3029/A Human Grief Seed

A Human Grief Seed
Date of Scene:	15 September 2015
Location:	Old Mitakihara
Synopsis:	Madoka and her friends from the Multiverse fell the witch Belisama. In the meanwhile, Marisa and Setsuko pursue two new faces to learn more about them.
Cast of Characters:	2, 40, 253, 255, 570, 720, 747, 829
Tinyplot:	Alt-U Madoka Pseudoplot

---

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Higurekawa was never a particularly lively city, and last the group visited this area, it was likely twilight then as well. Still, however subtle it might've been, there was still a sense of motion -- of life. Wind drew a gentle spray of water from the churning wakes by the harbor, clouds rolled, people could be seen at certain stores; all of that is absent now. What remains of the fleeting daylight is choked by a fog that blots out the sun entirely, leaving only an eerie, purgatorial ivory to penetrate the canopy. Any wind that blows is completely impossible for any motionless human being to sense, and even when one does move it feels as if the air has somehow been lost to a vacuum. In short, the chilled air is nothing like a pleasant Fall breeze and more akin to the dense, stagnant atmosphere of a mausoleum.

    It's as if the world itself is apprehensive, a notion which may not seem so strange when one considers the almost absurdly large volume of witches and familiars in this region. That would make sense -- if there was truly so large a concentration of them, their feelings of sadness and abandon may well bleed into the realm around them. Though if that is so, it may only impact you as it does because you're elite, strong-willed; others in the area may not be so lucky, and there may in fact be people lumbering off to their deaths this very second. With so many scattered concentrations of fear, malice, and regret swirling about, one may well assume finding a barrier - a singular point of highest concentration - would be a rather difficult thing, but in this case their destination is entirely self-evident: there is a surge in the park by the seawall. This locale is immediately adjacent the warpgate, so no one should even have an opportunity to second guess their readings.

    And Madoka is already here. She looks back to the group as they arrive, but the circumstances force her to forgo her usual smile and wave for a more simple, plain bow of recognition. But she isn't alone, of course. This world's Kyubey is seated at her feet, tail swaying rhythmically, placidly, his back turned to the lot of them so that he can maintain focus on the a tiny, shimmering violet indentation on the base of the fountain in the park's heart. There may reign a brief, awkward silence before Madoka opens her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Kyubey at the same, precise moment. It's as if he was waiting for an attempt at words as a cue.

    "They're already inside," He says, simple as can be. With that, he finally glances back, flashing rather unique glances at Kimiko and Homura in particular. He leaps on to Madoka's shoulder before she can protest, and beyond a rather conflicted a frown, she doesn't dare resist. She does, however, clarify: "U-Um... he means Mayumi, Izumi, and Eri," Calling them by their first names in this case. "Mayumi took both of them in with her to see how she fights this time. I-I don't know why... it seems kind of reckless. Maybe she's like M--..." She winces, cutting herself off before she can say the name 'Mami'. Eventually, though, "... maybe the company helps her to be more calm, fight better. I hope that's all that it is." She would have outright said they should get inside as quickly as possible, but that seems a bit too bold for the time being, so she'll let the impetus of 'girls in danger' inspire someone else to say the same thing.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    But before anyone can, the more astute among the group may notice another figure out of the corner of their eyes. A ghost? She certainly looks like one: her eyes are so dark as to obscure the presence of pupils entirely, and her flesh is far, far whiter than death itself. Yet somehow she manages a fairly lacks posture in spite of that, holding a hand to her thigh and slouching to one side as she 'studies' - really, it couldn't be called much else - the group from afar.

    But this little staring match only lasts so long as it takes for another unknown quantity - an armored maiden with impractically long, blond hair and a sword large enough that it cleaves through a trio of tiles upon her landing - nearly slices her in half with a massive greatsword that she lands with. The ghost girl barely has time to all but fade out of the way, her body bursting into a noxious black smoke before swerving her way back into the sky from whence she came. Without even sparing the others a glance, the blond-haired girl continues her pursuit with a powerful leap on to a nearby rooftop.

    Even Kyubey might've blinked at that, if he was capable of doing so; still, his tail does cease to sway for several seconds, continuing only once both figures have fled into the distance. Madoka certainly blinks though, herself only narrowly capable of stammering out a "Wh-Who...?"

    And then there is little time at all before the city itself comes to life. The previously absent wind returns strongly enough, suddenly enough to be directly noticed as shades -- more of those familiars in the shape of magical girls -- follow after that mysterious pair from earlier. Oddly, none of them seem concerned with the group gathered at the barrier; the barrier that could very well contain the witch that substantiates their existence. Does that mean they aren't this witch's familiars?

    For now, it's too difficult to tell; far too much is happening at once, and the new arrivals will only barely have the time to organize themselves before action should be taken. There is the much more obvious option of ENTERING THE BARRIER, of course, something which Madoka has as of yet appeared reluctant to do, but it might also be wise to send certain facets of the group to FOLLOW THE GHOST GIRL and the knight who has beat them to the punch.

    For her part, Madoka can only remain silent, eyes still wide from before. Kyubey just licks his paw before meandering out of the way of the barrier. As always, he's being annoyingly coy.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    As soon as Setsuko's feet are on the ground, she's tense, her hand coming to rest on the grip of her blade. But tension keeps her rooted in place, doing no more than observing. The atmosphere suddenly shattering is even more peculiar, and the demigod finds it strange enough that she's willing to turn towards them and prepare to chase after.

    However, before she goes, the swordswoman turns to say over her shoulder in quick words, "To anyone stepping into that Witch's Barrier for the first time - I don't know what you will find in there, but it will be a wretched place. Be prepared for sights that are disturbing or disheartening, laws of reality that differ from normal in ways that are hostile to you, and an entity at the heart of it all capable of anything up to direct attacks on your mind."

    That's all the explanation she can spare for the moment. Anything longer would allow the strange girls to get away. So the swordwoman turns and launches herself into the air, hurtling off after the GHOST and the swordsgirl chasing her.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko arrives at a rapid pace, knowing that there could be immediate danger--in which, she is not disappointed. She's already transformed, the better for moving at vehicular speeds on foot, and spends only a moment staring at this world's Kyubey before focusing her eyes on the barrier's entrance. It was awhile ago, but the city is one she's seen before, so it shouldn't be too--

    Oh, no one's around. That's different. This is less of 'a Witch' and more of 'an infestation,' if it's reached this state. She frowns, but the expression doesn't last long before neutrality returns. It won't do any good to focus on the point when she could be starting to fix it, instead.

    She's already stepping forward when she notices the 'ghost' and the armored girl--and her head swivels to take that in, and for once, she hesitates. That's long enough for Setsuko to take off, and Kimiko turns her eyes back. Firmly, "They shouldn't have gone in. I'll see that they're safe." She keeps going.

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
MARISA KIRISAME has never actually been to this part of the Multiverse before, but that certainly doesn't mean that she can't notice that SOMETHING IS REALLY WEIRD. There's a pallor in the air, like the whole place was overlapping with some dreadful dead-dimension. It's not an unfamiliar feeling; she has, of course, been in her world's Underworld before, but it never stops being unsettling. BUT THAT'S OKAY. All they need to do is smash this less-awesome witch and everything will be fine, right?

Not... quite.

    Something off in the corner of her eye catches her attention. She sees a ghost girl, and then a swordswoman coming out of the sky to scatter her essence to the four winds. "Huh, well that's a thing," Marisa murmurs as the armored girl takes off in pursuit, followed shortly thereafter by a small swarm of 'familiars.' Ordinarily, she'd leave that sort of thing alone, but it's impossible not to notice that the oppressive atmosphere had left with the ghostly presence's disintigration.

In short, MARISA SMELLS ADVENTURE.

    "Hey, pinky-- Madoka, right? I'mma make up for bailin' with extra lasers the next time, but I think this is important, so--" The witch grins, making a short hop to land feet-first on her broom's bamboo shaft. "I'll catch you guys later! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

That's... not exactly a very wide range.

Marisa doesn't care. She just flashes a winning grin, tips her hat, and TAKES OFF INTO THE SKY.

It's time to put her ridiculous air-speed to good use!

Psyber (253) has posed:
    On average, most office members can request Psyber be somewhere and he'll show up reliably. From that group of people, there are a very narrow subset who can get him almost always, and an even narrower who can get him to show up immediately and without much question. Madoka is one of the few and mysteriously vaguely defined people that fall into that third category. So, despite the already piling workload on his plate, Psyber showed up when Madoka asked for help. If nothing else, though, he brought his work with him and is multi-tasking there.

    So, for basically the first time in MCM history, Psyber didn't drive somewhere. He instead had an intern drive him in a Union-issue Black Sedan from his work room at Njorun Station. Psyber is in the shotgun seat, one foot propped up on the dash as a tablet is open in his hands. He has a stylus out and is rapidly shifting between three or four separate pieces of work. One seems to be a simulation featuring a wireframe dragon in a domed arena, while the other seems to be semeter homework from Miskatonic that he's grading, and the third is just a strange map of the Great Ocean region of the Multiverse where square after square of a large grid has a red 'X' mark through it, but is vastly un-X-ed out. In terms of which screen he's spending the most time on, it's the Dragon currently, which is being used to run simulations and placement dynamics.

    The car pulls up to a halt and Psyber steps out, tablet still in hand as he works at his projects. Eventually, he stops in front of Madoka and drones a bit distantly, "I will echo Miss Setsuko's sentiment. If you have not dealt with matters pertaining to this world before, please exercise extreme caution and restraint. RESTRAINT." He emphasizing that second word, and it almost seems to come across as if it's meant for Marisa, even if his eyes are fixated on the project in front of him, "It will be, as she mentioned, a surreal and somewhat eldritch scenario featuring abstract conceptualism represented in physical form."

    Psyber looks up and then takes out a gun. He seems to point it right at Kyubey and then promptly blows the cat-creature's head wide open. While it may initially seem a senseless act of violence, he adds, "In the time it takes the creature to return, I will also caution you to consider its words carefully. It speaks in minimalist terminology and obfuscates through not lies, but a lack of information. If you wish to ask it a question when it returns, do so in the most explicit manner possible and realize that it will only answer precisely as much as you ask it."

    He looks back down at his tablet, calmly going back to work as he holsters his gun. He has yet to pick an explicit direction to go in, probably waiting to see how the others set out.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    There's no warning for Homura's arrival; but she's transformed, as she does appear by the Barrier, spends a while staring at Kyubey (and then, at the ghostly girl), and then turns her gaze from Madoka to their destination, uncrossing her arms as she does. She has little to say, besides mirroring what Kimiko said.

    "Or that the Witch is handled, at the very least."

    She would have prefered, unvoiced as it is, for Kimiko to follow Setsuko, that she might have used the occasion to try things without getting chewed out by her. Ah, well, there's always next time. And worst-case, Demons and Wraiths are aplenty in their own slice of the world.

    She'll follow Kimiko in. Dealing with people isn't her strong suit, anyway.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Well if you wanted to raise Eleanor's ire tonight, there's few other ways to do so that telling her 'Kyubey is here' and 'Possible unturned Magi are here too'. The Barrier is just a further impetus for the young woman to be here.
    And so she is, dressed in her finest SCIENCE GIRL outift, the lightly armored fabric shifting as the reeze catches her ribbons. She looks at the others gathered, gripping her heavy spanner in both hands as she just... glares at the Incubator. And then it's dead. Oh good. She looks to Psyber and grimmly murmurs. "You haven't figured a way to hurt that... thing permenantly, have you? I'd rather like to see that."
    A number of them are splitting off to investigate the other combatants, and she murmurs. "Good luck. I'm going to see what sort of mess is being made inside." She nods, and follows Kimiko inside.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE BARRIER ~

    'Pinky'? 'Make up for before'? Honestly, whatever Marisa is talking about is entirely lost on Madoka, if only because she's like a human blur -- in one second she's here, talking, and in the next she's blasting off like a rocket on that broom of hers. After several seconds of stunned blinking, she finally draws a tacit connection between 'brooms' and 'witches', but her heart only skips one beat when she does: after all, her personality is way, way too peppy to belong to any witch she's ever seen. Not to mention that she doesn't look like she's made out of paper mache!

    But that short trail of thoughts and surprises provides ample time for everyone to go off in their respective directions. And on that note, she's already behind! She hastily spins about to enter the barrier with the rest of the group so that she doesn't get separated from them, but her last thoughts go out to those chasing the ghost girl, and the ghost girl herself. What -was- she? She didn't look human, but she's never seen a witch like that either. Maybe a magical girl with powers that modify her appearance? She can only hope so.

    Meanwhile, the others are likely already getting their first glimpse at the world within the barrier. It's nothing that Homura, Kimiko, and all others well-acquainted with them wouldn't have seen before; in a way it may even be disappointingly familiar. The floor they appear on and constructed of tarnished chessboard tiles - black and white, alternating. The walls and ceiling around them, however, are made up entirely of thick, thorned vines, all of them circling about the area as though they were the tentacles of some invisible, otherworldly presence. Oddly, these vines appear to be paper thin, and if one glimpses them from the right angle they appear to be quite literally made of paper.

    Though none of this should be quite so captivating as the centerpiece of the barrier: a gargantuan tower that reaches as high as a skyscraper entirely comprised of cooblestone bricks. It cants bizarrely to one side like an exaggerated Tower of Pisa, leaning inward the closer it gets to the cherry-colored, conic roof at the peak, and the only deviation to this styling is a sole window near the zenith. From that window falls what could only be percieved as a tangle of black-brown brambles until one realizes: it's meant to be hair. This barrier is styled after the fairy tale Rapunzel.

    For now, however, Izumi, Eri, and Mayumi are nowhere to be seen. Still, their location can easily be guessed at when one hears a blood curdling screech from the top of the tower, and the roof bursts off the edifice as though a bomb had launched inside. Naturally, the roof comes falling directly toward the group of new intruders afterward.

    The familiars seem too preoccupied with whomever is at the top to spare the rest of the group the time of day. Winged keys and distorted, crayon-wrought pastels of plush animals all swarm and rush toward the highest point of the barrier, leaving the rest of them to make their own way their. They could attempt to fly, of course, or take the stairs.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE GHOST ~

    For those who instead elect to pursue the Ghost Girl and the knight so fervently careening after her with that sword, they would soon see the monochromatic maiden of interest rematerialize on the roof of a two story residential building. But the swordswoman isn't far behind: she lands -hard-, scattering several tiles off of a shingle before she attempts a quick swing in the direction of her quarry. Unfortunately, though, the ghost girl has already advanced again, twisting her way to an even higher roof, then another, then another, until she - and presumably any of those following her - would finally arrive on the wide, wide, roof of a building that seems to have been modeled after the Sydney Opera House. She seems to maintain perfect balance, as does her pursuer; not exactly a small feat on such a bizarrely shaped surface.

    Those who follow are free to continue following on foot or to fly using whatever means may be available to them. For those less gifted in terms of agility, however, it may be a small relief that the chase seems to end here for the time being. The ghost girl waits at the highest point of her section of the roof, standing absolutely still until, predictably, the armored maiden swings again. She backflips over the blade this time before, suddenly, two strings of pitch, each of them seemingly comprised of countless familiars all crunched together, attempt to slam her at once. This creates a X-shape in the air briefly, after which the young knight... is promptly sent tumbling down the side of the roof. She finally catches herself when she's fallen into the bend at the center of the roof, though, where the ghost girl shortly joins her. She puts her foot on her forehead, studying her, before...

    Before she notices the rest of you. Her eyes narrow faintly, and the two black plumes rise up again, poised to strike. Oddly, however, it doesn't seem like she intends to strike at you unless you attempt to strike at her.

    Curious...

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet, on the other hand to Marisa, has actually been here before. Once. Enough to be familiar with the concept of a Witch and barrier at least, superficially not irreconcilably different from what she's used to. This time, having a better idea of what she's up against, she's specifically prepared more focused abjurations on the line of warding out mental influence, memetic suggestion and cognitohazards from outside. It seems more prudent than focusing on physical defenses, as sitting in as a frontline combatant isn't a good idea already. She's not a soldier, and monster hunting isn't really her thing, only showing up to such situations when it coincides with the use of heavy, exotic magic.

    Kyubey primarily draws her interest at first, as the creature is clearly of an entirely different nature than the atmosphere that surrounds the city, but she has very little time to analyze her first glimpse of one of the multiverse's apparently most infamous figures before Psyber blows its head off, eliciting a mild jump of surprise from her at the bang, though as usual, she does a stellar job at covering up any feelings of confusion or alarm. "One of those then." She responds cooly. "I've had my fair share of dealing with that type before."

    She tries to greet Madoka in a little bit of a warmer manner, but the girl doesn't seem to be in the greatest state of mind at the moment, and so she leaves it as mostly non-vocal. There's little she can do about Setsuko and Marisa running off. She isn't nearly fast enough to catch up to them, even if she is very much interested in the pair of entities they chase after. Instead, she lines up behind the others entering through the barrier, swiftly paging through a sheaf of spell circles on her AR interface and picking out a small handful, extending some of the benefits of her personal warding to her allies. It isn't flashy magic to those without the senses to perceive it, felt as little more than a faintly unsettling, skin-prickling weight and static for a few moments before the emotional "noise" inside the barrier quickly clears up.

    She's barely two steps inside before the action starts. "Would have really liked more time..." she whispers under her breath, quickly vacating the eventual landing point of the discarded roof, calculating its ballistic arc with apparent surety. She is forced to split her attention between her intended work and the shadow that suddenly flickers into existence over her head, flitting over the checkered tiles without anything to cast it, racing up the walls of the tower where it can gain a forward position as a remote viewer. "I'll be able to see them in a second, but you'll get there before me. Don't wait." Really, she doesn't particularly like the idea of being the first to get there anyways.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko isn't even more than the slightest attention to who's behind her. As soon as she's through and into the Barrier, she takes exactly as much time looking around as it takes for the tower to explode and the scream to sound, and then she takes off in the most direct manner possible, by leaping into the air.

    Kimiko cannot fly, and she cannot jump to the top of a skyscraper. Nor is she close enough to beging climbing the outside of the tower, nor is she aiming for the stairs. She simply leaps, and a circle of silver light appears beneath her feet, spinning what looks like an archaic Germanic text in the magic circle's borders, and disappearing immediately as she makes contact with it as a solid surface and leaps again. This repeats swiftly, each step stories apart, all the way to her destination at the top.

    On the way, the roof is falling toward her. Rather than slowing, her armor and sword are summoned in half a breath, and swung in the same. The giant blade cuts her a straight path.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Setsuko is not one to delay. With her ability to fly, she can keep up with the two of them easily, but they have enough of a lead that catching up to the ghost and the armored girl doesn't happen until they reach the opera house. By the time her feet touch down on the opera house, the girl in armor has been brought low and held down, and the strange ghostly girl is poised to deliver a final blow... or to attack her newfound pursuers.

    Setsuko's blade is immediately out, held in a cautious ready stance, but she makes no aggressive moves. "Lower your weapons and back away from her," she calls out, her voice cool. "I want to know what's going on here."

    IF the ghost girl should attempt to attack either the armored girl, herself, or Marisa, Setsuko will respond with an inhumanly fast 'divine cutter' wave of razor sharp energy. But if the ghost girl actually complies, or at the very least does nothing either way, there will be no attack.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    The only time Eleanor would ever call a Barrier 'mundane' was that one time the Witch was so weak she couldn't keep the energy on her existance going.
    Rapunzel, though, gets her to growl quietly. Of all the bad ends thispoor girl ended up in, what would generate...Rapunzel. Trapped in her own existance? Looking to her fellows for rescue? Yearning for-
    A rough thought about who a Witch would turn to for rescue is shoved aside as that tower starts to crumble and explode, and Kimiko explodes as well, dashing in an impossible manner of into the distance to close the gap.
    Bother. Well, it wasn't as if you couldn't try to keep up. She takes a breath, gathers up her Eve, and starts spending energy to Sports Boost her way behind Kimiko, trying her best to piggy back off her multijump platforms asbest she can.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Well, up it is. Homura CAN fly, so a set of bright pink-purple wings burst out of her back magically, angelic feathered wings of light flapping gently and carrying her up in a straight line-- conveniently, at-level with Kimiko's zig-zagging, just so she can keep staring.

    And staring.

    AND STARING.

    Homura watches Kimiko the entire way up, silently, arms crossed, hovering up-- blurring off to the side before a roof crushes her, and back into position--, expending more effort staring at her fellow magical girl than flying.

    There is zero hostility in her looks.

    She's staring for the sake of staring.
    And probably something else. But it's not hostile.

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
The thing about Marisa Kirisame is that she's fast. Really fast. Fast enough to keep up with the knight and her quarry, but either not fast enough or unwilling* to get in the way of their chase. She'd largely hang back, flying just in advance of Setsuko, until the pair land on their strange shell-shaped battlefield.

Unfortunately, things do not go so well for the knight-lady.

    "Those're some pretty neat looking weapons you've got there," she says, peering at the twin, tenebrous tendrils. "Gotta say, it's the first time I've seen a betentacled ghost. Why don't you step on away from that lady with the sharp, pointy thing and let's you and us have a talk, huh?"

It's probably worth noting that the witch is presently surrounded by a small halo of brightly colored, spherical crystals. Each one is also humming with energy.

Does she have an attack ready!?

OF COURSE SHE DOES.

(*There are certain things you just do not interrupt! Dramatic chase sequences are one of them!)

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Yes, something like that. Sorry for the abruptness of its execution, but I didn't want it to hear me clueing people in to its nature and impeding it," Psyber comments dryly as he cradles the tablet under one arm. He briefly uses his fingers to reposition some units on the dragon simulation and then then re-runs it after he walks. The last one was a wipe, but he's going to let this one play out and see what changes.

    In the end, Psyber will choose to take his tablet with him into the Witch Barrier. In terms of static fact, Homura AND Madoka went into it, making it the natural draw for Psyber. He might, actually, be subconsciously helicopter-parenting Homura a bit after Priscilla's injury a few days ago. With a flick of his hand, the tablet vanishes into the depths of his coat and he proceeds.

    When the roof blows off the tower inside the barrier, Psyber is forced to actually leave his side work and pay attention to the task at hand. He stretches a bit and unfolds his wings from the phase-space he normally keeps them. Taking off upwards, he attempts to fly after Homura and Kimiko towards the top of the tower. His main motivation is to stick near Homura and to investigate the screaming.

    Occasionally, he'll weave or duck between falling pieces of debris from the roof on his trip upwards. He also vaguely paying attention to the world composition and thematics, something which will get written in one of his research journals later.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE BARRIER ~

    Thankfully, the descent arc of the roof is fairly predictable and so slow that it defies basic principles of physics, so the barrier group is easily able to dodge it without being hindered; still, the convenience of its speed and the inconvenience of its happening to aim for them at the moment of their arrival bespeaks of the mutable laws that govern things within barriers: since the landscape is itself an extension of the witch's body and mind, she has a certain sort of sway over everything inside of it. This is something that seasoned barrier sojourners like Homura and Kimiko would understand very well, and something that others astute in their own right like Scarlet will likely discover very shortly.

    The first to bear the brunt of these absurdities is Kimiko. As she begins to create her own 'stairs' to ascend the tower, as it were, a certain section of the vines that form a sphere around the world freeze at certain locations. In this time, they congeal, concentrate, pack -- they seem to ready themselves before, suddenly, they begin to shoot at the side of the tower like arrows. One after the other, pairs of vines attempt to strike at where they project she will be next, again and again, though each vine that fails becomes stuck in the side of the tower. She can see when they get closer that they have extremely sharp endings, like skewers, so a direct hit from one of those tendrils would probably be the equivalent of being impaled by a spear. Definitely something to avoid.

    So long as she remains closer to the base of the building, however, Scarlet does not experience so much opposition. Nor does her shadow -- true to its name, it seems to do a good enough job of evading the notice of the witch, and by extension, her familiars and vines. As it approaches the window some finally take notice, however, and a trio of vines attempt to form a barrier to block its advance. Luckily, this gesture is to no avail.

    The image it communicates to Scarlet after her arrival, however, is very telling indeed. She can see the witch - little more than an amorphous blob of black sketchmarks overlain with pink-red scrawls that might constitute a 'dress' - bringing her spindly, clawlike fingers to bear against a blue-and-white clad girl. This girl - Mayumi - defends against these attacks in a relatively small corner of the room by projecting large, silver-encased mirror that she seems to generate magically. Whenever the claws make contact with these mirrors, it unleashes another screech of agony.

    Two more girls in simple school uniforms behind Mayumi - Eri with green hair and Izumi with red - cower behind her, both of them visibly terrified of the whole scene.

    Madoka, for her part, finally begins her own journey in earnest shortly after Homura. Rather than generating her own steps, however, she makes short 'boosts' into the air, small spiral-wings appearing at her shoulders each time before promptly disappearing again. She times each leap before gravity attempts to force her back down again to maintain a consistent ascent. It is on one such ascent that she happens to see several straggling familiars hanging in the sky, their cycloptic eyes blearily focused on Homura. Like the vines before them, they briefly pause in preparation before darting toward the girl with incredible, crushing speed. A wide-eyed Madoka attempts to warn Homura with a stammering, "L-Look out!!"

    For some reason, however, one of those keys seems to recognize the sound of Madoka's voice. At the sight of her, its eye bulges such that it shows disturbingly realistic veins, its body morphing from a white-gold to a very, very pronounced red.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Her appearance, for some reason, serves as the catalyst for yet more chaos. There's another sudden screech from the roof -- not due to any sort of wound, Scarlet would be able to tell -- as all the vines contract. Where before there were spaces in-between such that one could see 'outside', now the entire barrier is engulfed in darkness. The room dims, and vines begin to shoot out from the walls wildly. In all likelihood, Eleanor would have to weave her way in and out of this onslaught, though she would have to do so even more quickly than Kimiko.

    All of this would occur as Psyber enters, and the world does not have the time to adjust to him quite so soon. He has the liberty of a few seconds to decide his method of advance without interruption. All else fails, though, maybe he could help Madoka? One of the vines seems to have caught her by the wrist, and multitudes upon multitudes of familiars are flocking to her...

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor's dodging indeed as she gets close to the building, but there's only so much she can do without getting tagged by a few of those barbs. The sharp bits rend flesh and cut cloth, but the bleeding only lasts so long before her healing seals the wounds.
    Once she's in range of the structure itself she's in a much better position to do so. She huffs and disengages from Kimiko with a noise of thanks, and starts to climb the tower as best she can, moving away from Kimiko's magical aura and outbursts and using her own acrobatics to make her way inside of the structure and away from the vines.

    Stairs. This is much better, maybe. She juices herself once again, thankful for her lack of magic once more, and rushes. If Scarlet's right, they might not have much longer.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE GHOST ~

    The Ghost Girl does not budge. She keeps her foot against the forehead of the knight, but at the appearance of Marisa and Setsuko, she at least seems to ease the pressure on her skull. After several, long, tense, perhaps even awkward seconds wherein the most substantial thing the ghost girl does is to cant her head in the direction of her pursuers, she finally lifts her foot. It seems she might actually be willing to attempt communication with them, but --

    -- but then the knight picks the most inconvenient plausible time to 'wake'. She leaps upright and into the air, repositioning her blade impossibly against the force of the wind, and then she hurtles back down. The ghost is knocked briefly off balance by the sheer fluidity and suddenness of her attack, so she stays in place until, inevitably, the knight falls. She cleaves the air before her before cutting a gash in the roof deep enough to allow the group to see some of the rafters below them. The attack hits its mark - or seems to; the view is somewhat difficult to make out - and, in the end, the ghost vanishes in a puff of the same black smoke she had transformed into. This seems to satisfy the knight, who finally allows herself a moment's rest. She sits against one of the sharper inclines of the roof, resting her eyes before...

    ... oh, right. There are other people there.

    When she turns to face them, it's almost what could be called a soft gesture - it's gradual, and if motions can be called 'soft', or 'gentle', this one certainly was. In the absence of her nemesis, she seems a considerably warmer individual already. She greets the both of them with a nod and nothing more, but she keeps her eyes trained on them. Her expression seems blank at a glance, but a closer inspection reveals a tiny, almost infinitesimal smile; an invitation to speak if they had ever seen one. Still, she doesn't seem at all eager to initiate discussion herself. Maybe she's just shy?

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    That wasn't exactly the sequence of events that Setsuko was expecting. And to some extent, it runs contrary to her intentions in trying to stop the ghostly girl from attacking. For a brief moment, her expression turns to a scowl, but she forces it back to neutrality. However, while the demigod does lower her blade, she does not return it to its sheath - a statement in and of itself.

    But whether or not it needed clarifying, Setsuko gives it anyway. "We didn't order her to stop so that you would have a chance to attack. Forgive me my caution, but I have no idea who either she was or you are, and I would like very much if you would explain what just happened to the two of us."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Thankfully, Scarlet has long since gotten the hang of managing remote vision while keeping her eyes open. The Nobody she'd translocated and bound as a familiar on such short notice is barely D rank, and so stands no chance of affecting the outcome of the battle in any real sense, but it's so insubstantial that there seems to be little the Witch can do to physically bar it. The sight that greets her provokes a neutral reaction. The girls are clearly in danger, but the situation has yet to go critical. Judging by the amount of magic Mayumi appears to have left, they'll be safe at least for a little while longer. She engages the radio unit in her smartcollar. "Well, the girls seem to be fine for now, but the Witch has them cornered. I can't tell if it's actually hurting itself, or just screaming because that's what it does." There isn't much else she can verbally contribute but a situation update just yet.

    She begins maneuvering closer to the tower, taking the much more mundane approach across the ground while everyone else makes a more showy entrance, casting as she goes. Eleanor and Psyber are the recipients of physical augmentation magic, stripped down from a more generalist set to focus in areas relevant to fighting. Strength, coordination, reaction speed. Boosting only a few parameters makes it less taxing on her, and allows for a sharper increase while still retaining smooth integration. Homura, Kimiko and Madoka seem to rely more on magic, and she can't directly enhance that, so instead she settles on a set of rather unsubtle kinetic wards, trading discreetness for instant effectiveness. They'll be flashy and visible when hit, but should deal with stray thorns with little issue, meaning they won't have to carefully police their own mobility as much.

    For the moment, she's staying out of the actual warzone until there's already a fight going on.

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
Well, that was...

    Kind of rude, to be honest. It looked like they were about to have a pretty nice conversation there, and then, BAM. Sword to the face. Marisa's lips twitch with very thinly veiled displeasure, "That was kinda sudden. Guess I can't complain too much, though. I'm guessin' you've got a beef with that ghost then, huh?"

Still...

    "I mean, you don't just cut someone in half 'cause they're bringing down the mood, right?" She smiles, canting her head ever so slightly. The orbs continue to whirl around her, following vaguely circular orbits that make her look only vaguely like a human astrolabe. "The name's Marisa Kirisame, world's most accomplished Ordinary Magician. What's your story, exactly?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Predictably, helping Madoka is exactly what Psyber prioritizes first. Homura, he assumes, can handle herself. Madoka seems to be actually in trouble, and so with a heavy flap of his wings, he steers that way and into the fray with her.

    He's fairly grateful for Scarlet's buff, which actually manages to curb out the fatigue and wear that being up for as long as he has been had put on Psyber. Her boost to fighting prowess manages to wear away the weariness and put him back at the prime of his game, which is a good thing as he flies directly into the fray.

    There's a flick of his wrist and Einherjar appears in his hand, crackling with lightning and holy energy in abundance. It's going to serve two purposes: One, to be a beacon and draw some aggro off of Madoka (And perhaps others). Two, it's also going to be a pretty potent offensive maneuver.

    As he flies into the midst of the Familiars flocking around Madoka, his body wreaths in and then discharges a powerful blast of holy lightning, trying to vaporize the majority of them with a powerful blast. Any stragglers that remain, he tries to carve at with his sword while he works to free the grabbed form of Madoka.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE GHOST ~

    At Setsuko's words, the knight's eyes widen slightly for a moment or two. When they narrow again, her cheeks puff up slightly, her countenance turning down in such a way that makes her look like... well, a kicked puppy. Not exactly the sort of thing every person who dons a suit of armor is capable of pulling off, but nevertheless she manages to look both hurt and extremely contrite. It may make sense, then, that the first word out of her mouth as she gingerly bows her head in apology is a echoing, light, airy-sounding "Sorry." Her head remains bowed for some time, and it almost looks like she's trying to bow while seated. Really, though, it just makes her look like she's curling up into a ball. In all truth, that just makes her look all the more wounded. Sad.

    Marisa seems a bit less angry with her, though, so she takes the first opportunity gets to focus her eyes on her. When she says that you 'don't just cut someone in half for bringing down the mood', the girl rapidly shakes her head. "No. She was bad, so I had to stop her. That's all." She bows her head again, here. "I'm sorry again if you wanted to talk to her, but I had been chasing her for so, so long. I don't think I would've had another chance." After saying as much, she falls silent again. She looks away from the pair, instead studying her reflection in her blade. This persists for a while before she finally gets the idea that she may yet redeem herself through explanation. So she makes the most earnest attempt that she can:

    "I don't know what she is," She begins, suddenly turning to face them again, "but she's like a mix between a magical girl and a witch. You saw how she was commanding familiars, didn't you? They listen to her. I'm not sure why, but they listen to her." She finally allows her greatsword to fade away in a glint of light so she can wrap her arms around her knees. "And wherever she goes, familiars follow her. The familiars do bad things, I've seen them -- they hurt people like other familiars do, and if she controls them, then she must be the one making them do those things. Right? And Kyubey told me that she was a witch even if she doesn't look like one. That means that she has to be bad."

    At this point, she falls briefly silent again before staring off into space in the other direction. "She can't talk, though. Or I don't think she can, at least; I've never heard her. But her eyes -- looking at her face scares me. That's why I was sure she was bad, too. But," She shifts her gaze back once more, "I've beaten her before. She always comes back. I can get her to turn into smoke like that, go away for a while, but she always, always comes back somewhere else. So if you want to talk to her, you'll just have to wait a while." After saying so, she repeats (and with another bow of her head), "I'm very sorry, though."

    So she was -trying- to do the right thing, at least. After all, she doesn't look like the type who would try to do something bad on purpose. Still, there are a lot of unanswered questions to be found here...

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura frowns, cue inner monologue about thinking the Witch was too distracted, but it's not. She starts speeding up (haste+), produces a beam rifle to help shoot vines off Kimiko, a Regisword to help fend Familiars off herself, and then moves to orbit Madoka much the same as Psyber.

    The overheating heat sink of her assault rifle pops out and is hurled like a grenade at Familiars trying to harm Madoka. Those not in melee, anyway. Regisword helps for melee but Psyber's more suited to covering Madoka up close.

    MAYBE THE PLAYER WON'T LOSE THEIR NEXT POSE TWICE TO A POWER OUTAGE.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Setsuko is quiet, not responding immediately even when the knight's manner turns 'wounded animal' - it's something that very easily could be an act, and the swordswoman will not take it as truth until she knows the girl better. However, Marisa gets words out of her, and so the demigod listens in silence. At the end of it all, she pauses as if in thought, but then sweeps Zanjintou around herself and returns it to its sheath.

    "I apologize for my severity. My name is Setsuko Kaminagi. I'm not a magical girl nor a Witch, but I am familiar enough with both that I tend to be cautious, in this world." She takes a breath, turning her left side towards the armored girl. "Thank you for explaining, at least. It sounds... not like anything I'm familiar with, but I can at least speculate. For now, though, I will say to be careful of Kyubey. You know the old stories of faeries, who could spin lies simply by choosing their words carefully without ever actually uttering an untruth? Kyubey is like that. Its words will never be untrue, but it will lie by omission, or say things in such a way as to provoke a certain response."

    She pauses, then adds, "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" Her tone is a lot softer now. "And what's your name?"

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    Cute and cool are a pretty common juxtaposition around the multiverse. Knightly and puppylike, however, are not. Marisa snickers softly when the Magical Knight Girl goes into Super Apologetic Mode. It's the good-natured, 'I would come over there and pinch your cheeks if we weren't doing business' sort of laugh, though. "Hey, hey. Don't worry about it. I know how it is, chasing a thing down for days and days and then finally getting the chance to snap it shut like a steel trap going off. I get it, relax," the witch shrugs, "It's just a bit inconvenient, is all."

    That said, her 'she was bad, so I had to stop her' sort of reasoning doesn't quite jive in Marisa's head. How does she know, exactly, that the ghost is Something Bad(tm)? Sure, her familiars might've done some pretty sketchy things, but that's normal. Familiars always do sketchy things, it's why they're familiars, half the time, so they can have someone there to yank their chain.

    After the girl finishes, apologizing one last time for good measure, Marisa finally elects to shift away from her surfing stance to let her legs dangle side-saddle off her broom instead. Easier to talk this way. "Huh, that so?" she cants her head to one side, idly kicking her legs through the air. "Yeah, that... familiar control trick was pretty cool, but I'm not sure if it means that she's responsible for EVERYTHING they do, you know?" Plus, Kyubey is never to be trusted ever, so there's that, too. "Nobody can keep tabs on everything their subordinates do, you know? It's kinda unfair, beating on someone 'cause they make you feel uncomfortable, especially if you keep doin' it over and over. But I guess we'll figure it out later, huh?"

"So, what's your name? Can't exactly just keep callin' you by nothing."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko's platforms don't last long, but keeping close to lock-step lets Eleanor use them, too. This is a high-powered mode of locomotion, and as such, with her armor and weapon manifested, she expects to be attacked shortly. It's while keeping an eye out for that that she realizes Homura is staring at her, but all the other Puella Magi gets out of her for it is a grunt as she also spots movement--or sudden, conspicuous lack of movement--in the outer walls.

    Pitting her armor against attacks of that speed would be unwise, and so, she evades. While her movement up until that point made it seem as if she was locked into a ballistic arc between each platform, the first attack misses as she conjures a platform early, still ascending. The second, by summoning her platform nearly vertically, and kicking off at a different angle. The third--the third strikes a blow her blade deflects barely off her, and she steps onto the vine itself to continue her climb toward the Witch. There's no attention to spare for anything else, and still no time.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE BARRIER ~

    Homura and Psyber's concerted effort to aid Madoka proves only the most wise of split-second, instinct-driven decisions; by the time Homura has cocked her grenade, six more familiars have arrived with no less than twenty en route from the tower's keep. The vines continue to bunch and constrict as though they are trying to close the entire barrier in, like a spike crushing trap or a cage. When the grenade detonates, it frees a circle in the quickly gathering wall of familiars around Madoka, allowing Psyber to weave his way through as he intends. Once he reaches the center, the holy flare he unleashes quite literally burns away ten-some familiars, leaving him with only the vines around Madoka to contend with. He easily slashes away the first of them, but many more spines launch his way after he grabs hold of her. In this situation, he may well have to tank three or more vines if he wants to prevent them from hitting Madoka directly. Homura's subsequent sword barrage keeps any more familiars from closing in on Psyber in the meanwhile, though.

    But just as Eleanor might have been near to the pinnacle of the tower, something odd happens. Scarlet's spy shows a fantastic display: the witch's body is shifting in ways that strain the eye to so much as behold. It folds inward and outward as though it were paper mache in earnest, and throughout all this it seems to outright -ignore- Mayumi and the other girls. Mayumi stops attacking for the moment, preferring to watch, but then...

    ... then, another scream. The walls of the tower begin to collapse. Long, wafer-thin 'slats' of cobblestone spread out, falling down such that the tower - or what remains of it - begins to look like a blooming flower. Mayumi and the other girls are sent flying -- the former is able to catch herself then to catch Eri in a bubble, but this still leaves Izumi falling headfirst toward the ground. If someone doesn't help her, she may not survive the fall. Eleanor herself may also be impacted by this sudden shift -- the stairs all but disintegrate beneath her feet, and as the walls fall around her a massive, swirling pool of ink opens beneath her. Still, the fall of the walls gives her a clear route out: up.

    And of course, the witch. Levitating above the center of the blooming flower is what could only be described as a Chrysalis: vines have wrapped and woven around her form to create an impenetrable pitch cocoon. She remains within this aegis for some time before, finally, cracks open at its sides. Beams of life stream outwards, piercing holes in the ever-contracting veil of vines. Then, finally, the barrier beats like a heart. The wall of vines jumps back as the witch emerges, now appearing as a sort of muddy, mixed-paint 'splat' -- a terrible amalgamation of the princess she was before whose flesh is now interspersed with scales, and from whose back sprout two misshapen wings that only barely hold her aloft. The witch did not wait for them to reach her; rather, the fight is coming to them.

B E L I S A M A

THE CAPTIVE

    She is not the only creature to emerge from that cocoon, however: familiars of all kinds, some of which resolve as nothing more than dark pencil-scribbles with broken appendages, stream out like flies. They swarm together to create larger creatures, the first wave of them congealing to form a creature not unlike a snake. Its maw opens wide with the constant undulations of the smaller constituent familiars, and it is aiming directly for Psyber, Homura, and Madoka.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Only after seeing to those three does she move on to the rest of the group. With a raise of her claw-hand, the vines take on a new attack pattern: melting. They bubble into large, liquid piles of something that seethes with a sound like acid. This acid sloughs off the ceiling slowly and falls to the ground like rain. All those present will likely have to work to evade the stuff, particularly Scarlet: a pile as large as a small pond comes hurtling toward her first. As for Kimiko, she will likely have to avoid the walls as they fall -- but more familiars come after her as well. Those still untransformed, the keys from before, chase after her like jets in hot pursuit, their sharpened 'noses' still fighting fiercely to impale her.

    Once the stage is set, the 'face' of the witch turns to look to Psyber and Madoka. It sits perfectly still there while its wings beat the air. Slowly, eerily, one of its hands twists into a fist. From that fist, one finger emerges, pointing explicitly toward Madoka.

    Psyber may be the only one to see how pale this gesture makes Madoka in response.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    There's a lot of things going on at once, and it is because of that, that Psyber is grateful to Homura for coming back to help him cover Madoka. As he hacks away at the vines, he raises his arm and swings Einherjar at the ones embedded into it, not particularly raising an objection to tanking them to keep Madoka from having to regenerate and expend energy in her Soul Gem. He pushes back and away with a swipe at the vines embedded in his arm to clear them.

    He visibly winces at the presence of the Witch, the carving of a name into his mind never being something he fully learned to simply weather, "Tch. It's an aggressive one," He notes, his voice edging back towards its normal tone as the Witch appears and he can't distract himself with six layers of work. He watches the Witch as it unleashes waves of familiars that congeal and reform at them. He attempts to lift his sword and send out a blast of lightning at the incoming wave.

    "Homura, Madoka. Stay on your toes, this one is di-" He cuts off a bit, watching the Witch as it seems to explicitly call out Madoka and point at her, "That's abberant. Concerning." Psyber decides aloud, sword vanishing in a poof as he decides to play it serious and switch weapons.

    What he draws next is a weapon few people have ever seen: Sovereign. A simple longsword in a battered sheath, the weapon looks fairly mundane (and even a bit worn, but still usable) in his hands. But that belies its true ability to work against Shajem, Amethyne, and other conceptual divinity-status beings. It'll be worth trying out to see if it works on a Witch.

    "Homura, I'm going to clear you a path. You Advance."

    He speed flies forward, swinging the sword at the incoming snake-creature. The moment before impact, a burning sensation moves up his entire arm. It's not as bad as the first time he ever used it, but it definitely takes a toll on him. The trade-off is that the sword itself IGNITES, the blade wreathing in a powerful searing wreath of fire that trails a blazing wing behind it as Psyber attempts to bisect the snake cleanly with the weapon so Homura can push forward to the Witch itself.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko doesn't quite get a chance to even see what's happening before the tower collapses. She has no solid footing from which to withstand this, and was still dealing with the vines until a few seconds prior, even with Homura's covering fire in assistance. She's falling as the wall nears her, and it looks like she's just going to get crushed, disappearing behind that unreal cobblestone. At least her freefall leaves the relative velocity low--or would, if gravity were a constant.

    The section of wall obscuring her explodes, both with the light of Scarlet's kinetic barrier and broken stone, as Kimiko comes out the other side with a hammer sized like an anvil, and armor both marginally heavier and significantly more dented than before. The hammer is slung in the same motion as she resumes her improvised form of aerial motion, using both her magical platforms and any masonry close enough to her route to make quick, precise leaps toward the falling Izumi. Most of her armor disappears in a flash, leaving only her legs covered, the moment she's close enough to make a catch for the girl.

    This still leaves the issue of the army of familiars she's attracted. Her focus having been on getting to the non-magical girl, and from there to the ground, doesn't leave her much to work with at getting rid of them until she can get her hands emptied. Most likely, if she's not covered by someone else, this is going to hurt a lot.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE GHOST ~

    The knight has a hard time bringing herself to face Setsuko at first, and for the first few moments she speaks, the armored girl doesn't so much as link eyes with her. Over time, though, her tone seems to soften, at which point she -is- able to face her more fully. Then she begins nodding along with her - although she does tilt her head slightly when she says she should beware of Kyubey. She seems to grasp the meaning of the analogy pertaining to classical Western depictions of fae, though, so that comparison gets a more distinct, certain nod. "I hadn't even considered that Kyubey was a bad guy before," She says. "He gave me my wish, after all. He made me happy. But I don't know him that well, either, so I'll try to be careful." She gives another nod in supplement afterward.

    She... hasn't been a magical girl for very long, has she?

    But then, Marisa. Marisa's laugh draws a more pronounced smile on to the girl's face. "Yeah, I guess it is a little like that." Though, inconvenient. Right. She can't help bowing her head and puckering her lips again when that's reiterated -- she even throws in another, apologetic incline of the head for good measure. The sour look doesn't last too terribly long, though, so she probably won't make Marisa feel like a villain... tonight. Angry librarians do that well enough already. What she continues in saying, however, raises ideas that the little knight seems not to have considered before. This is evidenced well enough by the resurgent wide-eyed look the suggestion garners.

    "Oh," She murmurs to herself. "That's true, actually... maybe they just follow her and she can't help it or something. Maybe..." She nods her head a few times. "... yeah. But still, that does make it dangerous for her to be in the city. She should... try to stay in places where there aren't so many people. Fewer people will get hurt that way, right? Then again, I guess it's not fair that she has to stay away /all/ the time... um..." She squeezes her eyelids shut in thought. Really got her thinking, apparently!

    Though, introductions! She bats her eyelashes a final time when both of them ask her name. "Ah! Uh, Kiku," She says, "Kazue Kiku." Probably stated with the surname first. "It's nice to meet you two... even if we didn't meet at the best time. Sorry about that." Sttiiilll apologizing. But, um, is she okay? She hesitates only a second or two before giving Setsuko a small nod. "I think so, yeah. Are you? I don't think she attacked you, but I want to be sure..."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Melee isn't Homura's forte, admittedly. She sustains a few hits fending Familiars off-- bites, perhaps, or the clawing grazes of the vines. It's nothing worrying; the standard fare when one deals with a Witch. Never go in expecting to come out unscathed, and all that.

    Though it seems that Madoka really has the Witch's attention; if she expected Homura not to notice her change in expression, she underestimated her 'best friend' rather critically. The dark-haired girl pays mind to the slightest change in Madoka's face-- in a hundred or two months, she's seen it all. A lot of which is unfortunate to have seen at all, but it's not like she can, or wants to, forget.

    Kimiko seems to have the falling girl handled; and Psyber offers to clear her a path. Homura nods, much as she'd rather help shield Madoka.

    "Please take care of her."

    The empty assault rifle is discarded, as is the Regisword; Homura is covered by a brief, mostly ineffective purple barrier to absorb the initial wave of corrosive-- ink? acid? rain?-- whatever it is, which doesn't last long. She still gets burned, slightly, but presses onward, flying in a beeline towards the Witch now.

    "You will leave her alone," she states, coldly.

    In her right hand, a sudden swarm of paper pages collects into a small leather(?)-bound book, while her left hand points at the Witch, still in-flight towards her. Homura mutters-- something, it doesn't quite translate, and binding symbols appear around the Witch, trying to trap it in place. If it were to stray away from the symbols, tentacles would lash out, attempting to yank it back.

    And then, explosives. Well, a single rocket, out of nowhere, headed for one of the Witch's wings.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    WELL. This was... more than a little surprising for Eleanor, that's for certain. It's coming. She lashes out her arm as she climbs and starts to leap from paper to paper. "UTOPIA, SHIFT." The glove on her arm unfolds, wraps up her bicep just in time. She can see the unveiling coming, she can watch as the tower unfolds, she can see the changeover coming and-

    The Psychic Wave Comes, the RUNES slam into her brain and she staggers, falling forward and stumbling, falling, and... and she saves herself by slapping into a thorny vine, a grassy spine lancing through her shoulder as she clings to the plant. "Nnnggaaaa!!!"

    It has been a long time since she's run into a Witch that was this... agressive with its magic, it's hatred, and the energy pounds at her mind, buffered by her Abstractum. Okay. We've got this.

    She's still close though, and she pulls herself free from the vine with a bloody spatter, starting to climb, and climb fast. The Science Girl's acroboatics come out into full form tonight as she aims to reach the Witch before more damage can be done.
    In between her leaps though, she's huring Ice and Fire, trying to distract the Thing before it fixates the rest of the way on Madoka and the others. "DOWN HERE, YOU FOOLISH GIRL! I AM YOUR TARGET."

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Setsuko turns to look back towards the direction they came from, frowning faintly. But when she turns back to Kiku, her expression is softer again. "I'm not saying that he's 'bad'. Not everyone is either a 'bad guy' or a 'good guy'. Some of them fall in between. And some of them, like Witches..."

    She pauses, realizing some explanation is in order for Marisa's sake. "The things called 'Witches' in this world aren't like you, Marisa. They aren't women who practice magic; they're entities utterly alien in mindset, if not origin, whose existence warps the world around them. Conglomerations of negative thoughts, of curses and grudges. Their Familiars are more of the same."

    She turns her eyes to Kiku again. "It's better to think of a Witch as more like... let's say a 'tornado'. They can't help what they are. Doing what they do is part of their very existence. If you could stop a tornado, you would, because that would save lives. But the tornado isn't really evil. It's just... a tornado."

    She does, however, frown thoughtfully. "A magical girl who /is/ a Witch, though. That has some... concerning implications. We'll have to grill Kyubey for answers."

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    "Well I mean, I'm a magical girl AND a witch, and by my standards, most witches-that-aren't-these-local-witches are magical girls by default, so..." Marisa muses, canting her head inquisitively towards one side. She's definitely not some kind of Witch Tornado, though- she hasn't even properly tested that Spellcard yet. Marisa Kirisame is definitely a hero, and never even once feels like a villain!

    "Maybe that's what Kyubey meant," she suggests, "If he was usin' the word 'witch' without actually meaning... You know, THOSE witches." Something about the way people've been talking about the little, alien marshmallow cat suggests that he's the sort of thing that would play with the truth like that.

Not that it makes him EVIL, of course. As Setsuko says, not everything falls into black and white.

Heck, Marisa regularly wears both, herself!

    She looks towards the knight-girl, then, and nods, "Kiku, huh? Good t' meet you! Y' seem like the--" Overly-apologetic, super vulnerable, ultra cuddlable, sort of wet-noodly-- "Gung-ho type." Yes, let's go with that. God she's still apologizing. Why is she still apologizing!? "Don't worry about the two of us. We gave 'er a lot of room, so we're in pretty much perfect shape! Though, that said, y' might wanna see someone about getting your head stepped on. I hear that sort of thing leads to problems down the line."

Are Magical Girls immune to concussions!? Maybe she just wasn't stomped on that hard.

    "About that not-witch, though. I'm sure she's got her reasons for stickin' around the city," Marisa shrugs, leaning back on her broom. "But if she doesn't, then I guess we could try t' help her uh... Relocate, I guess?" Setsuko gets an uncertain look. Is relocation possibly part of the plan?

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE BARRIER ~

    The serpent of familiars cascades toward Psyber as though it were a Shajem itself, or a tidal wave failing that; toward the end, several familiars creep up and around to serve as 'teeth' so that a speculative bite might still have some power to it. Just as those tiny razors begin to form, however, a blazing wing arcs out of Sovereign's blade. And as he intends, this strike does indeed break the monster in twain: its head comes apart from its larger body, its still-forming innards -- little more than a zigzagging hive of familiars by the look of it -- laying themselves bare. The dismembered head begins to melt into a new pile of acidic waste similar to that already falling off of the ceiling, so Psyber will not want to be underneath the thing as it continues to decompose.

    Though in earnest, there is no safe place in its vicinity above or below. Its 'corpse' seems to do little more than free more familiars that were sleeping inside, and true to the hive which it appears to be, many more squadrons of them emerge. But they do not do so alone: more thin, snaking tendrils twist out of the stomach of the creature, expanding until they begin to lash at Psyber like whips. Once seven or so of them have grown at like this, they then begin to work in concert to lacerate his legs; to hold him in place while the witch slowly, surely makes her way over to him. The witch's wings have at this point begun to shimmer -- it appears that flakes of her being have begun to pour out of her form. She, too, is decomposing; her metamorphosis may well have been little more than glorified suicide after all.

    Yet whatever power it granted her in kind has yet to present itself, and Homura may bear witness to it soon enough. She presses on, through the acid rain and through the storm of familiars, to reach the witch. Once there, she draws a grimoire, attempting to bind the witch -- something which at least works in part. The creature's advance is halted, spindly golden rings forming around her waist as a sort of martial corset. It squeezes her, constraining her until both halfs of her body inflate like balloons. Once her upper body has inflated to a certain extent, however, a distinct pattern on her 'stomach' seems to form teeth. At once, a mouth opens, effectively cleaving the bind -- or at least, a portion of the bind -- in twain. She can't be rid of all of it, but this frees her up such that she has some mobility.

    Finally, though, the witch begins to take the offensive: she holds her hands aloft, palms showing toward Homura. In her palms appear eyes -- scribbled on ovals with irises that glow crimson. From each of them emerge swarms of locusts, all of which surround Homura, each one attempting to sting her if not suffocate her with their sheer numbers. Only once she is fairly certain that Homura is distracted does her head vault back at a broken angle, and does the oval of her face suddenly transform into another spear with a pyramid tip. This spear aims directly for Madoka.

    ... or it would had Homura not fired rockets of her own at the witch's wings. Its aim is thrown off kilter when one of her wings is suddenly struck, and the whips flies at an absurd angle, crashing down to the ground, limp. Its dislocated head seems only to watch the battle from afar afterward, though one would get the impression that it isn't entirely beaten yet.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    And indeed, it isn't. It seems that the various appendages and constituents of the witch actually have the capacity to focus on things independent of one another. The hands and main body stay on Homura, but the head, now recovered, vaults for Eleanor. It twitches and spasms along the way in response to each bolt of fire, each blade of ice, but it can not be deterred. The now-limp head attempts to wrap itself around Eleanor before willing itself to melt -- melt, and to release corrosive liquid while Eleanor is still in her grasp. Thankfully, however, its grasp is not as powerful as it might have been; the witch is obviously becoming more worn down over time.

    Meanwhile, Mayumi looks on, idle, as she gingerly lowers Eri to the ground. She tilts her head to see Kimiko as she catches Izumi, shedding her armor in what any onlookers could only call sheer, selfless bravery. A renewed storm of familiars rushes past Kimiko as she makes her way down: keys graze and slice past her arms and legs, likely shredding whatever barding she may have retained after the shedding of her armor. It almost seems a mercy that only a sole key was able to lodge itself into her side, digging itself in deeper to deal as much damage as it can. When she reaches the ground, that will likely warrant some of her attention.

    But Izumi, at least, is safe. When she is able to recognize her rescuer and get over the horror of her fall, she only clings to her for life, staying perfectly still and silent. The fearful way in which she clings may be encouragement enough to make it safely to the ground.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    The name is a new one. Having come specifically prepared for it after the near-disaster that was last time, Scarlet is far less put off by it than she would normally be, as her own magic greatly blunts the impact on her mind. What it actually means, and the context behind it, is beyond her for the moment, and something to ask later. The torrential downpour of acidic pseudo-substance is more pressing at the moment, and something she isn't especially well equipped to deal with.

    She isn't fully sure that she can actually transmute the substance of a WItch's mindscape, and so she doesn't risk it. Instead, she relies on a spell so simple that it doesn't really have a proper name, easy enough that she can do it in her head without the use of a circle, and thus is very fast, being little more than a blind fired wave of pressure through the air above her. As embarrassingly unrefined as it is, she has the raw power to spread a sizable hole in the sheet of acid falling down on her head, despite her barebones knowledge of evocation. As the ground melts a circle a meter around her, she decides she'd rather not have to rely on costly brute force like that again, and downshifts one of her pre-prepared familiars, heading under the tower, within the safe zone left by the outwards fall of its fragments, outside the trajectory of the descending pieces of Witch.

    She leaves further work to the abberation of recursive, fractal, semi-non-euclidian crystal hovering hawklike around her, performing what might be its sole function in channeling light of some indiscernable colour from somewhere Else and rapidly firing it from its shifting vertices as a form of laser accurate point defense, shredding through the familiars with preemptive blasts of magic, first those that may venture close to her, and then slicing through the cloud surrounding Homura like a fiery brush. "Kimiko." she chimes into her radio. "Bring the girls to me. I can provide medical attention if you need it, but I'd rather not stay put for long."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Well, Eleanor wanted to get its attention, and she's got it now. The thorns bring her right up to her target, or that target comes right for her. She releases Utopia, the Abstractum's job completed, and... well, braces for impact or Be-Gooping or whatever you call this.
    Her hands are still trying to spark and crisp and cast ice, but cut off from the air, she's unable to make the connection she needs to use her thermokinesis. That's fine though. Well, not fine, as she swiftly shuts her eyes and closes her mouth to prevent that caustic mess from getting inside of her. This still hurts hurts HURTS and her ADAM can only stave off the damage for so long.

    She struggles a bit, before going slack, gathering EVE, trying to concentrate. This has to work all at once or not at all. She ticks over a Tonic, shoving the power to the front of her DNA and shockdumps a massive electrical charge into the grasping Witch, trying to force it to let her go.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE GHOST (NOT THE BARRIER) ~

    Kiku listens to what Setsuko has to say with what appears to be rapt interest. As before, she nods her head here and there, but over time she actually begins to sway in place. What's striking, though, is that *all* of this seems new to Kiku -- she may not even know what witches are by the look of it. As such, she doesn't demonstrate any particular signs of knowing as she makes the 'tornado' simile, nor does she expound upon any of what she has to say for Marisa. In fact, she might even give Marisa a bashful 'I'm new to this, too,' sort of look. More and more it seems like her eyes stray to Marisa when she's feeling insecure. Did she identify Marisa as a source of comfort (heaven forbid)? Let's just hope she doesn't start viewing her as a role model. Regardless of all else, though, she does meet the proposal to 'grill Kyubey' with an unusually strong, decisive nod.

    With a more exclusive focus on Marisa though, there's a bit of a pause when she starts to identify her 'type'. This pause is met with a gradual ever-widening of the eyes and copious bats of her lashes, just as before; just more of those oh-so-lovable gestures that might compel even the crustiest of hearts to... cushion their statements somewhat. One should not be surprised overmuch if this reaction of anticipation is what garnered the 'gung ho' response! Or it could have been Marisa's own good-natured magnanimity. Certainly she has that, too. Regardless of the reason, though, the girl meets the term with a bright grin. Seems like she liked it!

    Regarding being -stepped on-, though, one of the incredible boons of this sort of personality is that it can occasionally make people selectively impervious to pain. That's to say, she only seems to remember the 'old wound' when it is referenced, after which she promptly begins to rub her forehead. She makes a sort of expression that absolutely begs for a sweatdrop before simply giving a thumbs-up -- 'I'm okay'. She doesn't seem to think that she has a concussion, at least. As far as the 'relocating' idea goes, that gets a very, very swift, even excited series of nods in response. She looks to Setsuko at Marisa's prompting with a sort of look that nonverbally screams 'Pllleeeaaassseeee?'.

    She may have been in a mortal combat match with her before, but evidently she doesn't bear her any ill-will beyond that. Or doesn't appear to.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is stuck in a poor situation. Had she thought of it, signaling for help would have been prudent, knowing her hands would be full, knowing that there was not even ground against which to stand along the way, and knowing that she could neither retain her armor while catching a falling body--the arms and chest Izumi does impact are rather, gratefully, softer than steel--and knowing that she cannot again summon her armor without hurting someone clinging to her. It would have been wise, but asking for help when she needs it has never been a strong point of hers. She's fully a hypocrite in that field.

    Her landing is heavy, but her legs remain armored, and the shockwave that should carry up through them feels far less than non-magical physics would dictate it should. Wounded, bleeding, and having a regenerative ability so slow as to be often useless in battle, nowhere near that of someone like Psyber or even her fellow, Sayaka, her condition is about as bad as it looks. She really does rely on her armor and her shields to stop things from hurting her, and getting hurt so easily has her cursing under her breath even before she can think of any alternative plan that would have worked better, without putting someone else at greater risk.

    She gets Scarlet's message as Izumi starts to hang onto her, and that's enough for her to take one arm off the girl and grasp at the key-shaped familiar diggering into her side. Abruptly, her arm is covered from the elbow down in heavy, spiked armor, and she doesn't so much pull out the familiar as she does crush it, hoping it dissipates harmlessly when critically damaged, as familiars tend to do, and saving pulling it out for a last resort.

    Regardless, she assesses her current condition as 'okay,' and Izumi's likewise. She can still fight, so it's not a problem, so long as she can keep the blood out of her eyes. On the other hand, there's the latter part of Scarlet's message--if she's not somewhere safe, then it's still a place Kimiko should be fighting, given that getting Izumi to actual safety won't be possible yet.

    Tersely, "Coming." To her charge, "Hang on." Her steps are hardly noticeably slower, magic still being spent with each motion, eyes up and to the side to avoid rain and tendrils on her way to join the mage.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    The Witch's strength brute forces through the Signs created by the grimoire; if not all of them, at least enough that its movements are barely restricted. The eldritch symbols pulse, though, as Homura's intent pours into her book.

    Surrounded by hundreds of stinging bugs, time stops briefly, and Homura is replaced by a grenade (which explodes, hopefully taking the swarm out), as she intently reappears before the Witch, attempting to block its view of Madoka. She couldn't avoid the stings-- if there's one stopping time won't help you avoid, it's things you literally, physically cannot move through safely, like a swarm of insects with their stingers all out and extended. She's gotten stung a few times-- hopefully it's not excessively lethal poison and just grazes and bruises on her skin.

    "I said: you will not harm her."

    It's not THAT rare a Witch might have a particular target in mind-- someone significant, in their life, might earn their ire more easily. Sayaka's Witch, rule of thumb, never missed a chance to sackbeat Kyoko when it could. But who is this Witch to Madoka? Or rather, who was Madoka to this Witch?

    Homura can't ponder on that too long. The remaining Signs flash, and numerous large, sea creature tentacles surge out of them, trying to wrap around the Witch's extremities and squeeze, hard, yanking it back towards what few of the symbols remain, the ones that weren't cleaved right through.

    They're not a threat, though. The Witch powered through the Signs at full strength, it's going to rip the tentacles up if it tries too. That's fine, she doesn't need it to last long. Just long enough that the sudden, incoming swarm of rockets and grenades can hit their mark.

    There's a few dozen, this time, not just one. No particular aim-- if it's part of the Witch, it probably has its own bomb headed for it.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    "First, we'll need to figure out what she is," Setsuko replies to Marisa, and by extension Kiku. "There are... mitigating circumstances at play. She's not quite anything I've seen before, but she's similar enough to certain things..." Her next words are solely towards Marisa. "I'd like to have Akemi in on that discussion, though. And you, if you plan to keep helping. You deserve to be informed." To Kiku, she adds, "If there's a way we can solve this without anyone being hurt, I'll find it."

    She reaches down to one of the pouches on her pants and opens it, pulling out a simple business card, with her name in kanji on one side and a phone number and extension on the reverse. The swordswoman walks over to Kiku and kneels down, so that they're at eye level to each other, then holds it out. "Here. If that girl shows up again, call this number. When it asks for an 'extension', put in this one. That number will reach me any time of the day, any day of the week. I'll call Marisa, and we'll come help you." She glances over her shoulder for confirmation from the witch on that.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Those whip-like barbed vines that try to grip his legs are relatively successful, since his first time using Sovereign since initial drawing has left Psyber a bit exhausted. He looks up at the Witch while still trying to hack away at the bindings on his legs and regain his maneuverability and movement. He's a bit lost on this Witch's function and motive, not fully sure how to parse her existence.

    Thus, Psyber does the only rational thing he can think to do with the situation: He throws his sword at the Witch. The moment it leaves his hand, it trails a golden leash of connection, symbolizing that he's still wielding it even if he's discarded the weapon. It also sprouts wings and flies forward, becoming a golden bird-like form before it connects with the Witch's midsection before turning to his hand a moment later, causing a searing pain to shoot up it from the effort of such an ability.

    "I am growing increasingly tired of this abberant Witch," He murmurs, adding a moment later, "Of abberant situations in general."

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    Gnnnnuhhh, what is with this girl and giving Marisa the terrible HUGGING URGE!? Is she just distilled cute, or something? It's seriously like watching a precocious little puppy trying desperately to please the person it's latched onto. Marisa makes her saving throw against aggravated adorableness, and instead disguises her almost overwhelming desire to hug a thing and tell it everything will be alright underneath a BRAVE FRONT and INVINCIBLE GRIN.

She might sneak a few head-pats in later, though.

    "Oh, yeah, definitely," Marisa nods firmly and DECISIVELY, "Just give me a call, and I'll come runnin'. This place looks like it could use my particular brand of helpin' hand." By which she means lasers, magic missiles and the kind of sorcery that makes innocent maidens* swoon!

    "And even if it's not a MAJOR CRISIS or summat, it's not like I've got any major wars to fight or anything, so," Marisa chimes, smiling so broadly that her eyes would probably be sparkling if they weren't partially concealed by her hat. "If you need help for stuff, just poke Setsuko and then she can poke me or somethin'. Or I guess I could just give y' a direct line, hm."

She seems to be considering the possibility. Is it a good idea to introduce Magical Girls to Gensokyo!?

(*Swooners may not necessarily be innocent, nor maidens)

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE BARRIER ~

    The witch's remaining wing finally begins to lose the ability to keep the witch flying straight. With only one fan and a torn stub to keep it aloft, the creature hovers in the air as would a sea creature with oxygen trapped in a certain section of its body. So many pieces have flaked off of it, now, that its body looks more like a translucent mesh than it does like a body in earnest: apropos to the insect it has become, it looks like a a molted skin of itself, and moreso with each passing second. To make matters worse, at this point the entire group has finally managed to focus on the witch. All of these factors congeal to make its demise all but certain.

    Though it does not happen immediately, and the long sequence begins with Scarlet. Beams of light come spiraling out of fractals, cutting a swath through not only the torso of the witch, but also the swarm of locusts so persistently chasing after Homura. Each shot burns through the things as though they were a curtain cut of cloth -- and they incinerate with all the same effectiveness and ease. In time, their tapestry of malignancy looks a moth eaten shadow of what it once was, and even those that survive the onslaught slowly begin to fall away from their quarry. They rain to the ground like the liquid vines before them as though they were being dealt damage as a collective rather than individuals. Anything that hurts one, it seems, fatigues them all.

    For this same reason, the poison covering Eleanor slowly begins to lose its potency. Her tonic does indeed hold her over until the stuff can evaporate completely, and afterward the remains of the witch are simply too fatigued, too spent on other things to attempt to harm her again. For all intents and purposes, she's free to go.

    Which leaves Homura and Psyber to focus exclusively on the witch. The remains of the Leviathan of familiars decays, and the tendrils with which is had once held Psyber, over time, lose their grasp. The entire, hulking being fades the way of the witch before it until, in several bats of an eyelash, it is gone entirely. This allows Psyber to throw his sword unhindered. Sovereign grasps the opportunity, soaring through the air on a straight, true course; it eradicates what of those locusts it must travel through. When it arrives at the body of the witch, it easily cuts what threads of its body remain to hold its base to its upper body. As his sword returns to him, the base fades away completely. In its final moments it can only be described as a burnt, tattered curtain.

    This leaves Homura to clean up the rest. Now free of the majority of the locusts, she is able to freely reinforce the lacerations she had placed upon Belisama earlier. Otherworldly tendrils of another kind from its own quite literally squeeze the last elements of light out of its body, leaving its beating heart, its core, naked to the oncoming barrage of rockets and explosions. Bursts of red, orange, and shrapnel spread the remnants of its body around like splatters of paint, and once the vines cascade fall away together, these dots of color affix themselves to the now stone white wall of the barrier. The final visual of the witch is almost a sad one: her body can only twitch and jitter against the wall it has been attached to as it watches its world, its barrier come apart by its seams. With what final few seconds it has to live, though, it changes its likeness a final time: it reshapes itself into a monochromatic image of a girl.

    A girl that makes Madoka's face ignite in a sort of panic and terror that even Homura may only have seen a handful of times.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Assuming he is still holding her, she ducks her head into Psyber's shoulder. She doesn't want to look. She won't look. She does not need to overly long, though, for mere moments afterward the entire barrier has faded away, placing the lot of them before the fountain again.

    This should make Kimiko's walk to reach Scarlet significantly easier. It does for Mayumi, too, who delivers Eri to Scarlet with all due haste. For her part, Madoka puts distance between herself and the group, doing her utmost not to look at anyone. Even and especially not those whom she normally looks to when she's frightened.

    At the least, though, Belisama is gone.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Unfortunately, a telltale, ginger clinking of a grief seed against the ground before the fountain would inform any hoping to resurrect the girl Belisama was that such a feat may well be impossible here. This is the world before it was changed by the other Madoka's wish, after all: in this world, one either becomes a witch or does not. There aren't as many blurry in-betweens, and recovering the soul of a girl who has turned is nigh impossible. Still, the more seasoned barrier sojourners among them may consider taking the grief seed back with them anyway. Just in case.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura lands, when the Barrier dissipates; she's covered in bruises and scorch marks from both the acid and the locusts, but she's been worse. Better, too, but better bruised and scorched than dismembered.

    She steps towards the Grief Seed, no longer alone-- the book is gone from her hand, replaced by the blue-purple-robed girl with the yellow and purple eyes. She reaches down to pick the object up, examining it and then opening wide as if to eat it.

    Homura confiscates it, frowning.

    "Not food," Homura simply says.
    The girl just sort of stares distantly, and then produces a small brochette with takoyaki balls on it. She munches on that instead, quiet.

    She glances about, specifically for Madoka, but also to see if the three girls are safe. She tosses the Grief Seed to Madoka, idly. "One of them likely needs it more than us. Or you can do your... thing, and use it afterwards. Whichever is more efficient." Psyber's with them, anyway, so he can pitch in and help. Things should be fine.

    She decides to cut to the chase, though.

    "Madoka. Did you know the Witch?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Sovereign, as damned and blasphemous a sword as Psyber suspects it may be, proves a true weapon and cuts through the remnants of the Witch. Its duty done, Psyber sheaths it and promptly vanishes it due to the... odd feeling it gives him to wield it, even beyond the sacrifices he has to make for its true power. A more moral sort of feeling than physical.

    The arm holding Madoka is careful to give her a reassuring pat on the back of her head with his hand. It's not a hug, since he only has one of those left for the year, but it's a half-embrace that's meant to try to console her. He looks to Homura with a gaze that seems to defer to her judgment on what to do with the Grief Seed rather than decide for himself.

    Slowly, he descends, and as he touches his grounds the wings vanish and he's left standing for a few moments. He attempts to gently set Madoka down on the ground before awkwardly standing there until she releases him.

    He does use his now free hand (with Sovereign returned to his Sylladex) to fish the tablet out of his jacket and look at the ongoing simulation with the wireframe dragon.

    It simply reads: '3% odds of success with new formation.'

    Getting closer, he guesses.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    ~ THE GHOST ~

    Back with Setsuko, Marisa, and Kiku, the latter listens intently as ever to each word that comes out of Setsuko's mouth. To be honest, she hadn't expected to get this much help! Something about her entire character seems brighter already at the prospect. And not to mention the fact that there's a sort of mystery involved! That only grabs her all the more.

    In keeping with this, she accepts the business card with zeal. She does so with another, more definite bow of her head, and she accepts the card with both of her thumbs in the way one might take a meishi. It's a long shot, but her mirroring that gesture may suggest that her parents are involved in business somehow. That's all just speculation, though! More importantly (and more certainly), she gives another series of emphatic nods at the prospect of reaching them again later. "I will! I definitely will!" They might've had a rocky start, but it seems that she definitely ended up liking them in the end.

    Back with Marisa, she garners largely the same response when she promises to make herself available in kind, but the possibility of being given a direct line from BOTH people gives her ~glitteryeyes~. That would be like a bonus gift or something! Still, she dares not state her preferences out loud, instead preferring to let Marisa come to her own conclusions. It's very likely, though, that she has noooo idea what she would be getting into re: Gensokyo.

    With that, though, she finally stands up again, balancing carefully on the ledge of the roof. It seems like everyone is getting ready to go, so she won't hold them up. "I'll see you later, then!" She raises her hand as a way of saying goodbye before giving each girl a jovial nod apiece. "And... thank you so much! For the help, and for talking, and for not being upset. I'm really glad that I got to meet you!" Somehow, some way, she manages to give a full body bow on that ledge without falling. "Bye!"

    And just like that, she's sliding down the side of the roof, leaping across on to other houses. Thankfully, she doesn't meet the 'clumsiness' criteria of her assigned archetype; if she did it might be a bit deadly.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    The caustic bath overwith, Eleanor realizes once again she's about to get dumped from a distance as the Barrier unfolds itself and the Witch dies. For all her grace, she's hardpressed to manage to not land awkwardly after falling from the dead witch's grasp. The distance only gives her enough time to properly curl up in a roll and prevent herself from breaking something that will take a very long time to heal, like her neck or spine. Instead, she lands on her side with a dull smack of flesh on tarmac and the crack of bone.

    She manages not to swear, before shuffling up to her feet, cradling her arm a bit. Oh that's going to hurt in a while. She's looking rather sunburned, her skin slightly raw and there's holes eaten through her SCIENCE GIRL dress. It could be worse though.

    The Grief Seed is worse. Confirmation that this is not the world they'd like it to be. Not Food. No Kyubey around to try and scarf it up, and so the Big Sister lets Psyber and Homura handle that one. She instead moves over towards Homura. Where Psyber only has one hug left this year, Eleanor's got an endless supply. She reaches out to the young Magi, and holds out her good hand to offer that one armed hug.

    She also awkwardly looks to the rest assembled. "Can someone give me a hand putting my arm back in place?"

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Madoka can only meekly nod to Homura. She glances back to her for a moment, but only for a moment -- any longer would be too painful. At the very least, though, she isn't going to leave her wondering; everyone knows something is wrong, and she isn't going to pretend otherwise. So after a deep breath, Madoka says,

    "She was one of the girls I helped Kyubey to transform."

    For once, very clear-cut and to the point.

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Whether or not Kimiko thinks she's fine, Scarlet's first order of concern now that the witch is dealt with and there are no other immediate threats, is to tend to her co-worker and ally. The Puella Magi saves her thr trouble (and unfortunate mess) of having to yank the belligerent key out herself, and so she only needs to briefly hold the girl still, whether she likes it or not, while she uses a fine spray jet from a pencil sized canister to draw something in silver around the peripheral of the wound, which swiftly begins to close itself under a veil of bubbling visual distortion from the circle evaporating off. The flesh hasn't actually been regenerated, but it's effectively been seamlessly stitched closed and locally numbed, making it a non-issue for the time being.

    Sighing as she releases her momentary grip on Kimiko she looks over to Mayumi and her charges, assessing them for injuries, and then motioning Eleanor over. "Not a problem. I've still got plenty of Nothing left." The others had done the heavy lifting after all. Her exertions equate to the mental equivalent of a short run at the moment, just starting to tingle, but not yet feeling the burn.

    She starts towards the Grief Seed the moment she sees it though, immediately drawn to it both by its appearance, and from the fleeting sense of what kind of magic it is she gets from it. The frown that flickers across her face when Homura lays claim to it is rendered imperceptible by magic as she stops in place, though her familiar continues a magnetic glide towards the magical girl, orbiting around her instead. "Apologies, but I'm feeling a little lost here. Would somebody mind explaining as much as is appropriate?"

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Before she leaves, Kiku gets something of a rarity from Setsuko; a smile, faint and soft, but nevertheless kind. "Be careful, Kazue Kiku. If you encounter a Witch you can't handle yourself, don't be afraid to retreat and call for help." She watches the girl go for several seconds, before turning to Marisa. "We should be getting back, I think. The fight is just about over." True to her own words, she lifts off the roof of the opera house, turning in the air to fly back towards the rest of the group.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "... helped?"

    Homura frowns.

    "Madoka. I have never once blamed you or Mami for inspiring -me- to become a Puella Magi. It would be cowardly. It's a path I chose. Unless you forced that girl to do it, you didn't do anything wrong. And odds are she saved more lives fighting Witches than she jeopardized just now. Make no mistake, nobody here likes Kyubey. That doesn't make him less necessary to the world's wellbeing. Without magical girls, Witches would overrun the population."

    Homura casually flips her hair, getting dead locusts out of it. And frowning more. She needs a shower. Maybe three, or five. Ugh. She returns her glare to Madoka.

    "So, don't blame yourself."

    She glances towards Scarlet-- and briefly deflects Eleanor by placing the blue-robed girl she's with in her path instead. Eleanor ends up hugging her, but gets absolutely no reaction from it. 'Distant' is probably too soft a word for how uncaring she seems. Not jaded, just... like she's constantly thinking about other things. Or places.

    Then she answers Scarlet: "A Witch is a Puella Magi that's reached the end of her magical girl days. This generally only takes a month or two. That black object is what's left of her. You could think of it as the sum of all the energy released by despair, rage and sorrow felt preceding the transformation. We use them to recharge, and then feed them to our evil cat, who uses the energy to ward off universal entropy."

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    She- she looks so happy! Just to MAYBE get her number! Marisa jokes about being a heartbreaker, but this girl might just die if she says no! And so, she instead says yes, and takes a second to jott down a short sequence of numbers on a HANDY NOTEBOOK PAGE. "There," she grins, handing it over to Kiku before she leaves, "In case you wanna hang out or need help or something~"

Kiku also gets a JUDICIOUS HEADPAT TOO

Because Marisa is weak of will when it comes to that sort of thing.

    "I'll see ya around, kid," Marisa says, giving a quick salute as she takes off INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER! Except no, she's just following Setsuko back towards the others. "Cute kid," she remarks, chuckling, "Kinda too quick to apologize though, isn't she?"

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    "No, I--" Madoka holds her tongue. She thought if she just said one thing, one statement, it would be fine. It would be out there. It would be like removing a bandaid and never feeling the sting of taking it off again, but...

    ... she just confused her. Of course she confused her.

    Madoka looks askance to the ground and just sullenly nods her head in agreement. "Yeah."

    She'll... she'll say what she really means. Some other time. Later. One attempt is enough for now.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko sees the Grief Seed, but Homura has it, so that's fine. And then Madoka has it, which is also fine. She has the less-familiar Puella Magi's friend, but lets Izumi down once she's actually reached Scarlet, which certainly is easier now that there's no acid rain or flying keys to dodge. Kimiko even dispels her remaining armor, though she's still transformed and still covered in blood, a fact to which she seems to pay very little attention. She does make a dismissive 'this is not really necessary' noise when Scarlet starts healing her anyway, but doesn't get in the way. It'll save her both considerable pain and some of the magic needed to slowly regenerate her torn flesh and lost blood.

    She missed some of that fight due to other things, but catches Homura's question, and looks toward Madoka for the answer given. Ah, yes. That might explain things, should she give it some thought. She's not going to right now, as there are other concerns in her mind. And Homura solves one of those by telling Scarlet more than is strictly necessary.

    "Mayumi Ume. I am Shinobu Kimiko." A moment's pause. Slightly light-headed. "Do you understand the mistake you made?"

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    Mayumi, who was already engaged in discussion with Eri, seems almost surprised to hear her name called. Nevertheless, she looks to Kimiko on cue, though she is... somewhat less amused when she realizes -why- she was called upon. Upon hearing her query, Mayumi falls absolutely silent, her eyes narrowing into an expression that best mirrors boredom, or 'restrained' annoyance. "Yes," Is all that she says in response, however; she's even careful to ensure that her tone doesn't provoke any further feelings of offense. Afterward, she just keeps eye contact with her for several more moments before eventually bowing her head and muttering, "Excuse me."

    Being as sensitive to feelings of undue arrogance and selfishness as she is, Kimiko might -feel- the disgusted look the girl wears when she turns about. She would not see it directly but she would know beyond any doubt that she hasn't the faintest concern whatsoever about any lessons she might have sought to teach her.

    This is a side of her she wasn't so forthcoming with in a larger group setting, isn't it.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    Homura sighs. It's not like her to stop probing, but this is Madoka. She can't interrogate that face with the same ferocity she could most of anyone else. And so she lets it go, for now.

    The white-green haired girl Homura places in Eleanor's path suddenly focuses her vision, glaring at her intently. It's... almost hostile?

    "Cthulhu is too complex to be understood by you. His return is inev--"

    She falls quiet as Homura extends another brochette of seafood towards her. She munches on that happily and returning to her idling state. Also: she did say 'Cthulhu-sama'. In a strangely worshipping tone.

    To Eleanor, Homura turns to stare. "Go tend to those three instead of me. They actually need it." She means Madoka's three friends, obviously.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    "She's very young," Setsuko replies to Marisa as the two of them fly. "And eager to please." Her eyes close briefly. "...too good for the life she's been tricked into. The best we can do is help her survive it."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor looks... and looks at Homura. And looks at the girl in her good arm... and then just sighs. It is a sigh of resignation, of... despair? No. Just dissapointment.

    It Is A Mom Sigh.

    She nods her head, releases her little cultist, and shuffles away. Homura doesn't want help. Psyber doesn't want help. There's... well, it's not like she can force those two to allow her to help but..

    She winces, and moves in the direction of the other Magi and Not-Magi, looking slightly haggard.

Marisa Kirisame (829) has posed:
    "I don't think I was like that when I was her age," Marisa murmurs, rubbing at her chin. She says that, but she can't be that old, herself! Though it's a moot point, since her childhood was kind of... unique. "You got that right, though. Wonder if there's a way to weasel her outta her contract."

Scarlet Everille (747) has posed:
    Scarlet takes that news about as professionally as could be imagined, clearly just a little bit put off, but completely willing to trust Homura at face value, and absolutely not interested in getting her hands on a Grief Seed of her own at all. "That sounds... deliberate. Too improbably convoluted to be just how things happen to work." She saw Kyubey get shot. She can put 2 and 2 together here. "I assume nobody is actually told any of this up front, if I'm guessing whom "evil cat" refers to, and I suspect noone is in a position to ask anyways." She seems to struggle for words for a moment, before she simply breaks for a sigh, gently rubbing her temple. "I'm sure I'm not stumbling into anything groundbreaking here. Just from the way you've been acting, I'm guessing that Kyubey has been playing magical corporatocracy with young girls for a while now. I'm already getting a little depressed just thinking about it, not in any small part because I'm familiar with the tactic."

    She makes a vague, meaningless hand gesture. "Universal entropy is a little outside of my real of experience, but magic and conniving little sociopaths are two things I have a lengthy resume with. If you'd like help with either, I'll make the time." The lack of a corresponding loft and professional tone is a little disconcerting. She sounds entirely serious. Quickly enough, she has Eleanor to deal with however. Magic goes on the open wounds, but the dislocated arm she has to pop back in manually. She's surprisingly strong for her build and age bracket, though she doesn't seem to find the task especially pleasant.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko looks, eyes hardening, and--hold on, no, she's not going to let it end at that. This is important. There isn't anything more important, and if there was, 'being polite and nonthreatening' would still slide down the list. She's still transformed, unarmored, reasonably healed, and has had a few years experience to practice her footwork. The step she takes to circle around and get in Mayumi's way is very obviously magically-assisted and not possible for a human of her world otherwise.

    "Mayumi Ume." The name is repeated with sudden, burning conviction, though the volume is still kept to a white-hot low. "Never take a normal human into a Barrier. Never purposefully place those without power in the path of monsters seeking to kill them. Your job is to protect them, and that starts by not leading them into a death-trap." A neutral tone is impossible to maintain; even those unfamiliar with her might sense the seething anger. "Take that seriously, whatever you do. Hate me for pointing out your mistake--I don't care--but do YOUR job so THEY don't die, and so no one else has to clean up YOUR mess."

    That said, she's done. Kimiko steps back, turns, and begins walking in what may vaguely be Setsuko's direction.

Kaname Madoka (720) has posed:
    -- then Kimiko cuts Mayumi off. Immediately the puella folds her arms. Oh, and the anger certainly gets across; no matter how uppity and contrary Mayumi may be, though, it's fairly obvious that having someone up in her face actually gets to her. She fights to maintain the straightness of her expression through the barrage, squeezing her arms more and more tightly together over time for a more enduring sense of comfort. Only when Kimiko is finally walking away does she exhale, allowing her arms to fall neatly to her sides. She swallows once, perhaps a bit nervously -- in spite of herself, that brief confrontation might have given her a bit of adrenaline. Powers she may have, but she is -not- used to getting into tiffs like that with other people who have similar powers.

    Nevertheless, she regains her composure shortly after, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. She spares Kimiko only one more glance over her shoulder after that before Eri nets her back into their discussion. 'What did she want?' 'Why do you look so upset?' 'Was she angry'? All questions Mayumi doesn't answer with especial directness. All things she soon glosses over so they can continue talking about the frivolous things they were talking about before.

    ... but rest assured, this will stick with Mayumi for a while. If not because it was a blow to her morals or perception of self, then certainly because she's realized there are people in this group far, far more insistent and principled than she had ever given them credit for. Of all the aliens in the universe, why did -she- have to get stuck with the moralistic ones? Idly, she puts a hand to her forehead. This is going to be a nuisance.