2938/Better Help

Better Help
Date of Scene:	11 February 2026
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Following the events of 'Good Help Is Hard To Find,' our mahoujin take a moment to recover from the fight... Until Mamoru shows up, and combos with Rashmi's spell to bring ULTRAHEAL GOODFEELS to all.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Wako Agemaki, Miho Inada, Amanda Faust, Mamoru Chiba

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When Hawkmoth and Corona exit the Barrier, Rashmi holds her breath for a five-count, just to make sure they're really gone. And not, for example, lying in wait to see if the victorious mahou say anything that could be construed as hostile. Because some people live in a constant state of resumed hostilities.

But there is no cackling, no Dark Energy flares, and thus Rashmi feels safe enough to move again... and groan as a chunk of concrete shifts against a bruise. << Lightly cratered, >> she replies to both Wako and Amy. << But I should be all right by tomorrow. Yukihime-chan, of you hold still I'm'a come to you and set up the tanning bed. It ought to help some. Also... Sorry Amy-chan, I should have paid more attention. >>

Is Rashmi apologizing for the set of events that led to the blowup?! ...Sort of? It was as much her mistake as the Puella's. << Next time if I have a target in mind I'll call it out, okay? >>

...And that's it. No recriminations as she flitters down to Miho's position, no upset, no lecturing. Just mistake identified, and accounted for.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako keeps her shield up for a little longer, with caution similar to Rashmi's. Plus there's still, you know, stuff on fire. Eventually, though, she drifts to join where the others have gathered, and the sphere of light around her vanishes like a soap bubble bursting into nothing.

"So, um," she says. "Did I hear her right? We just got face to face with Hawkmoth - the guy who keeps making akumas?"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime squeaks! "T-tanning bed?! Wait! I have a natural tan! Natural! Its almost bikini season time!", she says. Leave it to Yukihime to think of tanning when she's half inside a car. She winces a bit as she tries to stretch a little bit, and being pretty stuck. She does shake her head a little bit. "Its alright, Amy. I should have save a few wolves for protection.", she points out.

    "That's what I was wondering. I heard nobody actually seen him before.", Yukihime says. The mahou mutters a little bit before looking at Amy. "Amy-chan, I'm making a button for you. Front Towards Youma.", she teases. Yukihime is smiling a bit, but there's a few pokey bits of metal keeping her stuck at the moment. That hurts! She shakes her head a bit.

    "I think I need a lot more training.", she admits. "I'm getting a little tired of getting hurt all the time!", Yukihime says with a small smile.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Lightly cratered.
    Amy winces. "Sorry. I... I didn't think ahead. I'm sorry."

> I should have paid more attention.
    The Puella Magi shakes her head. << We have telepathy. I should have told you I was going to use a fuel-air explosion on the barrier's copy of the room-- >> Amy holds her hands to the sides of her head. << And if I'd said that out loud -- well, you know what I mean -- I would have thought twice about it! >>

    She nods at the bit about calling targets, and nervously jogs back over to Miho, sparing Wako a relieved glance. Her shield held, good.

    "I... I guess that was Hawkmoth? I've never met him..." << He felt... like Beryl did. Or Riventon, lately. >>

> It's almost bikini season!
    Amy blinks. "It's February." She looks a little bit concerned... but the joke about 'Front towards youma' does get a grin and a giggle from her. Feeling well enough to crack jokes is a good sign!

    << Let me know if you need another set of hands. >> Amy sends to Rashmi, on her own telepathy... before wondering, wait, is there really a Kyubey in the barrier or is that something she could do the whole time?

    "I... do think there's something to be said for practicing working together as a group, and training reflexes, but I don't think training will cover specific cases like 'My teammate is explosively putting out fire scorpions and didn't think about what else the explosion would do'..."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako fishes her phone back out of the front of her glitzy tailcoat and begins typing another text, mostly without looking. "It never hurts to practice working together," she agrees. "For right now, though, I've got to run. Someone will come before this place has to open again to make sure there are no scorpions left."

She gives Rashmi a concerned look, but the Pagemage is at least mobile and not bleeding. If nothing else, Wako is pretty sure she can trust Rashmi to get healing if she needs it. And if not, it's not like Wako won't see her at the dorm.

"Catch up with you guys soon!" she says, before hopping into the air and floating off in another shield bubble like Glinda the Witch of the North in military dress glam.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The concerned look is answered with a bright, if pain-shaky, smile and a nod. "I'll let you know!" she calls after Ginga Otome's back, before touching down and examining Yukihime's difficulty with a wince. "Otome's right, coordination is a skill that ought to be practiced. For now... Amy-chan, you wanna get one side, I can get the other, and we can get Yukihime-chan out? I'll drop some heals while we work."

And, indeed, when Amy comes in to help pry the car a little bit more open, a circle spreads out under Rashmi's feet to encompass a fair majority of the street.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SANCTUARY >>

A Shield dome forms to the circle's specifications, and warm, soothing golden light seems to shine *everywhere* within the Shield. "Mostly it's *for* protecting people who get downed in the middle of a fight," she says as she tugs on the car's paneling. "But if you don't mind standing around a while, this seems like a smart use too."

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime takes a deep breath as she waits a moment. As they start to move the car paneling a little bit. It looks like she flexed when she hit the car to lessen the impact. Mostly an instinctive break fall from the mahou. Yukihime stretches a little bit as she feels the metal move a little bit. She's not deeply in, but its more the edges holding her in a bit from the impact.

    Its not too long before the Yukihime is free. Her back is pretty much holely a little bit. The holes are healing a bit. She shakes a little bit, wincing a bit. She sucks in another breath, and then settles herself a bit. "Yeah, Bikini season starts in May, unless it gets warm enough early. Or is this the tanning bed?", she points out.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy carefully helps extricate the snow mahou from the car, wincing at the wounds but breathing a sigh of relief when she sees healing, and hugs her shoulders gently. "I think she was jokingly calling this a tanning bed, yeah." Amy smiles.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah basically," Rashmi says, standing a bit straighter as the magic does its work. "We can't leave the Shield though... not until you're ready to or it ends. Which... it'll probably run out before we're fully recovered though."

Drawing in a deep breath, she smiles at the two girls. "So! Training later, what about food now? I think I saw an udon cart on the way in, hot noodles sounds like a good snack?"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime nods her head a little. "You two can have hot noodles. I would like some ice cream. Noodles might be...well I never tried eat hot foods while henshined.", she comments. The girl takes a moment. "Or maybe I should dehenshin?", she asks. Yukihime winces as she feels some of the skin pulling back into place.

    The girl takes a moment to give Amy a small kiss. "Anyways, is that woman always like that? And who keeps a suitcase of scorpions with them?", she asks. Yukihime shakes her head. "Thats...Seriously crazy!", she comments. Yukihime's stomach however makes an argument at the moment by growling...

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Noodles, ice cream, either sounds good. We could dehenshin... but I wanna take whatever healing I can first, I'm not sure how bad that landing got me, and I have to be transformed to turn off pain."

    Yukihime kisses her, and her cheeks blush a bit, and Amy wishes she'd felt that.

    "Well, a warm kiss didn't seem to be hurting you as Yukihime, at least...."

    Amy sighs. "And yeah, she's always like that, though maybe she was a little extra mad today... or maybe not."

    "I don't think she carries scorpions as a matter of course, but she does like to dump creepy crawly monsters on anyone she feels has slighted her, and goes and gets them for that purpose, I guess."

    Amy suddenly wonders: "But... Where does one get a bunch of scorpions on short notice, and how did she get them into that briefcase...? Does Obsidian just have bins of rats and scorpions and spiders and such to make monsters out of? I guess we could ask Mamoru or Hinoiri..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
At the mention of Amy not knowing how hurt she is, Rashmi levels a flat look at the Puella. "...So that means you're gonna have to," she says, "if only for a little bit. We need to see if we're calling Mamo-san or Setsuchan. But! Henshin, no henshin, either works really! It's not like it's gonna be that memorable!"

At Amy's question about Corona being extra tetchy, the Devicer frowns in thought. "Honestly... She *did* seem a bit more... personally attacked? Than usual. Nico-kun, could you check the website for this shop?"

A screen *bwips* up, and text-and-images begin to scroll, as Rashmi raises an eyebrow. "...Huh. Service staffing agency... Maybe they blacklisted her?"

Rashmi Terios is very, very good at putting together the stories of people, but honestly to stretch the analogy, Corona is very much akin to children's detective fiction; the moment you grasp the formula, you can calculate well ahead of the characters.

"But where she got the scorpions... I mean, maybe? But there *are* places that just *supply* them if you have enough money. And uh... I mean, Corona."

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime shakes her head. "So she has to make up her own bed? Cook her own...well, I either microwave, get take out, or my dad's cook makes the food.", she says. "I'm not allowed near a kitchen.", she tells. "Something about my cooking should be considered illegal...", she mutters.

    The mahou takes a moment to breathe out. Yukihime smirks a little bit. "Well, think of an ice cube touching your lips, Amy, if that helps.", she teases. The girl adjusts her suiken a bit as she takes a moment. "Amy, you're going to have to change to see how hurt you are. I mean, I know I'm hurting, but I can ice myself...", she points out. At least semi..."If you're seriously hurt, we might need Mamoru. Though, Setsuna might make a face that we got hurt so soon after she healed us.", she says.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    'So you're gonna have to.' Amy grimaces, sighs, and then winces, shifting stance a bit before turning to lean her back against the car, before the wince fades and she lets out a breath of relief. "Knees are a bit sore, doesn't seem like a sprain or 'oh shit something's broken' though."

    She blinks at Rashmi. "Uhh... yeah, she said they blacklisted her and told other companies about her and she was mad she had to ask her mom for advice."

    She then blinks at Miho. "People seriously care about keeping their bed made?"

    Miho says she can't cook, and Amy puts an arm around Yukihime to pull them together, side-to-side. "Usagi-chan thinks she can't cook either but she already knows how to make a soup and can probably make other soups."

    She smiles and gives Miho a curious look, "What trouble do you have cooking? I had to-- I learned a little bit, but I think that... people who think of themselves as being unable to cook really don't have to learn that much to open up a lot of options and wow anyone who's not a chef with their home cooking, without having to become some kind of expert chef."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's a sudden VRRRRRRRROAR of a motorcycle engine coming up the street that's so empty of people; it comes into view with a rider in black clothes and a black helmet with a white stripe across the front, the bike the same exact shape as Catra's. As it gets closer, no, the bike is custom navy blue, light blue, and gold, instead of being all black-- and although the rider is in a henshin tuxedo, the rider is much taller than Catra.

Oh and the black helmet has a pointed white mask painted on it. Who could it be.

The bike skids to a halt in front of the exploded building and the car they just pulled Miho out of, and Tuxedo Capeless takes off his motorcycle helmet and shakes out his fluffy hair, revealing a mask was under the tinted helmet visor all along. "Looks like I missed the party," he says cheerfully. "Anybody save me a goody bag?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Can confirm!" Rashmi says, bobbing her head along with Amy's encouragement. "Also I know a few tricks you can apply *anywhere,* and I'd be happy to teach you!"

Her head turns as the sound of a motorcycle rings loud in the empty streets of the Barrier, and a new icon pops up on Nicomachea's status windows.

"Mamo-san, heyyyy!" she says, trotting up to the near edge of the Sanctuary from Mamoru, waving cheerfully through the glowing, mostly transparent golden light construct. "You *really* don't want a goody bag from this one, the swag is scorpions. Is? Was. *Probably* was? We don't want to be around when I drop the Barrier definitely, Wako-chan had Sugata-san call in an exterminator."

...Yes she is implying there are probably still scorpions on the other side of the Barrier. Because that is not something one surprises one's friend with.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime nods her head. "I have to make my bed before I do my morning exercises. And you know I have to do 2 miles and some weights before first period.", she tells Amy. She looks at Amy and Rashmi for a long moment. "Last person who ate my cooking thought I made bacon. It was sugar cookies.", she points out. "And that was when he woke up, and the doctors asked what he ate.", Yukihime says while looking away.

    "I could probably use my cooking attempts as finishers against youmas.", Yukihime explains. She squeaks when she hears the motorcycle, and sees Mamo. Yukihime offers a small smile, and a light bow to Mask.

    Yukihime squeaks as Amy puts her arm around her. She's very cold. "There might be one or two little scorpions creeping around.", she points out. "Do you need more healing, Rashmi? I can lend you my healing for a few moments?", Yukihime offers.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at the reminder of Miho's morning routine. "I used to take a walk before school sometimes when I was little, but... I'm not a morning person..."

    Miho's cooking is anime bad, or at least she believes it is. Amy hugs her firmly and giggles at the squeak. "It's OK. We'll observe your process and figure out where the problem is if you want to learn how to cook, alright?" She gives a smile to reassure her.

    Amy hears a motorcycle inside the barrier and looks over and smiles, letting go of Miho and leaning against the car next to her again. Once he's taken his helmet off, Amy greets cheerfully, "Hey Mamoru!" She nods at Rashmi's assessment of 'you don't want a goody bag from this one', "...Uhh, the flaming scorpions we were fighting are chunky salsa now," She looks indicatively towards the rubble.

    "Oh, there might also be fire back in real space. Uhh... I didn't find where they keep the fire extinguisher before Rashmi put a barrier back up and I realized I no longer had to worry about the destructive results of removing all the oxygen from the room explosively."

    She grimaces again, glancing at the pieces of rubble strewn across the street. "Only it turns out that I do, actually... Lesson learned."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
At 'scorpions,' Tuxedo Kamen pulls such a face; it comes with a full-body cringe as he parks the bike and shuts it off. "Yeah nah, no thanks, the exterminators know their jobs--"

But he's looking over them critically, and they look kind of bruised up, but they're also inside a shield-- which he reaches out to touch. "Is this..." he starts, frowning as he trails off, then taking off his glove and touching it again and brightening. "Loss?" Then he laughs. "I mean, is this healing you? Can I supercharge it?"

With a headshake and a smile to Amy he says, "That explains the firetruck I saw in the distance. Wait, what do you mean put a barrier back up?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
From the outside, it feels like a Shield, though thrumming faintly with the energies contained inside. "It's... new," Rashmi says. "I'd made it to protect people who got knocked by a really *bad* hit, let them take a breather and heal up some. It's a little stronger than my usual, but it probably won't *completely* fix us up. Yukihime-chan got smacked into a car, Amy threw herself *out of the Barrier entirely, and I lightly cratered that office building over there."

Chuckling quietly, she looks over her shoulder. "Well... Does anyone mind Doing Science To Us? Cos if not, I'm'a say go ahead?"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime nods her head to Amy. "I'll make some energy cookies then. I have a bit of protein powder, some energy drinks, and quite a bit of sugar. I mean, they should all mix together, right? Just mix them, and toss them in an oven after making them into circles? What could go wrong with that?", she asks.

    "I don't mind.", Yukihime says to Rashmi. She takes a moment to pop her neck. "Lets see what super healing looks like?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Can I supercharge it?
    Amy grins excitedly, "Can you?" She wants to see what will happen!

    "Oh, Corona made a barrier first so that when Ginga Otome purified the scorpions they'd become normal scorpions loose in the office of the cleaning company that blackballed her. But also I set the scorpions on fire. So she just dropped the barrier so they'd have to deal with fire scorpions. Then Rashmi put this barrier up."

    She stares at Yukihime, not sure what has gone wrong with the girl's understanding of cooking. "Huh. No, I don't want to try one of Kusuha's energy drink recipes in real life."

    Beat.

    "...baking is a little more advanced than cooking, and you didn't include any dough." There are also other issues. "How are... how do you think that could result in cookies?"

    And then she smiles again. "It's fine. We'll figure it out! But we'll start with simpler things first, unless there's some particular recipe you really wanna do."

    Doing Science To Us? Amy grins at Rashmi and Tuxedo Mask. "Heck yeah! Go for the combo technique!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru laughs delightedly and takes his other glove off too, sleighting them away before putting both hands on the glowing golden hemisphere. And he closes his eyes and leans in a little, then shakes his head and crouches to put one hand on the ground and the other on the hemisphere. Then he grins, and the glow around his hand on the ground gets brighter, and the hemisphere gets brighter, and he squeezes his eyes shut tighter against the brightness--

--it's a bask, Rashmi's always feels like a sunbeam and Mamoru's always feels like all things it's fallen on, and when it's the two of them together the world slows down to the pleasant drowsy feeling of basking with a cat in the sun, and everything is safe and warm and comfortable.

And when the glow fades, everything is still safe and warm and comfortable, stress-free; everyone feels like a million dollars, all their injuries gone and aches and pains soothed, the whole day went great and they're not even hungry--

Mamoru exhales and the glow fades, no longer lighting up the street like a miniature sun, too bright to look at.

"Wait. Wait," he says as he opens his eyes. "She released scorpions and then dropped the barrier? After you set them on fire. Gods, that's so bitchily clever, all I ever came up with was emus."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi, by dint of being a Devicer, doesn't get to combo spells much. The concept has always been intriguing, but actually coming up with a *way* to do it has, as yet, eluded her as more trouble than it may be worth.

Which is why it *delights* her when she can *feel* -- and Nicomachea can *record* and *analyze* -- the way Mamoru's Earth-based healing takes the warm sunlight-tones magic emanaging throughout the Shield, and turns it into something very like *actual* sunlight.

And the *feeling!* It's like she got an entire summer's day to herself to sit in the park, an unlimited pile of books to read, an endless supply of Jan-Ken-Pop (melon flavor), *and* her Midchildan Tamagotchi running around in her head!

When the light dies, the shaky breath that Rashmi looses is paired with an *enormous* smile.

"...Okay so we gotta remember *that* one for later," she says, as the Shield begins to disintegrate from the top down, its job done.

"And yeah, that's Corona-san. She's a Devicer, but it feels like her two biggest areas of expertise are youma and grudges."

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime blinks a little bit, and the light makes her feel like she's on the beach, tanning in her bikini while hearing the newest club mixes from Europe. Her cheeks turn bright bright red! "That...might be addicting!", she squeaks a bit as she leans into Amy. The girl gives a bit of a sigh.

    "Well, they're in circles, and you throw it in the oven. Like I said, I don't really cook. Its always something my dad hired somebody else to do.", she admits, blushing. "Anyways, can we rewind that back, and do it again?", Yukihime asks.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy came up with a combo Rashmi's sun/fire magic can do! Actually that's what the second canister she put part of the Tera Burst into and flung at Corona was!

    But yeah, combo spells are rare and cool! And...

    This must be what basking as a cat in the sun would feel like. She could sleep, she's safe here, she's with friends...

    She's not sure if maybe she did fall asleep, or dozed for awhile, or was it only seconds? She feels like the day started off more perfect than she can ever remember -- although perhaps waking up in Mamoru's apartment full of friends and hospitality, or waking up at Chez Outer and going from the pillow pile to the smell of bacon approaches it -- and then she discovered an amazingly good manga she'd never heard of and binged it and discussed it with Taro and a beloved old videogame series got an update and she played that and somehow it's all in the same day that she also was a kid binging a speculative fiction novel...

    She almost can't remember her knees were sore a moment ago. She dehenshined when she almost fell asleep, and her pink sparkly magic left her in her favorite comfy sweatshirt and skirt. They're so soft. And she's smiling peacefully.

    Amy nods agreeably at Rashmi's comment about remembering that one.

    Addicting... "I dunno... I think it's more like... finally getting something you need is nice..." Her mind wanders a bit. "That's not exactly addiction... you could try to convince someone it is, but someone who'd do that... Dark Energy can't feel like that..." What?

    Mamoru's words need a moment more for her to snap out of it and process them. She smiles wider. "You get it! Like, if they're gonna be a villain, you can appreciate their competence... I guess she kinda is... she pissed off that guy that got Akumatized into a cowboy, too..."

    She leans back against Yukihime. She still feels so warm it's hard to mind the cold; the sweatshirt helps. "Round doesn't make cookies... it makes... Madoka..." Maybe Amy's still a little detached from cold crisp reality. "It's okay if you wanna make cookies we'll get a recipe and follow it together."

> Rewind that and do it again?
    Amy looks between Miho and Mamoru, her smile lessening slightly. "Okay... maybe you have a point about the addiction... Or aren't getting something you need... but can we unpack that after just... relaxing a bit...?"