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Samhain Statueface is still at large, on the second day of Samhain's school attendance. The campus is still a sprawling huge things, with parks, multiple buildings, a massive stadium, an indoor basketball court, a library, dorms, and the like.

Samhain, better known as Shaw at the school, has pinpointed three locations: the nurse's office, to talk to the intelligent Ms. Gin and see if she saw anything; the basketball court, as a potential target due to the practicing team; and around the dorms, where the Ribbongers are investigating out of costume with the help of their dog-like fairy mascot, Dog Friday.

----

The nurse's office is what you'd expect, but bigger than you'd expect. As you step inside, the soothing light colors of the walls bring you into a calm area, where there's two beds, on either side of the door behind curtains, and a desk directly ahead, with a series of expensive tools, a lot of neatly kept paperwork inside journals, and a young woman, in her mid twenties, with medium-length naturally-silver hair and wearing a doctor's coat over her casual dress, loose but not in the way. She is, frankly, an attractive person, with dark eyes and a nice smile. Currently, she's looking through her paperwork, writing down normal, boring stuff.

----

The basketball court is in full swing. The team is just about wrapping up practice, grabbing their water and cheering each other on. The coach is giving them a pep-talk, as a very large adult with a muscular build sits on the benches, watching them with interest as he types on a laptop.

The team captain, a young man with short black hair, dark eyes, and a resolved, confident expression, twirls a basketball around his finger as a teammate slaps him on the back. He takes a long swig of water, and then watches the door intently.

----

The exterior of the dorms shows how absolutely huge they are. There's a few buildings, with a lot of students milling around outside on benches or heading in or out. It can be figured Samhain has a room here, too, somewhere in all that space.

The Ribbongers, as Nozomi (with the red ribbon), Annalise (with the blue scarf), and Yonk (with the yellow bow), are snooping around. They're trying to find the statue, which is still an empty pedestal in the ground, and having no luck. They've grabbed little bentos, and are apparently taking a lunch break on a bench.
Robin Sundance      "Bonjour, madamoiselle belle infermiere."

     Robin's smile is, as ever, dazzling as he enters the nurse's office without a hint of uncertainty. He is a man who radiates self-confidence in every situation, no matter what. He'd have to be. You don't wind up trying to inspire people without enough confidence to make yourself inspiring, without enough confidence to make even your missteps feel intentional, without enough confidence to laugh at yourself.

     His walk is certain, though not arrogant. His smile is bright and earnest, not a hint of condescension. His eyes are cheerful. His scarf trails shimmering rainbow in his wake.

     "I felt perhaps I should introduce myself." He sweeps his hand in front of him and bows, bending slightly at the knee in an archaic style, his other hand behind his back. "Robin Sundance. I am the new French teacher."

     He straightens.

     There's a red camellia in her hair.

     It's not a rose!

     He's better than that.

     "A pleasure to meet you. I hope you feel the same." A cheerful wink. "If not, then, tell me how I might make it so, madamoiselle belle infermiere, s'il vous-plait, and I will endeavor to do so."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      The Green Knight, unarmored and unarmed, snorts, removing his wraparound shades and placing them in the pocket of his tight jeans. Today, he's wearing that same jacket-turned vest, but the shirt is different--a red tank top absent any decoration. There's one entity he's sought this day, having tracked down the Ribbongers to speak with them. Dog Friday.

     The Ribbongers were willing to let him speak with Dog Friday, and the magical fairy dog was quite willing to divulge exactly what their opinion of Samhain was. It's only a shame that this conversation couldn't have been had in private. Instead, he spoke with them outside of the dorms, in earshot of both the Ribbongers, and Strawberry Princess, who "Itrust me, Dog Friday. Hath I ani ille wille touards thee, thou wouldst ben aknoued alredi. I mereli seke to deme thy intenciouns."

     So far, they've made their position fairly clear. "Thou wert sothli in thy spekinge to me. Swich holds weight in my court." He nods, his expression a neutral, stony mask. "Forthy shalt I be sothli with thee."

     He crosses his arms, massive biceps forming a thick green barrier before his chest. "I hath ben aknoued of Samhain's past dedes for som time nau. I do not excuse theim." He lets the weight of that prior sentence fall before he continues. "He lest to chaunge, hau-ever, and I shalt assist him. I shalt, bicause I bileve 'tis possible for wald-scathes as he, and iman-kin, as thei," he says, gesturing with a meaty palm to the Ribbongers, "To live in monge one an other in pese." The Green Knight points then, at Dog Friday.

     "I care not whither *thou* ithinke it possible. Do what-sum-ever thou must to guard the ungilti--but if thou attempt to stei this chaunge bicause of thy own prejudice, swich shalt *also* hold weight in my court."

     He smiles at the Ribbongers, however, and at Strawberry, having found no reason to doubt the intentions of the mahous. "Ladise," he says cordially, with a nod of his mohawked head.
Kale Hearthward School uniforms are easy, as far as disguises go. Even if the uniform you're putting on isn't the 'right' one. Ichika Souta, recent transfer student into the school (and most certainly not a bird swordsman-mage) walks the halls of the girls' dorms, some pep in her step. It's a nice day, she's picked out the *perfect* accessories to match her uniform dress, and nobody's been murdered by a statue (at least not yet).

Kale has specifically *not* let on to the group who (or what) he's disguised as, even if everyone is on the same side here. There's two reasons for that - one of them being Samhain (who Kale hopes to catch shoving someone into a photograph) and the other one being Robin (who Kale hopes to catch stealing something). So he's just said that he's checking out the dorms and will be in disguise, and if they assume he's going with a setup that matches his gender and are on the lookout for the wrong sort of disguise and drop their guards - well, that's their mistake for assuming.

"Oh! Did you see that giant statue monster earlier?" says Kale/Ichika to random groups of students she encounters. "That was scary! I heard it was hiding somewhere in the school - where do you think that could be?"

Occasionally also, when she has a bit of privacy, she checks the 'charm' attached to her cell phone (the monster-finder he got from Toshiro) to see if it has a hit.
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry's wearing the same 'casual' outfit she wore yesterday- simple green canvas jacket, white button-up shirt, black jeans- but she looks a little more bedraggled. She's got arm-warmers on her hands that can't quite hide the sunburnt-pink of her skin from the irradiation she put herself through yesterday, and it looks like she forgot to brush her hair. The long curved scar that swoops from her cheekbone, around her temple, and up into her scalp is more visible now, no longer partially smoothed over with makeup.

     The particularly keen might notice that it would've been perfectly hidden by the upper-face visor her magical girl form wears.

     "Bercilak," Strawberry says, returning the knight's kind acknowledgement with a nod. She's squatting next to the bench, trying not to loom over the Ribbongers even as she gushes over their bento boxes with an earnest enthusiasm. "I love how everything's so tidy! And the little apple slices, too. That's... gosh, it's almost too pretty to eat."

     Eventually, though, she circles back to the real topic. "I was- really impressed, with how you three worked together yesterday. You've been doing this for a long time, haven't you?" Admiration, sympathy, and a kind of gentle wistful sadness all blend together in the undertones of her voice. "I'm sorry for... for being so worried about you. I know better now, I promise."

     "What sort of techniques do you have for looking for monsters, though? Maybe I can help with that. If it's okay with you."
Xion While Robin schmoozes with the School Nurse, there's someone else in the infirmary, sitting on one of the two beds, with cartoon print band-aids stuck to what is probably cuts and bruises on her face and knees.

It's Xion! In a local school uniform. It looks like she lost a schoolyard fight (or won?).

"Oh, hi Mr. Sundance!" He's a Mister Sundance now, because, he's a teacher.

"Do you do that to every pretty lady?"
Chase There a lot of people going in disguises. So Chase decides to go in disguise. His human disguise. He deduces this is more than adequate, and doesn't even bother to change out of his slightly dusty purple jacket.

He walks into the gym, covered in several minor black bruises, before walking into the gym to question the team captain.

"I am looking for someone. Can you help me?"

His tone is flat and rough, and his standing posture is more robotic than natural.  But it's /fine/. He /looks/ human, and that's totally enough.
Janine Liberi     While Janine was not able to secure a school uniform, she was able to put together a close enough approximation that only close observation would out her as 'not a student.' Coupled with tying her hair back into a bun and wearing a mask over her mouth and nose to imply illness, she looks quite different from yesterday's flashy cousin to Shaw. Hopefully enough that StatueFace doesn't give her a berth.

    Sitting in the bleachers in the gym, high above and out of line of sight, she looks into her phone and whispers, "Persona." Out the window behind her, the Persona appears and wiggles her finger. As the boys down below are practising, a gust of wind sends the ball bouncing hard off the hoop, making it fly up into the bleachers in front of her. "Oh, I got it!" she calls down, muffled by the mask. Picking it up, she descends and walks over to the captain. "Here you go!" Lowering her voice, she murmurs, "You seem a little distracted. Everything okay?"

    She had noticed, from her high position. Like he's anticipating something. Could he be StatueFace in disguise? Or...
Samhain Robin enters the nurse's office, the door opening gathering Ms. Gin's attention, her chair swivelling to face him. As he introduces himself, she tilts her head, and drops the camellia from her hair into her hand, looking at it.

She laughs. It's not a mean or a mocking laugh. She's genuinely amused. "Oh, my! I've heard about you. The very flashy new teacher, stepping onto the grounds and into a classroom of his own. It's certainly a *pleasure*. Amanita Gin." She closes her binder, having decided this is a better use of her attention, as she plays with a bang.

Especially as Shaw walks in. She stops screwing around as her eyes scan over him, a sharper smile on her face. "Ah, Mr. Wayne. Are you feeling alright?"

Shaw nods, towering over them, as he speaks. "Yes. I am...helping...Mr. Sundance navigate the school." He's lying, but, he realized if he said 'I'm investigating things' it'd be weird and he didn't have an excuse coming in.

Ms. Gin takes the answer straight up. "Well! That's certainly good. You're quite the specimen, aren't you, dear?" A wink towards Robin, but he won't sense any interest or flirting from her towards a student, in general, being an expert in it. He will absolutely sense flirting towards him.

Xion gets a glance from the nurse. "My, you really got hurt badly. Did you get in a fight with a friend, dear?" She moves to grab some cleansing spray, some Bactine, moving over to Xion and offering to help cleanse her cuts, if she hasn't already done it herself.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Simply by being near Bercilak, Strawberry stands within a cloud of billions of microscopic nanites. Those nanites begin passively diagnosing and attempting to counteract the effects of her radiation poisoning, by way of spot-synthesized blood transfusions and colony stimulating factors. There must have been some internal notification that this is happening, as he turns his head to look at her, and if she looks back, she will find the brawny biker is giving her a thumbs up and a friendly grin. Evidently, coming out here despite her condition has earned her a measure of respect from him.
Robin Sundance      Xion gets a broad smile as Miss Gin tends to Shaw. Robin is the kind of man who doesn't let his stride break even a little, just because of something like someone else in the room. "Ah, madamoiselle! What happened? Did you get into a fight?"

     He grins and leans forward. "Did you win?"

     Then he straightens and turns his attention back to Miss Gin. "I am glad to leave an impression, then, Madam...oiselle Gin...?"

     He glances at her ring finger. It's a pretty telltale glance. If it's not earnest, then he's a hell of an actor, especially since he literally just asked 'Miss...?', one of the most leading questions you can ask in the situation.

     "Oui, Monsieur Wayne has been a great help. The grounds are almost as beautiful as the staff." A grin. "Statuesque and stunning."

     He leans forward over one of the counters to look at her. "So tell me. What do the students talk about these days? I should like to connect with them as rapidly as possible, mais non? A good teacher ought to know what is going on in the school." He frowns. "Or, well, so I imagine. Truth be told this is my first time teaching."

     He waves his hand. "For my degree."

     "If you have any better advice, I would love to hear it over lunch. Say, Friday apres des heures?"

     Yeah, he doesn't let *anything* break his stride.
Samhain 'Ichika' is talking about the subject of the day with people, apparently. They tell her that the monster disappeared, and the Student Council looked for it but found nothing. One student says 'it's probably hiding from whoever caused that big flash in the sky'. The monster detector points a few places, but it seems to be malfunctioning, legitimately. It's not going to last long without constant tinkering, and Toshiro was probably fixing it daily. Finding him could be useful, but she has the wrong disguise for it...

Dog Friday, the floating white dog fairy, hmphs at Bercilak's response. "He's tricking you!" But...they sigh. "The Fairy Council's already been alerted, it's out of my paws if they decide to act. For now, I've been assigned to keep an eye on him. If he steps out of line, the Ribbongers will have to seal him away...or worse."

A shudder. They don't like talking about death, apparently.

Annalise speaks up proudly when the bentos are complimented. "Thank you! They're apples from my grandparents, back in the states." They've gotten over the glock thing apparently, if not truly.

Nozomi takes a bite, chews loudly, and then talks. "Oh, that's what Dog Friday does. They can detect a nearby monster, as a fairy guardian!"

Yonk answers the other question. "We've been fighting since the school year started, every week. It may only have been a few months, but in reality, it feels like years..." That might be a little weird, unless you realize that they already went through the Teamwork Coordination episode arc earlier in the school year in order to not yell at each other over and over.

"How long have you been a magical girl? Where's your fairy?" Yonk asks, innocently.
Samhain Chase approaches the team captain, as does Janine. He responds to Janine first, thanking her for the ball back. "Oh, I'm just..." He whispers. "There's a monster on the loose, right? What if it attacks during training? That'd be a big yikes." He does not seem like he's Statueface, and while he's clearly playing it up, he's not a liar.

Finally, Chase gets his reply. "What's up? How can I help you, bro?" He steps away from his teammates, expecting a new student, a new teacher, or some visitor who got lost.
Xion Both the Nurse and Mr. Sundance ask the same question to Xion, and since they are both definitely Nice People, Xion is totally unveiled in her answers, as her cuts are tended to carefully. She's a good patient, at least.

"Oh, I got into a fight with a friend because the best way to get to some people. Not everyone can do that, right? But if you can't, then you can't be friends with everyone. Some people really just need to be hit to understand you. Anything less is being a bad bud."

MEANWHILE:Brother is it robotic to walk into gym class and call for a homie's help? This and more, on the A-side track.

"Oh, I won... the moral victory. Sometimes you lose the body's fight but win the heart's. I'm okay with that. They're just cuts!"

"They'll get better. See?" She gestures at the already-barely-present bruises and wounds after the nurse is done.

"Healing hearts is so much harder. I'm sure Miss Gin knows that!"
Kale Hearthward Kale/Ichika makes a mental note to track down Toshiro later.

"... The student council already went looking and didn't find anything, huh. Well... who's on the student council?"

Kale takes that as a lead and starts tracking them down, doing some investigative work there - could be one of them saw something important, could be that Statueface could have impersonated one of them (who knows?). It's something, at least. Worst comes to worst, getting a list of all the spots the council's checked out already could save time.
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry looks down at her hands as she feels the painful scratch of fabric-on-sunburnt-skin start to fade. They're a little less pink than they were a few moments ago, aren't they? She clenches and opens them experimentally; the tenderness is gone. Seeing Bercilak's head turn in her peripheral vision, she looks up and meets his gaze with soft wonderment, followed a second later by a grateful smile. As she looks back down at the Ribbongers, she smudges her thumb across her cheek, making sure the scar's still there. Her expression twitches with a complex blend of feelings on confirming it is, but at least one of them is relief.

     She may not seem very clever, but Strawberry demonstrates- at least- an exceptionally sharp grasp on the potential implications of powers.

     "Your grandparents in the States," Strawberry repeats, nodding knowingly. She appreciates the value of nostalgia-food. "That's wonderful. And- 'Dog Friday'... they're not picking up anything right now, I guess. That's really good to know. But didn't the statue hide from your fairy's senses before?"

     Yonk's questions hit her, and she gives an expression that's halfway between a grimace and a smile. "In my world, magical girls don't have fairies. I'm jealous. ... I've been one for- for six years now, just counting active duty. It's hard sometimes, isn't it? But I wouldn't give it up for the world."
Janine Liberi     "Yeah, pretty messed up," Janine says, not really sounding all that worries. It's her nose being stuffed, honest! "Not that you seem all that worried though. I mean, you're on fire as usual!" She's trying really hard not to sound accusatory, but she can't help it. Someone who is that worried would be missing shots, slipping all over.

    "You know, I was there yesterday. When it attacked. Really close." Vague enough to imply she was just in the ward, but if her hunch is correct... he might catch on that she was there to fight.
Samhain "Oh, I'm not married." Her ring finger is bare, as Ms. Gin grins. There's a cursory glance at his own finger, but she tries to play it off as grabbing a bottle of water.

Shaw speaks up. "Why is that relevant?" He doesn't get it, and Ms. Gin laughs really hard, as she swivels around.

"What do they talk about? Well, without going into specifics - drama and gossip of the test and relationship kind, monster attacks every week, and the like. Every since the school year started, monsters keep attacking. It's been handled, thanks to those 'superheroes' everyone's talking about, thankfully."

"But, that's just how it is in Japan. You know?"

Xion is treated, and then Ms. Gin nods. "That's good! And, yes, hearts are hard to heal. Some are very fragile, and break easily. Others are very strong, but take a lot of time to mend when they get weak and filled with darkness. I think both types are..."

"Quite fascinating."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      His smile, and his thumbs up, are lowered, when the magical dog asserts their position. He nods. If Samhain is tricking him... "So be it." He'd rather offer to help in good faith and suffer for it, than harden his heart and consign someone to oblivion for fear of being tricked. Those three words are all Bercilak has to say to Dog Friday. Whether it is this fairy in particular, or the Council itself, his promise is the same. Intervening where necessary is one thing, but anyone who acts purely out of prejudice towards Samhain will do so at their own peril.

     At this precise moment, neither Dog Friday nor the Fairy Council are his enemies, per se. Therefore, the mention of their monster-detection capabilities is noted with interest. They can sniff them out--and he, the Ribbongers, and Strawberry can do the fighting. Yes. That fits well. "I, als, shalt assist withe inseking and ifightinge al-sum wald-scathes which theimselves inseke onli harm." He nods.

     "I axe that al of thee," he says, gesturing with a sweep of a beefy palm to the Ribbongers and Dog Friday, "Itrust that I hath wais of coaxinge the godness from ifolke. Swich is the natur of *my* magick."
Chase As the team captain is talking to Janine, Chase is busy watching the rest of the team wrap up their practice, making note of their jerseys and orange balls, as well as the hoops.

Once he's done talking to her, he turns his attention back to the captain.

"We're looking for a monster. Have you seen them? ... Bro."

He says this once again with a completely straight face, and without any indication that he thinks asking someone this is weird, and why would it be? That's what they're doing.
Robin Sundance      Robin just grins at Xion. "C'est vrai. Sometimes feelings need to be let out for people to understand each other."

     "Though I cannot in good conscience *encourage* a student to get into fights..." He admits, then lowers his voice conspiratorially, though it's obvious all three of them can hear him because he's not really trying, "I can in good conscience encourage her to get along with people however she can, non?"

     His voice goes back to normal a moment later.

     The glance at his own hand is not ignored. He holds it forward so she can see. He has never had a ring on his finger.

     An eyebrow quirks. "Though I am loathe to turn la conversation away from you, madamoiselle Gin, I feel compelled to ask. Superhero*es*? Are there so many? I suppose if there are so many attacks...mais, there was one the other day."

     "Have you heard more about it? I must admit I am slightly concerned that I will be working overtime."

     He doesn't keep a secret identity. Secret identities are for suckers. If 'the hot new French teacher is a superhero' hasn't made its way around school by now then that's the school's own fault.

     "And that would cut into..." He leans forward. "Personal time."

     Then he straightens and taps his finger on the counter, glancing at Shaw and Xion thoughtfully before he turns back to her. "And that would be une immense honte, non?"
Samhain "Oh, they have to be actively searching." Annalise replies for Nozomi about Dog Friday, nodding to Strawberry. "And it can be blocked by stuff!" Nozomi says. "Which means it's only really perfect if the monster is literally right there." Yonk finishes, disappointingly.

"What did he say?" Nozomi asks Annalise, apparently the Smart One, who sighs bitterly. "He said to pay attention in school. Also, that he has 'magical ways of coaxing goodness from people'."

"Ohhhhh. Cool!"
Samhain "Were you?" Is all the team captain says. "Did you get hurt, sis?" He nods, as he moves over to the court, takes the basketball he's holding, and shoots casually. It rings true, a real prodigy's shot.

"I'm a real baller. You understand how it is, right? Anyways, bro, you're looking for the monster, right? I just got out of practice, I'll come help." It's...suspicious. Either he's a threat, and Janine was right to be suspicious, or he's a complete weirdo, and Janine was right to be suspicious, as he moves to wave off to the coach and walk out, leading them with him.

"If I was that monster, I'd be hiding in the dumpster. I heard there was a big blast of energy in the sky. Name's Daisuke, by the way. Daisuke Yamano. Call me whatever."
Samhain Kale's investigation finds a few things. One, the Student Council searched a lot of places during the night, but found nothing. Backtracking them doesn't really do much - they're in hiding, clearly. Why would a monster hide? But the interesting thing, is what he finds out about the Student Council.

The student council's members don't seem too interesting. Honor students, top athletes, future doctors and scientists. But the teenager they're loyal to, the one who leads them, is.

The Student Council President, Ryutaro Muramasa. Apparently the last descendant of a famed and cursed swordsmith, the school is his world, and he works hard on making sure it is clean and taken care of. He's close with the headmaster, who he has the ear of. He's in kendo, the top of the class, and is a semi-approachable, if logical and cold, guy.

Kale absolutely gets the idea he'll want to remember about this guy. He's likely important to the mystery of this school.
Xion While ~~Marluxia~~ Robin vaguely hits on ~~Larxene~~ Miss Gin for the umpteeth time this week, Xion busies herself not paying attention to the weird stuff and instead listening to the 'side' conversations.

"It's important to reach everyone, yup!"

As for the power of darkness and hearts...

"I don't like to think about darkness or light. I tried thinking about it before, wanting to save everyone from the darkness, but there's darkness in pretty much everyone. It's just normal. If you let it totally eat you up, you'll be miserable, but if there's only light in your heart..."

Xion frowns, a hand brushing over her chest like she had recieved a cramp in her heartplace.

"That's even worse. Never moving. Never living. Never existing. A world of all light is a world entirely without what makes it worth living in."

Pretty deep for a zoomer. "Anyway, thanks Miss Gin! I'm going to go back to class now!"

She isn't. She's not even enrolled. But, sliding off the bed and wandering out the door, she sure looks like she is.
Janine Liberi     "I'm fine," Janine says. Pretty bruised from getting slammed but otherwise okay. "And I'm not your sis /bro./ I'm Janine." Slightly exotic name but she can't be bothered to have a whole cover story.

    "The dumpster huh? He was smelly... but what makes you so sure?" Her suspicion is spiking.
Strawberry Princess      "If it's blocked by things..." Strawberry's lost in visible thought for a moment. "Like, solid objects? So if we took your fairy way up into the sky, then- then we'd see it if it were outdoors. Right?" She rubs her temple with one hand idly, then pushes herself up to standing again, glances upwards to check the weather, and then walks over to Dog Friday. "Hey. Do you think that if I flew you up above the school, you'd be able to see the monster? Bird's-eye-view kind of thing."
Chase "Dumpster. I understand. Keep an eye on Whatever."

And like that Chase leaves the gym. To find a dumpster to dive in. It's as good a start as any to begin looking.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      They can detect monsters. Unless they're blocked. And generally only when it's right there. "'Tis liken that old Earth sheu," he says, shaking his head. "With the seere who saith, 'I fele adversence from theim, capitain,' preciseli afte the ship is ihitten with shots."
Samhain "Of course, of course." Ms. Gin just laughs about the student violence, and agrees with Robin. "As long as the student is fine in the end..."

Robin asks about superheroes. "There's a few. A thief like you certainly has sparked the interest. My, the people they bring in. How lovely. I can tell you more about them...another time." She sighs, as her phone starts ringing. "Hello- yes, hello, headmaster. Yes, I can talk right now, how can I help you?" She goes on to talking about mundane things. It is not, in fact, a secret conversation of evil, or an important one besides being 'actual work'.

Out the window, Robin can spot the others approaching a dumpster. The others being 'Daisuke the team captain, Janine, and Chase', because if Janine and Chase don't follow, they get left behind. As Chase moves to go alone, Daisuke moves to accompany him, regardless of protest.

"Well, if I was a smelly monster and wanted to hide somewhere safe and calm, it'd be a dumpster, *Janine*."

The dumpster is in line of sight of the dorms, as well. Dog Friday considers the flight thing, and is about to agree to Strawberry's suggestion, when he scans again. This is right as Daisuke moves to open the dumpster.

"I've got something!!!"

Daisuke opens the dumpster, and inside is a pile of trash, as well as a statue staring straight at him.

The statue blinks. Daisuke blinks. He was not actually expecting the statue to be in the first dumpster he opened, and that's genuine, so it's not a set-up.

"You! How did you find me?!"

Daisuke just sighs, laughs, and as people likely start approaching as the Statueface leaps out of the dumpster, just poses. "Well, like I said..."

He moves to grabs something from that space where Toku Objects go.

"I'm a real baller."
Samhain Chase will recognize his pose. It's someone grabbing a belt. An orange and black belt is wrapped around Daisuke's waist in an instant, in Cutscene Time, as he stances up, removing another small object from Toku Space. It's a small basketball, made of plastic. He moves to place it inside a 'hoop' in the center of the belt.

"Henshin."

Pressing down on the hoop, suddenly, a giant orange basketball, a standard Spalding, appears overhead, a glowing 'hologram' or something of one. It floats down over Daisuke, as he literally leaps up. His hand is transformed first - a black glove.

And then, it stretches down his body. It coats over his head, forming an orange visor with black lines and speckled spots, like a basketball. His torso is similar colors, as it forms out into boots. It's all armor, not cloth or the like.

Statueface steps back, scared, as an energy sphere appears in Daisuke's armored hand, and he starts dribbling it

"Reaching out to palm victory - Masked Baller, Spalding!"

The sphere is thrown up, as he stretches out an arm, catching it on a finger.

"Now the ball's in your court, Statueface."
Robin Sundance      'Later,' Robin mouths, pointing at her and placing his hand over his chest, 'I'll steal your heart, too.' A last flashy grin.

     With Ms. Gin on the phone and the dumpster popping open, Robin simply opens the window, waves two fingers over his shoulder, and hops out, trailing rainbow behind him as he falls. He lands a little ways off as Statueface rises, spreading his arms in his usual shrug.

     "Oh la la, monsieur. Did you not already run away? I commend your bravery for sticking around, mais I would perhaps not have made the choice were I you."

     The Vaulder snaps around his waist.

     He is slightly distracted by Daisuke drawing his own belt. There is a transformation sequence that does not belong to him. He stares. It is, after all, the first time he's ever been in a situation with someone else using a belt and an object.

     "/Baller/?" He says, echoing the 'Ranger' that a bunch of people said the other day.

     He is equally incredulous.

     "Ah, peu importe."

     The Vaulder snaps around his waist. He pulls out the key and snaps it into the side of the vault door. He takes up his stance, arms rotating around, before he slams his hand on the handle.

     "Transform."

                               B-B-B-BURGLAR!                              

     Robin spreads his arms like he's about to do ballet. The armor forms around him. Black bodysuit. Black coat-tails whirling out of the belt. Red-and-gold gauntlets and boots. The gold key-shaped antennae. The emerald green eyes.

     "Masked Ranger, Thief."

     "The thief who steals back the smiles of the downtrodden."

     "Today, I'll be snatching your victory."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Dog is able to find something. "Ah. The hunte biginnes. Lede the wai, Dog Friday."

     Bercilak will follow, his armor appearing gradually from the bottom up, constructed over several seconds by those same nanites which treated Strawberry's radiation burns. It's comprised of a black bodysuit, heavy alloyed green plating, a horned helmet with a T-visor, an absurdly heavy pauldroned breastplate laid atop the rest of the armor, and a cloak of winter grasses and wildflowers. As he comes around the corner to see Masked Baller Spalding, Masked Ranger Thief, Janine, and Chase, he extends his arm.

     A massive, bearded greataxe with a weighted head containing who knows what manner of technology appears in his hands. The concave, monomolecular edge of the weapon gleams with a green glow.

     He shoulders the axe, observing Statueface with a challenging stance, nodding upwards at him as if to say 'come get me.' "I am Bercilak of the High Wasteland, the Green Knight who demes the mettle of those aboute me." He nods behind him. "My felaues, Strawberry Princess, router of ivel, and the Ribbongers, wacche-guards of the ungilti." He points dramatically with his free hand.

     "*Thou*, ifounde hidden in stenchi refuse, art Statueface, who insekes to bisorow theim who art aboute thee. Halt anau in thy quest, or suffer oure deminge."
Kale Hearthward Ichika makes a note to check out the student council president in more detail later.

"So there's... ah, hold that thought," says Ichika to the student she'd been poking at for more information, glancing out the window as the flashy transformations start going off. "It appears the curtain has been pulled back, and I'm missing my cue."

Without explanation, she runs, jumps through the window (which shatters outwards with a blown air blast just before she reaches it), and does a does a double-spin barrel roll maneuver through the air before daintily landing on the court - not in a gauche three-point superhero landing pose, so overdone! But instead in a one-point ballet stance, one that allows her to effortlessly turn and dramatically gesture, dispelling the illusion -

"Halt, foul being!"

- and revealing that Ichika Souta is not a mild-mannered transfer student, but instead -

"You face the Gale Empire's East Wind Regalia - Kale Hearthward! Treasure your remaining moments, for by my swords I shall hasten them, for as long as I live and breathe!"

    A note:
Kale's illusionary magic covers the fact that he is normally not a human, but instead a human-shaped bird person. That's all it covers. It does not cover, for example, any disguise he's wearing - that's just mundane clothing, it doesn't change when he enables or dismisses the illusion. So therefore...

He's still wearing the girls' dress uniform, with matching pins, jewelry, purse, and makeup.

And he is rocking it. It works. He's rocking it in a way that the admin alts here are already writing up their sternly worded audit notices for not having pips invested in Weapon Mastery - Rocking It. Even with the twin swords and jet boots, the ensemble still somehow works.
Janine Liberi     There's no way right? Dumpsters, as gross as they are, get used often. Usually every night by the cleaners. No one would be dumb enough to hide in one overnight, even if they do already stink. Janine is so preoccupied by the ridiculousness of it that she doesn't even respond to Mr. Baller's jab.

    So when she looks in the dumpster and sees StatueFace looking back, she spits out "Fuck. Off!" before quickly backstepping.

    Daisuke's transformation blinds her as she rips her mask off and sighs. "Really? I meet one of you jerks and another pops up like an outbreak of zits." She's thankful for the backup through as she draws her sabre from its hiding place under her clothes and then undoing her hair bun. "No cronies to hide behind and I'm not letting you get away this time! CATHERINE!"

    The Persona arises, and the air immediately glints with sneakily-placed threads. But in the meantime, a burst of wind erupts behind the dumpster, sending it sliding into StatueFace's back.
Kale Hearthward Also Kale darts forward and attempts to stab Statueface.

No fancy maneuvers yet - just stabbing.
Robin Sundance      That out of the way, Thief raises the Rifler lazily and pulls the trigger.

     Apparently, the grapple gun also functions as a laser. Energy grappling hooks go shooting out for Statuehead's back. They leave little trails of energy in the air.

     "Normally I do not like shooting someone in the back, mais..."

     "C'est la guerre, non?"
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry responds to Dog Friday's warning, and Statueface's emergence a split-second later, with her typical nerve-frayed alacrity. One hand reaches back over her shoulder, yanking the reactor-wand out of her backpack and placing a thumb on its activation switch- but even as she revs it up to start the five-minute timer, she hesitates in pulling the trigger. This is a bad spot for the Annihilator Beam, even worse than the courtyard was. How many people stay in those dorms?

       04:59  

     If she were seventeen again, still running on her own power instead of an ugly fission reactor, she wouldn't have to think about things like this. There's a visible tinge of irritation in her face as she crosses the handgun over the wand CQC-style, cautiously standing next to and behind Bercilak. Her magic will be useful for defense and mobility, here; not much else.

     Oh. Right. Defense. She'd told the Ribbongers that she'd stop worrying about them, but that was a white lie. Without dropping her aim from Statueface or looking back, she extends her pink Shimmer Aura to wrap around them in near-skintight flickering fields. Strawberry's slipped back into that confident, authoritative voice: "That'll keep its gas out! You know what to do."
Xion Xion had to duck away to give Robin has last sting of IMPORTANT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. He had wanted, so badly, to get a last word in. A twist of a smile and a cunning wit. She could feel it.

It was definitely a scene that only played out with her out of the room.

FAST FORWARD ONE SCREEN JUMP TOWARDS THE TOEI QUARRY OF OUR HEARTS

Xion sits in the cafeteria, eating her lunchbox alone. She looks up, hearing something distantly. She searches for a tone.

"A line-up is happening."

As the camera pans towards the windows of the Cafeteria, wistfully taking in the scenic school daze life... A few motes of darkness and the sound of 'vworrp' of a Corridor of Darkness operating in the middle of school hours. It's not shown, because the Masked Baller, Spalding, has eaten up the available budget for Episode 2 already, and they need to cut corners somewhere.

DUMPSTER DIVING FOR RUBBERSUITS...

Sprinting towards her place in the lineup, Xion skids to a halt with windmilling arms and a grind of of sneaker-rubber against pavement. "The--" She puffs her breath as she settles in, to a finger-pointing foot-forward stance. "--hero of everyone's hearts, uh... me!" She hasn't figured out a good full roll call yet.

In her hand, however, is a medallion emblazoned with Bercilak's armored head. "I'll turn the key -- and feel the Frenesie!" Bringing the hand containing Bercilak's medal to strike against her chest, a green light pours out from medal and uniform both, as she draws and draws and draws a long bearded axe out of herself, easily taller than she is. The beard of the axe has a key-tooth motif, and the swept back head continues into a hollow spiked star. Her blue eyes fill in with sworling green, and she smiles a broadly.

"It's time to show you the wycked ille strength I've acquired!"

She then overhand hurls the massive axe like some sort of egregious skillshot towards Statueface.
Chase Chase's body stiffens as he hears the words 'henshin'.  He knows what comes after that. He's not even going to bother to watch or listen to the roll call, he just pulls out a weird looking gun.

He slams the muzzle into the base of his palm and keeps it there, letting a mechanical looping track play for a bit before pointing the weapon up towards the sky.

BREAK UP!

Phantom tires spin around Chase before slamming into him, creating a purple flash as what was once human is now a lumbering tower of mechanical parts and armor.

Mashin Chaser quickly slams the weapon into his armored palm again, not holding it, but instantly pointing the weapon towards Statueface as it announces GUN. Quite predictably, when he pulls the trigger, it fires multiple shots of condensed energy bullets at them. Probably less predictably, the bullets travel dangerously close to Kamen Rider Spalding's head on their way to the statue monster.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Rather than directly attack Statueface, Bercilak lifts his axe. "Verily, Janine."

     "Hark, Statueface. 'Tis repentaunce or debellatioun for thee todai. Thire is no atscape." He slams the bottom of the weapon's haft into the ground. The dorms are, in moments, home to a grove of beautiful weeping willow trees--but their boughs aren't just decorative. Thick around as a man's arm, they will strike out and latch onto him, should he attempt to flee, or even if he should venture too close to the boundary they now form.

     Accordingly, one of them has grown behind the dumpster, turning it over with him inside.

     "Ahh," he says, looking over his shoulder as Xion henshins up. "Thy armer heme wel, Xion." Bercilak gives her a friendly thumbs-up--and then, he turns his back on Statueface, to face Strawberry.

<J-IC-Scene> Bercilak says, "Strawberry."
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess says, "Bercilak."
<J-IC-Scene> Bercilak says, "Thou'rt turbened. I cannst espy it on thy countenance. What burdens thee?"
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess says, "I..."
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess says, "I used to not have to worry. When I didn't need a reactor like this. I could just, blast the monster."
<J-IC-Scene> Bercilak says, "Ah."
<J-IC-Scene> Bercilak says, "Is it strength thou lest? Strength to guard the ungilti, withoute nede of astrueing flames?"
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess says, "... Yeah. I think so."
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess says, "I hate feeling- feeling like I can't help people."
<J-IC-Scene> Bercilak says, "Then make we a covenant, here todai. Assist me in Samhain's repentinge, and thou shalt hath the strength thou lest."
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess cuts out for a few seconds, then clicks back on.
<J-IC-Scene> Hoarse, Strawberry Princess says, "I was going to do that anyway. Hit me with it."

     The timer on Strawberry's wand briefly flashes with an advisory.

FRIENDLY NANOPROGRAM: Improved Guardian of Might

     The Annihilator beam won't be necessary today. Today, Strawberry is strong enough to toss that dumpster across the campus.
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry takes long, deep breaths as she adjusts to the nanoprogram. For it to gel with her overall fighting style, it needs to be as intuitively grasped- as much a part of her- as the magic she ordinarily wields. Her eyes shut, hands clench and unclench-

     Crunch.

     She crushes her handgun on accident. It takes her a few seconds of staring at it, dumbfounded, to process what just happened. Finally, she shrugs and chucks it at Statueface's head with her newfound unnatural strength.
Samhain The group approaches Statueface. They surround him. Masked Baller is still spinning that ball.

"Masked Baller?!" Statueface shouts out. He seems much more used to this than Ranger. Spalding turns towards Thief, tilting his head at the exact same time. "Ranger?"

The dumpster comes sliding forward, suddenly impacting Statueface hard in the back. "Agh! I won't let you make fools out of me! I'm done hiding...taste...KUSONAGI!"

The sword is drawn, releasing the horrible choking stench. As Robin announces he's shooting Statueface in the back, the monster suddenly turns, parrying the shots out of mid-air with extremely precise fencing.

"I am the great Statueface! The darkness in my heart is the strongest! I was created as the best of the Stitches...and you can't defeat me unless you challenge the darkness in your own hearts!"

The last part is probably bullshitting.

Kale moves in to stab Statueface. The stinky sword moves to parry, shifting it off from center of mass into a side-chip on his stone. Xion throws an axe, which the statue moves his arm up to take, cutting into it instead of hitting his chest or head. He's tougher than he seems, especially as Chase's gunfire start blasting him, parrying some shots and getting hit by others.

Spalding shouts out to Chase. "Hey, getcha head in the game, you almost shot me!" The energy sphere is dribbled, and then thrown straight at Statueface's head, bouncing him backwards and staggering him, as Spalding then catches the ball back in his hands. "OOF!"

Bercilak's trees lash out, grappling around Statueface. Statueface's sword moves to try and cut through them, freeing his arms as he grimaces.

A gun comes flying at his head. It hits him straight in the face. It hurts.

"Die!"

He waves the sword, blasting smelly fog out at everyone in range, as he quickly dashes around, moving to slice them. Sword goes into each person in melee, while those at range get an extra-big dose of foul air. Spalding gets slashed, causing a groan, while the Ribbongers transformed off-screen (there wasn't enough budget) and come in with their needle swords, assisting!
Janine Liberi     Oh gag. Janine wishes she had kept the mask on as the roiling stench of Kusonagi hits her nose. Eyes watering, she can scarcely choke out, "C-Catherine!" to push her Persona to generate a strong swirl of wind inside Bercilak's willow barrier. While it helps to disperse the stench, it would take destroying the source to banish it.

    So that's what she's gonna do.

    "Catherine, the gun!" The flying shards of Strawberry's broken Glock suddenly pause mid-bounce off of StatueFace before spinning rapidly. The Persona's wind has snagged the broken metal and is now driving them at StatueFace's sword arm hard enough to pierce!

    And to make things worse, strings drift from the bits that manage to penetrate and loop around one of the willows enclosing the area, binding tightly to immobilize the arm. "Break the sword!" Janine calls.
Kale Hearthward Kale dashes in, swords at the ready, and swings -

And then the most ungodly awful coughing can be heard, of the sort that it'd be just simply gross to transliterate, so just use your imagination instead for what Kale having the mother of all asthma attacks sounds like.

"SWEET HURRICANE, WHAT IS THAT!"

He pulls back. It's all he can do. It's all he can think of to do. He got a whiff of it during the fight against the minions yesterday, but this, head on and at close range...

"What - ugh, feels like I'm gonna - I can't -"

He's utterly lost his cool, his style. He looks miserable, like he wants to curl up and die. He activates his jet boots, and gets further away from Statueface - all the way up to the roof of a nearby building.

"I... gotta, ugh. I can't risk getting in close on that guy anymore..."

Perched (pun not intended) on the edge of the roof, he manages to focus and clear his airways enough that he can start weaving a spell together - a focused bit of shaped windwall, aimed to first slam Statueface together and then to provide one-way cover against him getting any more of that horrid stench out again!

At least that's the hope.

Kale really really hopes that it'll keep him from getting any more of that stench out.
Robin Sundance      Thief points between himself and Baller. "We will discuter un peu later, mon etudiant!" He calls around Statueface. Thief slips under several of Chase's shots (he's pretty sure Chase almost shot them both on purpose, but that's fine, whatever) as he breaks into a run towards Statuehead. The Rifler fires supporting fire, pinning fire, to keep Statueface in place for Xion's massive axe and Kale's strikes. Once Janine summons Catherine and Strawberry hurls her handgun, that's good enough; he stops firing.

     Statueface brings the sword around.

     Thief drops into a baseball slide just as Spalding hurls the basketball sphere at Statueface. The slash clips his arm in a shower of sparks - and inside the helmet he winces and does his best not to breathe until it's over, which is pretty damn hard in the middle of an athletic exertion - but it's not enough to halt his movement.

     The wave passes over him. He can breathe again, thank God, or at least he can breathe reasonably. The ambient stink is...intense, but thankfully, less intense than the actual *wave*, so...that's...good? And it isn't going to sink into *his* clothes. Small benefits of being a transforming hero!

     He slides under Statueface's arm.

     The Rifler swings up under Statueface's nose.

     The laser fires out.

     It is *100* a diversion as he tries to just straight up snatch the sword.
Chase "It was intentional."

The Shinigami slides a silver car into the top of his gun as a sinister voice announces: TUNE - CHASER BAT!. Phantom parts appear on his back and forearm, the sound of bats accompanying it, before solidifying into a bat themed arm mounted crossbow. 

There's no time for a counterattack however, as he quickly brings the newly formed weapon to block the stench. Sparks fly, and while he's able to block the brunt of the attack, the lingering stench is somewhat getting to him. He doesn't understand how, it must be some sort of scientific phenomenon beyond his understanding.

Janine shouts for them to aim for the sword, and he does so. He lines up his crossbow at the sword, before pulling the trigger several times, purple bolts flying through the air towards the Sword Of Promised Stench.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      The stench is bad. Supernaturally so, in fact, enough to cause his eyes to water and his lungs to burn. But even without the helmet, even absent all his armor, Bercilak is one tough bastard. Statueface is looking at the man who pits himself against 'this burger will kill you' challenges in dives across the Multiverse, and wins. Through sheer willpower, he endures the blast of stench without so much as a flinch, until his nanites purge the irritants from his system.

     The greatest of Stitches has chosen combat. Very well.

     When Statueface dashes towards him, Bercilak is ready. He thrusts the haft of his weapon forwards, forming a blocking surface and using his strength to force the sword away. Weapons like his aren't perfect for defense, as evidenced by the way Kusonagi slides across the haft and strikes his fingers. Even so, the Green Knight is as masterful with the weapon as he is strong.

     Sparks fly as he parries twice more, until he finds an opening. He backs off, allowing Janine to provide one by maneuvering Statueface into one of his guardian willows. As Robin slides under the Stitch's arm to snatch the sword, and Chase fires at it, he moves to deal with the adversary himself. And for a guy his size, Bercilak is *quick*--even without armor-mounted microthrusters.

     There is a loud pop as he moves in. Lifting the axe longways, he slams the butt of the haft into Statueface's temple, then steps backwards, and in one crisp movement, changes his grip to send the butt of the axe crashing into the other side of his head.
Xion <You can't defeat me until you conquer the darkness in your hearts!> Calls Stinkmeaner the Stitch.

Xion blinks, slowly, uncomprehending, her green-sworled eyes shuttering asynchronously. Certainly, she's attacked, sparks and other stuff falling off of her. A terrible stink fills the air about her, but she continues to not process the things that the rubbersuit has said.

"Okay, so... I get to win?"

Chase's attack flies over her head, whipping past her hair violently as she just... fails to process this whole thing.

"I've already figured that stuff, out, so, I guess... You should lose?"

Her axe flying back into her hand, she takes it in a two handed grip low on the handle and swings it less like an axe and more like a hammer, a sundering chop right down the center.
Strawberry Princess      It's alarming how fast Strawberry can move when she really wants to- the hardest constraint on her breakneck magical flight is the G-forces the human body can tolerate. She swoops in on Statueface fast enough to rip leaves from the trees and make a Doppler noise like a passing car on the highway. The awful gas he creates doesn't penetrate her skintight forcefield, but it does blind her to the arc of his sword until it's too late- she gets struck by the very end of his sweeping strike. Crack.

     ... The blade is halted on her forearms in a shimmer of pink light. They're bruised badly despite the Shimmer Aura dissipating the strike's force, but she isn't deterred. Strawberry's eyes are wide and wild, intoxicated with this new paradigm. For a brief moment, a childlike smile blossoms across her face. Then she transforms into her mahou outfit, and her expression is hidden by that half-face visor.

     As others try to destroy or wrestle away Statueface's sword, Strawberry dips in closer and reaches out for his neck with childlike innocence, still gracelessly unsure of herself and her new strength. As the others wail on him, try to wrench his sword away or break it, she tests the limits of the nanomachines' power with a casual squeeze and by fighting back against his inevitable struggling.

     Then, when there's a lull and Janine's bindings have served their purpose, she spreads her glittering wings and rockets into the sky with him at dizzying speeds to rip his restraints away, leaving behind cracked cement and a fluttering updraft to mark their departure. Three, four, five seconds they climb, until it's hard to make out the people below and the circle of willows is no larger than a forefinger and thumb.

     "It feels so natural," she says in the thinner air, marveling not to Statueface but to no-one in particular. And then she lets go of him, two-hands her wand, and plummets after him. Not just terminal velocity, but super-terminal: every time her magically-assisted plunge catches up with the falling monster, she strikes him with the staff like a superpowered bludgeon, dunking him faster and faster towards the ground. The temptation to keep going, to push her luck, to hammer at him until they both contact pavement is almost too much- but at the last second she flares her wings and pulls out of the dive. He impacts a second later, slammed right back into the circle of willows.

     When Strawberry lands, she's pale and gasping- not from the exertion of strength, but from the G-forces of the aerial maneuver. Spots swim in front of her eyes as she leans against one of Bercilak's trees, trying to steady herself.
Samhain The group moves fast. Spalding and the Ribbongers attack, energy sphere and needle swords moving to slam and pierce respectively. Janine's gun bits pierce the stone of Statueface's arm, enclosing him, as Kale's windwall lets him clear the air and push Statueface back into attacks. Robin moves to grab the sword - he can get a light hit in, but Statueface holds his grip.

Chase's bullets chip the sword - the stench dies down, lightly, but it doesn't shatter, as the statueman ducks underneath Bercilak's slam, and into Xion's heave, sending him skidding backwards with small cracks.

And into Strawberry. Strawberry lifts him into the air, and blasts him up. He can't control the stench with the grip around him and the confusion. As he goes up, suddenly, he goes down, and he's sent down at more than terminal velocity.

There's a mighty crack in the willows and in the ground. A tremor. But...

Statueface is still alive, as he stands, wobbling. He has many cracks alongside his body. It's as if he was bleeding. They may get better, but for now...

He sheathes his sword, and drops on his knees. "Aaaa! Don't kill me! I beg you! Please, spare me! I don't want to die! You're all too strong!"

Spalding and the Ribbongers just stare, owlishly. What?
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      The willow lifts a bough and pats Strawberry's head, as she leans against it.

     Bercilak approaches the crater, raising a hand for his comrades. His axe arm is also raised, as he slowly strides up. "Halt, Janine, Chase, Robin and Xion. Halt, Kale and Strawberry. So als, halt Masked Baller and Ribbongers. Bercilak's deming begins anau."

     His helmet disappears, leaving his bearded, mohawked face, irises red as a charging boar. The axe is planted in the earth, and he stares into Statueface's eyes. "If clemencie thou lest, thanne here me nau. Cease thy bisorowing of iman and wald-scathe unk bothe. Commit thy lif to joi, and let onli godnesse liv in thy herte. IF," he says, raising an armored finger, "Thou act trueli, thanne no wepen of iman or fairie shalt quell thee. And if thou agree todai, but speke les bifore me to save thine own lif... I shalt quell thee mine own self afore thy wikkedhed cannst harm even one soule aboute this or ani other world."

     He extends his hand. "If thou'rt ben greed," he says.
Samhain Statueface, after a few moments of trying to parse Bercilak, nods readily, and moves to shake his hand. "Of course! And, since I didn't commit any crimes except make it smell bad and maybe fight you guys, why not just..."

He gestures to the pedestal. "Let me stay there! I'll only leave at night! I can be the school's statue! Otherwise, there's no statue, and that's bad! This is such a prestigious school!"

He's pleading. Statueface wants anything but death, and also but jail.
Xion Xion blinks a few more times, mid 'absolutely intentional killing rampage blow', stopped dead by the pleading for mercy.

"Oh, okay, I'll just--"

<And also not jail!>

Her green eyes swirl with the madness of Morgana.

"Yep, makes sense to me! Here's this guy too!"

Xion snaps her fingers, and out from the X-ZONE falls the seventh Fearsframe from last night, still mid-deathrattle.

Absolutely content to stand there leaning happily (she looks Extremely High) against her enormous rubbersuit-slaying bearded key-axe, Xion sways hither and fro.

"See, Chase? Once we fight people, we can understand them."
Janine Liberi     "Nah. I promised your boy that you die too."

    Janine has her sabre out and is advancing on StatueFace. There's no-well, only a little-malice in her eyes. This isn't out of sadism or self-righteousness. She's decided this is how it's gotta be. It's sad that the guy realised he wasn't winning this one, but so did the Stitches yesterday and they went out with more guts than this.

    But Bercilak intervenes. Offers a deal. Janine makes a face, but given how Strawberry became super strong, it's probably magically binding. "You better hold him to that. And remember, you can't be everyone's warden." The sabre gets put away while Janine looks to Masked Baller and the Ribboneers. "And you four better keep an eye on him. If you don't start hearing rumours about a joy-spreading statue, get out the spray paint and start vandalizing."

    With that, the winds lift her aloft and she begins to fly away, only to pause and point at Dog Friday. "And you, don't be an ass to Shaw." There, that's her good deed done, now she can leave.
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry still looks vaguely like she's going to throw up after her near-blackout aerobatics, but she shakes her head as the tree pats it. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she groans softly, peeling herself away from the willow to plod over. Bercilak is handling Statueface, and he might not want to talk to her anyway, so she makes her way over to the three Ribbongers and toggles her costume off. (Her wand keeps running, though. Just in case.)

       04:21  

     "Well," she says softly, "Sometimes things work out." A short pause. "Not always. But sometimes." And then a gentle, shaky smile.
Kale Hearthward Kale, from the himself-eye view he has of the battlefield here, makes a decision.

That is, to make *no* sudden movements. No dramatic swooping in.

He just quietly crouches on the edge of the roof, watching...

... And he's rewarded with an outcome that isn't *quite* what he'd have wished for, but instead is a compromise he can accept. The guy has to stay as a statue eternally, and he faces magical consequences if he steps out of line. Sure, that's like facing the criminal justice system? He guesses? It's better than getting smeared across the ground.

And speaking of. He gives a quick heads-up on the radio that he's coming down (so as to not cause any unfortunate sudden reactions) and casts a quick updraft to aid his descent, and then hops off of the roof.

Kale descends slowly, gracefully to the ground, the beskirted warrior touching down as gracefully as one would while descending a staircase...

... and inadvertently and unknowingly giving everyone a panty shot in the process.
Chase Statueface cries out for them to stop. The Grim Reaper lowers their weapon.

"Ok."

He wasn't intent on going any further, after all, his job is about giving second chances. As Bercilak gives out his blessings to the smelly statue man, Mashin Chaser just silently watches, before finally turning around as he begins exiting the area.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Bercilak nods. "Veri wel." He shakes hands with Statueface, sealing the deal. Swarms of persisting nanites cloud the Stitch invisibly, constructing within his body a hub where they can replinish their numbers, all towards the purpose of keeping him from being destroyed at the hands of Riders, Rangers, Ballers or Fey. That isn't their only purpose... but Janine does bring up a good point. The Green Knight, however, laughs, replying, "I can, whanne-so that thei accept mine covenaunts," says Bercilak with a grin. It is a... concerning expression, taken with the cryptic response.

     In any case, the Stitch has accepted the terms of the covenant. "Rise, Statueface, and take thy place as sculptile once more." Statueface's beaten minion is dropped unceremoniously in the same crater. "Ah, heil," says Bercilak with a friendly wave. Hm. "It heme wel thou shouldst hath a frend, to kepe thee compani and remind thee the vertu of godnesse. God ithinkinge, Xion," he says with a nod, before directing his nanites to heal the flagging minion.

     As they do their work, he moves to join Strawberry, giving everyone, even Kale, as he descends from the roof, a high-five, this time accounting for his monstrous strength so as not to break any arms in his congratulating. "God ifighte, god ifighte," comes his muttered praise to each ally.

     "I imened what I sed, Strawberry. Thou geined from me onli that which loten alredi withinne thee. And thee, Ribbongers, I hop shalt ilern from todai that redeminge is al-wais more chesable than astruinge." He smiles at them--and gives Dog Friday a stern look, before snapping his fingers and calling his bike. From across campus, it flies on autopilot to his position. The axe, still buried in the ground, deconstructs itself, as does his armor. He taps his ear, a pair of earbuds forming from thin air, perfectly nestled in his ears. Everybody gets an insert, and he's no different.

Bercilak de Hautdesert is listening to Judas Priest on Discoverize. Listen along? Y/N
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqDU-j9Q4nM

     The thrusters of his bike roar as he slips his shades on, taking off into the horizon.