3299/Touhou Kakudai Stage 5 - Galaxy Can Be Home

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Touhou Kakudai Stage 5 - Galaxy Can Be Home
Date of Scene: 31 October 2015
Location: Fraulein Earth <GFY>
Synopsis: It's time for Fraulein Earth to play host to the Makai girls and Yumeko makes her appearance. Swords, danmaku and angry ladies all present!
Cast of Characters: Kotone Yamakawa, 385, 619, Tomoyo Daidouji, 807, 847, 882
Tinyplot: Touhou Kakudai


Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
As it is throughout much of the Multiverse, it's Halloween on 'Fraulein Earth'; Yuna's actually gone back home to Shiraokadai to celebrate the holiday with family and friends. She's already put some time in at her family's house, handing out candy to early trick-or-treaters, but by this point - late afternoon, getting on towards evening - she's headed downtown to meet up with a number of her friends, already in costume for the party. (Admittedly, her costume is kind of bulky - armor meant to suggest the form of some kind of giant robot, with big feathered wings hitched to the back.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    Ah, Halloween. A holiday that the residents of Makai aren't familiar with but would enjoy it if they were. It's on this day that Yumeko, tired of her sisters failings decided to take things in her own hand. "We will give them some time, catch them off guard. I do not know why they are dressed in strange outfits but none the less, this place shall serve Master quite well." Yumeko nods, sword in hand, her red maid's outfit swaying slightly in the Makai wind, a legion of devils, girls with bat wings on their heads and back with a spaded tail, line up behind her. Another twenty five.

    A second figure stands next to Yumeko, a nod upon her head, "Information from the outside world states this world might give you some trouble, Yumeko... Are you sure you want to do this? I know I made this as a suggestion but..." the figure is silenced with a finger on the lips, "These humans won't know what hit them and then Master... your mom... will be able to have a fortified place to stand. Now, are the portal circles in place?" The figure gives a bit of a nod, "They are, Yumeko... and you can stop treating me like them."

    Paying no mind, red circles start to expand in various places around Fraulein Earth, hidden between buildings and generally out of sight... but the feel of magic is in the air...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had been dragged out for Halloween by someone who didn't like seeing her so sad, she'd however wanted to get off her world and hit the warpgate. Kotone was not dressed as she normally might, nay she's more dressed in costume todya and the costume that she's in is a fairly convicing marionette costume down to having string which are carried by hovering handles of osme sort. It seems she's put a lot of work into it, yet she seems sad but is that in partial keeping with her costume? It's hard to tell however she's out in the downtown with a few other people in various doll related costumes. It seems she and some friends have gone out or she's been more dragged out.

Kotone has no idea her attempt to forget a lot of personal trouble sisn't going to go quite the way she thinks tonight.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo usually didn't celebrate Halloween much, save for the whole 'costume' aspect. But Rarity's little haunted house had left her hungry for more! So, she has come along to attend Yuna's party. This time though, she's dressed herself as some kind of spider princess or tsuchigomo.

    She's wearing a purple dress with skirts that resemble frayed cobwebs. A corset is wrapped around her waist, with two sets of spider legs attached, wrapping around her body. White fishnet gloves also patterned like webs adorn her hands, and her purple tights are patterned with more webs. A cobweb veil covers her hair, and makeup has been applied around her eyes to look like multiple sets of spider eyes.

    "Hello Yuna~" she says, waving at the approaching singer. "That's a wonderful costume you're wearing." Unfortunately, her lack of powers means she can't feel the increasing levels of magic in the air at all!

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    The funny thing about Halloween, in many worlds of the multiverse, is that not all of the gremlins and devils are costumes. Protecting the fun of the evening is also a duty of a shrine maiden! At least, that is the excuse that a certain Sanae Kochiya had used to invite the relatively new girl, Konoe Kanno, out with her for an evening of thrills and chills. Of course, they really were out on a patrol, of a sorts, hopping from one Earth to another as warpgates allow, but Sanae was also keenly aware of the possibility of the fringe benefits of their work. That is why she had provided the cat-like girl with a bag, just like hers, and she had stepped right up to a nearby house that looks friendly and seasonably decorated, before politely ringing the doorbell. "Trick or Treat!"

    The people answering the door would see Sanae, dressed uncreatively in her shrine maiden-like garb. Any questions of what they're supposed to be would be answered appropriately, "A wind priestess! And this is my friend, a shrine maiden in training. We're just looking out for actual ghosts, you see." Hopefully, the 'joking' reply would be enough to deflect any concerns that they're a little old to be out looking for candy. Konoe would also have noticed that there has actually been little in the way of legitimate hauntings, just yet. But right about then, something tingles, in the midst of her holding out her already partially-laden bag, "Hmm?" Then she smiles, "It was probably nothing. Let's look for another house, Miss Konoe! Ah--and troublemaking spirits, of course."

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you asked, being from Gensokyo meant that you looked like you were in costume all year round.

     Konoe has recovered enough from the beating she had gotten from Yuki and Mai to be running about again as well. Just in time for...Halloween?

     She would have preferred not to deal with this kind of thing, but at Sanae's insistence, the cat miko reluctantly agreed to come out and 'patrol'. ...'Patrol for candy' apparently. "T-Trick or treat...?" She said just slightly later than Sanae, sounding entirely unsure of this nonsense. WHY WERE THEY GETTING CANDY? THIS SEEMED CONTRARY TO THEIR JOB-

     Konoe nodded along to Sanae's explanations, keeping a mildly concerned look upon her face the whole while. Occasionally, she'd glance about, actually checking to see if anything was off in the immediate area. It paid to be attentive!

     And maybe she was a little paranoid.

     A little.

     Once they were done, Konoe gave the house owners a smile and a polite bow before moving to follow along with her fellow miko. "Y-Yes..."

     Silence followed.

     "...I know I asked this before, but is this really okay?" They were keeping an eye out of course, but it felt more like they were playing. THEY WERE PLAYING WEREN'T THEY?

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
If Yuna has any idea that there are invaders on her planet, she's not showing it. Possibly the fact that it's Halloween has her relaxing somewhat more; additionally, Elner would presumably let her know if there were any problems she needed to respond to. On the downside, Elner's ability to detect magic is limited to 'stuff technology can actually pick up on' ... not so much straight magical energy at work, but the results of magic: apparently-sourceless changes of energy or matter ... or sudden manifestations of life signs where there were none before, and no indication of known teleportation or transporter technology.

So if the devil girls get Elner's attention, Yuna will find out about it very quickly thereafter - but until they come through those circles, it probably won't be noticed. Even *Elner* isn't really expecting trouble.

In the meantime, Yuna smiles, waving to the seamstress. "Happy Halloween, Tomoyo! You've got a really nice costume ... I think it's nicer than mine, really," she admits with a sheepish grin. "The party's probably already started; shall we head on in? - Oh hey, Kotone!" she calls out, waving to the group Kotone's with as she spots them.

Meanwhile, Yuna's father opens the door for the next batch of trick-or-treaters, holding a large basket of Japanese candies and pastries. "A pair of priestesses? Your costumes are magnificient; Happy Halloween to you both," he says with a smile, offering Sanae and Konoe their pick from the basket.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    The stage is set and Yumeko gives a nod, "Alright, spread out and clear out this world. You twenty five shouldn't have too much trouble doing that now, should you?" Yumeko's firm and stoic face looks outside of the gate and she points the sword forward. "Move." she commands, as the koakuma quickly file into the gate and out the other side, taking flight immediately from the portal and appearing in the sky. One of the koakuma questions, before they leave, "How much do you want to destroy?" "None, just drive the people away. None of them will be worthy to stay here now that I'm here."

    The other figure shakes her head and sighs, "Yumeko, be careful ok?" the figure gives a bit of a squeak and a soft chuckle as her head is rubbed by the sword-wielding maid, "Of course, Alice. Ordinary humans shouldn't be able to get past me, I don't know how they got past Yuki and Mai." "Marisa was there.."

    Yumeko stops just before exiting the portal, turning towards Alice, "Alice my dear. You shouldn't worry about that. We'll take care of Marisa if she comes, I promise." and with this, she leaves and joins the koakuma in flight. "Let them make the first move if they dare."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is away from most of the multiveral roaming sorts she knows but it seems she can never fully get away from it but what is there to worry about this is just a normal Halloween evening, right?. The puppet girl Kotone grins a little bit at Yuna and waves to her.

"Hello Yuna! Tommyo. I didn't expect to run into anyone I know from out and about here. I was just grabb ing random warp gates."

She pauses looking to both the fighting Idol singer and to the mistress of the cloth aka Yuna and Tomoyo.

"I was getting out with a few friends who'd never been off world before thought it might lessen the shock if we went out at this time of year."

She grins widly at this, she's totally unaware of what just is about to happen here.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo giggles and shakes her head, placing a hand to her cheek (which makes the fake spider legs move too). "Not at all~ I just threw this together really." She also waves to Kotone with both hands, making those legs twitch!

    "Oh, certainly," she says to Yuna, eager to join the party. She takes her jade mirror from a hidden pocket and checks her makeup, making sure the eyes aren't blurring or anything... only to spot the inbound koakuma in the reflection.

    She spins about, peering into the sky to looks for them. "Wait... what is that?"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Having sensed Konoe's reluctance, and remembering from earlier, of course Sanae had already prepared for it. With a flourish of a billowy-sleeved arm, she gestures at all the others out and about, and in 'costume'. "Don't worry. I'm going to give most of this to the kids in the village," she softly laughs. 'Most.' Managing to sound a bit more serious, she explains further, as they pace along the street, "This is all a part of blending in and avoiding suspicion! We can be completely honest about what we're doing, and noone will be the wiser, as long as we play along. This is the only time of the year that we can do it this way." She pauses, stepping to the side of the walkway as some responsible adults escort a group of adorably ghastly ghouls, and a princess and fairy or two.

    "It's true that this holiday is for fun, Miss Konoe," she continues, watching them pass by, and waiting until they're out of ear shot before continuing, "But...I also wasn't lying that it's also a day of power for wicked things! If anything tries to cause trouble, we'll be ready." Besides, who can argue with candy and treats? Unable to help herself, while continuing the patrol, she reaches into her bag and withdraws a 'super sour' lollipop, deftly removing the wrapper and popping it into her mouth. Her eyes squeeze shut and her mouth puckers, as she exhales in an enjoying tone that contrasts with that look on her face, "Ahh, so sssour!" As her tastebuds adjust and she becomes more aware, her attuned priestess sense notices a flow of people towards a more central location, as she shifts the candy in her mouth to speak around it, "Hmm. Maybe someone is hosting a party? Let's go take a look!" ...they really are playing.

    Along the way, though, there was one house that looks impossible to skip. If it's a party, it'll probably be going on for a while, so Sanae takes a momentary detour. "Trick or Treat," comes the by now familiar phrase! Scooping a modest share, she returns Yuna's father's smile with one of her own, "Thank you, sir. You have a nice evening, also!" Right then, however, the feeling she'd had and ignored before becomes impossible to chalk to local magic fields. Something is happening. A meaningful glance is given to Konoe, even though that smile never left her face, "Feel that? Seems like we've got our first encounter."

    Hopefully any of the locals around won't be too upset when she gathers the wind around her and takes off, towards where she feels is the source of the energy. The late evening makes it difficult to see, but there seem to be other things moving around up here. "I really should buy some kind of radar," she muses aloud.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     "......"

     Uh-huh. A look around was had when Sanae gestured all around them. "I see. I guess you have a point." Nevermind the fact that she wasn't really a huge candy person. Maybe she'd give her own away as well. Not that the village kids would take anything from her. Oh well, it'd work out. Somehow.

     Konoe nodded slowly after, letting out a soft sigh. "If you say so, Sanae-san." There was a pause as she watched her technically-senior clamp down on that lollipop and then have that sour reaction.

     Blink blink.

     "Are you...okay?"

     Apparently she was. The cat miko shook her head and looked in the direction of the clamor. Her ears had twitched here and there, having long heard it, but set it aside. "........" At Sanae's suggestion that they go have a look, Konoe's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

     They were totally playing.

     The one stop at the next house was met with the same routine as usual. Smile, nod, answer, take, bow, thank. "Thank you, sir. Have a nice evening." And then they were off. Something had been bothering her all this time though. It felt like something magical was building up. Something vaguely familar. Like Sanae, she ignored it, thinking it was a world peculiarity, but it was impossible to ignore now.

     She met Sanae's look and nodded. "I think I know what this is." Inwardly, Konoe was praying that Yuki and/or Mai were present, but she wouldn't hold her breath. That would be too convenient. Those thoughts passed, Konoe simply left the ground, rising up into the air without any real preparation or show of power.

     Flying alongside Sanae, she scanned the skies, her eyes piercing through the night, and then she frowned. "Sanae-san. We have koakuma. Likely from Makai." Irritation sounded in her voice as she spoke. "I'm willing to bet they're the same ones that have been causing trouble elsewhere too."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
By this point, Elner has picked up on the 'about two dozen life signs' that appeared out of nowhere, and Yuna is looking skywards with a worried expression as well. Not that EVERY trip home coincides with some kind of trouble, but she still hasn't forgotten when that Neuroi scout showed up at the spaceport. And whatever these new arrivals are planning to do, she doubts they're just here to see the sights or join the other trick-or-treaters.

"Tomoyo, you don't have a way to fight on your own somehow, do you?" the blonde idol/magical paladin inquires, before looking at Kotone. "Elner detected a bunch of life signs that weren't here a few moments ago, and they're airborne ... we might have a problem." She makes a face, then looks where Tomoyo seems to have spotted something. "I can't see it. Elner, can you - ?"

Yuna's question is interrupted by a blink of light as three figures appear around her and Tomoyo, almost as if they're making a protective perimeter of some sort. They're human in overall shape, with a suggestion of feminine curves, but the similarities end there: they have glowing optics set in what would be their faces, but their bodies are COMPLETELY armored - and in fact, mechanical in appearance.

Yuna's reaction is one of worried relief rather than fear, though. "Erina, Jiina, Marina," she greets them. "Is Elner that worried?"

"That cautious," corrects the purple-and-white armored figure. "You'd better transform now, and we can merge and go airborne."

Yuna sighs heavily, "Fine ..." She doesn't call out a magical phrase or hold up an artifact or anything, but with a whirl of wind and light rising about her body, Yuna's costume is abruptly replaced by the sleeker form of her Light Suit. A moment later, she and the purple-and-white form (Erina) have combined, and Yuna's outfitted in her Flight Form - but not yet actually taking to the air; she's still worried about Tomoyo and Konoe if it DOES come down to a fight.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa sighs for a moment she wasn't packing much in the way of weapons, this was a night out for fun but her body would work well enough if she could find something to use as a club or makeshift staff of some sort. She looks to her friends with an apologtic look.

"I got something to handle here can you guys head to the club we were going to end this trip on I'll catch up soon as I can."

She looks to Tomoyo for a momentt ling her costume.

"A very nice costume you have there but we'll have to talk later it looks like we got trouble."

Kotone thankfully had the sense to give her friends a rundown on if she says to clear out, to do so. The multiverse sometimes isn't a safe place.

"Great, just great there goes my night out..."

Shinki (882) has posed:
    Yumeko frowns, it's taking them a lot longer to notice them and it's not making her happy. She starts to move forward but when the flashes of light appear near one of the houses, her gaze is settled upon it. "Finally." she whispered, "It's not Marisa but it'll do. I wonder how well it can play..." with a smile she advances forward, the koakuma moving forward with in an orderly fashion. "I really don't care who you are but you're now invading on territory belonging to me. You humans will only get one chance at it." her sword is pointed forward to the flash of light, the maid of danmaku looks quite ready to take on whomever comes.

    Meanwhile, the twenty five koakuma spread out to make their numbers seem a bit larger and to show their willingness to help, a few of them look down and stare at some of the kids, adults, shrine maidens, mikos... wait... "Yumeko.. shrine maiden alert. Shrine Maiden Alert!" a quick point towards Sanae and Konoe "Shall we take care of those two while you clear out the rabble? One of those even has cat ears!"

    "No, they might just be humans in costume, I doubt .." as the Green White come floating up. "Rescend that command, go for it. So your world has miko as well, huh? It's not often seen for that. Now, do you wish to retreat peacefully or shall we force it? I grow tired of you humans already."

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo looks to Yuna, and holds up that same mirror she used to spot the inbound demons. "This is a weapon. But I don't think they mean to hurt people," she says, in a tone that can best be described as 'worried confidence.' "They've done this several times before, and all they do is cause property damage."

    When she suddenly finds herself surrounded by Yuna's backup, she looks surprised! As the idol transforms, Tomoyo's eyes fill with a dazzled light, but she doesn't have her camera on her! And she would have loved footage of an genuine magical girl transformation too... But, once Yuna has 'suited up,' Tomoyo decides on what she can do. "I'll try and get everyone to evacuate. Remember, they don't mean all that much harm so... please don't try to kill them. Good luck."

    She waves Yuna off as she takes flight, and clenches her hands into fists. Immediately, she runs to the nearest house and pounds on the door as hard as she can, before yelling, "Demons are attacking! Everyone, get out of here!" She then runs to the next door, shouting all the while to get the citizens to safety!

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    "Oh," Sanae wonders, to the cat miko flying alongside her? It's not really disbelieving, but more trying to turn it over in her head how Konoe might have seen. It takes her a few moments, but then she realizes, "Ah, that's right, cats see better in the dark. You have a lot of handy abilities, Miss Konoe!" Of course, assuming Konoe is correct, then they're probably similar to the ones from the Makai adjacent to Gensokyo, if not the very same. That means things are about to get not so hard to see. "I'd like to think they're just here for fun, but if you say they're the ones that have been causing trouble, there's little reason to doubt it's different." With that determined, she wills the wind gathered around her to pick things up, prompting the relatively gentle breeze holding her aloft to develop a surging bluster, straight for where the swarm seems to be spreading out.

    She's not letting go of this bag of candy, though, placing it across her shoulder to mostly free up both her hands. Some things are simply too precious.

    With everything going on, Sanae does spare a glance down at the formerly unsuspecting world below. While she's normally smiling, Konoe might catch a glimpse of a worried slant to it, before she refocuses on the koakuma swarming around. Would they have come alone? That doesn't seem likely, somehow. "This many...they weren't playing around," she figures. "They're not likely to let us through that easily, either." Withdrawing her wand from its place at her hip into one hand, and pulling out several stiff paper talismans in the other, she separates the latter between her fingers, invoking the magic imbued into them before throwing them at three of the nearest winged girls. Mid-flight, they transform, taking on the appearance of folded paper frogs, and enveloped in spiritual energy and picking up speed. "You devils are causing a ruckus, that won't be allowed!"

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     "....Yes." Konoe confirmed Sanae's feline hypothesis a bit grudgingly. It was like she wasn't fond of being called a cat. Nonetheless, she didn't dwell on it and shook her head. "The last two times I saw groups of koakuma, they were trying to take over other land. One of those times, the landowner worked out a deal. The other time, a huge fight broke out."

     As they soar through the sky, Konoe squinted, taking in all that she could see. "...There's about the same amount as the other times." She looked down below. "...I hope they don't attack the people." Actually, she could see a few familiar figures down there. Was that Kotone and Tomoyo? "...I think the ground will be fine."

     That said, she turned her attention back ahead. Keeping hold of her bag of candy with one hand, she produced several long metal needles with her other. Not in the mood to engage in witty banter, the bakeneko narrowed her eyes and focused. The needles burst to life, engulfed in spiritual flame. "I'm not in the mood for you Makai devils. Go back to where you came from."

     And then they were thrown. They shot straight forward, but then at the last moment, they veered off, moving past as if they had missed before curving back around and going for the backs of three other koakuma.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna looks up at Yumeko and the koakuma, and lets out a deep sigh, shaking her head. "I'll do what I can not to kill them," she promises Tomoyo. Her powers and weapons *do* give her the luxury of sparing her opponents' lives, more often than not, but if these girls are the 'devils' that have been reported .... well, her weapons are technically powered by 'Holy' and 'Light' - literally. She's called the Savior of Light for a *reason*, and it's not just because it sounds awesome.

With the challenge that the flying swordswoman just delivered, though, Yuna doesn't have the leisure of shrugging it off. Leaving Tomoyo to warn the civilians (and hoping that fleeing civvies don't just run into greater danger), Yuna takes to the air. "Jiina, Marina, help Tomoyo warn civilians; if you see those girls going after anyone or trying to bring down houses, intervene as well as you can!"

And then Yuna accelerates into the sky. She doesn't know if Kotone has a means of flying; she sees a couple of other flyers engaging the devil girls, but at this distance her initial presumption is that they're local allies. However, Yuna's focus is on the flying girl with the swords - and she heads straight for Yumeko, slowing to hover about five meters away from her, not yet attacking.

"This planet's been invaded before, by bigger and more vicious forces than you brought," Yuna calls out. "That doesn't mean I'm going to let you off lightly - this planet and this city already HAVE governments elected by the people who live here, and we REALLY don't like conquerors swooping in to try and tell us what to do! However you got here, you'd better turn around and leave right now - because this territory DOESN'T belong to you, never has ... and *NEVER WILL*!!!"

There are a few crackling flares of golden light around Yuna's armor, accompanying the rise in her voice as she reaches the end of that speech. Being reminded of previous invasions did NOT do Yuna's mood any good, and the power on which her battlesuit operates has scaled up a few notches to go with it. If Yumeko or the koakuma with her can sense holy power, Yuna practically 'reeks' of it by this point ... better hope she remembers her promise to try and go easy on the invaders.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa costume oddly doesn't seem to get in the way as she start to move thankfully her friends are quick to vacate thing thingfully so that's one less thing to woryr about but she's williung to help out Yuna and it seems to be more than just her Yuna and Tomoyo are here. There seems there's two others better suitd to fight the invaders and she'll move to help with getting people out of here, it's just as imporant as fighting them off if not more so.

Kotone calls out along with the mistress of the cloth.

"People need to clear out we have a probl...."

Okay so her friend is shouting about demons soi she might as well gt on with it. She doesn't have flight she does have trick jumps but for now she's focusing on the evacuation.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    The koakuma being attacked hold their ground, the frog and needle danmaku is grazed, a taunting face upon the few koakuma that were there in front of the two Miko. A few of them go into a tisk tisk finger motion before Yumeko speaks, raising her hand. "Let's go." the koakuma stare at Yumeko in disbelief as the maid draws a slow retreat. "The contempt I have for these humans..." she starts, large rings start converging in around her as she continues to go, "Is immesurable. The countless sins against Makai they've commited... the countless koakuma lost... and we're to turn away..."

    When the rings shrink down, fifteen floating swords appear in mid air around Yumeko. "I am Yumeko, Lady Shinki's most trusted person."

    Meanwhile, back in Makai... Alice shakes her head. "Sanae is there..." she whispered, "So is Konoe... And Tomoyo. Yumeko's not going to stand a chance."

    "And you will bow." she finishes, "I will cleanse you of those sins!" she quickly turns around, the sword is waved and the swords arc out and launch themselves towards the protragonists in the air, as red balls start converging in on Yumeko and firing out sprays of red ball danmaku in every direction before the process is repeated as she moves around, keeping the gaps between each danmaku wave tight.

    Meanwhile, the Koakuma grin, watching their lady do their work, "Go Lady Yumeko!" and with this, ten of of the twenty five Koakuma dive bomb into the crowd of people and smirk, "While she's busy with those, who wants to have some fun!"

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo keeps moving, pounding on doors and yelling for people to evacuate! Her hands start to ache a little from pounding on doors so hard, but she grits her teeth and keeps going! "Demons are attacking! Please, get away from here!"

    And then several koakuma drop down among the crowds. "Wait..." the tailor says, taking a moment to process this. They never did this before! And Alice would never support this... is someone else calling the shots now? Or has she changed her mind? Either way... these people need to be protected!

    Immediately, she charges into the crowd, calling out to the koakuma. "Stop this!" she insists, shoving past people to confront some! "Why are you attacking civilians? You never did this before..." She's clutching that jade mirror, but not activating it. More as a personal reassurance than anything.

    "Please, don't do this..." she pleads, clasping her hands in front of her chest, almost like she's praying. "If you start hurting people, others will be more driven to fight back. You could actually die, and then what would she think?" It's unclear if she means Alice or... someone else.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It should have been expected, that they wouldn't just float there and take it, as fairies would. A bit more maneuverable, as well, with those sleek wings of theirs, and wrapped in the power of Makai. Still, it's not too discouraging, just yet, to see both her and Konoe's first shots get avoided, especially at this range. "They're certainly lively," she remarks, and seems to think on it. "Konoe, let's stick close, but not too close. They'll have a harder time avoiding us, if we're a bit more spread out!" More than twenty-five can play this game. She doesn't really need to tell Konoe how all of this works, either, she realizes. But it's better to try and coordinate where they can, especially when they're facing a numerical disadvantage.

    With that, she heads off from a momentary hover, flying slightly to the side to try and flank the koakuma surrounding their leader. As she angles her approach, that leader comes more into focus -- and hearing range. With one arm extended, it almost looks like Sanae's striking a pose, but it's more that she's focusing her wind to carry her where she wills. While she doubts it will do much good, with that amount of contained anger, she still calls out, "The people of this world had nothing to do with that! They were just having fun." When the swords and red orbs begin striking, she's forced to abandon her previous full-speed flight pattern, instead settling into a more meandering movement where she seems to be dancing around them. She can't go on the full offensive like this!

    One particular twist through the air gives her a spared glance toward the ground far below. Is that Tomoyo helping defend the common folk? Or just some helpful, brave jorogumo? Most importantly, the devils almost look ready to attack civilians...but right now, locked as she is in dodging fire, she can't do a thing about it. She momentarily thinks of the one thing that could save some time, but, "...I can't waste Lady Kanako's faith right now. I have to try and do this on my own." Once a brief opening avails itself, she once again surges forward, swords narrowly missing her, before conjuring a glowing, five-pointed star in front of herself with her wand, and then releasing it. She wills it toward more of the koakuma running interference. More seeking answers than appealing to reason, she wonders, "Don't you devils have your own world? Why would you need other ones?"

    She gasps, coming to her own conclusion, "It can't be... You've come to steal their souls!" Since that's what devils do, obviously.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Ah. Well that's expected. They aren't fairies. They have actual brains that tell them to dodge.

     It would have been nice if they stayed still though.

     Konoe nodded towards Sanae at her suggestion. "Got it." And then she veered off, breaking away from her fellow shrine maiden and attempting to flank the koakuma's other side. While she did so, she produced several larger than usual ofuda. They were like big squares that came to float about her form, not doing anything just yet.

     From there, she slowed down her flight and began to dodge the oncoming bullet fire. The frown on her face made it clear that she was not in a great mood tonight. Made even worse by their appearance, but she was trying to stay calm. Getting angry wouldn't make things better. Stay calm. Stay calm.

     Once the swords came flying in, Konoe raised an arm, palm directed forward. The large talismans that were floating around her immediately deployed in front of her, going rigid and blocking the way. It wwas a barrier. The swords and other bullets made impact, piercing into the talisman barrier.

     While this happened, the miko pulled out another set of her usual smaller ofuda, tossing them out. There were about twenty five total. They went rigid in the air upon being tossed, forming a ring that proceeded to revolve around her. Letting the barrier take the damage and allow her a moment to focus, Konoe brought her hands together, candy bag and all, and closed her eyes.

     With each second passed, a talisman lit up bright red. It was as if it were some sort of countdown...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yumeko speaking of 'contempt for these humans' and those rings gathering in around her don't exactly put Yuna at ease, even as the swordmaid seems to be withdrawing - but if she were serious about leaving, she should be leaving *faster*. When the swords appear around her, though, Yuna exerts her will, and a 'sword' of her own appears - or more accurately, the Matrix Divider materializes in her hands, ready to be wielded at range or in melee as the situation demands.

And the situation is degrading in a hurry. Yumeko sends her swords flying at assorted targets - including a number of them heading for Yuna herself. Yuna flies out of the swords' paths as well as she can, but a couple of waves of damaku smack into her instead - not drawing blood, but sending a crackle of energy up from the Light Suit's defensive aura as it repels the impacts.

And as if Yumeko herself weren't enough, some of the Koakuma are diving into the civilians ... *EXACTLY* as Yuna was afraid might happen.

Not that she's the only one to worry about civilians. Tomoyo's pleading with the Koakuma to rethink their approach, Sanae seems to be worrying (in her way) as well ... and then a golf club is swung at a Koakuma's head, not with enough force to break the skull but *easily* hard enough to raise a lump and leave the poor devil-girl with a splitting headache. "GET OUT OF OUR CITY, IDIOT!!" yells Roppongi no Mai, fully attired in HER battlesuit ... complete with bunny ears. (Seriously. Take a look: http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=193244 )

She's not the only local girl in a battlesuit, either. A brown-haired girl about Yuna's age tries to interpose herself before another Koakuma can hurt anyone; her armor doesn't have spectacularly distinguishing features other than a white-and-indigo color scheme and what could be blades on her forearms: http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=544125 And then there's a green-haired Chinese girl with a spear and shield - who is, for whatever reason, trying to whack devil girls with the spear's shaft or bash them with the shield, instead of impaling any of them. http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=544209 "You stupid wenches are interrupting our holiday party!" the green-haired girl yells. "And if the food I made gets ruined, I'M STICKING YOU WITH THE CATERING BILL!!"

Yuna sweatdrops a bit as she hears Remin yelling, then focuses on Yumeko. "Nobody on this world has done anything to your Makai, unless you're servants of the Queen of Darkness! And if you ARE her servants -" The Matrix Divider's 'blade' flares sharply, a greenish-gold light building up around it as Yuna finishes, "- then you should have known better to attack MY WORLD!!"

And rather than launching her own barrage of attacks, Yuna fires a single blast of concussive radiance straight at Yumeko. It's not lethal, but if it hits, it's going to hurt a lot.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    The koakuma near Tomoyo blink a bit then look at each other then at Tomoyo. "Eh? We're attacking people?" she looks between some of the others, "We just dropped down to take a look... I mean, we can attack them if you want but eh. We're not really wanting to, if the youkai at the Human Village found out..." The ten shiver and shake their heads, "What made you think we were attacking? And what's with that silly hand mirror?" They shake their heads again, "You're either brave or stupid for wanting to come up to us... what if we WERE attacking, did you really want to martyr yourself to the rest of these pathetic humans?"

    The airborne koakuma smirk, "Lady Yumeko, we'll take care of the miko, you can handle Miss Armored Swimsuit girl, can't you? I swear, I think she's trying to show off to some people, the nerve." they split off, leaving Yumeko in flight with Yuna. Kunai-shaped danmaku start flying from the fifteen in the air towards the two miko, "You fired first and you want us to show restraint and leave now? Just like you Miko to fire first and talk later, how digusting! Get your armpits away from our Lady!" yes, they said armpits.

    Yumeko nods at the koakuma before focusing back on Yuna herself, the danmaku just seems to be targeting the women in the air and whatever misses, embeds itself into the local scenery, carefully aimed as to not injure any humans. "You could say I am a servant of the Lady of Darkness. I think she might like that title." Yumeko grins.

    More of those swords and ball danmaku pick up and are launched, but when she should of zigged instead of zagged, that concussive blast of light slams into her and sends her flying back in a spin, the danmaku slowly stopping for now, only to move back in and cough, "That smarts, but it'll take more than a light show to remove me from your world!" with this, she holds still as magic circles start appearing randomly, launching swords from them directly at Yuna and each launched sword attempts to home in on Yuna's location while Yumeko herself sends out a twin line of red, spiked lasers that attempt to cross into Yuna's position as well, firing them at small, set intervals.

    Back on the ground, the koakuma continue to talk with Tomoyo only to get hit by a golfclub and smacked with spear shafts and shields. "H..hey! Who gave you permission to hit us!?" as the girls take flight and stare at the armored girls. "Wenches?! You three are wearing swimsuits with armor! And you even have bunny ears! And you call US wenches? No, no my dears, you three are wenches and you'll pay for that!" so much for Tomoyo's efforts as the girls start their own kunai spread towards those armored women!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets a warning from Yuna over the comm. She's quick on the response as people keep fleeing she soon finds some of the devil girls comming down towards her. She has no ranged attacks, Overclock is dead asleep at the momenr so she's pretty much on her own as they come after her. She does move ot intercept and she starts yelling at the devil girls.

"This might be fun for you but do you think about others like this? They don't see it that way and I sure don't!"

She's now charing in she's fast, very fast much faster than a stock human might be on a number of world and she's going to try to start decking the devil girls as well Tomoyo's efforts sadly have failed, now it's time to punch and she's hitting harder than a bystander might but she's not exactly trained in martial arts.

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    "Oh... you're not? It sounded like you were challenging people." Tomoyo seems very relieved that this is not the case! Her hand is over her heart and she's breathing a sigh of relief. "Well... at the very least, I think I stand a better chance against you than they would. This mirror is magical... and I know your weakness."

    She gives the demon girls an ominous wink at that statement, smiling gently as she looks up at the battle overhead. She certainly doesn't recognize the one with the swords... maybe she's in charge of this raid? If she's the one giving orders, maybe she told these koakuma to spread chaos among the humans? If so, she must like humans less than Alice... she could be dangerous.

    She is shocked out of her train of thought when the demons come under attack by more allies of justice! Naturally, they retaliate, making Tomoyo's heart fall. "Stop! They weren't attacking!" she begs the three magical girls... and now Kotone is punching them too. What can she do?...

    "Wait!" she says, an idea coming to mind. Maybe that sutra will drive the koakuma away, and then there's no need to fight. She doesn't have her cheat sheet on her though, and she lacks a shakujo... but she'll try her best! Straining her powers of recollection, she begins recalling the Sanskrit passage, trying to banish the demons!

    If only she knew...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"OOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO~!!!! You pitiful devil girls think to call high-born young ladies like US mere 'wenches'?!" laughs Roppongi no Mai, seemingly heedless of the incoming kunai - at least, up until her golf club whips through the air, smashing the kunai away and possibly sending a few of them back towards the koakuma who launched them. To her credit, though, she's only returning attacks (and not many), not initiating further offensive action on her own.

Remin holds her shield up with one arm, twirling her spear with the other, and between the two she's able to deflect all the kunai headed her way. "It'll take more than that for you to hurt us!" she calls out. She's not counterattacking either, though - was she just trying to draw their fire away from bystanders?

As for Kaede, she doesn't have the defensive skill that Remin or Mai do; what she *does* have on her side is agility, and she's able to find gaps in the flying kunai to slip through, occasionally batting them away with her armblades to make bigger gaps where she needs them. Hearing Tomoyo's plea, Kaede refrains from going on the attack either.

Meanwhile in the air, Yuna's attention isn't on her allies right now, by and large; Elner is keeping tabs on the larger situation and will alert her if Yuna needs to break off and support anyone else. But Yumeko just made a MAJOR mistake, one which is going to keep her as the priority of Yuna's attention.

Rule of thumb: before you invade a world, try to research its history and that of its likely defenders. It's not like Yuna's history as the Savior of Light is easily-accessed public record, even within the Union, but there ARE legends and folk tales scattered amongst the worlds of the Fraulein Sector, myths about the Queen of Light and the Queen of Darkness. The latter periodically seduces pliable girls into her service, building up her mortal forces to conquer the cosmos; the former selects a single champion, empowered to battle the forces of Darkness, liberating the hearts of the enslaved warriors and taking the battle to the Queen herself.

In a nutshell, the Queen of Darkness was Yuna's first 'final boss' enemy. For *ANYONE* to claim affiliation with or allegiance to the Queen of Darkness or a similar being is to single themselves out as Yuna's enemy - to be freed if possible, but absolutely to be opposed until then.

The Matrix Divider vanishes from Yuna's grasp as she calls out, "Shugoseiheki!!" - and in response to that shout, a large kite shield appears on Yuna's left arm, interposed to tank the incoming swordjectiles. The lasers are harder to deal with, of course; Yuna uses her shield (the Wall of the Guardian Star, its name means) as liberally as she can, and evades what she's able to ... but is she stuck defending herself as well?

That turns out not to be the case. The vambrace on her right forearm pops open, and Yuna suddenly charges at Yumeko in mid-air, a rapid-fire barrage unleashed from the pulse blasters hidden under her vambrace. *That* is Yuna's form of danmaku in Flight Form armor - and she's pouring on the firepower, trying to wrest control of the battle's flow away from Yumeko. "I'll keep hitting you as hard as I have to," Yuna snaps, "and then I'll come after your 'Lady of Darkness' so she never invades any more worlds, *EVER AGAIN!!!*"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    "My...my armpits?" Sanae looks absolutely stunned for a second, before she shakes her head to clear it, "This has got nothing to do with it!" Despite her protests, she does seem to be, ever slightly, holding her arms a bit closer to her body. Hmmm. As the battles slowly converge, and there is a short rest in between waves, thanks to Yuna's breaking through, Sanae is also able to get a better look at the one that's doing the bulk of the proclaiming. A maid? That would explain the blades. And she's fighting -- ah, it's Yuna! No, can't think about autographs right now! Especially as two of the kunai shots being fired by the demon cut into a bare bicep. Curiously, they seem to cause wounds more like burns than cuts; a result of the enchantments on her robes combined with the nature of the shots, perhaps. That doesn't mean it stings any less!

    "I'm fine, I was just careless," she utters pre-emptively, in case anyone happens to be in ear shot. More of those armored girls (so cool!) emerge from the town's various haunts. Tomoyo's cries are also too far distant to reach her thoroughly human ears, unfortunately. Regardless, now is not the time for distraction, as she painfully learned moments earlier. Not much the time for words, either. Drawing out a different set of talismans from before, she casts them out with a flourish of her arm (still a bit awkwardly, thanks devils). The paper folds into the shape of serpents in mid-flight, and begins to home in on several of the nearby Kokakuma Fifteen. She isn't stopping there, though, charging forward with a star-shaped barrier of her own against the cloud of short blades, before swiping at a Koakuma from close range with her wand.

    All of this, and Sanae steals another glance at that maid. The boss is so close. But with this cloud of winged girls, she's proving really hard to reach! "Well, I'm not asking you to leave, exactly," she says. "But you do need to learn a bit more subtlety. Staging an invasion on a night like this, what did you expect to happen?"

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     A shower of kunai rain upon Konoe's erected barrier, tearing into it and eventually destroying it completely. Some shots graze by her at multiple angles, but she doesn't mind it. What she was working on was complete.

     Every single talisman in the ring formation around her was glowing bright red. At that point, the miko opened her eyes quickly, feeling that it was time. "Leave my armpits out of this, you cretins!" She yelled before directing both arms forward, activating the spell she was casting.

     DIVINE ARTS - DRAGON FLAME BLOSSOM

     Ah. Another original card. The ring of ofuda suddenly sped up, becoming a blur of red spiritual energy. That energy then burst into flame before break apart at one point, growing and becoming a long length of flame. That flame likened itself into a fiery, oriental dragon that coiled around Konoe briefly before spiraling upwards in flight.

     Once it reach an apex, the flame borne dragon let out a primal roar before barreling towards the fifteen koakuma, weaving and curving through the air, jaws opened in an attempt to devour any who weren't fast enough to dodge out of the way.

     It did pointedly avoid Sanae however. Friendly fire was off!

Shinki (882) has posed:
    On the ground, the prayer from Tomoyo doesn't seem to be driving them off... maybe it's the lack of instrument or something else but at the moment, it's not working at all. A couple of the koakuma look down at Tomoyo and shake their head, "What's gotten into her?" she questions before turning her attention back to the girls before her.. And then Kotone gets into all of this and it's just a mess down here. The punch from Kotone does knock one of the girls out of the air who retaliates with her own punch. "Sorry we tried for a PEACEFUL resolution... but hey, you want to throw the first bullet and punch, be our guests!"

    Some turn back towards the armored swimsuit girls, "I wouldn't say high-born, young or ladies." one taunts, "Maybe like low-born, old hags who cling to armor that looks sexy instead of functional!" the danmaku stop as the attacks stop, the girls floating haughtily up in the air, looking at the girls down below, "I see you decided to stop it, was it that child over there trying to shout buddhism at us? It's not working, not even the buddhist we had didn't scare us."

    In the air, focusing Sanae and Konoe, the koakuma watch as at least one of them gets affected by the armpit taunt. "We don't know but we're enjoying it, miko!" comes one of the koakuma who return the whack with the wand with a punch of her own, while a few more continue their kunai danmaku spread. The ones focusing Konoe, however, get a face full of oriental fire dragon and dissapear once the spellcard is done, leaving only about six in the air left to deal with.

    Meanwhile, back in Makai, Alice shakes her head and steps out of the portal and readies herself. She takes flight and tries to keep herself hidden but three of the people here would recognize even just her energy signature. Tomoyo, Konoe and Sanae.

    Yumeko, however, has much more problems to deal with. An Enraged Yuna. "Oh, she's planning on it." she grins, "And hit me as hard as you want, I'll come back from it!" she continues her focus fire on Yuna and sends out thicker and longer lasers to deal with but when she starts giving out her own version of danmaku, thats when this goes from a one sided fight to actual FUN.

    The shots connect and knock Yumeko out of her current pattern but quickly starts to retaliate with sets of small and large ball danmaku, spread out in lines that overlap, trying to keep the flow under her own control by keeping the gaps between them very small. The danmaku goes in every direction, mostly focused on thicker waves the closer it is towards Yuna. "And my Lady won't succumb to you! I will come back to her aid once more!"

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Though it doesn't seem to be working, Tomoyo keeps at it! Maybe she just needs to finish it to get it to work, or it's weakened without the implement or... something! But, though she may be concentrating on recalling the passage, that doesn't mean she's not listening. The words drift in one ear, and most go right out the other, but the words of the flying koakuma reach her ears.

    The sutra falters for a moment, before coming to a total stop. "It doesn't work? Not even from an actual Buddhist?..." she mutters to her voice, in a totally dejected tone. "Those other ones must have been playing a trick on me..." She kind of... slumps a little.

    But she's not totally defeated yet! Clutching that mirror all the tighter... at the very least, she might be able to take some of them down non-lethally!... oh, but they've all taken to the air. And Tomoyo didn't bring her blanket.

    Though Tomoyo can't detect magical signatures, she practically radiates a sense of gloom as she turns her attention back to the civilians. Making sure they're okay as they get away.

    It's all she's really good for.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Mai's eyebrow starts twitching at the koakumas' dismissive retort. "You ... ugly, over-inflated bimboes ... have *no idea* who you're addressing ..."

Remin and Kaede trade looks (both sporting a big ol' sweatdrop in the process) as Mai raises her golf club, then swings. And swings again, and again, in rapid succession, each stroke sending a golf ball hurtling high enough into the air to whack a Koakuma in the face. She doesn't carry a club around in her armored form just to smack people with in melee - Mai is actually a skilled golfer, and one of the most prideful of Yuna's allies. It's potentially more than enough to make up for Remin's and Kaede's relative lack of ranged options.

There's a reason why golfers call out a warning before teeing off: a flying golf ball stings REALLY badly, and while they're small, they're typically dense enough to do some damage when propelled three hundred yards downrange from the tee.

And that may not be their only source of concern: a strawberry blonde girl in red armor is meandering out of the building where the party was being held. "What's this ... ? You all are interrupting the party ... everyone's going to be upset ..." http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=193239 Shiori isn't going on the attack yet, but if things continue long enough, she might realize what's going on.

Ironically enough, Yuna is already VERY upset - and she goes after Yumeko with increased intensity of firepower, actually dismissing her shield and re-summoning the Matrix Divider. Letting her shield vanish frees up her other arm's vambrace for *that* set of pulse blasters to be deployed - and she can pour on the firepower with the Matrix Divider as well, alternating between that and the pulse blasters, not laying down fire in 'patterns' so much as 'whatever she can fire most conveniently in Yumeko's direction'. She's not even trying to play by Gensokyo dueling rules at this point; she doesn't WANT to leave gaps Yumeko can maneuver through, and if she can get into melee range of the sword girl, she'll happily toggle over from shooting at Yumeko to trying to smash her over the head. "WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR YOU TO LEAVE MY WORLD ALONE?! TO LEAVE MY *FRIENDS* ALONE?!" she screams. "I JUST WANT EVERYONE I KNOW TO BE *SAFE*, TO NEVER HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF THE LIKES OF YOU!!!"

She's actually taking more hits than she's dodging by this point - too enraged to evade, trusting her Light Suit to keep her safe long enough to deliver a decisive shot or strike. And the longer she has to keep fighting Yumeko, the more likely it is that she's going to stop holding back ...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had only joined in thinking the time for talk was over, she really had but she hears at Tomoyo calls out to wait what's sje got in mind? she's got to wonder just waht Tomoyo uis doing now but she's also got other things to worry about. It seems the cat fight at this point is pretty much. The local heros are not very happy about what they been called and they just seem to be going off Kotone's showing she's got some pretty powerful magic.

Well the fight had already started and things are out the window even with her stopping it, or she does he. The multivse leaves things very confusion. She's going to just be frustated.

"I was trying to have a night out and forget about the insanity of the multiverse but now this?!"

She's going to back off and follow Tomoyo if she can escape the fight.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    That kind of attitude, it's almost like a fairy's. But they have a bit less carefree tinge to it. "Geez, you girls," Sanae sighs, "I've always been curious what Makai is like, but it's giving a bad first impression." She meets the koakuma's punch with a block from her arm, then wheels around in mid-air while extending her leg in a kick. Unlike Reimu, melee hasn't really been a specialty of hers at any point, but she can do what she must! That's when she hesitates, only for a moment, as Konoe's blazing dragon roars through like a subway train. Apparently taking several of the Koakuma with it. Was that a spellcard or a bomb? The effectiveness at clearing the air made it hard to tell. Regardless, she smiles, "Good work, Konoe! We should be able to press our way in, now."

    And she does begin paying a bit less attention to the greatly thinned Koakuma cloud, now. A sudden, and short-lived, burst of speed leaves an honest-to-goodness Sanae shaped cloud in her wake, as she begins making her way towards where Yumeko is still applying pressure to Yuna, and now vice versa. That doesn't mean she's completely neglecting the winged girls, though, still keeping her eyes and other senses open for the inevitable retalation. As she nears the bulk of the battle maid's shots, and is forced to slow down, though, something else strikes her. Given everything that's flying around at the moment, it's barely a blip on the spiritual radar, especially with her trying to remain lower key. But it gets Sanae's attention, regardless, as she pauses to hover in place. "Miss Alice?" There is no doubt that she, or someone like her, must be closeby.

    Unfortunately, Sanae doesn't know Alice well enough to know what connection she might have with this event. That remains a mystery, and before lunging in, she pauses to give a few snaps of her head to try and glance around the area. "Hmm. Was it my imagination, then?" Perhaps, the doll magician probably wouldn't be interested in a place like this, what with all of this awesome, high-tech armor. While trying to maneuver ever-closer, and hoping to catch Yumeko off-guard, she does idly wonder if this world has giant robots, as well. Unfortunately, the fury with which they're attacking each other is making it difficult to get close, and with Yuna's own friends chipping in, she realizes it was foolish to turn her back on her own. She gives a glance back to Konoe, as if she's planning something, before beginning to channel her divine powers.

    Answering her calls, and not unlike Konoe's own spell beforehand, a gigantic seal appears astride Sanae for a moment. Before a gigantic snake appears, the size of a bus, and even longer. It lacks the courtesy to maneuver like Konoe's dragon, barrelling straight forward instead! Is she intending to take out both Yuna and Yumeko!? Other danmaku artists would recognize this for what it is, though: A bomb technique. The snake itself does not affect any physical creatures it plows through. Instead, its body is pure magic, and would work to clear a path free of projectiles, in the space it passes through.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe breathed a sigh of relief and nodded towards Sanae. "I'll keep the remaining Koakuma at bay. You focus on whatever's going on below." And with that, she produced several more large, square fuda, spreading them out to float about her, but not deploying them just yet. "I'm afraid you devils are going to have to stay right where you are."

     The seals went rigid, going translucent and forming into spiritual barriers that would bar their way, as well as block any bullets for a time. After that, Konoe couldn't help but pick up on a familiar trace of energy. "....She's here?" She glanced about quickly, looking for Alice momentarily before turning her attention back ahead of her.

     There wasn't much else that she could do without wasting more energy than she's already spent. And so the miko chose to focus mainly on defense for the remainder of the time.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    The koakuma who played Tomoyo might feel bad but they aren't here to witness the massive letdown. They would have done something to try and cheer up Tomoyo, however, the current group of koakuma is currently getting pelted with golf balls, "I think she's mad, sister." comes a half hearted, obvious reply from one of the koakuma before she's beaned with about twenty golf balls, "Heh... serves you ri-owch!" and another.. though some turn towards the new one and shake their head, "Come on, Yumeko's got this." and with this, they attempt to fly away, all the while, trying to play dodge the golfball. They make one final retort towards Mai, "You saggy old lady!" ironically, the koakuma are more than likely older than she is...

    Back in the air, Sanae manages to get past the rest of the koakuma as Konoe works to keep them busy to give the Green White a shot at Yumeko. The koakuma shots are crashing in the barrier, picking up in intensity as they try to peirce it and land in the kittymiko. Then the snake. That giant bomb of a snake.

    Not only are Yumeko's shots cleared and not able to get through, Yuna's are still free to go through, giving the maid a pressure point. She stops her own danmaku just to start dodging more! "Nnngh." and Yuna gets close and Yumeko's distracted enough dodging shots and a snake to notice the Matrix Divider slamming into her, sending the girl back into the ground. "Nnnngh! Ow... L..lady Shinki..." she groans out, turning her head, "A... alice? Alice what are you doing, go back to Makai!"

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Alice peeks her head over a roof top, watching the battle go on. "I told her... I really did." and she floats back down, the impact of Yumeko to ground causing the dollmaker to shake her head. "Get up, Lady Yumeko. We're done here. We're not taking this place and you're in no condition to further this along. I'll... I'll tell them to stand down, you and the rest of the koakuma retreat." Yumeko shakes her head and opens her mouth as if to say something but Alice gives a stern look...

    A nod is given before both Alice and Yumeko float upwards, showing themselves from the impact site. Alice speaks, low but in a commanding tone at least to the koakuma, her grimoire out in front of her, open, pages flipping. "Leave this place, girls. You're done here!" she starts, turning pale eyes towards the entire group, allied and 'enemy'.

    The danmaku stops... and all seems to be quiet for now as the koakuma whisper amongst themselves, Yumeko piping up, "Do as she tells you... Lady Shinki gave the order and she's closer to she than I..." a turn to Alice, "Good luck." and with that, they dive towards the open portal to Makai, leaving Alice to stare down Yuna, Konoe, Tomoyo, Sanae, Kotone and a gaggle of armored girls.

    Alice sighs, "I suppose a Hi is needed, but it seems they gave you a different kind of hello."

Tomoyo Daidouji has posed:
    Tomoyo was helping someone who tripped in the panic back to their feet when Yumeko falls to the ground near her! Though she was clearly part of the attack, it's just not in Tomoyo's nature to ignore someone who might be hurt. She began to walk over to the swordmaid to help her up... when she mentions Alice.

    And then, as if summoned by the calling of her name, there she is. Tomoyo looks up at the hovering magician youkai. Her face is a mix of worry for other people, and despair at her inability to do much... but that fades away as she smiles. "Good evening Alice. It's always good to see you," she says, meaning every word.

    She quickly peers at her surroundings. It doesn't look like the koakuma damaged anything or hurt anyone. And Yumeko was too busy dealing with Sanae and Konoe to do much either. "Well, it looks like everyone came through okay. So I don't think you need to worry too much," she says, trying to reassure Alice.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Performing a miracle of that degree, even if she borrowed power from another goddess to do so, takes her a moment to recover from. It's probably a good thing she had Konoe watching her back, and Yuna's friends keeping the devils busy, before eventually seeming to chase the remainder away. When she raises her head again and steadies herself in the air, it's to notice that the situation has changed. Certainly, Yumeko -- just like a certain other maid -- wasn't going to back down even when the numbers are against her. But a familiar voice calls out to put a stop to things, before it could get more serious. "Huh?" Sanae glances up, as Alice emerges from where she had been concealed. So she was there, after all. But... A look of obvious confusion comes over the wind priestess' face. What involvement did she have with these devils?

    Now, with things seeming to quieten down, Sanae is finally quite keenly aware of that bruising to her arm, and she gives it a rub. Now that she doesn't have to impress anyone, or hide her armpits, she looks a good degree more willing to show weakness. "Ow... Miss Alice, I'd ask what you're doing here and with those devils, but... I think I'm just going to..." Presumably, she was going to say 'take a break', but then suddenly startles. Has she noticed another threat? Instead, she scrambles to reposition the bag she had slung under her arm, as one of the koakumas' kunai had cut enough of a hole in it to send some of her precious cargo spilling out and flying to the ground below. "Ah!!" Since this seems to be Yuna's home world, she will let her handle things. Re-securing the bag, a glance is given to confirm Konoe's welfare, and then she floats down to be closer to Yuna and her allies.

    She does take a quick note of Tomoyo, though; so it wasn't a jorogumo, after all! "Thanks for helping with the devils, Miss Tomoyo," she smiles, though still looking a little drained from the unexpected workout. The same is offered to Kotone, as well, as long as she's within sight of it.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Mai can be heard yelling angrily at the Koakuma as they retreat out of her tee-shot range. VERY angrily, in fact - so angrily that it's hard to pick out exactly what she *is* shouting, but it sounds generally rude as well as incredibly upset. Let's leave it at that in the name of humor and good taste ...

Shiori is STILL trying to figure out what was going on; Kaede goes over to help clarify matters to her. She's not as patient as some people, though, so frustration might ensue. Remin, on the other hand, goes over to where Yumeko fell - just in time for Alice to peel her loose and send her on her way.

Yuna is there a little faster; however. Sanae's snakebomb did Yuna a big favor, clearing the increasingly dense danmaku out of the way for a moment, and giving Yuna time to close in and deliver a decisive strike - and since Yumeko actually *went* down from that hit, Yuna's not pressing her attack. Which is a good sign in a few regards - she didn't go into a berserk frenzy or anything. She's ready to continue the fight if necessary, but Alice's arrival and what happens thereafter prove that it *ISN'T* necessary ... much to Yuna's relief.

So. The invasion seems to be over, just like that. Yuna dismisses the Matrix Divider and makes sure her vambraces have closed up over the pulse blasters again, and only then approaches Alice a little further. "So ... I'm guessing you're not the 'Lady of Darkness' she mentioned," Yuna speculates, then bows - not too deeply, but enough to be polite. "Good evening, and welcome to Shiraokadai ... my home city. I'm Yuna Kagurazaka. Who's Lady Shinki and how do we stop her from invading again, either here or some other world that might not manage to drive them out?"

... just because she's standing down doesn't mean Yuna stopped being upset over what all Yumeko and the devil girls have done, of course. Maybe nobody (particularly civilians) got hurt - thankfully - but it was still extremely harrowing for all concerned.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe lowered her arms once it was all over. Her barriers were only a few bullets away from shattering. Thank the gods everyone else did what they needed to do in time or she would have become a pincushion.

     A furry, red and white pincushion.

     Meeting Sanae's look, she managed a small smile as she floated down to earth to join the others. Her gaze fell upon Alice and she frowned. "...Alice-san." A curt greeting. Though just about usual for the two of them anyway. "Care to explain what this is actually about now?"

     A pause was had, one in which she casually checked her candy bag, after seeing Sanae check her own. It was fine. Good. Her attention went back to Alice in short order.

     "Or are you going to spout somethingg cryptic and run off again?"

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    Yuna gets the first answer from the dollmaker, a slight nod. "No, and I have never nor will ever bear that title. You may have me confused with Mother." she gives a bit of a bow, keeping her head upright, her grimoire open and ready to use. "Lady Shinki... as her maid likes to say, is my Mother. All I can tell you is that I know she'll make an appearance outside, since acquiring land here has failed." she frowns a bit, "HOwever, good evening and Shiraokadai is lovely. A holiday, yes?" she questions, whispering just a bit, "Yuna Kagurazaka, I think I've heard that name before..."

    She perks back up, "I hope Lady Yumeko didn't give you too much trouble... she... is determined." a pause, Konoe gets a look, "Konoe... you haven't been shedding on my couch, have you? And no, I have no explination nessecary for you, False Miko." a pause, "At least you're trying to be unique. I saw that spellcard."

    Tomoyo gets a warm smile, "It's good to see you again, just wish this was a bit more favorable. You staying out of trouble?" Then Sanae gets a look, "I'm sorry, Sanae, but you'll know why if you continue to follow.." Alice soon heads towards the portal to Makai, "If you want to know more... meet me at Afterus next week..."

Alice Margatroid (807) has posed:
    With this, Alice ducks into the portal... and soon it seals up, as if it never existed.