Scene #210: Small Steps

Owner	Pose
Koji Silvia	So, there is a Magical Girl 'Fight Club' at the very school that they all attend. This shouldn't really be surprising to one Koji Silvia, also known locally as 'Hanzo', but it is still a little bit shocking that it's being semi-admitted that this place has become a collection point for the magically inclined. But as Hannah had explained to him before they showed up together at her insistence, it was an open place started by one of the school staff, and his showing up wouldn't cause any issues. But this of course can lead to little 'differences' in fighting and power philosophies. "...no I am being serious here," Hanzo says to Trager, three of his Blades floating at about 100 feet away as a target for her, "You should stop trying to make your strike like a fist. Gravity likes to collapse, and get smaller, more concentrated. Black Hole Theory here on Earth tells us that as a star collapses it begins to pull in everything around it, including light and energy. So make your strike-point smaller, so you can get a bigger and more controlled release forwards." Standing back, arms crossed, the rare magical boy looks at his recent friend and then adds, "So try it like this. Focus the 'Pull' effect around the tip of Blauer, and then use that to help increase the power behind it, and release just when you strike..."
Hannah Steiner	The good Trager regards her dear friend with a vague frown! On the one hand, Hanzo's theory is pretty solidly rooted in magical physics. The better part of her knows there's truth in there. Still, she lets out a rumble of a 'hmph'! Her attention returns to those floating Blades, and one quick Area Search later? "Always making things so /complicated/ you Mid-Childan little knave!" Comes Hannah in a tone that's faux-annoyed yet warm. No, she doesn't think Hanzo's a jerk. Her pride, though, is strong! "Und what if we make the event horizon too small!? They will just wiggle away out of the thing! By the Sankt, fine, for curiousity's sake!" Comes the suddenly grumpy Armed Knight! Throwing a duelist's salute, she leaned into a fencing position. <Fluss: Akkretion> Then that baleful light-consuming work of intense gravitic power forms on the tip of her Device. She clenches her hand...and keeping the thing small, she doesn't actually need to bind down her arm while doing so. One step, and she leaps towards those blades, stabbing forward to the one in the center and then putting /all/ of her power into expanding it as soon as she feels the hit! A quick leap backwards as suddenly the world was fisheye'ing towards that single point, and sent her cloak fluttering before nearly losing her bowler. The resulting unraveling of gravitic forces causes a sizable explosion of opposing forces as the mini black hole destablizes catastrophically, just as intended. Good thing they've chosen the less occupied corner of the room, and this one isn't the pure chaos she's been using previously. Lyra holds up a card in her mouth. '7/10' Flipping Space German judges!
Koji Silvia	There's a wince from the blue-black haired young magical person as he watches the collapsing singularity event not only vaporize the Blade that was touched, but also sucks in the two others ones before they can whip themselves away. Looking down... it takes him almost a half-minute before that trio reconstitutes itself in their respective holsters. But he nods and walks back towards where Trager is, and brings up a screen that let him record the data, which he sends with a swipe to Blauer Greif. "How does this compare for power and efficiency from your last time you tried the attack?" << Data Extrapolation and Transfer Complete. Secondary Data on Dimensional penetration included, Young Master. >> As numbers he admits he does not understand scroll past on the image, he wipes his hand at the air to close it down, "Honestly, Blauer Grief's inherent power is astounding... but I haven't really seen too many Devices so far. I mean... straight up power versus power, I would lose every time. It really does come down to the user, doesn't it."
Hannah Steiner	Blauer Greif does a few quick conversations from the two bases, which luckily Space Math is pretty consistant. It's just More Math, after all. Proudly laying BG's blade across her shoulder and tapping the thing, one foot meeting heel to heel as she floats slightly as she's wont to do when trying to show off, she gives a begrudgingly satisfied nod. "Efficiency of mana usage up twenty percent with only an eight-point-five percent drop in power from mine more....enthusiastic variant!" Admits the young woman, pondering things. "If I could learn to harness it in its' original manner alongside your thrusting suggestion it would increase both. Mmm. Assuming neither mineself nor Bleaur Greif ended up getting hurt. Acht. Better shielding perhaps?" Openly muses Hannah. Then she laughs. "She is old, mein freund! All Devices are. Und you? That little ball of pink und herr Riventon both have amazing talents. The user indeed! I've no intention of being shown up the locals, however! For the Glory of Ho..." BG's sheath whacks Hannah on the head!!! "Right, ears. What about you, hm? You are only /half/ Mid-Childan, so perhaps a few lessons in glorious swordfighting is in the works? Or melee evasion maneuvers, more likely!" Griiiiiin! Her ear does perk up as she hears /someone/!
Usagi Tsukino	Usagi had been attending the self defense class - the regular, nonmagical one - which of course meant that when the time came for time to transform, she'd wandered off with everyone else who was leaving, doubling back only when she was sure Sailor Moon could sneak back without being spotted. And also so she could snatch up a variety of ''things'' she could use, because honestly? After this transformation, her Tiara ''still'' hadn't come back. She's pretty sure that means it isn't coming back at all, which means she has to figure out if that trick she'd worked out with Hematite's rose worked because of the rose, or because she'd thrown it. If it's the former, she's in ''trouble''. If it's the latter... So, Sailor Moon walks into the Sports Pavillion, into the barrier, a cheap plastic store bag full of random things in one gloved hand, and sees her sparring partner engaged with someone else, a huge grin on her face, clearly enjoying herself, and hesitates - exactly a second. Since when is ''she'' worried about meeting new people? These are allies! "Ms. Tragar-chan! Who's your friend?"
Koji Silvia	It takes Koji/Hanzo a moment to follow Hannah's eyeline as she seems to have clued to someone approaching. Telepathic link, a benefit of a Device, lets him send to his newest friend < I should have posted a Blade as a remote sensor. That was sloppy of me. > Even though it should be 115% obvious who is it in the Senshi uniform, the Veil keeps Koji's mind or Hanzo's memory to put 1 and 1 together to make 2. So instead, he gives a curt nod of greeting to the newcomer, and then walks forwards to present himself a bit more formally, "Greetings. You can call me Hanzo. I know everyone here uses other names, so I hope it isn't too pretentious." Looking back over his shoulder at Hannah, there's a faint smirk under his mask as he adds, "Someone was about to try and convince me to let her shoot at me for a bit, but I think we'd take up too much of the space with it." Stepping back, he adds, "So, you know Trager too? Has she tried to defeat you in combat yet?"
Hannah Steiner	Hannah grins. <Acht, between Lyra und frau Inai's assurances, we can relax. Still.> Shrugging, she b-lines towards the familiar voice of the one named Sailor Moon! Her blade and sheath float alongside her as she hovers over to the young woman with a grin. "Well if it is not mein favorite warrior of the sun's reflection! Guten aben, welcome mein freund!" Comes Hannah warmly and loudly! 'Standing on royal formality' is already mostly not in the cards for Sailor Moon after their last clash, and soon one big arm is trying to haul her ally up as the other hand deals out Friendly Noogies of Mun with a single spin! Then the smaller girl is mercifully released, already given a light shove towards Hanzo. "Sailor Moon? Meet herr Hanzo! Hanzo, frau Moon! Indeed, she was mein first training partner here! A bit skiddish at first, but I am proud to say with some PUSH, well! Unlike YOU mein freund, she understands the value of overwhelming force!" Praises Hannah effusely! "Come, frau Moon, join us! A third is always a joy! ....You feel different." Suddenly she's Area Search'ing Moon with open concern in her voice.
Usagi Tsukino	Pretentious? How could a person's name be pretentious? Maybe if it was like, High-and-Mighty Better Than You Man, or something, but Hanzo? It was just a name. Maybe an old fashioned one, but still a name! But there's not a chance to say anything about that, because the moment Ms. Tragar reaches her she's swept up in a spin and a noogie and shrieking with laughter at it all. Oh, sure, she struggles a little, seeking to free herself from the noogie, but it's token struggling, the sort of thing that might pass between two siblings having a good time rather than a genuine fight. ''Do you know another 'warrior of the sun's reflection'?'' Is what she genuinely wants to ask, but there's no chance - she's swept up in front of Koji before she can even hope to do so. "Inai-sensei wouldn't let us get too far," she answers his question sheepishly, "We used a little too much 'overwhelming force' last time." And even if she wanted to - she couldn't. And Ms. Tragar's maybe picked up on it, so there's nothing to do but sheepishly hold up her plastic bag and say: "I had to destroy my tiara to stop a bad guy, and it never came back. So I'm trying to see if I can use other things to fight, or I'm in big trouble. Ms. Tragar-chan, Hanzo-kun, would you be willing to help me?" She pauses a moment, then, glancing especially at Ms. Tragar, adds, "I'd have to throw my new weapons at you a lot?"
Koji Silvia	Hanzo actually takes a step back from the pair, and then looks down towards the bag full of stuff, and back to Sailor Moon, "Of course. And maybe it's just recharging. Any time my Blades are destroyed... which is a lot... it takes some time for my Device to rebuild them. It could be something of the same thing?" There's an unspoken 'perhaps?' in his question at the end as he moves off and back for a moment, and then motions towards a wall with his hand. Four of the Blades rise out of their sheathes of their own accord, and then float forwards another 30 feet. From there, he flicks his hand and the energy blades all vanish, and each of them now is a small hexagonal barrier made of ghostly blue energy. "When it comes to throwing, I kind of cheat. My Blades are controlled mentally. So... Trager-chan... would you mind helping our friend with her throwing arm? I can adjust the target distance and do some other things for you both." And as he steps off towards the wall of this corner of the Sports Pavilion, a fifth Blade floats off his belt and wanders over to the pair, the yellow V-like light portion flashing once before it generates a screen. It shows all three targets, their distances from it, and looks like it'll display the hit location. A lot like a video game!
Hannah Steiner	Hannah frowns at the news that her famous tiara has been smashed to bits! She audibly shudders, winces even, and the mahou's face is briefly horrified. Where her thoughts are going become quite clear, as her hand pets the griffin head of her Device and she runs a knuckle across the flat of her blade affectionately. "Oh mein dear freund I am so sorry." Comes Hannah, sounding utterly mournful over the fact. She doubts that the Tiara was a Device, but losing something so intrinsic to you is a pain...well. Hannah can't quite stop to examine that too much. The pain in her chest is too distracting. Pausing to settle herself, she closes her eyes, and then considers. One brow rises. Hanzo has a good plan, and it's not unlike her original one with Sailor Moon. "Mmm. I wonder...what sort of things did you bring?" She's considering something clearly, and she nods vaguely to Hanzo's voice. Then she's short-range Searching Sailor Moon's bags just for confirmation. With those Blades out there as targets? She wriggles her brows suddenly. "Yes, basic target practice works! You see, as it stands Sailor Moon has quite the form...with circular weapons. Perhaps thrown ones too? I do not suppose you have ever wielded a sword?" Asks Hannah, ever the Belkan. "Using whatever is to hand is useful of course! Though you would require quite a bit of ammunition. Und that strange ability of yours...can it solidify objects? I am concerned how brittle anything not magic would be unless you can imbue them somehow!" Muses Hannah!
Usagi Tsukino	Well, she was hoping her fellow students would help - she just didn't expect it so fast! As Hanzo makes a trio of targets for her to aim at, even offering another to act as a screen, she smiles at him, grateful. The blades should be familiar; she's seen them. But the veil is strong, and her mind doesn't connect the dots. "I've been hoping it would come back," she admits, and looks to both of them, especially hearing out Ms. Tragar's concerns. "But it's been almost two weeks, plus three transformations and a whole battle, and it hasn't come back yet. But, in that last fight, I was able to use something else, almost like my tiara - it kind of exploded, and I don't know that it was as strong ''as'' my tiara, but it did the job! It's just... that was magic, and these aren't. So I'm hoping I can use any of these things at all." And that's what she needs - even more than sympathy and encouragement, she needs the ability to do her job as a Senshi, because there's so much going on, and she has to be able to help her friends! "Don't laugh, okay? I had to get what I could find, so it's kind of a bunch of junk... I don't really know how to use a sword? They're kind of sharp?" What if she cuts herself on a sword? What if she drops it? What if she drops it ''and'' cuts herself on it? As these thoughts run through her mind, she dumps the objects she's brought, spilling them in a little pile near her feet. The bag is full of every day things, the sort that a teenager with a limited allowance could afford: cheap frisbees, plain wooden pencils, elastic bracelets, and a bunch of rocks snatched from around the school grounds. Nothing nearly as fancy as her tiara, or as well suited, but if she can make them work, at least she'll always be able to get more.
Koji Silvia	Because of the Blade close by the girls, Hanzo can 'see' the items being provided for Sailor Moon's replacement arsenal. Tilting his head in consideration, the ebon-haired young man says towards Trager, "What if she tries using those bracelets first? Since you said she uses a tiara, something with a familiar shape might help. Maybe your power just needs something to link to. There's so many different kinds I've seen since I started doing this six months ago. There's the girls with the odd egg-shaped items that transform them to fight the weird spaces that occasionally appear. The ones who have these weird jewel-studded items that act like devices and give them a different form. I've even seen a girl modelled on Sun Wukong, the Monkey King." There's a shrug from him, "Either way... the one thing I will say is that power is based on belief. So long as you can believe you can do a thing, this thing inside all of us will do it's best to make that thing happen."
Hannah Steiner	Admittedly, this whole matter is raising some very intriguing questions about how Sailor Moon's magic works structurally. Even a Belkan is prone to thinking in systems, in cause and effect, in turning magic into something tangible. A Science. The question lingers. Can Moon's abilities harden a common object enough to be magically damaging and carry through her purification? Hannah is oddly in a good position to offer advice. After all, her own manipulation of gravity extends to objects. "Hanzo is correct! You are something of an anomaly to us, mein freund, so we are aimlessly speculating! Come! WISSENSCHAFT! As herr Hanzo suggests, use the bracelets first, und then I suggest the frisbee. Just use them like you did the Tiara. Get into the stance I showed you. Feel your weapon's weight, imagine the arc in your mind..." Hannah, just like last time, makes another show of a well-placed toss arc! Not that she really thinks she'll be much better than the other mahou at that particular art! She smiles widely. "Come! Give us an arc of glory that shall put mein own meager efforts at tutelage upon you to shame!" He nods to Hanzo. "Und if you succeed I would...ah, one moment." She is then silent, though Koji would recognize the concentration of one using telepathy privately with one's Device. The two confer. "Und we would like to try an experiment for contrast." She flicks her finger, and Blauer Greif's sheath spins and floats over to a stop near the pile of junk, radiating magic of her own. <Guten Abend. Feuer frei, Sailor Moon> Hannah then pauses, and nods to her magical friend. "Und even if you cannot find it in yourself to believe? Well. You have many freunds who believe in you. Including us." She says confidently, even if she's speaking for Hanzo a bit.
Usagi Tsukino	"That's true," Sailor Moon admits. "I've seen lots of different types of magical people around! Girls with weapons - spears and rocket launchers, even! - and a girl who could make a stage, and fight monsters with singing, and even Ginga Otome-chan, who can Zero Time!" So many people with powers entirely unlike hers, people that Luna didn't have much insight into at all. She's really, really hoping that she can use non-magical items for this, because otherwise, all she has is her disguise pen... and her boots... and her earrings... and she doesn't know how well those would survive - or how easy the boots and earrings would be to get off in a fight, "The bracelets first then!" Some of them are stiff, others are a elastic; Sailor Moon picks up one of the stiff ones, clutching it in her hand. "I still don't really get what ''your'' magic is based off of, but I don't know how mine works either, so I can't help much there." She's so free with admitting it, that she has absolutely no idea how her power works - only that it does, especially when the need is great. Sailor Moon watches Hannah's test throw, and nods, sliding into that throwing stance, cocking her arm, trying to shift her weight through each movement to carry the force through. "Whatever you want! I'm sure the experiment will be okay." Especially since Inai-sensei would stop them if it didn't. And - Ms. Tragar's support earns a bright, grateful smile. "Okay. Here goes! Moon Tiara Action!" The bracelet shifts, at the very last second, just before it leaves her hands. Transitions from cheap plastic - to bright energy, streaking towards the target. It doesn't quite land where she's aiming, hitting the ground a foot or two before it can reach; but the crater it leaves when it strikes is impressive enough. Sailor Moon frowns. "It's not as heavy as my tiara, so maybe I didn't throw it hard enough?"
Koji Silvia	Perhaps Koji hits it on the nose a bit hard, at least as Hanzo, "Did you believe it would hit?" Pushing off of the wall, he strolls over to the girls, and stands on the other side of Sailor Moon form Trager, and smiles over her in encouragement. He looks at the small crater in the floor that will somehow be gone by the time any other classes will come here, and then back to both the magical girls once more, "So I don't know how much this carries over from how we do what's called Magic... and what you do, Miss Sailor Moon." Reaching down, he picks up one of the elastic bands from the bag, "To me... this is just something to tie my hair up with, or to put on my wrist. It's not something I can empower like you just did." He motions with his free hand, and one of the targets floats about 5 feet closer, the screen showing it's shift in meters, "But what we do requires you to picture the whole thing in your head. You have to know what you want done. Then... for us... our friends use their abilities to turn that will into power, and then give that power form. So... you could try picturing this becoming that ring again, and then picture it hitting the target. Once that's clearly in your mind, try saying the 'Moon Tiara Magic' words and then release." He holds out another elastic bracelet for her again, "And Hannah completely correct. We think you can do this. That first one? That wasn't a failure. You just learned you can make this into one of your attacks. You believed, you tried... and you succeeded in something. Now it's just to go one little bit further."
Hannah Steiner	"HAH! The Warrior of the Mond's grace und fury tosses again!" Comes Hannah as Sailor Moon actually does it! Turns a cheap piece of plastic into a youma-destroying weapon! Or, at least, something that's going to give them a very, very bad day. "Fine work mein fruend!" Adds the young woman, having clearly divined from their last bout that Moon is one best worked with enthusiastic encouragement and a whole lot of goading into action! Not that she has to play up her impresse or joy. Then she reels herself in, and nods at Koji's explaination. "A good enough explaination without having to go into complex mathematics und unified magical theory! I doubt frau Mond has the several hours to spare!" Is that a joke, or a threat? She listens to Koji's explaination, nodding at several cirtical point. Yes, the words. For her, Blauer Greif speaks them. Moon, however, seems to have to be the one to use them for it to work, if Hanzo's theory holds. Giddy, she offers her own suggestion as she floats back a bit to Area Search the whole proceeding with an eager mind. "So it seems that any sufficiently aerodynamic object should work? Perhaps you should buy a few extra frisbees! Or what are they called? Boomerangs? The blade-like bent stick things!" Suggests Hannah helpfully!
Hannah Steiner	Lyra also gravity-floats over, the pair now Lizard-Couch-Lounging comfortably in the air while observing with bated breath!
Usagi Tsukino	"I hoped it would," Sailor Moon grimaces a little. Does she need to ''believe'' that it will work for it to work? Is that how her power works? These are questions she really needs to ask Luna. Or maybe Pluto-chan - she seemed a little more willing to talk. Hanzo's explanation of his own power, his and Ms. Tragars, and how it was the blades, and Ms. Tragar's talking weapon that had the power, making what they wanted into reality, is, confusing, honestly. The idea of the power coming from anywhere but inside had never even occurred to Sailor Moon. Sure, it was her broach that ''let'' her transform, but it wasn't the broach that made her power function. It was - ''her''. This will be some kind of inspirational breakthrough, in a few hours. For now, it's just a confusing difference between her and her friends. one that she ''definitely'' doesn't want to hear the explanation too, as she quickly waves her hands at Ms. Tragar's suggestion. "Right! We don't have time for a whole lecture, because class only lasts so long!" Please, it's summer vacation, please don't make her learn things! Especially not complex mathematical things! Faced with the prospect of school in the midst of summer, she's all too happy to grab another bracelet ''and'' a frisbee, weighing both and nodding at Ms. Tragar's suggestion. "If a boomerang could come back, even when it has my attack, maybe I could hit someone even if I miss..." That would be pretty useful, honestly. "I'll try it again! You're right, Hanzo-kun! It's not a failure just yet!" Both objects are clutched in her hands. Sailor Moon takes a deep, fortifying breath, and chooses the frisbee to launch this time - staring hard at the target as she winds up and throws, trying to believe with all her heart that she'll get it. "Moon Tiara Action!" This time, the throw does hit the target - just to the side, not at the center, but the frisbee, like the first bracelet, is nowhere in sight when the energy disperses. It's looking to be a good thing that she bought so many of everything.
Koji Silvia	The strike is a bit of an amusing effect, as the nearest Hanzo Target gets winged by it and begins spinning in place from the power of the blow. On the screen next to where Sailor Moon stands, it shows she caught it dead center and on the left side edge. But then starts to do it's detonation, it actually RAMS into the one back and to the left of it, causing it and the frisbee to both just be absorbed and vanish in the blast. That target comes up on the screen as << DESTROYED. >>. Perhaps as an enouragement, the word vanishes and a hastily but very well-edited Sailor V-now Sailor Moon jumps up and down in all it's faux 8-Bit glory, before some digital confetti falls around the little her and some celebratory-style music goes off. Adding much more of that video game element to it for that endorphin kick. "Well, the good news is..." Hanzo says as the destroyed Blade appears at his side a half-minute later, the young man looking at another screen, "That one was enough that neither myself or Trager-chan would want it hitting us. We wouldn't be severely hurt, but you'd have knocked us back quite a bit. Good work." Flicking a hand like he's using a tablet, Hanzo sends the data to Blauer Greif, "Boomerangs take time to learn. It's design and technique. You have to know how to throw it, so it returns. But... I want you to try something inspired by that." Going into the bag, he takes out a pencil, "Try this, but this time... before you throw it, close your eyes and picture it spinning... so it becomes a disc. Then... picture it going out, going around the target... and then coming back to your hand. You've put the power into these things. It stands to reason you can control it." Standing behind Sailor Moon now, looking up at Trager to give a little shrug as if to say he doesn't know if it'll work or not, but says, "Your Moon Tiara Action is your thing. And if this doesn't work, you know what? it still works. Learning what your power can't do is just as important as learning what it CAN do. That way... not only do you know it's limits, but it'll make you think about more things you CAN do."
Hannah Steiner	Hannah's busily being a nerd as Koji tosses Hannah's Device that data, one brow rising as she lounges upon her reptilian fuzzy partner! She's also snickering at the 'picture that BG gives her, of that exploding 8-Bit confetti fall! "By the Sankt Hanzo, have you considered a career in special effects?" Teases the young woman! No learning!? "Und then I assume any offers of a study group are right out then?" Adds Hannah fiercely with a big ol' grin, seeming to know the answer to that now, nevermind Elephant-chan's bulk makes that largely impractacle! "Mmm! herr Hanzo is correct! I, for instance, could not create a Bombardment spell. Or, one that a certain..." She trails off a second. "That would be recognized as such. I, as you have surmised, am primarily a melee combatant, content to not cower away from mein opponent und ensure mein less /sturdy/ companions!" Sorry, Usa, you're included in that. You use ranged 'weapons', so you're an unofficial Mid-Childan. Hanzo is DEFINITELY in her Belkan Pride Moment right here! "But. I know how to work around mein few limits!" Ahh, there's the House Steiner pride peeking out! But she's not so content to puff herself up right now, for it's Moon that's the important one right now! Suddenly, gravity flares, and she has Blauer Greif spinning by its' flat on one finger above her such that it /looks/ like a single circular object as if to demonstrate Koji's theory for a visual. She doesn't throw her of course, content to toss her up and then catch her deftly before returning to lounging and gathering data!