2354/EoT: Magical Girls, Interrupted

EoT: Magical Girls, Interrupted
Date of Scene:	31 May 2015
Location:	Midnight Shrine Tokyo <MST>
Synopsis:	Confederate and Union Elites gather to support the Witching Hour members when they come across a clash of three monsters from three different Nether Realm groups.
Cast of Characters:	172, 188, 385, 589, Sanary Rondel, 782

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Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    So far, the methods of three enemy groups of Nether Realm fiends have been like this:

    * Epoch Saints: Unseen Time Magic-using enemies who promise immortality or the extension of life to those desperate for such, and then implant into them a 'Life Gear'. This magical device/monster steals 'Time' from those around it, usually through a medium (wrist-watches, or by entering a certain forest), until it has gathered enough 'Time' that it can evolve to its next stage, overtake its host, and begin stealing 'Time' directly from everyone it encounters. Humans and animals are both apparently acceptable hosts.

    * Mysterious Death Mages: Harvest life force to accomplish ???. Heavy and costly magic usage employed seemingly without concern. Not much else known about them.

    * Underland: Enemies themed upon the 'Alice in Wonderland' setting, who seem to approach people and drive them temporarily insane with Chaos Magic, compromising local reality, all seemingly just to cause chaos and confusion. Though the last encounter seemed to be an attempt to make Sakura reveal herself as being 'a candidate for Alice'. No one knows what that means yet, and Sakura did not, infact, reveal herself as being Alice.

    That's why the current situation is so confusing. Four magical girls are watching from afar as, in an abandoned building standing derelict in a bad part of town, minions from all three of these groups face off for unknown reasons. The energies of Time, Death, and Chaos Magic are crackling through the air.

    A blue-haired young woman wearing a floppy blue cap, and blue cloak, with large eyeglasses on her face and carrying a heavy-looking book under one arm is trying to analyze the energies and the enemies. She is called Libra.

    A girl dressed in a very frilly dressy of blacks and oranges and purples in the style of a 'witch' with extremely long, smoke-colored hair beneath her witch's hat, is also with them. She is called Crucia Hex.

    A young woman in an elegant ballgown, cut to permit movement during combat more easily, and wearing an opera mask on her face, stands off to the side. Her facial features are undetectable behind her mask, but the way her hands keeps fidgetting with another ceramic mask in her grasp, she wants to be inside. She is called Musica.

    And among these three magical girls known as the Witching Hour, a woman seemingly in her early 20s, with pink hair, pink eyes, and a pink outfit that is like a cross between a knight's armor and a schoolgirl outfit, Princess Paladin, peers towards the building, trying to see what's going on within. She can not sense magic.

    The quartet have requested that allies come as quickly as possible. The hour is late, night has already fallen, and the area is abandoned. There's no outwards indication of why the monsters are all HERE of all places. Just their energies, clashing and pressuring against each other, like they are trying to establish dominance without actually physically battling each other.

    Crucia has cast a spell that lets her see through the walls, and she can sense magic just fine normally. Libra's specialty is knowledge and analysis, so the book she has her under her arm is providing her with information on the magic as the book itself is exposed to the energies... Writing new entries on blank pages as information is absorbed from the world.

    Musica may not be able to sense magic, but she has a very keen sense for when she is in immediate danger. As long as that doesn't go off, they should be fine (or at least they should). All four magical girls are holding off on acting and remaining hidden across the street, in abandoned lot, behind an old stone wall. Just the four of them against three monsters is not good odds, after all.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura isn't taking any chances this time.

    As the girl drops out of the air, borne aloft by pink feathered wings, she's accompanied by two others - the tall, white-haired 'angel' Yue, and the yellow-furred, winged lion that Miko may remember from the restaurant mission? It's Kero's 'true form' but she might not actually recognise it as such.

    Sakura is dressed in a pink, frilly outfit that, despite its appearance, gives her excellent freedom of movement. It's composed of a dress with a wide skirt, and poofy pants underneathe that reach all the way down to the pink shoes (with hearts on them) she has on her feet.

    Almost immediately, she ducks behind the wall to remain unseen. Yue and Kero seem to be... slightly less adept at hiding, but they're doing their best!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Sakura's not the only magical girl to come with her own backup ... although Yuna occasionally wonders whether she really counts as a 'magical girl'. That doesn't stop her from offering her help where she can, though, particularly when Sakura passed along the call for support.

Yuna initially arrives in her Flight Form, a winged thruster pack on her back working to control her descent near the local magical girls and their other arriving allies. The tiny form of the robo-faerie Elner descends more quietly and more gracefully, hovering near Yuna as she touches down; Jiina of the Earth and Marina of the Sea are more subtle still about their approach, the armored, feminine-shape androids silently dropping out of the sky and slowing to a hover. Finally, a brief light enshrouds Yuna, one form becoming two; Yuna is left in her basic Light Suit, with Erina of the Sky reassembling behind her, next to the first two androids.

"Hi," Yuna greets the magical girls quietly, but with a wave and a friendly smile. "I'm Yuna, Sakura told me you could use some help dealing with whatever's in there ... anything we should know about what they're likely capable of?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Word had reached Sanary that Miko and those other mage girls from the lasting meeting needed assistance at some strange building off in Tokyo. Even though she had worn this weird-looking local getup involving an apron and something called a kim-ono last time, she's still not quite used to how exposed her legs feel in it.

    Still, consistency is important, especially if she wanted to be recognized by those three mages that aren't Miko. Besides, the garment is surprisingly easy to move around in, and the t-shirt worn underneath the kimono does offer some minor semblance of protection. Finding the building is easy enough, at least, and she's brought her trusty gunaxe and buckler along just in case!

     She's also not doing a terrible job hiding her own presence, opting to keep her voice down and not walking straight at the monsters. Instead, she strolls on up to the stone wall with a brief, awkward wave to the gathering. "I'm here. What's the plan tonight?"

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute is one of those people who stick out like a sore thumb, even when he is trying to be discreet. Even his normal day to day clothes sticks out massively. And yet, he's still wearing his normal jeans and loosely buttoned labcoat with no shirt look anyways. His hands casually rest in pockets on his labcoat, as he heads to the abandoned warehouse.

     As he walks inside, he smiles, nodding to Princess Paladin. He makes a glance towards the other magical girls as well. He's yet to meet any of them yet, but he knows Miko has been making efforts to form alliances with the other local magical girls.

     He only gives Yuna and Sakura a look for a second, before looking away. No greeting.. Recently, he hasn't been trusting the Union at /all/. He doesn't like that he has to work with them at all. But, that's part of why he wanted to come along: He wants to keep an eye on the Union people getting involved here.

     And as he is about to ask what is going on tonight? Well. He just ends up staring at Sanary. A kimono and an apron? Yeah, he's... a little bit surprised at that. It's not her usual sort of outfit.

     "...Where did you get those clothes?"

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden wakes up because of the light show going on nearby. Natives here don't really seem to respond to werid things like him, so he had been travelling at night to avoid people. That's not the sunrise. OR even how light is supposed to work. Huh. Strange.
    He hops down from the fire escape he had been sleeping on to the sidewalk below and creeps forward, keeping an eye out for trouble. His coloration is really obvious, though his diminutive size and compact shape work to mitigate that somewhat. The strange digimon might be mistaken for a monster if he isn't careful. Green eyes peer around the edge of a doorway and into the scene unfolding. Those allies gathered in the lot can probably see the digital monster creeping up to the building hosting the light show.
    When he sees the monsters and the light show, Golden very quietly says "Oh." That. Looks like trouble.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    They were expecting others, and with at least two sensory-capable allies present, the arrival of Sakura and her companions, Yuna's magitech, then Sanary, are not hugely surprising. Paladin is glad to see her friend Sakura again. Her outfit is adorable as always. Yue with his fancy angel appearance is likewise a welcome sight, and so is... A... Lion? She thinks she has seen him before, and she can't imagine who else he could be, so it must be Kero!

    Sanary's combat-maid outfit or whatever that is supposed to be is about as fitting as any other magical girl outfit around here, so is accepted without question. More Confederates being involved is always a plus for this operation. Paladin/Miko was also expecting Lute, so his presence is picked up on quickly enough as well. Further, it's a comfort to see him again.

    Yuna and her companions have been met before, and have helped out, so they too are welcome. It's amazing how many allies Miko has formed since opening up interactions with the Union. On both sides, just knowing who she really is has helped so many to trust her enough to help save innocent people from being preyed upon by monsters.

    Musica looks at the huge crowd they now have, and huffs a bit before looking away. Libra is absorbed in her examination of the energies and only offers a very quiet, "Hello." Crucia seems much more pleased as she remains crouched down and makes a 'come here' gesture to everyone with one hand and a 'shhhh' gesture with a finger on her lips with the other.

    Paladin greets those she knows, and even those she doesn't, with a nod and an attempt at a smile. This is kind of a tense situation, but her transformation grants her seeming grace and maturity. Even if she's scared.

    Quietly, Crucia answers the question asked. "I'm not sure how much you were told, but the minions of three different Nether Realm factions are over in that building. Time, Chaos, and Death. You can expect their powers to revolve around those things. Chaos is the most unpredictable, Death has the highest potential lethality, and Time is extremely tricky to beat normally... But that's our group's specialty, so we're better suited to it. We don't think they're friendly with each other, and there seems to be some kind of power struggle." Her eyes seem to be glowing a bit orange from the spell she cast to augment her sight.

    "I've been peering through the walls, and they are clustered together near the center of the building, on the ground floor. The rooms are empty, some of the staircases have even been knocked down... I don't see anything special about the location itself that would have them all there. We could keep observing for now, or we could try to do something about it. But from what Libra has said, if they fight, we could be in a position to then go after whatever weakened monsters are left over. As long as they don't endanger innocent... people?"

    Crucia trails off as she feels Libra grabbing hold of the back of her dress and pulling firmly and urgently. The witch turns to look towards the Witching Hour's shy leader, and sees that the blue-haired young woman looks even paler than normal.

    Libra releases Crucia and then points to the golden digimon presently peering inside the building. "We may have a fourth monster."

    Musica releases the mask in her hands, which begins to float alongside of her in the air, its empty eye holes gleaming with magical light. "This is getting most out of hand!" she hisses.

    Crucia has a less eloquent but more succinct reply. "Shit."

    Paladin, meanwhile, does is not so sure the monster is one from her world. Monsters can have a LOT of different appearances, but this one seems... Different. Either way, trouble could result if it goes inside, so someone has to do something. The pink-haired magical girl vaults over the wall at superhuman speed, as she only offers, "I'll investigate."

    Crucia curses again, standing up from her hiding spot. Hasn't Paladin ever heard of team work!?

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    Meanwhile, what Golden sees when he looks into the building is... Kind of intense. There's something that looks like a clockwork man with a metallic dragon's head in one part of the main room, what appears to be a human-sized playing card, the Hearts suit, with a hooded human head, arms, and legs, carrying a poleaxe is standing in another side. The most terrifying of all is something skeletal in a black cloak with a wide-brim hat perched on its fleshless head. Its arms hang loosely at its sides.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura smiles brightly to everyone. Even Lute. However, she quickly puts on her Serious Face. "...Okay. So the Witching Hour should probably take care of the Time monster. Do we want to split into teams?" She pauses for a moment. "I can try to remove one from the fight with the Maze card so we don't have to fight all three at once..."

    She looks up as Libra seems to detect a new monster! "Four...?" She peers over the wall, then frowns a bit. "...Its aura doesn't... feel quite the same as- Ah, Miko, where are you going?!"

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute looks around at the group, pondering as he considers all of them. The Union and the magical girls might not like this idea. It's also a little bit dangerous. As he looks at the group, he crosses his arms, smiling.

     "You know. I could maybe just walk in there and ask them what's going on? The chaos people seemed to like me, and though I really plan to help fight them just like the rest of you... We might actually be able to figure out what they're up to /without/ violence."

     A pause.

     "Or I could unleash Giratina and we could try leveling that building with all of them in there, from a distance, and try to get the monsters to pin the blame on eachother."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     ... Wait, was Lute here, too? Sanary freezes up as she turns slowly to face Lute, suddenly looking more flustered than she did mere seconds ago. "I-I wore this last time it's so the others wouldn't get confused it's not like I wore it because I like it or-oh. Uh. I got it from... Er. Long story."

     She twitches slightly and slumps forward a bit, eventually managing an awkward grin. "Also, hey Lute. Does it fit, at least?" Thankfully, Miko and the other three witches from last time seem to be accepting her outfit without question, so that's some minor reassurance.

     Sanary hums quietly at Sakura's suggestion of having the Witching Hour face the Time monster while letting themselves handle the rest. "That's... Probably the best plan we got for that now, yeah." She's still feeling and sounding somewhat skeptical, but... Well, it's not like the healer has any better ideas.

     "Getting a better idea about their plans might not be too bad, either. Think it'll be safe enough to..." She trails off as Paladin runs off, fighting the urge to follow her right away while instead checking that her buckler's on straight and that the gunaxe is loaded with Ice shells.

     "Do we follow her or do we stay put?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna winces a bit, both at the hint of reinforcements and the way Princess Paladin goes charging off. "Elner, take a look," she asks the tiny robo-faerie, before trying to get a look over the wall for herself. She's fairly short, so she may have to go around one end or the other, or just get a boost from somebody. Elner doesn't need that kind of help, instead just flitting up higher to start scanning the warehouse and its occupants (and Golden) more thoroughly.

"So if the Witching Hour team takes the Time monster, and if Lute thinks he can get answers out of a Chaos representative without resorting to a beatdown ... Sakura, do you think you could contain the Death one long enough to see how the conversation goes?" Yuna suggests, giving Elner time to finish scanning. Lute's suggestion gets a slightly askance look, but Yuna doesn't go so far as to shoot it down out loud.

"I don't believe the new arrival is actually allied with the three known monsters," the robo-faerie says after a few seconds of scanning and analysis. "If the members of the Witching Hour can't tell one way or the other, I would suggest not engaging the fourth as though it were hostile." Elner flits down, looking at Libra and her sisters-in-arms, "Can you call her back before she opens hostilities?"

Assuming there's still time to do so.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden ducks back to the side of the doorway, trying to stay out of sight of the monsters within the building. Man, if those guys are some kind of weird digimon (not that he's one to talk given he looks like some kind of battered mutant MetalMamemon himself...), three of them are probably going to do some serious damage to the neighborhood.

    Golden quietly but frantically tries to motion for the approaching Princess Paladin to get away, since this is not good at all.

    Assuming the magical girl doesn't stop and gets right up close to him, Golden hisses quietly. "This place is dangerous, you sh..." Then it hits him and his concerned/worried expression changes. "... You're an Elite, aren't you?" He says quietly and looking embarassed.

THe holds up his only hand with three fingers extended. "There's three, and none of them look friendly."

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    Paladin does indeed come closer and stop near Golden. She hisses back, "I am, and we know. We're discussing what to do about them over -there-. Can you come with me on your own or must I carry you?" Depending on the answer, the appropriate course of action is taken. Obviously Paladin intends to get Golden back over behind the wall with everyone else, one way or another, but if he is uncooperative, they might wind up still being by the building. And a struggle with those monsters nearby is probably not good.

    Musica responds, "We have not yet even decided whether we should act at all or not. We do not know why this place is valuable to them, whether they have a hostage they are fighting over, or anything of the sort. It is more practical to wait and only attack if their battle spills out onto the street." They may be interested in protecting people, but the Witching Hour girls seem have a much more strategic bent to their methods than just charging in and making a speech about love and justice. Actually, no one here has really encountered ANY magical girls from this world who do speeches about love and justice, have they? (They exist, they just haven't made themselves apparent.)

    Crucia does not put forth her opinion on the matter. Whether they should act at all, and whether the plans discussed by the others for isolating the enemies should be enacted, are not up to the Pumpkin Witch to decide. Instead, as plans are discussed, and Paladin attempts to convince Golden to come back with her to a safer distance before they're noticed, Crucia turns to their quiet leader.

    "Libra? What do you want to do?"

    Libra flips open the book under her arm, propping it up against the wall. Her eyeglasses shine with bars of green line on the lenses, to augment her night vision, as she reads the information obtained so far. After several seconds, she turns to Lute and says, "If you think you can work with the Chaos creature to get answers, you can attempt it. But at the first sign of treachery, it has to be eliminated. Destroying the building wouldn't kill them, and would draw attention we don't need." She turns to look at Sakura and says, "The Life Gear can provide valuable information if we can capture it like we did before, but in this situation, the threat of the others is too great. It needs to be eliminated and its host freed."

    Finally, she focuses on Yuna and says in that same whispering voice she's been using, "The Death-user is strong. Stronger than the other two combined. If we engage it, it will take more than just one magical girl to take out. Restraint or imprisonment is preferable, due to the level of force that would be needed to defeat it. We will likely have to destroy it if it is uncooperative regardless, but holding off until we see if we can get answers is best. It could also serve as a bargaining chip against the Chaos-wielder. As long as it is there, it's an additional threat aside from ourselves that could encourage compliance with our demands."

    The bespectacled girl then closes her back again and tucks it under her arm. She considers Sanary's question, and then says, "She charged out there herself. We'll see if she can make it back on her own first before abandoning our cover."

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    "Even if we're not going to go attack right away, we should still determine what we're going to be doing if it -does- come down to a fight. There's a lot of us here, you know! We can't just stumble about blindly or we'll trip over each other and stuff," Sakura counters Musica, with a slight frown.

    "I... -should- be able to Maze the Death monster? It's strong, but the Maze is pretty strong too... We should probably have a backup to restrain it with if it fails, though, just in case?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Fair enough," Yuna agrees with Musica, smiling, then she inclines her head to Golden in greeting. If his irregular form puts her off at all, she doesn't show any sign of it.

"So if we need to take the Death creature out," Elner says, "rather than merely containing it ... Yuna, you'd better support Sakura on that - if the initial attempt to trap it with Maze fails, it's going to come after her. Sakura, are you amenable to that?"

Yuna nods to Elner. "I don't really have 'containment' options," she says, "unless my partners can do something I haven't heard about yet, but I can certainly hold its attention while other people work on restraining it." She looks over her android allies. "Jiina, you're up - if I have to hold a monster's violent attention, I'd rather be in Powered Form."

"Of course," the green-and-white Jiina replies with a nod; Yuna steps a bit away from the group to go through the combination process. A handful of seconds later, Yuna is mostly encased in a large powered exo-frame, her head still visible and her arms supplemented by larger manipulators. "Shugoseiheki," Yuna says quietly, and a kite shield appears on one of the frame's manipulator arms, so she can block attacks more effectively. She hunkers down to try and stay hidden from the monsters inside the warehouse after transforming.

Elner looks to the Witching Hour, particularly to Libra. "Are these creatures corporeal enough to be subject to physical grappling attacks?"

Yuna blanches slightly as she hears that question.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute smiles at Sanary, shaking his head, "Don't worry, it's not a bad outfit, it's just a bit unusual, and not really... modern? I'll buy you some modern outfits, and help you know which to use when, alright?"

     And with that, he moves in to give Sanary a little kiss on the forehead. Awww, public display of affection.

     Lute looks at the group. Smiling.

     "Letting them talk too much in there is probably a terrible idea. Because let's face it. Princess Paladin was helping out fighting on behalf of a lot of magical girls. They might think the Magical Girls have allied together, which will force /them/ to ally together. So. We /really/ better figure this shit out now."

     And with that, Lute leaps over the wall. And he starts strutting over to the warehouse. And for some reason, he even pulls out an iPod. Because he knows one thing above all else about villains like this: They like style.

     He presses a button on the iPod to make it start playing loud music from his speakers, and moves to push the door open. And, he's going to dance into the room, moonwalking backwards into the group, before turning.

     He had /intended/ to have the iPod playing smooth criminal as he entered.

     Instead he had accidentally turned on 'It's Raining Men'.

     To his credit, he doesn't lose his stride, as he turns to face towards where he assumes the group of enemies are gathered. He didn't even bother to spotcheck through the window where they are.

     "HEY, everyone, I was just walking through the area, saw this little gathering, and well? I just /had/ to get in on whatever you all are planning or discussing."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Nothing wrong with taking a hands on approach." Sanary flashes Yuna a grin as she checks her gear one last time. Gunaxe? Ice shells ready and loaded. Buckler? Strapped on tight with a quick-release knot just in case. There's... Actually not much for the healer to prepare, is there? "Alright. I'm ready for whatever."

     Turning to Lute, she blinks slowly at the forehead kiss and twitches slightly, her cheeks turning a slight shade of red. "H-hey. I'm trying to look professional here. It's hard to do that when..." She trails off with a flustered grunt, giving him a light clap on the back before watching him head over the wall.

     "S.. So anyway. If things start going bad, I'll focus on healing or keeping the Chaos or Death users busy. Healing, death, order, chaos. Should cancel each other out, right?" She doesn't sound completely sure about that herself, but she won't know unless she tries! She gives Sakura and Yuna a quick nod before pressing her back against the wall, ready to vault over the thing at a moment's notice.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden approaches the group with Princess Paladin, cautiously. While Golden isn't exactly a stranger to the wide world of weirdness the Multiverse offers, seeing witches and monsters a night is just slightly odd to him. Possibly because he tended to skirt the edges of settled areas, where there are less people to run into. He has his reasons for being in the city recently though.
    The little ball of metal listens to the conversation and watches Lute walk off towards the building, slapping his face with his gloved hand. Maybe Lute will be a useful distraction? "If we go in swinging, they'll have a good reason to team up. If we drive a wedge between them, they might do half our jobs for us. They got any reason to not trust each other? "

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    "If it can trap a monster at least for awhile, then your 'Maze' sounds fine!" Crucia assures. She gives Sakura a double thumbsup, encouragingly! As Miko gets back with Golden, and they make any necessary introductions, Lute is talking about the monsters teaming up and Crucia is looking at him with an expression of just 'what' as she tries to follow his reasoning. "What? No. They're all direct enemies of each other, they don't team up. They're like predators competing for the same--H-hey! Wait!" Crucia tries to explain to Lute but he is always leaping over the wall and walking up to the building. What is with these people and a lack of team work!?

    When Lute crosses the street and then announces his presence, Musica spits out, "That idiot! There goes the element of surprise!"

    Libra hops up and over the wall easily, as she calls out, "Time to move!" Her transformation augments her physical abilities like it does for Paladin and Musica, it seems. With Musica's body vanishing into her mask, and both her mask and the one she had floating next to her earlier following along, she zips towards the building. Crucia floats up into the air on a pumpkin she conjures from thin air, and heads to the same destination.

    Princess Paladin looks around at the others and says, "I caught enough of the plan. I'll back you up with the Death user if it gets out of control, and provide healing otherwise. Let's go." Then HUP! Back over the wall again as she speeds towards the building.

    The response to Lute's sudden appearance is probably not what he was expecting. The Card guy spins his poleaxe and cleaves open the wooden floor, causing starry silhouettes and smiling shadows to come spilling out of the ground, giggling and laughing in the voices of children as they fly towards not only Lute but the other two monsters present. The Life Gear seems to be too startled to reaact immediately, instead 'breathing' a barrage of small cogs and wheels at the creepy shadow-kids only AFTER the Underlander takes action.

    The skeletal thing simply turns its head towards Lute. The skeletal head of a serpent. A serpent that lifts itself up to its full height, and easily looms over everyone and everything else present. The open space above the main room extends all the way up to the third floor. And that's where the undead snake skeleton finally stops, as its vertebrae-coils click-click-click-click with every motion of its long, long body. The out-of-place arms at its sides are adorned with claws, and those arms seem to be duplicated all along the monster's length.

    The monster says nothing, but hush of pure death that spills from its empty maw, freezing the air and making it start SNOWING INDOORS, says something quite clearly.

    'You've entered the wrong building.'

    Paladin's answer to Golden along the way for why they don't trust each other is simple. "They eat people, and they don't like to share." Feeling sick to her stomach from proximity to the Card man, Paladin arrives at more or less the same time as the other magical girls, right alongside of Lute. Unlike Paladin, however, the Witching Hour girls are quick to focus on the Life Gear. A rain of pumpkins falls upon the clockwork dragon to distract it, and when it turns its cog-breath on them, the pumpkin guts that spill out turn out to be quite sticky. Like a big mass of magical, pumpkin-scented glue.

    Libra opens her book, the pages flipping rapidly. Then she calls out, "Stop Watcher!" A magical eyeball in a metal sheathe comes out of the book, and floats towards the Life Gear, orbitting it. Every time the monster struggles against its bonds, the Watcher freezes it in time with a grey beam for several seconds.

    Musica appears behind the creature, her body reforming around her mask, as the second mask accompanying her starts sending concentrated sonic vibrations into the back of the creature's dragon-like head to disorient it... And to slowly destroy it, and free the host. It will take time, though.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    That just leaves the death monster and the Card man who is not responding very diplomatically.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    "Welp guess we're going now let's go Yue, Kero!" Sakura says as her pink, feathered wings flare, and she vaults over the wall. It's hard to tell if she used her wings for that or she's just THAT athletic. The wings do get used once she's over the wall, though, to dash through the air across the road and into the warehouse.

    It's. Pretty easy to tell which one's the Death monster. "Okay! MAZE!" she calls out, pulling out one of her cards and bringing her wand up to meet it. Her magic circle appears under her feet - hovering in the air, as she's still flying - as the card vanishes in a flash of blue light. There's an odd distortion in space around the Death monster that sorta hurts to look at...

    And, if successful, the Maze will pull the Death creature into that hazy green maze dimension. The walls of which immediately shoot up to block the creature's view. No cheating!

    Yue and Kero, meanwhile, flank Sakura in defensive stances! In the air.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
As Sakura takes wing again, Yuna powers up her hover-thrusters, putting on enough of a vertical boost to clear the wall, then engaging forward thrust to follow Sakura. The Matrix Divider appears in Yuna's grasp as she charges behind the cardmistress - although she puts on the brakes almost immediately upon getting into view of the monsters, and comes to a halt again while waiting to see if the Maze does the trick for containing the deadly snake-skeleton monster.

Just in case it can break out, though, she levels the Matrix Divider, light/holy power starting to shimmer around the weapon's blade/barrel in preparation for attack. "Sakura, if it breaks out, get behind me!" she advises, keeping her kite shield ready for blocking with.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute remains rather calm, despite the fact that several monsters are very mad at him. But, smiling, he just looks at the Card monster. IE, the one who isn't being dealt with by Maze or whatever the Magical Girls are doing that he doesn't /fully/ understand the workings of.

     Lute gives a thumbs up to the card warrior, grinning. He speaks, rather nonchalantly, "Yo. I'm a buddy of the March Hare, and a representative of the Confederacy. Just wanna check in, see what you guys are up to. Don't mind the allies. Yeah, they're coming in pretty full force, but who cares, right? Chaos and all that junk, can't control it. But what brings you three all together today?"

     And, just in case, Lute grabs for a Pokeball, releasing his Tentacruel. The tentacle beast just sits in front of him, ready to guard him just in case the Maze doesn't work, in case the clock guy isn't stopped, and in case the card guy decids he'd rather not talk.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Time to move! The other two seem to be getting handled already, so that just leaves the one with the poleaxe to deal with. Breaking into a run to catch up with everyone else already at the building, Sanary makes a beeline for Lute and the Card Man.

     Channeling energy into her hands while running, the eyepatched girl pre-emptively throws some of that healing magic Lute in a wave of green light. Sure, it might not be necessary if he flat out avoids or mitigates the attacking shadow things, but better safe than sorry!

     She does skid a little as she comes to a stop, however, the snow making her movements a little less steady. She casts a quick glance at the Death creature above, but turns her attention back to the Card Man quickly while keeping her buckler raised and the gunaxe held to the side.

     Sanary's still not attacking it yet, though. Instead, she just keeps on guard alongside the Tentacruel, keeping a close eye on the Chaos creature for the time being.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden sighs as everybody goes running off. "Oh great. Everybody's rushing to get into a fight." He grumbles before bounding along after them, quite nimble for his size. The MetalMamemon leaps through a window, crashing glass surrounding him as he lands. Seems like they mostly have it handled, and so the arm cannon that was warming up starts powering down.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The Maze seems to do the job. As one boney arm extends, making a sickening noise of dry, marrowless bone stretching and 'growing' without life being involved in the process, reaching for Lute, the ground beneath it changes and then the space it exists within changes as well, becoming a prison. Soon enough, the monster is gone from their sight, trapped in a magical maze. Whatever happens with the monster now is probably only known to Sakura and the monster.

    The Heart Card pauses, its creepy silhouette minions seemingly melting back into darkness within the already-dark building. Only moon light coming through a window that ISN'T boarded up, on the second floor, provides them with illumination. The Chaos creature looks around at everyone and says, "Well, isn't this just a scrumdiddlyumptious situation to find my lonesome in. Who would have known so many people had so much interest in an old building what matters not?" He focuses on Lute, who is the one who addressed him, and leans on his poleaxe. "I know not a once and knot a nonce for your Confederation of Fools. But the Queen of Hearts, she misses her tarts, and she'd ruther that they not remain in the possession of the transgression of the transgressors."

    Did that mean anything to anyone?

    Paladin looks at the spot where the death monster was, trying to ignore the chill in the air. The snow has stopped with the heat-leeching source presently absent in Maze land, but she has to keep focused just incase something weird happens that's unexpected. Lute has this, she's sure of it.

    Because he is pretty crazy.

    The Heart Card says, "Seems I've no choice but to talk or rot. I'd sooner the former, though might lead to the latter. A tricky situation to be in, all-told, though told only by one." The eyes in the executioner-like hood glance this way and that. Taking in those prepared to attack the Death monster when it reappears, the trio who so easily disabled the Life Gear while it was defending itself from another monster... The one who trapped the skeleton in the first place...

    And the unusual patchwork-magic of the golden metal-creature that just crashed through a window, providing more light on the building's interior. A magical girl's familiar? The angel-winged man, and the lion are also afforded an inquisitive look. All of these people are powerful and dangerous in their own right.

    And yet somehow, despite claiming concern over his fate if he doesn't talk, he seems oddly at ease with the totally unexpected situation, and the weird assortment of enemies before him.

    The eyes return to Lute, as he says, "'Twas an orphanage. A home for unwanted litters. A litter of litters, so to say. 'Twas also a place of madness. And, I would wager, of dying. Things were not good for the boyos and girlos, oh no! And it was so very, very long ago. The building was made and made again, but never could get the stains out. The curses the folks whispered 'round about that made business and pleasure alike unlikely. I would dare say, or even double-dare, that this is a place well-suited to all of us seeking a foothold in this world. We don't need to make our own madness, y'see. Or our own dying or our own years and decades ticking by, as the cases may bees. Buzz."

    The Heart Card straightens up on his poleaxe and says, "Not to worry, girlos and boyos. There are others. You and they can mete out ownership of this one as you please. The March Hare's no friend o' the rightful Queen's, so I'm afraid I'll have to skip inviting you for tea. If you DO deign to stop by the Court of Hearts, I'd recommend watching your head. Tah-tah~!"

    Then, the Card folds himself in half. And again, and again, and again, until the tiny square folds itself right out of existence.

    Well, then!

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Well then.

    Sakura sighs with relief when the Maze works. She wasn't entirely sure it would! That monster's aura felt... really, really -wrong- to her. But, luckily, it's currently caught in a magical maze that will make itself harder the more it tries to cheat. Better find the exit, Death Snake!

    Sakura peers as the Heart Card folds itself up. "...So the Queen or Hearts and the March Hare are part of two different factions? Aw, man. This just keeps getting more complicated."

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute stands tall. He just listens, trying to remember his Alice in Wonderland. He doesn't know a lot about the story. He really needs to actually read it sometime. But, yeah, that makes sense. The Queen of Hearts and the March Hare aren't really allies. He also tries to puzzle through the other talking. He gets bits of it at least. And he smiles at the group around.

     He looks at all of the others, smiling. His hands are in his pocket. And he switches the song on his iPod. To some ambient music. Or more specifically, because he messes up again, another terrible song. Barbie Girl, by Aqua. Yes he fucked up again. He just shakes his head and sighs.

     "Alright, so in English. Those three were arguing over who gets a particularly bloodstained orphanage. I don't know where that orphanage is, but we should figure it out. Also, at a guess, the Underland faction is really just a bunch of, pardon the pun, wild cards. Queen of Hearts, March Hare and the Tea Party. Cheshire Cat is probably his own thing too. So at the least, they weren't working together."

     A pause.

     "...So. Mission accomplished? ...Or will the Death thing get out of the maze eventually?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     All the Card Man gets from Sanary is a long, confused stare. Just what the hell is he prattling on about? She's not about to say that to his face while he's still... Sorta friendly? Not hostile, at the very least. Thankfully, the confirmation from Sakura and the radio eases the healer's mind, allowing her to focus on the Life Gear and that skeletal snake creature.

     "Okay... Uh. Good job, Lute. Now we just gotta deal with these other two. Anyone need a pick-me-up?" She furrows her brow slightly while glancing between the three handling the Life Gear and Sakura, then at Paladin in particular. "Still feeling anything after getting near that guy?"

     Sanary wiggles her arms lightly, getting some energy collected in her hands while listening to the explanation of what that talk was all about. "And then when we're done with the Death user... We look for the orphanage. Er. Right? Just gotta find some leads or local news or something."

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden looks around, wondering if the other shoe is going to drop. Like another monster, or maybe their bosses. When it becomes apparent that there is no immediate danger, he relaxes a little and listens to Lute's translation.
"I'm not an expert, but the orphanage sounds like a weak spot they can come out of. Like the warp gates emerging in the old Digital World- places they can easily access the Multiverse." he says after listening and thinking about what the Card Shark and Lute said.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The Maze card appears to do its job as planned and anticipated. Yuna would let out a slight sigh of relief, but she's keeping her guard up; if the skull serpent manages to escape the Maze, either by solving the path or simply by forcing its way out, there probably won't be much warning time before it's back in the battle and out for people's blood - particularly Sakura's. So Yuna stays ready.

The speech rattled off by the Heart Card ... well, Yuna doesn't have enough attention to pay to deciphering it. Elner *does* have the chance to listen to it, but the level of illogic folded into it almost makes the robo-faerie go cross-optic'd trying ot pick out the valuable intel. Lute's translation seems adequate, though. And the Time monster seems to have been outmaneuvered, checkmated, and generally pwned by the Witching Hour team, plus the Chaos Card just folded itself out of existence like a one-time-use blanket, so ... that does seem to be it.

"Would it be a good idea to let that snake back out so we can deal with it before we leave?" Yuna wonders. After the fact of the immediate confrontation, she's getting scared again - almost like she's remembering she ought to be - but she maintains her composure for the moment.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    There is nothing more patient than death. Time grinds inexorably onwards, but death merely waits. It does not seek, it just obtains. It does not take, it simply receives. Everything ends at some point. The thirty-foot long skeletal snake navigates the maze unhurriedly. It takes note of any dead ends as soon as it encounters them, fluidly turns around and tries another way. It does not try to cheat. It does not rush to try to escape. But it also never stops moving. It doesn't tire, after all.

    Patience, patience.

    It's unknown how intelligent it is, but it seems smart enough to navigate a maze at least. And it's gradually working its way towards the exit, its click-click-clicking vertebrae tail chasing after it as it turns corners. Funeral-black cloak rustling. Hat still strapped to its serpentine head. Empty eye sockets feasting on the sight of nothing living anywhere nearby.

    Meanwhile, back in the not-Maze, the Life Gear is spasming and writhing, struggling less and less as its metal body vibrates at a now-audible frequency. Pieces that were part of an intricate whole disconnecting from each other. Piston and pipe bones, and bolted skin clattering noisily as the monster is literally shaken apart. The Witching Hour girls have kept their focus solely on the monster, with the exception of Crucia, who doesn't need to maintain her spell. She cast it. She made the universe accept her will. Now it's real, unless she or a stronger spellcaster says otherwise. As the only actual Mage among the local magical girls present, she can do things the others just can't do with their reliance upon an Artifact.

    So she can turn her attention on the others as the Chaos creature vanishes and asks, "Guys, are we sure the orphanage wasn't the building we're standing in right now?"

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The noise level of the Life Gear's falling-apart body reaches a crescendo as Musica continues channeling vibrations of a sympathetic frequency to the unique wavelength of the monster until it finally 'dies'. A cog wheel connecting the dragon head to the host falls off and cracks when it hits the floor, releasing stolen 'Time' in every direction back to the victims of the theft. A man in a tattered business suit slumps in the pumpkin glue as he passes out from the strain. There are signs of scarring where the Life Gear was beginning to fuse to him with wires, but it wasn't connected quite long enough to cause serious damage with its removal.

    Paladin looks around at the building, trying to see if she can feel anything weird from the place. She still feels off about the Heart Card and says so. "I feel nauseous about being that close to it, but not as bad as it's been in the past. Either it was weaker than the Cheshire Cat, or I'm getting used to it." She knows she can't feel magic on her own, but a place drenched in death, madness, and the passage of time? Shouldn't she pick up on that? Shouldn't any of them?

    No. Why would they? There are probably loads of terrible things that happen in the world around them all the time, and they don't notice at all unless it's right in their face. "Thank you for acting as our 'diplomat', Lute. But for your safety, please don't follow my foolish example and run in alone next time." She smiles slightly at him.

    Paladin answers Golden with, "That would make sense. The Death Magic-users extensively warped the space of a restaurant we were at months ago, just so to be able to try to gather life energy or something of that nature. But not all Nether Realm fiends have that kind of magic energy to throw around. Somewhere they can set up a permanent base of operations would be quite valuable." She clutches her hand tighter as she looks at the spot where the Maze opened up, and then to Sanary, with energy ready for usage.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    As the human host is released from his pumpkin glue bindings and the time-freeze eyeball is recalled back to the book it emerged from (Musica has obviously stopped sonic-zapping him already), Libra says, "If there is a way to destroy it without freeing it, let us know. Otherwise, we will probably have to face it before we can depart. As well, depending on if this IS the site of the orphanage, destroying this building might be necessary after all. Otherwise it will just lure more monsters in the future."

    Crucia has let her pumpkin glue spell fade back into unreality, and is busy chanting something in a language that is not meant for communication. It doesn't translate because it's not a language. It's the sound of the universe bending to the will of a single mortal, put into a format that a human mouth can utter. She casts out a hand, and an outline of a black pumpkin appears in the air as she completes her spell. "Harvests Past!" she calls out.

    The outline expands to engulf everything, and then fades away. Nothing seems to change for everyone else here, but Crucia seems... Stricken by what she sees, and quickly dismisses her spell. "This is the place," she says hoarsely. "We need to burn it down." Only a few seconds passed. What could she have seen in that time?

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura has her eyes closed. Can she somehow sense the Death creature in her Maze? Or perhaps she's communicating with the magical spirit that created the Maze. ... No one here beyond Sakura and her Familiars really has any idea how her magic works, do they?

    "It's... pretty good at mazes. It might reach the exit soon, so we should get ready for it," she declares, quietly. She produces a bunch of cards!

    By 'prepare' she mostly meant 'buff like hell'. "Shield! Power! Fight!" She calls. As the Shield activates, yellow translucent bubbles pop up around EVERYONE IN THE ROOM (yikes), while the other two cards simply create a pink and turquiose aura around Sakura. "Create!" is her final call, which creates a... book. Which she holds in her hand. Huh.

    Libra-envy?

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute pauses, just listening. He smiles at Miko, shrugging, "Hey, going in without knowing what I'm doing is honestly half of what I /do/. Really. I know how much risk to balance to reward."

     A grin appears on his face though.

     "...But if we have to destroy this building... Well. I can contact some of my Confederate contacts. I have a /shitload/ of explosives I found on a mission a while back. I can get them here in just a few minutes using my Gardevoir to warp to the warp gate, and having some Confederates load the explosives up and bring them to the warp gate."

     A smile. "We pile up the explosives in here, dismiss the Maze, and then let the place blow sky high."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary snickers lightly at the half-chiding, half-complimenting that Paladin gives to Lute. "Well, it /is/ Lute. Someone's gotta do the dumb stuff that works somehow." She gives him a playful tap on the side before glancing at the rest of the gathered group, pausing to raise a hand towards Sakura. Even if she's not necessarily injured, transferring some of that healing energy to her could be useful in giving her some extra energy to throw around!

     So... Sanary does exactly that. A slow wave of light green energy moves from her to the Cardcaptor, dissipating after lingering on her for a short while. "If we gotta burn this place down... Do we want to do it before or after we deal with the skeleton snake thing?" As she speaks, she opens up her gunaxe to swap the Ice shell out for a Lightning shell.

     "I can blow stuff up pretty good with this or the Fire shells, but-yeah. Might be easier to take the thing down with a flaming building on it, but if it gets out and survives? There could be a lot of damage around here."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna grimaces quietly; she was just starting to wonder if this might have been the oprhanage in question too. But who would use a *warehouse* for an orphanage ....

She quickly decides she's happier without knowing. That's probably directly related to why this place is a monster magnet. "So do we kill the giant death snake thing first, then work on demolitions, or try to time things so that the burning warehouse kills the third monster, or what?" she asks - still trying to maintain her composure. She'd actually be happy to let Lute's Pokemon do the hard work, but a piece of her doesn't want to leave it entirely to him, either.

And if the skele-snake is getting out of the maze as quickly as it sounds like, they might not have time to arrange any nifty schemes to kill two birds with one stone. The sound of Sakura casting her support spells prompts Yuna to tighten her grip on the Matrix Divider, heft her shield into what might be a more comfortable position (for all that it's the exo-arm holding it, not HER arm) or at least more convenient, and power up the beam cannons mounted in her frame's shoulders - getting them ready for quick use, although the protective 'lenses' remain over them for now. "Thanks for the shield spell, Sakura," she adds with a smile, then looks at Lute. "If you think we've got the time, sounds good."

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden uhs. "Really? That's pretty terrible that it'll escape. Good thing there's so many of us to take it down, right?"
    The digimon's arm cannon starts warming up, a dull glow emanating from its wide barrel. "Gotta make sure it doesn't eat more people, right?"

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    Paladin considers the options proposed, then looks to the Witching Hour girls. Musica and Libra are looking right back at her. Crucia seems pale and is holding a hand to her stomach. Musica takes her unseen gaze off of the pink-haired magical girl as she moves to her team mate's side and puts a hand on her shoulder in a display of gentleness that Miko wouldn't have expected from the haughty magical girl. But she doesn't know any of them very well yet. She shouldn't be so quick to judge.

    "That's right, our unidentified ally. It would be far less fortunate if we were fewer in number. But together, we are powerful enough to take on multiple monsters. I'm sure of it." She turns her pink eyes on Lute and says, "We don't have a lot of time for an elaborate plan, Lute. I am sorry. Thank you for the offer, though. Collapsing the building on top of it may not destroy it, as Libra said, but it may buy us some time. Let's get the human hostage out of here first, and then just focus everything we have on this place. We'll have to leave shortly after that. We don't want to be here when authorities come by." She knows Libra is still watching her, waiting to see what kind of call she makes. Just as she is learning about them, they're still learning about her. And that's... Not a bad thing.

    Libra looks at the magic that has begun to engulf her, and enhance her. Bubbles? Then she looks to the book that Sakura summoned. Or created. Another user of the Magical Element known as 'Book', eh? Here she thought Sakura used the 'Card' Element! "I am certain we can find a way to destroy both together. Perhaps Crucia can use acid pumpkins--" Libra starts.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    Suddenly, the air within the building -splinters-, as the outline of a skull bashes against it. The ghostly image of a skeletal snake can be seen on the 'other side' of reality.

    It found its way out.

    Paladin leaps back, summoning the Sacred Scepter into her hand. Crucia draws her wand, Libra her book, and Musica actually heads for the downed former-Life Gear host and scoops him up as she tries to carry him out of the building, and out of the line of fire.

    Suddenly, freezing cold erupts everywhere, the air becoming painful to exposed skin, the skeletal serpent slithers out of the Maze, rising up and up and up, and then lets loose a horrifying shriek that sends a withering power outwards, rotting wood, corroding metal, crumbling plaster, and making the building start to collapse around them.

    "EVERYONE OUT--!" Princess Paladin starts to yell, too late, seeing the speed at which the ground is vanishing beneath them. Even with Sakura's and Sanary's magic enhancing them, she doesn't like what that effect is likely to do to them if it touches them.

    Then a large pumpkin goes flying by and gobbles up everyone present, like a Halloween-themed Pac-man. Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp! Unless Yue and Kero are so fast to fly out of there that they avoid it, the pumpkin carries everyone it swallowed to safety at super high speed, in that lot across from the warehouse.

    Just in time to see the building come crumbling down. Losing all color except for black, and thus decaying in fast-forward until there's nothing left but dust.

    The skeletal monster looms there in the dust cloud, staring back at them with eyeless sockets. Then it drops its lower jaw, and a voice speaks to them.

    "There are others."

    And with that, a hole opens in reality behind it, with a sound like ten-thousand corpses suddenly inhaling, and the snake is sucked back to where it came from.

    Paladin is a bit too startled by the sudden course events have taken to do much, except say, "...Let's... Make sure there is nothing at all for it to return for. As Crucia Hex suggested, burn it all."

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura stares up at the skull-snake, wide eyed. "Uh...!" She clenches her fist around her wand, narrowing her eyes. She takes a dashing step forward - and then the monster starts to emenate a corruptive, decaying aura. So Yue just grabs her out of the air and drags her back, flailing.

    And then everyone is eaten by the Pacpkin.

    Once Sakura has managed to recover from the shock and confusion... she sighs, looking down at the book in her hand. "I didn't even get to use this..." Pout.

Lute (188) has posed:
     As the snake appears, Lute moves between it and Sanary. She's already close to him, so this should be fairly simple. His goal, of course, is to simply protect her from danger, even at risk to himself. Also, despite the fact that Sanary could take a hit better than him.

     And then Lute is swallowed by a pumpkin and pulled to safety. As he arrives at the empty lot, he just stares around, baffled, "...Did that pumpkin just eat me and carry me over here?"

     With the building destroyed, he sighs in relief. Yeah, definitely need to destroy this worse, but nice they have a head start on it. He looks towards Miko again, smiling, "Well. I suppose we can bring in the explosives /now/. That'll burn it pretty well. And leave a crater. ...I wonder if place is built on a graveyard too."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna expected the monster would re-appear from roughly the same place it disappeared into the Maze from. That doesn't seem to be QUITE what happens - she's shifting her aim and trying to unload on the monster ...

And the aura of decay and sheer entropy which the monster lashes out with actually causes the Matrix Divider's beams to diminish, withering away like the light of a dying star. She's preparing to follow up with her beam cannons and their greater power wheGIANT PUMPKIN OUT OF NOWHERE

When she's ejected from the rescue pumpkin again, Yuna just flops to the pavement, trusting Elner to see what she doesn't have the wherewithal to look at. Give her a moment, she's just completely and utterly terrified out of her wits.

At least she's being quiet about it. Of course, it's too late to scream by this point anyway.

Golden (782) has posed:
    A barrage of dull orange spheres comes flying out of the digimon's arm cannon as the face batters its way into reality, exploding upon contact with... whatever the thing is. And the pumpkin whisks Golden away mid-leap as he prepares to go for the throat of the Death Snake, the weird sunburst symbol glowly dully as he did. "LIKE THAT'S SUPPOSED TO SCARE ME?!"
    Golden is dumped out by the pumpkin, looking pretty tweaked out and angry.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     The sudden rush of cold air draws a pained cry from Sanary, the one-eyed healer hunching over instinctively to cover herself from the extreme cold. The strange outfit she's got on certainly isn't intended for early winter temperatures, never mind reality-warping induced freezing. There's really not much she can even do to warm herself up, and it's only with that shout from Paladin that keeps her awake long enough to notice that pumpkin coming for her.

     And then they're out! Somehow. Still shivering at the coldness from earlier, she staggers forward slowly before grabbing onto Lute from behind to try and steal some of his heat. "Wh-what... What the hell just happened?" She glances around at the others for confirmation, pausing to stare at Golden and raising an eyebrow at the strange creature. Is that a Digimon? She opens her mouth before closing it, a short hum given instead as she reconsiders asking that so bluntly.

     Perhaps later. For now, she starts channelling magical energy again before circulating it from person to person to try and boost their energy reserves back up. The restorative light lingers on the three members of the Witching Hour this time, the healer having noticed that fatigue setting in earlier.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna manages to get back on her feet thanks to some careful work with her hover-thrusters, and assists in reducing the ashes as best she can with judicious doses of light/holy power, channeled through her weapons. She's going to stand out pretty badly if the authorities happen to show up while we're doing this, so she's as efficient as she can be ...

And when it's done, or at least done to the best of her and others' ability in a hurry, she powers up those hover-thrusters again and heads for the warpgate at speed.