1275/Eclipse Investigation: H&R

Eclipse Investigation: H&R
Date of Scene:	13 March 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Hinote and Rashmi investigate the Eclipse Zone! And discover... they suck. But they do manage to get some hands-off training.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Rashmi Terios, Hinote Kagari

---

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
It hadn't been too long since the Eclipse Zone had first gone off and, at almost all times, there were a few youma within the area. That was what made them so difficult. Normal people didn't even notice them. A person could spend all day in one and, while they would be exhausted, they wouldn't pass out.

But they always had guards. And all the time, the pillar in the center was draining energy. Bit. By. Bit. Every few hours a bit of the energy would disappear... Teleported off who knows where. And even if it would take time for the benefits of them to show, the fact people like Beryl were constantly getting small influxes of energy was NOT good.

The melody was playing, a song of Utau's, barely audible except for those with magical awareness.

Sunbreaker wasn't actually tapping on one of them today. Today? She had an exam book out and was... shudder... *studying*.

While there were a few minor youma and a bunch of kindabads running about, there was also... a guy napping on a couch, in a green suit. Just... just napping. Napping so long it seemed he might even have some mold growing on him? ... How?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi has had her own run-ins with Sunbreaker's towers, before. But, that was a small draining zone, with only one tower. The fact that Nicomachea threw a telepathic proximity warning well above rooftop height caused a brief, panicked climb, the provisional TSAB mage hovering in the air as she examined the area below.

"Nicomachea," she murmured, "can you start scanning the energy patterns of that zone? That looks a *lot* stronger than last time."

    << *BONG!* >> << CONFIRMED, MASTER, >> Nicomachea answers in Rashmi's head.

    << MANA INVESTIGATION >>

Just above the pages of the opened book, a construct of golden light appears; encircled in three stacked rings of 'rune-tape,' its shape shifting from octahedral to a spiked dodecahedron and back again.

There's a light chime, as the sensor starts to feed information into Nicomachea, and Rashmi circles around to land in a nearby alleyway.

For the moment, she seems to have no intention to get much closer than creeping to the mouth of the alley, within line-of-sight of the outer wall of the Eclipse Zone.

And there she stands; an obvious mahou, with an obvious magical effect, pressed against the wall of the building as if she were trying to be sneaky despite a primarily red, gold, and green color scheme.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari wanted to get back to studying himself. Studying those Eclipse Zones. So he approaches the zone with Tracy in his bag, the tiny chara narrates. "It was a dark and stormy night..." he narrates from in his bag. "Well you got one right." he says as he walks through an alleyway.

"My Heart: Unlock!" goes Hinote before Tracy can narrate further, Tracy entering his egg as Hinote grabs it and it merges with him to become Pulp Noir, Mahou Detective.

Then he stares at Rashmi at the end of the alleyway. Oh.

Oh, maybe he should had checked to make sure the alleyway was empty before doing that. He grips the edge of his fedora and fixes it. "Ma'am." the masked detective says gravely as an apology.

"So are you here to study the Eclipse Zones too, or are we having a big fight?" he asks. Unsure of who Rashmi is exactly. The two have never met, in sofar as he can remember.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Rashmi's device would soon get a hiccup... there was too much interference. It could tell there was a non-dangerous amount of dark energy ahead. The eclipse zones had more dark energy in them than standard, but it wasn't actually fatal to humans. Just... exhausting.

Unfortunately, it made scanning the towers near impossible. They were just too deep in the zone. Whether that was by intent was anybody's guess.

At least the area was lit up. One problem with it being night, though, was that there were less people around. On the upside, the area had lights, street lights and the like. It looked like some kind of event preparation... albeit, the mahous knew the truth of the zones.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Concentrating on the readings, and the virtual screens scrolling information past her mind's eye, Rashmi simply does not notice the approaching gumshoe... Until he speaks up, at which point the redhead starts, a tiny squeak escaping her mouth before she claps her hands over it, and turns to look at the new presence.

After a beat, she uncovers her mouth and clears her throat, flushing in mild embarrassment. "...Oh uh... yeah I'm not here for a fight, hi. It's just this is a *lot* bigger than what I saw before, which now I guess were prototypes and heyyyy that's a cool coat! Are-- are you a *detective* mahou? Awesome! That's perfect right now!"

Rashmi really is trying to keep her voice down, but *oh my word* sometimes magic is just so much fun.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir takes a breath as he tries to keep a low profile. This somehow works good. He gives Rashmi a little smile as she asks if he's a 'Detective Mahou'. "Yes, that's me, the name is...P--" well that sounds weird. "Pulp Noir." he says looks at the moldy guy with a little frown.

"I've been trying to gather information. Or rather get the courage to do so. So here I am now." he says.

"I figure." he says. "Somethings gotta be powering these things, and we gotta unplug it." he says as he draws back a little into the alleway, he motions for Rashmi to follow as he says.

"Hothead thinks she's pretty keen here. But she's had to overlook something." he says.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker had, unfortunately, overlooked many things. The fact was? She'd.... legitimately expected a more full scale assault on these. And the fact there hadn't been one yet was, in many ways, making her... sloppy. With no attacks, she'd let her mind drift from the project to other things.... In this case? Studying. Obviously the mahou were in shock at her brilliance and none could get through her devious fields! Mwa ha ha ha ha!

Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice the pair making their preparations, but the pair could see the occasional kinda bad, youma and Easter Goon walking through the area, security on the move.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"It's pretty much her biggest weakness," Rashmi murmurs. "When you have her attention she's *terrifying.* When she's not around to be interested..." Rashmi shrugs. "It's good to meet you, Pulp Noir-san! I'm--"

Pause.

Siiiiigh.

"...Page Mage, it's the best name anyone could come up with for me. But anyway... It looks like aside from the moldy guy, all the security's pretty low-key. Just... if we want to find anything of substance, we're gonna have to go in. Nicomachea can't penetrate the Dark Energy from outside. Any ideas?"

After all, if she's going to do recon with a real live gumshoe, he's gonna have a better idea how to lead this investigation!

Also, support gotta support.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir adjusts his fedora, gripping the tip of it. He tilts it up a bit, revealing the top part of his mask. He gives a little smile. "Well the trouble seems to be on Big Mold out there. And a bunch of of smaller guys. I think if we don't alert any of these guys, we'll be good..." he says, peeking out of the alleyway, finally. "How fast and silent can you move?" he asks as he motions. "I'm going to try to get closer to one of these things first." he says.

"Can't investigate from here. Too far away. Then maybe. We can trace the power. If it isn't a cord, it's coming from somewhere, right?" he says, then he very quickly dashes across the alleyway when a couple of kindabads pass, passing behind them.

"Stay in the darker areas." he says.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
pose was, currently... going over some exam questions. She flipped through the book, humming a little before muttering. "I swear, I'll never understand how these humans function without magic. Electricity is okay and all, but magic is so superior," she muttered softly.

Nevermind the fact that they didn't really have access to magic and, ergo, it didn't matter. People used what they had.

They were right, though. Aside from Sunbreaker, the moldy sleeping guy WAS the biggest threat there... if he could be arsed to move.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As Pulp Noir dashes across the street, Rashmi looks at her sensor ball, the glowing wings on her ankles, and the floating book over her shoulder. "Dark and quiet, huh?" she whispers to herself, then draws in a breath. With a mental command, the spells quietly shatter into disintegrating shards of golden light, and she tries her best to move swiftly and silently after the magical snoop.

She's had a lot of practice at being unobtrusive and out of the way, but not so much in being like ninja. So, her efforts at stealth even out to a middling attempt, on balance.

Fetching up against a wall next to Pulp Noir, Rashmi pauses a moment in thought, and the crystal embedded into the cover of her book glows with a complicated, English-like script.

    << TELEPATHY >>

Which is when Rashmi's voice is heard *inside* Pulp Noir's head. << Sorry for the surprise, I just wanted us to have a way to talk without risking being seen. Just imagine you *are* talking, and I'll hear it. >>

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir looks at Rashmi as she casts... something. He doesn't understand. Until he hears the voice in his head and he makes a face. << The bird knew a trick. That was gonna be helpful. >> Narrated Noir. << I'm terribly sorry about this. There's narration in here. >> he says cooly into the telepathy. Luckily, he doesn't narrate what just happened.

He looks upwards. He looks to the fire escape and ponders. He carefully places a foot on the first step and there's a tiny squeak. He stops and looks at the building wall as he says. << I'd sell my soul for a grapple gun. >> he says as he remembers a bunch of heroes jumping from the alleyway to rooftop the other day. He squints a little.

<< I wonder. >> then he draws back and leaps! indeed, he can leap high.

But not to the top. He clambers back down in a heap though as he is unprepared for the drop. "Woah." he goes, quietly.

He rubs the back of his head and stands back up. << Any ideas? >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
...He has his own narration. That's *kind of awesome,* honestly. ...Though the wording could use some tweaking.

As Pulp Noir looks to the fire escape, Rashmi has an idea of what he intends, but... apparently he's not fully dialed in on what he *can* do, and in such cases mistakes are inevitable. When he asks her for ideas, her only answer is the re-emergence of the wings at her ankles.

<< This bird knows a couple tricks. Wanna gimme your hands, or are you okay with being carried? >>

Either way, they'll soon be aloft, with Pulp Noir carried more surely than her decidedly unathletic frame would suggest, up to the rooftop.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir says. << Heh. You can fly? That's... useful. I apparently. Can't. I apologize. I am new to this. >> he says as he << Carry me. >> he says. Remembering Tuxedo Kamen needing to help him down from the rooftop he was on top of without a fire escape.

<< I apologized for my rookie mistake. I let myself be carried up. What would we find at the top. Hopefully, the elusive answers. Or maybe more trouble. >> he narrated.

<< Yeah. >> says Pulp Noir. << Whatever I just thought. Be prepared. >>

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
The rooftop... was free and clear. As the towers themselves were on the stage and the ground level, it had never really occured to Sunbreaker to guard all the rooftops.

On the upside, it did mean they could slide into the eclipse zone via the roof, but they'd need to go to the ground level to get near enough to the towers to scan them.

However, gleaming information from such a vantage point, well... an eye in the sky could be helpful.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Of all the things you'd ever need to apologize for, >> Rashmi answers as they head up to roof level, << being new is *definitely* not one of them. I could tell you stories about my first couple months, later. >>

As they alight on the roof, Rashmi creeps up to the edge of the zone, frowning in concern. << Well... I guess the first thing is to see if it's even *safe* to go in from up here, cos we're still gonna have to get to ground. Last time, it was harder to maintain spells and they were weaker, but I could use them, but like I said... they were *baby* towers compared to this. >>

And with that, she lifts up a hand to the edge of the zone. <<At least up here, if I get drained, I just need a snack and a few minutes to get enough energy to get us back down. >>

And the hand goes across the barrier.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir smiles. << The last time I was here, I didn't have powers. Time to give Hothead her just deserts. >> he says as he places a hand into the zone and--he can feel that weakening field. He frowns and pulls his hand back as he huhs. << This... it didn't feel like that before. Obviously. I'm different now. So. Maybe that's what that has to do with it. >> he says as he listens down into the next alleyway and looks. No one this time.

<< We just gotta avoid trouble. At least until we get to the tower. >> he says as he leaps off into the alleyway and starts chasing up the side of the wall as he draws his hand into his coat.

<< Hey uh. Bird.... >> pause. << Dollface. >> PAUSE. << Look, this is a habit now, obviously. Page. Mage. >> deep breath. << Are you. Overwatch? Can you tell me where everything is with that book of yours? Guide me if you can. >>

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
The moment the two went in they could feel it. The drain on their bodies. Their power being sucked from their bodies.

They could also hear that song. Pulp Noir would likely realize that the song hadn't been HEARD last time. He might have had a weird, vague recollection of something being there, maybe a background humming. But that song? That was new. And it likely wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't sapping his powers.

He can also see everything seems... darker to him now. Last time it hadn't, but now that he could realize the magic? It was almost obvious. There was definitely 'magic' there. And now he could feel and see it, up close and personal. And this stuff was nasty.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< ...I'll answer to whatever if it's that strong a reflex, >> Rashmi says around a mental chuckle. << But yeah... I *think* I can. Sec... >>

    he book floats down from over her shoulder, opening itself up and coming to rest, open, a few inches above her upturned palm. An intricate magical seal spreads out beneath her feet, followed by a gleam of light from the book's pages.

    << INVESTIGATION >>

A much simpler sphere of light forms above the book's pages, and Rashmi grimaces as she looks left and right, the sphere seeming to turn opposite ways. << So the good news is yes, I can watch from above, >> she says, as the ball zips after Pulp Noir, keeping him in view but from about fifty feet up. << The bad news is I can *feel* the drain, which this spell I should barely notice. Probably best if we don't count me having more than enough gas in the tank to grab you and fly us both out, if there's trouble. >>

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir has to stop and shake off the feeling. Was that song in the air? << A song hung in the air like so much dirty laundry... >> thinks Pulp Noir. << Yes it's a reflex. Sorry. >> he says. << This magic stuff is weird. >> he says as he peeks around the corner and finally looks up. >>

<< Is it safe? >> he asks.

If it is safe, he'll zip into another alley, alley hopping into the darkness and shadows as he does a dark souls like roll into the final one.

If it isn't safe, he'll just go the opposite way out.

Either way he's using the overwatch to sneak quietly closer and closer.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
The spell went off.... though it was likely going to be uncomfortable. More points of casting, more points to drain from. Even the orb looked more burnt out than normal, smaller and more delicate. Nothing could just be easy, could it?

Not when it came to Sunbreaker.

With Rashmi providing overwatch, Pulp would be able to get across the area easy enough. He'd have to wait about ten seconds at one point, though, when a small herd of kindabads walk by. However, he is able to get closer. Bit. By. bit.

The center tower would be incredibly hard to get to, subtly. Especially since Sunbreaker is near it. However, the two outer ones... they likely wouldn't be nearly as bad.

However, as he makes his way closer, Rashmi sees something...

The path he was taking, it was going to take him directly into the path of one of the 'security' guards. A dog-like youma. Uh oh! The guard in question was leaning against a wall and, from his position, there wouldn't be any cover for Noir when he walked past him!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< HOLD. >>

That was the least-likely word Rashmi could think of to get Noir to stop moving forward without being startling or terrifying.

<< You're walking right into sight of a guard, there's no cover from that direction. Go back to the last bit of cover you were at? >>

Pressing her lips together as the drain from the spell begins to feel like something akin to tinnitus, Rashmi directs the little sensor ball a short distance in each direction, scouting out an alternate path.

A few moments later; << ...So I can get you to one of the outer towers. Or I can cause a distraction, and *hopefully* get Sunbreaker's attention long enough for you to give the center tower a look-over. I'm willing to do that, Noir-san, but it's up to you to decide which is the better idea. Support is kinda what I do, so... Yeah. Center or outers? >>

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir comes to hard stop and literally jumps backwards feet to then disappear back into the alleyway he came from as he gets low. << Thanks. I don't want to fight in this Zone. I feel like I'm already losing my edges. >> he says. << Like a dull knife into a loaf of bread. > he narrates. <<I backed up and thought about the situation. What would be the best course of action. >

<< .... >> exasperation is expressed. << Get me to the outer tower. It's best if they don't know where even here. >> he says, as he bends down in his alleyway and prepares to move again.

He'll go ahead and move where Rashmi tells him too, of course.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
It wouldn't be too hard, with the eyes in the sky. A weakness, as well. They didn't look up. Which, considering how often 'up' was a vantage point... then again, it was late. It was possible they jsut weren't expecting much trouble. A lot of the guards were likely more guards to alert if there was trouble rather than actually fighting it off.

However, soon Pulp Noir was standing in front of the tower... It was a big, clunky thing. On four 'legs', it was incredibly stable...

And if he leaned down, he'd realize something else. There was no cable... it was dug into the ground itself, like a drill.

He couldn't touch it, though. The tower.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When Noir gets where he needs to go, the sensor-ball swoops down to come to rest over the gumshoe's shoulder. << It's just me, >> she says... and by the way the sensor ball looks dim -- and... grimy? Like a globe-light that hadn't been cleaned in a decade, but turned on -- it's probably for the best that she identified herself. << Nicomachea's recording everything this sees, so we should probably try to get enough footage to build a model out of. Call out if you find anything that looks clue-y, okay? >>

With that, the sensor ball darts off, to move around the tower in a series of spirals from different angles and distances. Enough to reconstruct, and build a decent simulation for the inevitable action plan.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir makes it to the tower and walks around it with a little swagger. Time for clue vision. He stands there and lets his senses just out.

It may be muddled in the dark, but maybe he can see some light, trying to detect where this thing draws it's power from, looking up and down the tower as he circles with a certain swagger, drawing his hands up to cross along his chest a moment. He can't touch it. He already knows that.

<< There was a girl with a thing called a Chara Guardian who's Chara was able to touch these things. I don't know her name. But pink hair. >> she says, as if this narrows it down any.

<< Hey b--- page mage. >> he manages to force catch himself this time.

<< I'm trying to clue vision this thing but this darkness is muddling. Can you patch me into your orb thing at all. >>

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Pulp would actually get plenty of time with it... however...

It didn't seem to be DRAWING power. Or, if it was, not physically. Some kind of magic thing? Or an internal power source. Annoying. Possibly why it was digging into the ground. If he knew about the leylines converging here, he'd likely be able to put together that it was from that.

However, the big break came... when Rashmi saw one of easter's employees coming towards the tower! If he hid, he'd get just what he needed. He'd see one of the employees come over, and be unable to touch the screen. After a few moments of mumbling to themselves, they'd pull out a small, black glove. They'd then slide it on and start tapping on the screen, grousing the whole time.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< That... is a really good question, >> Rashmi answers, frowning in thought. << Maybe, but you'd need Guest User permissio-- omigosh HIDE. Someone's coming! >>

The sensor ball zips up and out of view, as Rashmi guides Pulp Noir to a hiding spot with a really good vantage point, and watches both mahou and guard breathlessly, orb flitting here and there and trying to get a good, hard look at the screen.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Nope. Too muddled. Something feels odd about the energy here though to him. Compared to where he was. Can he sense the leyline? No. Not really. Maybe if there wasn't a tower radiating dark energy music in front of him he could. When he's told someone is coming he first puts himself as close to the tower as he can on the opposite side.

When Rashmi gives him a spot, he moves quickly that way instead, backing up and fading into the shadows again as he frowns.

<< Wait that's right. >> he says. << Those gloves. Hothead had a pair. >>

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Nope. Too muddled. Something feels odd about the energy here though to him. Compared to where he was. Can he sense the leyline? No. Not really. Maybe if there wasn't a tower radiating dark energy music in front of him he could. When he's told someone is coming he first puts himself as close to the tower as he can on the opposite side.

When Rashmi gives him a spot, he moves quickly that way instead, backing up and fading into the shadows again as he frowns.

<< Wait that's right. >> he says. << Those gloves. Hothead's guys had a pair before. >>

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
The towers really did make everything else... suck, didn't they? And they did get a decent view of the screens. It showed some readings, how much was being extracted, a charge time. It seemed that it took a while to get energy out, at least. Unfortunately, it was difficult to say how much energy was a 'lot' of energy, considering their plans and everything.

But they were making steady progress. Every minute these zones were up, they were getting more and more energy. For whatever plans they had.

That couldn't be good.

Also, some of the kindabads had gone to bed. Sunbreaker, herself, was starting to yawn and picked up her books. "Hey! Namekelder! I'm heading out. Make sure to alert if anything happens, okay?"

"Mmm?" the green man asked, glancing up for a moment before nodding. "Mmmm hmmmm."

Then Sunbreaker was gone.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Record record record... Every bit of information could potentially be useful, once it's understood how it fits.

Rashmi pauses to lift her glasses and squeeze at the bridge of her nose. The 'tinnitus' is slowly turning into a sinus headache, and Nicomachea is not at all enthused about the level of mana drain she's experiencing.

<< So the question is, >> she says as Sunbreaker leaves, << are they *special* gloves? Or will any gloves do. >>

...

.....

<< ...Hey Pulp Noir-kun, how confident are you about stealing his gloves when he takes them off again? >>

Maybe it's a bad idea, fueled by the ambient Dark Energy. Maybe she should check herself into Chiyo's shop for a purifyin'.

But maybe not.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir watches exchanges from a distance. He gives a wry smile to himself. << I think I can pull that off. But this is gonna have to be quick and painless and they'll know SOMEONE was here. >> he says as he gets low and carefully falls from the new vantage point he took and creeps back slowly towards the tower.

<< I made for the clean sweep. Moving like a bolt of lightning in the night. I'd strike without warnng...>> he'd narrate as he tries to sneak, and sneak he does, trying to get closer to the Easter employee.

When he's just behind him, he strikes like a cresendo, hitting hard as he can the Easter Employee in the back of the head. The dark energy might be muddling things. But he's still a Mahou Powered Detective right now and this guys just.

A guy. Right?

He's trying to knock him out cold, silently first. He'll deal with the gloves, if he succeeds.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Pulp Noir was going to learn something in a moment... inside these Eclipse zones? He was.... a child. A strong child. Stronger than most adults. but still, just a child. His limits were suppressed so fiercely.

... But, this easter employee? Entirely normal. No magic. He got hit and he stumbled forward, smacking into the tower and then dropping with a pained groan. He wasn't unconscious, but well... he was certainly in a world of hurt, his nose bloody. And it would give Noir all the time he'd need to take the glove.

But a few moments later, after the glove was torn off? The guy would groan, look up and... "H-hey. Hey! W-who the hell are YOU?!" the man would yell.

Time to get out!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi is not, among her Device-using peers, particularly fast.

But they're on the edge of the Eclipse Zone, and 'not particularly fast' is still enough to keep pace with cars on the highway, on an average day. The thing about air travel, though? It's a lot faster to go as the crow flies, than to dodge and weave around obstacles. So the moment Pulp Noir goes to roll the Easter employee for his accessories, Rashmi is off the rooftop and flying as fast as she possibly can.

Which, in the Eclipse Zone, is roughly about as fast as 'a particularly ornery Vespa.' But it's a straight shot from her roof to Pulp Noir, gathering the gumshoe up on the wing just after the employee has time to yell, and carry them both toward the zone's boundary.

As a last insult, the sensor ball flies down into the emplyee's face, shattering in a harmless-but-probably-dazzling burst of golden light.

<< Think we've done about all we can here, do you? >>

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir can feel his punch connect and---

Okay so he has no edge here at all. Luckily. A punch against a normal guy is still a punch into a normal guy so he accomplishes his primary goal anyways. He'll grip the gloves, pull them off and say. "You tell 'Hothead' that my beef with her isn't done, kapeesh!?" he says, tilting his fedora down a little to shadow his face even more than the mask can. "Gonna punch her right in the beezer, again!" he says.

Before he can say more. Or give a moniker. Rashmi picks him up.

<< We made our escape quickly, like shadows in the night, after hitting them hard, and learning some new things. >> His brain narrates into the telepathy.

"Can we turn this off now?" he asks, verbally. "Or are you still amused by my dumb penchants and oddities?" he asks with a wry half smile as the two make the escape.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Someone had tried flying over an Eclipse Zone before.... And paid dearly for their mistake.

But it had been a DG girl on patrol at the time. Namekelder opened his eyes at the yelling and the kindabads started charging and--

And the two were fleeing. Not his problem, then. He closed his eyes and went right back to his nap. Meanwhile, a few kindabads brought over a first aid kit for the wounded employee!

And it looked like the two were going to get off, scott free. Fortunately, it seemed Sunbreaker hadn't left the... best... person in charge.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
There's a quiet chuckle from Rashmi, and the telepathy turns off with a weird, echoing *bing!* that *feels* like a mouse-click on the corner of an active program.

She needed the mana bandwidth anyway, until they were well clear of the zone.

"I can do both things," she says with a grin... and it's easy to tell when they're free of the Eclipse Zone, for her wings brighten dramatically, and she surges forward to put a fair amount of distance between them and the kindabads that would have been at their heels.

This was not a mission for fighting, after all.

Once she feels secure enough to touch down again, she finds a handy rooftop, alighting and putting Pulp Noir down as gently as possible. "So I see you got the gloves! D'you want to hang onto them for right now? I figure when we spread the word to the others, we'll want to see if there's anything particularly weird about them, because if they're like Dark Rayon or something they *can't* get damaged."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir looks up at Rashmi and whews. "Looks like we made it out by the skin of our teeth." he says.

"Thanks for the assist. I was going in alone. It was dumb but I don't really know a lot of people yet." he says. "Too bad we couldn't find the power source. But we got something better, maybe. Even if I had to wallop a guy to get it."he says, shaking his hand a moment.

"Yeah I can hang onto them. I should give you my phone number before we part. So you can let me know where or when you need these." he says with more seriousness.

"I'm still on this trail and investigation. I'm tired of jerks like... 'hothead'." he says with a sigh.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Absolutely," Rashmi says, collecting the floating book from over her shoulder. With a tap on the crystal, she pulls out a phone with a green case, and a couple festive charms hanging off the bottom edge. Once numbers are exchanged, Rashmi grins. "People, I can introduce you to. Heck, a couple of them could hook you in to practically everyone operating on our side, between them." Pausing, she cocks her head to one side. "...Lemme guess... you go to Radiant Heart Academy, right?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir mmmphs. "Yes." he says. "I'm a... Chara Bearer. Currently merged with my Guardian Chara. I think. Tiny detective. Named Tracy. Narrates dramatically." he says with a sigh. "I don't know everything and my identity is probably gonna be figureable out because of you know. The tiny detective." he sideways smiles.

"So the actual name is. Hinote Kagari." he says.

"It's still nice to meet you. I do need to meet all those people then!" he says.