2040/Hazardous Hotel: The Maiden of Manipulation

Hazardous Hotel: The Maiden of Manipulation
Date of Scene:	03 November 2024
Location:	Port Warehouses
Synopsis:	Having been left to its own devices, the Youma at the core of the Hazardous Hotel has been gradually slipping out of the control spells keeping it in check. The energy drains have been growing less mild. The other youma less controlled. The attraction has been closed early for safety reasons, and yet there are rumors that it's been opening late at night, with a mysterious woman at the door to welcome in would-be adventurers into the hazardous hotel. It's time for this energy drain plot to be put to rest, before All Hallow's Eve truly arrives and it ruins someone's holiday.
Cast of Characters:	Aloisia Stauss, Zephyr Windstar, Takuto Tsunashi, Sugata Shindo, Wako Agemaki, Amanda Faust, Taro Yamada, Yuki Hoshino, Veronica Perenna

---

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
For the most part, the energy around the Hazardous Hotel, while spooky, had been rather upbeat and cheerful, people leaving it in a good mood and chattering amongst each other excitedly.

...Unfortunately, since The Incident, when the person running it was taken out of commission and her focus turned elsewhere, the fine tuned control of the Hazardous Hotel had begun to degrade rapidly.

It started with people getting lightheaded more often, rather than getting a little tired. And then rumors started to spread of people passing out at the Hazardous Hotel, rumors that likely had been investigated by one or more people who had been regularly keeping an eye on it.

And then more recently, there were rumors of people going into the hotel and not coming back out.

Which brings us to tonight, the night before Halloween. Earlier in the day, before the haunted house partygoers come out in force, to reduce the potential for people to be seriously injured...

Aloisia sent out messages to those she knew to gather people. Including one Amy Faust, who likely spread the word about the potential danger in the Hazardous Hotel.

At the meeting point, Aloisia Stauss stands, already in henshin and with her two devices floating next to her. One in pristine condition, the other, the reason why she was so distracted of late. Unbezwingbare schwester floats next to her, cracks throughout the device and its core, carefully and painstakingly put back together with magic and earth techniques. Occasionally its passive orbit disrupted with the soft crackle of energy; likely the reason she called for backup.

Meanwhile, the haunted attraction itself...

Has an aura of absolute darkness.

Gone is the cheerful chatter, instead the docks area where it used to be lively, even before the looming storms, has been replaced by a palpable eerieness that is simultaneously repulsing and attracting to passerby, like a horrific siren's song just waiting for an unsuspecting victim.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr Windstar, tall, foreign, sticks out like that one lanky friend at the party who's a good head and shoulders taller than everyone else. She's here, alongside Amy. "So, catch me up here, there's a haunted hotel that's running some hall... hell... hull... whatever, some kind of spooky party and it's making people faint?" she asks, measuring her stride so she doesn't outpace anyone else from simple fact of taking strides three times longer.

    "And I'm only just learning about this now?" she adds incredulously, hands in pockets. "I mean, it's bad enough with that weird storm rolling in. Te--... my friend is throwing a fit whenever she looks at it." she mentions, glancing down at her wrist, and the medal-like Device attached to the bracelet. "Never a dull moment though, eh?"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
All three of the Star Drivers!!! arrive in a blaze of blue-white light that streaked in like a comet, and then the one whose trail it is (the red-and-yellow-haired one) gently sets down the blue-haired one and makes sure the one with the gold hair in the bubble set herself down, and then he straightens his lapels.

"Your hair is messy," Takuto tells Sugata, unrepentantly smug about it. "Wako-chan's is perfect--"

And then he grins when he turns to face Aloisia. "Hi! We're here to help kick the problem in the teeth. Should we just go in?"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"Wako-chan was protected by a bubble," Sugata says, unbothered. He doesn't fix his hair, which is messy, tousled by the wind as it has been - he adjusts his collar though, and his cravat, shaking out his hands and allowing his coat to fall a bit more neatly before he looks around them. "She does look perfect, though. You're still a perfect mess, as usual."

There's a shadow of a smile on his face, when he looks at the two of them. It's gone, when he turns to look at Aloisia, eyes serious, mouth a thin line. He's not going to mention last time, because he would love to forget it ever happened.

"Are there any people we need to protect or can we bring the place down entirely?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Boys, boys," teases Ginga Otome, the girl in the white and gold military glam, as she settles lightly to the ground and her pale pink soap bubble vanishes like something out of the Wizard of Oz. "You both look pretty."

As Takuto looks to Aloisia, Wako regards the house. "Is this the same haunted house you guys went to before?" she wonders. "With the mushrooms?" She sidles up to Sugata long enough to nudge him with an elbow, then very hastily scoots away. "If you're going to King's Pillar it, at least let me put up Zero Time first!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is leading some portion of the group apparently! It's almost Halloween, she can just be openly henshined and people will assume she's going to some sort of costume thing.

    But like, that doesn't mean she should just waste a chance to dress up, right? Especially when she has costume magic!

    So, it's Lina Inverse that's leading some portion of th group over to Aloisia! LinAmy smiles and goes for a hug upon seeing she's fine. "I'm so glad you're okay, and away from that man."

    Then she lets go, and stretches, turning to the others. "Alright, everybody ready for some..." she mutters, "hmm, we're de-haunting a haunted house..." Then brightens uyp. "Ah! Everybody ready for some ghostbustin?!" She smiles at Taro. "Present company excepted, of course."

Taro Yamada has posed:
The Kuiper Belt Slasher is here, naturally; this is a haunted house! With Amy! And the cool magical guys who are definitely not semes, he knows better now. And a twiggy westerner? And, woah, someone in a very cool costume...

(THe powers of henshin are immense. He's an enormous pale vampire kind of creature, as usual, but he's painted his face white with blue eyeliner and lipstick, ditched his cloak, and left his black hair long and unbound. His kimono is white with sprigs of blossoming spider lillies embroidered in, and he's folded the collar the wrong way around - after all, a ghost wouldn't wear it as the living would.... A ghost may not have long red horns either, but it's his aesthetic, he'll do as he pleases.)

"It's definitely time to bust some ghosts," he says. "And to see whoever made this haunted house! Despite all this happening, it was still a well made house!"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki had been finishing up her costume for a halloween party. Plenty of red and black worbla, a long white wig with big fuzzy fox ears, and of course the *tail*. That was almost the most important part of it all.

Then her phone rang, with a message about the haunted house. She blinks quizzically, shrugged, and grabbed for her Device. "Right, Barrier Jacket on and let's go," she says. She doesn't realize until she arrives with the others that she'd been programming the costume into a Barrier Jacket slot...

"Hello," she calls as she sets down near the group. "Wonderful timing, I was about to head out to a party." No she wasn't, she was going to work her way through the night again. By this point all the mahou-types would know that. "How does the candy situation look in there?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
It took a while for Veronica to paint something she was truly satisfied to use as the basis for her shapeshifting into a Halloween costume (though this was by far the least ambitious of her shapeshifting targets, changing only clothes and making herself look like a Nekomata). Anyone who has spent more that 10 minutes with the Princess of Sarek would have little to no trouble recognising her.

Thankfully, she was done just in time for Halloween, and she has decided to take this form out for a test, jumping around aimlessly through Tokyo until her wandering leads her near the Port Warehouses. "Well, now, doesn't this look troublesome?", she frowns, perceiving the eerie darkness that beckons and repulses, and icky feeling running up on her back.

Even if she had not perceived that, the gathering crowd of mahous would have been another been clue. Jumping towards the group, she tips her hat towards the group. "Hello, friends. We have quite the ghostly activity here. Any victims around, or are people safe?"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"It was under control to the point where it was harmless, before. Unfortunately, it is not anymore." Aloisia responds to Zephyr, looking down at the hazardous hotel. "It ran ... fine ... at first on its own after, well. Things happened, and I became distracted, and no longer directly controlling it." She glances at her still-heavily-damaged device. "Unfortunately, a Youma, left to its own devices, does what Youma do."

Aloisia turns her gaze towards Ginga Bishounen. Ah, one of the pair that had caused trouble. Luckily, nothing too bad came of those incidents. "We can, yes. I will be honest, I do not know what it will be like in there. I would guess that its 'themes' are going to be blending in weird ways though, so don't be surprised if you see mushroom ice cream monsters or ... I don't know, wax dolls?"

Are there people to protect, there's a soft exhale. "I wish the answer to that was no, but I picked up a few signatures with an Untersuchung spell earlier." She lifts her hand, her Device producing a holographic image in the air with a general overview of the facility. "Ignore the red for now." There's a lot of it, though most of the red is a relatively faint color. "Here." She points to a room deep in the facility, with a bright red signature as well as a group of five faint white signatures. "I think that's the group from the rumors that disappeared, supposedly." Seriously don't mind the fact that most of the map is covered in red signatures, it's fine. "Now, regarding the red signatures, uh. Well. ... Most of them should be lower level, so should not pose much of a threat no matter how large or dangerous they may seem, however the possiblity of them merging or some other anomaly isn't nonexistent."

I'm so glad you're okay, and away from that man. Amy Faust gets a somewhat exhausted look from Aloisia. "I do not believe I will be fully away from those shackles until that man is well and truly eliminated." That tired comment is all that she says regarding it. "Yes. Let us consider it ghost busting, that sounds much more pleasant than 'hunting down the results of your past mistakes'." And to see whoever made this haunted house!

Aloisia raises her hand at Taro's comment. "That would be me. I was the one who set up this draining scheme. It was, as I said, supposed to be harmless, a way to passively gather some energy without causing serious harm to any civilians. It would have stayed that way if not for ... things... that happened." Another glance towards her heavily damaged Device.

The comment of candy situation gets a soft chuckle from Aloisia. "Well, I am sure there are still some snacks inside, though I would not necessarily be able to attest to the safety of said candy as I don't imagine any of my employees are still around. Or if they are, they are possibly part of the group I picked up deeper in the facility."

"Any other questions before we move in? I imagine the easiest method to attack this situation would be to have a larger group go in the front to attract the attention of the main terribad force, while a smaller group of more combat and stealth-oriented people enter through the employee entrance around the back, and then we meet in the middle." She says, producing an ID card and holding it up. "As one of my devices is less reliable at the moment, I will be going in through the front with full intent to be the front line the whole time." Just in case, you know, her device decides to break again.

Taro Yamada has posed:
The Slasher nods seriously as he listens to Aloisia and the others, raising his hand. "I'm good at close range attacks, tanking hits, and also getting into places that are difficult to get into. I can fit in on both the front and rearguard, depending on if you'd prefer me keeping the monsters busy or breaking into otherwise hard to reach places."

And, a little less professionally: "I thought your scheme was pretty clever and the haunted house was well done. I"m glad you're not letting it mess things up now that it's broken - the weather's gonna be shit tomorrow and then we'd hve to clean it out AND avoid stagnant water."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "I can set up a Barrier... but that might not cover the whole structure, I'm no Page Mage, my Barriers are usually for small-scale engagements, not..." Wind Dancer gestures at Aloisia's screen, as she shifts into henshin, her clothes flaring brilliantly, then reforming into her Barrier Jacket, a quick flick of her wrist twirling her axe-like Device around as it expands in her grip. "Your call though, we could go in without... I'll set up a Telepathy network for us though." she adds.

    She taps the end-cap of her Device against the ground, causing it to chime softly. < TELEPATHY > announces the feminine voice, everyone in the entry team would get a mental 'phone call' they can accept or decline. Anyone who accepts gets a greeting from the tall foreigner's voice. <Hi hi~ Wind Dancer here. I'm your communication hub for this evening's entertainment. Please keep all your limbs inside the ride at all times, and remember... Youma are shoot on sight.>

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Harmless, but draining energy enough to be worth running in the first place? Ginga Kingu's eyebrow is skeptical, though his mouth is too busy elbowing Wako - nope, she danced out of the way.

"Yes, this is the place, though with civilians trapped it won't be reasonable to use King's Pillar... though, if you put up Zero Time, you'll separate the victims from the monsters."

In other words, Wako's special ability is worthwhile, even if he'll have to hold back his own. With everything explained, he doesn't see any real reason to acknowledge the rest of what's been said - they have targets to get at, monsters to ruin, and a Haunted House to thoroughly destroy.

Apparently, some man is involved. But then again, has there ever been a situation with a 'that man'?

"Star Swordo, Diamante!"

A gleaming energy sword is drawn from his chest, blazing white in the darkness. "I'll be at the front as well. I suggest you not try this scheme again - even if you think it was harmless, you can't be sure. And clearly it can spiral out of your control."

As soon as the doors are open, he'll be going through.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Ginga Otome shakes her head quickly at Wind Dancer, flashing a quick smile. "Don't worry about that," she says, "I can cover a pretty big area..."

Without wasting any more time, she raises both hands, sketching a vague shape in front of her. The tiny white-and-gold robot hovering over her shoulder chimes out, << Zero Time engaged, >> as the barrier rushes outward. The sky overhead shifts to a Technicolor starscape, and any non-magical bystanders within line of sight vanish as the space around them is shifted into the otherdimensional plane outside of time.

"That should keep anyone around who's not magic out of trouble," Wako reports brightly. "Ready to go."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
When Sugata tells him he's a perfect mess, Takuto pops his collar and double-fingerguns the blue-haired boy with a sideways smile. And then he exaggeratedly preens at Wako. Because-- despite the darkness emanating from the haunted house, poisoning the well of the magical resonance of the whole area-- the three of them are close, and that's backup, that's love as a secret weapon against gloom.

"This is definitely the same haunted house," he answers Wako, and he grins bigger, outright. His white-gauntleted hand curls over the hilt of his sabre, and he says, "He's going to kill us. We're not going to stop, are we?" About King's Pillar and Zero Time, Takuto nods firmly. "Yes."

He half turns to look out away from Aloisia and the other two, surveying everyone else who's arrived... and waves to the Nekomata. "Dunno, weren't there rumours that some people didn't come back out?" he asks her, then turns back to Aloisia, listening. Oh, there's the answer. There are people in there, still. "I'm glad they're alive to protect...."

But then the full explanation comes, and a map, and indicators, and the Ginga Bishounen commits it to memory. Aloisia describes her general plan, and he looks even more cheered. "Oh good, there's an 'up front'," he says, and steps up beside the Ginga Kingu.

He draws his own swords: "Star Swordo! EMERAUDE!" he calls for the first, bright green and white, and then for the second, bright blue, "Star Swordo! SAPHIR! Yes, ready to go!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods after Taro's comment, "Yeah, it was really nice to see magic used in a... less-horrible way!" She clasps her hands over Aloisia's, "We don't get to see enough of that! And it was time and effort Obsidian would've spent on monster attacks otherwise, right? You did good, for your position at the time!"

    She turns to face the door, and when someone says youma are shoot-on-sight, conjures a JAR-5 Dominator in her hands. "Sure thing!" Then looks down at it in her hands. "...Mixing properties like this just makes me feel like I'm in a dumb Fortnite event..." she dismisses the weapon, as she catches sight of others and takes in costumes!

    She looks over Yuki and grins awkwardly and apologetically, "I'm really sorry, but who are you supposed to be...?"

    Veronica gets a look of amazement, although that might be because of the implication: "Where did you find a catgirl to copy the appearance of?! ...Wait," Amy looks confused, "But your face still looks like you, how does... did a shapeshifter help you...?"

    She will go in with the others, though!

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki - Or rather, Ahri, tonight - nods in agreement with the other Mage. "Remind me to talk to you later about getting a copy of that Barrier spell," she comments, "Mine doesn't work at all." The comment about energy-gathering schemes seems to breeze right over her, filed away in her head and ignored - for now. There are people in danger, after all.

"Well, I was meaning to visit a haunted house anyway," she decides, tapping the Device strapped to her left forearm and the phone clipped to it. A series of six matching octagons flow out of it, matching its own appearance, each one carrying a spell-dart ready to fire.

Her tail flicks from side to side behind her, moving in its pre-programmed sequence, and it's only after the passing of the past few minutes of discussion that she notices it there. She looks over her shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of it, then down at herself and her costume. "... I knew I was forgetting something," she mutters, then enters with the others. She adds to Amy, "Ahri. Don't play League of Legends?" She grins a little.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is actually shocked by that reveal. "Wait, really?! I mained Ahri!" She sounds disappointed in herself for not recognizing the character. "I don't recognize that costume though, is it new...?"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki nods to Amy, "Yes, just came out this summer. 'Immortal Legend', they call it... apparently she's ascended to full divinity now."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
People have been involved. Of course they have, wouldn't be the same if the forces of darkness hadn't claimed someone. "Well, then, this is also a rescue mission then." She stares disapprovingly at Aloisia.

"The people you had been draining had done no wrong, and no matter how little you meant to take, you were still stealing something that wasn't taken unjustly, but theirs by right. Perhaps it would have been only right that your scheme backfired on you, had that not ended up involving even more people", she reprimands the magical knight.

"Which man are we talking about here?", she tilts her head with curiosity at Aloisia's weird indication of captivity. "If you have the time, I would prefer to hear what is going on with that story of yours."

At the inquiry on her costume, Veronica grins at Amy. "It wasn't the easiest thing, but I painted a full portrait of me how I wanted to look, and worked off of that. Very time consuming, yes, but I think the end result was quite worth it", she replies with satisfaction.

The Princess of Sarek turns to look at the nefarious building. "I will be going inside the hotel through the walls and attack them from behind. All good on that?" she checks in with the others while they are still strategising.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
"One must clean up their own messes when possible." Aloisia reponds to Taro. "Even if they are meant to be clever messes." She pauses. "We can likely have a device mage with those who go in through the front and those that go through the back. Or ... that Zero Time thing? I am not completely familiar with it." Aloisia says, and then the Telepathy. Which she immediately accepts.
    <Connection> <EStaBLIsh>

Hearing static over telepathy might be a bit strange, and Aloisia glances towards Unbezwingbare Schwester. There's a sad look on her face as she speaks softly, "...Unbezwingbare Schwester, I do not think you are actually ready for this. Standby Mode."

<JA... WoHl>

One of the two shields disappears, turning into a cracked earring in Aloisia's right ear.

The suggestion from Ginga Kingu gets a soft exhale, she would argue about it, but there is a certain ... deflatedness to her. The proud knight not standing as tall as she would, she doesn't even have a retort to that. He's not wrong. She knew he wasn't wrong. "Right."

Zero Time is then engaged. "That's good." Aloisia steps towards the entrance of the building. "...I would rather this place not be leveled though. It would be a waste of a good building. any of the setup I do not care about, but." She pauses, glancing towards the looming storm. "I strongly suspect some sort of shelter may be needed in the days to come."

You did well, for your position at the time. "I did try to do things... in a less awful way as a general rule, yes. Dragging this world into my world's problems has never felt ... right. Or proper. For either side of the equation. Though there are extenuating circumstances, of course..."

She shakes her head. That's not the point. They could talk politics all night, the morals or lack of morals.

...But a losing argument isn't pleasant.

Aloisia adjusts the gauntlet on her non-shield-wielding hands, tightening its straps. Nevermind that it's a magical device and already perfectly fitted. It was more the lack of unbezwingbare schwester than anything.

"...I will be honest, I think everyone seems inclined to go in through the front and simply level the place, which I do not mind."

Reprimands are made towards her by the Nekomata, something which Aloisia simply looks towards her throughout. It is a fairly passive gaze, the reprimands not responded to directly beyond the look. "Count Otto Steiner. There are some that likely would be able to go into the story. I do not have the will nor the energy to go into it at the moment."

She turns towards the entrance of the building, lifting her one device, the ends of which split open with a intonation of <TREIBER MODE.>

She motions towards Taro, Amy, Yuki, and the Nekomata. "You four go through the back, then, so that none are alone."

The charging of energy can be heard as Aloisia walks closer... closer... and then is in range.

<SPRENGSCHUSS.>

An arcing blast of plasma is launched towards the doorway that is the entrance, exploding out into a sphere that leaves molten steel and concrete at the edges of the area, the asphalt below steaming with the moisture in the air.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
The entrance is... fairly peaceful, at first glance, though there is a rumbling and creaking, as if the very walls of the building were starting to awaken. Aloisia sprints straight forward to get into the entrance, as the sound of the elevators off to the sides move up to the ground floor and then...

~ding~.

CRACK. CRACK. CRASH.

The doors are knocked off the doors of the elevator, and a 10 foot tall hulk of waxen mushroom breaks out of it, almost semi-amorphously sliding out of it with a roar towards the group, as smaller wax-covered mushrooms come skittering out around the edges of the elevator entrance.

Meanwhile, at the back entrance... it's... a door with a keycard reader!

An elevator as well, actually. Since the facility largely goes down into the ground instead of up.

...There just was more space to build that way.

Doot doot... waiting for the elevator to come up ten floors...

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"He definitely is," Wako agrees with Takuto, "and of course we're not going to stop." Both her boys get a sunny smile. "But... let's handle the big scary dangerous house first, and people can debrief as much as they want afterward?" This, it seems, is directed at the group in general.

Then they're splitting off into teams, front and back. Ginga Otome hangs behind Takuto and Sugata, once more lofting up a few feet off the ground in one of her transparent spheres of pink light for a better vantage.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Don't worry, Sugata-sama, your apprentice will keep the bad mushroom away from you," Ginga Bishounen sings out to Ginga Kingu, lifting a foot off the ground into the air, then rocketing forward full-tilt at the ten foot tall waxen mushroom, leaving a bright blue-white comet's tail behind him as he goes.

"FLAIR!" he yells, "GALACTIC CROSS SLASH!"

And up there, cap to sword instead of face to face, Takuto greets the fungus with one green stroke through it, one blue stroke through it the other way, making a giant glowing blue-and-green X--

--Sugata is going to kill him. He spins away and grins at Wako, and Amy, and Taro...

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Otome gets a nod from Wind Dancer. "Fair enough. Frees up more of Dee's bandwidth for combat ops. Hear that Dee? We get to go full bore instead of maintaining a barrier."

    Tenraikaze pings. It might sound a bit happy.

    "Okay, so, going in the front. I can do that." She lifts off the ground on her flight spell, floating forward with the others.

    And then thre's wax mushroom monsters.

    "Tight quarters... not much room to maneuver... Keep it tight Dee." < Understood Chief. IMPULSE BARRET SIROCCO SHIFT. > Small motes of purple light appear around her, then lance out in thin laser beams at the wax monsters, peppering them with tightly compressed packets of pain.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
There's conversation - people have questions, and though Sugata thinks discussion can wait, Wako has removed at least a portion of the urgency, with unfolding Zero Time. As they split into groups, he nods at her suggestion of holding debrief for after circumstances have changed. As she lofts upwards, he shifts his grip on Diamante and stalks forward with Aloisia as she sprints into the entrance.

The elevator arrives.

That fucking mushroom is there.

Ginga Kingu would be killing that mushroom a second time - but then, Takuto is rushing forward, and Sugata got to kill this thing last time. He can be gracious, and attack the smaller targets, he can -

"I will destroy you," Sugata grits out, and then rather than hurl out a Star Crash, he goes racing forward, brutally bisecting the smaller wax-covered mushrooms. There are little cries of horror, perhaps, from the mushrooms, as they come to such a swift and vicious end.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I cannot believe Obisidian didn't think of all this," the Slasher says, waiting for the elevator to zyoop up with his arms crossed, steel-booted foot tapping. "Alright, you three. Are we going to just go in blasting? Do you want me taking point or breaking shit? I haven't worked with you before," and he gestures to Yuki, "and," he squints at Veronica, "you. I knwo you. You helped me fight that car monster, right?"

(He barely recognizes her, honestly, that day is a blur, could not have said what she'd done in his sheer panic over Chiyo being shot, but he does know her.)

After a moment, he pulls a little pouch out of his red obi and gives little wrapped candies to the three girls. They're clearly handmade, orange rock candy flavored with cinnamon extract, with little jack o lantern faces painted on them in food coloring. "You wanted candy, right?" he asks Yuki.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Count Otto Steiner... "The guy who stole the knives from the museum, I remember him", she nods at Aloisia, reminding herself to look into how the two of them tie into each other. Not like she can ask her what are her connections with the Steiner of Tharkad. Nothing good, if she works for Obsidian though, and Aloisia's complacent gaze wasn't exactly a point against it.

"Well, we have gotten a keycard, we can stick to that", the Princess of Sarek replies to the Slasher. "Less effort taken now, more allowed later", she elaborates. She could move through the walls herself, but mundane methods have their own perks sometimes. "Quite right, that was me", the Princess of Sarek smiles.

"We will be as fast as we can", she promises the mahous dealing with the front, firing a beam of moonlight towards the tall mushroom and then rushing to the back and walking in. "Thanks for the candy", she tells the Slasher with a smile. So begins the excruciating elevator wait.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "I bet like half of them have been gods by now. I remember when Soraka was a goddess..."

    Amy nods to Aloisia at the suggestion that the cosplayers take the other side of the building. "And like he said, it's good that you're cleaning this up. I'm almost sad to see it go; A little more magic in life would be nice..." she comments wistfully, before walking around to the back door.

    And through that door is... an elevator for them to wait for. After pressing the button (or after someone else does,) Amy holds Taro's hand and leans against him while watching the display count up.

    "I kind of wish they would think of more stuff like this... well, I already said. But, like, it'd mean less having to actually fight, too."

    "I figure we play it by ear? Like you said, we don't wanna destroy the building more than we have to."

    Amy ooohs at the candy handed out! She quickly unwraps it and pops it in her mouth. "Thanks!"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki chuckles and takes one of the Slasher's candies. "Thanks," she says, unwrapping it and popping it in her mouth. "... phwoooh. Hot. Nice."

"I don't know, I don't pay much attention to the other characters' lore. I picked Ahri because I like kitsune stuff." Foxgirls, catgirls, catboys....

Oh, an elevator to wait for. Well isn't that ominous. "Makes sense to me," she muses, "But an elevator? In a haunted house? Hasn't anyone here watched a horror movie?" She looks around for a stairwell....

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Aw yeah, figuratively killing each other. The best kind of relationship. It seems Otome is taking on a support role, and Ginga Bishounen is going straight in the front as expected. Twin slashes cutting a cross over the waxen mushroom. Which slides apart into four pieces with a little screech of dismay, breaking apart and beginning to disintegrate into motes of dark energy.

As more of the smaller mushrooms crawl out of it, giving little tiny screeches -- as Wind Dancer launches a series of small laser beams, cutting down the numbers of mushrooms almost as fast as they appear!

A destruction heavily aided by Sugata as well, as he brutally cuts apart the waxen mushroom youma, even as they attempt to leap and bite at him, or unleash spurts of mushroom spores. Meanwhile, Aloisia herself... isn't really using her shield. Her hands glowing faintly with magic as unaufhaltsame schwester floats around her, deflecting any waxen mushrooms that attempt to attack her back.

...She's not fighting like a trained soldier right now.

No, it's the raw, brutal combat style of someone who has something to get out of her system, using her magically-enhanced hands to tear apart waxen mushrooms.

Plasma arcing off of her hands with each movement. One might expect screams or cries of rage with how she's acting, but she is... silent the whole time, beyond a few minor grunts and exhales here and there.

The monsters fight back, of course, several of them ganging up on Takuto and Sugata to attempt to shoot them with clouds of draining spores, while another group launches gobs of hot wax towards Otome and Wind Dancer!

Aloisia herself briefly disappears under a pile of the mushrooms, only to burst out moments later in a small burst of plasma energy.


Meanwhile, at the back!

...There's elevator music playing for the people /waiting/ too. Though it's not like, the standard stuff, it's fun halloween themed music playing in the background as the elevator makes its way up. Luckily, since nobody else is really taking the employee elevators right now, it's not a long wait.

Once the elevator arrives and the door opens, it has a series of buttons going from +2 to -8, many of them labeled with various attraction names, Waxen Waifs, Suspicious Spirits, Mushroom Mania, Ice Scream, and then a few labeled employee levels, cantina and break room/changing room, medical, and operations/security floor being the very lowest floor. The attraction floors are the largest ones of course, with the employee floors being relatively smaller, since the actual employees that weren't youma were much smaller in number to minimize contact.

In fairness they're in the employees only area! ... There is a stairwell too, because fire safety requirements.

...But do you really want to go down 8 flights of stairs?

...Regardless of which way they make it down, the room with the signatures of the civilians was the medical floor, which of course also had the strongest youma signature.

...Though, the security/operations floor also likely has camera setups which might be useful in its own way.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    <Backdoor team, what's your situation?> asks Zephyr through the telepathy link, her fusillade continuing as long as targets present themselves She's like a walking point-defense battery. <We're heading down to medical, can you head for security, see if they have any cameras set up?>

    Wind Dancer does watch Aloisia carefully... Belkan berserker rages are no joke. "Y'know... you should probably get some hobbies... that much aggression building up can't be good for you."

    She heads for the stairwell, herself, and uses her flight spell to float down to the medical level, shooting down any more of those tiny wax mushroom creatures with her little laserbolt barrets.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
A yelp of strangled laughter escapes Ginga Otome somewhere between 'Sugata-sama' and 'your apprentice'. "Come on, you two, save it for the youma~!"

She flings out a scattershot volley of little bullets of bright pink purifying energy at the mob of youma, harrying the ones lucky enough to not immediately fall under the much heavier assaults from Takuto, Sugata, or Aloisia. When the spores and flying wax fill the air, though, she rushes forward, the bubble of her shield expanding to cover the others momentarily even as hot wax spatters against its curve. "I don't think so!"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Promise~?" Takuto singsongs to Sugata's 'I will DESTROY you', even as he joins in slashing the smaller mushrooms to perfect frying width slices. He whirls around with his swords out at thigh-level, beheading a number that are trying to mob him, then fights his way closer to Sugata--

--when the things start spitting spores at them and hot wax gets involved. He abruptly holds his breath and grabs at Sugata's arm to get away from the clouds of energy-draining spores, but then Wako comes in clutch with the shield. His face is wreathed with smiles for her, even as hot wax spatters against the bubble next to his head.

"Thanks, Wako-chan! Drop me out for a second? I'm tired of these guys--" His hands start to charge up blue-white, and after Wako drops him out of her shield, he yells out, "TAU GALAXY BEAM!"

A beam indeed! Predominantly blue, tracking to aim for mushrooms one by one like a pinball machine (so, definitely not a laser because mushrooms are not mirrors), shoots out from his hands, in fists next to each other. "Where's the fun in that?" he calls out to Wako, laughing, sprinting back for the safety of her bubble.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"You will regret being born."

Ginga Kingu's technique is exacting perfection - his face might be cold hard frustration and anger (and embarrassment, to the only two people who know him well enough to read it), but training carries through, and every motion is brilliant.

eHe flinches though, when Ginga Otome speaks, because to his own horror, his mind is filling in the blanks, waiting for her to say - save it for the bedroom.

When she doesn't? When he realizes it was his own brain, poisoned against him?

He does perform a Star Crash, then, yelling the attack name.

"STAR CRASH!"

The white energy sword is launched like a missile, a trail of blue-white energy following it as it takes out a rush of monsters coming for them, just before Takuto grabs him and they're enveloped in Wako's shield.

He refuses to flinch this time, even if he's tucked his chin into his collar, because no! He refuses to blush! He REFUSES to blush about basic combat-necessary contact!

"I could bring this place to the ground," he says grimly, "But that would bring it down on our allies' heads. Is there any other way down, beyond just fighting our way through?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I picked a Nekomata because it was fitting enough for Halloween and a cat transformation would be on brand for me", she takes part in the conversation while they wait for the elevator to bring them down to the medical floor.

Once at the bottom floor, Veronica receives the telepathic message. <<We are about to head towards the place where the people were being help captive. Reporting later, I am about to see what's on the other side>>, she replies, before addressing her group.

"I will become ethereal, and have a peek without being noticed", the Princess of Sarek disappears from sight, the ethereal state she has just taken on, allowing her to get inside unnoticed. Whatever she finds there with the captive people, she can report later.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
*Climbing* stairs is not much fun. But when you can fly, well, it's not that big a deal. Especially when it isn't full of mushroom men.

As she goes, she calls in a pair of her dart-launchers, reforming them into a searcher to send ahead of her. It's a bit cheating, when it comes to Haunted House rules, but they're in the employee areas anyway, so why not? Since Nekomata is heading directly for the medical room, she'll use it to scout the rest of the level.

<<Allright, keep a sharp eye out,>> she sends. <<I give it even odds they're posessed or the like.>>

She continues down the stairs, swinging around each turn, tail whipping behind her... hoping she's wrong.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Amy, if those two are taking the lead, do you want me to track the cameras?" the Slasher asks as Yuki and Veronica head down, eyes and powers blazing. "I can follow pretty fast if you all need me down there," what with the magic knives he can cut through the floor with if need be.

Someone's got to do it, and it'll probably have to be one of them. Or both of them? He squeezes her hand - this isn't going to be a messy fight, not like some of the others they've been in, but it's still a little disorienting keeping track of so many players on the field.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "She's not a kitsune, she's a gumiho." Amy corrects pointedly with the tone of someone who also once cared about The Lore. "...Or at least she was, until they changed the lore to have her be a generic animal person curious about civilized society, rather than the more interesting, conflicted character of the half-reformed gumiho who simultaneously gained the desire to be human and regret for what she had to do to become more human, from the hearts she'd eaten. ...Or essences she's absorbed? Huh, maybe they didn't say kitsune or gumiho and just left it as 'fox'? Wait, that sentence is confusing when I say it in Japanese, I mean--"

    *DING!*

    "Oh, the elevator's here." Amy steps inside and looks at the labeled floor buttons. "Well, seems like we could save a ton of time by going down to Operations and checking the cameras to see where all the youma are, right?"

    To Zephyr, she replies, <<"We were waiting for the elevator. I concur with your suggestion.">>

    And then half of the half-the-party decide to go to the medical floor instead. She motions for Taro to come with her. "I don't like splitting up even more, but we need to get to those cameras before this becomes even more of a mess. If they have any trouble... We'll just cut and blast through the floor and walls to join them."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
     Berserker Rage is not really something that Aloisia does normally, not that Wind Dancer would necessarily know. Aloisia glances towards her as that ring of youma that had been attacking her disintegrates into energy. She looks like she's about to make a clever retort or something, but nope. "...Agreed, really."

And Wind Dancer was heading for a stairwell, which was... really, quite reasonable, considering that the elevators had been fairly thoroughly wrecked by the deluge of mushroom monsters.

The waxen mushrooms continue to go down easily as they're shot by the fullisade. Like Aloisia had said, they were really basically Kindabad level creatures.

A scattershot tears through a mob of the youma, things Aloisia was half paying attention to. What she DOES pay attention to is the Tau Galaxy Beam, which Aloisia ducks beneath her shield.

<PANZERGEIST.>

An aura surrounds Aloisia and the shield, as she calls out, "Do not worry about me, burn them out!"

It's not as strong as her normal Walls, but with Unbezwingbare Schwester out of commission, she didn't have much of an alternative.

And then the Star Crash does exactly that, burning the rest of the waxen mushrooms out and allowing a few moments of peace. "As the Youma destroyed the elevator, well..." Aloisia pauses, moving towards the elevator shaft. "We could jump? All of us can fly, ja? Or at least fall with style enough to not become a pancake upon the ground?"

She looks down the shaft. "It looks like the elevators got stuck on the Ice Scream floor, so we would likely have to go down to that floor and then find another way down or destroy more elevator."

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
Meanwhile, the Employee Entrance Team...

Goes down to the medical floor! However, there was a crackle partway through Veronica's telepathic message. A crackle that gets worse towards the end of her sentence -- before being wholly cut off as they reach lower floors, resulting in her sentence being cut off at 'Reporting la--'.

And then a tingle of magical energy runs over them, as SOMETHING interrupts the psychic link, though it is seemingly uninterrupted for the employees entrance team, which continue to hear each other just fine, and even hear a response from Wind Dancer of.

<<Copy that, just be safe.>>

...But there's still that slight feeling in the back of their mind that something is wrong, especially when the Princess of Sarek peeks through the doorway to see a group of people just chatting in the medical room, sipping on steaming coffee that she can even smell.

But there's these split moments where as she's looking at different areas, things look... different. Only seen out of the corner of her eyes, spiritual-seeming beings floating along in the room, one of those same people collapsed against the wall, but it's only a split second before that relatively normal, bright vision is back.

Meanwhile, going down to the camera room is much more like what is to be expected. A room full of screens that were monitoring various angles of every room of the building, though it looks like several of the cameras are either covered by something or damaged. What they /can/ see is that the first floor seems more or less cleared, and if they flip to the medical room camera...

A spirit is staring right at them, seemingly through the camera.

Mouthing words only possibly understood.

'I see you.'

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro just grimaces back at the spirit. "Yeah, you can see us. Good for you. Are you going to do anything about it? Or are you a cheap jumpscare?"

Come on. He is the master of terrors. You can't hit him with a Ringu ripoff, he is immune! Either come and get him or get gud!

He looks to Amy. "Looks like several of the cameras got messed up. Think our little buddy here got them? Or was it collateral damage from the mushrooms and dolls?" It could go either way, honestly, or both.

<Hoi, medical bay squad. We've got a ghost staring at us through one of the cameras. Do either of you see a being ogling the cameras? It might be one of those ghosts that's only visible through cameras since it's trying to scare the two of us in the security room. The ghost is blocking enough of the view that we can't confirm much else going on down there.>

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
That cold anger and embarrassment on Sugata's face, and where the blush came in-- not as planned. Takuto re-grabs Sugata's arm and hugs it, whispering something to him quickly, almost urgently: "I only meant to clown on you a little, and maybe flirt? I didn't mean it for it to hurt. I'm sorry."

Then he blinks at Aloisia. "Yeah, why not just blast through the elevator and keep going? Zero Time works a lot like the Barriers. Sugata-kun could take out the whole building, but everyone's inside it, so let's just destroy it piece by piece instead!"

He lets go of Sugata, glancing at Wako-- meeting her eyes, then glancing briefly at their blue-haired boyfriend-- and then he jumps down the elevator shaft. The blue contrail shows up a half-second in. And he speeds up. And there's a horrific wrenching crashing screech of metal-on-metal and breaking building.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    <Solid copy, keep us posted> replies Wind Dancer through the link to Amy. She lands on the level, and pushes out onto the main floor, through the stairwell doors. She brandishes her Device, and scans the area, mismatched eyes looking for incoming trouble.

    The little motes of her Barret spell linger around her, ready for fire off again should they need to.

    And then the elevator explodes outward as Bishounen comes barreling through. "... showoff..." she mutters.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Takuto gets a quick, impulsive smooch on the cheek before Wako obligingly lets him out of her shield long enough to dispense his Tau Galaxy Beam. Her playful demeanor fades, however, against the sheer icy frustration and embarrassment rolling of of Sugata, and she looks, perhaps, a little guilty.

"The quick way is fine," she agrees - already retracting her shield into a floating bubble once more, this one just big enough that Ginga Kingu is allowed some personal space. "I've got you," she promises, still kind of apologetic, taking the both of them down in Ginga Bishounen's spectacular wake.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy jumps a little and her heart beats faster at the ghost suddenly taking up one of the screens.

    Fortunately, the calm, unflappable Taro is right there to tell the monster off as she leans back against him. "Anyone can say 'I can see you' to a camera. Maybe it's been doing that for hours hoping someone would come by." Amy jokes to lighten the mood. "And I dunno. Doesn't matter really."

    She blinks and looks up at him. <<"Sorry, are ghosts that are only visible through cameras a thing?">> She asks him and the others on the link, since who knows what others know? <<"I'm still kind of new to ghosts existing, although I'm guessing these are more some kind of yokai than the actual shades of the departed. ...Right?">>

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Takuto grabs him, and the idea of having to explain that the anger is at himself, for his own thoughts, at this time, where they really don't belong -

But instead, Takuto is apologizing, with that sincerity that's so him, the one who blazes in, easy and true, and Sugata would literally rather swallow his tongue than confess the truth, especially right here.

"Don't be," he mutters instead, just before Takuto launches himself down the shaft. The elevator shaft. THE ELEVATOR SHAFT -

"He wouldn't be himself if he wasn't," he says in response to that mutter, and accepts the bubbling, floating down. "...you always have."

Oh he's going to have to talk about feelings. With words. Soon.

...maybe a youma will kill him instead?

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Being on her way down the stairs, Yuki doesn't get to hear Amy's rant about Ahri's lore, although she'll probably have to sit through it again later if her luck holds.

Finding nothing in the medical bay but normal people chilling out is something rather unexpected. <<Wasn't there supposed to be a Barrier to exclude all the normals?>> she asks. <<Because I've got - wait, what the heck? - no, it's gone. Just folks chilling out like a normal day. ... why are you guys blowing up the elevator?>>

She watches as the normals jump and run screaming from the explosion, but...

"I don't like this," she mutters to herself, pushing the door open and heading in while everyone is distracted by the exploding elevator. "Right, Argent Dawn, full energy spectrum analysis... what am I really looking at here?"

"Analyzing."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"The heck...", Veronica whispers unheard under her breath, taken aback by the sight of cheerfully chatting employees, keeping her distance from them as much as possible as she moves and looks through the room, just in case she would trip on some odd enchantment. Not sure if there is anything spirit-proof here, but better not to risk it.

The vision at the edge of her sight makes her shudder, but no matter how much she tries to get back into that position again, she doesn't see it again, the decidedly out of place ensemble of haopy employees all she can see now beyond that first sight. This is very on-brand for something on Halloween if nothing else.

"There are all happy employees, but there was a double sight of some kind of them against the wall", she immediately announces to her three companions, coming out of Phantom mode.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
And Ginga Bishounen jumps down the elevator shaft, gaining speed, energy gathering... and then ... SCREEEEEEEEEECH... CRASH! As the Elevator is sliced through, and then both sides of it freefall down the rest of the way to the bottom floor -- likely causing a similar blasting out of the bottom floors for Taro and Amy to see! ... .. Or at least hear. Normally, accessing those floors requires a key. But when your key is 'magic space sword', well, it works out pretty well!

And after giving the ginga group a few moments to clear out, Aloisia follows down, leaping down the elevator shaft, opting to catch herself on the walls and leap from wall to wall to slow her fall, catching onto the lip of each floor before pushing off to rebound off the wall again. Until they're down to the medical floor as well, though the telepathic link is still cut between the two groups by ... whatever ... was on that floor.
The spirit doesn't respond to the Back Street Slasher, instead just seeming to almost glitchily snap back into whatever it was doing. Either it doesn't actually see him or it's decided not to deign him with a response. It doesn't LOOK huffy, so it's probably actually just not actually able to see him, maybe just tell they're there? Or something. Who knows.

Maybe it /was/ doing that every so often trying to catch someone?! Maybe it was a recording? Maybe a prank set up by one of the employees before everything went horrible? It doesn't seem to be looping though, so it's probably not a recording. Probably. Who knows, maybe there's some weird technomagical programming involved, it is an Obsidian installation after all.

Continuing to watch the Medical Floor as things continue, there was a panicked look from the group of five as one of the elevators comes crashing down the elevator shaft, one of them even dropping and spilling their coffee! Which spreads over the room, but notably, if stepped in... doesn't... 'feel' wet, even through shoes. It doesn't quite properly splash like it should, it doesn't seem to cling to shoes like it should.

Which if you're ethereal isn't exactly weird but for NON-etherial people...

Meanwhile, Aloisia would opt to, rather than brute forcing the elevator door, opt to pull an emergency lever which more or less just manually actuates the closer elevator door, making it slide back and opening the way to the medical floor elevator landing for her and the Ginga-Wind Team.

It opens into a hall! Which ... seems quiet. Most of the lights are out, and there's a handful of doors to various different rooms, a few offices, and then the larger, more obvious doors to the main medical center.

Meanwhile, a response from Ginga Bishounen to Yuki's question, <<It was the faster route.>>

It still seems slightly off in a weird way. Not quite right.

Full energy spectrum analysis.

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
...There's 'people' there! ... Sort of!

Yeah no those are youma, and when they're scanned, there is an immediate snap of their heads towards Yuki, as they give off a chain of screeches.

The illusions dropping, the previously bright lights half-hanging from the ceiling, sparking and giving off dim light, as five spectres dart towards her. A mixture between a banshee and ice cream, their spectral dresses made up of an upside-down ice cream cone and wispy cream energy coming off of their bodies as they dart towards her, their screeching unleashing waves of sonic energy that batter the body and mind.

Screeching which draws Aloisia into action again, darting towards the double doors to the entrance of the main medical ward and slamming her shield through to reveal...

... ... Sitting on a throne of dismantled medical chairs, a woman in a scrub dress sits, one leg crossed over the other as she lazily watches Aloisia Stauss enter. She doesn't look surprised at all, after all, not that long ago, that woman had been restraining her.

Soon she's standing, her form shifting away from that 'disguise' to a more ghostly appearance, her hair writhing around her as she simply smiles, lifting her hand as ... bubbles? begin to appear in the air. Within them, images of wonderful places to be, wonderful lives to live.

All swirling around and attempting to strike the present heroes, while across the room the banshakes continue their assault upon Yuki for the affront of scanning them.

...Aloisia reflexively lifts her shield to protect herself from the bubble, which pops... and she freezes.

Physical defenses likely do not work here.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Camera ghosts are a thing in Fatal Frame," Taro tells Amy. "It's the reverse of how I thought my powers worked before i knew about the Veil, too - thought I couldn't be seen on camera. There's enough magic here that camera-only monsters could exist."

Though this one doesn't react - at least not until Yuki starts her scan and the humans all go ghostlike.

<The main villain is in the medical center, attacking Yuki and Aloisia! Yuki's got five monsters attacking, medium range sonic attacks, the head monster's got a ranged bubble attack that may have illusion or paralyzing powers upon contact! Aloisia's paralyzed right now - exploding mushroom squad, if you've got anyone to spare with a ranged attack, head to the medical room and avoid the bubbles! And if you have ear protection, now's the time to use it!>

If those things stun with a touch, he'd be useless down there, so he'll focus on trying to corral the various forces where they need to go!

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Oh. Oh, that doesn't look great. The moment the bubble pops against the shield and Aloisia freezes, Ginga Otome reacts without thinking - both hands come up, palms out, turning her own magical shield from a sphere to a shimmering curtain of pure light. "Aurore Australe!"

The swift push of her hands sends the curtain of purifying light sweeping across the space ahead of her and Sugata, trying to clear as many of those floating bubbles as she can. If it clobbers a few banshees in the process, so much the better.

<<I think we found the boss...!>>

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Sorry, elevator was stuck," says Takuto to Wind Dancer, grinning. He doesn't sound sorry. Then there's a...

Cream energy.

There's this youma lady, okay, and she recognises-- right, Aloe was her boss, right. And Takuto steps into the room behind Aloe and oh a bubble stopped her in her tracks, "The bubbles are attacks!" he yells out, then slams his fists together in front of him again, and charges up that blue-white light again, and yells once more, "TAU GALAXY BEAM!" and shoots it at the boss, whose boss was Aloe.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy ahs. "I think I heard about that game. Wasn't there an Assist Trophy in Smash...?" But then hell breaks loose upstairs. She gives Taro a quick hug as it seems they must split up, then steps back and transforms in a pillar of fire. This includes getting a helmet for ear protection. Super Amy points up. "Hole please." Once the Slasher has cut through -- or weakened it for her to blast through -- she flies up, and makes a beeline for the room where the fight is occuring, blowing through walls if necessary.

    "This ends here! Your chilling scares need a little heating up--!" Amy announces as she steps through the plaster dust and such kicked up by her explosion, conjures something in her hand and starts to move her hands together, and

    clips a bubble she didn't see in the dust and freezes.

    The canister, clearly some kind of grenade with the pin still in, drops from her hand and hits the floor with a clink, rolling a bit.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
With a snap of her fingers, the Nekomata-Princess's hat fades away into nothingness. As Veronica taps the ground with her cane, tails twisting behind her, it starts rippling like it's water, and the Princess of Sarek starts reciting.

"When colour's absence gives escape
To the deeper spirit of the shape,"

An illusionary full moon appears right below the youma, its light immaculate.

"Then do the clouds like silver flags
Stream out above the tattered crags"

The moon on the ground starts shining even brighter, a light that is soft on the eyes and not blinding.

"And darkened land, and brightening wave,
The moonlight slants through Merlin's cave."

As soon as the word "cave" escapes the lips of the Princess of Sarek, a low rumble is heard, and the hat of the Phantom Thief reappears from below, a giant evanescent shape that passes right through the youma, taking it into itself, and then leaving it behind, the illusion's magic intending make it vanish into the night.

The enormous illusion floats up to the sky and whatever the result, it reappears, solid, in front of Veronica's waiting hand, who grabs its brim and places it back on her head with a smirk and a wink towards the other mahous.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
They've been split in two groups this entire time, but now? Now that's becoming a disadvantage, as the walls separate the groups and the enemies begin flocking. They're in Zero Time - only they and the enemy are real. Only they and the enemy are in danger.

"It seems it would be most beneficial for us to all be together," Ginga Kingu notes, and now, at least, he's calm, collected, back in the mode of things he can control - like mass-scale destruction.

<How durable would you say you all are? Wako-chan, if you wouldn't mind?>

It's definitely going to be an unnerving question, especially when Sugata smiles, faintly, all amusement, and raises a hand.

"King's Pillar."

A wall of light crashes down, not from the ceiling but from above it - originating high above the ground, in orbit, and it crashes through all ten floors of the building, through supports and structures and all of it, not so much breaking it as instantly destroying everything between it and the level they're - no, not just the level they're on.

It's a good thing he can always rely on Wako, because the bubbles Ginga Otome puts up are all that keep them all from falling through the floors.

It's a lot of force, but it doesn't instantaneously destroy the youma, because she's strong - and also because that would have risked pulping the rest of them on the off-chance Wako decided to let them cope with the consequences of his actions.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Because of *course* they're youma. That's just the way Yuki's life goes these days. "Well this is just wonderful," she comments, dart-launchers swirling around her as she prepares to cut them loose.

"This is not your place," she advises the youma. "I'd tell you to get lost, but I get the feeling you aren't even paying attention. So let's see if this gets your attention."

"AURORA LANCER!" she calls out as she slashes down with a hand, cutting loose her darts. "You want to play with fire, prepare to get burned!"

Aloisia Stauss has posed:
There was a weird cracking feedback as Taro talks over the psychic link, the closer proximity of everyone somewhat overwhelming the interference -- the words coming out slightly garbled but otherwise understandable and getting the point across.

A point which Ginga Otome also seemed to get easily enough, as the Aurore Australe is sent forward and sweeping through the room, the Maiden of Manipulation giving a screech as it washes over her, and Aloisia starts moving again, shaking her head as she's brought back out of the illusion.

Cream Energy! Tau Energy Beam would be a blueberry dreamsicle flavor probably, with that blue and white light scheme, launching towards the Maiden of Manipulation, which creates its own bubble to shield itself from the worst of the attacks, allowing it to wash over and around her; the collateral splashing towards the banshees and cutting out some of its creamy figure!

A hole is made in the ground, allowing Amy Faust to come flying up into the medical room with a plasma grenade in hand, ready to fight! ... ... Tink tink tink ....

And an illusiory moon appears below another one of the youma, before a hat comes from the moon to consume the youma, dragging it down into the full moon below as it gives a strangled yelp!

And now it is part of a hat? Definitely very... different.

Aaand then Ginga Kingu asks how durable everyone is. "..." Aloisia Stauss reacts almost immediately.

<WAND MODE.>
<MASSENPYRAMIDENFALL.>

Normally used to trap an enemy in a difficult-to-break pyramid, instead, Aloisia Stauss, as the King's Pillar falls, summons pyramid-shaped barriers over each of her allies and herself for that King's Pillar to block it.

...Which break just in time for Yuki's follow-up Aurora Lancer, those darts launching out towards the remaining Youma! As...

There's a crackle. A spark. That grenade from earlier sitting in the middle of the group of youma.

Explodes.

In the wake of the already smoking crater, making a second one.

Luckily, they're in Zero Time!

...Also there's no Youma anymore.

...They kind of got nuked.

...Also Aloisia seems to be steaming? Probably from casting Pyramidenfall with only one device to manage the calculations instead of two like she's used to.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The way Ginga Otome's eyes widen in understanding and, let's be real, alarm at Ginga Kingu's casual question is damn near comedic.

Immediately, bubbles of pink light begin shimmering into being one after another - around herself and Sugata, around Takuto, then Aloisia, Zephyr, and Amy--

--and then around the ones she doesn't even have line of sight on, Taro and Yuki and Veronica, faint shields of glimmering pink light snapping into place around them like giant soap bubbles popping in reverse, a split second before that pillar of energy crashes down through the building.

In the wake of the blast, she's left gasping, a little floored by the effort and not even really clear on how she managed it.

"Jerk," she tells Ginga Kingu, affectionately.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's lost in some peaceful illusion until she isn't and then

    An ORBITAL BEAM CANNON destroys everything around them, thank goodness for shields.

    She's left staring, open-mouthed, as her grenade engulfs the group of youma in a fireball and a wave of hot air blows outwards from it that everyone can feel. It less makes a crater and more turns that part of the floor/crater to glass and ash.

    Amy dismisses her helmet's visor. "You can DO that?!" Amy looks around at the destruction. "If you could just destroy the whole building in one shot, why even enter it? Damn..." She starts to sit down on her little island of floor, then decides to just fly over to Taro instead. "Is everybody alright? You were... frozen. Huh. Is that everything?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
There's so much light and noise coming from the cameras - but it looks like that bubble monster should be downed soon, that Aloisia and Amy and the others will be safe, that the enemy will finally go up in brilliant burning light -

The bubble envelops him a second before terrible light and force punches through the security room. It's so bright that closing his eyes doesn't change the blinding sight brefore him. It screams past and around his bubble -

And when the dust settles, his bubble gently floats down to the remains of the medical room, bounces off a wall and pops, leaving him spilled all over the floor. "Is this what a gumball coming out of the machine feels like?" he croaks.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"I knew you could do it," Sugata says simply, as Wako correctly labels him a jerk. He puts a hand on her shoulder, which is for him, a lot of public affection, honestly, and smirks a little as the others react.

"Obviously I can do that. You should see what Takuto can do, when he cuts loose."

He might be protagonist-coded, but Takuto is protagonist-protagonist. What he can do, when he's really taking things seriously? Oh, he could do more than this.

"I wanted to see what the rest of you could do, obviously." Usually he would make a crack about seeing Takuto's performance in action, but given the everything of the rest of the day... no, he'll leave it there.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy lands next to the Slasher just after he makes that comment. She spreads her arms and grins, "Ooh, a six-star SSR-rank Slasher! Lucky!"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki looks over at Amy as if she'd asked a stupid question. It's no big deal, she feels pretty stupid herself sometimes next to all the magical powerhouses she runs into. "Neatness counts," is her only answer as she pulls up a chair and settles into it.

Hey. She got through a fight and not only did her side win, but she didn't get knocked out or even thrown through a wall this time. Things are improving!

Still, best to be sure. She sends her little sensor drone zooming around the rest of the building, just to be sure they've cleared out all the youma.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The pink bubbles come into being to do an emergency protection for everyone from the sudden explosions. The only notice they even get of anything happening, and these barriers are up before one can so much as say "ah". A big cheer to the caster for having such foresight. And/or reaction ability.

The whole place was actually incredibly weird, all the more so because of how the whole thing had ended, but at least they all got out of it fine. She stretches completely, taking a deep breath to ease the tension and exhaling to let off all the nervous energy.

"Finding a SSR friend just like that is a sign of great luck, Red", the Princess approaches her and the Slasher, checking how the two of them are doing. They seem well enough, probably. She should also try to talk to Aloisia if she can get to her after she has stopped being angry. Even if the hotel is done, there are still things she would like to know about her and Otto.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"I love it when you clear stuff with a wall of purification," Takuto says with immense affection and satisfaction to Wako, as he gets pyramided and sphered-- he's not worried about Sugata's question because Wako is here.

An orbital laser crunches through all the levels of the building going down to the basement with the security works, absolutely destroying the boss youma and any others that were unfortunate enough to have been near her, leaving a smoking crater and a bunch of floating bubbles with pyramids and mahou in them.

The shields pop and drop Takuto on his feet, and he dusts himself off unnecessarily and says with equal affection to Sugata, "I love when you use King's Pillar appropriately."

And then Sugata's talking him up and Takuto blushes furiously and ignores it!!! and just says, firmly, to Amy, "What fun would that be? We all got to get some mad out and have a little fun breaking stuff and being spies." And getting haunted, but he doesn't know that. "I'm just glad there weren't any skeletons. Come on, let's get out of here before the Ginga Otome drops Zero Time and we have to behave. Who needs a ride out~?"