Scene #1018: A Tree Grows in Tokyo

Owner	Pose
Fate Testarossa	Jewel Seeds are such... Troublesome things. They attach to anything with a wish and wreak havoc in the ensuing twisting of that wish with their power. This is why they are classed as high tier threat Lost Logia... It would just so happen that one of them managed to find their way into the Azabu Juban district when they were all separated and spread all over Tokyo, landing at the foot of a tree. Specificlly the Sakasa Icho ginko tree; Tokyo's oldest tree. It lay there in dormancy for a time, but eventually... Eventually it found something to latch onto... It's a quiet night at the Zenpukuji temple, a cool wind blowing through the cemetery as the moon slides into view from behind the clouds. That's when the tell-tale audible ~gleam~ of a high powered magical artifact activating can be felt almost all across the entire ward. "... Arf." Fate Testarossa is out tonight, hunting such artifacts. Her Familiar, a red-haired woman with wolf-like ears and tail even winces. "Yeah wow I really felt that one, Fei~to." Arf replies as the pair streak through the air towards the source. "... Call Agera." "Already on it, boss!" The wolf woman replies. At first there's no sign of the problem at the cemetery, just the feeling of static and ionized air from all the magic about to be released as... The oldest tree in all of Tokyo awakens, branches shifting wildly as it grows. ... and grows. And grows- and grows- and grows- reaching toward the skies, growing almost if not as tall as the Tokyo Tower itself. "..." "Thaaaaaat's a big tree, Fei~to. What are we gonna do about it?" "Definitely call Agera. I'll raise a Barrier. Bardiche..." [YES SIR.] the girl's faithful Device solemnly replies as she starts the process of casting a Barrier spell. Fate Testarossa is determined to not lose another Jewel Seed... But she would silently die inside if anyone innocent got hurt in the process.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr Windstar is out tonight, largely enjoying some downtime before work picks up in earnest. It's a bit cold, but she's bundled up in a big purple puff jacket, a purple beanie and some other purple itmes to just layer up against the chill. And then there's suddenly both a giant tree, and a Barrier Field. "Uh, Dee? What's going on?" < Lost Logia signature Chief. Big one. Can't localize it but that's a Mid-style Barrier. Don't recognize the signature of that either. > replies the Device. "Right. Got anyone else nearby? Grab them on comms, lets get dressed for the occasion." < On it Chief. Stand-by Ready. Set up! >
Nanoha Takamachi	"Nanoha!" says Yuuno. "Yeah I felt that!" cried Nanoha as she woke from her reverie of math study. She shifted into her barrier jacket, opened her window and zoomed into the air taking off towards the disturbance, Yuuno in tow on her shoulder, and Raising Heart leading the way with her sensors. By the time she gets here, the tree is already so massive. "That's... sure is a big tree..." says Yuuno with wide eyes. Nanoha looks up in Amazingly large tree and then watches a barrier get thrown up. She didn't do that...! So someone else did. Oh...! Fate-chan... she holds Raising Heart close to her chest as she looks over Yuuno. "Let's get this done." she says pensively as she starts flying straight upwards, ''straight'' into the foilage of the tree. Pompf!
Madoka Kaname	Something unusual happened to Madoka at the start of her patrol. Brai's Chara Egg had once again hatched, and the tiny minidoka asked to accompany her Bearer. Madoka's tiny fairy had been fading in and out of wakefulness for the past few weeks or so, and before that she had been asleep for a month straight. "Are you sure about this, Brai-chan?" asked Madoka, concerned and not wanting to push her too hard. It wasn't clear to Madoka why Brai went into the Chara equivalent of a coma, and she was afraid of hurting her little magical friend. "It's important that I be the one to go with you," insisted Brai. "I can't explain why. I just need to." Thus it was that Madoka had henshined with Brai, and Hope Blossom leapt across the rooftops in her eternal hunt for Witches and other magical troublemakers. Her fluffy pink hair trailed behind her, long and loose. The dark fairy Gretchen, sensing that something was odd with her Chara Bearer, decided to leave the safety of Homura's dorm to go chase down Blossom. Madoka was looking for trouble, and a giant tree suddenly appearing on the horizon as tall as Tokyo Tower absolutely qualifies. With a sense of worried urgency, she changes course to approach the giant tree, not really knowing what to expect when she arrives. Along the way, Gretchen catches up to Hope Blossom and calls out, "Blossom... be careful. Something weird's up ahead." "I know, Gretchen-chan," assures Blossom. "That's why I'm going." Gretchen shakes her head emphatically. "No, I don't think you do. Look, I'm coming with you." With a smile, between jumps, Blossom responds, "Okay, but when it gets dangerous I want you to hide in your Labyrinth, okay?" It will be a minute before she reaches the Tree, but the presence of a Barrier only makes the Chara Bearer more tense. It shouldn't, because obviously she isn't the only magical around who could see this thing and obviously some of those mahou have barriers, but she's still getting a bad vibe from all of this.
Chrono Harlaown	Chrono Harlaown was, well... not entirely up to date on all earth cultures, but he was TRYING to get better at them. And so, he'd tried to plan something special for Rashmi as a 'date'. And he'd looked up some popular 'date' ideas of Japan. Which had led him to one. Apparently 'roller skating' was popular. He'd never tried it, but how hard could it be? Apparently incredibly hard. Judging by the band aids on his hands. And the fact he'd gotten kicked out early 'for his own safety'. "I just don't understand," Chrono mumbled softly. "I've ice skated before... roller skating isn't that different, is it?" And then... His eyes went wide. "Did... you feel that?" he asked, turning towards her, then looking away towards the tree growing in the distance... He didn't even tell her to get ready. Two steps later the card was in his hand, three steps later he was in the air, flying towards it. And he trusted she was right behind him. Because she was his partner, and if there was anyone he could trust to do things right, it was her. << Don't, uhhhh, mention this idea to anyone else. Okay? I'll choose something... better... next time... >>
Takashi Agera	For just a moment, all of the systems Takashi Agera used to monitor Tokyo for magical surges went a little berserk, to the point where he thought perhaps he'd made a mistake moving the terminals into his new office. But the data was unmistakable - a signature that had come up twice before, and a confirmation from Fate's loyal second. A henshin later and Riventon is moving to the source of the signal - or as close to the source as he can. Past a certain point all of the readings from the surge just showed 'maximum' and he raced through the air, heedless of anyone magical noticing the purple-black surge of energy propelling him. Not like the other Device Users weren't likely already on alert. This also meant he was inside of the spherical barrier Fate Testarossa enacted - Axion reaching out to try to contact Bardiche through the magical interference the shockwaves of magic caused. And near the largest tree anyone had fathomed. It almost looked like something out of the Dusk Zone, roots winding and twirling and driving through buildings and reaching to the sky - but not as twisted in a less literal sense than a Dusk Zone flora might be. Riventon stops his flight to land next to Fate, his Barrier Jacket and Device itself forming that cloak-like shield that wrapped around him - keeping himself in defensive mode. "I'm gonna guess the Jewel Seed is somewhere within this tree. Also, I'm getting faint signatures of other energy sources around, we're not alone." He tells the twintailed blonde. "Once the interference from the magic clears up I suspect we'll start getting interference from the magic-users." he notes. Two spheres snap into existence, one over each of his shoulders, like black and purple ink roiling in chaotic orbs. He just barely notes the quickly moving Nanoha diving into foliage. "Or, even earlier." He says, inclining his head in that direction, since his arms are currently safe inside the armored cloak. "I hope you came ready to throw down, Fate-chan."
Rashmi Terios	Roller skating was never something Rashmi had felt the urge to try, but failing at something could be fun when you're failing together! ...Less fun when the person you're failing with is made to stop. So really it was just as well that a massive energy spike made her brain stutter, and sent Nicomachea's internal alarms into overdrive. Because as much fun as she was having, it really depended on having the fun with someone else. So when Chrono springs into action, she's only a couple steps behind him, hair streaming out behind her as she orients herself behind and above his left shoulder, ready to provide support as best as she was able. << It's okay, Chrono dear. I actually had a good time! But yeah maybe something else next time 'round. >>
Fate Testarossa	Eventually the tree stops growing... But by the time it does it's almost to the clouds, barely constrained within the confines of the barrier spell that Fate hastily erected. Thankfully, Takashi arrives, and a thread of reassurance weaves its way into Fate's resolve, knowing she has his aid. The girl nods her head slowly. "I know." She says at first, on the subject of other magical signatures inbound as she shifts her grip on her Device slightly... T[SCYTHE FORM.] Bardiche announces, a tacit statement of the Device's readiness to do what needs to be done. "I... don't like fighting." Fate admits to Takashi in a rare display of trust, baring her feelings that she so usually keeps hidden and bound close to her heart. "... But for mother's sake." She says, voice suddenly taking on a tone of steel. She's about to move- about to get going towards the tree when... Uh. The tree shifts in the wind. There's a low crrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaak of wood and branches. "--Look out!" It's the only warning Takashi gets as a branch suddenly swings down hard between him, Arf, and Fate. This presents a problem. For you see, as Madoka- or no; Hope Blossom, Chrono, Rashmi, Zephyr, and Nanoha approach the tree... Reacts. Violently. Massive branches lash out, suddenly covered in giant thorns, the air CRACKS audibly as vines the size and thickness of bridge cables swing around like whips. This tree has personal space issues.
Zephyr Windstar	A quick flash, and Zephyr's in her armour-like Barrier Jacket. Just in time too as one of those branches comes crashing down toward her. "Crud!" She skips off the ground, and barely manages to get clear of the impact, earning a few chunks of broken road and building peppering her Barrier Jacket for the trouble. "Ornery thing ainchya?" she grumbles, 'winging' over as the turbine blades around her angles kick up a notch. She lifts up higher to clear the building tops then asks her Device as it resolves into the battle-axe shape of its first form. "Any luck on other magic users?" < Got a couple of signals Chief but they're being interfered with by the Lost Logia. I'm still trying to raise 'em. > "Keep on it, for now I'll keep us out of that things range." replies the Mage herself, juking more vines and sweeping a couple of swipes with the blades to cut through a few that linger a bit too close.
Takashi Agera	"I know." Riventon says to Fate, looking down at her. "If we could get what we wanted without fighting, that would be ideal - but I don't think that's going to be an option." he says to her. Riventon doesn't mind fighting, but he can mind forcing Fate to fight. He gets that. Or can at least pretend to, in solidarity. "Let's do some tree-trimming, get the Jewel Seed, and get out of here." he says. Of course, the Tree itself seems to have some opinions about this. Fate tells him to look out, so she must be already on her way out - his brain goes that fast quickly, and so he focuses on getting himself out of the line of fire. Or line of falling root. He's floating in that cloaked form as the smoke and dust from the massive slam clear. "Alright, you titanic topiary." He was kind of hoping to save everything for blasting the ''actual enemies'' but it looks like the tree has decided to put itself in as the third side of combatants. Only one of the panels in the armor opens up so Riventon can reach an arm and hand out, collecting a sphere of deep purple-blue energy in it. "Time for you to log off." He says, though in all liklihood nobody is around to hear him. Which... may be better for all of them. <SCHATTENSCHLAG!> calls the device in Belkan as Riventon sends a surge of Dark Energy towards the giant tree. "First you, then the interlopers, then I'm gonna go back to the office and finish my cup ramen!"
Chrono Harlaown	Chrono Harlaown flew into the barrier and... Oh. Ohhhh. That was great. The moment he was within, a quick scan told him all he needed to know. Fate. Riventon. Arf. That-- However, as Nanoha approached... It looked like things were looking up. And Zephyr was here, the other enforcer. A whole lot of people on their side. Perfect. Then... Hope Blossom? Oh, this was looking better already. He opened a communications line with the group. << Nanoha, Fate's here. I need you to work on her. Zephyr, support Nanoha, she's an artillery mage. I imagine Arf will be supporting Fate, make sure they don't interfere. Hope Blossom, can you work on keeping Riventon distracted? Rashmi and I will focus on suppressing the jewel seed. Rashmi, dispatch support as needed, but primarily I'll need your focus on me. >> He then moved towards the tree... the moment the vines swung at him, however, he held up both hands, forming a barrier and being driven back. "How do you feel about testing some of those ice spells we've been working on, Rashmi?" he called out to her.
Rashmi Terios	<< Roger, >> Rashmi says, her mental voice as close to 'all business' as it's possible for a fifteen-year-old to be. Although... The two of them against a kaiju tree? Her face betrays a biiiit less self-confidence than Chrono displays... But she takes a deep breath, holds Nicomachea against her chest, and flies after Chrono. "Ready to bring the cold," she calls out in answer to the question. "But are we basically digging for a needle in a murder-haystaaAAAAAA--!" That was her noticing the vines coming her way. The first one meets an angled Round Shield that knocks Rashmi to one side, and the second hits her just as the Shield is being brought around, sending the Mage spinning up into the air. This is not a new state of affairs, and so she can recover on her own fairly well, but... that was fun.
Madoka Kaname	As Hope Blossom enters the Barrier and approaches the impossibly tall tree, Gretchen pipes up again. "There are a lot of magicals approaching, and at least one of them is using dark energy. More than that... ''something'' is coming from around the tree, or maybe inside it? I... really don't like the energy it's giving off." "If it's dangerous," says Hope Blossom, "then that's all the more reason why I need to go. If you're scared, you can stay behind." Gretchen flails at her Bearer. If she were the type of mascot who walked, she'd stomp her feet. "It's not me that I'm worried about, dummy! I can handle myself." It's only when Hope gets closer that she starts to see part of the issue. She's seen many of these people before: Chrono, Rashmi, Nanoha, Riventon... and even a certain twintailed blonde she hasn't actually seen in forever. Out of all these people, she's pretty sure she hasn't interacted with any of them since getting her henshin. At least not as far as she knows. Zephyr remains unknown to her, the Veil protecting the identity of the soda saleswoman from Madoka. "Is this your doing?!" she calls out to Riventon. The sudden motion of the tree makes Blossom go pale. Mind you, she's fought Witches before, and Witches are huge. She even has vague, fragmented memories of fighting bravely against and ''losing'' to an incredibly large Super Witch. Yet she's never seen a monster whose height spans from the ground to the clouds. Gretchen has, but she's keeping that fact to herself. The fact that the tree seems to be attacking Team Obsidian quickly dispels any notion that it's under their control somehow, yet that doesn't really preclude them from being at fault. An impossibly large branch swings down at Hope Blossom, and the Chara Bearer immediately starts moving to get out of the way, and nocks back a magic arrow that she lets charge for a ''while''. She's practiced for something like this, but it was supposed to be against thrown skyscrapers and not giant trees. Ohgeezeohgeezeohgeezeohgeezeohgeeze... At some point, the branch gets close, and instead of dodging to the side of the impossibly wide thing, she jumps right into it, using the charged shot to blast a hole into the branch. Moments later, she's managed to scramble her way to the top of the branch, and is now running and superjumping up the impossibly tall thing. Gretchen, meanwhile, is hanging onto her Bearer's long hair for dear life. Upon hearing Chrono's telepathic ping, Hope Blossom responds, <<Riventon? Um... I'll try!>> The last time she faced Riventon it didn't go so well for her. At the same time, she didn't even have a full henshin back then. Chara Change isn't nearly the same as a Chara Transformation. The distances involved in this fight are huge by nature, but fortunately she's a ranged specialist. Once she spots Riventon in the far distance, she starts firing shot after shot. Each arrow splits into a multitude of smaller arrows, and every single one is trying to cross the distance to reach Beryl Holding's latest pretty boy.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha Takamachi makes a tactical error and gets into the realm of vines and thorny whips pretty quick and creaking tree branches. As quickly as people see her 'pompf' into the foilage, she quickly 'pompfs' back out being chased by a rather large vine as it snakes out after her and she tries to outrun it, and eventually does, perhaps the vine reaching it's limit as she 'whews'' and then looks down as Riventon fires off a barrage of dark energy. Nrg, there's a choice to make. Drive the badguy (and Fate) away first, then handle the tree, or to handle the tree first. Then Chrono starts issuing orders. < Oh! Right then! > she says, glad someone is corralling the chaos now. She'll try to go after Fate then, calling out as she fires a barrage of normal Shot Barrets towards Fate, good enough now she doesn't need to call out the spell for such a low level one. The idea is to get her attention. Not damage her. "Fate-chan!" she calls off. "I can't let you take the Jewel seed!" she calls out. Yuuno frowns a little at this as he looks up at the tree, as it strikes out with another cable sized vine, calling out to Nanoha, as Nanoha quickly dodges to the right just barely avoiding the vine again. "Aieee!?" she goes after this.
Fate Testarossa	It's hectic. In an instant everything is so chaotic. "A-are... Are you for real, Riventon...?" Arf asks, looking at Riventon, completely baffled by his punnery. But she doesn't get time to wait for an answer. No one really gets time once tactics are relayed. "You... You're in my way..." Fate replies to Nanoha, voice soft and tired. "Just let me have the Jewel Seed and no one has to get hurt. Please." But the tree... Makes EVERYTHING REALLY HARD. Bardiche cleaves through a series of vines as Fate streaks through the air towards the tree intending to... Well she didn't think this through entirely as she's forced to evade more angry branches, dodging and weaving and grazing like a Touhou protagonist in a final boss stage because... Before she can engage Nanoha and Arf can cross paths with Zephyrm the ginko tree gets REALLY mad. Its bark sizzles from the dark energy poured into it and it quickly regrows much of the vines and branches that were cut, but the Jewel Seed can only provide so much energy. If the teams can wear the tree down enough they should be able to seal the Lost Logia. Then... The branches shake. They shake hard. And they dislodge HUNDREDS of razor sharp leaves, streaking through the air like bullets. How good is everyone at bullet hell games, by the way?
Zephyr Windstar	<<Got it boss. Yo kiddo, focus on the range, I'll keep 'em off you.>> replies Zephyr over the telepathic link. She dodges around another vine, then streaks up high to cleave through another threatening the little red-head. And then the tree starts using Razor Leaf! "Oh come '''on''' really?" < Yes Chief. Really. > "Impulse Barret, Gale shift!" < Impulse Barret! Gale Shift! > confirms the Device in turn from her Mage. Multiple purple motes form, grow to baseball size, then start firing off boiling wind bullets to intercept some of the incoming leaves, like a battleship's AA armament against swarming aircraft, and it's about as effective given the sheer volume. Razor-sharp leaves cut through her Barrier Jacket in places, leaving rents in the armour.
Takashi Agera	Hope Blossom calls out an accusation, and Riventon's head snaps to her. Then he pauses. "You are... really quite pink." the boy notes. "But it's not our doing, we're trying to contain the item at fault before it does any further damage. Just don't distract us and this'll be handled." Contain it ''today''. So it can do further damage later, probably. Riventon doesn't recognize Hope Blossom from Madoka - in addition to the resistance and strength of a real Henshin, Madoka now had the identity protection of one. But Riventon doesn't instantly clock her as a threat, or at least not the same level of threat as he might Chrono. He turns back to the tree but doesn't entirely write Hope Blossom off like he might a noncombatant. Which is good, since she quickly proves herself to not be. The two orbs floating over Riventon's shoulder suddenly move between him and Madoka, and start to fire little darkblasts at the arrows - disrupting many of them in flight, though a good number continue on and impact Riventon's heavy armored cloak - the pink arrows slamming into the surface only to dissapate off, arcane runes glowing into existence on the outside of the armor, as Riventon's heavy cloak further trades his energy reserves for taking damage. It certainly looks more imposing, though, since it seems like the arrows left no scratches. <<Fate, Arf. We've got TSAB agents here too. You need to deal with that girl quickly, or they're going to get the seed while we're busy. Be merciless. This is for your mother. That girl, her friends, they stand between you and me... and us seeing Precia Testarossa's happy smile again.>> Riventon passes the message on to Fate via his own Device telpathic link. Riventon knows why Fate fights. And he ''thinks'' he knows how to motivate her. And he does need to prevent Chrono and Rashmi from sealing the seed while the two of them are busy. For now, he's not expecting that to be the last attack launched against him, so he continues on towards the tree at a much slower speed - conserving energy to continue being able to resist incoming attacks. That doesn't mean Hope Blossom gets to go off freely though, as the two orbs zoom towards her like evil Wil'o'Wisps, getting relatively close to her before trying to surge small lasers at her, in constant motion, like the annoying little pest drones they are. Maybe a development based off of a certain mage's sphere that he finds quite obnoxious. "Go away, you're not in my league, and you're too early for Valentine's Day with that color scheme which bothers my eyes." he says to Hope Blossom as he continues towards the tree while the orbs circle and try to blast at her. He's trying to ominously float towards the two Mages threatening to steal the seed. It's not that he's actually discounting Hope Blossom - that was a pretty good opening salvo and he could feel what it cost in terms of energy for his cloak to resist it. The first battleground of any war is mental, however, and he'd just like her to give up and stop shooting him without him having to expend any real effort. It's nice to dream, anyways. But as Riventon moves closer, the tree itself has opinions. There's too much coming from him to rely on his energy armor to just deflect it, and his hand leaves the armor plating again to create a heavy runic barrier - the triangular Belkan shield being used to push back against the torrent of leaves as he continues to try to push towards the center. Sometimes one of the leaves causes a crack to appear in the shield, but Dark Energy flows from Riventon into the shield to shore up the two-toned shield. Though he wishes his drones were back here again to provide more covering fire instead of harassing Hope Blossom - there's just too much to do, and only so much time to do it in.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha Takamachi looks upwards a moment. It's just a big tree. If she can continue to dodge branches, she should be safe. She looks back at Fate and starts to puff up a bit as she calls out. "I won't let you h--- wha?" goes Nanoha as something sharp falls slowly past her cheek and cuts it, causing her to wince and feel that. "Blood...?" Then she looks back up and there's thousands upon thousands of razor sharp leaves falling and she quickly starts dodging, not wanting to get cut any more, though it's hard to dodge so many leaves. That's when she makes a decision. "Yuuno...please.." she begs a moment. "On it..." goes Yuuno as he swings his little body around and casts a shield spell directly over Nanoha to give her cover. She then aims down lane at the giant trunk of the tree and calls out. "Make like a tree and stop this!" she says, hilariously messing up her own pun, as she just gives it all she has... "Divine.....!" < Divine... > "BUSTAHAHHH!" < ...Buster! > Sing both Nanoha and Raising Heart in rapid succession, the big lance of magenta energy colliding outward and towards the bark of the tree, as Nanoha Takamachi just goes for it, trying to severely compromise the tree, if not severely weaken it.
Chrono Harlaown	Chrono Harlaown had to pull back due to the vines alone. However, when the razor leaves began to rain down on them, he had no choice. Time to delegate. "Rashmi, shield!" he ordered. He moved back behind her, letting her shield them both while he gathered his own mana. Once the initial assault was dealt with by his partner, he'd hold out his rod to it. <<Subzero Burst!>> Ice would travel out from the rod, out towards the tree.... and then climb up it, in a rapidly expanding, coating layer! Then it'd explode, sending frozen shards of ice across the tree and hopefully shredding the next assault of vines and leaves it decided to send at them. And with Nanoha blasting the ever loving crud out of it... He dove. "Rashmi, covering!" he told her. <<Stinger Blade!>> Three blades would appear around him, spin once, then drive themselves down towards the roots, trying to pry out the jewel seed's protections. It might be a bit early to go for it... But if he waited until it was safe then Riventon might go for it too. And he didn't want to leave that jerk with Hope Blossom longer than he had to.
Rashmi Terios	"Roger!" Rashmi calls out, soaring down to come to rest in front of Chrono... Just as the leaves begin their arboreal assault. << BONG! >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >> A quarter-dome of golden light begins to form in front of her, large enough to shield slighty more than her entire height... Then, there's a strange, screeching CRACK as the shield forms an extremely thick, vaguely conical shell of ice over it, streamers spreading out and back to cover an even wider area, giving Chrono plenty of cover for the Enforcer to cast his bind. The leaves are razor sharp, however, and there are so many of them. The shield begins to slowly get chipped away, divots forming almost immediately. Nanoha's blasts are still terrifying, as most mahou she fights around tend not to pull out a gun that big until the fight needs to finish. So, the Divine Buster startles Rashmi, pulling a squeak out of her throat, and perhaps it's with more energy than necessary that she follows Chrono down, keeping her steadily-eroding shield between the leaves and Chrono.
Madoka Kaname	Hope Blossom grabs Gretchen and holds her close as the razor sharp leaves start falling around them, using her branch bow to swat a few of them away as they get too close. Some of them get too close and slice into her henshin outfit, making tiny cuts. The X-Chara, for once, tolerates being DETAINED like this because it's really for her own safety. Once there's a gap in the attack, Gretchen wriggles her way free and vanishes through a portal, hiding within her pseudo-Labyrinth. It's the only way she can ensure her own safety. Fortunately, Labyrinths can be moved, and Gretchen's is still staying close to Hope Blossom. With both arms free, Blossom fires more and more sprays of deadly magical pink, creating a cloud of arrows that swirls around her defensively. It's not a solid barrier by any means, but there are enough arrows here to intercept the leaves that come too close. Of course, the more she focuses on defense, the less she has left over for attack. Riventon responds to her attack in kind, and for a mercy he ''also'' has the tree to deal with and can't focus upon Hope Blossom entirely. "Oh, I'm sure you want to contain it." she calls out. "I just don't trust you to put it in a good place." The drones fly around and harass Madoka with laser beams, and such attacks can't reliably be blocked by an arrow cloud the same way that leaves can. Fortunately, she gets an assist from an unlikely source. Gretchen's own pair of Familiars, looking not unlike biblically accurate angels, suddenly burst out of her tiny Labyrinth to fly around the orbs, hopefully at least distracting them a bit. One of them body blocks a shot and immediately gets poofed, causing the other Familiar to make angry Witch noises. Madoka takes a few of the lasers head on. She can only move and intercept so much, so taking hits is only natural, and she doesn't have the poker face that Riventon does. Between running up the top of the giant branch, being unable to fly under her own power, dealing with vines and razor leaves, and taking fire from her opponent's options; Madoka is dealing with a lot. She barely has enough time to shoot a charged shot at one of the drones harassing her. Unfortunately, that leaves Riventon unharassed by the pinkette. The nearly invisible entrance Gretchen's Labyrinth suddenly changes course, heading directly upwards. What is Gretchen planning? Maybe she's just trying to get the heck out of the line of fire. A minute or so later, a bucket's worth of Labyrinth water is dumped over Riventon's head from an invisible source. If you can't overpower the target, there's always an attempt at crowd control.
Fate Testarossa	The tree is not having any of this. Wildly thrashing its limbs, trying to swipe various mahous out of the air like brightly colored gnats, while sloughing off deadly leaves like razor blade detritus. Fate weaves, gritting her teeth as she cuts through more branches... Because the Whomping Ginko is on an utter rampage. Arf growls as she summons a load of glowing orange chains to hold down several heavy branches an vines for Fate. Nanoha lays into the tree with a Divine Buster. The sheer amount of firepower that girl has is baffling, and Fate isn't going to let herself be outshined here. She intends to walk away with the Jewel Seed tonight. Thankfully, Zephyr's anti air fire and Rashmi's shields render the initial leave volley a little more bearable, and it's as Chrono's spell sends those trio of blades for the roots that Fate realizes just where the Jewel Seed is. Just as she halts in the air. There's a moment of hesitation... 'This is for your mother. That girl, her friends, they stand between you and me... and us seeing Precia Testarossa's happy smile again.' Riventon's words revolve within Fate's mind and, briefly, a dark shadow shrouds over the small blonde's face. The tree goes wild, a last ditch attempt to flail and thrash and shake off everyone attacking it as... Fate whispers... "Arcus... Cultas... Aegias..." Lightning flashes in the sky. Thunder CLAPS shortly afterwards in an ominous roar. "Baruel... Zaruel... Brauzel..." The girl murmurs as she raises Bardiche to the sky as a full on storm starts to form within the barrier, lightning dancing in the dark clouds that roll in as thunder shrieks. "Let Lightning pound and thunder echo... Arcus... Cultas... Aegias..." Riventon may recognize this. He may or may not be privy to one of Fate's most powerful and dangerous spells as she breathes the incantation out through gritted teeth, eyes half-lidded as Bardiche suddenly announces loud and clarion... [THUNDER FALL!] As a massive plume of lightning streaks down upon the tree and CHAINING out to lash at anyone and everyone around the tree that isn't Riventon with hideously searing voltaic energy.
Takashi Agera	Between the familiars and the charged shot from Hope Blossom herself, the pinkette is able to end the harassment of the orbs around her - the damage inflicted on them erases their orb-like casting, revealing for a brief moment that they are in fact tiny little purple gemstones - before those gemstones shatter into fine purple dust as well. Things continue to go poorly for Riventon as his movement stopped not by damage so much as by... By a bucket of water that is, in itself, strange. It's like if you asked a first grader to draw a lake with a crayon and then dumped it on him. He can feel the strange mixture of energies and he's... actually stopped in his traps by more ''curiosity'' than damage or annoyance. It's just interesting enough to stall him from his present course. He draws a line in the air and a small bit of Dark Energy snakes out like some sort of dancing smoke, running around him, to collect some of the ''water'' and put it into a hastily produced test tube before he stoppers it. All of this means that's his focus for now... but it's clearly not Fate's focus. THAT experiment was a success, he's confirmed the blonde's Berserk Button rather emphatically as the torrent of electricity rips through the tree and attempts to do the same to everyone but her and him. He returns the stoppered vial top within his jacket. And just kind of stands in awe for a moment. He floats down towards the base of the charred tree, where he thinks he can sense the Jewel Seed. His Device pings something to Fate as he kneels to get closer to it.
Rashmi Terios	The practical upside to following Chrono down to the roots, and keeping her shield oriented on the leaves is... her attention was already directed upward. So Rashmi got to see Fate's spell-circle form. See the clouds gather inside the Barrier. See the gathering lightning, as Fate does what Rashmi does, when she's making stuff up on the fly and needs to charge mana. See how the leaves have taken chunks out of her shield. Gulp Rashmi dives down yet further, pressing her back to Chrono's, and does the only thing she can think of. << BONG! >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >> There is no way to know from what direction the lightning will attack. Thus, Rashmi and Chrono are enveloped in two icy Barriers, all but obscuring them from view, just as the Thunder Falls. Hopefully Chrono will forgive Rashmi for screaming, as her dual-layered shields battle against the almighty crash of the most powerful attack from the most dangerous opponent she's yet faced, as golden ice tears away in chunks and shards, her defenses are assaulted by staggering power. Hopefully Chrono has an idea that can get them out from under this thunderous hell.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha Takamachi just lays into the tree with treemendous force! (No that isn't a typo.) She keeps it up until the tree is defeated, just shoving energy into the Buster until it's down... and.. Whew. Good, the tree is done and good. She takes a deep breath before.... Thunder Fall. She tries to avoid voltaic lightning, Yuuno's shield tanking one hit, which would had been square on. But another hit smacks her head on, shrieking out a moment as she starts to fall down to the ground, spiraling downwards as Yuuno holds on for dear life. "NANOHA...!" he yells.
Zephyr Windstar	< ALERT! High Energy Bombardment signature! Evade! > chimes Tenraikaze as Fate charges up her lightning laser. The chaining voltaic lances lash out, seeking targets, seeking her, and Nanoha and the others. She grits teeth, and holds out one hand. "Aegis!" < Rampart Aegis! > confirms the Device as a hemisphere of interlocking hexagonal plates forms between her and the incoming electrical pulse. Yellow lightning licks across the barrier, causing cracks to follow in their wake. She 'skids' back from the sheer force, then the barrier fails and she's subjected to the force of that monsterous spell. Her Jacket purges in a last ditch attempt to mitigate the incoming damage... and Zephyr falls from the sky, smashing through a wall with enough force to collapse part of the building around her.
Madoka Kaname	Hope was still standing on that tree when Fate started casting her ominous spell, and she was too distracted by the Literally Everything coming at her to really see it coming. So when the lightning strikes and does what it usually does to trees, Madoka is caught completely off guard. The blast launches her from the branch that she was currently climbing, and sends her tumbling towards the ground. Turning and seeing the ground suddenly approach her, her mind starts racing. The surviving mini-Familiar rushes to try and grab Blossom in its tiny claws, flapping its wings in futility as it tries to slow Hope's descent. Gretchen, from within her Labyrinth, starts to panic. As Hope plummets, the faint signature of Gretchen's Labyrinth chases after her, and the gate way opens just barely wide enough to catch the Chara Bearer. It's... very fortunate that the inside of the X-Chara's Labyrinth is incredibly soft. Moments after Blossom vanishes through the portal, she reappears elsewhere upon a rooftop. Most of the fight is... way above her, and she's not willing to make any risky jumps with as much damage as she's taken. Gretchen reappears next to her Bearer, as does one tiny exhausted Familiar. The fact that her water is being kept by The Enemy is, apparently, of little consequence to the witch fairy. "They're still going after it!" exclaims Madoka, before leaping down to rush towards the base of the dying tree. "Wait, Madoka-chan!" calls out Gretchen "Whatever that thing is, you have to promise me you wont touch it!" "I have to stop them!" responds the bearer, breathlessly running as hard as she can with her arms held close to her sides. The masked fairy still has misgivings. "This is a really bad idea..."
Chrono Harlaown	Chrono Harlaown was making headway, at least. He was pretty sure that he could-- And then Rashmi was on his back. Under normal circumstances he would have blushed and likely squeaked a bit. But this was battle. So instead, he pushed back into her, trusting her to-- BOOM! Then the thunder falls. Dual shields on either side of them. Yeah. This was... This was a lot. He held up his own rod and... well... <<Stinger Blade!>> A few swords would form around them, digging into the ground and the roots around them... trying to act as magical lightning rods to divert SOME of the destruction away. Like it or not, Rashmi's barriers were better than his and he trusted her. So for now, all he could do was try to reduce the strain they were put under. Unfortunately, this did mean he couldn't continue his pursuit of the jewel seed until AFTER the lightning calmed down... But he had to trust Rashmi's barrier would hold and ready his next attack for when the storm passed.
Fate Testarossa	Panting softly after the exertion of that tremendous spell, Fate's scarlet eyes glance down at the damage. The great tree has been freed from the influence of the Jewel Seed, returned to its normal state albeit a little singed... That will be fine once the barrier is down, while hunks and chunks of burning wood and ash fall from the sky. Riventon transmits something to Fate and she pings back with an acknowledgement. He expects everyone to jump him as he makes it look like he's going for the Lost Logia. But then... she sees... That girl is falling. Nanoha is in wild and uncontrolled freefall, and for a beat, the blonde hesitates. "Fei~to don't even think about it, just get th-" Arf starts to say but then Fate is gone. Blitzing at breakneck and utterly inhuman speed, she bolts through the sky, a blur of black, red, and gold and... She catches Nanoha, arresting the girl's fall. Fate's boots touch down on the ground by the roots of the tree, and she slowly sets the other girl down, to make sure she isn't hurt. The last thing Fate Testarossa wants to do is see someone seriously hurt by her actions. "... I'm sorry." She whispers once again, before reaching out with her Device... [INTERNALIZE!] Bardiche announces as the small blue gem of the Jewel Seed gets absorbed into the black scythe's gold-gem core.
Takashi Agera	Riventon had landed and diverted all possible energy to his armor shell. He expected attacks to rain down like hellfire. Instead, he perhaps underestimated the severity of Fate's attack - and might well have to study the data on the dangerous girl. What was it with magic and the way it seemed to incessantly favor the small and adorable to be equally as dangerous as they were adorable? Fate internalizes the Jewel Seed. It's been an effective day. A few test attacks, things to study, and the loot was in the right hands. He even manages not to ruin it by saying something smug and inevitably getting utterly destroyed for it. He just stands up, slowly, and walks over next to Fate. "Excellent work. Your mother should be proud of her daughter today." Oh, if he only knew. "Let's destroy this barrier and get out of here."
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha Takamachi pins to the ground and is suddenly ''caught''. She's too weak to remain conscious for too long after unloading all the power she could into the tree. But all she manages to get out is.. "F--Fate-chan.." ..is all she can manage before she spins into temporary unconsciousness, being placed down onto the ground carefully. She's out of the fight at the moment. She overdid it. Then spun around. Yuuno is fine. He's also a little spindizzy and needs a moment to figure anything out. @.@.
Chrono Harlaown	Finally, the lightning cleared and... And the seed. THE SEED! << Rashmi, speed boost, now >> he ordered. <<Stinger Move!>> He took off, straight at Fate, disappearing into a zig zagging flash of green light. A moment later, he was over Fate. Odd. Last time it was her doing this to him. Hopefully her focus was more on the jewel seed... Before his Rod was out in front of her, the magic gathered on the tip. <<Stinger Ray!>> A flurry of rapid fire blue magical blasts releasing from the tip, straight at the much smaller girl at point blank range. As he cast the blasts, however, his main goal was to drive her back, into a hidden bind he cast behind her. "I can't let you leave with that jewel seed, Fate," he said. As if he was going to have much choice.
Madoka Kaname	Hope Blossom arrives too late to stop Fate from getting the Jewel Seed, though she's just in time to see her save Nanoha from a brutal fall. The Chara Bearer watches with wide eyes as the mission basically fails. Would she have been able to stop this if she was stronger, faster or better? Yet there's no real way to do that without using Gretchen, and the last time she did that... "She's crazy for trying to grab something so dangerous," says the Witch fairy. "Is it even possible to use that safely?" It's a genuine question, since the masked fairy doesn't really know Lost Logia that well, but also a rhetorical one. Blossom considers Gretchen's words, and the Bearer shouts out a warning. "Stay away from that! Even I can see how scary it is! Do you really plan on using that? What if you get hurt?!" The tiny fairy gives Blossom a sideways glance, and then just grabs a handful of Madoka's collar and starts tugging her away. "Come on. Let's go. We're not getting that now. The tree is gone." As much as she hates to admit it, Hope Blossom is too spent to press the fight further.
Rashmi Terios	That had to have been the most terrifying test of Rashmi's shields to date. And it wasn't at all a complete success, but if it wasn't for the second layer and most of Rashmi's mana poured into the both of them, she'd have a lot more than scorch marks up and down her Barrier Jacket and cheek. And immediately, Chrono blasts off to try and secure the Jewel Seed. "R-roger..." << BONG! >> << ACCEL -- BOOST UP >> With the casting of that last Boost at Chrono, Rashmi is spent. Like, exhausted. Like, the shimmering dragonfly-wings at her ankles are glitching and flickering, as she bumbles down to land next to Madoka, doubling over to catch her breath. "Are... are you okay...?"
Takashi Agera	On some level, somewhere beneath all the Dark Energy, maybe a part of Riventon - of Takashi Agera - felt bad for manipulating Fate's love for her mother like that. For driving her on with those words, making her unleash such violent inner power. But he wouldn't admit that to himself, and was even further from admitting it to anyone else. But it's that feeling, more than a feeling of desire for team success, more than any kind of general team or familial instinct, that drives him on. It's that feeling that causes him to suddenly shoot up from his position on the ground, where he was preparing to try to rip the barrier asunder, and instead push Fate out of the way with his body, putting himself between Fate and Chrono, his armored cloak taking the attack meant for her - and close enough Chrono could see the effort he was putting in to soak it with his energy. There wasn't enough distance to put on a poker face. It was clearly hard to handle that attack, so close. He was clearly working to absorb it, like he had to with Hope Blossom's barrage, but the distance let him play it off - not here. His cloak folds back into itself, and eventually ends up as a long gauntlet on his right arm. "Didn't I tell you, you don't have jurisdiction here?" he asks. Riventon's spent too - the energy sent into his cloak, his Defender shield, his speed here - all pulled from reserves. He looked just as tired as the others - it'd been a while since anyone looked so tired because they tried to look like they were doing nothing at all. "Fate-chan, go."
Fate Testarossa	The thing is... Fate is not crazy. She is driven. Dead set on her goal to see Precia Testarossa smile, however, maybe a quest of folly and madness in and of itself, unfortunately... Nevertheless with the Jewel Seed secured, Fate clutches Bardiche in her grasp. "Riventon, Arf... Let's go." She starts to say. Before Chrono Harlaown is suddenly so terrifyingly fast. Was he that fast before? She certainly can't remember in this instant. With her attention split between ensuring Nanoha's safety and retrieving the Jewel Seed, Fate is, essentially, caught flat footed by the TSAB enforcer's sudden reprisal assault. It's as though time itself slows down, an epoch of several seconds stretch out painfully as vivid, painfully melancholic, scarlet eyes slowly glance up to stare in shock, as Chrono comes for her with such violent intent. "Fei-to!" She barely registers Arf's cry as Chrono unleashes his magic point blank. Even Fate doesn't have time to dodge, regardless of how good her reflexes and inhuman speed are. She barely gets an arm up to try and shield herself physically from the onslaught when... Takashi intervenes. "R-Riventon..." The girl whispers, not quite shocked, but more... Sad that he had to make up for her failure to be alert. "Thank you... And sorry." She whispers again before backing away, fast, taking off, and darting away into the night with the Lost Logia.
Madoka Kaname	Blossom is bent forward with her hands on her knees, catching her breath when she looks aside to Rashmi. "I... I'll be fine, but I don't have much fight left." Well, not unless she henshins into Hope Witch. Could she do that? No, not until she figures out what happened with Brai and Medo. No... Who is she kidding? Even if she did that now, she'd still be exhausted. It'd just be a big risk for her Chara again, and for no reason at all. For a moment, she frowns at Riventon. How much is it going to take for her to best this guy? What's his problem, anyways? Gretchen lifts up her mask just barely enough to stick out her tongue at Riv. Turning her attention back to Rashmi, Blossom asks, "What about you? Are you going to be alright? I couldn't really pay attention to everything that happened to everyone else."
Chrono Harlaown	Chrono Harlaown glowered at Riventon. Of course. It always had to be him, didn't it? Damn it. He could do nothing but watch, helpless, as Fate fled. Could he go through Riventon to get Fate? Possibly. Possibly but unlikely. And he knew how dangerous she could be. Rashmi was spent, Nanoha was down. Zephyr was in no shape to fight. Hope Blossom he didn't know very well, but it was doubtful she was any better. Riventon had enough tricks to delay and escape. Pushing the fight past this would be reckless. He pulled back. Ironically, the one who likely was the least exhausted. He didn't even snap back at Riventon's comment on his jurisdiction. Instead, he started to glide down to Nanoha. << Hope Blossom, Rashmi, how are you two holding up? Nanoha and her familiar seem okay, if exhausted. They... got away. >> ... He'd failed. But it was fine. It'd be fine. It had to be fine. Damn it, Riventon.
Zephyr Windstar	THUNK. "Not dead, by the way." calls Zephyr as she extracts herself from the rubble. "That girl's like a pocket battlecruiser..." which one she's talking about is up to debate.
Takashi Agera	Riventon would never admit it out loud, would never say the words, but he's ''happy'' Chrono doesn't rise to the comment, he's happy everyone seems to be toning back. He's not ready for a fight. The people here, the magical heroes? They're more dangerous than he can let them know. This fight is closer than it looks. In fact, he's pretty sure the tree did more work on them than he did. No, he wasn't enough to actually win a battle like this. The next time a Jewel Seed is in contention, he might not be able to let it go to Fate and Fate's mother. But for now he'll take the fact that everyone is backing off, he'll take todays win, and he won't tell anyone how nervous some of the attacks and blasts his device recorded made him. Not a soul. Riventon doesn't even leave the hard way, he just jumps right to the Dusk Zone once Fate's clear. Maybe he'll spend some time there, regaining the energy he spent. And thinking. A lot of thinking.
Rashmi Terios	"Just... exhausted," Rashmi says between gasps. "Little hurt... but... Kept the... worst of it back... at least..." 'Little hurt,' she says, as her muscles fight over which one gets to be cramped up at any given few seconds. Lightning magic is swiftly becoming as worrisome as fire! When Chrono checks in, she manages a nod. << Gonna want to sit down somewhere for awhile, but I'll be okay. So... that was one of the Jewel Seeds, huh? I... kinda get why you came all this way to make sure they didn't get stolen. >> Glancing over at Madoka, the redhead gives the pinkette a crooked smile. << Hope Blossom looks like she's about where I am, but... That was good work. Seriously, thanks for everything you did. >> THUNK<< Hiiii Zephyr... Yeah, she really is, isn't she? >> Nevermind that ephyr's idea of a battlecruiser is about three orgers of magnitude what comes to Rashmi's mind. << So uh... How many of those are supposed to be around? >>
Madoka Kaname	<<I think I'll have to cut my patrol short today.>> admits Madoka, telepathically. It's actually a problem, but... it's not she could afford to ignore such an insanely large tree. Nor could she afford to ignore the magic coming off of it. Rashmi praises her, and Hope Blossom says, <<Eheh. I feel like I've been in this conversation before.>> Turning to the other girl with an exasperated smile, she transmits. <<It's hard to feel good about this, but at least the tree isn't here. I'm sure things will work out in the long term, right?>> Madoka frowns at the space where Riventon used to be, glad that he's at least ''gone''. She might feel a bit more confident, and maybe a bit less desperate, if she had known how close they were. <<I'll be fine. I just need a moment.>> Gretchen, meanwhile, looks at Rashmi, then at Nanoha, and then Chrono or Zephyr. She silently sits on Blossom's shoulder and takes out a small paper fan. She joins in on the telepathy. <<Whatever that thing was, it looked wild. I can't imagine something that small creating a tree that big.>>
Zephyr Windstar	<<Hey Rashmi... and, I don't know all the details, above my paygrade, but that's a Lost Logia for you. They're dangerous artefacts, and that one is one of the strongest I've encountered. Enforcer Harlaown probably knows more than I do.>> she remarks, hopping down to ground level and dismissing whats left of her Barrier Jacket, as she slumps down in a heap of ow.
Chrono Harlaown	Chrono Harlaown sighed, kneeling by Nanoha. Very gently, he picked her up. << Yuuno, are you good to travel, or do we need to carry you? We should get Nanoha home. After an expenditure of mana like that, she's likely going to wake up sore and needing calories. >> Assuming he was good... << Hope, Zephyr, you should do the same. Recovery after a battle like that can knock down even the strongest mages. >> Then, one more message to Rashmi, this one to her alone. << Rashmi, you were very impressive there. But considering the amount of mana you expended, I can't imagine you feel much better than Nanoha here. Will you be able to get home on your own? Fenyx is on her way and can ensure you get home safely if you're unsure. >> ... Admittedly... Chrono wasn't looking forward to telling Nanoha that, despite how hard she had pushed herself, they'd failed to acquire the jewel seed. << There are twenty one jewel seeds on this planet. With enough of them, if used wrong, they could destroy this entire dimension. So it is paramount that we do not allow them to get any more. >>
Zephyr Windstar	<<I carry snacks for after battle. Candy bars help pick up energy levels... trick I learned from my teammates during training.>> replies Zephyr to Chrono. <<I have some extras if anyone wants one.>> Tenraikaze chimes as it pops a bag of candy out of its gemstone into the teens hands.
Madoka Kaname	Hope Blossom's eyes go wide. An entire dimension?! Gretchen falls silent, and then looks at her Bearer. Eventually, Hope speaks, <<So... it's something like that. Okay, I'll be looking for them, then. I don't know what to do with one when I find it, but...>> Blossom looks at Gretchen, and the dark fairy shakes her head. <<No way. I'm not sticking it in my Labyrinth. Not after seeing what happened to that tree. Just imagine Hansel or Gretel getting into it! They have enough eyes as it is.>> Mortified by that thought, Madoka turns back to Chrono. <<Eheh, maybe I'll just leave that part to you, then. That girl was able to seal it.>> Blossom looks at Zephyr's offered snacks, and then starts to miss home. She's sure her dad has something for her to eat by now. <<I think I'm going to split, but... if I see or hear about any more of these Lost Logia, I'll let you know okay?>> Tired, and not really wanting to stay out longer than she has to, Hope Blossom walks away and starts the long trek home.
Rashmi Terios	<< ...I want to say I'll be fine, but I think I'd really like it if Fenyx could help, >> Rashmi admits, sighing, and pats Hope's shoulder. << It's hard to feel good about how the fight ended, but... We're all mostly okay, and nobody got too hurt. That's still something to be proud of. >> With a shaky smile, she gladly accepts offered candies. Some backup calories as she waits for her support sounds like a great idea. << Be careful, Chrono, okay? I know nobody's taken shots at us on the way home before, but... That's the kind of first I really especially don't want to happen today. >>