Scene #4306: Community Service

Owner	Pose
Homura Akemi	Through whatever means-- maybe you felt the disturbance, wandered in randomly, or are responding to the request for help put out by Homura (fairly generic and loose in detail for non-Union folks)-- you find yourselves in Mitakihara Town, Japan, probably through one of the countless Warp Gates that can be found all around. The particular meeting point is the Mitakihara Community Center, which is unfortunately more than a little bit chaotic at the moment. Within, functionaries and volunteers have begun brawling, with whatever tools they could get their hands on. The atmosphere is heavy with the obvious influence of a Witch, beckoning new arrivals to join in on the violence, but lacking the power to impose that sort of compulsion on Elites. Those who arrive are quickly debriefed by Homura, who simply states she'll handle the people outside while people find the Witch itself. By her reckoning the entry portal is in the central staircase no one uses because the building has elevators. She also warns to be careful, because she's pretty sure she spotted a familiar or three OUTSIDE the Barrier and that would tend to indicate a high-tier Witch. The way to the staircase does have one little issue and it's the fact there's a few dozen assorted and random people swinging brooms and trying to murder each other with them. They all have a mark on their necks, what looks like a stone pillar.
Genji Shimada	Genji was not here by any sort of directive. He's out looking around the Multiverse, getting to know the place a bit better now that he's seen so much of the craziness that goes on here. His wanderings just happen to have taken him to Mitakihara, a place that has the cyborg's curiosity... at least, until people in the mall he's been watching from the roof started brawling of their own accord. "What the..." For a few seconds, he watches with concern, but it keeps happening, and keeps getting worse, so he takes the risk of showing himself and heads in. It's pure coincidence he ends up near the staircase. "What is this... weird atmosphere," he mutters to himself. They seem so absorbed that they don't even notice a ninja cyborg dashing by. And he can feel... something, nudging at him. Pushing him to try and take part. It's not working, but it puts things in perspective. Something is weird here. Something is wrong. Something... he's got to do something. But what?
Eithne Sullivan	How lucky that it's Sunday! It's still really hard to explain to teachers that she can't stay in class because she has to help save the world. They always demand proof, like radio transmissions, or hall passes, or doctors' notes. Something like that, Eithne is pretty sure... Gathered in the community center with the others, she was going to have her sword out but things are a bit crowded just yet... It's strange, working with other people, and she'd rather not make a terrible impression by clocking one of her new coworkers with it by accident. So while she may not have her sword... Eithne still has her ridiculous vitality to rely on, and she figures she's kind of cannon fodder. So she wades into the crush of mop fighters, throwing punches, occasionally picking one up and /throwing/ them at each other.
Guest Psyber	Psyber's hook in here is generally implicit. Where goeth the apprentice, so too goes the master, they say. Psyber is usually not too far outside of Homura's contact and response range, so when she put out a call for help, he was fairly swift to respond. "Ah shit. An actual Witch?" Is Psyber's first question, looking vexed at the idea of there being one in the city, "That's unfortunate. It means we have to move fast if we wanna salvage this. Alright." He adjusts his jacket and draws a handgun, checking the safety and then also takes a stun gun out of his other pocket, occasionally zapping a rioter that looks like they're getting too dangerous for him to not act on it. "For new people, try to avoid civilian casualties, they're suffering from mind control. Non-lethal subduing if you can manage it. Otherwise, we're gonna need to be fast, take out the witch, and try to save her as best we can," He decides, heading straight on. Rather than go up the staircase and through the people, he elects to try to leap over them and enter that way.
Zephyr Windstar	"Witches... it has to be Witches." says Zephyr as she rests her Device across a shoulder. She walks up beside the ninja guy. "That's what this is. Imagine the worst thing you can, then times that by itself." she says to Genji. "Be careful, they like to mess with your head." She then smirks softly, "Name's Zephyr Windstar, lets get this party started." The mage then starts vaulting up the stairs, seeking out the portal entrance.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra Hyral feels a disturbance in the Magic Particles. Which is to say she most definitely heard about this through the Heaven or Hell network beforehand, giving her time to prepare. She's armed. She's toting along the GLEAMING GRENADIER'S CURE-ALL, though she hasn't had to use it lately, the recent-ish encounter with the Chaos Marines and the Warp had made her magic unstable again. She did not want to take chances tonight, especially in such an important and critical operation. Kyra is mostly specced for support but she is not without a bevy of explosives at her fingertips, hidden on her person, though mostly in either the Matter Manipulator or in her hoodie. This isn't Kyra's first Witch. It's her second! So the dimensional transition isn't as jarring as before and when she's within, she already sets to work on those assorted random people. Familiars? Hostages? She didn't know. All she knows is they kind of look like they're being influenced by something. Influence that she could possibly break with an esuna.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Well, it's not like you can have a skyscraper and NOT have stairs of some kind, thinks Yuna as she heads towards the building where Homura reported Witchsign. Her idol work brought her to this part of the Multiverse today, and the appearance was just wrapping up when the alert came through, so while the blonde idol didn't make the best time she could have hoped for, she got here as quickly as she could - with the whole Matrix of Light accompanying her: the little robo-faerie Elner, and her 'doubles,' Jiina, Marina, and Erina. Yuna's optimism starts tapering off when she spots the mob trying to kill each other with brooms around the entrance to the stairwell; Yuna herself actually has to stop and rub her forehead. "Ungh ... transformation time already. Elner, if you -" She doesn't have time to finish the request before Elner triggers Yuna's transformation, her civilian clothes replaced by the sleek, gleaming armor of her Light Suit. "- thanks. Erina?" Yuna looks to her twin-tailed companion; the purple-haired girl nods, relinquishing her human guise in favor of her true form, an armored gynoid with little 'face' except for two brightly-glowing optics; then Erina's form goes translucent and 'phases' over Yuna's, before disappearing entirely as a wireframe image appears around Yuna's battlesuited form. Pieces of power-up armor start materializing almost immediately, connecting to the Light Suit and too each other; when the process completes - coincidentally (or not) filling in the space marked by that wireframe - Yuna is in her full Flight Form armor ... Which means she can just fly over the crowd. Rather than simply going straight up to the portal, though, Yuna hovers above the crowd, pursing her lips briefly. Could she distract them from the impulse to do violence to each other, at least temporarily? Eh, it's worth a try. o/~ Your voice saying "Good morning!" Dissolves in the breeze and brushes against my hair A comfortably sweet sound Flows softly, resonating in my chest o/~ Unaccustomed feelings, a deep breath to hide them, With a cool look, I turn my gaze away Yuna's just singing unaccompanied, but putting her heart into the cheerful little song - maybe more cheerful in tune than the lyrics suggest - and hoping that distracts the be-Witched mob at least a little bit. Behind her, Jiina and Marina look at each other, shrug, and fly straight up to whatever level the portal is on. If the song doesn't do any good, Yuna will be following them shortly - because the only sure way to break a Witch's control over people is to take the Witch out herself, just like Psyber said.
Fate Testarossa	"Sir." The smooth buzzing voice of the black axe draws Fate Testarossa from the reverie of thoughts in turmoil. Ruby eyes blink as the girl looks to the golden gem on her glove. "Bardiche?" She had come to this world in search os power. She finds it. "Energy source located." The Device intones, resonant voice unwavering and sure of his discovery. The girl is silent in reply. She stands on the rooftop of a building not too far off, wearing a lacy black dress, not yet in her Barrier Jacket, but the word of her cherished staff is enough for her to have no doubts that maybe she can find something of this world to take back to Precia and help ease her mother's clear pain, in hopes of seeing that vibrant smile again. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" The woman at her side asks. "I'm smelling a lot of powerful people showing up, too. And we don't even know anything about this place." Arf says, setting a hand on her hip as she sniffs the winds. "I'll be fine. Because I'm strong. Bardiche... Set up." Fate murmurs in reply to her Familiar, fingers curling around the silvery shaft of metal forming in her hand. "Yes, sir." The faithful black axe of light affirms, piecing himself together, part by part in her grasp as whe watches from up above. The sight of the possessed striking one another, and the others arriving. ... Gathering with a purpose.
Ellestaria	It isn't Ellestaria's first witch. Not by far. She's dressed in casual clothing at least... the sort a teenage girl would wear in Mitakihara, since she's well familiar with that. She doesn't even try to break the hold on minds, given the continued spread of it. Whispered spells is all she does, spells that whip out mistical chains from the floor to bind the various brawlers and minimize casualties. "The center stairwell, hm?" Lest hurries toward that, noting all the... unfamiliar faces. Well, mostly unfamiliar. A lot of newbies here. Well, there are enough experienced ones that they should pick it up quick.
Eclipse	So this was where the spirits had led her, Eclipse thought. Ordinarily she didn't like big, futuristic cities like this. If they were built without respect for nature, Eclipse could somehow feel the pressure put upon the spirits. This city, while vast, did at least give its trees and river a valued place. The disturbance here was of a different kind, the shifter thought. It wasn't long before she located the others, just in time for Psyber's explanation. A witch (some sort of magic user, if the term meant the same here as what she was used to) was causing the citizens to become violent. While the others were bypassing them or... singing to them, Eclipse just headed straight for them. If she were close enough, she could hold them with spectral vines. That might make it easier for everyone to get through.
Himei	Yeah, getting a call from Homura is... there's not a whole lot of things that could be. And sure enough, showing up to this chaos has Himei trying her best to avoid the problem. She's equipped without her weapons, mostly... only the pistol, really. In casual clothing, the magical girl is left grumbling at the crowd. "I forgot how much of a pain it was to get to these when this happens." Fortunately she too is well-equipped to handle civilians, with a quick takedown hold or the like. Sadly she has no group stun ability, and so it is slow going toward the stairwell. To those who are nearby, she quickly points out, "When we see the gate, go right in if you can, but stay together! Don't use any large pulses of magic or other energy sources until we know the situation, it'll attract enemies that are just a waste of our time."
Homura Akemi	What Eithne will find is that these people aren't even slightly threatening. Maybe if she stood REALLY still and gave them a free hit. They're as normal as normal gets, and generally untrained in any sort of fighting. It's not hard to wave through and force a path into the crowd, something that Eithne handles for the others in a very, very timely manner. Some help from Ellestaria doesn't hurt, and while Yuna's song won't be breaking the hold it does distract them momentarily. Spectral vines from Eclipse more than finish securing the path. Kyra finds, sadly, that Esuna doesn't really work. Whatever is controlling them is about as much of a status effect as being possessed by a ghost. You'd need something a bit more specialized to undo it. On the other hand her healing might keep the crowd from killing each other. Homura trails behind the group, having produced a large amount of rope out of nowhere. "I'll keep them from doing anything stupid until you've dealt with the Witch, as Psyber says it'll revert itself then." Moving forward, the group finds the staircase, going up two floors before finding the gleaming portal, invisible to non-Elite eyes. It's actually kind of blatant; like a cross between a stone column and a pedestal, appearing from the same angle regardless of where you look at it from. Large enough people can step through it.
Homura Akemi	Heading into the Witch Barrier causes the usual disorienting effects, as you enter another being's reality. The portal dumps everyone on a white marble platform. It's big enough to accomodate everyone. The only sound here is the noise of a grinder. A very large grinder. Looking past the edges of the platform, one sees nothing but pitch black void, and far, faaaaaar below, an immense grinder. The platform, it turns out, isn't a platform, it's a stone pillar, rising from between the blade sections of the grinder. It's not the only one, either. To everyone's right, an even larger pillar, a dozen times the size. To everyone's rear, a pillar identical to the one they're standing on, slightly shorter, and within jumping reach. To everyone's front, a slightly taller pillar, also within jumping reach. In other words... there's a central, massive pillar, with a spiral of increasingly taller pillars around it, like platforms you're meant to jump to ascend higher (or lower). This shouldn't make any sense, because there's only finite room for new, taller pillars to appear before they overlap with the previous level's, and yet if people try ascending or descending they'll find the only way to see the prior level's pillars is to look back, and the next's to look forward. And all of it is jutting out of a huge grinder who knows how far down below. Grinder which is actively eating the pillars, but it doesn't seem like you ever actually get closer to it. Overhead, rather than a sky, the central pillar is holding up a globe. It's hard to tell due to the background being pitch black, but you can almost see shapes moving in it sometimes, like birds or bats.
Genji Shimada	The strange, tall girl - Zephyr - is spouting words that leave Genji more than a little confused. Everyone is. "Could someone explain to me what the hell's actually going on here? When I attend a party, I usually know who the guest of honor is." But wait, the really tall guy said something about mind control, didn't he? That's a word Genji can latch onto. And not knowing what he's getting into at least doesn't seem to slow him down. He's following; specifically the tall guy who seems to know what he's doing. All the shinobi can gather is some sort of sorceress is manipulating these people? And... that blonde up there is singing. Well, alright. He'll do this blind if he has to. Or, at least, mostly blind. Himei's advice is simple and sensical enough that he can easily process it. Stick with the group. Don't use large pulses of power. Congratulations, Himei, you now have a cyborg ninja following you. And that... that must be the entrance to where this 'witch' is making her lair. Whoever she is, she's pretty blatant. Almost suspiciously so. But suspicion doesn't stop him from going in, and promptly being disoriented, followed by quiet horror. "This place... what the hell /is/ this?!" An endless nothing all around, a stone pillar under foot, and far below a grinder slowly eroding their position. One step, and he can feel space working weirdly. Disorientation is absolutely setting in.
Guest Psyber	Psyber stops and looks to Genji, "Right. Explanation. I'm sorry, dropped the ball there." He pulls the slide back on his handgun and lets it slam forward, "Okay, you are in the projected dimension space of a being formed out of the raw misery of a moment of despair. We're trying to find the source point of this dimensional disturbance so we can damage it, causes it to collapse inward, and then attempt to purify it and salvage the victim's life. It sounds batshit crazy, it's gonna be an AWFUL time, but you're probably going to save a girl's life today if we're lucky." "You can ask any other questions while we move, sorry to have to truncate a very long explanation, man." And then Psyber's off and walking again. But he's moving much more slowly at this point, sussing out the rules of this world, "Sometimes these worlds have their own rules. Be careful proceeding until we figure out if it has a gimmick or not."
Kyra Hyral	Kyra finds her esuna failing. "Interesting, so it isn't some kind of Charm spell. She's about to continue with something else, eager to solve the problem, when Homura tells everyone to move ahead, declaring that she'll focus on helping the people. Kyra gives the magical girl a nod before she follows up into the room of pillars. Kyra looks up. She looks down. Normally she'd pull out her phone to photograph this but her track record for pictures actually coming out in strange dimensions is tragically bad. With only passing notice of the environs, she calls out to the others. "So do we go up or down? I'm thinking /up/ to that globe thing. Maybe it's the heart, like with that last Witch?" Or at least the last witch that Kyra was exposed to, months ago.
Eithne Sullivan	If nothing else, she's good in a brawl. Eithne nods to Homura's instructions, glancing around to make sure nobody's bleeding (she didn't mean to hit that one guy so hard...) before following Psyber and the rest to the pillar. The other side is much less nice than a stairway full of concussed people. She feels something lurch in the spatial-awareness part of her brain, like her feet have been yanked out from beneath her; Eithne rubs at her temples, as if she could get rid of the dizziness and the noise at the same time. "Shut up," she grumbles at all of it, but takes a look around anyway, because this is a space like nothing she's ever seen before. She soon wishes that maybe she hadn't, because those are giant metal teeth grinding up everything below them and that is terrible forever. At least Psyber's explanation makes some kind of sense - all she has to do is help punch the witch to death, right? And after that, they might be able to save a girl's life, which is a pretty good reward all things considered. Without looking at her arm, Eithne reaches out and draws her rusted greatsword, a blade almost as long as she is tall, from nothing.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Sometimes, a distraction is all you really need; Yuna smiles in relief as the civilians are restrained, and waves and/or gives quick thumbs-up signs to her allies in dealing with the crowd. Then it's time to head through the portal ... which is, indeed, pretty obvious once she gets to it. And no sooner is Yuna inside the Barrier than she is very, very, VERY glad she's in Flight Form. Jiina and Marina stayed outside - mostly to help make sure nobody blunders into it by accident - so it's just Yuna with her flight-equipped armor, and Elner staying fairly close to her. "What kind of Witch creates a labyrinth like this ... ?" Yuna murmurs, the Matrix Divider materializing in her hands with a quick blink of light. Hopefully that's not enough of an exercise of power to start drawing Familiars ... But if it is, at least she's got her main weapon to start fighting them off of her. While the group is getting their bearings (and Psyber gives the quick skinny to those who are new to this type of mission), Yuna busies herself looking around from above the group, trying to pick out if there are any points of interest worth a closer look, or any kind of pattern to the grinders' movements or arrangement. She's not sure whether to warn people about the Witch's 'self-introduction' or not; maybe Psyber will cover that. There's no real preparation for it as far as Yuna's ever figured it - heck, as many Witches as she's helped fight, it still makes her brain hurt.
Ellestaria	A lot of new faces... but they seem to be handling themselves. Eithne is the one Ellestaria was worried about, because she knows(roughly) what Fate's capabilities are even if this one isn't with them... and she can see that Genji has decided to listen to Psyber and Himei, which should take him out of the 'problem pool' here. When Eithne starts to listen and pulls out her sword, she only has one thing to say. "Be careful using your powers until we've found the witch, as Himei said." The slender Atlantean considers the pillars, then glances at the others. Kyra's point makes sense. "Up, is what I'd say. Just don't fall off. I'm going to hold off on flight spells for now, but if we need anything like that later, don't hesitate to ask." She's already taking a short leap to the next pillar, though she'll wait there for the others before continuing.
Zephyr Windstar	Zephyr steps through the portal without hesitation. She's going to stick with the group, of course. Last time she did this rodeo she went off mostly alone, and that wasn't good times. "I could try flying, but that gives off a lot of power." she says, keeping close, and shruging her axe off her shoulder into a more ready position. "Looks like we're going up to the big sphere." she observes. "It's, really hard to keep this all straight here."
Eclipse	This was... not the sort of magic she was used to seeing. "This place is... wrong," she states simply. It was a world as foreign from nature as it seemed possible to get. She wouldn't be able to rely on the spirits' power here- only her sword and the Midnight Howler. She approaches Eithne, feeling that it would be best to travel alongside her. "Let's begin the hunt," she says.
Himei	"I hate the non-Euclidian ones," Himei mutters. Seeing that some people are still confused, she lets Psyber give the rundown, then adds lightly, "This space doesn't follow normal physics, and there will be minor creatures called familiars here. They're attracted to large bursts of energy. They aren't hard to beat but can be dangerous in numbers, and they'll go away if we can defeat the witch. Prepare for some... uncomfortable things with the Witch though, and they're all unique so we can't give you specific fighting techniques. Normally we just follow the usual pattern. Supporters like Lest and Kyra in the back strengthinging or melee front, while the ranged fighters spread out and sneak in hits as they can. Basic many on one strategy. Nobody but me shoot Psyber." She hops onto the next pillar, looking up and frowning. "Unless this is one of those puzzle witches..."
Fate Testarossa	Fate remains on her perch a few more moments, silently observing the scene play out while her Barrier Jacket replaces the lacy dress in a soft, humming, golden light; the air around her crackling with a soft static and ionized tinge. She could set up a barrier to deal with the mind control victims... It would help at least. But she does not. And the fact that she does not weighs on the girl's heart. She is here on a mission that is more important. If she can just find out what the source of that magical energy is. She has no clue that knowing the truth of it would absolutely horrify her. "Arf." "Hmmmmmmmmm?" "Stay here." She decides. "At least try and keep anyone from hurting each other too badly. ... And I'll give you a treat tonight." It's the smallest kindness she can afford, even if it earns her a confused and cross look from the redheaded woman. "Haaaaaa... You're a huge softy you know that, Fate? Alright alright." The Familiar concedes. Fate is off the roof a breath afterwards. Though she keeps her distance from the others and there is a slight delat to her arrival, her path is the same, into the Witch Labyrinth. The moment afterwards of being dropped onto the same pillar with all the others is played off in stone silence. The almost alien world is disorienting, and the flickering motion of shadows in the darkness makes scarlet eyes subtly drift, trying to find solid shape, grip tightening on her Device. She greets no one.
Homura Akemi	Predictably, this place doesn't really have a concept of 'nature' for Eclipse to feel or connect to. By that description alone it's odd. As weapons are pulled out, people start ascending, with Ellestaria and Himei hopping up to the next pillar ahead. Nothing really happens, which is probably vexing to those who were expecting something horrible to suddenly fall on their heads. It just leaves that axe hanging overhead. At least, for a moment. Far below, a sudden crack in the central pillar (the one all the platformy ones are around) causes it to shudder, suddenly slamming down several meters as the grinder consumes a section of it. A rain of large stony debris happens-- going up, towards the orb. The group is assaulted by an upside down rain of large, jagged concrete and marble blocks, which damage the pillars around the big one too. One particular large piece of stone impacts the pillar the group first came in on, and it starts wobbling, ready to tip over and fall. Time to start platforming upward, because when it does, it crashes into the next pillar, and that's a domino effect waiting to happen. (Note: flying here works fine, there's no weird wonky rules or invisible walls.)
Eithne Sullivan	"Right, no magic," she nods, because if she's not going to be using magic then she needs her weapon. In Eithne's moderate amount of experience, you don't attempt to punch out the Titanspawn (or whatever) if you aren't already super good at punching things. The longer she's here, the less she likes this place, but a sudden presence at her side makes Eithne look over - and grin at the wolfish woman. "Good hunting," she nods, and bounds to the next platform as the pillars begin to collapse. Any shrapnel bits larger than her head get batted away whenever possible, but Eithne just tanks the smaller ones - there are too many to dodge. "C'mon, to the top, right?!" she calls out, glancing back over her shoulder.
Genji Shimada	Genji is so wrong-footed that when Psyber finally stops to explain, the cyborg pretty much stops everything and drops all thought processes to listen. Abandons the thoughts that are clouding his vision, in favor of clarity. A dimension formed from someone's raw misery, and they're trying to end it. It's going to be horrid. It's going to save a little girl's life. "It's fine," Genji replies to Psyber, his voice calmer. "You just told me what I needed to hear the most." A panel on the cyborg's arm slides back for a second or two, and machinery is briefly visible within as it deploys shuriken up into his wrist. it closes again, and he deploys three from inside his hand to his fingertips, before falling into step not far from Himei. "I should be able to slot myself into that strategy just fine. I'm used to dealing with the unknown. If this is some kind of strange nightmare landscape," he adds in reply to Kyra, "I would say up too." It might not obey the laws of physics or causality, but if it springs from a person's despair, then it probably follows at least a dreamlike, subconscious sort of sense. Right? Please be right. Surprisingly, it's Lest he ends up near when they leap to the next pillar, though, and he opts to stay near her for now. "I assume, since we're not already under attack, the regular power sustaining my systems isn't the kind you mean. Something more along the lines of ki or-" He stops. The pillar just lost a section to shattering. Genji looks back, he looks at the debris and the pillar it knocks over, and one thought enters his mind. "Time to go." And he's going. Suddenly running at full speed, then taking a soaring leap up to the next pillar. "Toh!" His shortblade flashes around him, slashing through chunks of pillar as they draw near, clearing them out almost on reflex. He doesn't go too far ahead, though - because he's stopping to look back and make sure the others don't fall behind.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Maybe, Yuna thinks, there aren't any familiars here. ... they couldn't possibly be that lucky. (Could they?) As it is, though, the sudden tilting of that central pillar elicits an alarmed look from Yuna; they certainly won't need much in the way of Familiars when the environment itself poses this much of a danger. Yuna is busied to a certain extent by weaving around and dodging pieces of ascending debris, but at the same time, she's looking out in case any of her allies get knocked (or blown) off their footing. She half-expects gravity to go wonky and start pulling upwards instead of downwards, so she's bracing in case that happens as well. As easily as Yuna could just zip straight up towards the top of the platforms, she does not - she's sticking with the group, ready to protect or rescue her allies, even those who've turned up as opponents in the past. Maybe especially them.
Guest Psyber	Psyber spares a glance sideways at the arrival of Fate. The last time Psyber saw someone who resembled her help out, they turned it into a shitshow and stole Grief Seeds. Psyber assesses Fate, realizes her hair is blonde, not blue, and figures she may be here to help, "Hey. Fair warning, careful about magic." He cautions her, wanting to save her some hassle. And then he looks to Genji and nods, "Alright. Let's do this." And then the platform is wobbling! Psyber, who has the convenience of being able to summon wings, takes a couple steps forward and summons them as the platform tilts out from under him. He flaps for a couple moments, hovering in the air using the massive black wings and then starts flying upwards. Why platform when you can bypass platforming?
Kyra Hyral	"...well that solves that choice." Kyra remarks as she dashes to the center of their stone platform to avoid being hit by upward-falling debris as much as possible. She covers her head and mutters quickly to herself, making taking ahold of her form with a flicker of white sparkles. Seconds later, she floats about a foot of the ground. This seems to help out a lot with the whole 'platforming' thing, in fact. For a few moments, she does stare at Psyber just a little since this is the first time she's seen him with wings manifested, but only for the briefest of moments.
Eclipse	Eclipse grins back at Eithne, following along with her as she leaps across the pillars. These sort of jumps aren't that difficult for someone so well-adapted to the rugged wilderness. Unlike Eithne she hasn't drawn her blade just yet. That can wait until they encounter some actual enemies. It looked like a good number of the others were going at this in a more direct fashion. But Eclipse couldn't fly, so jumping it was.
Ellestaria	"It's bursts that do it," Ellestaria explains to Genji. "A steady level seems to work better, though it'll still bring them eventually. I think. They're all different, but that's the general rule." There's no time to ponder this further though. The spray of shards and rocks staggers Lest, and the sorceress hisses sharply as one of them opens a long furrow along her thigh, blood seeping through. Ah well, so much for her triumphant and impressive return to the field. The things she does for her daughter. "Guess we sort of need to go, yes." Fortunately she's pretty athletic for a lab monkey, leaping up to the next with the crew. She doesn't deploy her suit though... the flight would be useful, but she'd rather save it. "How are the rest of you holding up?" She knows that Eithne and Eclipse are new to this, though at least Fate can fly.
Fate Testarossa	It's auspicious luck that no one's attacking her on sight, at least. Fate's heart quietly pounds in her chest, in spite of the girl showing no outward signs beyond her silent and frosty expression. She's still acclimating to just being around the group before she's addressed a bit more directly. Crimson eyes flick towards Psyber. He warns her about magic. She has half a mind to ask him why, but keeps her tongue, instead of giving in to her natural curiosity. She nods. But then the resounding crack and shudder startle her. Again, she doesn't outwardly show it beyond a slightly tighter clench to her Device, which issues a low but reassuring ping. How does she hold up? "I'm fine. I understand." The girl's terse answer is betrayed by the soft tone of her voice. When the pillars begin to rumble, wings of golden light flare to life at her ankles. Fate can fly. It is a fact she displays very well as she starts speeding upwards, golden light trailing behind her.
Himei	Oh boy, scattershot rubble. So Himei gets several cuts and abrasians even as she dodges the larger chunks. She's looking at Fate a little warily, too... after all, she knows how strong the girl is, and she's caused some problems recently. Still she doesn't seem to be interfering, and at this point saving the girl's life is more important than starting a fight that will be sure to draw familiars if they start flinging spells. Unfortunately Himei has to leap because she didn't change before coming in. She can't deploy her wings without changing, and breaking her own advice.
Homura Akemi	The group ascends, less by choice than necessity. As they do so, they see the darkness around the pillars move and skitter, and Familiars do end up appearing. Hammers, chisels, saws and a variety of construction tools, black and winged. They flock to the base of the pillars, and apparently get to work repairing it. They head too far down to get very good looks at how they're accomplishing that, but the fact the pillars, a dozen platforms later, stop crashing, and that the central pillar regains a few meters in height, speaks for itself. What might stand out, after who knows how much ascending, is that they're not any closer to the top than they were before. The Earth-like globe overhead is still exactly as far as it was before, and the grinder still exactly as arbitrarily down below as before. If no one notices, they could very well spent hours climbing without success. Maybe that's how the Witch gets people, it just completely exhausts them with a pointless climb. Where IS the Witch, though? There's no doubt Himei has had a pounding headache since she came in, and Eithne's death-senses detect a lot of that in the Barrier. In its center. It's obviously the scent of something that's caused and incited a lot of it. Center is vague, though. It's a big pillar holding up an Earth, and they haven't gotten any closer to the latter.
Eithne Sullivan	"So far so good," she nods at Ellestaria, keeping pace easily enough with the others - the non-flying ones anyway. No fair, she wants to fly too!! Maybe if she asks her mother very, very nicely... In time, the others realize that they aren't... getting anywhere. She pauses on the marble platform, watching the shadow familiars scurry and dive toward the bottom of this false world. "I don't understand," she frets absently, looking around. "But I ... there's somethin' rotten here. It doesn't feel like corpses or a battlefield, exactly, but somethin' right in the middle of everything feels like death. Can anyone else feel it?" She looks at the central pillar. It can't be... could it? "Wasn't the mark on those poor bastards' necks a pillar...?" she says slowly, grip tightening on her sword as she stares at the central pillar.
Ellestaria	Yes, Ellestaria is frowning as well. As the frantic jumping pace slows and the notice of the lack of progress becomes obvious, she pauses to catch her breath and survey the area. It's Eithne who speaks her thoughts before she does, though, granting a half-surprised, half-relieved look. Partly that someone else had that idea... and partly that it wasn't a silly idea as she thought it might be. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She gestures to the pillar, then frowns. "Well... we've seen some very strange Witches. At least once one was the architecture... but if we're wrong it could bring down everything around us."
Guest Psyber	Psyber's eyesight, particularly the supernatural aspects about it, are borderline non-functional in a Witch Barrier due to the nature of it. That forces him to mostly go off instinct and the more finely-calibrated abilities of others. "Death, huh?" He muses towards Eithne and Ellestaria. He scratches the underside of his chin and considers, "Might be that a death catalyzed the despair to generate the witch. If that was the case, this could be a conceptual tomb and unearthing the bodies would bring the Witch around." Kyra gets a grin from him, "Yo Kyra, if you need a lift, just shout."
Eclipse	Eclipse is focused on making her way up the pillars, not even paying much mind when rock pieces slice at her. "I'm fine," she replies to Ellestaria. "We just have to keep... moving." She stops as she realizes that their climb hasn't led anywhere. "...what is this?! Our goal is retreating from us." She listens to what the others have to say. "If this world seeks to keep us here, knocking it down would be just the thing!"
Genji Shimada	"Was it?" Genji asks of Enya, pausing in his upward climb. He looks between her and Ellestaria, then the pillar. "There is only one way to find out, I suppose." Purely as an experiment, he flings the trio of shuriken in his fingers straight at the immense central pillar, onetwothree, quickly replacing them with another three from within his hand.
Yuna Kagurazaka	"Elner," Yuna asks, "how far are we from that ... is that actually a planet, or just a really large globe?" There's a brief pause before the robo-faerie answers, "Unable to calculate." Yuna pauses to just look at Elner. 'Unable to calculate' shouldn't even be an answer - but then, Yuna reminds herself, the laws of physics don't always apply within a Barrier. Eclipse's observation seems particularly relevant, though. "Those Familiars did hasten to work on repairing the pillar," Yuna agrees. "Maybe we need to try and take that pillar down somehow ... ?" She falls silent for a moment, considering what Psyber said about the possibility of a 'conceptual tomb'. "Elner, see if your sensors can get anything more useful out of the pillar's structure, or if there's anything embedded within it," she says to her tiny companion. She doubts that'll elicit anything much more useful, but you never know. And besides, she realizes, a tombstone doesn't HAVE to mark the actual location of a body: it can just be a monument rather than a specific marker. ... and with THAT thought in mind, Yuna flies a quick circle around the pillar itself, studying it more carefully with her own eyes than she'd already done.
Himei	Skidding to a halt from her last jump, Himei pants softly... and listens. She wasn't really counting, nor trying to see that they were getting closer, but now that it's pointed out to her it's obvious. That's going to make it more complicated if so. "I don't feel us getting close, but my own senses aren't as good as a true Puella Magi. Still, it's pretty awful already. Like we're already close." And then Genji attacks anyway. Hm. She'd better prepare for trouble there. So with a quick move she... ducks behind Psyber to put him between her and the pillar. If it doesn't react, she'll just heave a sigh. If it does, silvery light shimmers around her body as her costume fits around her, silvery skirt and white blouse and fancy gloves and all. Classic Magical Girl.
Kyra Hyral	"It was a pillar." She says to Eithne. "A stone pillar...you think that might be the actual source of all of this and not this sphere at the top? It'd...explain why it doesn't feel like we're getting anywhere. Maybe it's all set up to make us /think/ we need to keep climbing? Maybe it's like some kind of conceptual never ending social climb and the thought of such a thing caused the despair leading to the Witch?" At Psyber's offer, she waves a hand. "Only if I'm in trouble! I can float, I don't want to be a /freeloader/. Unless you want to make a mounted mobile healer platform out of yourself."
Fate Testarossa	Going up... Gets them nowhere? Fate is fast. It is, by far, the greatest thing she can quietly pride herself on. But no matter how much speed she lays on, finding that she has gotten precisely no closer to the top at all is... Vexing. She brings herself to an abrupt halt. "Center, sir." Bardiche points out the location where he finds the most concentrated magic. So the girl plants her feet. Upon a floating magical circle. She was warned about using magic. But it's really a moot point if no one makes any progression. Fate makes a decision. "Bardiche. Use Thunder Smasher and draw it out." She holds out one hand, the complex and layered design of a Mid-Childa spell circle forming from her fingers and serving as a targeting ring. Aimed at the center pillar, seemingly of like mind as Genji as she thrusts the black axe through the spell circle. "THUNDER SMASHER!" The axe intones. A streaming pillar of light erupts from the head of her Device, blazing with a lightning-gold glow on a path aimed to shoot squarely in front of her.
Homura Akemi	Genji attacks a giant stone pillar. The shuriken jam themselves in the stone. It's very unimpressive. The concrete and marble chips. Fate's display does much the same, the blast of magic and lightning smashing into the stone and blasting away chunks of it, like a normal (if VERY LARGE) stone pillar would. Moments later, the entire Barrier rumbles and shakes. Under everyone's feet, the pillars crack and crumble, every single last one of them. The debris falls towards the grinders below at an accelerated rate, but everyone else, at least those who aren't flying or floating, don't seem to be getting closer to the grinders as they fall, and fall, and fall. It DOES put arbitrary distance between them and everyone else, but the 'bottom' of the Barrier isn't getting close fast enough to be a concern, unless you're planning to fall for the next half a hour. Luckily, there are plenty of broken and falling pillars for people to keep platforming upward. It's going to get exhausting fast, but it's an alternative to flying. The central pillar itself doesn't crumble or fall, but it starts rumbling and groaning. The shadowy construction tools swoop in, no longer busy repairing. Winged hammers attempt to smack people, winged chisels attempt to impale, winged saws slash in passing. There's hundreds of the little buggers, and it's still hard to see them against the black backdrop. The pillar itself attacks Genji and Fate. Its surface ripples like a liquid, spikes of concrete launching from it and towards them. The architecture is, evidently, holding the whole shuriken and laser thing against them. And then it screeches, names and runes forcing themselves into people's mind's eye for a fraction of a second, but long enough to give a mild headache if there wasn't one before.
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Guest Psyber	"Actually, that sounds like a great plan! Glad you came up with it!" Kyra gets a minimal amount of say in what happens next. Psyber swoops down and hooks his hands under her arms, hoisting her up and then flapping his wings to take off at a pretty swift glide, "You just tell me where heals are needed and I'll let you bomb people with them from a safe distance." By his logic, they have enough firepower. Making the healer mobile is probably the best tactical decision he could make, so that's what he does! There's a momentary cringe in his flying as the pillar is smashed and the Witch's name enters his head by force. He re-orients himself and resumes flight a moment later.
Kyra Hyral	"It was? I-gak!" Kyra makes a startled noise as she's lifted into the air. Right now, thanks to the float spell, she is extremely easy to carry around, only slightly heavier than a party balloon. This applies to all of her gegar, meaning she can easily slip the CURE-ALL off her back and ready it for firing. She stops, however, as the mobile, winged tools start to swarm and she throws up an arm in front of her eyes, preventing a chisel from embedding itself into her skull, taking it to the arm instead. "Ahh, there are so many-!" she mutters before swinging the gun down and firing it upon Gengi and Fate. The gun itself spits out a white sphere of energy that turns out to be a cure spell that, upon impacting the pillar, heals any friendlies within the ten-foot 'blast' radius.
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna was getting ready to try taking a shot of her own at the pillar, but ... well. Between Genji and Fate? Not only is there no longer a need to do so, but Yuna abruptly has other problems to deal with. Like getting swarmed by a dozen or so flying tools - a hammer whacking her on the head, a chisel trying to chip away at her breastplate, and so forth. Yuna lets out a yelp, her vambraces popping open to reveal her pulse blasters, and she opens fire all about herself, trying to drive the tool-Familiars away. And then Teresa 'introduces herself,' those runes carving themselves into her brain. That messes with her aim pretty badly, leaving her open, the Light Suit's protective aura continuing to flare and crackle around her with all of the attacks striking her. Her battlesuit is holding up under the assault for now, but Yuna's flailing around an awful lot with little to show for it in terms of an effective defense ...
Ellestaria	Hm. Maybe this 'not flying' idea was a bad one. Ellestaria gacks as she starts to slide, quickly leaping to another pillar... that is already falling. That sucks. With a sudden jerk, she starts to fall again, but she's already tapping into her Storage Device for a spell, one of her more common ones, so she doesn't need to do the full ritual. "Swiftness of Hermes." A pulse of magic roars outward, enveloping the group around her and empowering them with an accelerated sense of speed and time, to hopefully let them time jumps better.
Eithne Sullivan	"But there aren't any corpses here-- or nothin' I really recognize as one, anyway," Eithne frowns, looking down. "Nothin' that /can/ be--" Shake. Crumble. Fall. Eithne curses and abandons her search, booted feet pounding on the marble as it crumbles beneath them all. Dodging the flying shadow creatures is something meant for a more nimble person - she's doing well to keep jumping, to keep from falling any further - so Enya just tanks it, again. Rips and gouges open up in her clothes and skin, but they're somehow only surface wounds that barely bleed. Her frustration's starting to feel like the red haze of anger, and she actually yells when that set of strange letters flash across the front of her mind's eye. Teresa? "BITCH!" she screams, and charges forward. Tools are swatted or backhanded haphazardly out of the way as Eithne changes her course. She's going over instead of up, rearing back as she passes the Witch for a cleaving strike that would shatter stone.
Himei	And then Himei is plummetting. Good thing she changed into her transformed state. "Ugh... Shining Wing!" Calling your attacks again, Himei? Except this isn't an attack, really. The Cruxis Crystal about her neck flashes with power, allowing the twin wings to spread behind her and carry her up, keeping her behind Psyber WHERE SHE BELONGS in these fights. "All right everyone, just stick to the plan and we'll be fine!" She hopes. As usual, the Witch had SOME kind of surprise in store for them. She keeps an eye out for anyone who might start to fall too far, but her role is an 'attacker' too. So a silvery bolt lances aout, blasting toward the Witch. The spear of light is aimed to go through Psyber(and maybe Kyra) mostly due to tradition now. It's like a good luck charm. Of course it does no damage to them. Tradition now fulfilled, she dives down to take some evasive action, already bloodied enough that she really doesn't want to get impaled again.
Genji Shimada	And suddenly the ground underneath Genji is falling. He looks Fate's direction, and then immediately begins one of those full-speed dashes again, save that this time he can't afford looking back for anyone else. He has to book it, leaping from platform to foothold to flying debris to platform without a second thought. The faintest hesitation could easily get him killed. And his hand is flicking as he goes, flinging throwing stars with uncanny precision. Trying to intercept those familiars. But his focus on his own safety on-the-run, coupled with attempts to bring down familiars, leave the cyborg completely paying no attention to the central pillar. Not until it's too late. Even then, instinct warns him. He whips around and twists, avoiding the first spike to extend his way. He even springs over the second, touching with one hand. But the Witch announces herself, and Genji jerks in mid-air, letting out a startled, anguished sound. The third spike slams into his abdomen, hard enough to break through the outer protective plates and cause damage underneath. It knocks him sprawling, skidding across the platform, and for a second or two he doesn't get up. Even when he finally does, the ninja stumbles a few steps, shaking his head. "What..." There's quiet horror in his voice. But before the pillar can manage another attack on the briefly-witless cyborg, Kyra flings curative magic his way. His robotic parts knit back together, functionality fully restored, and even his head hurts less. He looks at his hands briefly, then turns his head skyward, looking for Kira. "Thank you," he calls out. Then he leaps, high and fast, beginning to rain throwing stars on the central pillar. Again and again, until he runs out, at which point he deploys more from his arm and starts again.
Fate Testarossa	Fate missed much of the explanations. She doesn't know how witches come to be, or what they even are. All she knows is one, single, fact. Genji and Fate have startled the witch. Startle is not truly the best term of the situation but it accurately reflects what subsequently follows aggressions on the pillar. It becomes viciously, violently, murderously aggressive right back. Fate's reflexes are what save her. Though Bardiche does attempt a "Defenser!", the autoguard spell flaring a half-dome of light in front of her as a shield. That shatters on impact, but in the cthonic, almost alien, touch of the runes on her mind she freezes, confused, hesitant, and stunned. It is her Device's faithful attempt to protect her that stirs the girl to jerk herself aside at literally the last second possible after the shield spell shatters like sugar glass. Her head hurts, but there's no real time to nurse it, concrete spikes lancing at her as they do. She swerves and veers with wild speed, twirling aside from lances that would impale her and lessning each assault into grazing slashes. Her Barrier Jacket tears. Blood is drawn. The girl grunts. But the wounds seal rapidly thanks to the heal spell fired her way. There's no time for thanks, though when something happens. The ennervating sensation of Ellestaria's spell floods the lightning mage. She was fast before- a blur of black and gold. She is faster now. To Fate Testarossa, the world slows; her perception of time dilating as she outpaces, literally, everything and everyone present. Something is said in the swirling chaos of the girl moving at near sonic speeds. It's lost in the machine gun hail of golden bolts of crackling purple spheres and arrow-shaped projectiles suddenly flooding from no less than four directions to converge on Teresa.
Eclipse	With the others beginning their assault, Eclipse finally draws her blade- a sound like a howl emits from it as it is unsheathed. A pointed-toothed grin spreading across her face as the werewolf spirit within joins with her, Eclipse gets moving again, finding it difficult to fight the instinct to climb upwards despite it being generally useless. Still, she starts striking at the familiars whenever they're in range. They don't have much of a smell, but it's probably easier for her to see them than some others. Then, suddenly, psychic boss subtitles happen, stopping her in her tracks for a moment. Turning with a growl, she focuses back on the pillar which was now directly attacking. "So we've flushed you out!" sbe exclaims. Briefly switching to her sling, she loads it up with a chunk of marble, hurling the chunk in the witch's direction.
Homura Akemi	Yuna finds the Familiars aren't very sturdy. Single shots from her gun disperse them like shadows, while less accurate ones blow their wings or half of their bodies off, causing the remains to fall towards the grinders. Grinder? Maybe it's just a really big one. With heals and buffs coming from Kyra and Ellestaria the group isn't going to have to worry too much about the flying tools. Eithne can pick up on their corpses, if she wants-- they're not human bodies but if her abilities don't discriminate she could raise a couple of the dead Familiars for her own use. Then again, taking her sword to the pillar is also a valid tactic. Her sword cleaves through the marble, which turns liquid on impact. A lot of it is dispersed from the slash, but the rest lashes out, trying to engulf the girl! And drag her inside the Witch. If she doesn't defend herself from that, she'll find the inside is a lot like swimming through syrup. It's hard to see, hard to move, not safe to breathe in, and kind of crushing overall. Himei's attacks have the usual effect, her magic burning through the Witch. It takes out chunks of stone without causing any kinds of counter-attack, which is probably the most beneficial part. It's kind of hard to gauge how hurt a pillar is, though. The rain of throwing stars is pretty effective, too. Though one or two wouldn't do much damage to something this big, a whole flurry of them starts hacking through the stone like a sculptor in a frenzy. The blasts from Fate add to it, and between the two they're starting to dig deep in one section of the pillar, which is still hard as stone. There doesn't seem to be anything inside, though. No squishy bits, no blood. Eclipse hacks through Familiars, keeping the horde from overwhelming the group. A slung piece of rock impacts the Witch, helping dig deeper into the stone. By now, one section of the pillar looks a lot like a tree about to be put down, a big triangular section blasted off bit by bit halfway through. The Familiars continue their assault, with reduced numbers. Everyone except Eithne (unless she dodged) is subject to the aggressive flying tools, axes and hatchets even a swarm of nails and screws joining in. The Witch itself-- herself-- launches bubbles of liquid stone towards those currently flying, their wings (if any) in particular. If hit, the liquid would immediatly harden, forming stony shells with for obvious intent to let them fall towards the grinders. It also burns a lot.
Guest Psyber	Psyber, since his player is pretty worn out from driving earlier and all, is mostly going to be relegating himself to flying Kyra around so she can get optimal vantage points to support the team. It's important to keep the healer safe, keep her optimally placed, and generally make her life easier, right? "If you need to go anywhere in specific, just point it out and we'll head that way. But I've got you!" He notes, carefully weaving around any incoming fire the two of them are going to be taking, making sure that in the instances where the flying familiars can't be avoided, Kyra doesn't take damage and he winds up being the one who is hit instead. He's taking some injuries, but doing a good job of it.
Kyra Hyral	"Got it, Psyber. Just keep us both clear of the Witch's familiars and we should begood." Kyra says, scanning those engaging with the pillar witch. "-oh shit, that's not good!" Kyra sees those heavy-looking (yet floating) bubbles coming at them and pretty much can spot a Stone status effect when she sees one. She lets the CURE-ALL dangle by it's strap as she pulls a normal-looking gun out of a holster at her hip. Very carefully, she starts firing at the stone bubbles, trying to pop them far away so they don't pop on the two of them.
Genji Shimada	Without the Witch's forced introduction to distract him, Genji is better at defending himself. Projectiles seem to hold little fear for the shinobi, and most familiars that get too close end up carved apart. The ones further away are subject to a steady barrage of shuriken. But with so many of them swarming, it's forcing him to defend himself now more than attack the Witch itself. "Tch..." It's frustrating. And bit by bit, they're slipping past his guard. Nicking his sides, his arms. One even scores a gouge in one of his leg plates. And he's still being forced to move and fight, keeping himself from falling into the pit. The only safe spot appears to be the central pillar, the Witch itself, which is... damaged... An idea slowly forms in Genji's mind. It's probably very stupid. But it just might be the push they need, and a girl's life hangs in the balance. After confirming via radio that someone will have an eye open just in case, the speedy shinobi skids to a stop and redirects his course 90 degrees - straight at the pillar. He runs, he leaps off the edge. He begins debris hopping, familiar-hopping, anything he can reach to give himself another jump, to get closer. To reach the pillar itself, even if it puts him a good ways down. And once he reaches it, he starts climbing, fast as he can. Straight towards the big, deep gouge. Up as fast as he can go. And just as he whips himself up into the deep 'wound' on the pillar, his hand reaches up to his back- "THE DRAGON BECOMES ME!" -and roars. A bright green dragon erupts from the sheath at the same time as he draws his nodachi, the edge shining. His visor glowing. The cyborg and his weapon are suffused with spiritual power, the roaring dragon whirling and looping around him. And forward he goes, slashing at the stone. And slashing. And slashing, and slashing, and slashing. Not stopping. And every time he slashes, that dragon dives in along with it.
Eithne Sullivan	This is usually the part where Eithne's stupidly ridiculous strength blows a crater in whatever she's just hit. She's very disappointed when it doesn't happen this time. In fact, she's dumbfounded when the stone splashes like water, and despite Ellestaria's helpful magic Eithne just isn't made to be nimble. She doesn't have the aptitude for it! And thus, arms of gloopy marble catch her limbs and drag her right out of the air... And into the belly of the beast. Thank goodness she managed to suck in a breath on the way! It's dark in here, and suffocating... and it's getting inbetween her teeth, gross!!! So she does the first thing that comes to mind after resisting the urge to scream and use up all her air: Eithne lays a palm flat on the interior of the pillar and concentrates. Which one, which one, where are you...? Corpses piling up, falling into the teeth, and she can't have long-- <Dúisigh!> she mouths, ignoring the taste. Weakly, something flutters and wobbles, gaining altitude even though it's got a hole right through its middle... one of the axe familiars slams weakly into the side of the pillar, where she disappeared, and flutters drunkenly in a circle. <Sárú!>
Yuna Kagurazaka	Fortunately, enough localized beamspam seems to be effective at fending off the Familiars; that lets Yuna recover some equilibrium, although she has to keep up her own cover fire if she's going to do anything useful with the opening - and also, her Light Suit's aura stabilizes back to its normal invisibility. Her reserves took something of a beating, but at least she's not getting battered so much now. Yuna recovers just in time to see Eithne getting yanked into the Witch's main body. She doesn't evne know the girl's name, but seeing her get yanked into the pillar - the Witch's main body - is enough to spur Yuna into action. One last barrage around herself to ward off the Familiars for a bit, and then Yuna wills the Matrix Divider to rematerialize in her hands, thrusters kicking up to full power as she goes into a brief but determined evasive maneuver. That also buys her some time to gather power into her weapon ... and then she flies straight at the pillar, the Divider's 'blade' starting to crackle before she attempts to drive it into the Witch's side, a little bit above where she thinks she saw Eithne disappearing, and she pulls the trigger. Whereupon the power she'd focused into her weapon - not as much as she's mustered for some strikes, but not really insignificant - is unleashed through the 'blade'/'barrel' of the weapon. At the very least, it should interrupt anything resembling digestion; hopefully it'll also make enough of a weak point for Eithne to break loose again. Either way, Yuna didn't want to risk hitting her with that blast.
Ellestaria	Nails and tools pelt Ellestaria as she keeps leaping from falling masonry to rubble. Most are quickly dispersed with arcs of electricity, either pushing away or vaporizing them... but a few nails and screws burrow into her flesh, leaving spatters of blood along the way. Should have used your battlesuit, silly girl! "Mn... Himei, there is no way you can handle him yourself," Lest sighs. "Go get the girl, too, if you can." Kyra is handling the healing, thankfully... so after grunting when a nail impales her chest just below the ribs, Lest yanks it out and completes another spell. "Strength of Atlas." That's sent out to Himei, to give the Magical girl some supernatural strength for toting around cyborgs.
Eclipse	As the others seemed to be focusing their efforts on the Witch's weak spot, Eclipse returned to hacking away at familiars to keep them occupied. "You're not getting past me, winged things!" she declares, trying to do her best to draw the attention of the flying tools.
Himei	So Genji does something stupid. Himei is fine with this, because the cyborg ninja admit it was stupid. Hurtling toward the witch like that, going for melee? Eh, there are worse plans out there. It's something Himei would do. Swooping in close, Himei displays some great aerial agility in dodging the Familiars! Not... quite good enough though. A hatchet bounces off her hidden breastplate, but a chisel imbeds into her thigh, making her flight 'stutter' on the way down. She doesn't cry out, but instead another beam of silver light blasts out to help Yuna. Himei is less concerned about hitting Eithne, since her powers shouldn't hurt the girl. Her main concern is catching Genji and maybe Eithne if need be.
Fate Testarossa	The pillar is weakening. That one section looks like a viable weak point. Genji is not the only person with an idea. Fate happens to have the same idea the cyborg ninja does, as she finally comes to a stop. Panting for breath as she delicately lands on another spell circle. With a flourishing motion of her left hand she manifests a small swarm og golden spheres. "Photon Lancer full auto fire." Bardiche announces, pepering the pillar all aorund Genji, each shot intented to soften up the stone he cleaves so mightily.
Homura Akemi	Kyra covers people from the liquid stone bubbles, which is more than a little bit useful for those flying about. Genji makes like a mad artist and starts cutting away slabs of stone, thinning the pillar more and more. Eithne, managing to mark her location with a Familiar she hijacked, gets pulled out when Yuna stabs into the liquid part of the pillar and lets a blast of energy loose, assisted by Himei's magic, clearing the prison around her. (And hopefully Yuna catches her, too.) Eclipse keeps holding the line, her blade preventing most of the Familiars from bothering the group, who are focusing their efforts on the Witch. Fate seals the deal by employing the spell More Dakka, blasting the weakened and cut pillar into pieces where it was weakest. With a loud crack and and roar, the Witch breaks in half. The gigantic stone halves of the pillar fall down towards the grinders, before reality reasserts itself. The group is now on the roof of the community center. Setsuna's body, still in her Mitakihara school uniform, lies on the floor, battered from the fight. Her Soul Gem, restored, is in critical condition. The fourteen or fifteen year old girl is going to need emergency care from Psyber, Himei and Ellestaria (who should probably teach Kyra, one of those days) lest she be claimed by the Law of Cycles momentarily. But there's another distraction rearing its head. The wounded body of a second magical girl lands on the roof from a jump she really didn't nail, slamming to the ground and rolling twice before trying to pick herself up. She's bleeding, and in just about the same state as Setsuna. Green and red outfit, her weapon seems to be a book, although she drops it as she tries to get herself upright again. "Setsuna...! You found h--" Hrk, as she hits the ground again. Her magical girl dress dismisses itself, reverting to her school uniform as she loses consciousness, adding only: "... the others... Blakely... I barely... got away..."
Fate Testarossa	Fate lands. She has no idea what she's seeing other than an injured girl, and another one that arrives. She doesn't have the skill to deal with either of them. But this looks like a good moment... An opportunity... "Thank you." She is at least polite towards Kyra and Ellestaria for aid rendered. But as soon as attention is off of her in any form the blonde turls on her heels, Barrier Jacket fading away and replacing itself with that lacy dress again... And she starts walking away. It is a fast but not too conspicuous pace, as to not draw attention to her in any form.
Yuna Kagurazaka	It's not like Yuna to let somebody fall to her apparent doom, is it? She has to dismiss the Matrix Divider (again), but Yuna dips down and catches Eithne before she can fall terribly far. "There you are ... you okay? I don't think I caught your name, I'm Yuna ..." And then the real world reasserts itself. Elner hovers near Yuna once again, scanning the group and cataloguing injuries - including the newly-arrived magical girl. It's probably nothing the medical experts won't figure out within sixty seconds of laying eyes on their patients, but even a single second saved can be a critical difference. Yuna herself is basically unharmed, at least physically. Witch fights are never good for her brain, but she's been through enough of them to know what she needs to recover. For now, focusing on Eithne seems like a good start.
Eithne Sullivan	There is light. Eithne clambers through the syrupy marble, fingers digging roughly into the edges of the gouge Yuna and the others have opened up. She may not get long-- The risen axe familiar grabs her hand and pulls, and Eithne kicks at the goop, and she manages to pull herself free of the pillar just in time. It's not very strong, the the familiar will be enough to keep Eithne from plummeting into the grinder's teeth... And then someone's scooping her out of the air. "Guh!! Thanks!" she sputters, releasing the familiar even as it vanishes along with the rest of that closed world. Despite her trip into the Witch, Eithne seems perfectly fine. "Oh, nice to meet yeh, Yuna. I'm Enya..." The two girls are going to be all right, aren't they...? Her own cuts and scrapes are already scabbed over. "Are yeh all right?"
Guest Psyber	Psyber lands, placing Kyra back down on the ground, "I gotta handle something. It's really important." There's a flare of his wings as he drifts down a moment later and touches down on the ground. Almost immediately, his right hand alights with white energy and he's heading over to the girl on the ground. It's a good chance to Fate's inconspicuous exist, since Psyber won't remember to thank her until after the girl is healed and the Mage is gone. He's ready to treat the damaged Soul Gem as best as he can, and his own injuries are gone and vanished due to his regeneration, the half-angel far more focused on the girl who needs immediate attention.
Ellestaria	Bleeding and battered, Ellestaria lands heavily and nods to Himei. "I'll help Psyber and then see to the injured." Handling this with two is much safer than one. She cups her hands on either side of the Soul Gem, easing the energies inside while Psyber is purifying them, holding the structure stable with a shimmering field of her own magics.