2108/The Best Kind Of Quest V

The Best Kind Of Quest V
Date of Scene:	25 November 2024
Location:	Tokyo
Synopsis:	This time Riventon has thought of it all, from collaborating with Clarthas Anode to find where the box will be delivered in advance to preparing a legion of youma beasts - but even that isn't enough to stop the combined forces of Nanoha, Molly, Koji, Takuto, Wako, and Sugata. The final piece of the Crystal Heart is safe in the hands of the Mahou!
Cast of Characters:	Takashi Agera, Keaka Hoshiko, Takuto Tsunashi, Nanoha Takamachi, Koji Silvia, Wako Agemaki, Sugata Shindo, Molly Skyline
Tinyplot:	The Best Kind of Quest

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Takashi Agera has posed:
    Four boxes had arrived in Tokyo over the last month - wooden boxes with intricate carvings that helped to mask the magical auras of the artifact within. Four of five boxes now resided safely on the campus of Radiant Heart Academy, buried in the effects of so much magic and protected by uncountable numbers of Mahou Shoujo and Mahou Shonen who would defend the campus from attack. Four times Riventon had challenged their efforts and four times he had failed. Calculations indicated they were four parts of five; that there was one final peice, and then whatever project had drawn the attention of so many Mahou and moved with such secrecy might well be complete.

    Riventon didn't know what they were building, but that alone was enough for him to know he didn't want them to have it. Much like the Rainbow Crystal he totally didn't have, if he could get just one peice he could prevent the sparkles from doing whatever they were planning to do - and perhaps reverse-engineer the problem and solution from live data.

    Two of them he'd detected too late to plan, and the last two he'd only walked into by chance. He couldn't leave this to chance and yet if he didn't succeed, he certainly didn't want to inform the rest of Obsidian that he knew about this and failed to stop it - especially not five times. Riventon needed help to secure the last box, and he needed help of an intelligent variety - then he could tip the scales on the fight itself. He needed someone to look at the problem from a new perspective, maybe someone who could apply a very different sort of magical theory alongside his, to compliment it.

    And that is why Riventon approached Keaka/Clarthas Anode. While not everything he did made sense to Riventon (even in a world of magic where things didn't make sense on the regular) he couldn't deny the person had some real capability. And, like him, could use a very visible win. After approaching him and discussing the information he had (without revealing this was attempt #5 of his own), Clarthas and Riventon got to work, combining their unique capabilities and strengths of magic. Because of that, Riventon and Clarthas were able to detect a hint of energy, and track the it's movement, even if shakily, from much further away. Which meant they could prepare for it.

    So, this time instead of handing it off to the school's chosen guardians, they'd be handing it right to Riventon and Clarthas, right to Obsidian, sailing the boat into a well-placed trap and a prepared battlefield. With Clarthas around to help think on their feet, and the foreknowledge of where the delivery would be, this time Obsidian wouldn't be the ones outnumbered, and the surprises would be in his favor, and he'd catch and drop the sparkles that came to assist. He'd be going home with more than one magic toy today - the thing the Academy was bringing in, and the henshin devices of the heroes who got in his way and were caught in the trap.

    The sun had just slid below the horizon and dusk was falling as the boat in question docked at the harbor. And out of a parked car came a man in a suit, showing papers to one of the dockworkers and heading towards the boat. Shadowing him - and not being as sneaky as he thought - was a boy in a bright blue and white outfit. Once the box was brought to the man in the suit - chaos broke loose with a vengeance.

    Riventon blasted the boy with Dark Energy from behind, and the 'dockworkers' charged in, running towards the man with the box, the illusion falling as instead of dockworkers they revealed themselves to be something stranger, creatures in two-tone black suits with white facepaint, absolutely nonhuman. Anybody near by will 'feel' their awareness of Dark Energy, if they have it, light up with a lot of small entities here.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Riventon has had to hear a lot of incomprehensible technobabble aout concepts and resonance, but working together, they got results.

    A number of tethered balloons with some kind of technology on the rope blow them, gadgets with a couple of crystals on them, have been set up in the vicinity. Just taking meteorological readings for a college project, and they're out of the way, harmless enough.

    Sometimes, the balloons disappear, and the tethers fade into nothingness in midair. But it must be a trick of the light. Or swamp gas. Or weather balloons, right?

    The moment they detected the crystal piece, Clarthas put her tech's affinity for the otherworldly to another use, and rang the dinner bell. Or the invade-the-world bell, whatever.

    She just hopes something answers. Or some things answer.

    When Riventon attacks, the sensors fade back into reality, sparking and smoking and popping the balloons from the strain, but their job is done by the things clinging to the ropes, or gathered around and falling when the devices phase back in: Dark things, things made of blackness, human-size or smaller, humanoid-shaped or animal shaped, although if you got a good look at one it would be hard to pin down just what animal. Some of them have glowing eyes or other features that seem scribbled in over the black.

    "Holy shit, it worked." Clarthas, hiding out of sight behind a shipping container, is grinning; presenting feminine today but in the fancier uniform of her henshin. "Alright, let's try it!" The gauntlet on her left arm chimes. "Reallocating resonance. Engaging Link Drives."

    Collars of red light form on the shadow-beasts, but keep disappearing and reappearing out of sync, as if suffering a brownout.

    "Link Drive capacity taxed." The gem flickers from blue to grey as its tone of voice changes to less formal. "There are too many!" "Yeah, I bet the heroes will solve that soon." Clarthas grumbles. "Where are they... They've got to be here somewhere, right? No way are there no heroes ready to meddle in our plans..."

    Her attention is on a screen projected in the air in front of her, showing the surrounding area in an RTS view in glorious low-res monochrome; parts of the 'map' flicker in and out like the monsters' collars.

    The invading horde is already decohering. When the collars flicker off, they start to scatter, seeking anything not dark energy-affiliated to attack, or clawing or bashing at the scenery, only to stop when the collars reappear, and so it repeats.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
The kid gets one-shotted and the collection of not-actually-dockworkers swarm, and there's a bellow of APPRIVOISER! in a voice that sounds way too happy about yelling it, and then there's a spark in the sky and no sound from that quarter for a moment.

It's fine, there are a LOT of people here. They absolutely do things. Then the second Riventon's personal stage is clear of anyone who's NOT a monster, that spark in the sky flashes much brighter, and there's a growing sound.

A sound like a meteor the closer it gets, and that spark in the sky is turning into a bigger thing than a spark, and then a bright blue-white ball of crackling power with a comet's trail behind it, and then there's the scream of "TAU MISSILE!" and the comet turns out to be none other than...

...the GINGA BISHOUNEN! Aimed directly at Takashi, tracking him like an actual homing missile, flying down at speed instead of falling!

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi was flying through the air. She is not involved in the evil drama unfolding quite yet. She's practicing. She's flying through virtual hoops in her minds eye. Doing a loop. Practicing her flight as Raising Heart narrates into her head the vectors, the vertexes best to use for this. And she understands. Even at her young age.

That's when Raising Heart stops and blurts out. < Corrosive Energy Detected...! > pointing a virtual arrow in the direction to go. She follows...

From the sky, a magenta laser sweeps down at the smaller youma creatures. Taking out three before the others can run for cover, proving Keaka's hypothesis.

"Oh. It's you." she says, looking over to Riventon. "....Where's Fate-chan?" she asks, looking around. She's expecting these two to work in tandem by now..! She doesn't know who this new girl is.

...She looks kinda cool, she admits.

Koji Silvia has posed:
To Clarthas' benefit, she does in fact get her wish.

A semi-visible rope suddenly wraps around the neck of one of the black and whites before he can reach one of the ACTUAL dockworkers trying to flee from the sudden madness. There's a glow of blue-white that travels up that just before it appears, showing a thick steel ring at the end of the rope, and whatever that does... the white-faced creature just goes back the way it came.

For the person treating this all like a game, she can see it on her screen. Something went in, picked apart the magic that allowed that one to manifest there, and then... nothing!

Another one. Signs of three Devicer-style blasts, but these are knife-shaped, thin and not as strong as usually get tossed around, but when they strike... the SAME THING. Someone is just plucking at constructive threads of dark energy and then they unravel and gone!

3 more suffer the same fate of precision assault and disruption before the culprit can be seen.

Swinging up via his kunai to a lightpole and doing justice to the Spiderman crouch-pose is Hanzo, hair and scarf whipping in the breeze as he looks down to where he can view Nanoha, and sends to her...

    <<Nanoha, we need the strongest time-space barrier you can throw up. He has something that can teleport past it. Hurry! We cannot afford to let Riventon get this piece.>>

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"...it's not that I mind, but you'd think that evil bucket of yours would let you fly, too," Wako is saying sidelong to Sugata as the two of them float, rather more slowly, in Takuto's wake. The pair hang suspended in one of the Galactic Maiden's shield bubbles. Not quite as conspicuous an entrance as the Ginga Bishounen's, but then, what is?

As she gets a good look at the chaos spilling out over the docks, Wako sighs quietly. "What a mess. Of course it'd be Riventon."

First things first--

Even as she's bringing Sugata in to join the melee, she presses her fingertips together and quickly sketches out a boundary in miniature. "Zero Time!"

The energy rushes outwards; for the magical combatants already present, it's like a sudden change in air pressure. The sky overhead shifts to a dazzling multicolored starscape, and between one breath and the next, the panicked civilians caught up in the chaos vanish.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"I'm ninety percent sure that this is another case of 'refusing to give up secrets because I won't let him devour a 'single human town'," Sugata rolls his eyes as he delivers the news, looking down at the battlefield Takuto had sped towards like a bat from hell - or, more accurately, a launched missile.

"Of course it's him. Who else would be up to all this trouble?"

They're moving slower than Takuto, but that just means Ginga Kingu has time to be prepared, and as Zero Time is called into being, he slams a fist against his chest.

"Star Swordo - Diamante!"

"Drop me on the nearest cluster of enemies," he advises Wako casually, "You've been practicing your spike, haven't you?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
For once, Molly is right in the thick of the action when it starts, not guarding some other point on the route waiting to see if trouble happens there. She's here! Literally standing on top of a warehouse, with her battle visor up to keep track of all her allies (all with little blue tags with their names, along with trajectory and velocity information), along with a bright green tag that says MCGUFFIN in big letters. Gotta keep track of that, afterall.

"Starfrash, charge Stellar Barrage, twenty barrets with homing, just in case," she instructs.

<< ROGER ROGER >>

"...OKay I know I only just started showing you movies, but Episode One is not one of the better ones, and you are so much better than a Trade Federation battle droid, my friend."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >>

Molly shoulders her staff, still keeping an eye, looking for-- Oh, basically, looking for that. Riventon. Noticeable first by the unmistakable presence of dark energy; and a tag pops up in red on her holographic display, tagging him just like her allies. A second tag pops up with 'unknown' in yellow, for Keaka.

"Well I guess it's a good thing we charged that. Lock on Riventon, and Fire!" Molly jumps up into the air, letting her wings carry her upwards, as she unleashes a stream of brilliantly glowing barrets straight for Riventon, opting to go straight on the offensive as it seems Nanoha has the barrier handled.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Clarthas has brought down a swarm of creatures from the Dusk Zone, which is cool. They will probably focus on the sparkles, being far more energetic than normals - or at least that's what Riventon has to hope. Then again, he wouldn't have been pushed to this if they'd just let him have the things. There's a lot of minion-based chaos going on, but in Riventon's mind it's controlled chaos, planned chaos.

    The same cannot be said for the bright blue light erupting from above him. Riventon, of course, throws up a barrier; triangular Belkan runic shield bursting into existence from his palm and interposing itself between him and the oncoming comet. He digs his heels in when it impacts, but he's still driven back from the force. He does a pretty good job of staying upright; if the smoke and debris from the comet's overall impact was a little less dense you might see the way he staggered and dropped to the ground before returning to his normal standing position. The warded shield has a crack down the middle of it - before Molly's barrets also slam into it - and Riventon. He's jostled this way and that by the ones that break through with the aid of the Tau Missile earlier, but he doesn't go down...

    "Where's Fate?" Riventon repeats as some smoke drifts from the burned sections of his labcoat barrier jacket. "Maybe she's got homework. Or maybe she's here, waiting to introduce Bardiche to some of you." he notes. He's not just going to confirm her lack of presence. Then he sees who, exactly, was the source of that comet. "Hey, didn't we shoot most of your heart at of you once? How does that 'not' indicate to you the dangers of this line of work?" he asks.

    Most of the youma roaming around are content to try to engage the various heroes in melee to questionable success - at least the ones not perched on lightpoles or flying in the air. But there's other threats around the dockyard. While conventional firearms and explosives really don't do much to stop those in henshin from continuing to fight, rendering them worthless without some sort of magic to shell them in, there's always a way to use existing concepts in new ways.

    Atop one of the cranes in the area, one of the black-and-white creatures stands, with what looks like wild reinterpretation of a Nintendo Power Glove on one hand, which is extended in a 'fingergun' pose. Next to it stands another humanoid youma, only with sharp red sunglasses, and a few vials of purple energy in its hand. The one with the glove 'fires' its fingergun down at one of the visible heroes, and the second immediately crushes a vial and pushes the energy back into the now-smoking glove.

    Atop several cranes and rooftops the same thing happens, brilliant rays of purple energy lancing through the air from unexpected, non Riventon-and-Keaka positions, turning the dockyard into what looks like the most deadly laser-light rave. "Sorry, honestly I'd just love to kick all of your butts at the same time, but... I've got a date with a magic box. And you look busy." Riventon says as the shots crisscross, some of them aimed at the ones near him too, and he takes off into the air to try to close the distance between where he is and where that box is.

    At this point most of the actual humans have either passed out from the energy drain of a nearby youma, or wisely ran like hell. As Riventon moves through the air, though, things change and Zero Time hits - he's midair as the world changes, the sky warps... and the box should still be there. The contents are magic, the box ITSELF is magic. A lot of the minor youma are collecting near the point where the box's mundane former holder was pushed out of Zero Time - there's nobody to stop him from picking it up and tucking it under his arm. He tries to Duskport out - and does, stepping partially back out of reality... except for the fact that the box resists coming with. So it clatters to the ground and Riventon has to step back into this world, and pick it up again. "Alright... I guess we still get to fight our way out of this then." he says,

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Alright... I guess we still get to fight our way out of this then." he says, rolling his neck.

    <<Clarthas, do me a favor... find out who put this barrier down - it's probably one of the people with the epaulets - and neutralize them with prejudice, I can't Duskport out with the box. It won't open, either. Stupid box.>> Riventon complains/notes via device-added telepathy.

    Around Riventon, more and more of the mooks (without laser-gloves) continue to gather in a defensive formation.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Keaka isn't really treating it like a game, but it sure does seem like parts of the Abstractum system were designed for a layman to use. Or at least, what some ancient otherworldly artificer thought would be easy for anyone to pick up and use. The impenetrable jargon leaves something to be desired. "Something's Unshifting our creatures! They're hijacking the protoabstractum somehow!"

    Clarthas is gobsmacked. "Why didn't we put self-destructs in those?! ...How could anyone possibly be able to hack them?!" "I would theorize," Sarida intones in more clipped, calm voice, "That someone has a hacking power that operates on the conceptual level. So it doesn't matter--" "Yes, yes, of course." Clarthas cuts them off. "We're getting resonance from the fight, right?" Sarida chimes, and she nods. "That's something. Let's just buy time for Riventon's escape..." She holds her hand up to the screen, "Ugh, which of them is the hacker?!"

    She squints. "Is that guy standing on a light pole, or on a railing near the ground? Why are the graphics so terrible?!" "Most of our monsters don't seem to have visible eyes." the gauntlet replies, then notes, "Really, isn't it far more interesting that we can get sensory information from them at all?" Clarthas sighs, and taps flying monsters, and taps Hanzo.

    She doesn't really have to, though, he's making himself a target anyway with such an obvious position! The flying monsters are uh... bird-shaped? Kind of? Feathery-winged shapes with big hooked beaks and 'horns' on their heads that may or may not be tufts of feathers, it's hard to tell with the whole 'monsters made of black' aesthetic. Each has pair of footless legs like an insect's, and a tail that might have some kind of spade or stinger at the end and is definitely not a bird tail. Once they get into attack range it's clear they're about large-bird-to-small-child size. You cannot see the whites of their eyes, though. They don't seem to have any eyes at all. How does that work. Dusk monsters are bullshit.

    Collarless dog-things gather around the base of the pole and bark up at him menacingly -- the barks sound like a recording of one single bark being played repeatedly, with a lot of static.

    Zero Time goes up, and the monsters that were smashing scenery or chasing civilians howl in frustration, howls haunting and airy and staticy and distorted. And they turn to collapse towards remaining prey.

    The ravening horde still numbers in the dozens, but have already been more than decimated (one tenth lost, not one tenth left) by the opening few seconds of combat. They're not smart, and go down in a single hit, two if hit while empowered -- although getting caught by a group or one Keaka's currently empowering with that red collar magic can hurt.

    <"When did devouring a town come up?"> Keaka wonders to Riventon as she hears one of the heroes shouting about it. <"We could get a lot of energy from something like that..."> Although some part of her still cringes at the thought of hurting people en masse that way, depending on what is meant by 'devouring'.

    Riventon can't leave with the box. Sarida pipes up, <"Now that is interesting! A container that can't be unshifted! It's not an Abstractum, how is it resisting that? This is fascinating!">

    "It really is," Clarthas agrees, a bit exasperated, "but right now--" "Origin point of dimensional shift is here." Clarthas starts directing most of the horde that way. "Ugh, who is that? I can't see on this dumb screen! Get me eyes on that!"

    Sarida chimes, and one of the bird-things that was headed towards Koji veers off towards Wako, a blue collar appearing on it this time as Sarida uses it as a drone.

    Another dithered monochrome screen appears in front of her, showing the not-a-bird's view as it dives at Ginga Otome, much of the horde collapsing towards her right behind it on the ground!

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"I think," Takuto calls out to Riventon after the sound of Molly's barrets and the smoke have both cleared, "it's more dangerous to be you, friend! Especially when you try and take our stuff! LIKE HEARTS--"

And then there's deadly purple lasers and it only takes Takuto getting hit in the arm with one before he yells out, "APPRIVOISE!" and glows bright, too bright, again; he yells, "Dazzling the Stage! GINGA BISHOUNEN... TAUBURN!" and--

--it's glowing gold-white phantom armor in the same shape as the adorable miniature robot that sometimes accompanies him, and Takuto's running after Riventon -- then flying -- his armor getting hit by the lasers he doesn't dodge, definitely pitting it, but holding for now.

He isn't doing this with any finesse at all, he's just a giant spiky-haired wrecking ball right now, and he rockets forward to try and slam into Riventon again, armor and all.

He never worries about Wako or Sugata in a fight anymore. They know what they can do and they do it, and he knows what he can do and he does it, and they support each other's life choices and mistakes and it's a really good thing that Takuto is monofocused on Riventon right now, or he'd be freaking about everything starting to go after Wako.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
"Look, Raising Heart, It's Molly-chan!" < Affirmative! > replies Raising Heart. "It looks like she has Riventon. Which means..." she looks to Keaka. But first. << Right! >> she replies to Hanzo. "Barrier...!"

The world changes...! But Nanoha blinks. That...wasn't her! < Barrier already detected, Master! > says Raising Heart.

She huhs and shrugs. Well, a barrier is up, and the normal people are safe.

Nanoha Takamachi swings Raising Heart out at Clarthas Anode, and magic circles appear around her, "Hyperion Smasher...!"

< Hyperion Smasher! > repeats Raising Heart as strong laser barrages leverage from the magic circles down at Clarthas and the surrounding area, aiming to get her, and any creatures and strange men around them!

Shots ring back at her, however and she gets minorly clipped as she yips like a hurt puppy, brining an end to any further artillery barrages from her location for a moment, though those that got out are still approaching!

Koji Silvia has posed:
Multiple smaller enemies attacking from many angles, vectors of movement cut off, and a stage with multiple areas that one has to navigate in order to remain safe?

If Clarthas could see the smile, it might be a little unnerving, because for Hanzo, this is where he lives.

    <<Hanzo, go active defense, Shields to block the fliers, keep them as small and pulse them as fast as you can. Mark all hit targets.>>

    << AFFIRMATIVE. HEX SHIELD. >>

Doing a backwards swan-dive off of the lightpole so that two of the birds go right past him, he just falls for a moment, and then he tucks into a somersault and ends up throwing his Device's blade-tip right into one of the dog-creatures, and spears right through it, though this time no pulsing flash goes through it. Instead, he yanks up and back as he lands, and then spins, swinging one dog into the pack!

As the birds come down on him, little blue-white hexes appear in the air, just about the same size as the targets, knocking them away or even causing them to break apart on hit. But even as this is happening, he whips Hanzo back to his arm and begins backflipping away from the dogs and the rest of them, putting them in front of him instead of around him.

Pointing his hand down as he lands, another shield, this one greenish hued instead of white appears and a << BOOST SHIELD. >> launches him up into the air, and over the boat, but he claps his hands together, flashes to his fingers wrapped and then spreads them wide, causing another circle to appear, <<Targets?>>

Most of the bird-things appear to shift color in his view from an inky black to a vaguely outlined blue, << Ready, Master. >>.

    << DISRUPTOR SHOCK. >>

This time the magic circle in front of his hands throws out a crackling ball of blue white, that detonates lashing whips of what look like lightning, and are meant to paralyze any of the various small dog-and-bird like constructs they hit.

As he lands, he looks down towards where Riventon is, and just rolls his eyes, "No really, is one of your magic powers being the angriest cockroach in Tokyo? Just stay there. Soon as I'm done warming up, I think I'm going to come down there and punch the smug off of you."

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Fate? Yeah she's not here, I might only have fought her briefly last time but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what words like 'subtle' or 'wait' mean, so... niec try." Molly holds up one finger and makes an ah-ah-ah motion at Riventon. Is she taunting someone out of her league? ...Maybe. Is that going to stop her? No. "Starcrash, charge Solar Beam--" she pauses. Let's try something. "Overcharge twenty beams with a half-second duration, rapid fire."

<< ARMED. ALERT: MANA USAGE INCREASED >>

"Oh I know, but I've never tried rapid-firing beams instead of barrets before." The purplenette levels her staff at Riventon once more, "Fi-AUGH DON'T FIRE" she shouts, as purple lasers start criss-crossing down from above?! "What fresh hell is this?!" she screams as her barrier jacket takes a hit, and then another and another, leaving her armor smoldering in several places as more just keeps coming. "Aurura Barrier, Deploy!!"

<< DEPLOYED >>

A multi-faceted sphere snaps into position around Molly, then vanishes, visible only as a bright orange silhoute when a purple beam strikes it; and the beams that hit it, get bounced off to fly away in some other direction at random.

<< WARNING: BARRIER WILL FALL IN SEVEN SECONDS >>

"That'll be enough. At least the Youmas can't reach us. Fire!!" Now Molly levels her staff at Riventon and a searing hot beam lasting just a half second at the evil doer; followes swiftly by another, and another, until all twenty have fired. Is this better than just one long, continuous beam? Probably not. But it does look extremely cool.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The air fills with beams. More than one shot sizzles off of Wako's shield - the protective bubble holds up, but it's clear that staying in the air is going to be hazardous as long as those youma keep firing from their elevated positions.

Even so, Ginga Otome remains calm. After all, Takuto and Sugata are both here. She flashes Ginga Kingu a quick, almost impish smile at his suggestion, and replies with a quick nod. "Of course," she begins--

--only to break off in a surprised yelp as the dark bird-like thing dive-bombs her with a jarring impact against her shield. "Hey!"

Her eyes widen as she realizes it's not just the one monster, but an entire horde of dark creatures swarming after her en masse. "What did I do?" she asks plaintively, as though there's likely to be any answer.

Well, Sugata did say to airdrop him on a cluster of enemies. "Brace yourself, Sugata-kun!" With only this as warning, Wako launches herself straight upwards, leaving Sugata afloat in the bubble of pink light as she emerges over top of it, dodging purple beams. "Kingu Mis..." she calls out, rearing back with both hands, and then slams the sphere of light - Sugata and all - directly down into the mob of youma pursuing her. "SPIKE!"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
You get a man floating in a bubble, it's only natural that he thinks of being spiked. Or maybe it's natural to Ginga Kingu because he's used his floating mascot of evil like a volleyball.

Either way, once it becomes clear that Wako is being swarmed, Ginga Kingu's mouth tightens with anticipation, a sparkle in his eyes. He's no better than Takuto when it comes to loving a fight, and as Wako comes in for the spike, he twists to look at her, offering a smug grin.

"Maybe it's your sparkling personality?"

That definitely ensures she uses every bit of force she can muster when it comes to spiking the glowing pink force bubble. Sugata rockets inside it, braced in the center of the bubble, sword held out so he doesn't accidentally stab himself, and the bubble SMASHES into the coming horde, easily smashing half a dozen of the creatures flat. It bursts on impact, not from the force but from Wako freeing Sugata, and Ginga Kingu rises to his full-clamp noodle height, extends the sword, and starts killing.

They're just youma, after all - they can be hacked, slashed, and stabbed with a weapon of glowing white energy without breaking rating! He's very, very good with a sword, and the small fries are going down like flies.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Some of the attending horde try to get in the Ginga Bushonen's way - but really they just at best slow him down and several of them do not even succeed at that. But Riventon's still got that runic shield for the spikey haired boy to run into. "Okay, I get it, you want to be up in my personal space... but come on, what are you even gonna do when you get here, hug me?" He asks as their energy collides, sparking off his shield as he focus on keeping it stable. The box is in his other hand. "You don't really think you can hurt me, do you? By yourself?" Of course then Hanzo chimes in, and Riventon rolls his eyes. "Or in a pack, even?" He adds. "I'm not exactly here alone. Am I?"

    But despite the swarm of youma trying to get back to Riventon and the Ginga Bishonen after being pushed back (the ones that didn't cease to exist, anyways), the answer comes from his Device. <<NO, MEISTER.>> it states in Belkan, and then the black gem sparkles as the voice switches to Midchildan. <<CONTACT IN 3, 2, 1.>>

    The good news is, at some point, the Ginga Bishonen will be able to look back on it and possibly consider how cool it was that he got to fight these. But for the moment, it's a PROBLEM. A small group of problems. A pack of problems.

    Because from between a bunch of cargo containers comes what is apparently seriously a pack of raptors made of Dusk Energy, gleaming black toe-claws and all, trying to jump on the Bishonen from behind. Just how much random nonsense does Riventon *have* stored away in this trainyard in addition the creatures Clarthas is dropping?

    With Takuto Probably Busy (either fighting for his life or trying to contain the fact that he's getting to fight dinosaurs) Riventon is able to focus on Molly, which is good since the first couple of small burst rays come in from his flank and sizzle against his coat as well. The ranged-focused Midchildan Barrier erupts from his hand, circular in shape, absorbing the beams until Riventon can get to cover, behind a shipping container.

    <DAMMERUNGSFEUER> calls Axion as several spheres come into existence behind cover and rocket out in a long arc to go hunt down the flying Molly, orbs of dark crackling energy to chase her down. And one for Hanzo too, for his threat.

    Then Riventon picks up a message from Clarthas' device; albeit very different in feel from how he's used to getting Devicer's talking to him telepathically. <<Insufficient resonance capacity to control monsters and empower my User at the same time. My User is engaged in combat and being delayed from attacking the barrier-wielder. FYI.>> <<Tell your user to focus on the barrier.>> Riventon replies. <<Troops are getting mulched and I count five, maybe six here. Already had to bring in reserves.>>

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Keaka is considering if she should focus on helping Riventon fight off--

    Nanoha launches an attack, and suddenly all the collars -- and the screens next to Keaka -- wink out as what looks like a translucent amber Sphere Protection surrounds Keaka to protect her. << Force Field. >> chimes Sarida. "Reallocating resonance from Link Drives to Strife Drives." Other youma in the attack radius are not so protected.

    The shadow-beasts are no longer enhanced or controlled, but there's still a lot of them and they still hate this world and everything in it that isn't Darkness-aligned, so their chaotic rampage continues.

    << Barret Burst Fire. >> chimes Clarthas's gauntlet, as the forcefield drops and she holds her arm up, a magic circle appearing and shooting a burst of stun barrets at Nanoha.

    "Are you another dog of the Bureau's?" Clarthas calls up at her, seemingly not the least bit surprised at her age. "What have they ever done for you?? Maybe you're lucky to be trapped here and free of their commands.

    She sighs. "I remember being in your place. You do what's right because it's right, not because it's what they told you. It just happens to also be what they told you, right?"

    << Barret Burst Fire. >> Another spray of barrets mixes with the villain's words. "They taught you to fight for the status quo, not for good. Just maintaining the current order... what kind of justice is that?!"

    Clarthas hasn't taken to the air yet, still shouting at Nanoha from the ground.

    Meanwhile, Koji is spearing through shadow-dogs, the beasts dissipating like dust in the wind when mortally wounded -- the same happens to the birds that smash into dust against his shields, and the beasts felled by lightning. That's more than half of the shadow-things down...!

    Keaka did not account for Wako's tactics. The Ginga Otome gets jumpscared by a bird hitting her windshield, but then she takes to the air -- where the horde coming for her can't go -- and blasts downward, and from the angle of other fighters on the ground it looks really cool as the horde of monsters is disintigrated by the attack.

    That's basically it for the horde. There's maybe another dozen of them scattered, that didn't happen to get close to Koji or Wako, and scattered as they are and without Keaka boosting them, they're not a real threat, at best a jumpscare as they kind of blend in with the darkness.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Riventon's device gets a text:
VisionOfThorns: Insufficient resonance capacity to control monsters and empower my User at the same time. My User is engaged in combat and being delayed from attacking the barrier-wielder. FYI.


    Sarida gets a response from Riventon, and warns: "Clarthas, Riventon requests you prioritize the barrier-projector. That is the one that just fired down at the horde."

    Clarthas glances from Nanoha to Ginga Otome, mentally cursing. She sighs. "Do it. And Inscribe Shift, this isn't worth hurting you."

    Sarida chimes. << Powering Void Drives. >> there is a sense of dark power welling into Keaka, and--

    << COMMENCING INSCRIBE SHIFT. >> White lines like circuits trace Keaka's body as there's a sound like an electronic whine from Sarida, who's still chiming out spells. << Death... >>

    A magic circle appears under Keaka's feet, and two more behind and above and out to the side of her shoulders, which particles of energy begin to suck into.

    << ...Blossom... >> The magic circles glow brighter as more energy is sucked into them.

    --wait, it feels like that happened, but also, didn't Keaka just say Powering Void Drives less than a second ago?

    << CANNON >> and the two circles over Clarthas's shoulders fire twin beams at Ginga Otome, this is exactly the sort of spell Nanoha is so fond of, twin energy beams wider than her body that streak out across the battlefield! If she gets hit... well, it's a good thing imitated Mid-Childan magic can't kill people...

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Starcrash, charge--"

<< BARRIER DOWN >>

Molly abandons what she was going to do for the moment, and just flies to where she can cannonball through a window into a building, to get some momentary cover. Just for a moment! Yes, this will do. "Starcrash, deploy Round Shield," she instructs, and a globe of energy snaps into place around her; but her defense game has never been particularly good, so when Riventon's barrets find her, the first two drop her shield and the rest just... hit her, over and over and over. She shrieks and staggers as she gets buffeted and burnt, and her barrier jacket looks like it's been hit with a tank shell by the time she falls back out a different window, orienting herself to fly just before she goes splat on the ground.

Which, puts her at eye-level with a bunch of Youma. "Charge Stellar Pulse, forty barrets, FIRE!!" she calls out desperately, and unleashes a hail of glowing energy orbs into the youmas, as she rapidly gains herself some altitude.

Once she's up, she looks back at her holographic display; alright, where's Riventon. Oh yes, he's over there. "Starcrash, charge Eclipse Barrage, twenty barrets, homing on target 'Riventon' after five second delay."

<< ARMED >>

"Alright, check this out. Can't hide from me. Fire!!"

Molly points Starcrash upwards, and fires a stream of freezing cold barrets, meant to ice up the target, up into the air; and they fly up at an angle, over the building between her and Riventon until the homing kicks in, and they change course to whistle down to the labcoat-wearing villain.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Eh," says Takuto to Riventon, still taking hits, his shield clashing with Riventon's, his regular henshin fist in an extra henshin armor fist currently pressed against Riventon's shield after impact, actually. He finishes with a bright, crooked grin, "I like a good fight."

His other fist does its duty and also impacts with fritzing energy against energy, but it's to push off of Riventon the second that Device starts counting down, and he spins away like he's figure-skating with blue-white bursts of energy beneath his mech-shod boots.

It's while he's dancing away from your hate that he slams first one fist into his chest -- "Star Swordo! EMERAUDE!" he yells, and his other fist, "Star Swordo! SAPHIR!" -- and pulls matching green and blue energy swords from his chest. The bright trails look like a helix behind him as he tucks in and slides directly, at speed, into the swarm of dusk velociraptors with both swords out.

Cue a damn good fight, one that Takuto's laughing in the middle of, even when the dinosaurs that got knocked up and over like bowling pins come back and dart back in, teeth very teethy and sharp.

He is practically swimming in dinosaurs, and then dinosaur parts start flying off and dissipating into nothingness as the blue and green swords are a blur.

Koji Silvia has posed:
"Why... thank you.", Hanzo says as the barret comes at him.

    << HEX SHIELD. >>

It is an oddly weak shield, and with the way that most Devicing works, it means it pushes against the shield, even as Koji holds it there, and then generates another one behind it. The first breaks and it runs into the second one, and finally after a couple of seconds... the shield cracks but the Barret is finally dissipated.

    <<Did you get it, Hanzo?>>

    << Affirmative. Adding to Blade. >>

    <<Zero penetration, adjust to maximum kinetic impact, enlarge and change surface area to...>>

    << Affirmative. Spell Adjusted. >>

Still in his oasis of the melee and able to focus on the person he's faced three times in this whole thing. The first time he had to run. The second time he had to watch as he nearly went over a good friend of his just for the sake of his anger. This time he's been a step ahead of them all, and without the barrier around them all, he could get away. There's a lost of frustration built up in him and he brings up his hand, palm up.

    "HEY RIVENTON!"
    << BLADE FIST. >>

This time when the Belkan-style Barret of blue-white flies out from Koji's hand and magic circle, instead of it looking like a stylized blade made to pierce an opponent and be a vector for his Disrupting magic, he does something that would probably make Hannah proud of how much of a bad influence she'd been... it looks like a FIST. A head-sized balled hand made of ghostly-white energy that flies at Riventon!

A fist that... ghosts through anything Riventon puts up against it, slides around any intercepting magics to PUNCH HIM ACROSS THE JAW!

The hit is not much more than if someone of relative strength did it physically, but it's still the fact that it connected!

    "That was for Sailor Moon."

But he's also not one to stay and gloat, and instead leaves that momentary distraction for others to exploit as he leaps... twists, and then lands on the back of one of the Duskraptors so he can wrap the rope from his blade around it's head and those snapping jaws to hold it back from trying to bite Ginga Bishounen... or more realistically having to leap off it just as that torrent of blades goes off, and he looks around, "So... I guess you had that."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
The horde is thinned considerably now, and Ginga Kingu takes a moment to survey the battlefield, looking at where everyone's position is - Hanzo attacking the creatures of darkness. Takuto fighting a flock of raptors, looking thrilled. Star Devil, on the ground, looking decidedly singed but still combat capable. Nanoha taking on Riventon's latest helper. Wako, holding her own in the air, but with opponents coming after her -

And Riventon with no opponent anymore, still carrying the box. Well. Someone should get that back, shouldn't they? Ginga Kingu raises his Star Sword high, lowers his stance, braces his form -

"Star Crash!"

And launches his sword towards Riventon, a blue of white-light and white-blur energy that streaks across the battlefield to stab at him.

Even as it does, Ginga Kingu is chasing after it, running at faster-than-human-but-slower-than-Haruka speeds, and as soon as the Star Crash strikes - either Riventon, or more likely, a barrier? It winks out of existence, and Ginga Kingu slams a fist against his chest, and pulls it out again. Instant recall!

"Star Swordo! Diamante!"

And this time, he's in range to leap and come at Riventon with an overhead slash, even as Hanzo is coming in from the other side for a punch to the face.

"I have to give you credit for one thing - you're certainly good at racking up enemies," he tells Riventon, and every controlled swing, strike, and stab is an effort to tear Riventon apart as thoroughly as the youma were. "You stole most of Takuto's heart, once. I wonder how much of yours you can stand to lose?"

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi raises her hand and summons a round shield from her hand as she tanks the various shots from the youma... until barret shots pepper her and her shield needs to tank those next, the last of them breaking the shield as she grunts. "The TSAB? I'm from Earth... here. What are you talking about?..."

"If I won't do what's right? Who will....? You know there's a saying on Earth... Evil Men Prosper when Good Men Do Nothing..." she says with sadness to Clarthas' words.R
She loop de loops over more barrets, quickly, just as she was practicing earlier!, perfectly as she dodges through the fray, before firing down a single powerful shot...!

"Hammer Shot!" she calls out, as the Blossom Cannon fires down into Ginga Otome.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
There is no dodging this. Double beams, each one broader than a person is tall, roar directly for Ginga Otome where she's hovering in midair, not even leaving her time to gasp.

"AURORE AUSTRALE!!" In the split second that's all she gets to react, Wako throws both hands out in a flare of rosy energy. The beams slam into the shield of light that springs up to meet them.

Energy sprays outward from the point of impact. For a few moments, the Galactic Maiden is nearly lost to view, almost completely engulfed by the sheer torrent of energy that Clarthas Anode is unleashing. Only the way the beams splash outwards around the point of impact betray the battle of overwhelming force versus impenetrable barrier that's going on in the midst of the furor.

At the center of the storm of energy, Wako's brow furrows, her lips curling back from her teeth in a combination of effort and indignant anger. The dark energy sizzles against the purifying light of her shield. It's holding--

--but which of them will falter first?

Wako doesn't intend to wait to find out.

"Illuminating the stage!" Her voice is breathless at first, half drowned out by the rush of energy. "Ginga Otome Wawna! APPRIVOISE!"

Light erupts, rose and white and gold. Glowing translucent armor flashes into place superimposed over Ginga Otome's body, glowing golden light unfurling from her crown-like headpiece in two long tails.

The floating piles that make up Wawna's 'skirt' zip outwards in all directions, clearing the massive twinned beam, rotating in the air around the Galactic Maiden as they home in on Clarthas.

"ÉCLAT DE SOLEIL!" At her cry, the piles fire in unison, unleashing a sunburst of glittering lance-thin beams.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Do any of you understand how inconvenient it is to try to fight with one hand full?" he asks. The Duskraptors, while amusing (and admittedly kind of cool) were an experiment he at least wasn't pursuing further currently... but it was still a little sad to see the sheer speed at which the gem-sword weilder is able to dispatch them. Given their lack of opposible thumbs (and pointer fingers) they may have been less effective today than the standard throwaway troops were. And now he's got some other dude with an offbrand lightsword in his way - at the same time as Hanzo's disruptive fist? He can shield against the thrown sword, but when he goes to shield against Hanzo's fist, it flickers out - the hacker-mahou-shonen's work being succesful, and Riventon is actually punched by the fist hard enough he does a little spin. And he can't even retort properly because there's an overhead slash coming his way, along with the freezing barrets.

    <<DEFENSIVE ARRAY FAILURE. FORCE-ACTIVATINGPROTOTYP-FUNKTIONEN. Axion announces, heedless of who is there to hear it, because it's not a tactical discussion, and it isn't asking it's Meister's permission. It's a warning. Because several things happen; Ginga Kingu's sword crashes against a shield, but not one of Riventons; instead it's a blood-red hemisphere, with no runes at all. And it feels wrong, power coursing through it, as it not only defends against the sword but tries to force its attacker back with surprising violence.

    Secondly, a purple woman forms, wearing a cloak and slightly etherial - partly forming out of dark energy that seems to be in the air itself, and partly from the parts of dinosaur that Gingu Salad Shooter is making of them. She creates a barrier of her own to absorb Starcrash's barrets, parrying them away in a field that appears to make everything within it roll to photo-negative. After absorbing the attacks, she turns to stare not at Molly, but at Kingu (and perhaps Bishonen.)

    She looks at him dispassionately. "You see yourself as a swordsman? I have trained generations of the greatest heroes on Etheria in the way of the sword." she says, brandishing what seems to be a version of She-Ra's sword (if anyone here has seen it) albeit with the blade creating the same photo-negative effect as it sweeps through the air. "I'll duel you in Riventon's place." she says, asserting a stance as Riventon staggers back.

    Despite none of those attacks hitting... the box clatters to the ground behind Night Hope. Riventon's exhausted, visibly, gasping for air, clutching at his gauntlet - where bits of ice are falling from the bottom of it? No, part of his arm hand is iced up. Dark Energy drips from the other hand like thick ink.

    In his mind, Axion warns him. <<Energy reserves incredibly low.>> As if the scientist's greedy gasps for air weren't evidence of that. <<Prototype Functions Remain Highly Inefficent.>>

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    ECLAT DE SOLEIL!

    Beams of light lance into Clarthas Anode, and for a second she grits her teeth and bears it, but

    Hammer Shot!

    It flies down and smashes into Keaka and she stumbles to the side with a grunt as her beam attack cuts off.

    << Force Field >> The barrier goes up again, holding against Eclat de Soleil, but if she had to drop it to attack before, maybe she can't attack out?

    Keaka growls, and calls up, "Do you have a saying like this here? 'There's no tyrant so terrible as he who believes himself a good man.' Do you even know what's in the box?! Do you even know what you're fighting for?! Or do you just shoot anyone who looks bad?"

Do any of you understand how hard it is to fight with one hand full?
    "I am a hand!" Sarida pipes up. "Well, a glove."

    "What is that?!" Clarthas asks when suddenly a lady forms out of nowhere to protect Riventon. Did something leak into reality like the imitation Hinoiri?

    Oh okay, it's some weird fucked-up magic of Riventon's. Cool.

    He's out of power, though. Clarthas extends her hand. << Powering Void Drives >>

    For a split second, Riventon starts to feel like energy reserves aren't a problem--

    --and then Ginga Otome's beams finish slicing through the beams and slice into Clarthas, and Sarida focuses on defending her instead. << Force Field >> "Agh! Riventon!" A warning tone of voice, unspoken: We should probably leave.

    She glances from him to the heroes. She'll let the re-cast shield tank attacks for a few more seconds to give Riventon more time to leave before everyone is focused on him, but then she's duskporting!

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Dino-pieces are flying-- dinos are breaking apart, dissipating as the Ginga Bishounen kills them, and the light strikes him just so as he stops in a pose that faces away from the last, biggest dusk velociraptor. He's so tall and dashing in his Tauburn armor, the plume of the ghostly hat curling smokily, and the gleam of the ghostly mask shining like it's real for a split second-- and he turns to look at Koji with the same inherent smile as his Cybody.

"Yeah but I like help," he says cheerfully. "Tauburn appreciated that too. But look at them."

The redheaded boy-- the phantom Cybody armor-- gestures up at Ginga Otome, and over at Ginga Kingu. He's grinning. "They're so pretty..."

But then he shakes his head firmly. "Clock's ticking. I'm going for the box," he says, pitched more quietly, "and honestly had been from the start, until dinosaurs." ^_^

He watches the fight carefully, then frowns and crouches and says, "They might need backup for a second. Wish me luck!!"

His teeth metaphorically 'ting' with the grin he gives Hanzo.

Then mecha-boy (red edition) throws himself forward for a nice horizontal takeoff, just high enough off the ground to be able to scoop the box up in both hands, relying on his armor to protect him. It does a great job until he's passing Night Hope, because suddenly it flickers out and leaves him in his normal henshin. He immediately swoops up with the box, looking down at Night Hope, shocked. He puts the box under one arm and calls out, "Hey, you good down there?"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"You should have factored that into your plans, then."

The shield that deflects Diamante lashes out with violent force, but Ginga Kingu is unafraid of pain, and continues to striking the steadily weakening barrier, hammering blows, forcing Riventon to use his magic - until a purple woman forms, with her own barrier to avoid blows, with her own sword, and dispassionate declaration and call for a duel are regarded coolly.

Ginga Kingu has never been as sparkly as his two teammates, never been as keen on teamwork or as compassionate. The thought of backing off the fight because an opponent is on the backfoot, is weakened. Riventon is breathing hard, is unsteady, is visibly weakened, and he stole Takuto's heart. He thought it was something to taunt him with, was proud of what he had done, and that is something Ginga Kingu isn't willing to let go of, isn't willing to forgive.

"You aren't worth dueling," he tells Night Hope, and then looks at Hanzo. "You'll want to start running."

It doesn't even matter, if Riventon knows what's coming, because he's exhausted, and won't be getting out of the way any time soon. He's a threat. He's a threat to everything Sugata holds dear, and he should be disposed of. Ginga Bishounen raises one hand.

In the distant starry sky of Zero Time, light begins to unfurl, preparation for an orbital strike.

"King's Pil"

But then, before the command can be finished, before the strike can rain down and savage Riventon, Night Hope, Hanzo, Takuto, and oh, every remaining weak monster on the battlefield -

Wako's voice breaks through, and the air explodes with light as her shield fends off the two beams. He sees her, in the air, shining like the a guiding star, and the fight is not effortless, but that makes it all the more beautiful.

And then Takuto is there - the Ginga Bishounen, forcibly shed from his brilliant armor, his ghostly plume snuffed out, and Ginga Kingu lowers his hand, using it to grab at the Ginga Bishounen's elbow, instead. Night Hope and Riventon aren't spared another glance.

"Let him crawl into his cave. We retrieved what we're after."

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi looks down at Clarthas and frowns hard. She suddenly asks...

"...Who hurt you?...who did this to you, that you speak like that?" she asks. It's an honest question. Not asked with snark, or malice. Then Nanoha calls out.

"Let's finish this...Divine....!"

< Divine! > "BUST---oh!" and then she's leaving. In a duskport. And she takes a breath.

"I'm sorry." she says to no one, before she points Raising Heart at Riventon.

She smiles. "Tell Fate-chan I said.... Hello!" she says. "Also."

"I have a Divine Buster ready to go, you should probably leave without that box..!" she says.

Koji Silvia has posed:
    "Uhhh..."

    << Master. >>

    "Was he... smiling at me?"

    << MASTER. Combat logs are viewable POST-Battle. >>

    "Oh I know... but... he's so grac-"

    << MASTER. >>

    <<Alright Already!>>

It is honestly the most half-hearted spell. He just kinda waves his hand behind him and a Boost Shield forms so he can jump up to join the others, looking at the three heavy hitters, and Nanoha, and Molly and her artillery barrage, before he says, "I'm going to escort Nanoha home. Still not totally comfortable with letting a girl that young out on her own at night... ability to level skyscrapers aside. You all... seem to have this..."

Using another weak shield as a platform, he looks towards Nanoha, and then to Molly to say, "We can stop for ice cream on the way. I know a convenience store that does those shakes where you can pour your own extras in."

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly, it seems, is not about to be quite so charitable as Nanoha. "Starcrash, charge Solar Beam, twenty second duration, maximum thermal output."

<< ARMED. WARNING: MANA USAGE HIGH. RESERVES ALREADY BELOW SEVENTY PERCENT >>

"Oh that'll be fine, I think the fight is almost done anyway," Molly replies cheerfully. She watches as Clarthas -- who's tag finally got swapped from yellow to red, with a little >:| face -- duskports out. Well, that's one combatant down. She starts flying around the building she's been firing homing barrets from; she's tracking Riventon's position on her battle visor, which is showing her exactly where he is... Well as close as matters, anyway.

Once she gets to the right spot she snaps her fingers, and becomes a blur of light that materializes around the corner. "Fire!!" she yells, immediately upon appearing, and unleashes a beam of searing heat at Riventon.

"Hey, maybe you should run away now!" she calls out. "Your back up left, you're all alone, and I don't see Fate anywhere!"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako doesn't actually put together, in the moment, why Sugata stops his King's Pillar before it starts. She only sees his hand reach skyward and the blue light begin to gather... and then fade.

Because he did not use the King's Pillar, Wako lets out a breath. The armor of white and gold light fades away into scattering sparks, and she descends - only a little wobbly in flight - to meet Takuto and Sugata as they move away with the box.

She does keep a wary eye on Riventon and Night Hope, however. Before she's fully touched down, a sphere of faint pink light forms around the Galactic Trio, as much in a silent statement as anything else.

At Hanzo's mention of going for ice cream, she flashes a quick smile his way. "We'll get this thing delivered," she promises.

Then she turns a plaintive look toward her boys. "I am so hungry."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon wants to fight. He wants to lash out. Every part of him, from his too-cold hands to his burning lungs, wants to tap into some hidden resource of energy and thrash every. last. sparkle. here.

    And he pushes off the wall and stands to his full height! Despite the fact that Night Hope is flickering, despite the fact that Nanoha and King are threatening, despite the fact that Star Devil is attacking. Night Hope makes the swing she was preparing to give to Kingu to Bishonen, and then still manages to turn to soak the blasts from Star Devil - at least the first few of them.

    Okay. All he has to do is.... keep ignoring the searing pain in his arm from the strikes now hitting, ignore the fact that the world is blurry, find a hidden reserve of energy, destroy everyone here with it, then go home with the box. Easy.

    It's not easy. It's not even possible, not for him, not now, Axion's telling him, the logical part of his brain is telling him. Remember their faces. That's all he can do. Wipe the smiles off their faces later. Get back at each and every last one of them. It's only that thought that causes him to smile oddly, giving everyone a last look, even as another of Star Devil's beams slices into him from the side, his lab coat a real mess, as his next step is backwards, and he falls backwards, out of this world and back to the cold comfort of the Dusk Zone. Without a box.

Keaka Hoshiko has posed:
    Who hurt you?

    Clarthas looks up at the young girl. Someone else might find this weird, but she remembers enlisting in the TSAB days before her 15th birthday, and there was a ten-year-old ace at her first posting.

    "Everyone." She answers, plainly, and then duskports as the forcefield around her goes down.