1990/Bringing Down the Beat

Bringing Down the Beat
Date of Scene:	06 October 2024
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	After some world-shaking personal news hits home for Chiyo, things take a turn for the destructive when Hawkmoth uses her turmoil and rage to create the Akuma IDOL BREAKER. Stellar takes a hit, but Yellow Pearl Voice, Ginga Otome, Puella Red, and Kuiper Belt Cape are on the scene and ready to bring their friend back to her senses.
Cast of Characters:	Gabriel Agreste, Chiyo Sakai, Kyouka Inai, Taro Yamada, Coco Kiumi, Amanda Faust, Wako Agemaki

---

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Another day, another attempt to steal the Miraculous! Truly, Hawkmoth - for he is transformed, pacing in his lair, butterflies flitting through the air - does get the feeling of being akin to a Saturday morning cartoon character, at times. Why else would their be so many foolish teenagers, ever seeking to spite his plans?

"Those spoiled children, quick to call themselves heroes, quick to meddle where they aren't wanted - I need those Miraculous. It is the only way for things to be as they should!" At the last word, Hawkmoth turns sharply, moving for a brightly lit corner of his lair, where a glass coffin-like device stands, a woman sleeping inside. "Emilie... as soon as I have the Miraculous, you'll be with us again. You, me, and Adrien - we'll be a family."

A white butterfly - better known as a kamiko, yet to be corrupted by his dark power - lands on the glass above Emilie's face and Hawkmoth's lip curls back in a snarl as he pulls himself away. Wretched thing... but at least, his sour mood can be put to use. Transmitting his thoughts through the city, he searches for someone as furious and miserable as he. They will be his next target...

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
It was as normal a day as it ever was for Chiyo. No monsters, no heart stealer rifles, no work. Just a Sunday before the school week. The mall was the place to be. She'd dragged Taro with her to get some Winter clothes that didn't make him look like he was a hoodlum or grandfather in disguise, as well as something cute for herself.

With that plan in mind she exits a store starting to walk for the next with just a few bags already in hand.

"I think the next store we should hit is-" she begins as she's passing by the popular music store only to pause. The television screens that were up in the window playing 'entertainment news' had shifted to a snippet of an interview that had the headline splashed across the screen. She freezes where she walks to stare at the television watching the news unfold.

"We're here with exciting news from idol and actress Ayaka Saki!" The cheerful reporter informs before the camera pans to a rather beautiful woman who was smiling ear to ear.

"Thank you. I'm very happy to announce my engagement to my long-time co-star and friend of many years, Ichigo Tanaka. I'm so happy to finally be starting a family! It's been a dream of mine since I was a little girl-"

The interview continues. Chiyo doesn't hear it over the sound of her blood rushing to her head as her heart thumps loudly. Her stomach had fallen out from her, and the world around went hazy as she grinds her teeth so hard that they squeak audibly. All she manages to get out is a harsh whisper of, "Liar."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka didn't come to the mall that often- not out of a fear of crowds or anything, but more just that she isn't the sort of person to enjoy shopping unless it was for something necessary. She tends to get in and get out with what she needed, rather than viewing the act of shopping as a leisure activity.

    Still, there's always times when you need to go to the mall for something, and today just happens to be one of those times. She's walking down the center of the place, in her usual black-and-red with leather jacket and shades, looking fairly unobtrusive. Clearly not on any sort of business.

    Grey eyes wander the crowds of people with absent interest. She actually notices Chiyo and Taro over by the music store as she wanders by, but she's across the way from them and sees no particular reason to interrupt their shopping. If either of them looks her way she'll offer a casual wave without stopping her progress.

    Unless of course, something should happen.

Taro Yamada has posed:
It was not a normal day for Taro. It was a wonderful day. No monsters, no heart stealing guns, no jobs, just running around with one of his best friends and doing things like a normal human person. They'd even found him some clothing that lookedl ike something a modern teen would wear! Which felt a little weird to see, having such nice clothes on him and in the bag, something they'd wear on tv...

Oh! On TV!

There's a movie star he doesn't know - he hasn't really been to any new movies in a decade - and she's interviewing, and she looks really nice and her hair is pretty and she -

"She looks like you," Taro idly notices, because he has eyes and it's kind of neat when people look like celebrities, and he looks over at Chiyo and -

Liar? Liar??

He reaches out to her gingerly. "Chiyo, are you ok? Do we hate her?"
F We, beccause clearly if Chiyo hates someone, it will be a group effort and he will be helping.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"So, Hippo, were you saying something you had seen there somewhere around here", Coco walks, with her interlocutor having assumed a human guise today, a blonde boy with green hair wearing a sailor's outfit, a red kerchief and a boater's hat.

"Yes, I figured a mall would be the perfect thing to find something, and they are really cute", Hippo blushes, holding tight in his hands the fruit of his work. He really wanted to earn the money for this gift himself, and he is almost protectively shielding it from the world.

"Buying them shouldn't take long, and then we can start enacting my plan", Coco winks at the boy. She is quite confident in her plans when it comes to Hippo. Her gaze falls for a moment towards Chiyo and Taro. "Hey, I am just going to say to someone very quickly, Hippo. I saw some schoolmates", she tells him quickly, before going towards Chiyo and Taro.

"Hey, Chiyo-san, Taro-san, going window shopping?" the blonde girl asks with a smile to the two of them, while Hippo walks up behind Coco. "Is everything all right?", Coco asks at the overhanging atmosphere with furrowed eyebrows.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Sunday. Wide open day, no school. Maybe Amy could... go look for clothes? Schedules keep not lining up for another group shopping trip, so maybe she should just go by herself. She can handle it, maybe, kind of! She'll just do whatever it is normal people normally do when they're not just looking to find a pair of cargo pants that fit because the last pair got a hole in it and then GTFO.

    She's not that clueless. She just has to also take the role of the person going 'ooh that might look nice have you looked at this?' by using what fashion sense she has. Straightforward! Ish! Even if she won't spot as many potential fits as those more experienced.

    She's reviewing one of the YOU ARE HERE maps to find where all the clothing stores are besides the one Usagi showed her, when an unusually tall boy enters her peripheral vision. For an instant, she wonders if maybe Usagi and Chiba-san or his friends are here, she could go say hi.

    And then she sees its... it kinda looks like Taro, but he never wears clothes like that. Wait, is that Chiyo? Wait, it IS Taro maybe? Amy smiles and starts to wave, and then hears Coco too and runs over, "Heeey! Hey guys! Fancy running into you all here!"

    "I don't think it's window shopping," Amanda notes to Coco, nodding towards the bags already being carried.

    And then she sees Taro looking at Chiyo with such concern... "Hey, are things okay? That outfit looks good on you, Taro," she interjects quickly, not wanting to never get around to saying anything about it at all because of whatever's going on with a cute girl again, but then she does focus on Chiyo with concern. "Sakai-san, um... are you okay?""

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Rage. Anguish. A sense of utter and complete betrayal - yes! Yes, this is exactly what he was looking for!

"Fly, my akuma! Fly now to that girl!" At Hawkmoth's command, one of the white butterfly constructs takes off into the air, transformed from pure white to a deep purple and escapes through the open observation deck of The Crypt.

The akuma flies faster than any butterfly should, zipping through the air and making it into the mall without trouble. Those around Chiyo are ignored, as the dark purple butterfly around the back of her, sinking into one of the shopping bags in her hand. How convenient, that it was already a deep blue - the shift to deep purple might go unnoticed.

As the bag changes, a connection is crafted between Chiyo and Hawkmoth, and his voice speaks into her mind.

'She really is quite the liar, isn't she?' Hawkmoth asks, seeing the cause of Chiyo's rage through her own memory. 'Acting as if she's excited to have a family, when she already has one. What kind of mother does that? Leaves her only child, and then lies about her existence to the world? But what can you expect from someone as shallow as an idol? All they want is attention, the eyes of the world on them.'

There is a vague swell of discomfort, deep within him, as he analyzes this woman's neglectful parenting, but he pushes it aside. It's not important. It's not critical, not like this.

'I can offer you power - the power to act on your anger, on your regret. She's found it so easy to ignore you all these years - but no more. You should make yourself known! You should crush their dreams, the way she tried to crush you, hiding you away like a mistake!'

Hawkmoth's voice echoes through the Crypt, inflamed with anger. 'All you have to do is find Ladybug and Chat Noir, take their Miraculous, and the power I give you will last forever. Your mother can't ignore you then. What do you say?'

The power of an akuma is difficult to resist, striking as it does in the depths of despair and the fires of rage, and he's sure that this girl, with so much buried temper, will take him up on the offer.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Looks like her? Chiyo lets out a chuff of laughter. It's... It's not entirely right, that laugh, more a scoff or sound of outright indignation at the very SUGGESTION---It was true though. Though her mother had long ago straightened out her hair to avoid the curls her family was known for, the shape of her face, the color of her eyes, it was all so very similar. And Chiyo seethes for the fact that she resembles this woman even in the least.

As the others approach and question her, causing her to blink rapidly as she finds herself fighting with the concern of her friends amidst the betrayal, anger, rage, hate, HURT she felt at being ignored and abandoned.... To Taro and anyone else close enough to hear she bites out, "That-That WOMAN is *my mother* and now she's *starting a family*?!"

The Akuma lands on the bag. It's not her friends voices she ends up hearing whispering into her head after she shares this important revelation to those within ear shot. It was rare she admitted to being related to Ayaka Saki (a small shift in last name due to her career), but this was an exception. Now even Hawkmoth knew.

The anguish she felt. All those years of being ignored, tossed the most inappropriate gifts by random people when her mother deigned to remember her birthday, or other holidays (she was QUITE sure it was some stupid assistant that actually bought them as awful as they were), and now this? THIS?

"I don't know them," comes her response to Hawkmoth as to who this 'Cat Noir' and 'Ladybug' were, but that didn't matter. "Yes. I want to hurt her... She DESERVES to be hurt! She's an awful parent who hasn't spent any time with me--Ever! All she cares about is her JOB and her IMAGE! She's the most self-centered, irresponsible, pathetic...! LET ME HURT HER!"

Well she had agreed. Even if she hadn't outright said she would GET the miraculouses. A trifle. A side job. She agreed to the terms, and as such her form visibly shifts. Not a henshin as the others might have known her to do when she had her powers but a change none the less.

Taller, darker, her hair drawn back away from her face and a mask splashing over her eyes. Lipstick as red as the richest blood and teeth that were meant to rend, and tear. The bag shifts from merely a bag into a weapon she was used to: A large hammer. Not the mochi hammer but an honest-to-goodness war hammer with a heavy head and spike on the other end meant for stabbing.

Her eyes finally focus sweeping around those that had gathered near her in concern with a look of outright rage. "I am Idol Breaker, and I will PUNISH those that ignore their responsibilities in favor of fame and frivolity!"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka is several yards away when this transformation comes over Chiyo, her back turned, walking away from the group of teens but still more than close enough to sense the sudden charge of magical energy, a type she isn't familiar with. She pauses, brows drawing together, as she tilts her head and draws in a breath, as if scenting the air- a subtle motion that conveys to her the sudden surge of power happening behind her.

    It's not Dark Energy, she's sure of that, but it doesn't exactly seem positive either. Regardless, something is happening back there, and she turns around abruptly, nearly running into an old lady who had been walking behind her. A hurried rush of apology follows, but being unsure of what exactly is going on, she doesn't henshin quite yet.

    She can't see the group of kids clearly through the crowd of midday mallgoers, and so attempts to get closer to figure out exactly what the heck is going on.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Well. Shit.

This is definitely some magic bullshit going on. And even more definitely, magic bullshit. And as much as Taro cares about Chiyo and would commit acts of excessive violence for her if she asked (please ask him), he does think he knows her well enough to know that she'd be upset if she woke up having smashed her terrible mother into a puddle of strawberry goo. There were other, less fatal ways to deal with bad parents!

Uh. He's not sure if he can SAY that. He hasno idea what exactly Chiyo's turned into or if commentary would be a good idea. They'd both be upset if she smashed him into strawberry goo!!

Ok. Plan C. "It sounds like your mom IS the worst," Taro agrees, taking a cautious step back. "Do you need a ride to whatever hack TV station she's at? Or is this more a smash the TVs to shut her up situation?"

OR, perhaps, a where can he snatch a moment to duck into a corner and henshin away from this crowd of normal ass people moment? Please?

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"--Chiyo-chan?"

Wako certainly picked a moment to step out of the music store. Chiyo's outburst has her stopping short just past the entrance to the shop, even before her transformation. When her roommate's appearance changes before Wako's eyes, though, her reaction is immediate and without a second thought. "Oh," she says, eyes wide, "that's not good. Apprivoiser!"

Right there in front of the entire mall (or at least this section of it) she's silhouetted in glittering pink light. In a scant few moments, the white and gold of her military-style uniform replaces her street clothes, and the Galactic Maiden stands where Wako Agemaki just stood. Moving quickly, she brings her hands up, shaping the beginnings of a barrier between her fingers. "Zero Time!"

With something like a rush of air, the barrier rushes out, and the shoppers and bystanders who've stopped to look at the shouting girl vanish as the entire area shunts off into otherdimensional space. Given Idol Breaker's wrath - and that hammer - it's probably not a second too soon.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Oh, haha, you are right", Coco replies Amy. She definitely missed them in her haste to come over. "I am here with Hippo to buy things too", she nods in the body's direction. "You have already met him", she adds clearing any potential interference of the Veil with his recognition.

Her mother? Coco looks briefly at the tv behind Chiyo and then back again at her, her voice swelling with all those negative emotions. A wince appears on the blonde girl's face briefly when Chiyo into the painful details of what is going on here. "That's something terrible she is doing you", she acknowledges.

The mermaid is about to suggest they walk away from here and vent her feelings somewhere she doesn't have to look at that TV service when Hawkmoth's butterfly contaminates Chiyo with dark energy.

An akumatization is not unfamiliar to Coco, and she looks around with a glare if this infamous Hawkmoth is going to show himself today. "No, then", she says under her breath.

"Coco, how did this happen?" Hippo asks her as he takes a step back from the scene. "I will explain later. For now... Yellow Pearl Voice!" she declares, the pearl in her shell locket responding to her and starting to shine with a yellow light.

A kaleidoscope of colours covers Coco's clothes as those change into her yellow gloves and boots with flowy extensions, as well as a yellow blouse with a yellow skirt, while her pearl expands into her trusty E-Pitch microphone, its blue shape settling comfily into her hand, the yellow jewel nestled safely in the head's center.

"Chiyo-san, can you hear me? Please, try not to let Hawkmoth manipulate you. We are here to help", she reminds gently while the Live Stage appears around the magical Idol, making her float slightly off the floor. "Legend of Mermaid: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"", Coco announces, starting to sing a purifying melody that tries to reach Chiyo with a wave of calming feelings.

The melody of the oceans starts narrating about the nostalgic song of a faraway world, and a promise to always be connected as long as the paradise of the seven seas is remembered, the fantasy of a night where stars like pearls release a wondrous light and give everyone a shining future.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Chiyo's... mother?

    Chiyo's mother abandoned her and is now a famous idol who's starting a new family? Yikes. When did this happen?

    Amy very briefly imagines the somewhat-sympathetic scenario of a scared teen terrified she can't raise a kid, and then being too ashamed to reconnect with her later-- But that doesn't add up: It doesn't sound like Chiyo was given up for adoption, she knows this woman, her mother left in childhood. Amy can't imagine how that feels. Which she would think was weird because she imagined the other thing, but no time for that Chiyo is turning into a monster!

    Or... not a monster, exactly? Like, Sakai-san, Dark Adult Hell-Hath-No-Fury-Etc Version.

    Amanda looks up at her. "Well, uh. There aren't actually any idols here, I don't think, unless he gave you the power to go through TV screens. ...Did he?" Amy is far from certain that that's not a thing.

    Taro comments, and Amy points a thumb his way, "Oh, oh oh is that it, more of a smash the TVs than smash the idol thing? I... like I guess that makes sense..." It would be nice to have no people actually in danger as the target of akuma-Chiyo's ire.

    Still, she holds her hand up to her mouth to not-very-discreetly aside in a stage whisper, "Does anyone have a barrier?"

    Oh there's Zero Time, cool.

    She holds up her hands in a 'woah, slow down' gesture. "Yeah, calm down and let's talk. Revenge is best served cold, right? You should, uh, calm down and plan the best way to get revenge on your mom." Is... is she less susceptible to dark energy if she's calm? Amy hopes so!

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
The girl hasn't promised to get the Miraculous, which is a problem... but one that can be solved later, when his latest minion isn't surrounded by yet more obnoxious teen heroes.

'They are a pair of obnoxious meddlers. Much like this group of obnoxious meddlers... they don't even seem to respect you. This isn't a manipulation, it's a deal! Power in exchange for power. You want revenge on your mother, and the fools like her. I want the Miraculous. Where's the manipulation in that?"

Really, if one discounted the fact that his akuma enhanced negative emotions, it could almost be considered a perfectly legitimate trade.

Almost.

'As long as the girl has you trapped in this starry dimension, you'll never be able to confront your mother.'

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Idol Breaker reaches down with one hand to pat atop Taro's head in the most dismissive of manners. It's not that she doesn't like him, he was her friend, but right now she did not want consoling words. Not when there was a woman right over there chattering away on her phone, holding it out in front of her to record herself while her son was struggling along behind her trying to stop to tie his shoe, not finishing, and then having to chase after her before she got too far away.

A perfect target to start with. "I'm going to the television station and I'm going to air out all her dirty laundry! But not before I take care of THIS waste of space!" She declares.

The hammer is brought back to literally THROW out toward the woman not paying a lick of attention to anything. It whips through the air only to... Not find a target as Ginga Otome uses Zero Time to phase out the civilians. Instead it goes past heading for Kyouka who could likely NOW see what was going on.

"The time for TALK has long since passed! She had EVERY opportunity! And---NO! NO, NOT ZERO TIME!" Her rage turns into a bellowing wail as she recognizes EXACTLY what was going on.

Odd that. Maybe Hawkmoth wouldn't realize she was a bit more informed about what was going on-- "Yes I'm *aware* how barriers work! I don't know who Ladybug and Cat Noir are so I don't care about them, I'll get your stupid miraculouses! AFTER I take my revenge!" Unless they get in her way.

Coco's sudden stage appearance only seems to incense her further as she gnashes her teeth. Her hand raises to call her hammer back while glaring at the singer, "SHUT UP! SINGING IS USELESS!"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka was still making her way towards the group through the crowd when, quite suddenly, everyone vanished. Well, not everyone- everyone non-magical. This, in and of itself, doesn't take her by surprise. She's more than used to seeing both Device Mage Barriers and Zero Time take effect, and so when the woman in front of her suddenly seems to wink out of existence, she isn't terribly startled.

    What does startle her, however, is the hammer flying towards her that she could not see coming due to the woman who had (previously) been in the way.

    Her reflexes are keen, and even before she truly processes what she is seeing, her arm snaps up in front of her to block the projectile. The problem, of course, is that she hasn't henshined yet. A moment ago she was not sure this was a combat situation.

    The hammer strikes her upraised forearm hard, hard enough to rebound off and send her sprawling onto the floor with a grunted curse, half-tumbling back away from the group through the now much-emptier mall. She isn't down long, rolling and springing back to her feet in a matter of seconds, a flash of golden light enveloping her as she finally does activate her transformation.

    As she straightens though, the arm that blocked the hammer is held close to her side. That hurt like hell- might be fractured. It's certainly not currently usable for fighting. Unfortunately her henshin doesn't heal wounds, so it'll have to wait.

    Her eyes take in the transformed Chiyo and a moment later, find Wako, one of her trusted students. "The hell is going on?" She calls to the blonde girl who presumably is responsible for the people suddenly vanishing.

Taro Yamada has posed:
He's not sure if he's touched or insulted he's getting a head pat instead of an attack. Maybe both. Either way, the fact that Chiyo promptly ditches him to go commit atrocities on the singing golden girl from the doll show means he can duck behind a pillar and spin out as Kuiper Belt Cape: a tall and gaunt vampire in a tv-static pattern kimono and a ragged brown cloak, with long black hair and two long red knife-horns growing from his forehead.

He has no idea what Chiyo is. However, he DOES know what a Cat Noir is! He wishes he could remember how ADrien said to fight Hawkmoth's creatures -

Well, plan A, break that hammer so no one else becomes strawberry jelly! Plan B -

"Hey, is some weird French guy talking to you?" he calls out to Chiyo. "His name is Hawkmoth and he's a dirty liar who loves watching teenagers get beaten for a living! He moved here from France to try and run away from his Ladybug and Cat Noir because he's a chickenshit coward, and now that they're here, he's going to throw every problem at them he can while he hides in his little office in Obsidian and plays with his calculator!

"Your mom is a piece of work and we do need to annihilate her! However! Don't do it for Hawkmoth! I bet if he has kids, he visits once every three months, gives them a signed photograph in a frame he bought at the airport because he forgot a real gift, because that's the way he sends out monsters to fight people! Don't ruin your mother for that loser! Do it for you! You don't need the power of some bagguette-brained snail-sucking Eifful-obsessed paper pusher to get the revenge you deserve!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh. Oh shit that hammer was going for that mother ignoring her son before Zero Time stopped it. Sakai-san has lots of potential targets, not just idols. "If you smash her, that kid won't have a mom at all! Or if you turn her into a figurine or a banana or a card or whatever!" Although, it doesn't seem to have transformed Inai-sensei. That looked like it hurt. Right. Not everyone has magic to reduce the concern of bodily injury. Speaking of which--

    Amy touches her ring, and an ovoid of flame-colored light grows from her gem to surround her, enveloping her, lifting into the air with her unclothed silhouette curled up inside, long hair floating as if she's under water before the light cracks and shatters and Amy, now covered in flames as if from an explosion, snaps back, and the flames fade to leave her familiar outfit in place as she lands on her feet.

    If Hawkmoth can see through the butterflies, Amy hasn't realized it.

    Taro -- or rather, KUIPER BELT CAPE, is here as exposition, though! "...How do we know he's playing on his calculator? That's weirdly specific. Wait, he can see us?" She looks around as if for a camera, "/I/ have a TI-85, I bet that's two better'n you!" There aren't a lot of calculators someone would be playing games on.

    "Wait!" She holds out her hands towards Chiyouma in a stop! gesture. "You can't be sure Zero Time will go away if you defeat her! Maybe you'd just be trapping yourself here forever!"

    She may not have a plan, but delay and confuse until someone who knows more about Akuma comes up with one is... sort of a plan!

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Ginga Otome sees the hammer fly out, even as Zero Time takes hold, too focused on channeling Wawna's power into the barrier to act. For an instant, it seems like she managed it in time--

She hadn't realized Kyouka was there, either.

A yelp of sympathy escapes her as the hammer impacts, but at least Kyouka is tough enough that the hit doesn't make chunky salsa of her. Hissing out a breath, she launches herself into the air, a thin sphere of pale pink light glimmering into being around her.

Chiyo is still ranting, and Wako's pretty sure she's about to personally have a big, hammer-shaped problem, but at least she catches enough of the details to click the puzzle pieces into place. Ladybug. Cat Noir. Miraculous. "It's an akuma!" she calls out, answering Kyouka but projecting her voice for everyone to hear. "The real monster is possessing something of hers... we'll have to break it! Then we can purify." She's halfway to Stellar before it occurs to her that maybe bringing the big target closer to the injured teacher might be a bad idea. The Galactic Maiden throws a wild glance around her, from Yellow Pearl Voice to Amy to Taro... slightly incredulous at that last.

Then she's focusing on Idol Breaker again, shifting her hover in the air to try to keep any of the others out of the potential line of fire between them. "Don't worry about me, Red-chan," she says with as much confidence as she can muster. "My shields have held up to worse than this."

This is not exactly a plan, but it's what she's got in the moment.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Given how... basically any fight goes when dark energy gets involved, Coco is very glad Ginga Otome is here to use Zero Time, shooting her an appreciative smile, and that appreciation grows triple when the hammer misses the chattering woman that is suddenly not there.

The vitriolic glare Idol Breaker gives Yellow Pearl doesn't deter her from continuing her songs, though it does make Coco give her a look of understanding.

"No, they aren't, I know you might not like them much right now, and Hawkmoth is making it worse, but songs are for joy and peace. All this anger Hawkmoth must be making you feel, it's only making you hurt even more, Chiyo-san", the singer replies.

"Coco, be careful, she doesn't really look like she is messing around", Hippo warns her, though of course she doesn't. They very rarely do, even without her specific circumstances. "I will be careful", she replies in turn.

"I don't think Chiyo would want to annhilate anybody, even her mother", Coco notes to Taro at the emphatic speech he has given. Is this a case of wrong approach, and heart in the fight place? Whatever the case, she has a song to sing, and a friend to help.

Though even with one damage avoided, the hammer has still in it within itself to cause more than enough damage. And the target is Kyouka!? "Inai-sensei!", Coco floats over, looking at the nastiness of the hit. This definitely needs cares more specialised than what she is able to do. "Are you able to deal with it for now?" she asks the counselor. Still, there is something the can do. Resuming her song, the melody in her voice will start soothing and taking away the pain.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
What the hell is wrong with - well, that one doesn't seem to be a teenager, he seems to be some sort of ill-garbed transient, but still. What was wrong with people these days? And wait a minute, how did someone so apparently mature end up hanging about with a group of children anyway? Press F to doubt.

In the Crypt, Hawkmoth's teeth grind, but he says, in a remarkably even voice, 'The worst part is, everything he thinks he can say about me, is still better than what your mother has done for you. Has she ever visited you every three months?'

He sees Adrien far more often than once every three months. And he makes sure to get him gifts from his Amazon Wish List, because Gabriel is a modern parent, who is in tune with his child's life, thank you very much.

'You aren't ruining your mother for me. I've made it clear what I want - ruining your mother is something you would do for you. I would support you even if you didn't want to do it, Idol Breaker. But your friends can't even stand by you while you seek revenge for a lifetime of abandonment.'

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I need the power, for now," Idol Breaker states matter-of-fact as she clenches her hand around the hammer shaft raising it up again. It's pointed out toward Wako who seems to be the current center of her attention. "Lower the barrier and I'll leave to do what needs to be done! Or I'll break YOUR Idol dreams, too!"

She doesn't give much time for that to be accepted one way or another as she suddenly blinks out of sight.

Only to reappear in the air above Ginga Otome coming in fast with hammer swung overhead to smash down. A short-distance teleport. Not enough to get her to the tv station, or to get out of the barrier, but enough to make her path of attack a very questionable situation!

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka - now in henshin as Stellar - nods her head to Wako's shouted words. She's not particularly familiar with 'akuma', but has heard about them and trusts her students to know what they are talking about it. "That damn hammer screwed up my arm," She calls back, towards Wako but loud enough for anyone else to hear. "I'll support as best I can but you're in better shape than I am. If we need it, I can start calling in some help."

    Not that she doesn't trust the kids here to handle this, but lacking offensive capability at the best of times and now down an arm, it seems the most useful thing she can do unless she needs to jump in the way of a second hammer blow.

    Later she'll have to reflect on how many times she's managed to break or lose an arm in the course of these situations. Well, when one's main response to an incoming attack is to throw one's arm in the way, what should she expect.

    Coco floats over and asks after the injury, and Stellar glances up, nodding. "It hurts like hell but I'll live, don't worry about me." She responds.. though when the pain suddenly fades to a dull ache that's much easier to ignore, she gives the floating girl a grateful glance. "Thanks."

Taro Yamada has posed:
Welp. It seems like sending hawkmoth a pointed message did not have the reaction he had hoped. And deciding to keep that power is certainly valid; he'd done much the same when Jack had offered him power at a price. (...the price of living, but, you know! A price is a price!)

He can't teleport. It's doubtful he can keep up with her easily. But if she's attacking idols -

He stalks over to Amy and Coco. "Hi. Singer girl, I'm good now," he explains, raising a hand before he lowers his voice. "Can you two get her over here? I have an idea to get her."

And with that, he extends red blades from his palms and climbs the wall up, up, up - up high enough to not be visible with a ingle glance, high enough that if Chiyo comes in range, he can tackle her like an Australian magpie with a grudge and start breaking every object on her.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy raises a hand after Ginga Otome's explanation. "Question! As the girl whose weapon is explosives, will she be okay if we blow up this form a little or do we need to stick mainly to purification attacks?"

    Chiyo chooses to keep the power, but like, yeah, understandable, and she's currently mentally comprimised due to dark energy anyway.

    Amy hurries over to the Slasher, but... "How? There's already basically an idol here," she waves a hand at Coco, "and none of us are neglectful parents!"

    Amy comes up with a plan B. "Hey, Sakai-san! Think fast!" And Amy throws something right at her center of mass while turning and covering her ears and closing her eyes.

    If the Chiyouma catches it, or looks at it: It's a flashbang.

    BANG

    If she's blinded and deafened, she can be ambushed from ANY direction, right Taro?

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"I am glad it's working", Coco tells Stellar. "I will have to go", she adds, glancing curiously at the Slasher when he calls her over. The mermaid princess does as he says, bringing the Live Stage she is in over to him. "An idea? Yes, please let's hear it", she replies eagerly. She doesn't need much more than that to know that she is in.

When Idol Breaker threatens to break Ginga Otome's dreams, the blonde singer feels her irritation towards Hawkmoth mount even more for what he is making Chiyo say. She can't just say nothing in defense of a fellow idol, especially not a friend that's going to be in the same team as hers.

"Chiyo-san, your mother has nothing to do with Ginga Otome's dreams.", she speaks emphatically. "Her motivations are sincere, and she has nothing to do with anything your mother has done. Wake up! You would never want to do this. Hawkmoth is making you say what you would never say. I know you care about Otome's dreams."

She takes a deep breath. """Beautiful Wish: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" Intonating the song that spreads through the air and reduces her friends" fatigue, The mermaid princess sings of a dream she had while floating above the blue waves within the sea's cradle, an overflow of sadness from a loveless heart.

But from the fragments of a beautiful wish of the sea, feelings of wanting to be born embracing light blend into the sunset. The purifying melody that fights against the darkness is like a balm against fatigue, proclaiming loudly no tiredness or melancholy exist here, only refreshment and joy.

A name is sweetly spoken out, reassuring of a wish that has been known. Some day, the source of all fights and sadness will all vanish. That day will come, with a singular love, she knows... in the blue sea...

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"I don't think purification will do much until we break whatever the butterfly thing is hiding in," Wako answers Amy. "You're probably the best equipped out of all of us touwagh!!" The words break off in a squawk as Idol Breaker comes down from above, the hammer slamming full-force onto Ginga Otome's shield bubble and smashing her shield and all into the floor. There's an ominous crunch of breakage as the floor crumples under the impact, leaving an indentation.

At least the shield held up, though it certaintly rattled Wako around some inside the bubble of light.

"...geez, Chiyo-chan, you hit like a truck." Righting herself to float once more in the air, the Galactic Maiden rubs at her head. "It's fine. You have a right to be mad! But I'm pretty sure if we let you run off like this now you'd regret it later, so... sorry, but..."

She pushes both hands forward, palms out, expanding her shield from a bubble to a broad arc that fills most of the hall. "...we're going to have to knock you around a little. Aurore Australe!" The curved wall of light rushes out at Idol Breaker, a split second after Amy's flashbang goes off.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
'Your very own friends think you weak enough to be a puppet in my hands,' Hawkmoth scoffs. He of all people knows that his akumatized minions aren't puppets. It would be far easier to deal with them if they were. 'Just because they live happy little lives. Can any of them imagine what you've gone through, with a mother who won't acknowledge you, who won't even share your name?'

Hawkmoth chances a glance down, at the glass, and through it, at Emilie. She had wanted to be a mother so badly. He had wanted for her to be a mother, had wanted for them to have children, so badly. And Chiyo Sakai - who was really taking this all too well, he truly might have to keep making use of her rage - had a mother who wouldn't even look at her. Wouldn't even acknowledge her.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed, disrupting his concentration. Hawkmoth scowled, and drew the object out, brows furrowing as he realized it was Adrien, calling out of the blue. That boy - it was probably something to do with his day, or his schedule, seeing as it was Sunday.

He declined the call, shooting off a quick message:

    TXT to Adrien: I'm in a meeting. I'll call you back later.

Now, back to the battle - 'Can you imagine any of them, ever doubting the love of their parent?'

Those were certainly some unique powers. Flashbangs, shields, singing that was irksome even just hearing it through his akuma, like an ache in his teeth... some of them had even been kind enough to transform right in front of his akuma.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
It was perhaps doomed from the start with so many mahou around her so soon after she turned. Even with her skill in fighting, and her strength that became apparent as Idol Breaker drives Ginga Otome's protective bubble into the ground itself---it was all a bit much when the multitude of attacks come her way immediately after.

As she lands on her feet from the attack already positioning herself to resume once more unrelentingly, the flashbang hits her in the chest. The bright explosive white light knocks her back several steps as she cries out in frustration at the sudden momentary blindness.

Rather than panicking though her hammer is brought up in front of her preparing for whatever onslaught might come next. Already swinging out, and through, she attacks blindly while her head tries to clear from being blinded.

In time for Ginga's next attack to hit. In time for her to be drop-beared by Kuiper Belt.

She goes down if only because of the amount of different attacks (and body) she's under. The hammer skitters out of reach.

"GET OFF ME!" She bellows preparing again to teleport away if needed. The hammer she could reclaim in a moment!

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar nods her thanks to Yellow Pearl Voice as she returns to deal with the situation. She doesn't try to get in the way, but hangs back and observes as the younger mahou do their thing. She seems to approve of the way they work in tandem to deal with the akuma-ized Chiyo before she can get too out of control.

    She has her phone out in her good hand, but hasn't sent any messages yet. She probably still will, especially to Usagi, just to inform her of what has happened, but it doesn't seem like they are going to need reinforcements so she hasn't put out a call for any just yet.

    She keeps her injured arm close to her side. Yellow Pearl Voice's magic has made the pain bearable, but she'll still have to get it looked at later. For now though, she's just keeping an eye on things.

Taro Yamada has posed:
On the one hand, he cannot destroy the hammer here! On the other hand, he's over 200 pounds of horrible vampire and a lot of that is bone and muscle -

The Slasher pins her, trying his best not to actually hurt her as he sits on her chest and starts ripping off and destroying accessories. You know, just in case the item in question wasn't the hammer! Can't be too careful!

"Oh no, you're gonna teleport away from me, I'm so scared," he drawls, plucking off the mask and shredding it with his palm blade. "Oh no, we are going to ruin your mother when you are back in your right mind and not a second before then. Then we're going to find Chickenmoth and we're gonna kentucky fry him for the audacity to bring up anyone's parental issues. I bet he jaywalks. I bet he doesn't tip. I bet he feels really smug that he flosses every other day and uses toothpaste that has bleach in it because he's French and insecure about his looks. I bet he never calls his mother, not because she's a bad parent but because he doesn't have the time. I bet he thinks French food is the best kind of food even though it's objectively lacking in both flavor and aesthetics. I bet he can't even cook French food, he orders it on Doordash and feels smug about it while he doesn't tip the driver!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy flinches at the flashbang going off behind her. Hopefully that didn't catch too many people unready for it; but if even one of them is unblinded they have an advantage over Sak-akuma-san, right?

    She hears the hammer hit the floor and skitter across it. Chiyo surely wants it back, but... "Nope! Sorry!" Amy dashes over to the hammer, places something atop the head, and then dashes away as it starts to spew sparks like a firework about to go off. "Stay away from it!"

    She does not need to explain why to stay away, as the sparks increase and soon everyone can feel the heat of thermite melting (and quite possibly eventually boiling) the hammer into Zero Time's floor.

    "I'm sorry, Sakai-san! We can't let you hurt inno-- let you hurt people, p...pounding them into paste won't make them better parents!"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"...and it won't make them care." Ginga Otome has withdrawn a little, once more hovering in the air - poised and watching as the Slasher fires his shots and Amy goes to work on the hammer. Ready. "That's all you really wanted, wasn't it? To know your mom cared. But people like that only really think about themselves. Even if you hurt her, she'd probably be a martyr about it, and she still wouldn't realize what she did to you was wrong."

Her voice is quieter now, the words perhaps lost under Taro's relentless trash-talk, Coco's song, and the indescribable sound of thermite melting iron right through the floor. "It's the worst, I know." Her smile is a pained thing. "I'm really sorry."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
With Taro being busy getting under Hawkmoth's skin (he is just not holding back, is he? Where is he even getting all those insults?) and Amy making recovering the hammer a clearly bad idea, all Coco has to do is keep supporting others with her songs. "Is this your power, insulting villains?", she can't help but ask the Slasher with bewilderment.

She knows that Amy especially appreciates her pushing back against the filling of her Soul Gem (which she too is very much glad about), she gets into another song. "Splash Dream: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"" Coco resumes singing, enchanting the atmosphere with the tale of messages drawn in stardust that move through the transparent love that surround the seven seas.

She narrates a splash dream of aiming for a paradise, kicking the waves barefoot and leaving the tears to the sea, a big wave of throbbing love whose song resounds eternally; the magical melody still tends to the fatigue and purifies any ambient darkness.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
The hammer starts to boil as the metal melts and buckles and warps and the akuma, panicking flies free of the deranged melting pot from hell - as it does, Chiyo's transformation will collapse, restoring her to her normal self, and the deep purple butterfly, unable to escape Zero Time -

'Try to seize onto one of the others,' Hawkmoth urges grimly, and the akuma flies right at the Back Street Slasher -

But it's surely doomed to be caught - and it is, in the purification wave of Yellow Pearl Voice's song. The butterfly is purified, restored to a pure white, and it lands on top of the Slasher's head.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
It was hard to focus to teleport when someone is SITTING ON YOU pulling at your hair pins, and your mask, and any other dangly bit off your costume. Chiyo slap-slaps at Kuiper Belt's hands with growing annoyance as she tries to focus enough to finally, finally teleport away. It's after he gets the mask off and destroyed leaving her exposed and not-hidden (not that those here didn't know who she was to begin with) that she manages to teleport just far enough away in a crouch to glance back at them all.

"That doesn't matter! I'll feel better once I expose her to the world and ruin her career! See how her 'new family' is then!"

It was hard not to agree with them in some small part. Really, these were her friends and they weren't saying don't get even. Just don't punish everyone. But it doesn't matter really because--There goes the hammer.

With a little cry of frustration her powers seep away again leaving her Chiyo once more as she just suddenly crumples to sit cross-legged with her head in her hands.

"... I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt my friends. I just... I hate her. I hate her so much..." It's a tired remark she's reciting now though as she instead finds herself choking on a sob. Her emotions were still in turmoil but not as bad. Not near as bad. Now it was just releasing all those emotions leaving her a sobbing mess.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"If Mr. Hawkmoth is still listening? <Go fuck yourself>," the Slasher says in crisp English.

And after he flashes Wako, Coco and Amy two thumbs up for an incredible job taking things out, he is rushing to Chiyo's side. Yes, still as a giant vampire guy. He's not risking his identity in front of hte Hawk Guy, and also he's better at hugging when he's bigger.

"I know you don't want to hurt us. That's why we all stopped you," Taro says. "You're a good person and you deserve a good family who loves you. It's normal to hate people who are jerks to you. And if you still want to mess her up when you've had some time to think, I'll help."

Which is an extremely normal thing to offer as a giant vampire man.

"I used to be a villain," he explains to Coco, "except all the other villains in Tokyo are losers with neither standards or aesthetics so I'm good now. I refuse to be associated with those morons."

And to Amy: "That was sick as hell. I didn't know you could metl floors!" that was so cool so cool so cool!!!

And he waves Wako over - come on, join the hug! "You too. Come on. I can punch your mom too if you want."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
There it is, but Ginga Otome doesn't even need to try to catch the butterfly. Yellow Pearl Voice's song washes it with purifying energy almost the moment it emerges; it never had a chance to escape.

Wako lets herself drop lightly to the floor, hurrying to Chiyo's side. She won't drop Zero Time until her friend is ready to face the world again. In the meantime, she joins in the hugging.

"It's okay," she tells the Slasher, looking up at him with a lopsided smile. "I stopped caring a long time ago, anyway."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That poor butterfly. "Oh shit, it was actually the hammer?"

    And it's purified by song and lands on the Slasher's head. Amy walks over to look up at it. "So, are they just normal butterflies enchanted by magic, or magical creatures?"

    But, even more important than looking at magical butterflies, is running over to hug Chiyo once she's not fighting them anymore. "It's alright. You... I didn't know about this, Sakai-san, and I don't know what to say, but... we're here for you for any support we can give, whether that's a listening ear or stopping you from doing on a dark energy-fueled murdering spree."

    I didn't know you could melt floors! "Oh, thanks!" Amy smiles back at Taro.

    It remains to be seen if she can stop melting floors once started, though. If anyone asks how to stop the boiling hammer from making a mess of the mall floor once Zero Time is ended, Amy realizes: "Uhhhh... I didn't actually think that far ahead? Maybe try dumping a bucket of sand on it? I don't actually know if thermite is worse than FOOF or chlorine trifluoride or shit like that." She retrieves her phone to woogle it, but there's no connection.

    Fortunately, Ginga Otome's not rushing to drop Zero Time. It can just be like. Providing a nice background visual for this quiet friendship moment. Like one of those spark shower fireworks. It'll sputter out and become a little puddle of molten metal eventually...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"I am not going to associate you with them, you were helping with everyone, and that matters much more than the past", Coco smiles at Taro.

The fight is over with Amy's destruction of the hammer revealing that actually was the hiding place of the butterfly and once drawn out, it just gets purified with no more chance to hide, thwarting Hawkmoth's latest attempt to do dumb things.

Things are now back to normal, but that also means Chiyo is still affected by the weight of the situation with her mother, and now the stress of the fight is getting at her too.

"We know you never wanted to hurt anyone, Chiyo-san", Coco approaches, finding unbearable seeing her so distraught. When Hawkmoth is going to come out in the open, she will hold him to account for all the pain he has caused, she resolves again.

"Nobody is going to hold today against you, we are all just glad you are back to normal. Hawkmoth is just a petty villain that can only distort people's feelings, and your mother is a real piece of work too", she joins the hug with everyone.

"I can probably lift it with the Live Stage", the mermaid tells Amy with regards to the hammer. "Do I go ahead with that?", she asks the group in case anybody has a better idea.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai finds herself caught up by a large vampire. Thankfully it's one she knows, and frankly doesn't find scary anymore. With the heel of her palm digging into her eyes she leans in against his hug nodding quietly. Then Wako joins, and she reaches out for her friend as well just accepting the hugs. Even Amy when she comes over is greeted with a mute nod. She didn't trust herself to talk just yet.

"... Ojiisan is my grandfather, her father, and... Idols can't have relationships. She hid me, and they raised me. I don't expect anything from her but that lie. That LIE." That had hurt where she thought it wouldn't anymore.

"I'm sorry Wako-chan, Amy, Coco. I'm sorry..." What was his new name again? She was trying to avoid saying 'Taro' darnit. "Slasher." Sorry, she'd get the new name soon. It was a mouthful. Coco as well ends up in the group hug, and she just sucks in a few deep breaths.

"I'll be fine," she says, dully, though she mutters, "After a lot of icecream."

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"What a waste... or perhaps not. I did gain some valuable information from all this, and that girl is sure to have another burst of rage eventually. It's only a matter of time before I find the right tool to get those Miraculous! But until then..."

Hawkmoth sighs, and looks down at his own Miraculous.

"Dark Wings, Fall." Light flows away, as his transformation falls. Nooroo, the kwami of transmission, floats beside him, forwning sadly, and Gabriel Agreste turns away, reaching for his phone. That hobo didn't know what he was talking about. He saw his son more than every three months!

"Adrien, do you have time to talk now..."