Scene #2578: The Book Thief

Owner	Pose
Marisa Kirisame	BOSTON, city of commerce! Of trade! Of fairly-priced and high-quality clam chowder! It's also home to the headquarters of one of the Multiverse's more well-known supernatural problem solvers. Said headquarters, Heaven or Hell Tower, also happens to house a valuable archive of notes and tomes on the spiritual, magical, and everything in between. Some might be more interested in whatever artifacts may be lying around, or perhaps the case-files stored in the offices. But not everyone. Standing atop a nearby rooftop is a particularly enterprising young witch. She peers up at the facade of her target officebuilding with a small, portable brass spyglass- one that looks like it might just be an antique in its own right. "That's the place," Marisa chirps, beckoning her broom to her hand with a slight wiggle of the fingers, "Hope Cirno's right about this. Looks like it could be way more trouble than it's worth." Beat. "Pfah! Hahahaha! Who'm I kiddin'," she grins, leaping /off/ the side of the building, only to land on her broom's shaft like she were a surfer and Boston's skyline was some beach in Oahu. "Trouble's my middle name! Let's get this show on the road!" Normally, a girl surfing off the side of a building on /anything/ to the laws of gravity. But it, like several federal laws AND Boston's airspace, are suddenly and violently violated when she instead takes flight. Marisa laughs! She clenches her fists! She accelerates! She becomes no mere girl, no mere magician, but instead a witchy cruise missile aimed directly for the Heaven or Hell archives. There is a bay window in her way. It shatters, then explodes, because that's what happens when you fire magic missiles into a big pane of glass. The question now is: Who's going to show up to stop her!?
Guest Psyber	The elevator of the building lets out a loud ding as it arrives at the library floor. Psyber steps off it with a plate in his hand, "Yo Nate! I was grilling up some burgers for the fourth and I brought you one. Plain cheese with ketchup and Mustard on the side, right?" He asks as he holds out the plate containing a burger and some chips. Unfortunately, the happy moment of offering his best friend lunch is interrupted when a flurry of magical projectiles collide with it. It was, to credit, very durable and withstood a decent amount due to whatever methods of construction Psyber had build for in-office security. But under a sustained barrage, it eventually suffers a structural collapse and pretty much explodes. Simultaneously, the lighting in the room shifts from regular to a red warning light and a voice chimes in: "First floor security breach. Office under assault. Please either evacuate or respond." Slowly, steel shutters along the sides of the building around the windows begin to come down, preparing for a sustained assault. There's almost certainly enough time for Marisa to slip into the office before they come down and the lockdown begins, though. Psyber, who dove for cover behind a bookshelf, is drawing a gun and shouting, "Nate! You okay?!"
Sanae Kochiya	Little would Marisa expect those that have come to plunder Heaven or Hell before, though they did so a bit more diplomatically. A miniature shrine has been set into a small alcove along the Heaven or Hell tower's many hallways, or rather, is still in the midst of installation. A certain green-haired priestess has taken a break from the holiday preparations, and had been putting the finishing touches on the latest round of concentrations at the snake- and frog-aspected altar when something smashes through her concentration, like a bolt from the blue. There's an hour of her life that she's not getting back. Sanae reaches up a hand to rub at her forehead, snapped to the here and now. Ambient bursts of magical energy aren't unusual here, or even in this Boston, she has found, but this was different. Not to mention, somehow familiar. The distant sound of shattering windows, and then the shift in lighting to alert status, back up the intuition. "An intruder, disturbing the peace!?" She rolls up a detached sleeve, which immediately fluffs right back down, and exhales an invisible puff of either determination or annoyance. There is noone immediately around to see her break her game face, after all. After a moment of silently appreciating the defenses this place, that otherwise looks like most other office buildings, has, she gathers her wind around her and takes off down the hallways. It is a controlled wind, far more gentle than a Tengu's, but it's still likely that any paintings on the walls get sent a bit ajar from her hurried passing toward the apparent source of the noise. ...she'll help fix them later.
Nathan Hall	Nathan Hall is in the library at his usual desk, not in the usual adventure gear for obvious reasons. He seems to be fussing with his forehead, something odd about it recently or something. Psyber gets up, and he hurriedly straightens out his own hair a bit, looking up enough to start to reply and take the meal. "Ah, hello Psyber. That's right, I appreciate the me--" Is about as far as he gets in his usual exhausted monotone. Then the window of the archives is blown open violently, spraying books everywhere and knocking over shelves. As things settle and the red warning lights come on, Nathan doesn't answer for a moment, trying to get his bearings while Psyber alerts the others. He's over somewhere behind his desk, which has been knocked over, one limb splayed over the top to show he's not just taking cover but appears to have been simply tossed a bit. As Psyber calls for him, though, there's a few exhausted coughs and his hand reaches up. "Fine here. Please address this for a short time. I need to retrieve my equipment." And with urgent, unsteady, robotic motions, Nathan begins to scramble to his feet, and make his way to an area at the back of the library, where presumably he's going to get some things that can make him more useful. He's unforuntately not aware that the projectile in question was a person, because right now they can probably catch up to the librarian easily.
Xiaomu	While this whole 'Independence Day' thing is mostly lost on Xiaomu, she does get the whole 'celebration' thing ... and she was busy setting up her own preparations for the festivities, namely arraying a bunch of game systems for gleefully homicidal multiplayer gaming in the entertainment room. Then the building comes under attack, and the sage fox lets out a loud curse when the lightning shifts. If that cut the power just after she'd finished making all the necessary settings ... well, no help for it NOW, is there? Xiaomu grabs her staff and hoofs it for the stairs. She's only a couple of floors up, so waiting for the elevator would take longer than just springing down the stairs. She doesn't have grenades today, either ... but that might be just as well. Indoor battle, after all; the last thing we would need (or want) is either fire damage or water damage (from sprinklers) inside the offices.
Marisa Kirisame	'Sustained assault?' Not exactly! Not unless you count having a witch raising all kinds of havoc inside the library. A far-too-toothy grin splits Marisa's lips as the blast windows start sliding down. "That's a neat trick," she chuckles, "But no way those things are fast enough to stop me!" They don't even really move! Except downward. That could be a problem. Marisa grabs hold of her hat, pressing it against the top of her head. She drops her profile, bending further at the knee, until she's almost sitting on her broom. Barely- she can just barely make it! With just a little more speed-- No. Not enough. She'll need to do something... Drastic. Psyber, Nathan and whoever else might have made it to the library would see a monochromatic bolt charging straight at the rapidly diminishing gap in the wall. And then it flips on its side, the length of some long, broom-shaped object slides in all at once, followed immediately thereafter by a girl with long, fluffy blonde hair doing her best limbo in months. This-- this is--! HIGH-SPEED AIR-DRIFTING!? "Damn, bit too much power, bit too little speed. I'll need to fix that," Marisa mutters- mostly to herself- as she flips about to straddle her broom like a proper witch. "Knocked over a few book-cases too. That'll make it ro- Oh hey!" There's a book, fluttering through the air right there! Marisa grins and immediately shifts course to intercept it, not even bothering to read the cover before flinging it into a sack on her back. What kind of thief just steals whatever she can get her hands on!? A good one, that's what. By some strange quirk of chance, it seems her course has matched her trajectory to Nathan's, too! "Oh, heeeeeeyyyy there," Marisa drawls, dipping slightly to snatch a few more tomes off the floor. "Don't mind me! Just checking a few things out. I'll return 'em later! You guys can wait a month give or take a few decades, right?" She hasn't noticed Psyber or Sanae yet. This may be a bad thing! For the witch, that is.
Guest Psyber	The gun Psyber has drawn was pulled out of his Fetch Modus at random and happens to be... one of the Danmaku Tommy-Guns from the Sburb Universe. Unknowingly fortunate for him. The burger is placed on a book shelf and left there for later, barring it getting damged, stolen, or eaten. "Go, Nathan!" Psyber affirms as the librarian heads off after his gear. He's up and out of cover almost immediately, rolling across the floor in a suitably tactical fashion to land behind some other cover in case Marisa has more magic missiles to put down, "HEY! I dunno who you are, but you really picked the wrong building for a smash and grab. If you surrender now, it'll be way easier on you." Psyber then cocks the tommy-gun in his hands and pops out from around cover. When he pulls the trigger, a rainbow spray of dots and balls fly out, filling the space between himself and Marisa with Danmaku that will either hit her non-lethally but unpleasantly, or ping against furniture and book shelves to rattle the environment a bit.
Xiaomu	At least there was only one big hit to the building, but the fact is that there is now an intruder in the library and at least two other people are in there with her. On the one hand, Xiaomu would love to figure that means she can leave it to Psyber and Nathan ... On the other hand, the intruder, girl or otherwise, just interrupted a lot of preparatory work that Xiaomu had been putting her heart and soul into, and she owes at least one good solid kick to the perpetrator's hindquarters for it. With that thought still in mind, Xiaomu erupts from the stairwell on the first floor, gets her bearings, and heads towards the library, guided in large part by the sound of gunfire. ... Assuming that's gunfire. It's probably gunfire. Which means she has to be a little more careful in making her approach, once she GETS to the library. Which ... she's doing now, plowing through the door and scouting the red-lit room for hostiles, friendlies, obstacles, and other matters of interest.
Sanae Kochiya	In her haste, Sanae nearly bowls right into the entrenched Psyber - but fortunately, manages to see him and the impromptu waist-high cover in time to pull back on an imaginary throttle and enter hovering mode, an almost visible current of air billowing around her. Chatter over the radio, which she has on speaker coming from her (somewhat old) phone, has all but confirmed her suspicions already, but actually putting eyes on the situation causes her normally smiling face to gain a few degrees of cloudiness to the sunny disposition. The corner of her mouth might even twitch a few times. "Miss Marisa," she chimes, with an awkward amount of cheer, given the situation, and gives the worst-feigned innocent query of at least a week, given that she's already smash-and-grabbing, "Whatever are you doing here?" Since it has already become like this, and Psyber has already begun to lay down cover fire for Nathan to escape and fetch his gear, she'll spare anyone the explanations of how she knows this girl. Not seeking cover, she instead withdraws her wand from where it is normally fastened at her side, half-closing her eyes in concentration. The wind that had gathered around her begins to selectively blow elsewhere, too, conducting the miracle of making the very things Marisa is looking to steal into projectiles that, in the confusion of everything else, threaten to pelt her, and make them even harder to actually hold onto. "Resorting to this kind of thing," she chides! "This is hardly the way to make proper introductions to the multiverse!" Feeling the presence of someone closeby, through the subtle shifts in air pressure, she hovers to the side to allow Xiaomu entry into the sudden chaotic Librarium.
Nathan Hall	Nathan winds up face to face with Marisa, running alongside her broomstick riding as she snatches that book. His eyes get a bit wide and he adjusts his glasses just to make sure he's actually seeing what he thinks he's seeing. "What." He says, with utter monotone. Just like his stoic expression, it is flat and unexpressive. "No. I have to mind you, I am the librarian. Please stop taking books. We are using those." He's mustering the old monotone a little more in a crisis situation.
Nathan Hall	And then Psyber tells him to go. "Please excuse me." He says, making another soft worried noise, as he ducks and scrambles ahead. He's in synch with Psyber again these days, and as such, he knows the exact moment to duck under that stream of Danmaku and bolt ahead towards his gear. He is, of course, also in tune with the library, which means he can duck and weave around Sanae's projectiles. Right now he is dedicating far more attention than he should to checking to make sure Sanae's use of the books as projectiles isn't harming the books. SANAE.
Nathan Hall	He does eventually break away though, heading to a room in the back. Presumably where he keeps all his Adventuring Gear. Thank goodness he has cover fire, because otherwise Marisa might be able to blow him up on his way through the door. In likely short order, he'll be rushing through the doorway!
Marisa Kirisame	"Oh, YOU'RE the Librarian! I should have known," Marisa replies, flipping another volume over her shoulder and into her bag. "Nathan, right? Cirno said you had a nice library, but this is bigger than I thought! I mean, it's not Voile, but it's pretty impress- oop!" Angry Psyber Yelling is something Marisa can't possibly miss. With another book in her sack, Marisa's head snaps around to flash a jarringly cheerful grin his way. "Oh, shoot. Looks like you guys have me pretty well cornered. I should probably give up now before it gets much worse, shouldn't I?" Pfft. "Pfah!" Rice and Ball Bullets fill the air with stinging, bruising pain! Marisa laughs as she rolls to one side, leaving glowing cerulean orbs in her wake. She leads Psyber's shots, streaming them along from one bookshelf to the next. "Fat chance! Orreries!" With a flourish, Marisa tugs her hat from her head, releasing a quartet of brightly colored balls, all of which begin orbiting closely around her. Then, with a snap of her fingers, the balls all light up... And explode into LASERS. Psyber will suddenly have to contend with a barrage of (nonlethal) beams! But that's not all! Those cerulean balls she left behind wobble in place, then distend and transform into (similarly nonlethal) magic missiles. This is a proper Danmaku Duel now! ...Especially when a certain P2 Miko shows up. "Oh, Sanae, what are you doin' here?" She grins... As a book sails right into her forehead, sending her careening up and over a shelf. "Gah! What was that fo-" Marisa takes the book, peering briefly at its cover. She barely reads it before slinging it into her sack along with the others. "Oh hey, thanks! Just--" She shifts, opening the bag's mouth wide to snatch up as many flying books as she can manage, "Keep 'em coming, okay? I owe you one!" Nathan seems to have been allowed to do as he pleases. Xiaomu, however, might need to contend with stray lasers or the collateral damage of yet more magic missiles. It's kind of like an indoors fireworks show! Except slightly less lethal. Probably. Unless someone trips and falls or something.
Guest Psyber	To Psyber's credit, he's pretty fast and pretty reactive. None of the lasers hit him directly, though the blasts from their impacts or flying debris from where they hit shelves to hit Psyber and send him wobbling a bit in his run. He somersaults forward and under several of the cerulean balls, sliding on his back along the floor as he opens up another volley of the brightly colored spray on Marisa. "Lady, you really expect to break into my house and get away clean? At BEST, you're going to be repaying me for all the damn damage," He shouts as he rolls to the side to escape a few more shots and to vault to his feet. The drum from his gun is ejected and a new one inserted, reloading the Danmaku into it before he gets ready to take another dash at her. The followup is more Danmaku shots coming out. He's trying to keep Marisa's attention on himself while other people get in close, "Someone try to grab her!"
Xiaomu	Xiaomu's eyebrow twitches as she sees the intruder casually stuffing more books into her bag; fortunately for the sage fox, she's currently out of the path of most of the magical firepower being dished out. Unfortunately, she isn't going to be able to stay at a safe distance to do what she most particularly wants to do. "Kochiya, wasn't it?" she asks the goddess who's repurposing books and papers for her own projectiles. "Hold onto my staff for a sec, be careful if you try to use it for anything." She holds Suiren out - or perhaps just leans it against the wall next to her .. "XIAOMU CYCLONE!!" And then the sage fox charges, actually rebounding off of a still-semi-vertical bookcase to complete her leap. Coming down at high speed, she tries to hook her thighs around the thieving witch - and if the grapple is successful, momentum plus gravity will do the rest of the work as she tries to hurricanerana Marisa into the floor. With some luck, the witch's hat will take the brunt of the impact. As for Xiaomu herself - well, sure, she just took a flying leap into a crossfire, but she's been around danmaku before and doesn't anticipate critical injuries from it.
Sanae Kochiya	"That's what I should be asking you," comes the priestess' reply, though it soon turns into a slightly stammering, "Th-that wasn't what I--!" Sanae's already light skin fades a few shades, as she realizes she was unwittingly hurting their cause more than she was helping. That's the thing with miracles, though; always the proverbial double-edged sword. After the shock wears off, though, she puffs out a cheek momentarily, before regathering herself with a sigh. "Just because you're a friend of Miss Reimu, don't think I can forgive this intrusion, or you making a fool of me!" It's personal, now, and while the winds don't die down, she visibly changes her posture, drifting into the air with as much space as the library can afford. There is still a smile on her face, but it has a serious cast to it. Her suddenly bout of charisma is interrupted, briefly, when she's addressed by Xiaomu. The speed with which her face relents from that gravity to one of pleasant conversation, with a bright and sunny smile to the sage fox, is uncanny. "Oh, certainly! I'll take good care of it." She knows better than to try to use it without being familiar with it, but it does still leave one hand free. She then resumes her focus, making small adjustments to where she is hovering, as one of Marisa's errant beams coincidentally blasts right by her. GRAZE BONUS. Taking her own wand into her hand, and with a practiced series of swipes, she traces a five-pointed star in the air. After the gesturing is done, it appears to solidify into a solid mass of light, a circle now formed around the corners. While normally she would let this fire off - with Psyber's order to 'grab her' being seized upon willingly by Xiaomu, she repurposes her miracle. Aiming to avoid friendly fire, the magical light beams that blast from the star's points instead fan out as a wider spray, adding even more of a chaotic glow to the chamber, but more importantly serving as improvised bounding lasers: Everyone's favorite danmaku trick. Even if Xiaomu can't tackle her immediately, ideally she'll have fewer places to escape to for a follow-up.
Nathan Hall	Nathan gets to his gear. He seems well-practiced in applying it instantly and without delay, and as such, when he emerges from the room several seconds later, he's covered in some sort of armor! It's ICE ARMOR! A light covering of it, glowing with a gentle blue energy, obfuscating his body, especially the head, in smooth opaque plates. Nathan activates EMERALD COUNTERMAGIC, assaulting not Marisa herself, but her SPELLS! Crossing his palms in front of him, a stream of multicolored magic assaults the magical orbs that Marisa leaves behind, seeking to inject a chaotic rush of disruptive magic that will tear the magic apart and leave her with less offensive power. He'll begin firing this effect at her danmaku whenever it looks critical to do so! "Intruder, listen if you explain what you require help with, if you just explain what you need done here, I'm sure we can make an arrangement much more efficiently than grabbing books at random. Will you please stop shooting and stealing in my library? Those are specifically things I have done my best to make sure never happen here."
Marisa Kirisame	"Well in my defense," Marisa replies to Psyber. "If you didn't want your house broken into, you shouldn't put windows where there should be walls!" This is not really much of a defense of Marisa's character at all, but she doesn't particularly have time to deal with that particular hiccup of logic. She has danmaku to dodge! And what a lot of Danmaku that is. Because it's not just Psyber who's shooting at her now. Sanae's joined in the fun too! "Come on," Marisa grunts, dodging and weaving between streams of bullets and wide-area bombardments and all kinds of other nasty things. A few of them even collide with her hat! And that bag of books over her shoulder isn't doing anything good for her hitbox. "First you help me out, then you shoot me! Isn't that supposed to be Alice's thing!?" Is Sanae a tsundere too!? Unfortunately, with all the bullets, Marisa's freedom of movement is kind of shot to hell. When a HIGH SPEED FOX charges at her like some kind of Beast God Thunder Cat, Marisa looks like she's about shit out of options! But... Why is she grinning? The witch pulls open a pouch on her dress. Out come a handful of glowing, glass vials. Sanae knows what that means. "STARDUST," Marisa yells, hurling the bottles all around her. She twitches a hand, firing a burst of power at the TREMENDOUSLY VOLATILE MAGICAL EXPLOSIVES. "REVER--ie?" ...Boom? There's no earth-shattering kaboom. Where's the earth-shattering kaboom!? Answer: Intercepted by goddamn counterspells. "Wh- that's cheat-aagch!" In comes a fox. Marisa chokes as Xiaomu's TERRIBLE THIGHS snag around her neck. She goes careening off-course! Into several still-airborne bullets! She slams into a bookcase! It tips, topples, and falls over into the next one over! DOMINOES ENSUE. "Fuckin'--" Marisa gasps, struggling to stay airborne. To her credit, she does a pretty good job of it. "Not s'posed t' grab--" Her hand snags what appears to be a small octagonal box at her side. The little divot at its center flashes briefly. Sanae knows what's coming. Sanae knows what devastation this could cause. The words flash in everyone's minds as Marisa spirals off towards a wall. Glowing in bright, magical letters-- -LOVE SIGN- Love-colored (read: rainbow) magic suddenly begins accumulating around the octagonal box. Marisa's face may be turning blue, but the prismatic lightshow playing out around her is definitely way more colorful! "MAAAAAAASTER--" A pair of cocentric rings gathers over the octagon, inexplicably resisting even Emerald Circle countermagic. Could this spell be of a higher class!? SOMEONE STOP HER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
Guest Psyber	"NATHAN!" Psyebr shouts. He knows that any given time someone pulls out a small thing, it can only be a catalyst for a big something or other to be coming out in the near future. The half-angel tosses his gun to the side and apparently comes to the decision Xiaomu may have the right idea. He pokes his head out to get a bead on Marisa's location. He looks to Nathan and says, "Try uh... shit," He runs through a few plans in his head, "Try the Spellbreaker formation!" Nathan will roughly know what it is. 'Use Countermagic to delay the spell while Psyber tries to rush down the spellcaster'. With that, Psyber rushes in towards Marisa at a sprint. Hoping that Sanae's miracle and Xiaomu's attack were enough to tire Marisa out a bit, the half-angel is going to finally flex some actual muscle. His goal is simple: He wants to get to Marisa and put her in a clinch so he can either wrestle her magical box from her hand or at least direct it 'outwards and upwards' towards the sky, so that whatever is about to come out of it will find somewhere safe to fly off. Whether this works or not is yet to be seen. If it does work, and Marisa doesn't manage to squirm away, Psyber will probably have some words for her next round.
Nathan Hall	"Love sign" and someone yelling "maaaaaaster" are two things that, for an assortment of very unrelated reasons, immediately disorient Nathan's thought processes severely. Why is that, exactly? Why does he suddenly have a thousand-yard stare, not unlike a man traumatized? Well, we won't know, because Psyber snaps him out of it. "Right." He says, nodding firmly and rushing forward as well! He's dashed off to one side, behind Psyber and meant to synch with him well, to get Nathan some shorter range while letting Psyber draw the resistance. One of Nathan's icy hands lights up; he's retrieved another artifact from his equipment, of course, and the brilliant yellow light of HASTUR MAGIC builds up his arm. Instead of his borrowed solar essence, the safer and more standard option, he hard-charges his Emerald Countermagic with ancient eldritch powers, opening the throttle and shoving borrowed magic from the Unspeakable One into the spell. The yellow-tinted rainbow blast becomes a sustained stream; he attempts to fire on the spell and, even if it resists, at least slow down its charging by interfering with its effective buildup! Long enough for Psyber to do his tackle, hopefully! "We actually keep windows to let things out like this. Now, will you /please/ tell me what you are trying to do, so that we can help you do it without destroying my library and stealing my books? I am extremely willing to help, if there is some way to do so that involves neither." He calls out, still in that calm monotone despite the absolutely terrifying nature of these sorts of violent encounters. Any beam that has that much buildup would probably hospitalize him for a while, at least, even if Danmaku is allegedly usually nonlethal!
Xiaomu	On the plus side, the Xiaomu Cyclone managed to grapple Marisa and yank her off-kilter. So far so good. On the minus side ... while the witch is flailing around some, the hurricanerana failed to properly introduce her head to the floor, so she's still conscious and has a fair amount of fight left in her; also, careening into that bookcase almost meant it was Xiaomu who took the brunt of the impact. It's probably a good time to let go and regroup, so Xiaomu does exactly that, her legs parting and releasing her grip on the witch's neck - probably right at the moment when Psyber comes in for HIS grappling assault. It also gives Xiaomu the chance to bounce back to her feet and call out, "Kochiya, staff please!!" and then to catch Suiren when it's tossed to her. Now, if only the whole -LOVE SIGN- thing could be dealt with as easily ... Xiaomu settles for planting her staff next to her with her left hand, holding her right hand out, and beginning to chant - "XIAOMU WAAAAAAAAAVE!!!" Okay, that's not 'chanting' at all, just trying to trap the witch in a sealing circle and a sphere of mystical force. Psyber is able to enter, though; this is the same move Xiaomu uses to immobilize enemies for Reiji to beat four and a half shades of tar out of them before Xiaomu herself finishes the fifth one, so yes, it's entirely possible for Xiaomu's allies to attack through it. On the downside, the sage fox is immobile while she's trying to hold Marisa the same way.
Sanae Kochiya	"I was never helping you," Sanae uncategorically rejects the very concept. Well, not willingly, anyway. "And after you're beaten, you're going to tell us exactly who put you up to this!" She knows the usual flowchart. Marisa finds out about a cache of precious things from some informer, goes to help herself. Cycle repeats at some uncertain time interval. Despite that, though, Sanae knows - knows many things. Like that an experience danmaku artist like Marisa is never truly cornered, despite how it might appear. That is why she isn't gloating too much. Instead, her suspicions are confirmed, as Marisa seems to be reaching for something. Look out, she's got a bomb!! Sanae hovers back to put a bit more space between her and Marisa, expecting some explosions, bumping into yet another bookshelf in the process. Oops. It was unnecessary, anyway: Instead of cherry bombs for Independence Day, they get instead one of those super lame colored smoke bombs. "...huh? Losing your touch, Marisa?" There is genuine bewilderment in her voice, as she lowers the arm and detached sleeve that is currently holding Xiaomu's staff. Then her ears absolutely burn as her cheeks become red, "Language!" How is she ever going to find someone nice to settle down with talking in such crude manners? Xiaomu's calling for her staff thankfully gives her a distraction from it, and after startling briefly, she pipes up, "Right!" She less throws it to the sage fox than delivers it on a controlled burst of wind, but it achieves the same ends, as well as making it easier to grab than sending it over in a (admittedly more awesome) cinematic end-over-end spin. After she recomposes herself, she keeps her beams blasting, even though it is tiresome both physically and taxing on her faith levels to keep the miracle going this long. It doesn't stop her from noticing what is flaring up, in any case, and she shouts a warning that is far from counter to Nathan's instincts, "If you can't stop her, then just run!" Such protips. That would also be why she, herself, is already subtly bobbing towards one corner of the room, despite the counterspells in place. She will need to ask Nathan where he gets all those wonderful toys some other time, when Marisa isn't about to blast everyone with the power of love. She uses the last of her immediately accessible pool of faith to keep the beams focused, so at least Marisa's aim might be a bit more predictable.
Marisa Kirisame	THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH GOING ON FOR SANE WITCHES. So it's a good thing that Marisa is probably anything but. Xiaomu's sealing sphere pops up around the witch like the barrier of a certain other priestess she knows. All things considered, though, she wasn't going to be going anywhere anyway. Or rather, she wasn't intending on going anywhere. That might change in just a moment. The sphere certainly doesn't make it easy to dodge Psyber when he bull-rushes right in though. Marisa is fit for her age, but she's just an ordinary teenage girl at heart- and finds it hard-pressed to deal with both Sanae's continued bombardment and Psyber groping at her arms and legs. If this were any other situation, she'd be making a joke about harassment. But it's not. "FUCKIN'--" Marisa growls as her arm's twisted away, cussing again in clear defiance of Sanae's hopes and dreams for a witch's wedding day. "GRAPPLERS!" Her Hakkero crackles and pops as Nathan's countermagic slams into the power accumulating over its surface- it does not fade, however. The Hakkero is a powerful artifact indeed, and the Master Spark is itself a tremendous if horribly blunt-force spell. Still, it's delaying the launch, and that JUST WON'T DO. Timing is everything for death-bombs, and Nathan is totally throwing hers off! Which is when an idea pops into her terribly witchy head. If these guys are cheating... She'll just have to cheat too! "FNGH-DOUBLE SPELL," Marisa yells, removing what appears to be a green, paper talisman from one of her pouches. She crushes it in one hand, which disgorges a blinding flood of light. Light which coalesces into a jagged, rotating sphere that rolls inexorably into Nathan's countermagic. The incoherently grappled witch, while /STILL BEING GRAPPLED/ seems to have gotten off another bomb! As the anti-magic beam twists through the sphere, Nathan would notice the chaotic component energies themselves beginning to fray, dissolving into raw mana. Mana which is being drawn right into the spell that they had been arresting only moments ago! Xiaomu's sphere isn't spared either, as the orb barrels through it as well. Finally, terribly, Marisa grins through the pain of having her arm wrenched away from her body. Truly, there is no stopping this! The Annihilation of Love! SPAAAAAAAAHHHRRRK! There is a shockwave, like an expanding, circular rainbow, carrying a surge of vaguely star-shaped magical projectiles in its wake. A thunderclap follows, as a thin beam of love-colored light lances out of the little octagonal box... and then EXPANDS. Growing to a size that is quite frankly unnecessary. ...Which is why it's probably good that Psyber had managed to force he actual blast up and out of a convenient blast-shutter. The only thing that the Heaven or Hell crew needs to deal with are the shockwave and the cloud of miscellaneous projectiles. Shutter's probably screwed though. So is the glass behind it. But due to their sacrifice, the Master Spark would carry on and out past them, leaving the office itself (more or less) safe and in one piece! It would continue to expand, growing and widening, filling the Bostonian sky with a great cone of brightly colored, prismatic light. Hopefully there aren't any planes up there. But at least it's a hell of a light show!
Guest Psyber	Alright, first things first: The massive Master Spark absolutely obliterates even the magically reinforced steel shutter and the plexiglass window behind it. It plows through those with a bit of effort and then rockets outwards and up into the sky, surging and carving a massive hole in the side of the first-floor of Psyber's office building. The blast itself carries up into the sky, narrowly missing a couple skyscrapers with its rainbow-colored beam. Finally, when it hits the apex and explodes, people all around the city can see the lightshow in the sky. Many or most of the citizens, due to the day of the year, clap a bit and are astonished that Boston went particularly showy with fireworks. However, there's a general sentiment that daytime fireworks don't work well and it would have been a better show at night. The city employees to whom these concerns are voiced are VERY confused, as there were no city-sanctioned fireworks. Inside the office, Psyber is panting a bit from the effort of trying to restrain Marisa. Superhumanly strong as he is, he only rarely uses that much strength to hold a person. So his grasp on her isn't that strong. Still, he does freeze up when the giant beam exits his office. "Okay, first? That was really fucking cool." Psyber removes one of the hands holding her to hold up a single index finger. "Second: YOU BLEW A HOLE IN MY GODDAMN HOUSE!" He shouts angrily, glaring at her as he releases the grasp, "Over books! If you had skills like that, you could have been HIRED. AND BORROWED THE BOOKS FOR NO HASSLE." He scowls, "Now you're going to work for me until you pay off every cent of the damages."
Sanae Kochiya	It's a token of how much Marisa has grown as a magician over her years, of her dedication, of her willpower, and of what a little dynamo the Mini-Hakkero is. That is, that even delayed, and then with the bulk of its force redirected, the MASTER SPARK still has effects on the immediate environment. Sanae's beams falter around the same time the adjacent and collateral torrent gets unleashed on the Librarium, the blast wave non-lethal, yet still managing to wedge Sanae's body tightly between two bookshelves, with a third one finally destabilized enough to topple over. There's nothing to worry too much about, though. After a few moments, the still-mostly-loaded shelf is pushed back upright with surprising force by the priestess behind it. She extricates herself, standing a bit unsteadily with singe marks visible on her blessed robes as well as light scratches on her exposed skin, but she otherwise seems whole enough. Lady Kanako will certainly scold her for letting herself get hit. If one gets a close enough look, the frog hairclip she wears seems to have acquired X-shaped pupils over its eyes, and the snake that coils around a lock of her hair dangles limply. Even so, she musters up the strength to smile, but it's somehow a dangerous one, as some wood splinters fall out of her emerald green hair, "Miss Marisa...now that you've had a chance to work out that energy, how about apologizing for the trouble you've caused these people?" Even with Psyber making arrangements, she has her own requirements, you see! She turns a toppled chair back upright and sets herself down upon it, obviously winded (hah), but trying to make herself look as composed and dignified as one can with minor burns and scorch marks. If Marisa has yet another trick up her sleeve, she's not in much shape to do much about it now. The imaginary Faith bar is all tapped out and blinking.
Xiaomu	That's not supposed to happen in the middle of a Kimon Fuuji. Xiaomu lets her warding spell collapse, mostly so that SHE can collapse and lean heavily on her staff, the nearest wall, or (preferably) both at once ... while sparing a hand to rub her forehead, since she can feel an oni-slayer of a headache coming on from the excess of stress. Psyber blowing his top very loudly at Marisa doesn't really help her head, either ... much as she agrees with him. "Seriously, who are you?" she finally asks the witch. "If you're going to invade someone's home and/or place of work and try to 'borrow' their stuff without permission, you at least owe us a proper formal introduction now that we've beaten you up and stopped you ... although on that note." Marisa still has a bag with some books in it, doesn't she? Xiaomu is going to rectify that - taking the bag away for now, rather than simply going through it while Marisa's still wearing or carrying it. And rather than going through it AFTER taking the satchel, Xiaomu drops it on the floor and sits on it, to make sure the witch doesn't make off with it until Psyber announces that it's okay to let her leave.
Nathan Hall	Nathan is... Not taken off of his feet by the shockwave. He SHOULD, honestly, but something lets him just sort of stand there without motion. He had tried to cut power to the beam, but it was too late to not help Marisa, unintentionally. But he remains standing stoically. As things settle down, the extremely unsettled man cautiously approaches. His ice armor cracks and falls away naturally, leaving only one small bracer, and by the time he's over with Psyber, he's uncovered again. "Again?" He says, with a dry sort of tone. This will mark the second time that projectile violence in my library has led to a hiring." That's probably in good humor. Probably. "I echo the sentiment of my ally, who are you? And again, I reiterate that we're entirely happy to render assistance you need if you acquire it legitimately. Just need to acquire it legitimately. You already know that I am Nathan Hall, the librarian here. Who are you?" He's at least trying to follow up on Psyber's more diplomatic solution; his monotonous, respectful tones seem to be intended to gradually lead the conversation back into an agreeable arrangement.
Marisa Kirisame	As one might expect after enduring four elites and using as many spells as she has, Marisa is pretty pooped! Though she still definitely has enough energy to... Laugh like some kind of horrible elemental force of good cheer and ultraviolence. "What, just walk in the door and ask for a job?" Marisa snickers, even when Xiaomu retrieves the office's books. "Come on, that wouldn't have been anywhere near as interesting, and I wouldn't've gotten the chance to show off. 'Sides, I don't usually work for other people, you know?" Assuming Psyber allows her to, Marisa sits herself up, using her broom like a kind of crutch. "Name's Marisa Kirisame, magician, problem solver, laser witch, Sanae knows me," she says with a grin that somehow betrays absolutely nothing of how tired she actually is. "I want your books because they've presumably got some material I can use. You know, pursuit of ULTIMATE MAGICAL POWER and other normal magician things, you know. Wasn't really expecting four of you guys though. Might have to remember to bring some heavier firepower along." Her head lolls over towards Psyber, then, "So uh. How long are we talking about here, 'cause I've had vampires try to weasel me into deals like that before. You tell me how long and I'll see about makin' things square."
Guest Psyber	Psyber looks around the destroyed Library, eventually just backing off of Marisa and sitting down in one of the few remaining chairs as he exhales. Even as strong as he is, sponging that much Danmaku in the aftermath of her laser was exhausting. He rubs a hand over his face and leans back in the chair, "I gotta admire the attitude, if nothing else," He says in a way that makes it seem he wouldn't mind Marisa if she were directed at someone else's house instead of his own. "The damages, though? I dunno, you did a few grand in structural damage, destroyed some plexiglass, some magically reinforced steel, god knows how many book shelves," He runs the number over in his head, "By my estimate, it'd take you a few months to pay off, at most. Then we can see if you wanna stick around as an actual employee," He adds, watching her. He looks over to Nathan and Xiaomu, since they were also here, "That sound like a fair deal all around?" He is immensely tired.
Xiaomu	"Sounds good enough to me," Xiaomu says to Psyber. "We gonna keep the numbers for damages vs. accrued pay somewhere that she can keep track? So she knows we're playing fair with her?" She looks Marisa over briefly. "So how DID you do the big freakin' rainbow laser there at the end? I'm curious ... and if it's something you can teach others, I dunno, that might be worth carving some more off the bill you owe. Depending on Psyber's opinion of things. Also, I'm Xiaomu - agent of Shinra, troubleshooting sage fox, semi-professional otaku." She stands up straight long enough to bow politely - although if Marisa tries to yoink her bag back, Xiaomu is ready to block the effort with her staff while finishing her bow.
Marisa Kirisame	Psyber might be somewhat relieved that Marisa IS regularly directed at Other People's Houses. He might also find some sense of camaraderie in the fact that all of those people would mostly prefer it if Marisa were pointed at Someone Else's House. Funny how that works! "I guess I could spare a few months," Marisa mutters, rubbing at her chin. She wobbles a little bit as she considers- it'll take somewhere around a few months to go through all of their books anyway. So it'd probably work out? "Oh," Xiaomu asked a very interesting question! Marisa has an answer for her. "Master Spark ain't difficult. First, you gotta focus the right thoughts on your very own Mini-Hakkero," she displays HER own Mini-Hakkero. It sparkles. "Then you gotta make sure you're aiming at someone you won't miss. Finally, you unleash your ~Annihilation of Love~ and you're good!" That explanation probably helps absolutely nobody. "A fox, huh? Name sounds continental too." She grins, "I know another fox from the Continent, but she's got nine tails on her."
Nathan Hall	Nathan raises an eyebrow, but makes a plaintive gesture. "I am attempting to handle these things, to process these things much more... Maturely, I suppose, with more relaxation. I don't think I've any objections to the arrangement. As long as she does not assault us further, as long as I don't have to contend with... 'Annigilations of Love' anymore. That's my condition." He squints at Marisa. "You are not going to do that again, right? I've no objection, no real substantial objections to it if you're going after... you said 'ultimate magical power'? No objections, really. But if ultimate magical power could be used for things that aren't destroying my library, that would be optimal, that'd be best really." He also holds a hand out to her, as if expecting something.
Xiaomu	"Sage fox," Xiaomu repeats with some emphasis on the 'sage' part. Mistaking her for a common Japanese kitsune is hazardous to your health, after all. "Or 'huli jing' if you want to use the proper Chinese term." She's not holding out too much hope for the latter, from the sound of things. She glances at Nathan, then looks at Marisa. "Any 'ultimate magical power' which may derived from the libraries of Heaven or Hell Enterprises is considered the intellectual property of Heaven or Hell Enterprises, and may only be utilized by authorized representatives of the company in the performance of their duties," adds Xiaomu with a completely straight face. She's had to dictate weirder contractual terms before. Of course, she's not negotiating as a duly designated representative of Psyber's company at the moment. ... Is she?
Marisa Kirisame	"Sage fox, heavenly fox. Foxes are foxes," Marisa replies with a chuckle. "Relax, I know the difference. Just messing around is all." She pauses, then frowns at Xiaomu's little conditional line. "'Fraid I can't exactly agree to that one. If I put in the work to make sense of what you've got, then that shit is /mine./ I'll share it if I feel like it, but mandating that stuff just makes me want to keep it way off the books, if you get my meaning." Nathan gets a shrug, then. "Eh. I don't see why I'd break out my Spark in here again. Probably won't need to, but I'll avoid it if it comes up." She peers at Nate's hand for a long moment, before rolling her eyes and fishing for something in one of the frilled layers of her skirt. It's... a book. She places it in Nate's hands. "Can't fool you librarians for a second, can I?"
Nathan Hall	"You are free to read. Free to read as much as you like. Your checkouts. however, are limited, quite finite." Nathan says, the usual exhaustion creeping slowly back into his monotone as he takes the book. "If you are working for us, I freely offer my librarian services to ensure you can locate and read whatever research materials you need. We just need them to stay here, just need them to stay... Accessible. Accessible to the others, for obvious reasons. Very obvious reasons." He exhales a held breath in relief. "Well, I think this is an acceptable arrangement." He says. And then with that same flat tone, "Now, please help me with the shelves. This is a complete mess." Marisa's outfit looks enough like she knows how to clean places up at least! "Absolute chaos here."
Marisa Kirisame	There's a beat. A long, terrible beat. "...Uh," Marisa says, staring up at Nate. "Just 'cause I have an apron doesn't mean I'm a maid, you know. I mean, if you REALLY REALLY want me to, I can try the room-cleanin' magic I've been working on."
Xiaomu	Xiaomu shrugs gamely at the objection to her proposed (in jest) condition. "You could at least share your research with the rest of us, then?" she suggests, getting up from the satchel she was sitting on, and stretching like she's warming up. "So is your cleaning magic going to get the furniture straightened up again, or should we handle the bookshelves the hard way?" Also, for some reason, Xiaomu is now in a meido uniform which looks even more like one than Marisa's usual dress plus apron.
Nathan Hall	"You also have a broom." Nathan says, pointing stoically. "Let's keep room-cleaning magic limited to things that have been tested thoroughly appropriately. What I mean is help me lift this." He makes a plaintive gesture and indicates his nerdy noodlearms, then goes to get to work on the shelves.
Marisa Kirisame	Marisa sighs, making a noise that just might have been a very rapid 'yare yare da ze.' She never gets to use the room-cleaning magic! "Fine. What is with librarians and being about as tough as soggy mocchi, anyway!?" She looks to Xiaomu for a long moment... And then shrugs. "I'll think about it. Let's just get this all back together 'fore someone busts a blood vessel. Or trips."
Nathan Hall	"I am not tough. I am quite fragile, actually. Extremely soft. That is why I asked you not to assault the library anymore, so that I do not have to be hospitalized." Nathan says, as if endeavoring to convince himself mostly. "Thank you for assisting, yes."
Xiaomu	"Oh, I know some tough librarians," Xiaomu says mildly as he moves to start helping with righting the bookshelves. "Carrying all those books is good exercise, after all, and even your basic file folder of paper weighs more than some people would think ..."