1851/Lazy Tea Time

Lazy Tea Time
Date of Scene:	10 August 2024
Location:	Dream Kingdom
Synopsis:	The Meaniedokas have acquired one of Dr Numeri's spheres, and use it to create their very own Layabout! Gretchen backs it up by adding her own Familiars to the mix, and Keaka comes in to support the X-Chara's ambitions to create a better world. Pulp Noir, Laura La Mer and Hope Blossom show up to stop Gretchen's plans. They try to convince the Meaniedokas to stop, but their pleas fall of deaf ears.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Hinote Kagari, Laura La Mer, Keaka Hoshiko

---

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Far above the busy, happy crowds of the Dream Kingdom theme park are a trio of dark fairies. Rens holds a strange magic sphere in both of her hands. Tia looks over her shoulder at the thing, marveling at how pretty it looks. Gretchen has her arms crossed and her mask only partially up. The X-Witch asks her two recently hatched sisters, "So... this thing is supposed to make a youma?"

    Rens turns the ball around in her hands and examines it from different angles. "Yes, that is what Doctor Numeri told me. Though I must admit I don't know how it works."

    Tia taps her chin and asks, "Well, while we're trying to figure it out, can we go to the Tea Party Ride?"

    Gretchen plants her hands on her tiny hips and boasts, "If we figure out how this works, we can make our own tea party ride. With candy and robots!" Glancing down at the park below, she adds, "Though... I mean there's no reason not to use what's here. I guess."

    Cheering, Tia leads the trio all the way down below. Rens follows along, clutching to her dark prize. Gretchen follows last. The three of them settle down on the rim of a giant teacup, skipping over the lines because they are invisible fairies. Who's going to stop them? In the crowd a small child with magical sight points at the fairies and giggles, but none of the adults can see Chara at all.

    When the ride starts, Rens sets the sphere on her lap to study it more closely, taking her hand off of it for a critical moment. It slips out of her lap, bounces off the seat, and somehow activates. It glows brightly as it rests on the spinning floor.

    "Oh dear," say Tia and Rens in unison, before Gretchen takes them each by the hand and flies away from the theme park ride as it transforms into a giant youma.

    "So... is there something else that's supposed to happen?" asks Gretchen.

    Rens clears her throat and says, "I believe we're supposed to day... 'Come out, Layabout!'"

    There is a spike of dark energy as the sphere merges with the cup. The entire ride seems to glow for a moment as the ~6 tea cup seats each seem to grow a pair of eyes. In unison, they shout, "Layabout!" as the motivational energy from the area is suddenly drained. A large purple dome forms, covering the ride, the line leading up to it, and the surrounding area.

    The general feeling of excitement around the ride seems to fall off. Children who were hype about coming are suddenly tired and cranky, and the parents who brought them just want to go home. Gretchen, Tia, and Rens are watching this unfold; and the X-Chara suddenly gets a little self-conscious as she wonders how many members of Team Sparkles are in the area.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is doing his dad another favor. By taking one of his rich friend in town's daughter out for a 'date' in large air quotes big enough they could be seen from space. Hinote was disliking this more and more and eventually he'd need to speak to his dad about it. But soon. Communication was important.

But now wasn't the time for that conversation and timing was important too, so here he was, listening to the typical spoiled rich kid blather from his 'date' when a sudden dome of dark energy engulfs them and his date becomes UNMOTIVATED, slumpining and Hinote turns to the chaos and says...

"Oh thank you so much god in heaven."

Hinote Kagari moves between attractions. "My Heart: Unlock!"

Out comes Pulp Noir to investigate the scene...! What's going on. Are those youma tea-cups!?

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura wasn't really in the mood of visiting a tea party. She was actually feeling restless over the course of the last few days. And she wasn't really sure of why. She was having fun here, all in all the world of humans was a nice place, so why is it it is that very fact that makes her heart ache? Why is she so discontent?

Paradoxically it is that feeling that brought her to stay away from people, taking refuge in the sea as she tries to placate her heart's turmoil. "Come on, Laura, everything is going great! You are fulfilling your mission, and you are actually having fun here, cheer up!" she tells herself, just floating on the surface of the water, looks upwards at the sky.

"Kururun", the sea fairy gently brushes her side, perceiving the girl's sadness. "Thank you, Kururun", Laura says, reaching a hand out to pet the seal. She sneaks a glance to a seaside theme park not too far from her. Dream Kingdom, was it? Dream are importants, yeah. And she is so close to realising hers.

"Kururun, I..." she starts saying, her words fading as she notices that purple dome form. "We need to go!" she yells, swimming at speed towards it, followed by her fairy friend. "Who is it now? Numeri, Chongire?", she says three minutes later, having jumped onto the platform and transformed midair. "Where are they?", she stares in confusion at the teacup Layabout.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Layabout!" shouts the youma loudly as it spreads its influence. More people get drained. More energy gets gathered.

    Much to Gretchen's dismay, it seems like several magicals are starting to show up. She glances over at Laura and asks, "Who's that girl with the fairy? Haven't I seen her before?"

    Rens adjusts her glasses and says, "I'm not sure, but she seems to have some kind of magic pot. I suppose we'll have a chance to observe her again in action."

    Tia twirls her parasol in hand while noting, "Pulp Noir is here, too. I suppose it was only a matter of time."

    Remembering how things went previous times, Gretchen frowns and says, "I think our new friend needs some back up." She raises her tiny hands into the air, and suddenly the world within the dark purple sphere gets... weird. Witch-like weird. Attraction signs are rewritten in Witch runes, the world starts looking like it's drawn on black paper with crayon, and tiny flying sugar cube Familiars start showing up, along with similar dancing spoons. Some of the sugar cubes start swooping at and harassing Hinote, trying to keep him away from the youma.

    In the distance, a certain magical pinkette is desperately rushing towards the scene. Hope Blossom hops over the theme park fence and feels a little guilty about breaking in, but this is too important for her to wait in a theme park line. Especially since it seems like the ticket masters have lost the motivation to do their jobs, too.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir draws his fedora up by it's front rim as he frowns. "Hey again." he says. "I don't suppose today is the day you guys miss Kaname-san and go back to her, is it?" he asks with a somber tone, trying to be serious about it.

That's when the world becomes weird and sugar cubes start attacking him from the sky, making him dive forwards as he turns onto his back, drawing a pistol out of the coat and firing a powerful jet of water at the sugar cube that bombed him.

"So what's your angle today!?" he asks.

He notices Laura, but is a little too busy avoiding gliding glucose to chime in on her or her statements.

Laura La Mer has posed:
There are many things Laura has experienced ever since the Witch of Delays had attacked her home, and even before that, her life wasn't lacking in the magical at all. To her the magical is more ordinary than the ordinary. And yet, the young mermaid can't help but shudder when the dome of the Layabout is overlaid by a Labyrinth.

"What the heck are those things?" Laura exclaims when the unintelligible Witch Runes appear. "Kururun, can you read them?" The pink seal shakes her head, replying with a slow "Kururun..." The surreal experience only gets worse when those sugar cube and spoon familiars come in. "That is certainly not the Layabout's doing", she murmurs, trying to stay away from the eldritch figures.

Luckily it doesn't seem they are focusing on her, but they are in fact heading towards Pulp Noir. "I will see what's causing this!", she promises to the detective even if that's the only way she can help, trying to look around for anything that's not standard Layabout fare besides the familiars.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    "If my calculations are correct, we should be dropping out at that old amusement park place..."

    Keaka drops out of the dusk zone. At... a different amusement park than expected. "...If I didn't know better, I'd think reality was making fun of--ohh, what have we here?" She wonders, as the area starts to Labyrinthify.

    "I'm detecting... I, I dunno, I'm detecting something." her gauntlet chimes in, unhelpfully.

    At the moment, Keaka has her henshin up, with the fancier clothes, but still presenting female as she was at the end of the last battle.

    Aaaand cubes and a teacup monster are fighting people. "Hmm. Perhaps use of dark energy made us come out here?" "I dunno. We should test that at another juncture." The gauntlet's crystal flickers between grey and blue, and modes of speech.

    She looks around for the source, and flies over to the dark-energy-using Charas. "So what's the objective here? Just..." She waves her hand at the teacup monster and signs. "Making life more surreal?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Tia tsks at Pulp Noir, chiding, "How can we miss her when she wont go away?"

    Gretchen pouts at him and says, "Obviously, we're gathering energy! This time we're serious about it!" She says this with a level of confidence that is a little bit fraudulent, considering that they basically turned it on by accident.

    Hope Blossom finally gets close enough to see what's going on. She looks over to Laura and Pulp Noir, then up at the three X-Chara. "Gretchen?! Are you doing this?"

    The X-Witch sticks her tongue out at her Bearer. "Go away, dummy! We're not here to play with you!"

    The sugar cube gets blasted by Pulp Noir and dissolves about the way that one would expect, but there are many more on the way. Madoka starts sniping them out of the air as they swoop down in order to at least give Hinote some cover from their assault. Some of the dancing spoons start trying to surround Laura, spinning around menacingly but not yet attacking her.

    The Layabout youma starts spinning, faster and faster, until the six teacups detach from the base of the ride and start rolling on their sides, charging towards Pulp and Hope.

    Gretchen looks at Laura and shouts, "Hey, don't you have a henshin or something?! You shouldn't be here without armor!"

    When Keaka appears, Rens is the first one to notice her. Eventually all three of the dark fairies turn towards her to note her presence. Rens answers, "We are attempting to gather energy in the name of creating a perfect world. A better world where everyone plays nice, including Witches."

    Gretchen, tiny as she is, makes a big boast, "That's right! We're gonna call it X-Paradise! We're making our own world with toys and ice cream!"

    Hope comments, "Isn't that just acting like a Witch? Hiding in another world away from your problems?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir frowns a little. "Hiding from your problems isn't going to fix 'em, kid." says Pulp Noir as he gets to his feet with the help of Madoka's cover giving him enough breathing space to do so. But the respite is short lived as he huffs, and helps Madoka shoot sugar cubes until those teacups spin on their sides and soon he's being charged by a spinning teacup!

"Hey, Larua!" he yells. "Isn't this one of the problems you're dealing with!? I felt I've fought something like this before..!" he says as he grabs his hat and starts running for his life

He'll figure something out in a moment if someone doesn't for him. Clarthas's arrival isn't registered yet as he runs.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    "A better world where everyone plays nice, hmm?" Keaka closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them. "What does that mean, exactly?"

    Of all people... Hope Witch attracts Keaka's attention. "That's what bothers you about Witches? Not the whole 'killing people' thing?" She has presumably been filled in on some basics by information sharing among Obsidian at some point. "If they hid away and minded their own business... wouldn't you want that, if they can?"

    Okay, time for her to help out her... allies? The archer's homing arrows look pretty effective, so...

    Sarida chimes. "Hybrid Sword." Clarthas dashes down out of the air, armblade-shaped orange energy fields extended from her arms.

    Slash, stab. Let's see how the archer handles melee. The effect is similar to Mid-Childan magic -- contact with the 'blade' releases nonlethal stun energy, but it's not pleasant all the same.

    "So, what's your side, Hero? Is their world powered by killing puppies or something? Or are you just here to meddle because someone's using dark energy, it must be bad?"

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura's examination of the surroundings gets cut short by the dancing spoons. In a rush as she was, she has to stop herself from almost bumping into them. And thank the Mermaid Queen she actually doesn't. She doesn't even want to touch them.

"No, I don't! Mermaids can't acquire a henshin, they can only give humans one", Laura replies to Gretchen, a tinge of irritation. It really would be helpful here, but she is going to follow the instructions all the same. "I still have a mission to help bring down the Layabout, and I won't stop just because of that."

And as much as she wants to give these dancing familiars a punch for their headache-inducing spinning, it would just irritate them at best. "Kururun, we are out if here!", she says, grabbing the seal fairy and diving with her in the Aqua Pot. Steering it upwards, she sticks out her tongue at the familiar, even if it is admittedly hard to see when she is overhead and inside the magic bottle.

"The tanuki was one of them, but the spoons and sugar are new, the Witch of Delays has nothing to do with them", the pinkette confirms Pulp Noir as she heads towards Gretchen. Stopping the magic bottle just about next to the X-Witch, not so close to be close to touching her, she asks "So this is your paradise then? And what purpose does it have? You turned a place of joy into a place of lethargy", the mermaid glares.

Laura chimes in on Clarthas' question, even if it wasn't directed at her. "That Layabout has sucked people's motivation power! Their dreams and ambitions, they won't be realised like that! Is that terrible enough for you?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
"There are no fixing our problems," responds Gretchen to Pulp and Hope. As the X-Witch notices that the tea cups are rolling around unstopped, her frown deepens. Would it really be wise for her to turn her Labyrinth into a Barrier? Removing the civilians would help the enemy and cut off the energy drain supply, but the Layabout isn't going to be able to fight at full power if it has to worry about hitting random people. With a heavy sigh, she shouts, "Wake Labyrinth!"

    Hope Blossom looks up at Gretchen as the entire world seems to shift. The unpowered and magically unaware vanish from sight, and the sky itself changes to black with a giant white X across it. Hope shudders. "She... she can do that without me now?"

    Tia hmphs at her Bearer and responds, "That's right. We no longer need you."

    Hope Blossom looks up at Keaka with a flat frown and says, "Obviously I'm not happy about the killing people either, but retreating into yourself isn't a good mental state to be in."

    Suddenly she's under attack, and while she has trained for melee combat her style probably isn't going to win her any duels. She raises her branch bow, glowing with pink magic to parry the first energy blade hit. The branch shatters upon the first impact, but another bow appears to take its place. The stab gets her in the gut, which causes her to clutch her stomach while staggering backwards. Gretchen gives Madoka a worried look before realizing that the attack is non-lethal.

    "My side," responds Madoka, "is those fairies are my dreams, my Chara, and it's my responsibility to stop them from doing bad things! I don't think that Gretchen would ever want to do anything horrible, but I don't trust the power she's using! Didn't you hear about what that stuff did to Sunbreaker?"

    Tia raises an eyebrow as Laura admits to not having a henshin. The words of the mermaid actually touch the dark trio in a perhaps unpredictable way. Rens asks, "Their dreams and ambitions? That's what we're taking?" After thinking about it, she adds, "Come to think of it, she did mention motivational power earlier. I wonder..."

    Tia asks, "Hey, Gretchen-chan. What do we do about the mermaid girl?"

    Gretchen shrugs at Tia. "Leave her alone. We're just here for the energy." Then the X-Witch turns to Laura and says, "With enough power I can make a world where everyone's dreams come true. Even if they've lost them."

    Hope Witch recovers enough of her breath to shout back. "No, you can't! No amount of power will let you do that! We know that already!"

    Gretchen responds, "I don't care! When there's no winning option, when there's no right move, there's no wrong move either! So I'm going to do what seems right to me, even if everyone else tells me it's wrong!"

    Hope grits her teeth, then turns to frown at Keaka. Another pair of branch bows appear in her hands and she shouts, "Even if they misbehave... those are my fairies! Get out of my way!" She lunges forward, swinging with one bow and then the other. Each strike is accented with a flare of pink energy, and each impact results in shattering magic wood.

    As for the rolling teacups, they continue to roll after Hinote, some of them missing and rolling past him only to turn and continue their pursuit. They are quick, large, and potentially dangerous to get hit by; but they aren't very maneuverable.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir frowns. "I have yet to see dark energy used in any constructive way that wasn't destroying Earth or eating energy fields bigger than one's head! I have enough evidence to say dark energy is terrible and suckssssss!" he yells as he runs.

Okay, some are rolling past him, okay so they can't maneuver left or right well. He goes ahead and nimbly jumps over one and then the other finally, as he gets a little breathing room...
A
Pulling out a large old style revolver, he aims it down field at Clarthas and fires a strong burst of water from the gun.

"What's your deal? You seem pretty adamant to protect bad energy from slander...!" he says.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"I have a name, you know", Laura shakes her head. "Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer, queen candidate to Grand Ocean. I am working hard to realise my own dream, and all of you are in the way of that. Kururun, please open a portal to Grand Ocean!", she tells the fairy, who nods and starts concentrating.

"Kuu-ruu-ruuuun!", the pink seal exclaims, yellow energy shooting out of her and opening a swirling oval in the air, that then stabilises and shows a derelict kingdom, full of all kind of sea fairies laying around doing nothing, looking hopeless and spent. "If you continue making use of that Layabout, that's what will happen to the human world. Do you want it to share our home's fate?"

She points at the portal from inside the Aqua Pot, getting angrier at Gretchen's idea of paradise. "Look at it, everyone was happy and full of life before the Witch of Delays attacked! What does it matter that you make dreams come true if nobody has the ability to enjoy them?"

She sighs and turns to Hope Blossom and Pulp Noir. That pinkette's dream are really a handful, but she is not going to judge a book before having read it. Besides she seemed plenty determined to take responsibility for them. She grins slightly, admiring Madoka's strong will. "We can still recover everyone's motivation power, please focus on wearing the Layabout down!", she asks them urgently.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Keaka is surprised the bow breaks that easily, then sees it can also easily be replaced. Good to know. "Your dreams? But you have to stop them from being bad? What does that even mean... that they're doing what you're too afraid to, to achieve your dreams? Sunbreaker achieved more than any of us! She almost achieved her dream. She mattered.."

    "Ow!" She does NOT expect the bows to hit as hard as they do in melee, sending her reeling back before she gets her feet under her again. She glances Laura's way. "Lady, that's how the world works, not some monster. Most people don't get to realize their dreams and ambitions. If you think that's wrong, join the club. If anything shouldn't you be glad they're making another world?"

    She shouts back to the Meaniedokas, "Hey! In Paradise X, do people get to realize their dreams?" When Gretchen says yes, she nods towards Laura, "There, see?"

    So I'm going to do what seems right to me, even if everyone else tells me it's wrong! "Lemme tell you: Not doing that will never make your dreams come true. Wish I'd had the courage to do that sooner, mys--" SPLOOSH

    She isn't just sent reeling, she's shoved right into a nearby ride. "The hell... your gun shoots 'water?!'" She holds her gauntleted hand out towards him. "Barret burst fire." It fires a burst of energy bullets while Keaka gets to her feet and tries to put a ticket booth or something between her and Madoka.

    "Were you not listening? Life is terrible and sucks! There's no winning move if you only do what the high and mighty allow. Convenient for you how you have other options, but dark energy is all we get... and so dark energy must be evil, hmm?"

    "Use your power to make a world where we have the choice to make our dreams come true, then." And she fires another energy bullet at him for emphasis.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The Meaniedokas look through the portal as Laura shows them the sad image of tired, lazy fairies. The three huddle together and chitter amongst each other as they discuss the info they've just received.

    Tia whispers, "Maybe the Layabout is a bad idea. Stealing dreams means that it could easily turn upon us, too."

    Rens conspires, "Yet it would be a shame to waste all that energy by letting her reclaim it."

    Gretchen asks, "Would that energy even work for us? It might actually be bad for our Labyrinth. It'd be different if we could infuse it with Madoka to give her motivation."

    Rens shakes her head. "Sadly, it doesn't work that way. Stealing other people's dream power doesn't necessarily mean you can transfer it to someone else. I'm not sure we can really use it to create our paradise, either."

    Gretchen whines, "It's kinda hard to maintain our bad girl reputation like this. We keep letting the heroes have their way." After a sigh, she says, "Being a mega powerful villain is a lot more hassle than I thought."

    The three of them break their huddle, and then turn their attention back to Laura. Gretchen says, "The Witch of Delays or whoever isn't getting this energy. We are! The fate of this world wont matter when we get to move to X-Paradise!" Then, looking down at the Tea Cup Layabout, she points her fingers at the rolling youma. She hesitates for a moment, still not convinced that she should just let this opportunity pass. Eventually, she relents. "... but we don't need that kind of energy. We need something better."

    The three of them start flying higher into the air, away from the fighting. The sugar cubes and dancing spoons turn and fly after them, holding a defensive fortification. Gretchen watches as Keaka fights the heroes below, and the Labyrinth-like Barrier remains in effect.

    As for the rolling tea cups, Hope and Pulp manage to dodge and evade them long enough for them to crash into one another, forming a pile. One after another they start stacking together, forming a tall tower of tea cups! They each turn so that their angry eyes line up, staring at Pulp Noir and Hope Blossom. Launching themselves into the air, they try to land upon Hope Blossom, only for her to yelp as she narrowly avoids the attack. While she's recovering, they leap into the air and try to land on Pulp next, destroying the Labyrinth's concrete ground with each impact.

    Hope recovers enough to unleash a torrent of arrows at the tea cup tower, causing them to stumble and struggle to maintain balance against the force of each impact.

    "Gretchen," pleas Madoka. "Stop doing bad things!"

    The dark fairy responds, "I don't wanna!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
That dark soldier over there is quick at irking Laura. "I said so already! What does it matter that dreams become true if nobody has the ability to enjoy them?" she furrows her brow, even if she figures that Clarthas is one of those types so full of dark energy that they can't really see anything else. "You people have to stopped before you ruin everyone's dreams!"

"You are not listening, there are lots of beautiful things in life and they are really precious. I have found lots of amazing things that I didn't know about, and I want to defend them! Everyone I have known and everything I have experienced is important to me. I will help protect both this world, become Queen and restore Grand Ocean to what it was!" she declares with unshakeable convinction.

She is actually displeased at hearing that the trio of fairies aren't going to see reason. "Kururun, you did well, please close the portal", she sighs, petting the fairy. "Kururun", she replies with a musical voice of both appreciation and encouragement. "You have it tough with those fairies", Laura says, flying closer to Hope Blossom. "You must be stressed all the time, worrying about their actions. Don't let it get to you, and I am inviting you to relax after this mess is over."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Laura shows a possible fate of the world, and the Meaniedokas get discouraged. Keaka is... kind of invested, from what little she's heard. Hearing the fairies start to fly off, she looks up and shouts: "You're the ones that are suffering! You're the ones that are unhappy! Can't you see how their only solution is to leave you suffering while they get what they want?! Convenient how you have to give up your dream for them, but they won't comprimise anything for you!"

    She looks back at the Layabout. "Grrrh... if you won't take the energy, I will! If you help, I'll trade it for a kind that works for you!"

    She kicks off from the side of a building, flying to wards the teacup tower. "Force Field." A translucent amber barrier forms around her, with which she tries to block some of the arrows. "Hey! If you love what's wrong with this world so much... you've got another opponent to worry about!"

    "Barret Burst Fire." Clarthas holds out her hand imperiously, and the forcefield disappears just as the gauntlet fires another spray of of Mid-Childan energy bullets at Hope Witch!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen turns to Laura and says, "Okay, but like... wouldn't it be a better world if there were more toys? Games? Free health care?"

    Tia adds, "If everyone had good manners and didn't say mean or rude things?"

    Rens chimes in, "If people would listen to logic and reason instead of relying upon prejudices and fear?"

    Hope Blossom shouts back, "Dark energy wont get you any of that! It's just a lie and you know it!"

    Gretchen retorts, "Who cares about the darkness and what it wants? I'm the Witch. I'm in charge. All I need to do is borrow its power. I can bend it to any end I wish!" Reaching out and clutching her hand, she declares, "I'm not putting up with this dumb world or these dummies who live in it anymore! People are only mean because they refuse to understand each other. Well, I'll make them understand! I'll make them see!"

    Madoka watches as Keaka rushes to the defense of the Layabout, and her eyes widen with sincerity. "I don't, actually! I want to make the world better, too! I just..." She hesitates. What. She doesn't think that she can? Is she just going to say that in front of Gretchen? No, she can't even bring herself to think that. Feeling helpless is what caused this problem. "... I just think there's a better way!"

    Her ability to articulate a response is cut off by Keaka's sudden Barret Burst Fire. She dives behind the cover of Gretchen's Labyrinth, hiding behind terrain that is a bit stronger than it should be. Up above, Gretchen is watching Madoka with worry.

    The Tea Cup Ride Layabout shouts, "Layabout!" as it leaps into the air, over its new protector. Seeing her chance, Hope Blossom quickly nocks and arrow and it charges way too quickly as she leaps out of cover. Suddenly the tip of her bow is enflamed with pink, the bolt is huge and it flies fast. It impacts one of the middle teacups and blasts a hole right through it. Destabilizing the tower and causing it all to tumble down. Hope clutches her pearlescent lock-shaped locket and announces, "Now's my chance--!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Great job, Blossom!", Laura smiles at the other pinkette, jumping out of the Aqua Pot with Kururun and taking again human form. "Ok! Now it's my turn to help! Thank you for taking care of things." Grasping the Mermaid Aqua Pot, she declares "Mermaid Aqua Pot, search!" before pressing the shell button on top it.

On the bottle's screen an image of the youma shows up, a small white light searching on it, before locking onto one of the cups' handle, and expanding with a big green heart inside with two arms ending in smaller hearts instead of hands. "It's green! Motivation power, comes back!", Laura shouts, pressing the same button twice, a rainbow outline of a conch appearing into the air and entering the heart.

It is then the green heart is set ablaze with rainbow flames and a rainbow stream of light rushes out of the Layabout and into the Aqua Pot. "Ok, I am all done here!", Laura smiles and gives Hope Blossom a thumbs up. "You can go ahead and cleanse it!"

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Free health care? "Wait, you don't have that? This planet is backwater..." Keaka mumbles.

    Wouldn't it be a better world if people would listen to logic and reason instead of prejudice and fear? "RIGHT?!" Keaka shouts in agreement, having... history with that issue.

    Madoka's words about wanting to make things better do get a look of sympathy from the Dark General. But as she flies around that cover--

    The energy is taken back, just like that?! Surprise flashes on her face, then anger. Does no one get anything from this fight?! A psychological attack it is, then.

    She lands, and glares at Hope Witch. "...Then what's the better way? Do it, Hero, show us." She holds a hand out towards the meaniedokas. "Your fairies are tired of waiting for you to save them. Fix the world. Or don't. It will be easy to forget about them, when you've saved so many others."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen watches with narrow eyes as the gathered energy leaves the Layabout and goes into the Aqua Pot. This is a bust.

    Hope turns to Keaka and says, "I could never forget about them! Each one of those Chara are precious to me. No matter what, I won't give up on them." Pressing the advantage against the youma, Hope Blossom makes a heart shape with her hands. "Negative Heart: Lock On!" As the Layabout is trapped within her heart-shape beams, she shouts, "Open Heart!" and floods it with rainbow energy. The youma turns back into a set of tea cup ride seats, all derailed and fallen into a pile.

    Tia is sad. "A shame. I actually liked that ride."

    Rens says, "It was an amusing piece of engineering, at least."

    Gretchen, not wanting to be the reason why her X-sisters are having less fun, exerts her power over the broken tea cup ride. The pieces of it are covered in black opalescent energy as they float back into place. The broken parts are mended and machinery is reattached. A pair of eldritch many-eyed Familiars run a few tests on it to make sure that it is up to code. "They're probably gonna have to shut down the ride anyways," she explains, "but it'll come back faster if it's less broken."

    The Labyrinth fades from around them, and the civilians return. Madoka looks up to Gretchen and asks again, "Please, come home! Forget about all of this. We can work things out. We can talk. Rens, Tia, I haven't even had a chance to have a real conversation with you. I'm worried sick about you. Please!"

    Gretchen floats down to Madoka's eye level and approaches, looking at her face to face. "No. We're not coming home because you don't want us. You're afraid of failure, and afraid of not being good enough. That's the only reason you don't want to let us go. You aren't going to stop letting us down. You just don't want to admit that you already have."

    Madoka steps forward, hesitantly reaching out to Gretchen, who is now emitting an increasingly dangerous aura of darkness. "I don't know how to make things better. Tell me what you want me to do!"

    Gretchen tilts her head. "What should you do?" She looks down at Madoka's hand, and then grabs her Bearer's finger. "Give me your energy!"

    The drain happens, and Madoka doesn't fight it. For a moment Gretchen is covered with sparkling rainbow magic, but it soon turns dark as her Chara Bearer drops to one knee. Hope Blossom pleads, "Please... don't do bad things anymore."

    Gretchen shakes her head. "I'm doing a good thing! You just don't see it yet!" She glances at Keaka and shouts, "We're out! There's nothing left to win here." A portal opens behind her and she flies through. Soon after, Tia and Rens join her and the three of them vanish.

    Hope Blossom is left on her knees, worried and tired. She slowly gets back up to her feet, and looks over at Keaka, wondering what her plan is.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"That's rich coming from the people who are cooperating with the power that took away all those things from Grand Ocean!", Laura frowns at the Meaniedokas and Clarthas. "For all your big talk, you don't seem really concerned about all the people you trample on your way to this supposedly perfect world."

With the Layabout defeated, the motivation power bursts out of the Aqua Pot and returns to the people it was stolen from. That is a problem solved, but Laura feels herself getting angry as another one is presented to her. "Leave Hope Blossom alone, all of you. Is that really why you three are against her so much? Because she is afraid of failure? I'd rather be someone who is like that but does her best than someone who thinks only they have the solution and make things worse for others."

She feels herself freezing when Hope Blossom reaches for Gretchen, the spike of dark energy making her really worried. "No, stay away from her!", Laura yells, unsure of who she is saying that to. She rushes worried towards Madoka after getting back into the Aqua Pot and coming back out with Grand Ocean food. "Please, eat it! They should help you feel a bit better", she says, not really approving of her pushing herself to stand so soon.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Laura has a lot to say. The Dark General turns to look at her. "Easy for you to say. No power to fight means never 'trampling' anyone. What's holding you back from fighting? No one took your dreams or Motivation Power." She waves a hand to indicate the civilians. "It's the same with them. Most of them will never achieve their dreams, regardless of their motivation power..."

    She walks towards Laura. "But that's not your problem. You showed up to help fight the bad guys!" She clasps her hands together and gives a big fake smile. "So heroic! The day is saved!"

    Because Hope Witch is afraid? "That's not why, fool. It feels great to finally stop being afraid and live... And then you'll be crushed, because you had your fear for a reason. You won't magically get the power to win anyway unless you're..."

    Keaka clenches her fists. "...Special, I guess. No one can blame you for not being special. They're mad because they're suffering, and beating up bad guys didn't fix it."

    She turns and watches Gretchen and Madoka. Surprised, to see Madoka allows the energy drain.

    And so the weakened hero looks at her, worried and tired and concerned.

    ...Honestly she never really expected to be in such a position.

    Laura offers food. "Chocolate's probably good for this sort of thing." She suggests to Laura, then looks to Madoka appraisingly. "...I gotta hand it to you, Hero. All of you say you want to help, but what most really mean is you'll help only if it's done your way. This time, you backed up your words with action."

    "...Maybe you can be a better hero then most."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom looks at the food that Laura offers her and an unbidden thought crosses her mind. 'Is this purifying food? Would in hurt Gretchen if I ate it?'

    Then, a moment later, '... Gretchen isn't merged with me right now. She's not even here.'

    The sad thought passes and Madoka accepts the food. "Thank you." Eating it as best as she can with one hand, the food lets her stand a little bit more steadily. Then Hope takes a step forward to interpose herself between Laura and Keaka, thinking to protect the potential potentate. "Stay close behind me. I can take a little more than that."

    Keaka speaks, and Hope Blossom listens, hoping that the fight wont continue but also wanting to make sure that she can escape with Laura if necessary. "I gave her my energy... because I know what kind of creature she is, and I accept her regardless. Even if it's not... in the way that she would like." She shakes her head. "I don't care about being a better hero than anyone. I just want my X-Chara to come home. Maybe this is my fault, and maybe I've been lax... but even with this disaster things are so much better than they could otherwise be."

    With determination, despite being disadvantaged and still a bit drained, Madoka stands defiantly in front of Keaka. She's not going to attack if Keaka doesn't, but she doesn't want to just leave with all these people around.

    Speaking of the nearby civilians, a lot of them are starting to wake back up or regain their pep. They seem to be unaware of the drama happening in front of them, or else they seem to think it's some kind of show. A part of the Dream Kingdom experience.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"I survived my home being attacked, so don't talk to me about people not trying to steal my motivation power. Chongire has been trying again too, but you don't see me being drained", Laura grits her teeth, really disliking Clarthas the more and more she speaks.

"What would you have done in my place then?", Laura quips back at the fake praise from Clarthas. "I can guess it. You would have stayed back because it's pointless, the world is a big, dark, scary place, and saving some people you don't deem important is not the way, right? I may not have magic, but the magic you have, anyone would do better without. You lost your motivation long ago. You just haven't realised it."

She looks at Hope Blossom, concerned that she might have rejected it had Gretchen been involved. "It's not purifying food, no, just delicious food the Mermaid Queen sends me over. She is really thoughtful like that", she tells the other pinkette. "The Aqua Pot is really fast. It might be a close call, but we can still get out of here", she whispers in Madoka's ear, standing behind her as the heroine has instructed. "Or we can seek refuge in Grand Ocean."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Madoka kind of... undermines Keaka's compliment. She sighs. "Well, it's a start."

    It feels... so weird, to see a hero trying to protect the civilian(?) from her for once. But, that's part of being a villain, isn't it?

    She looks at Laura and crosses her arms. "In your place? When I was a hero? ...Probably the same. Rush in, fight the bad guy, feel bad I don't know how to fix the bigger problems. Maybe offer them energy after this talk, as she did."

    "...As a civilian?" She shakes her head. "I don't know. You could get some guns and body armor and help out. Me, I trained my whole life to be a hero. I sacrificed everything for a dream that..." her eyes start to water, and she sniffs.

    "Now? I did what I do. Work towards a better world... And if you love this one enough to stop me, then I guess you can keep it."

    Lost her motivation power long ago? She smirks. "Oh, you wound me! A sharp tongue, desperately lashing out because you can't stop someone more powerful than you." She nods and sighs. "I've been there. It sucks to feel powerless. Kind of the whole point of why we're doing something about it."

    She glances between them, and lifts one hand from her crossed arms, elbow resting on her other hand, palm up. "Anything else for philosophy discussion hour? Or shall I take my leave so you can stop feeling nervous that I'm gonna do something?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka considers Laura's offer, but she can't take it. She's run across Keaka before, but doesn't know what Keaka is capable of. She could range anywhere from Sunbreaker to Beryl on the absolute jerk meter and Hope wouldn't really know. If she leaves after a short philosophical discussion, then...

    Hope Witch shakes her head at Laura. "I can't, but... if she tries something, maybe you should."

    Madoka has no intention of dying here. Not when doing so means that seven minidokas would fade along with her. Yet she's never been good at hiding her emotions and her worry is plain on her face.

    "I don't have much else to say, sorry," says Madoka. "Please, leave us in peace!"

    She's still tired, but she's bracing herself just in case Keaka is anything less than sincere.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"The Aqua Pot is more important than some brutal guns and armor. Besides, I am 13. Who do you think is going to give me some, or teach me how to use them? Don't reply with something illegal, I am not here to hear that", she shuts that possible reply down prehemptively.

"That wasn't me lashing out", Laura shakes her head at Clarthas either misunderstanding things or misrepresenting them. "And if you really were a hero once, I am sorry you got disillusioned. I hope you can find your motivation again one day." As much as she dislikes her, she is actually sort of... pitying her too?

Though, she has no intention to leave Hope Blossom behind. Maybe if she weren't tired and could make it out of here, but with things as they are she is gonna stay here. She wants to resort to those if the situation presents itself. "Let everyone rest, everything is over."

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    13? Keaka scoffs. "I've known younger Agents trained to fight. 'Illegal'? Well if this world's authorities know better than you, why aren't they protecting you?" She looks around, as if JSDF soldiers are going to turn up.

    Find her motivation again one day? Keaka gives a short, sharp chuckle. "I did! After being so afraid to do whatever powerful people didn't want, here I finally am! Though it mean standing against heroes, or Obsidian, or the whole world! Succeed or fail, at least I'll know I finally stopped being afraid and took a stand." She grins.

    To Madoka, she nods. "Reasonable enough." She bows. "May all of us have a chance to achieve our dreams... Were there justice in this world, we deserve it."

    And she disappears into the Dusk Zone.