2152/Consequences of Helping

Consequences of Helping
Date of Scene:	08 December 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Equivalence runs into a bit of a problem when she's ambushed by Riventon... who is testing out the new weapon SHE helped him make. After being tossed around, he prepares to vaporize her... will to fight, only for Tuxedo Mask, Sharpsong and an exasperated Pagemage to step in and save her.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Takashi Agera, Mamoru Chiba, Sayaka Miki, Rashmi Terios

---

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
It was cold and overcast, but not raining at least. So all things considered, not bad weather. Which was good, because Equiovalence wasn't really in the mood to get soaked and deal with problem youma. The grim, as Ember had called them, weren't the most common foes but today they'd seemed to come out in an annoying pack. Five or six of the little ones, four legged and like great hounds, had ended up coming from the dusk zone near a bus depot in Mitakihara ward. Fortunately, it was during a quiet period and there hadn't been many civilians nearby at the time, all of who had run off at the danger. They weren't hard to dismiss, either, and with a flurry of kicks she was able to dismiss the last of them, causing it to dissolve into shadow and darkness.

"No general today?" Equivalence asked before reaching up to rub her head. "Huh. That... at least makes the job easier..."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon was flying overhead through Mitakihara, the corporate upscale part of Tokyo, much of which lie in the looming shadow of the tallest skyscraper in Tokyo, Obsidian Tower. In many was Mitakihara was Obsidian's backyard. Which made it Riventon's backyard.

    <<PROTOTYP-LAUFWERK Holding stable at sixty-eight percent.>> Axion reported. Today, Riventon was testing a... secondary power core, a new installation, an upgrade.

    "Why are we only at 68 percent?" Riventon questioned his device.

    <<Further data is required FUR MAXIMALE EFFIZENZ.>> the device replies. Then it pings with a dull note. <<MAGISCHER KREIGER, likely enemy, singular signature, 300 meters.>>

    "Further data, hmmm? Maybe what we need is a field test."

    And that's how Riventon ended up on a rooftop edge, watching Equivalence clear some wandering unattached youma. "So all of those readings are really just one disparate reading? And there's not multiple sources out here? She's alone?" Riventon asks his gauntlet.

    <<JAWOHL.,>>

    "Well, that's some terrible news for her. I wonder if she'll even give me enough of a test for the data you need." he says before stepping off the rooftop and moving into a downward flight, before stopping just in front of equivalence to settle, floating, slightly above the ground. "You really shouldn't go out alone, even if you're just doing janitorial work." He says, the boy in the labcoat and gauntlet very familiar to Equivalence indeed. "Guess nobody told you. You girls need to move in packs because you're weak. Alone, you're just like a wounded deer - and these are my woods. So it'll be a little bit more boring for me, but the smart move for you would be to surrender that magic item I can sense so I don't have to take it out of your broken hands. Obviously your decision making skills are too suspect for you to keep it anyways." Riventon says, letting a ball of dark energy collect in his hand after outstretching it.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Riventon," Equivalence said, turning to face him, her fists clenching. Well, she supposed he would show up eventually. A part of her wondered if she should tell him... but no. No. The last time they talked, he'd... blocked her.

Funny, she always imagined she'd end up blocking him. Instead... this. "Uh huh. Has that quip ever worked on literally anyone? And honestly, aren't you usually the one with a whole team? No La Crima, Fate or Catra today?"

Figures he'd go straight for arrogance, though. 'Weak'. If he wanted to talk about weak, he was... okay... he wasn't really 'weak', but she'd always been stronger than him as Sunbreaker, what could he...

... Then again, had she really been stronger? Or just closer to falling off the horse, as it were? He was still using dark energy, while she... was stuck with the pieces she'd cobbled together out of broken magical junk, forcing a device like this. "I don't think my... device and yours are really compatible. And, despite what you may think, not everything in this world is your property."

Still... she knew facing him head on like this was a bad idea. Riventon was a little stronger than her like this, since she couldn't use her full potential. But she was more than capable or escaping him, she was sure. She leaped back onto the fencing, glancing around. "You're not trying to setup an ambush on me, are you?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon tilted his head. "I've never met you... How do you know anything about who I show up with to even the odds?" he asks. "Guess you can tell me when you get knocked out of henshin." he says, looming slightly closer as she leaped back.


"And look, I'm just an eternal optimist. I always hope one of you will have at least a small brain, instead of jut sawdust and glitter, up there." he adds, tapping the side of his head with the hand that's not channeling dark energy. When he does, Equivalence can see the gem she helped him rebuild sat into a new glove on his other hand, humming softly with red energy. "Anyways, girl, I am the ambush. There's no way you're escaping on your own. But we'll see if you can even dodge." Suddenly at least two dozen black spheres like the one that's been collecting in his hand wink into existence around him.

    <<DAMMERUNGSFEUER.>> Axion begins as they do so. "SHOOT!" calls Riventon as suddenly all of the little spheres rocket off in a storm of spherical homing barrets. "If your device isn't compatible it'll be fine for research... and spare parts." he calls.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"What can I say? Us sparkle skirts have a tendency to share information with each other." She... she didn't even wear a skirt. Her boots had trousers in the henshin! "... You know, I appreciate the banter, but you really do sound a little deranged like that. You have a terrible track record in full victories and there are a lot of us, even if I am just alone right now... Besides, I thought you were supposed to be one of the nicer ones of that mega corp of evil idiots?" Equivalence asked.

... Ah. Joy. The gem. It seemed he'd made it. A part of her wondered if... maybe... teaching him how to do such magic was a poor idea after all. It wasn't like...

Nah. She was overthinking it. How much efficiency could he possibly get out of it? Sure, he was good, but--

BUCK!

Her eyes went wide as suddenly all those orbs appeared around him. Well... That was... Oh... oh crud.

She kicked out three times, sending three bursts of gray magic out, exploding a few of the orbs before they got to her, then launched herself up into the air, her feet a rapid blur, kicking away a few of the orbs as they approached, launching them to explode away from her, before crossing her arms over her chest, blocking the last few as they slammed into her. She landed on the ground, skidding along it a few feet and lightly panting. Huh. Okay. So... yeah. She could handle this.

"My device isn't a set of batteries you can just plug and play things into, Riventon. It's not goin to be that easy."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Nothing's ever easy." Riventon says, more than a bit annoyedly. "Not the research, not the fighting. There's always a hope, though, that at some point you idiots will let me save you - for yourselves and from others." he adds. True genius is never recognized in the moment, but the day will come when everyone will see what I have seen and you'll be damn happy I kicked your butts and took your stuff so that you didn't have to fight it and lose - instead you got to witness me fight it and win."

    "Magic isn't a game, it's not a toy, there's a world at stake here. It's not something you can just save with hopes and dreams."

    "Now... one way or another you're handing over that poor thing radiating multiple disparate kinds of magic. I can fix it better than you ever could. With you it's just a waste of potential." Riventon adds.

    And then Riventon rushes forward. There's no warning from Axion in terms of attacks, because he's just moving quickly and trying to get in range of Equivalence to drain her, now that she's perhaps expecting a blast or orb to roll with, and now that she's taken some light hits.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence practically had an anime sweat drop at his rant. Save... her from... "Do... do you actually believe that? I mean, that nonsense you're spouting? Is it something you... actually... think?"

Wow. It was... a strange moment. She'd seen Riventon so often, on her side, fighting with her... Seeing him... like that? Spouting off just... utter... fucking... nonsense? It was wild. And she really hoped it was just the crap he spouted to try and intimidate her. "It's not a game, it's not something you can just take. When you do, the magic doesn't work right and there are usually consequences you never imagined. It--"

And now he was running at her! As he game at her, she watched him and then... When he came right a her, she leaped, hard, to the right, attempting to get out of reach of his hands before things could get too back. Trying to go the opposite dirction he leaped towards, to get as much difference as possible, then flee.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon snorts. Of course he believes it, he said it! "What if you saw the end coming. The end of all things. The end of everyone and everything you cherish. And, well, also the things you didn't like. Everything. A world left in shadow and silence." Riventon says as she leaps away. "Would you do everything you could to stop it? Even if it lead to them calling YOU the villain? I would. I am." he says, his eyes following her.

    <<Protytpe Drive Active. PEITSCHENKABEL ERWEITERT FORM.>> Riventon create the cable-line of dark energy, the one that begins at the tips of his fingers before wrapping into a coil, a solid object, only know it's flickering occasionally with a bright, redish purple energy in addition to the purple of the usual weapon, with the occasional flares of that same red energy crackling off it.

    "You're not going ANYWHERE, girl!" Riventon yells as he directs that line after her, a snaking whip that both floats through the air gently and yet moves at incredible speed. It reaches out and coils around her leg, Dark Energy coursing through it, but it's also a physical grip.

    "I won't allow anyone to stop me. My friends, my allies, my coworkers, even my enemies!" Riventon yells, jerking his gauntleted hand where the cable-line comes from and throwing his whole body into it, jerking Equivalence back, then around in a long circle before he releases her with full momentum heading towards one of the busses. "I'll save them all. I'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES!" Riventon shouts as the red gem on his other hand gleams brightly.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence was just... wow. Okay. That... that was a level of... okay. He HAD to be hamming it up. He really did. Just. Wow. Did he REALLY see them all that way? There was no way. Because that was a level of just... insanity... nut job... over the top... it...

She did NOT want to beleive he REALLY felt that way. He HAD to be hamming it up. Because THAT was WAY too delusional. Even for him. If he REALLY felt that way, he...

Nah, no way. It was probably the dark energy. She made a mental note, though. Maybe... don't trust him QUITE so much. He obviously had a few issues if he could say stuff like that.

"You're not the only one out here capable, Riventon. There's--"

And then the line got around her. She let out a shriek as it bound her leg. She was about to yell at him--

Dark energy coursed through her leg and she gave a low scream, what was good. Because it meant she didn't need to scream a moment later when she found herself being flun in a wide arc... then tossed through the air with the full force of his new toy.

And she crashed into the bus, hard, the metal crumbling under the assault into an almsot V shape, the mahou not faring much better. She laid there, head down, almost collapsed in the metal.

Ow. Owwww. Everything hurt. Was anything broken? She... didn't think so. But the metal was... kind of wrapped around her. and the glass was all over. And everything hurt so, so bucking much. Was... was this the red crystal? It... it had to be. There was no way he was this powerful before...

Was he going to kill her? Another hit like that... might... Ow...

She... needed to say something. Tell him who she was...

... But then... the last time they'd spoke... would that make it better... or worse?

For now, she was just going to lay her in pain. Giving a light, pained groan.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon continues to loom towards the bus where Equivalence's body lay in wreckage. "I AM the only one capable. And you cannot imagine how enraging it is. To be stopped at every turn by incompetent people who lucked into magic that I need, who refuse to listen to me, who refuse to respect me, who refuse to surrender what I could use to save them. Showing up in packs, pestering me from all sides... but it's okay. I'll turn that frustration into strength. Mix that strength with my genius. And do what nobody else can do."

    <<Full Throughput: DAMONENKERN>> Riventon's device announces ominously.

    "I'll grow stronger than anyone can imagine. And then I will save this world from equally inconceivable threats, and through my strength everyone, everything, everywhere will be safe."

    "But you... whoever you are... I don't even know your name. And it's not important, because I'm going to take away the magic that you're unworthy of. You'll forget all of this one day anyways. But until then. You'll remember to stay out of my way. Tell the others."

    Riventon outstretches his hands, red lightning cracking off both of his hands, as a tremendous amount of Dark Energy gathers between his hands, forming a black sphere that is headache-inducingly impossibly dark and still radiating a sort of grim light. The surface of the sphere is just black, and yet one who looks at it can see it burning, broiling, like lava or plasma. "I learned some of how to do this from the magical channels carved into a gem by a sun demon." he says as the sphere grows. "And yet I can control it myself. The last two people who tried to harness such power lost their minds and theirselves. But here I stand, in full control. Only I can turn such power to my own ends without being corrupted by it. While remaining me. And that is why I am the only one capable."

    Riventon looks at the amssing power between his hands. "Oh, this will be quite severe. Now, what shall I call it? Ah, should I embrace the role I have been cast in for it, that of the villain? Perhaps, I do already have a theme going. And it can just be self-descriptive." Riventon muses to himself as the sphere grows between his hands. Several Midchildan focusing circles erupt from the front of it. "The Light of the Black Sun!"

    <<LICHT DER SCHWARZEN SONNE>>

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The sphere grows between Riventon's hands and he calls out a new attack, and his Device calls it in Belkan which means it's probably lethal, and Equivalence is tangled in bus bits and broken glass, and she is going to die.

There's a black and red swoosh of silk in the night, momentarily blocking out the streetlights and the city glow, and then movement; Equivalence is being held, is being carried, injuries and all, at speed, and she can feel muscles work under silk and wool, and she can smell roses and coffee and chocolate, and she can feel the lightness of the landing.

What everyone else will see is a black blur, one (1) freezeframe of Tuxedo Kamen picking up Equivalence, and then a black blur again, keeping going but this time going up.

Mamoru doesn't even bother putting Equivalence down when they land behind some cars maybe thirty meters away in the other direction, he just asks her in a low, clipped voice as everything blows up behind them, "Are you teleport evac hurt?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Love PreBrace! Sharpsong Quarter Tone!", Sayaka shouts as she sees Riventon prepare some ominous attack against Equivalence, spinning the dial on the object while it shines brightly. Really, long time no see. She helped against Hosshiwa when Sayaka first became a Pretty Cure, and looks like it is her turn to help now.

She frowns lightly when she sees just how badly Riventon has cornered Equivalence, even more so because he is using some ominous new attack in what seems to be german, or Belkan maybe. Looks like they really just came in the nick of time.

This should help at least in stopping the attack from hurting Equivalence, at least giving enough time to get her out of the way, and at least if that blur is any indication, someone is already on it.

Water sprouts from the ground, sparkling ice chasing it up and up until the whole pillar has been frozen, standing between Equivalence and Riventon. "Hey there, we are here to help!", she exclaims to the grey magical girl before jumping towards the ice pillar with a punch, the structure vibrating with a musical note before cracking, letting three sword-shaped fragments fall towards Riventon.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
-- THEN --

    << *BONG!* >> << ALERT. MASTER. ALERT. ANOMALOUS ENERGY FREQUENCIES PROXIMATE. SIGNATURE MATCHES SUBJECT 'Jerk-Face' AT 3-TAU CONFIDENCE. OUTPUT READINGS SUGGEST SUBJECT 'Jerk-Face' AT HIGH DEGREE OF AGITATION. CAUTION WARRANTED. >>

While one always *hopes* for a quiet, boring patrol, and one *secretly* hopes for a less-than-boring patrol, Nicomachea's ability to match signatures and name their probable origin has Rashmi's extremely teenage groan Dopplering off the skyscrapers for three blocks, as she banks to come around on an approach heading.

"--UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHwait who's that?"

    << *BONG!* >> << READINGS MATCH SUBJECT 'Equivalence.' >>

There's a tone in Nicomachea's toneless voice, and Rashmi *very politely* ignores the implication that maybe she should sit this one out. While she *understands* that Nicomachea took the direct attack on him personally, principle requires that Equivalence be spared *this particular* silly prize.

--- NOW ---

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR STINGER >>

Directly after the Light of the Dark Sun is called out, and Cure Sharpsong's ice rains from the above, a half-dozen spheres of golden light sweep in to provide the best distraction Rashmi can give; six bees swarming around Riventon's head, each impacting with the force of a heavyweight boxer before dipping back out to come around again.

Because let's face it; by this point, only Riventon would claim he doesn't deserve a punch in the head this time. Or six. Every couple seconds.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
The world was spinning. Everything hurt. Everything was broken, except her, ironically. But her ability to like... think was fried. And she was wrapped in wreckage. "Mrggl..." Okay, she really needed to tell Riventon who she was. He was definitely going to kill her. He...

Unworthy of. Magic she was unworthy of? Oh, there was a huge list of that.

And then... she saw it. Oh. Oh this was... amusing. It was ironic. As she saw that light. She was going to die. She couldn't even process well enough to say anything. 'It's me, Hinoiri!'. But all that came out... "T... e... ori..." she grumbled.

Oh, yeah. Was that really how he saw her? Lost her mind when she tried to harness the power of the sun? No, that wasn't what sent her. It wasn't power... It was rejection.

And then there was... fire. Black fire... but... It was coming. She was going to die... And she closed her eyes, whimpering. Perhaps it was fitting she died like this. She burned so many lives... now she burned. Just like Chaar had nearly done.

Except she didn't. Just like when she had tried to incinerate Sailor Moon, a tuxedo'd figure appeared. And... oh. Oh wow. Her eyes were wide as she was being carried?

Holy buck. They were *so even* now. "Uhhhh... brg... ven?" she said. It was hard to say if she was dumbstruck by sudden hot boy (she wasn't), or if everything hurt so much that talking was owies (it was).

And then there was WATER! Oh, she was quickly considering changing her major from sun-magic to ice-magic if that was a thing! Cryomancy sounded nice! With a side-helping of stabomancy! Way to go Sharpsong!

OH... oh and there was Rashmi. And... you know, she really owed Rashmi an apology. She just hadn't had the courage to do that yet. She wanted to... but... She was scared. And now? Of course, Rashmi had to help save her life. Because why not?

"O...ow...."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon does not notice the blur of black with slight white that sweeps in and picks up his quarry before she can be the person experiencing the christening of his new Giant Laser. He does, however, pick up on the magical presence of multiple people coming in, suddenly. So he figures he needs to finish what he's doing and get his loot and go.

    "FIRE." Riventon calls as the surge of energy between his hands pushes forward through the Midchildan focusing circles and becomes a still-very-wide but more of a horizontal column of black energy.

    It rips through the bus where Equivalence was just rescued from moments before, destroying it, and punching a hole through the wall of the bus station behind it for good measure. Where the ray cut through, there's melting steel around the impact site and even melted brick edges on the wall, dripping as it glows with red-hot heat.

    Before Riventon can fully survey the results of his attack, though, a pillar of ice erupts from the ground and there's a brief moment where someone can probably see him rolling his eyes not unlike Rashmi is at perhaps the same time. "You're NOT HELPING." Riventon notes as he parries the first frozen-sword fragment with a hastily generated shield - not runic, just Dark Energy, like someone had taken and ink brush and swiped it through reality for a moment. He works to dodge between the other two, but the Solar Stingers come in and force his attention away, so one of the ice swords makes it past his intentional blocking and cuts down across his Barrier Labcoat, all the while he is trying to parry and just soak some of those brutal impacts from the Solar Stinger.

    Riventon's device emits a low humming chime. <<Banishing Ward.>> it calls as a runic circle erupts beneath him and then a hemispherical flare of purple energy bursts out, attempting to dispel the pestering balls (and possibly getting any residual magical ice as well.)

    "Couldn't you guys wait like FIVE BLOODY MINUTES." Riventon yells, frustratedly.

    <<SCHALLBEWEGUNG.>> Riventon's device calls again, and then he's GONE - shifting in a blur of speed to appear... next to the bus where Equivalence is (to his mind.) "Wait, where'd she go? She should be unconscious... not... vanished." he says to nobody in particular. And looking with a momentary face of concern at the melted metal cooling on the edges of one half of the bus. Well, a third, since the middle third is missing.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Khh," Tuxedo Kamen says in irritation, and he swiftly bites off a glove and just... puts his bare hand atop Equivalence's short-hair head. She'll immediately be flooded with anaesthetic golden warmth, and Mamoru bracing her with his other arm so she doesn't just fall over.

"I'm checking to see how bad it is," he explains in a low voice, keeping it down so Riventon doesn't hear them. "Have you seen him use that thing before? There's a red gem in it that...it's got this glow to it that... nah, Riv would know better than to use something of Beryl's."

He sighs. "Have you gotten tired of going it alone yet? Nevermind. Let's at least get you to the point you can secretively go home by yourself. I don't live on campus anymore."

That warmth stays, that connection stays, the feelings that come with it are the same-- even if Mamoru's keeping his own annoyance out of it, his own emotions locked back. There's still a sense of safe home, whatever form that may take.

As he works, carefully, he looks up and back to watch Rashmi and Sayaka hassle Riventon, then watch Riventon be aggravated, then hear Riventon being absolutely baffled.

It is not safe to call out to his brother. Not with this girl he knows he knows injured.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Well, the ice provided a distraction, that's good, even if Sayaka finds it a bit sad the ice pillar went away so soon. But it was never meant to hold out against an attack, and especially not one resulting from whatever upgrade Riventon has built for himself.

"You think? I say we are, just not you", Cure Sharpsong quips back to Riventon. Why would he even expect any help from them? They can certainly wait all the time in the world if he spends it looking through a bus Sayaka knows is empty, though she isn't particularly inclined towards hanging around now that Equivalence has been taken away.

They only have to retreat now, which is at least somewhat easier when Riventon is distracted. Though, probably one of them should ensure Riventon doesn't turn around suddenly. May as well be her, she can regenerate if something goes wrong, Sayaka thinks. "Go first, I will leave after you", she tells the Page Mage.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"WHAT IN THE WORLD EVER GAVE YOU THE IDEA WE'D *WANT* TO HELP YOU LASER ONE OF US INTO A PUFF OF VAPOR?!"

Riventon's deployment of a *terrifyingly* powerful blast -- and so irresponsibly not under Barrier, even! -- has Rashmi in a rare, frothing fury. "LOOK AROUND YOU, RIVENTON! HOW ARE YOU HELPING *ANYTHING* RIGHT NOW?!"

Glancing at Cure Sharpsogs, Rashmi hesitates for a moment, but comes to the same conclusion Sharpsong does, and nods once.

    << *BONG!* >> << ACCEL -- BOOST UP >>

A single wispy ball of light forms, and darts toward Sharpsong, and then Rashmi boosts off past the battlefield, trying to catch sight of Equivalence, or the nearest equivalent, from the air.

...

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR STINGER >>

Becuase sometimes both Rashmi *and* Nicomachea are petty like that, they both decide to give Riventon a parting gift as well; one more punch-bee.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence gave a light, gentle groan in response. But... oh, that felt nice. And it was a good thing she wasn't really moving much, because being all numb wasn't likely to help much with the moving side of things.

"... I... I'm sorry..." Equivalence finally mumbled. At least nothing was broken? By some miracle. "But... yes. I am pretty sure that's Beryl's... at least... judging by the way he was talking. He said it was something from a sun demon."

"... I'm not... good at this. I... am so... bad at this. I don't know how to go it alone and... I know even less about how to go about it as a team... I just... it was just a few grim. I thought I could handle them and then he popped out and ambushed me, I tried to run but he... he's so much stronger and faster than I realized... thanks... for... saving me... I'm... sorry for causing more trouble..." she said, her eyes lowered. Downcast.

She at least looked contrite. And apologetic. And... like she was, genuinely, sorry for stepping in it.

"... ...... ......... I'm... so... so sorry... for everything..." she mumbled.

She could hear the others fighting. To keep her safe. Sharpsong. Pagemage. Both of who she had wronged so, so terribly recently.

... Well, at least Tuxedo Mask she hadn't wronged much recently. Recently. Just gonna... ignore all the prior wrongings.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "You're not even helping yourselves." Riventon grumbles, landing on the ground for once and leaning down for a moment to look for her. "She's not -gone-, she can't be gon-... wait, there were three new signatures." He says, and then his eyes flare, glowing green withy malice as he turns to look at Sayaka. "One of you grabbed her, didn't you." he says. "Yeah, reading four signatures now, one extremely faint." he continues.

    "So where is she. Where did you take her?!" he yells. "You're going to just swoop in here at the last POSSIBLE moment, and leave the world with one more of your damnable interlopers?" he asks, frustrated. Not incredulous, he knows that's exactly what they're doing.

    "Well, I was going to help her not waste part of her li-"

    <ARMOR SHIELD.>>Riventon's device interupts him, forcibly generating a triangular shield from his mana for the autoguard from the angry stinger. An Intelligent Device's automatic casting functionality was a real boon if you tended to monologue and lose your attention.

5t"She wasn't going to be a puff of vapor you overdramatic librarian!" Riventon yells as the Stinger and the Barrier press against each other, magic sparks crackling. "She was going to be fine, and I'd have taken her to the hospital for any residual damage if there was any, once her gear was in my hands."

    <<Meister, Immediate Venting is Required to Avoid Catastrophic Reaction.>> While it's fair to think this might be because of Riventon's mouth, it actually means the buildup of magical residue common to a Device Mage's most powerful attacks. At the rough point of Riventon's elbow joint on his right arm, two cylinders pop out, and suddenly srpay a thick cloud of slightly-magical steam into the air behind him, and Riventon's form seems to rapidly go from angry to exhausted (and still angry). The Armor Shield is replaced by one of those less-compressed ink barriers from his hand, resisting the stinger still.

    "Yeah just... give me a moment to catch my breath and I'll put you through a bus too." he says to Sayaka, glaring as he tries to catch his breath.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Hey," says Mamoru more softly, "I don't know what 'everything' is that you're apologizing for, because you won't let me know who you are. But the only person I'm actually actively mad at is Riventon because he is constitutionally incapable of listening to reason right now, especially with that gem. I'm annoyed with you, but not for Riventon attacking you, and not for getting hurt. Just, I think, for being stubborn at the wrong times, or over the wrong things."

He looks up and back again, and doesn't see Riventon, but he does see Rashmi overhead. He takes out the communicator Ami had modded to work across dimensions, hoping Rashmi still has hers, and says quietly into it,

<< Hey it's Tux, I have Equivalence. I'm not done and I don't have anywhere to stash her, so we're going to my place unless one of you has a better idea. >>

And then he says to Equivalence as he withdraws healing carefully, then scoops her up again, "Hang on a few seconds, we're teleporting out."

He has time. He has the time he needs to teleport them out, and then Riventon can't chase them over rooftops, shooting. He wants to think Riventon wouldn't come after him with something that can melt a bus but that's Beryl's gem--

He'll text his brother later.

It's going to be in the nick of time again, he's sure of it. He should just have teleported right then, when he got her, instead of trying to heal her first, but-- nope, concentrating.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Stop it, Riventon", Sayaka sighs with a bit of irritation. The fact he is still insisting is a bit annoying, even if she knows she should let him get at her. "Equivalence is not around, so we have done all we needed to do", she glares, the ribbon on her back expanding into wings as she intends to escape through the skies with the help of the speed boost Rashmi gave her.

"Love PreBrace!", she calls out again once she is sure the Page Mage is far away enough. As much as she is relieved that Riventon is too tired to attack, she'd rather not take any chances with that energy he has gotten.

Spinning inside a newly forming water circle, Cure Sharpsong raises the arm with the Love PreBrace above her, the shining water gathering there in a blue sphere. "Pretty Cure Sharpsong Legato!"

Just as she says that, the sphere splits into thin water beams that rush towards Riventon, trying to wrap around him and hold him tight. Not waiting to see the result, she turns her back and flies out of there as fast as she can after her friends, hoping that the water ropes are at least going to prove to be a good enough distraction.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Luckily, Rashmi has indeed not discarded the Senshi communicator. Not, at least, until her own Great Work is up and running. << Oh good it was you that gor her. Understood, >> she replies shortly, before opening up her own telepathic channel to Sharpsong.

<< Hey Sharpsong, we're falling back to Tuxedo Mask's apartment. If you haven't been yet, follow me. >>

And with that, she leaves the scene. More importantly, she leaves Riventon to be exhausted, frustrated, and hopefully soaked. Because he really *is* Subject Jerk-Face.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence gave a small nod. "I... I know. I just... it's... I think it's better that... nobody knows right now..." she mumbled softly.

At least, not until she got her act together. Maybe... in the future. "Ummm... thank... thank you," she said. "Wait, you can teleport? No, of course you can teleport." At least he wasn't dusk porting.

... Oh... she... she was going to owe Rashmi such a big apology... Maybe it would have been better if she had been hit by the...

Wow. No. Bad thoughts, that. Being knocked unconscious and in pain is NOT preferable to actually apologizing for bucking things up. She SHOULD know that by now...

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "I will never stop." Riventon replies to Sayaka between hungry gasps for air. "Because I can't. We're all doomed if I do."

    Riventon is exhausted from the attack though - mental note, don't burn all of your energy ever - and the Sharpsong Legato's water coils have no trouble reaching out and collapsing into tendrils that hold him fast, though he still tries to float after them despite that. To no avail.

    Instead he just ends up stopping on top of the bus half, where he finally collects enough energy for his magic to break him free of the Lagato, after the girls are long gone.

    Riventon looks down at the bus, then over to the path of destruction it carved into the ground and then the wall. "What a mess." he says, shaking his head. But it's probably any number of things that could be what he means, now.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's still yelling over by the bus, and Rashmi got his message; Mamoru murmurs to Equivalence, "Before you get grand ideas about my teleporting, it's just me and one other person." Just. Right.

Everything is so complicated. 'What a mess' is a very apt description of the situation, but the real problem is 'we're all doomed if I stop' and that makes Mamoru shut his eyes and breathe out through his teeth.

Finally, there's a flash of gold light over there, between parked cars. It's probably a good thing Riventon stopped looking for Equivalence.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Considering she has never been to Tuxedo Mask's apartment, she ends up following Rashmi there, a part of her taking note of how much of a novelty telepathy has become again now she isn't a Puella and has instead the Cure Line to use.

Her focus though goes on Riventon's words just as she left. Doomed? Doomed from what? She should probably bring that up once they are sure Equivalence is all right.