6344/The Betrayal of Paradise

The Betrayal of Paradise
Date of Scene:	14 February 2019
Location:	Ga-Rei Japan
Synopsis:	Yomi calls in allies to help get a leg up on a strange hostage situation.
Cast of Characters:	Yomi Isayama, 1106, Shigure, Lexicon, Staren

---

Yomi Isayama has posed:
It's early enough in the day that it can't quite be considered nighttime yet, but late enough that the sun is already well on its way down. School let out a few hours ago, and clubs normally would be ending about now.

Except nobody is leaving the school.

Yomi taps out a few quick text messages to ask for aid: 'Hostage situation at school. Not what it seems. Investigating. --Isayama.' She may be confident in her own fighting ability, but there are times she needs help. ...besides, she's stuck inside as well.

When any help arrives, there are two men talking at the entrance of the school. One of them, a policeman who may be recognized as Officer Yamamoto, i quickly taking down notes and trying to figure out how he can report this to his superiors without soudning crazy. The other is a tall man in his mid-twenties, wearing a suit and tie and carrying two large suitcases.

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    Tamamo was actually on her way to work, the maid-dressed fox is humming along softly to some tune, "Pick up some chocolate for him on my way home, then cook him a nice dinner, then rub his shoulders from practice..." she nods, "Mikon~ he's going to be so spoiled!" it seems the Caster was in quite a good mood today, everything going right, nothing bad happening, no text message from Yomi asking for help...

    Well, that last one did happen. She looks at the small cell phone, giving a sigh at it. "Well... she /did/ allow me here. And she /did/ get me this job." A quick phone call later to the cafe... and an earful from the boss... "I'll work triple hard tomorrow, just... something major came up!"

    With that, she makes her way towards the school grounds. It takes her a bit to get there, but upon seeing the Officer... and a tall man... she blinks a bit, "Ah... hmm, sorry, but I'm just gonna go help my friend in there." she comments, smiling, "Caster-Class Servant from a holy grail war here."

Shigure has posed:
    Something the pair of men might find odd, is a pair of high-school age girls walking down the street toward them. They're wearing uniforms, but not for any local school, and have scabbards for short swords set across the backs of their hips.

    Shigure's blue eyes scan the men, then speaks up. "What is the situation?" she asks, pulling a badge from a pocket, showing the Paladin emblem and the ID card attached to it. "Shigure, Paladin Chevalier. We received a message from Yomi Isayama."

    Yuudachi remains quiet, but is bouncing in place while her red eyes peer into the grounds, trying to see if there's anything obviously out of the ordinary.

Lexicon has posed:
    Usually, Lexicon has attended situations in Yomi's homeland in the most natural ways she could. Taking the bus or train, or the like. But those times, her friend wasn't in immediate danger. What arrives is a shining white streak across the sky, the transformed Silver Soul, clutching a gleaming Resource Relay in one hand.

    Silver Soul circles for a moment as she reaches the school's vicinity, scowling at the building. Eventually she relents, banking into a dive. There's a shedding of pixellated light as she descends, and it's the regular blue-eyed brunette who actually touches down in the presence of the accumulated officers and other personnel. As the crystal upon her relay goes dead, Lexicon approaches a familiar face-- "Officer Yamamoto, what's the situation?"

    All business. She might look more than a little angry, like a spring under tension.

Staren has posed:
    Help is needed. Someone's holding a /high school/ hostage? A delicate situation, to be sure...

    Which is why, although Staren beams down nearby, he doesn't just kick in the door. He sends small drones to search the grounds, looking for a way into the school.

    Seeing that Tamamo is there, and someone's openly declaring themselves a paladin, is enough for Staren to approach the men waiting outside. "And I'm Staren, of the Concord. What's the situation?"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
As the girls arrive, both men look up. Yamamoto looks confused at first, but he nods toward Lexicon as she lands nearby... trying to hide any surprise that she was just flying. "Miss Lexicon. And.... you others must be friends of Miss Isayama. I only just arrived on scene, but I've been getting the short version from--"

the other man breaks in, "Sakuraba. Sakuraba Kazuki. I work with Yomi in the SDCD." His hands are full of two suitcases, so he doesn't wave, but he does nod to each in turn. "...heh. Isayama has a lot of cute friends, huh?" He peers closely at Tamamo specifically. "She was telling me about you, too. Yamamoto shoots him a glare, and Kazuki clears his throat. "Anyway! Some morons from the PDCH got here first. That's their car over there." He inclines his head toward an APC parked partially around a nearby corner. "I heard gunfire inside for about five seconds before it all went silent again, so..." He shrugs. "I'll be honest, they're probably already all dead. It's like they go out of their way to make our jobs harder." Kazuki lets out an annoyed sigh, even as Yamamoto looks incredibly uncomfortable with how casual that declaration was.

"We both thought it was a bad idea to go in alone," explains the officer. "And even though I can see spirits, I'm not trained to fight them. I'll stay out here to make sure nobody else wanders in, but... be careful in there."

Kazuki rolls his shoulders, glancing over the four girls and Staren. "Well. Let's head in. If you've never fought spirits before, well..." He glances at Shigure and Yuudachi, then at Staren. The others, he's pretty sure can handle it. "It won't be pretty in there. Keep your eyes peeled and stick close, especially if you can't see them like we can." And with that, he begins to stride straight toward the front door of the school. "...side and back ways are blocked off, by the way."

Drones will confirm that, as all doors and windows besides the main door are completely sealed from the inside.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is wearing what looks like some kind of futuristic space marine (but not Space Marine) armor... made for someone with cat ears and a tail. He tilts his head. "If they're already dead, I'll save as many as I can. ...Same if they're not, of course." he adds, as he realizes how odd that sounded. "These spirits... are they just invisible, or do most weapons not work on them? I might be able to work something out..." He calls some of the drones back to him before walking in with the others. Once they're inside, he'll send the drones to search the school.

Shigure has posed:
    "Firstly, we're effectively 'spirits' ourselves, Mister Sakuraba." replies Shigure in her soft tone. "Tsukumogami." she steps in after the SDCD man, and motions for Yuudachi to take the rear. The blonde nods and summons her Rigging, swapping out the regular cannon in her right hand for an array of smaller caliber machinegun mounts and autocannons.

    "If we require firepower, I believe that my sister and I can handle that, just don't expect much subtlety if things do come to combat." The softspoken destroyer girl doesn't summon her rig, but maintains her position just behind Sakuraba."

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    Tamamo gives a nod towards Sakuraba and the Officer. Though, when Sakuraba mentions that... "Oh, perhaps once we're done here, you can tell me what she's said about me." beat "I do try not to be a nuisance!" then the 'cute friends' finally registers in her brain, "I'm also married." she smirks, turning back towards the building. "Gunfire for a few seconds then nothing, huh?" Tamamo's foot taps, "I'll change when I get in, I don't want to rewash this..." she mutters.

    Staren's here, so is Lexicon and Shigure. "Ah, a joint effort, it's good to have you three along." a pause, "Let's try to limit any extraneous destruction, ok?" there's a smile, "I don't want to have to explain to Yomi that things went crazy and we leveled the school." a pause, then she summons up a few talismans and offers a few sets to the three present. "These will let you launch fireballs from my magic. Just in case you need them."

    With that, she turns back around and moves to head into the school. Once the door is shut behind, the Mirror of Uka makes an appearance and so does her normal robes. "Ah, that's better. Now, shall we?" Ears perk, twitching slightly as she focuses on listening for any movement or voices.

Lexicon has posed:
    "I've tangled with this stuff before," Lexicon admits once Kazuki explains what's going on. She glances at Yamamoto, nodding once, "Watch things out here. We'll handle this."

    A glance shoots towards Tamamo, "Yomi's in there. Don't level the building." All the same, the DCC's inventory flickers-- and out comes that hammer of hers in her free hand. The resource relay similarly disappears, and she lifts her weapon to rest on her shoulder.

    "Lead the way, mister Sakuraba. The things I dealt with before were plenty visible, but I'll take any advice you've got on offer in case these bastards are different."

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Invisible until they want to make themselves seen, unless you know what to look for. If we find any of those soldiers, they might have some spirit vision goggles on 'em." Sakuraba shakes his head slowly. "Our priority's not them. They knew the job was dangerous when they took it. It's the kids and teachers we're here to save. They didn't ask for any of... whatever happened here. But yeah, normal weapons should work. Just stuff for exorcism's gonna be more effective."

He peers at the two ships and leans in a bit closer. "...huh, so you are. Cutest tsukumogami I've ever met, though. Usually they're all fangs and tongues and claws." Kazuki Sakurada: bad with women.

"Mm, well, I'm sure Isayama will appreciate you coming out here. And she's right, there are innocents stuck in here. Besides, Isayama would -kill- me if we did too much damage to the school." A pause. "You're married. Someone married -you-? Do they know what they're getting into?" Kazuki Sakuraba: really bad with women. "You two girls aren't married too, are you?" That question is directed at Shigure and Yuudachi.

Sakuraba pauses and sets one of his suitcases on the floor. There's a very noticeable thud, as if it's a lot heavier than it looks. "Look..." Reaching up, he scratches the back of his head. "I won't lie to you. It might get messy in here. Some of these spirits like to..." He is really not used to explaining this to people who don't already know. "Just, if I say something needs to be shot, trust my judgement. If you're at all squeamish, you should probably go wait outside with Yamamoto now anyway." He pauses a moment, giving time for anyone to take that offer, then nods and lifts the suitcase again. "Right, let's go."

Searching the school building proves both very difficult and very easy. Difficult because most of the doors on the first floor open into normal, empty rooms. Simple because one of them doesn't open at all. The door doesn't even budge when pulled, as if sealed from the inside. A paper sign taped to the door indicates this is where the cooking club meets.

Staren has posed:
    "Hey! If we end up leveling the school, I'll help build a new one! And it'll be better. Wifi from a century and a half in the future!" Staren replies. Which probably isn't what anyone wants to hear.

    Staren gives a brief look when Tamamo's marriage is commented on, but thinks better of speaking about it. He nods at Sakuraba's warning to shoot what needs to be shot.

    They come to a door. "So. Does this need to be shot?"

    Since the spirits were mentioned, he's been pondering if there's some way he can use the SIGHT OF THE INSPIRED to make ghost-seeing goggles. But that's not /quite/ how they work... is it?

    His fingertips twitch over the goggles in his bag. If a lighter touch is needed, could the SIGHT OF THE INSPIRED allow him to dismantle the magical ward with tools?

    When you've just received a shiny new hammer, you start looking everywhere for nails...

Shigure has posed:
    "To our jobs, Mister Sakuraba. Please focus on the task at hand instead of making half-baked passes at those who have come to assist you." says Shigure in a soft, deadpan tone. She steps up to the one door that doesn't open, and draws her blade. It radiates a malevolent aura, and is made of a black steel that looks almost organic. This, she stabs into the door near where the latch would be, trying to pry it open.

    "If brute force does not work, we will need to find some other way of getting inside. This seems to be the source, or at least the most likely place to begin our search." she explains, gesturing with her free hand to Yuudachi who approaches while pulling a trio of torpedoes from her thigh launchers. "Step back from the door!" says Shigure, as Yuudachi 'lights' the torpedoes like ticks of dynamite, then stabs them into the wood before clearing the blast area.

Lexicon has posed:
    Lexicon's glowering gaze narrows at Sakuraba. She's already on edge, and these half-assed attempts at flirting passed at her comrades and the foxgirl just don't feel appropriate. And then he simply passes over her and goes right into the briefing. Right when she was building up to biting his head off-- Lexicon just sort of...deflates, for a moment, when the expected incitation doesn't happen. Then her expression resolves back to Angry. Wait, what the hell!

    But being angry at the local guide is interrupted by more pressing matters. Doors that go nowhere interesting and have nobody behind them-- and the one door that won't open.

    Which Shigure and Yuudachi are already working on. She rubs her chin with her free hand, "Cooking club... Source, I don't know about that. But any locked door in a maze is gonna have something useful behind it or else it wouldn't be locked..." Eyebrows lift when the destroyer girls shift from forcing the door to just blowing it open, "--Ah, crap..!"

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    Tamamo shakes her head a bit, she's gonna have a few words for Sakuraba soon, but for now, more pressing matters are there. Where the hell is Yomi?

    Doors open and close, the demons and the dea..wait that's not right. Everything looks to be clear, at least until one of the doors doesn't open. And as soon as it doesn't open, everyone else seems to be on the thing of 'shoot it open!' or at least, three of the five present.

    "Well, it's not a magic seal tag or the like, but it's definitely a youkai seal..." the torpedoes are armed and off she goes to hide behind Lexicon, crouching down if she has to, "Hey, what's the big idea with explosives! I thought we wern't going to destroy the building!"

    She mutters something, "Are your allies always this violent? You all know I'm a Caster-Class Servant right, magic is what I do!" huff...

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"...tch. Take out all the fun, huh. And here I was going to invite all you girls to join me at a cafe with Isayama once we find her." A pause. "I guess the catboy can come too." Whether he notices Lexicon's annoyance or it's just happenstance, Sakuraba glances at the DCC. "You too, of course. Wouldn't be a great party without Isayama's friend." He lets out a sigh. "Though it might just be you, me, and Isayama at this point. Everyone's so touchy today." Kazuki Sakuraba: still really bad with women.

"Wh.. are those torpedoes?!" Sakuraba takes a step back and holds up his briefcases to try to shield himself. Honestly, what were they thinking?

The explosion does indeed destroy half the door, though when the dust clears, it hasn't exactly opened a way in. There's still....something there. Almost like a wall, dull brown in color but oddly shiny. "Huh? What's..." Sakuraba sets down a briefcase and reaches forward to poke the wall. When he pulls his hand back, he has to tug it. "It's sticky. But none of it came off on my hand... weird." From his pocket, a soft buzz sounds, and Sakuraba reaches in to pull out his cell phone and flip it open. "Sakuraba here. Yes, we're inside, but I can barely hear you with the interfe--did you say right at our position? I'll let them know."

He hands up the phone and slowly glances around. "Our psychics say they're picking up multiple Category Ds and a Category C right -here-, but I don't see anything."

And that's when an invisible force suddenly tugs at Lexicon's shoulders and tries to yank her straight up toward the ceiling.

Staren has posed:

    And here everyone thought Staren would probably be the first one to break out explosives! He steps back with Shigure and waits.

    Some kind of forcefield? Sticky forcefield? Staren considers this, but then--- He looks up. "Could they be on the next floor?" He's hesitant to blow holes in the school without some confirmation that it's necessary, though.

Lexicon has posed:
    Lexicon raises her free hand up to defend her face when the torpedoes go off. She doesn't even bother to back off-- splinters and rubble peck at her skin and outfit, and she sheds crimson sparks of damaged code here and there, where bits bite especially deep. Lexicon doesn't particularly care, though. She simply lowers her arm, squinting at the changes made to the wall by the explosive charge. When Sakuraba inspects it, she lowers her arm further.

    "Sticky? You're the experts--" Directed at Sakuraba and Tamamo, "What do you make of it?"

    While she considers this herself, something tugs at her. Her outfit responds first, the loose shouldercoat pulling up before her body follows. The reaction is instantaneous: "What the hell?!"

    She squirms in surprise, before swinging her hammer in front of herself. Grasping it in both hands, there's a flare of blue-white light around her kicking feet as she swings the weapon up into the ceiling above her, "Don't fuck with me! EIN SCHLAG!"

Shigure has posed:
    "CONTACT!" calls Yuudachi, bringing her AA battery up, searching for a target to strike at while something tries to take Lexicon away. "They're in the walls!"

    Shigure sheathes her blade, and summons her own rig, unfolding the cannon tonfa from her back and releasing the gimbal mounts. "Where is it? My radar isn't picking up anything." she says, tracing her eyes over the ceiling where Lexicon's struggling.

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    Tamamo's just watching all this go on... and with the door blown 'open', she hmms as Sakuraba pokes at the wall. What is it with all these people poking and prodding things that they don't know. Oh well. Tamamo's ears perk up, Category C? D? Tamamo starts to open her mouth to say something but as soon as she hears Lexicon.

    And then Yuudachi's call out. Tamamo, however, just calmly pulls out some of her talismans and hmms, "Guess Tamamo has to deal with something more." Tamamo stands up and turns around... "I'm heading upstairs, I'm going to see what's coming from there." she states, "Don't hesitate to use the talismans I gave you guys." and with that, Tamamo starts running off towards the stairs to get upstairs.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Whoah, whoah, whoah! Don't shoot up, there could be people on the second floor!"

As Lexicon swings her hammer, there's a startled sound, and whatever was holding her up suddenly releases her. There's silence for some time after, and Sakuraba starts to look around again. "i'm not sure I'm too happy about splitting up when we're not sure what we're dealing with."

Another invisible force seems to grab Tamamo this time, yanking the fox straight toward that sticky wall. Rather than any impact, though, whatever is pulling her drags her straight through it. The wall is solid as ever, though, and Sakuraba slams his briefcase against it. There's a slight spring, and some steam rises as it contacts with his case, but no damage.

"Right, so. Explosives, blunt impact, both out. Anyone have a blade we can try before it's too late?"

Shigure has posed:
    Yuudachi drops her AA battery, and tries to grab at Tamamo as she's dragged away, digging her feet in but inevitably losing her grip. She then leaps at the force field behind the splintered door and draws her blade, going to slash at it with the black, malevolent steel.

    Shigure puts her tonfa back on their gimbals, and frowns a bit. "Splitting up would be the worst idea, since whatever they are, they seem to be trying to pick us off already." she says, moving over to help Lexicon as the thing drops her.

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    Tamamo doesn't get /too/ far from this, only to get grabbed and yanked towards that door, "MIKON!" she grabs at Yuudachi's hand, "Tamamo doesn't deserve this!" the grip is lost and she reaches out, a look of 'help' upon her face as she dissapears through the wall...

Staren has posed:
    Don't shoot up! And then Tamamo is dragged off -- to the side, instead! The look on her face as she disappears through the wall... It's the look of someone who has a problem that he HAS TO SOLVE. "Why can't you see them?!" He tries energy beams on the forcefield as well (careful to aim them so they'll hit the floor right after rather than people far into the room if they work) and, seeing that someone else has got knives...

    Well, he's got a hammer, hasn't he? If the sword doesn't work EITHER, he opens his visor, and pulls from his bag what looks like a pair of sciencey goggles, a mix of chemical safety and welder's goggles, black as night, and sort of wedges them into place inside his helmet.

    Hopefully, it will allow him to see the ward(?) as something that can be disassembled mechanically, electronically, or the like, and then anyone watching what he does probably gets a headache as tools do impossible things.

    Or maybe it won't work. or he won't need to use it. We'll see!

Lexicon has posed:
    "Uwha--!" is about all Lexicon gets out when she's uncerimoniously dropped. The weight of her hammer spins her body such that she lands solidly on her back, the hammerhead slamming into the floor above her head with enough force to crack concrete. While most would have the wind knocked out of them by such a clumsy landing, the DCC is already picking herself up-- and accepts Shigure's assistance.

    Back on her feet, Lexicon growls, well aware of Tamamo's disappearance while she was laid out. Is that what was going to happen to her? The frown she wears bares her teeth, and a free hand reaches out. The Resource Relay rematerializes in her grip. It's lifted, then driven into the floor beside her. The gemstone at the top of the spear-like device begins glowing its blue-white color.

    Lexicon is engulfed in pixellated light. When it fades, she's transitioned completely into the red-eyed Silver Soul, processor parts winking in around her hips and shoulders. Her hammer is also tranformed-- now an axe with a glowing white energy blade.

    "You gonna Scooby Doo this shit, you fuckin' creeps?" Yeah, an angry Silver Soul doesn't hold back on the language. Now floating a few inches off the floor, Silver Soul rears her axe back. A magic circle filled with binary code erupts around her feet, spinning wildly, "I got your blade right here! These pricks messed with the friend of a goddess, and I'm just about sick of being toyed with!"

    Ice erupts along the exposed blade of her axe, touching the ceiling. It actually carves in a bit when Lexicon heaves her weapon back, "Back away, Yuudachi! TODLICHE SCHLAG!" Ducking would probably be easier, as Lexicon brings her axe down in a wide sweeping motion to put as much force behind a horizontal blow as she can muster.

    When brute force doesn't work, you clearly aren't using enough.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Poor Tamamo is gone forever! At least unless that wall can come down in time.

Staren's energy weapon seems to have some effect, burning through part of the wall and filling the hall with a terrible smell. More importantly, parts of it being burned away reveal that it's not solid, but made of thousands of strings or fibers that snap from the damage.
Yuudachi's knife cuts through even more of them, and between the energy burns and the knife, the barrier starts to show some light through it. It apparently isn't all that thick, just extremely tough.

The cold from Lexicon's axe makes the strands more brittle, and the blade is able to cut through more. While the barrier isn't completely destroyed, it's ripped apart enough to step through, and the ice seems to be doing a good enough job at preventing it from regenerating at all.

Inside the room are several dead men, slumped on the ground with guns either in their hands or nearby. Sakuraba steps through the opening, grumbling. "Too bad I was right, but I knew this would happen."

Also on the ground is Tamamo, wrapped up in the same types of strands that made the barrier.

Staren has posed:
    Oh huh, it can be cut. Okay... The SIGHT OF THE INSPIRED goes unused today.

    "Tamamo!" Staren calls to her as they cut through the barrier. If noone else cuts Tamamo free, he'll get out tools for it. "Did... were they already dead? Who are these people? Where are the students?" He asks Sakuraba.

Shigure has posed:
    The shout from Lexicon gets Yuudachi hopping back from the doorway, but she spots the strand-like nature of the barrier. "Some kind of spider?" she muses to herself, following Sakuraba in and moving quickly over to Tamamo, carefully using her short sword to cut away at the strands binding her. "Hold still, I'll have you out in a moment."

    Shigure looks to Staren, "Can you get those men out of here quickly? If so, do it.. I will cover you." she says in that soft tone of hers, though she looks on very concernedly. "I like this less with each passing second."

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    Tamamo is lying down on the ground, bound up in those strands. Ears twitch a bit from the sounds. Eyes open and she looks towards Shigure, "Oh t...thank you... I.. I honestly didn't know what to do. I was going to go upstairs to help..." she muttered, "Sorry for the inconvinence." her tails twitch idly behind her, watching the strands get cut away...

    "Thanks, I really do appreciate it."

Lexicon has posed:
    The ice covering Lexicon's axe dissipates shortly after impact, but at least she and Yuudachi and Staren managed to burn a hole through the barrier. She wrenches her weapon back, scowling at the hole created and Tamamo on the other side. She doesn't enter until Sakuraba does-- ensuring she's the last person to do so. Something Yuudachi said sticks with her, and she examines the threads around the opening, and then glances out into the hallway with a frown.

    "If it's a spider monster-- then that'd explain why something picked me up and why something grabbed Caster without Sakuraba being able to see it. It's just the fuckin' *thread* doing the yanking." Her head inclines, "So if that's really the case, we're probably looking for a single creature who's spun its filthy web all over the building. And it probably sucks the life outta people." A glance with those glowing sigil-marked eyes, "Like these losers."

Staren has posed:
    "So where are the hostages? Why was this room warded?" Staren asks noone in particular.

    Shigure suggests he move them urgently. "Why? Do you think they're attracting ghosts or something? I mean... I'm going to revive as many as I can, but they're not going anywhere. It seems more prudent to save the living and kill the ghosts, then we can remove anyone viable for resurrection without being menaced by ghosts."

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Don't bother moving them. They're dead, and I don't see any of the students in here. Cleanup crews can get them out once we've cleared away the danger." Sakuraba nudges one of them with a shoe. "At least they haven't been possessed yet. Dealng with Moryou in an enclosed space like this is nothing but trouble." He looks at Tamamo then glances around. "Not sure you can revive them. These guys don't have souls anymore. Whatever spider-thing did this ate 'em. Let's hope it didn't get to the kids yet."

A soft hand rests on Yuudachi's arm, as Tamamo gives her a grateful nod. And at the very moment Yuudachi's back is turned, the fox's features shift slightly, mouth opening a bit too wide as she extends two fangs and bites down on the blonde ship's shoulder, injecting her with poison!

Staren has posed:
    Staren pouts briefly when it's mentioned the souls are gone. "I suppose I should try it with one just to be sure, but nobody get their hopes up. All the more reason we need to find the students. Is there really no way to find out where those telekinetic attacks are coming from?"

Shigure has posed:
    Yuudachi looks away from Tamamo, toward Sakuraba. She's about to speak when she's bitten! Whatever it was makes her stagger just a bit, but instead of paralysis, or death that was meant to happen, the blonde destroyer turns and backhands the spider wearing Tamamo's face with more strength than a girl her size really should have, she then brings her blade around and pounces on the youkai, aiming to pin it with the blade against its throat. "Found you." she snarls, wincing as black oil-like fluid seeps from the bite marks, which a pair of fairies are trying to put what look like bandaids over.

    Meanwhile, Shigure just shrugs a bit. "I suppose you're right. Priorities should be on the living students... at least this thing attacked after school was out, so we only have a few afterschool students to worry about, and not the entire student body and faculty as well." The blue-eyed destroyer jolts as Yuudachi cries out, and moves to find out what's wrong.

Staren has posed:
    Hearing Yuudachi cry out, Staren turns around.

    He aims his beam cannons at 'Tamamo' but doesn't fire. Is it a shapeshifter, or did it possess her? <"Tamamo, are you there?"> he asks, over the Concord radio, seeing if he can hear a radio on the monster picking it up.

Lexicon has posed:
    "Telekinetic?" Lexicon glances over her shoulder at Staren, "Can you detect psychic shit? I'm thinking we're dealing with spider threads--" Yuudachi makes a noise and the scuffle draws her attention to the destroyer jumping Tamamo while bleeding, "--What the hell?"

    She swings around, coasting quickly to the fight breaking out between fox and hound. But with the two of them in a melee and Lexicon's notably imprecise weapon, she simply overs within range and doesn't swing. Not until there's an opening, which she's already prepared to take advantage of by the way she holds that gleaming weapon, "If you're the virus, than where's the fox?"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
'Tamamo' is much heavier than she appears, but she's still taken by surprise by that backhand. Staggering back, 'Tamamo' hisses and reaches up to grapple with the pouncing Yuudachi.

Just because it was tricky doesn't necessarily mean it was smart, or it would have waited for a better time. But now the cover is blown, and the disguise begins to break away. Break is quite literal, as skin splits on the forehead first revealing more large eyes. Several moer arms sprout from the sides, and the body bulges and pops into the bulbous abdomen of a spider. The tsuchigumo is still slightly humanoid, but only barely.

More than anything, it looks surprised that Yuudachi is still standing! Hissing again, it leaps free of the reach of her blade, which..... honestly, is probably the worst choice it could make. Again, it's tricky... but not smart.

"Now, before it goes back into hiding!" Sakuraba lifts one of his briefcases, and a panel slides back, revealing several rows of gun barrels. He squeezes the handle, and they begin to fire at the spider-youkai, but it quickly moves out of line of fire again.

Staren has posed:
    Sakuraba says shoot, and Staren does -- a couple of particle beams and a pair of tiny, miniature versions of homing anti-tank missiles (they direct most of their energy in a short line, avoiding friendly fire). He hesitates a moment when it breaks LoS, then decides to chase after it, hoping he can catch it before it can come up with a new plan!

Shigure has posed:
    Yuudachi snarls, her eyes beginning to glow from within, but she can't really chase with gunfire from Sakuraba, and Lexicon's most likely got the tricky beast. She does level one of the cannons on the side of her rig at the Tsuchigumo, and lets off a single armour piercing shell at it, the report likely deafening in the enclosed space.

    Shigure brings her own hand-cannon up and follows up the others attacks with another AP shell, kicking off to chase after the youkai as it tries to flee.

Lexicon has posed:
    The monster reveals itself from under the disguise. Lexicon scowls. And then it makes some space for itself. Sakuraba opens fire, and the monster moves. Lexicon bunches her legs up behind herself, creating a large circle of whirling binary against which she places her feet. Staren's weapons open fire. Cannons from the two destroyers sound out while the DCC whips her axe up behind herself.

    "Fuckin' stupid, leaving yourself open like that!"

    Heedless of gunfire and explosions, Lexicon surges off her makeshift platform, axe held back, trailing blue-white light, "Tryin' to eat me! EEEYAAH--! EIN SCHLAG!" The weapon is brought down. Immediately, Lexicon hauls it back up whether it hits or not, "Fuckin' with my friends! ZWEI SCHLAG!" There's no hesitation as she slams the ice-aspected axe down on the spider again, in hot pursuit, "You fuckin' sicko! DREI SCHLAG!" The third blow is enough to shatter the floor in all directions. This time when Lexicon hauls her weapon back up, she holds it to the side like a samurai would hold their sword, radiating mist from the icy nature of her magic, "If you don't wanna die, you'll tell me where she is!"

    A binary-themed circle erupts around her feet, spinning rapidly. A second ring spreads out from the first, spinning in the opposite direction.    
    "You've got FIVE seconds!"

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Bullets, missiles, AP shells, and an ice axe wielded by a very angry person is just a bit too much for the tsuchigumo to handle. It screeches out with every hit, trying to race for the safety of the ceiling. It.... almost makes it.

Well, it gets a hand on the ceiling before the last swing of the axe brings it down. Bad news: it's a little too dead now to answer questions.

Good news? The impact of the axe on the floor rattles the entire room, and some of the ceiling tiles crash down. Up in the ceiling above the room are over a dozen figures wrapped in spider silk, including one fox and one exorcist.

"Isayama? How'd you let yourself get caught?" Sakuraba briefly contemplates snapping a picture, but he realizes he might not live to share it if he does so. "Well, let's get you all down..."

At least it's not too hard to pull the people down from the ceiling. The students are all unconscious, but they seem to be fine. Yomi, for her part, is annoyed, picking bits of spider thread from her hair as soon as her hands are free. "Yeach. It got the drop on my while I was searching the other rooms..."

Tamamo no Mae (1106) has posed:
    *THUNK*, One giftwrapped fox, for delivery onto someone or the floor. Please sign here.

    "Ugh, remind me not.... remind me not to use spider silk... ever..." she grumbles and groans, then sighs, "Someone cut me out of this please. And dont' give any ideas to Seifer." she mutters more as she just lies there.

    "Also, Hi Yomi... i see you let some people know who I am."

Shigure has posed:
    Yuudachi helps cut the studens free of the silk once they're down, carefully using the blade of her short sword to slice the threads.

    Shigure does the same for some of the other students, then looks back to Staren. "Time suggests these were students partaking in after-school clubs and activities... but we should still check for any other stashes before we give the all clear."

Staren has posed:
    Oh hey, there are people in the ceiling! And one of them is Tamamo. Probably. Unless the monsters have multiple layers of this strategy.

    Staren removes his gauntlets, and the silvery bands on his wrists underneath reveal their true nature as nanomachines like liquid metal -- they extrude sets of scalpels on thin manipulator arms, which he uses to quickly cut apart the thread with precision as if the tools were extra fingers.

    Once Tamamo is free, he asks Sakuraba, "Is this everyone that was in the school? Or do we still need to find more people?"

Lexicon has posed:
     Lexicon looms over the ruined tsuchigumo, shoulders heaving with heavy breathing. The mist hissing off her from the magic fades, though, as she lowers her axe with a sigh. Can't question a corpse. But at least her temper tantrum managed to solve the problem anyway. Although the science guy there probably could've found these victims with sensors if they hadn't been revealed by the SAVAGE BEATING she just meted out.

    In the hallway, the Resource Relay's crystal goes dark, and Lexicon's transformation reverts in a flicker of pixellated light. Her axe-- now a hammer-- disappears a moment later, and the DCC turns halfway around to skim over those who'd been revealed. When she finds Yomi complaining but well, Lexicon lets out a sigh of relief.

    Oh and Caster is apparently fine too.

    With that priority settled, she lifts her eyes to look over the others, gauging their conditions, "Was the PDCH team the only casualty? They probably should have sent SWAT instead." Hands lowering to her sides, they disappear inside her sleeves as her voice returns to the soft monotone she's more known for, "With a very large newspaper."

Staren has posed:
    Staren lets out a single, clipped chuckle at Lexicon painting a mental image of a literal SWAT team.

Yomi Isayama has posed:
Yomi rubs her head. "...I think this was all of them. Let's just get out of here, though." She glances back at the PDCH agents, makes a face, and shakes her head. When Lexicon makes her joke, Yomi looks at her for a moment, blinks, then laughs before coughing. "Sorry, it was kinda dry hanging up there..." She reaches over to muss the fox's hair and ears, then glances back to Sakuraba. "Since this is everyone, I'll leave it to you to organize getting them out."

He looks up and nods, grinning. "Yeah, leave it to me. Just take it easy. Not every day I get to say I helped save the star of our department, huh?"

Yomi gives another laugh and shakes her head. "Don't get too full of yourself." She reaches out for Lexicon's hand and tilts her head toward the door. "I think after all that I can really use something to eat. Let's all get going and leave the boring part to Sakuraba."

Lexicon has posed:
    "It wasn't the best timing, but I would've lost the moment if I waited," Lexicon admits in that same even tone. She glances to Staren and Tamamo, then back to Sakuraba. After a pause, she nods once, "I won't argue that. Sorry about the damage." Eyes closing, she dips her head slightly, "I lost my cool a little when it tried to eat me." And a lot more when she got a look at what might have already killed someone important to her.

    "Let's get a meal in you, yes. I would like to let Officer Yamamoto know that the situation seems to be resolved, too."

Yomi Isayama has posed:
"Can't be more damage than when some of the girls here try to cook. It can be repaired." Yomi gives Lexicon's hand a squeeze and reaches for the door.

"Hey, Lexi, is this your crystal out here? Did you run into any trouble?" The door opens just as Yomi reaches for it, revealing in the hallway.... Yomi. "...oh."

"...oh."

Yomi's eyes shift to the side briefly, as the eyes of the one in the hall stare for a moment, flicking toward the dead tsuchigumo on the floor, then back to... herself, in the room, before narrowing in anger.

Without a word, Shishiou snaps up, and the Yomi next to Lexicon is suddenly lacking a head. It reverts to its true spider-like form before it hits the ground, as does the body before slumping over.

"Tch... didn't think there would be three of them in here. Is everyone okay?"

Lexicon has posed:
    A familiar voice in the hallway. Lexicon blinks. Door opens. Lexicon's fury is already causing her to puff up. But the sword comes out before the DCC can do anything but duck out of the way. Framing her head with both arms, in a mix of surprise and anger, she belts out, "MotherFUCKER--!"