keeps just pouring more energy into Divine Shooter, and if what Chrono told her has any weight whatsoever...

She should have the mana to spare, right? So she keeps firing and Raising Heart starts to shake in her hands at one point from the sheer power and by the time it's done, Raising Heart just suddenly vents steam in front of her, something it's never done before. "Raising Heart...?"

< I'm Okay! > goes Raising Heart. Before lasers lance into her location and she has to fly for cover. Fate doesn't need to do that if she wants to leave but Fate doesn't know that. So Nanoha doesn't return fire, she focuses on dodging.

Riventon starts leaving too. D..did they win this one? Yeah. Because Nanoha had friends this time. Nanoha however, watches Fate leave when the shooting stops, not shooting just looking on with a long sadness.

Then Arisa narrows her eyes. "Wait a minute. Isn't that the girl..."

"...That Nanoha-chan was with at the dance...?" finishes Suzuka. Oh. So it's like that, is it?

Nanoha suddenly shakes herself out of her sad reverie as she blunders. "The Jewel Seed, quickly seal it!" she sputters.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Mocking Rune with the science of sound doesn't work especially well; she raises a confused eyebrow at it, but has no idea what 'soundwaves' are. Insulting her as a sale item likewise just has Rune visibly puzzled, but it is a reaction all the same.

His attacks and comments on the cat's fate, however, draw a more clear response. A stressed-out "hn?!" follows as her boot-wings light again and boost her aside from Riventon's dark ray, taking her away from Chrono... and in a position where Chrono is between her and odd shadow-being attacking him; Rune can't immediately help.

So she lands, and begins sprinting at Riventon. This time, the gems on her tiara light up and begin firing a stream of tiny green sparkles at him... but this barrage is short-lived, as Riventon leaves. She skids to a halt, looking around to see if he is going to reappear and attack from another angle... but that does not happen.

This leaves her to spin on a heel and look to Chrono, then Nanoha. "I have scant idea what these 'Jewel Seeds' they spoke of are, but I trust you are better able to assist the cat than I!"

She then looks to the tree she saw Arisa and Suzuka hide by earlier, wanting to make sure they haven't been hurt by anything that went on.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown went pale when suddenly... LOTS OF LASERS! Oh. Well. Okay. He guessed... he wasn't... going to have to do this at all. YES! Pawned the work off on Nanoha! WOO! TSAB WIN!

And holy crud. That was a lot of energy. Note to self. Nanoha wants to deal with the Fate girl? She's got it handled. Holy...

Riventon's threats got a glare, but Chrono didn't rise to the bait... he was... oddly... not regretting his choice to not finish the man off. Why? Arisa and Suzuka. When the battle got dangerous... he hadn't gone after them. He hadn't tried to take a hostage. That would have been the default to many criminals in his experience. So the fact he hadn't was making Chrono suspect there might... actually... be more to this man than he initially thought. Just a little.

Nanoha's comment made him turn towards the seal and hold out his device. It took only a moment for it to be sealed away... then disappear into his device. "Very good work, Nano-chan." He had to resist the urge to pat her head and go 'good job'. Because her friends were there. He glanced towards them... before then looking down at the cat. "So... ummm... who's... cat is this?" It was sleeping now. And he didn't want to pick it up. Also, he still had a cowlick from the cat licking him once. So uhhh... he didn't wanna deal with it.