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Eryl Fairfax     Halcyon dusk begins to fall over MCM Academy. The sky glows like fire, sending long shadows stretching across grassy lawns and dimming the classrooms behind the windows. Clubs clean up their spaces, instruments going quiet, while whistles shriek to call an end to training. Students depart through the grand gates, heading to dorms and homes. The day is over.

    For most, but not all.

    Through the halls of the academy, polished shoes march. The Paladins, the enforcement branch of the Student Council, is out in force. By order of the Student Council, caffeine is banned from academy grounds. It's not in vending machines, not in the cafeteria, not even allowed in from outside. Teachers and Paladins at the gates search bags every morning. But the old adage ever proves true. When you criminalize something, that just means that only criminals can get it... and profit from it.

    Enter the Concord. A collaboration of the wealthiest students and the most entrepreneurial, they immediately claimed this new market. Sneaking trays of soda, instant coffee, and energy drinks into school, they sell them out of their lockers at slightly inflated prices. And with exam season looming, it's the perfect storm. Study sessions create lost sleep. Lost sleep demands caffeine and taurine. Caffeine and taurine create late nights. The wheel spins on, and it's greased with lunch money.

    The Concord is savvy though. Savvy enough to not leave their supply in their lockers after school, ripe for the taking by the Paladins. Through private deals and co-operation, they move them around every day, never in the same locker twice and secured before the final bell rings. Hence this heavy-handed response; the only chance the Paladins have is a crackdown. Seize it all by force while it's being secured.

    But while this conflict between the faces of the academy brews, those who lurk in the shadows get into position.

    The Watch, a loosely-knit group of outsiders, rebels, and ne'er-do-wells, believe that the banning of caffeine is a scheme by the Student Council to drive down the exam scores of other students so as to inflate their positions and eliminate competition. It is for this reason they plan to intervene in this raid, claim the illicit cans for themselves, and distribute them freely to the student body. Be it to even the playing field, protest the ruling, or just create a little chaos. The goal aligns, if not the motives.

    The battle will take place in the west wing of the school. The most recently constructed, with the good water fountains with cold water and pressure. Through shady dealings, the Concord overwhelmingly has the most lockers in this part of the school. Head of the Paladins and captain of the judo team Eryl Fairfax arrives and barks at the cluster of Concord members. "Hand over the drinks, right now!" Caught in the act, pooling today's profits and leftover cans, planning the next trip to buy more of what sells out and less of what is left over.

    The Watch, meanwhile, congregates in a janitor's closet, having gained access through the school's maintenance tunnels. The moment the fighting begins, they'll run in, grabs the goods, and beat a hasty retreat.
Kale Hearthward Kale Hearthward is a big deal. Or so he claims he is. He keeps saying he's a big deal back at home - where he'd moved from at the start of the previous school year, and he has a rich boyfriend back at home who's a genius and is very important and totally exists, and he was the best at sports back at home but they play it differently here so it's not the same, and he had the lead role in all the theater productions, and he for real ran the school with three other kids, and...

... And he just sort of naturally fell in with the Paladins, by way of gaining some measure of authority without having to be socially savvy enough to end up in the Concord or ethically nuanced enough to fall in with the Watch.

And in this current situation, he doesn't see any ambiguity. "I can get along just fine without caffeine, so nobody else should need it," he's said, at many junctures, while confiscating it from others without a second thought to whatever protests they may have.

For Kale, preparing for the raid involves making sure the Paladins badge on his immaculately-ironed school uniform is properly shiny, neatly arranging the stacks of Incident Forms on the pair of clipboards he keeps in his backpack, and most importantly, doing his vocal exercises to make sure he can shout properly.

"Yeah! Hand them over!" he shouts, his voice carrying. He reaches back and draws his left-hand clipboard from his backpack, wielding it menacingly.
Kukuru Every op needs a mule. Someone needs to get the goods form point A to point B without asking too many questions, without drawing attention to themselves, and without making too easy for someone to snatch them up during the delivery. Kukuru's never been particularly great at the last part, mostly from being too eager to buy sob stories about forgetting a wallet at home or having to choose between soda now and bread later, but she's somehow always managed to get her money before the end of the week regardless.

Besides, moving large quantities of unmarked weird stuff without being asked too many questions is pretty easy when you're on the school nurse's good side.

Although she clearly isn't the brains of this whole operation, her results have been consistent of nothing else. Besides, she's just glad to be there, humming merrily to herself as she hauls a backpack full of leftover drinks to help get things sorted and squared away before anyone can find them in the middle of their illicit deeds.

Oh no. Someone's found them! That's not enough to break her cheery demeanor, though, as she turns right towards the shouting Eryl with a bright, if noticeably undercaffeinated smile and sag in her eyes. "Ah? He-llo, Erry. Hi, Kaley. Are you thirsty, too? I think I've still got... Ah." To make matters worse for herself, Kukuru all but implicates herself as she reaches into her backpack (with surprising arm flexibility) to fish out two still-cold cans of ginger ale, one with orangeade and one with lemonade mixed in.

"Here we go... One and one, please~" Clearly, she doesn't quite get what's going on yet.
Darren      "Good hustle, good hustle!" Darren Spears, star QB of the football team, distributes high-fives and butt-pats as the training whistles blow, and everyone heads into the locker room.

    "Hey, you coming to the party tonight?"

    "Nah, man. Not tonight! Got errands, feel me?" Darren puts his pads away and closes the locker.

    The kicker scoffs at him. "Bro, you peeped Epicurus? The path to a eudaimonic existence is characterized by the presence of ataraxia and aponia! You're playing yourself, D."

    "Right, but I'm on that Four Movements ish, my G, and Fourier insists that transition away from 'civilization' and into healthy social structres requires that good good. That distribution according to need, that attractive labor to release libidinal forces--"

    "Bro, what? Libidinal forces?"

    Darren shrugs, pulling off his jersey. "Friendship and love, my man. Yo Roswell! You ready to hit that grind for the common good?"

    YOU KNOW IT BLOOD

    One cool handshake and change later, Darren's in his letterman jacket repping the school colors, a clean tee, track pants and sneakers. After everyone's gone, he's in the west wing. "Oh hell nah. UH UH!" Duffel bag slung over his shoulder, he accosts Eryl and Kale.

    "What y'all are -not- gonna do is perpetuate Martian paternalism in this joint. Hands off the caffeine!"
Lilian Rook     Disciplinary Chair Lilian Rook, class rep and glamorous mean girl extraordinaire, has made some waves by joining the Paladins initiative seemingly out of nowhere. Of course, already used to employing all sorts of means in keeping order in (her part of) MCM Academy, the jump should seem perfectly natural in taking a more hands-on approach with curbing unruly behaviour. However, the timing had been so fortuitous for this most dire of convoluted catastrophes that there are those who wonder if she hadn't foreseen it. She does that, after all. A lot.

    Here and now, Lilian is certainly keeping her reputation for being impossible to hide anything from; merely capable of being convinced that it isn't worth bothing, or else 'distracted' in other ways. Pin fastened, skirt pressed, brand new lily hair ornament in place (gossip abounds of a secret boyfriend, but nobody has seen him . . .), she has timed this whole thing very fortuitously with all of the sports clubs being let out; that means she still has her wooden sword on her from practice, slung in its bag for now, but implicitly threatening by its presence; a punishment more than one delinquent has suffered off the record.

    Whap whap! On the wrists! Knock those cans right out of poor naive Kukuru's hands. "Thirsty students may use the water fountains placed in the corridors between classes; outside beverages are completely prohibted!" A smug recitation straight from the student handbook. Lilian is stanced up with her hands on her hips and everything now. "You know that you could easily be suspended for such a major infraction, yes? Or even worse, barred from final exams~ Ah, but I may be willing to lighten your sentence, provided you surrender all contraband and disclose the names of of other students smuggling it onto the premises~"
Strawberry Princess      "Strawberry Princess"- if even the teachers know a more normal name for her, they aren't spilling- was the mysterious transfer student a year or two ago. Now she's a known quantity: an absolutely devastatingly sugar-hearted girl, with the saccharine style to match. You've definitely been invited to her birthday party, whether or not you came. Sometimes she brings cookies to class.

     It's even kind of hard to hate her when she's enforcing the Council's will.

     "Bye Blueberry! Bye Blackberry! See you tomorrow!!" she yells, waving at two other students leaving through the gate. They turn and wave back, beaming and saying something indistinct. Then she sticks her thumbs through the straps of her (pink) backpack and jogs towards the West Wing to catch up with the other Paladins, fluffy golden-blonde hair bouncing with each step.

     (It was shorter when she got here. She's been growing it out.)

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 4 NEW MESSAGES
MahouLove: sorry!!! i'm here i promise <3 <3 <3
MahouLove: we're not gonna be too hard on them right?
MahouLove: i made Mission Accomplished cookies, so come by my house later too!
MahouLove: the frosted kind <3

     Eryl is closing in from one direction. Strawberry heads off the other, coming in on the Concord's opposite flank. There's a bright, plucky smile on her face, and just a quiver of sympathetic uncertainty in her eyes. "These are the most important years of your life for healthy brain development, you know," she says haplessly. "I know test scores seem like the most important thing in the world right now, but being kind to yourself and getting a good night's sleep is even more important."

     "If those students don't take good care of their minds and bodies, they'll regret it when they're grown up. So, please?"
Staren     The Wiremu sisters just transferred in this year. Though... odd, Staren felt uneasy around the Paladins and the Watch, and fell in with the Concord. Freshman Staren, 5½' tall with almost shoulder-length brown hair styled to frame or hide her face and wearing a long, sea green scarf and a skirt longer than the school standard, the foreigner looks the part of a delinquent... But ping-pongs between excitedly babbling about science or anime and being extremely distant with a look on her face as if she's in a very bad mood. Rumor has it she does the Concord's homework for protection.

    And then there's upperclassman Erica. The silver-haired beauty of more typical Japanese height has incorporated elements of traditional shinobi garb into her clothing, such as a mask, and is in the middle of... digging pit traps in the hall.

    "You really don't have to do this, sis."
    "The Concord look out for us. It is a ninja's duty to look out for her clan, and to use the skills of shinobi to support and protect her allies."
    "...I meant that pit traps are a bit much, when we'll move the cans to a different locker tomorrow."
    "It would be dishonorable of me to-- They're coming."

    Erica lifts her head from her work and stares dramatically into the distance, then vanishes just as Eryl and co. round the corner. Staren looks at the judo captain, and the hall monitor, an eye and a half glaring balefully out through glasses from scarf and hair. "Ugh." She backs away, just behind and to the side of Darren, fingers reaching into the bag at her side.

    "...Why should we? Do you think the school's rules are 'right' or 'good'?" Her glare intensifies. "Rules are just used to support bullies. 'Keeping students in line' is just sanctioned bullying." She steps out from behind Darren, scarf falling away from her face a bit as she gets louder. "The adults set schedules designed to ruin our social lives and keep growing teenagers tired! So that then they can hang the results over us, tell us we're not good enough, and we should be thankful they're giving us this chance... or so that we" her voice cracks as she gets louder, "EXHAUST ourselves keeping up to their standards and they tell us 'good job' and expect it every day! I don't know what's worse, if you're SHEEP" she's been listening to Darren apparently, "or if you've sold out to the wolves for preferential treatment! Collaborators! Traitors to all teens! You--"

    When she gets like this, she can go on for quite awhile, so perhaps it's for the best that Lilian walks up and accosts Kukuru. "You!" Staren's visible fist tightens. "Y-you... you leave her alone!" But the moment Lilian looks her way, she tries to hide behind Darren again, pulling her scarf back up and... is that a gas mask under it?
Hibiki Tachibana     Caffeine banned? Can't even bring it over from home? That's bad enough. That's already some oppression against students everywhere who rely on that to get past boring morning classes or pick them up to get through the rest of the day at lunch. You can't even smack a vending machine without looking and let the can drop like everyone does in movies. Seriously! Even the machines too is going way too far with this stunt.

    But when you add in what the Concord is doing, /unforgivable/. It's profiting from everyone's misery at a dime more than you had to spend before. Innocent first years who don't know better are eating it up without complaint if it means they won't be falling asleep at their desks. Even the more experienced students who know how those rich jerks work don't have any choice but to relent under the unyielding, all-crushing pressure of exams...

    Enter HIBIKI TACHIBANA: a second-year delinquent who tends to keep to herself even by the Watch's standards, known for entirely skipping out at school at random times, an outwardly cold attitude, and handing anyone caught bullying their own ass despite her size. Rumor has it that lone wolf of justice attitude is completely destroyed in the presence of a certain girl (who is also responsible for her grades not being utterly tanked), but she lets that get out as little as possible. And fortunately, she's not here today, because of course she's not.

    It's just Hibiki and the rest of OPERATION: CAFF LIBERATION huddled in the closet, a collected assortment of what can only be described as a hastily-assembled gang. There's gakurans worn loose (no there's not a dress code here) and probably more than one pompadour among The Boys(tm). The door is cracked and an squinted eye peeks out, taking stock of all the Paladins incoming. "Crap...she's here, too. Of course she is. How do you expect anyone to survive off of water...!? Human beings need sugar to do anything, damnit...!"

    There's a lot of mumbling and grumbling, but she has to wait for it. Wait for it...oh no, she's gonna feel bad if that plucky transfer girl is here too--stay strong, wait for it...!
Kale Hearthward PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 1 NEW MESSAGE
EastWind: You cant show mercy to troublemakers
      That's how they get to you
      You show any mercy and they wind their way into the cracks
      Expel the lot
      Also are those cookies vegan?

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 1 NEW MESSAGE
EastWind: I mean I'm going to have one even if they aren't
Lilian Rook PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 4 NEW MESSAGES
StandstillGirl: You're perfectly on top of things as usual.
StandstillGirl: How hard on them we must be is entirely their own choice!
StandstillGirl: If they're willing to show proper respect for the sacred rules of this institution, there needn't be an issue.
StandstillGirl: And by sacred rules I mean me.
Hiromi     How a student like Hiromi even fell in with the Concord is a deceptively simple mystery. It was never about the money, and never about the wakefulness-enhancing drugs, nor was it about providing an even playing field. She hasn't said anything of why she's here until just now, waiting for the inevitable confrontation.

    No, the caffeine smuggling was just a means to this particular end, of standing before the oncoming Student Council enforcers, legs apart, arms crossed under chest, towering high enough one can't help but wonder how many years she's been held back to still be here, kanji-covered motorcycle gang banners purely imaginary but non-regulation-length ripped skirt and definitively disallowed sarashi (which her own teachers have long since given up arguing with her over) quite real, sharp teeth glinting with the beginning of a delinquent's sneer from her advantaged height, just so she can say, "Rejected."

    She goes on, "Your Authority, untested, holds nothing. Come, try, force my limbs, if you can. Don't just dream. Dare! Words are but air."
Staren     Darren complains about Staren taking cover behind him, and the student council starts in about how busted she is. Super busted, even! She briefly looks down, then back at the assembled Paladins. "Thanks?"

    She moves behind and slightly-to-the-side of Hiromi, instead.
Strawberry Princess PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 5 NEW MESSAGES
MahouLove: i'm sorry kale!! i got vegan cookie dough but i forgot to bake it
MahouLove: v_v;
MahouLove: and thanks lilian <3 <3 <3
MahouLove: i do my best to stay on top of things!
MahouLove: i love the hair flower by the way?? li'l cute touch
Touta Konoe     "I KEEP TELLING I DIDN'T STEAL NOTHING!!!"

    The sound of a familiar voice rustles through the west wing of the high-school. A young man who looks like he probably should be more in the middle-school wing of the academy, yet still was returned back after a long leave of absence. A young man who's been gone nearly all semester but has come back in time just to get ready for finals. A guy who didn't really join any of the social flings but could vibe with anyone. That's the guy that most would relate to the one known as Touta Konoe. A real swell fella. "Like hell I'm letting you take it, it's not an energy drink it's flavored water! If you think you're gonna take it be my guest!"

    Usually. . .Usually this would be the case. Unfortunately no one had informed him upon his return of the current events transpiring in the school. That's what happens when you're not part of the big cliques around school and following social media apparently.When he got into school he had no idea why he had originally been checked, not thinking much of it at the time and not being found as an issue cause there was no energy drinks or even colored drinks on him. Just his water bottle. The issue only arose when he finally got inside the school, he pulled out one of the flavoring containers. The ones that you can add into the water later and BAM! instant flavored drink. However, while this ended up not being an issue getting into school, when the other kids start seeing you drinking a colored beverage words start flying, and before he knows it he's got Concord rich kids thinking he's a Watch guy who stole from their supply and on the other end he had Paladin's in the council wanting to take his drinks away entirely!

    "Look here, I don't care what any of you guys think. If any of you think I'm giving you cash or energy drinks, the only thing I'll be giving any of you is some Fruit Punch!"

    Usually a nice guy. . . But what's a nice guy to do but stand his ground when he's getting accused on all sides.
Darren      No one can stay angry when Strawberry Princess is around. "Ay Strawberry! That b-day party was bussin'. I got you next year!" He amiably fingerpoints, and the little alien beside him (wearing a tiny little letterman jacket) points too.

     "That's a good point, fam, and one made with genuine compassion, but it doesn't address systemic causes. The test scores seem like they're mad important because they are. And they're mad important 'cause the school insists on outmoded means of education that don't reach every student, crammed into schedules that expect everybody's gonna have the same circadian rhythm. Caffeine isn't a permanent solution, but until the Student Council agrees to a more eusocial--" He pauses, listening to Staren's protest, and nodding.

     "Another good point--AH AH!" Staren is scolded for busta behavior.

     "...where was I?"

ON GOD YOU GOT THAT SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD A MINUTE AGO AND I FORGOT

     Darren nods. "Well, we're at an impasse. It's prolly time to put away the theory and get to praxis anyway."

WORD
Lilian Rook     "Right or good?" Lilian raises an eyebrow at Staren. It is the type of look that says:

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 1 NEW MESSAGE
StandstillGirl: The insolence of this tart.

    "What a rubbish question! There is no difference, of course! Rightness is inherently good! The sacred rules of this institution are set out so that no student need be unclear on what is right and wrong; falling into depravity and rule-breaking is nothing more than your own moral weakness!" Lilian sniffs, gently kicking cans aside, staring down her nose. "Nobody expects utter perfection from every student. Human beings make mistakes. They slip up, and correct course themselves. To fail to be right is simply to not be good enough yet. To refuse to be right is to refute goodness itself! Vehemently rationalizing your choice to poison the other students of the academy! Despicable!"

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 1 NEW MESSAGE
StandstillGirl: Ah, you do? I'm glad. I was told that I should try looking 'more approachable', whatever that means.

    "Funny that bullying runs rampant without rules, and exists only in defiance of them. Equally amusing is the fact that you live in terror of the bullying that our committee prohibits and keeps in check, but when those rules disadvantage you, suddenly you are being bullied regardless." says Lilian.

    And then Staren says the thing. The thing that you never say to the disciplinary committee head chair. The one absolute taboo topic that even the freshmen gossip about.

    "Don't try and talk to me about what adults want."

    Darren has made a declaration unwise for Staren's safety. Lilian reaches out to grab her by the collar and forcefully haul her off herself; at a chokehold drag if she has to.
Kukuru It's a football! Player. Kukuru's face brightens further when she spots Darren, then Staren and Erica approaching. A lot of what they're saying goes right over her head, but she does at least nod affirmingly when they go into conspiracy theory-esque terms (and clearly not understanding a lick of it). She also has just enough sense to understand from CONTEXT CLUES (as if the Paladins ordering the turnover wasn't enough already) that maybe things aren't going to go quite as well as she was hoping they would.

Lilian's wrist-whapping has the expected effect of getting those cans on the floor rather than handed over, and the intimidation roll actually looks like it's working! At first, anyway, what with Kukuru's looking intensely disappointed and even possibly tearing up as she looks from Lilian to the cans.

"... Aw. Now we can't open them for an hour or whatever. They'll make a mess now." She slumps forward at the waist, wriggling in place while looking up at her from that odd angle.. "Really? But it's just a sugar chemicals and coffee... Whatever coffee's made of. And everyone looks so much healthier after they drink it, so what's the problem?"

It's hard to tell if she's putting on an act or really just that clueless about the rules and everything else. Truly, Kukuru is the pinnacle of straight C+ students.

At least Strawberry Pricness is there to help temper things a bit. "Thatwas  afun party, mhm! And yeah, sleeping is super important. I'd be doing even worse if I..." She pauses to cover her mouth during an open-mouthed yawn. "... Didn't take little naps in class."

She's been disciplined plenty of times for that, too. At least the teachers still like her despite her grades. " And this stuff makes it easier to get through some of those. They should really just let us nap between classes, though." For once, she sounds utterly confident. "Then everyone would do great in classes, and... Um. Oh! I'll pick up some extra milk at the supermarket tomorrow. Whole, two percent?"

Sadly, it does sound more like things are going to result in a small brawl, and Kukuru shuffles over to Hiromi. "Oh. Oh. One sec." Without waiting for permission, she reaches out to nudge part of the taller student's skirt together juuust enough so she's not showing off too much off just from standing there. Even in the Concord, someone has to worry about the others not showing off too much!

Touta, for better or for worse, doesn't get Kukuru fussing over him. She does stare right at him, though, and she's not subtle about doing so at all. "Oh yeah, I gotta pick up some of that stuff for home later, too. Maybe the blue fruit one...?"

At least Hibiki doesn't have to worry about Kukuru fussing over her. Hiding is super effective against this possibly-short-sighted girl! Or maybe she just wears the glasses to look smarter. The lenses are totally flat.
Kale Hearthward "Oh, thank you," says Kale, politely and automatically when he's handed a soda can.

"... Wait, no! Ah ha!" he crows, holding it up triumphantly. "Evidence! Handed to me by the perpetrator herself!"

Meanwhile, there is talk of victory cookies. Strawberry says any leftover cookies will be distributed to the Concord, so... Kale makes a mental note to stuff his face till there's none left.

There's also a Hiromi. Something about her makes Kale want to face off against her, but that's a concern for another time.

"Alright! Then all that's left to do is to confiscate the evidence, write everyone here up, and- hey!"

Kukuru's wandered off. "Hey! Come back here!"

He chases after her, and tries to frisk her for whatever other money and cans she has on her!
Darren My man, comes Darren's voice telepathically to Touta. I'm not moving any flavored drinks. Just Mean Beans, Mermaids and some old hippie stuff. So I'm not asking for money. BUT, it's absolutely vital that we put pressure on the Student Council to walk back the policy, which means setting ourselves up as an unpalatable development directly resulting from their authoritarian tendencies. So I'm saying--I'mma throw hands witchu right now, and after, win or lose, hit me up and I'll hook you up so there's no hard feelings.

     "Is that -our- product?" exclaims Darren dramatically, pointing a finger at Touta.

SURE LOOKS LIKE IT

     "My man, you're gonna pay for that one way or another, ya heard? POTION! 16! HUT HUT HIKE!"

     Roswell's mental presence surges, the little alien conjuring four psionic blunt-edged swords. They swoop towards Touta in hot pursuit, while the alien is joined by a massive yeti in a letterman jacket.

     The yeti, with a sweep of a burly arm, ices the floor immediately around Touta, setting up a simple but quick 50/50 attempt.
Eryl Fairfax     Eryl just gives Kukuru a Look. The tall boy in the pristine uniform is good at that. A scholarship student from The Bad Part of Town, everyone anticipated him falling into the Watch sooner or later. But he excelled, earning high grades and accolades in sports and culture, winning the respect of peers and teachers until he reached the position of leading the Paladins.

    Mostly, he's content to let his comrades handle the lecturing, until Darren interjects. "It's not paternalism. Drink all the caffeine you like outside of school. You shouldn't, but you can. It does not reflect well on MCM Academy to develop and encourage an addiction to stimulants by permitting them on-campus. That's all."

    He looks calmly at Staren and says, "Racketeering is not therapy. If you are feeling overwhelmed, please book an appointment with our capable counsellors. But we cannot overlook the breaking of rules, even if you disagree with them."

    He looks at Hiromi, and now he looks actually peeved. "Everything about me is tested. And Paladin membership is dependant on passing many a test. Do not look down on us just because you haven't seen it."

    He pauses suddenly. Turning, he looks at the nearby janitor's closet. A message appears in the Paladin groupchat, a rare instance of Eryl speaking up.

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 1 NEW MESSAGE
E. Fairfax: Someone is in the closet.

    He breaks away from the argument, marching over to the door. Those inside hear the terifying sound of metal on metal, of a key being slipped into the lock and turned. The door opens, and the light is blocked by Eryl looming over them. "Hibiki Tachibana and the Watch. I should have known. Either in on it, or looking to disrupt for your own gain I take it? I'm afraid I can't allow that."

    His hand comes down on the girl's wrist and he tugs sharply, pulling her out as his leg lashes out, tripping her and sending her sprawling onto the hallway floor.
Kale Hearthward PALADINS GROUP CHAT:
EastWind is typing...

EastWind is typing...

EastWind is typing...

EastWind: Um, phrasing?
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry forms the outline of a heart with her fingers and beams in response to Darren's amiable fingerpoint. "Awwww. Thanks, Darren! It was really great having you! I'm looking forward to next year already~"

     Her expression turns solemn and distressed when the topic shifts to systemic issues. "Well... yeah. It'd be better if all that stuff changed. But I don't know how to fix it. And, anyway, people can still drink caffeine in the morning, before they come to school. That's the best time for it, so it won't mess up their sleep schedules, right?" It's a feeble defense, but she seems genuinely lost.

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 1 NEW MESSAGE
MahouLove: im not <3

     As things start to turn towards violence, Strawberry reaches into her backpack and pulls out what looks like a pink baton. With the press of a button, it telescopes out into a full magical girl wand, complete with cute feathery wings and a gleaming crystal near its bifurcated tip.

     Stepping forward, she hooks one wing over Hiromi's shoulder from behind and pulls, gently forcing the giant delinquent to turn around and look her in the eye. Strawberry's likely the second-tallest here, but far behind in muscle; her eyes have a plucky heroic glint in them, but there's a nervous edge to her body language that determination can't suppress.

     "Hey. No. It's you and me, Hiromi."

     She chokes up on the wand, reverses it, and jabs the butt into Hiromi's solar plexus in an attempt to drive the breath out of her. It's followed up by hopping backwards like a fencer, returning to a neutral stance with her wand held out protectively to carefully gauge the reaction.

     "You're here just to fight. I know that. But even if you win... it shouldn't be Lilian who takes the loss. She's suffered too much already. I'll protect her heart from that!"
Kukuru "Stimulants...? Oh, like sugar!" Kukuru sounds proud of herself at making that connection once Eryl speaks, however wrong her conclusion may be. "But we eat bread all the time. And sugar. And I smell coffee and other stuff from the teacher's lounge all the time." Kukuru

Oh no! Kale's accosting Kukuru! She's caught off guard, too, but she's one step ahead of him through what can most definitely be assumed to be advanced trench metagaming and not just dumb luck in carrying all her stuff in a big backpack rather than her nonexistent pockets. It keeps his frisking attempt from finding too much obvious money on her person, and even the cans are suspiciously absent from her pockets (probably because they're all in that fat backpack).

She still makes a weird noise on contact regardless. "Whoa, he-ey. I thought you were supposed to be a good and upstanding student..." She glances back at Kale briefly like she's about to cry again, then breaks into a snicker and sticks her tongue out. "But if you wanna get all my stuff, you've gotta get it off me first~"

And then she hops backwards at him backpack-first, using her oversized rattling accessory like a battering ram filled with unknown liquids! It's actually really good for strength training, and her balance is oddly good even with that thing on.
Touta Konoe     Eh? It's the only thought that comes to mind as someone starts talking into his head without actually. It's like getting whispered to but without the hush to it. It's something that has Touta messing with his ear for a moment before he realizes who exactly's reaching out to him. There's an eyebrow raised, not immediately saying anything, but the look probably enough of an excuse for Darren and his squad to make their way over. No one wants to get a stink eye from the little kid, right?     Mmmm, I get that but what's gotta do with throwing hands with me, I'm not even with the Pal--

    His conversation is cut short as the voice ends up properly leaving his lips now. There's still a look of annoyance on his face, but that probably plays in fine with Darren's goals."Look, I keep telling you jerks I ain--" AND AGAIN HE'S CUT OFF. Caught between a rock and a hard place he gets pincered, ultimately deciding to choose taking the blades over the ice he dashes out from the path of the yeti's swing with speed that's almost has Darren lose him with his eyes for a moment, but once he stops, he's in prime attack range for those blades and even if they were blunt, they hit SOLID. Enough that even he's knocked back a bit. Still, as he gets up though, cracking his neck as he looks up at the jock there's a smile on his face."Alright, my turn. . ." Alright pal, just don't blame me if I make it a bit too realistic for ya!

    As he teases Darren a moment he charges, not at him but at the Yeti. . . The colossal beast is probably more than twice his size, but with nearly no effort at all as he makes his way towards the beat, with but a single hand throws his comrade right at him. The oversized giant look to all but looking to be thrown atop the QB like a linebacker going for the sack!"Alright QB, let me know how my spiral is!"
Hibiki Tachibana     Wait a second. That's marching...this way? Oh no--

    The shadow of AUTHORITY looms over the opened closet, even worse in its own way than Lilian Rook or heavens forbid, Kukuru, might be. Most of the hoodlums of the Watch are like a flock of deer caught in headlights.

"Eeehhhh!? Fairfax busted us!?"
    "The leader of those guys of all people!?"
        "How'd he know!?"
            "J-Just as I have expected from the judo club head--!"
                "Couldn't it have been Strawberry?"

    "Crap...!" Hibiki only gets that out before she's yoinked and goes tumbling out, caught at the ankle and going head over heels down onto her back down on the floor with a loud thud. With a wince and a groan as she tries to push herself back up onto her elbows, she puts on a pretty good show of that being enough to cow her into submission. She's actually sideglancing at all the other action - Darren and his own Boys(tm), Strawberry picking a fight with the scariest delinquent in the academy(!?) - and glances back up.

    "...Ugh. Shoulda known, huh...? Sorry, but you're totally off the mark. Guys, break for it! Backup plan!"

    She flips over and puts her weight onto one palm, throwing herself around in a sweep meant to catch Eryl's legs and send him falling down right to the ground too, making an opening for the rest of the motley crew to run past and try to split off down both sides of the hallway. As she moves into trying to get herself up to a knee, she huffs.

    "Besides, I don't wanna hear anything from you guys, pulling this stunt so close to exams! I slept through half of yesterday!"
Kale Hearthward "I am a good upstanding student!" protests Kale.

While he's flustered, Kukuru hits him squarely with the backpack. "Oof!" He goes stumbling back, getting knocked onto the ground.

"That's - mmmh." He's not going to say 'assault' because he really really really does not want to see how many layers of glass house he'd be standing inside of w/r/t that particular stone throw. "... Un-lady- er," He probably shouldn't bring up 'un-lady-like behavior', either.

"... Not very nice!"

He picks himself back up, and tries feinting to get back around behind her, and start searching that backpack!

... More carefully this time!
Staren     "What she said! I REJECT your claim to rightness!" Staren doesn't make it to hiding behind Hiromi. "Hrk!" Lilian gets hold of the scarf easily. Scarves are not great combat gear! Especially the super long wintery kind rather than the hero kind. "What would you know?!" She stumbles forward awkwardly, hand digging around in her bag by feel. "Unhand me! Bullying and then calling it right doesn't make it not bullying! You..."

    Wait, Darren said an ideological argument wouldn't work... and as a conspiracy theorist he's been debating crazies way more than she has. He might be onto something. So what else can she do?

Months ago...
    Staren, with shorter hair and no glasses yet, and a sort of generally very awkward air about her, walks along the sidewalk slightly hunched in her gakuran, alongside a more heavyset girl in her sailor fuku giving her a look of concerned optimism.

    "Girls can be total bitches to eachother too. You're gonna have to deal with that, you know."
    "Great. Fighting back didn't work as a-- it didn't work, and I bet it'll stand out even more *now*." Staren kicks a small rock down the sidewalk.
    "Hey! You'll get the hang of things, girl! Have some more confidence and *nobody*'ll walk all over you at that new school! But I know you're not great at seeing the big social patterns, so maybe you haven't noticed: Everybody's insecure about *something*, but the easy target? Even *you* have noticed that guys taking cheap shots at eachother are always goin' for stuff that calls their manliness into question. Like 'Oh, you got a small--'" A loud truck drives by "--Or, 'you'll never get a girlfriend', or 'aww, baby gonna cry?'" Staren winces. "Sorry. But see, *everybody's* the same way. If you gotta sling an insult, don't tell people they're failing to learn the moral lesson of a science fiction episode."
    Staren sighs. "That was *one time*!"
    "I know, I know. But what you do is--"

NOW
    The instinct to mouth off is strong. Heck, she's been DOING it since the Paladins showed up! Just, she didn't learn. Old habits. Logical lectures. People don't work on logical lectures. This is *high school.* (Don't tell her people are illogical in the real world too just yet. She can only take so much.)

    No, you have to talk like an immature high schooler, not a weird nerd.

    Staren puts on her best attempt at a haughty, dismissive tone, though her voice wavers just a little. "Pff. So this is how you solve your problems? I've heard how that stick you're carrying around gets used. And now when it comes down to it, it's not about right, it's about who can drag the other one around? How unladyl--"

    "UNHAND MY SISTER!"

    Erica drops out of a slid-aside ceiling tile (people never look up!) swinging her bokken at Lilian's arm and possibly adding additional layers of irony. "Are you alright, sis?!"

    "I'll be fine..." I hope... Staren begins slipping out of the scarf and backing away, revealing a gas mask(?!) loosely draped around her neck.
Kukuru "So-rry~ But I can't let you take this stuff either, you know? Everyone's counting on me to make their dreams come true or something!" Kukuru overstates her purpose massively as she plants one foot behind herself to not tip over from that impact, although she does have to crane her head and the backpack at another odd angle to actually get a look at Kale again.

It's a really awkward stance, but she's somehow managing it. "But if it's not nice to help my friends out when they need me, or to... Um... " She was going somewhere with this, but she's already forgotten most of it. Instead, Kukuru yawns and covers her mouth again, giving Kale ample opportunity to find more of that contraband and even fish some of it out before she notices what's going on!

Her backpack's gotten a bit lighter in the process, but that might just make things trickier now that she can see and move a little more easily. "Aah, don't look in there! I've got my own private stuff inside, too! Peeper."

It smells like off-brand Strawberry's cookies. Has she been practicing? Either way, that smell grows stronger as Kukuru hops sideways in one direction, then back to try and bowl Kale over with her backpack once more!
Hiromi     "Everything about me is tested. And Paladin membership is dependant on passing many a test. Do not look down on us just because you haven't seen it."
    "Unshown results convince none. 'But, it was done!'" She pronounces, "Words," like a curse. "You know what must be." She does continue looking down on him, though this is an inevitable function of height.

    Of course, she knows Strawberry is there. It's no surprise whose hand that is, and while there is no such thing as 'gently forcing' Hiromi to move -- either she is met with a similarly overwhelming force, or she remains as she is -- she does respond to the implicit request for her attention by turning.

    It's a hard jab from a small, stabbing end to a target that would, in most, be vulnerably soft. Hiromi flexes in the moment before impact, driving her back from the solid blow, one foot remaining still while the other comes behind her to balance. Her stance is lowering, but her undefinable presence rising, breath flowing in, rather than driven out. Her arms move forward with an eery slowness, fingers stretching, relaxing and tensing, settling into the shape of hard claws. Her sight is hungry, and 'for what' has more answers than can be covered in a single, establishing flashback episode.

    "'Lilian.' Why her? Why not... him?" She doesn't specify this alternative whom. "Is she your reason? Or is it, 'school rules'? Or, 'victory cookies'? Celebrating, winning, festivals for power used, 'work' done, is that your reason?"

    The menace with which she steps forward contrasts with her casual motion to the side, as Hiromi reaches through the open door of the nearest classroom, and pulls back, with the squealing of tortured metal, the broken leg of a chair, its hollow steel pipe pinched shut. The speed with which she approaches is another thing altogether, and it'll really sting if Strawberry's still holding that wand when it gets hit.
Darren      "Wait, wait wait, hold up. I knew something was missing." Darren's phone levitates out, menus tapping (how is he doing that without touching it? the eyes on the back of the case... did they just blink?). Earbuds in. "Okay."

     As the tunes set in, Harry, the towering yeti, locks arms with Touta. He's plenty strong himself, but Touta has leverage. For their part, however surprised they are at this development, Darren and Roswell react quickly. As Harry flies through the air, a telekinetic cushion eases and slows his impact.

     "HELIX! 19! HUT HUT!"

     Where's the hike? Harry disappears, replaced by a small, humanoid ladybug with an aircraft early-warning system for a thorax. "HIKE!"

     A shimmering barrier of protective energy bathes Darren and Roswell, as Saucer flies in for a hit-and-run, swatting at Touta while Roswell directs the swords for another bop. Darren takes off towards him at a dead sprint--leaping soundly over the ice patch, jacket flaring behind him as a strong, invisible stiffarm attempts to drive Touta to the ground.

     It's not bad, for real, but I think you'd be a lot better as an offensive tackle. That was incredible!
Kale Hearthward "Depending on you for their- OOF!"

Once again, Kale gets knocked back and down, almost entirely in the same manner as before. He's managed to secure some more of the contraband, but - obviously this isn't as working nearly as well as he would hope for.

"... Dreams. Alright. Alright, then..."

He gets back up, and faces down Kukuru... and instead of going for her backpack again, he reaches behind himself to his *own* backpack, and pulls out a clipboard.

"Let's see how you hold out, against my Periactus-brand pen here..." he says, clicking it open. "When I write you up in this incident report...!"

He spins the pen around in his fingers once, and then starts writing. "Let's see. Name... Kukuru Teppelin... Location, the west wing near the good water fountains..."

With each stroke of the pen, Kale gets one step closer to sealing Kukuru's doom!

... Maybe!
Kukuru "Mhm! I'm glad you understand now~" Kukuru relaxes visibly when Kale says things that might be interpreted by a complete airhead to be relenting, and it gives him ample opportunities to start writing her up for her MISDEEDS. She even turns around slowly with another yawn, almost as if she was expecting him to settle down and get his allies on board with joining this scheme when...

HE CONTINUES SPEAKING. "Incident...? Wait, I thought you were okay with it!" Now she's freaking out again. Relatively, anyway, since Kukuru's own brand of freaking out is still just a slightly raised pitch and scrambling to figure out how to interfere with that writing without just resorting to direct violence.

What was it the kids back in primary school used to do? They blamed their dogs on eating their homework. With only seconds to spare, she springs into action, raising her hand to thrust it forward at...

The floor behind Kale. It's time for subterfuge! "Doggy!" And then it's time to move in for the kill. Kukuru leaps forward with all her might, hampered in speed and bolstered in weight by her mighty backpack, lunging at Kale headfirst to try and take a big ol' bite out of the clipboard and report all in one go!

Surely nobody's going to believe in the veracity of a report that looks like a dog-and-definitely-not-a-sharkp-toothed-girl ate it.
Eryl Fairfax     Eryl walks over to Hibiki, paying no heed to the scattering Watch. She sweeps, her leg lashing out at his, and he just... skips over them, like he would a jumprope. One does not become captain of the judo club without training and diligence.

    "I'll be sure to get their names from you after. At least, the names of the ones whose face I couldn't see." Once again, he's bending down to grab Hibiki's wrist and pull her to her feet. "So, you didn't answer my question. What's the play here? Seizing the money or the drinks? Do you intend to horde all the drinks for yourself, or distribute them in misguided charity?"

    Another yank, pulling her towards him, but it's no mild trip this time. He bends low, catching her on his back and standing up explosively fast, sending her flipping to land on the ground. This is less judo and more professional wrestling, but unorthodox methods must be used to protect the sanctity of school rules!
Touta Konoe     Touta watches as Harry gets cushioned from his fall. At least they were good enough teammates to just move out of the way and let him crash. Though. . .Wait, are you putting in headphones?! Hey man that's not cool aren't we boxing-- Oi-- Oooooi! He had no idea if he could be heard telepathically over the music or not but he was gonna give this QB a mindful to deal with!

    At least that's what he wanted to believe, but when the yeti's replaced with a lady bug and well. The three-fold combo is a well-done play. The bug catches him off guard as he leaves himself open, the swords pin him to the nearest wall as they launched into him, and then the piece de resistance of Darren's arm all but brings him to the ground with enough force that well. . .Maybe he can't hear it cause of his headphones but there was definitely some bone-snapping that likely just followed. This would have definitely put a few guys on the football team out on the stretcher. It's maybe even enough to make the guy feel guilty, I mean, this kid didn't even look big enough to be a runningback.

    Ugh. . .Are you sure you're not the one that should be playing on the line? Sheesh. . . He's up. He's scuffled, but up. For an attack that should have put a number on him, he's shaking it off rather well. Though the look in Touta's eye does make it apparent. He does not want this being an x-0 game on his end. So. . .He abuses that speed again. In the blink of an eye he was to Darren's right, then his left, a few feet in front of him, he could hear his feet landing behind him. And so on and so forth as he all was but trying to find an angle to attack from that'd give him an opening till. . .All at once, he's in none of the cardinal directions. Rather, he can notice that the lights have gone dim. As he looks up, he can see Touta ready to pounce, launching himself from the ceiling itself as he's planning to go for a blitz against the QB himself this time.
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry visibly swallows when Hiromi remains unshaken by the blow, and her knuckles are white on the wand, but her hazel eyes stay locked on Hiromi's own. "Why her...?"

     A reason comes to mind, and then it's swallowed down, unspoken. Her second choice: "N-no. That's not it. I want to be kind to people. I want to be 'Strawberry Princess', the shining heroine! And the more power you have... the more you can be an example. The more you can help people who need it. Like Lilian. Especially Lilian!"

     "And power is responsibility. This is how much responsibility I can handle right now. If I weren't rising to it, I don't think I could grow!"

     Her eyes go bug-wide at the shriek of metal, and come to rest on the improvised metal weapon with visible dread. The Heroic Speech Energy drains right out of her again. "Hey. This is just... we were fighting over soft drinks, right?? We really don't need to-"

     The first swing misses her wand by inches, saved by a last-second flick of the wrist. She yelps in surprise. Strawberry cedes ground as Hiromi approaches, unwilling to relinquish the wand and having to devote all her energies to avoid getting it smashed out of her hands. There's no way to find an opening that doesn't leave her with the chance of numb fingers.

     So she creates one. Leaping backwards, Strawberry reaches under her uniform jacket and pulls out a paintball pistol. Is that even legal?? It couldn't be mistaken for a real gun- its bright, translucent plastics make it look like a toy, and the muffled chok noises it makes are nothing like gunfire- but it still stings.

     Strawberry's aim is eerily impeccable. She fires at the cheekbones, trying to splash paint into Hiromi's eyes, then drops the pistol and wall-runs along the lockers to strike while the iron is hot. A flying spin-kick to Hiromi's jaw follows, and then the twisting momentum and Strawberry's own weight are used to hook the wand behind her neck and try to yank her down to the ground as Strawberry lands.

     "Isn't there anyone you care about? Anyone you want to protect? Don't tell me you can't understand that, Hiromi! I bet it's somewhere in your heart!"
Lilian Rook     "You won't be opening them at all." Lilian says to Kukuru, already hellbent on marching off with her catch. "What part of 'prohibited' don't you understand? Perhaps if you'd simply waited, you could have drank these after finals, when the restrictions were lifted, but all of this is now property of the student council body!"

    The direct challenge from Hiromi briefly draws her attention. She has to tilt her head up to actually do the 'look up and down' part that comes after 'aggressively' and before 'Hiromi'. Lilian looks a little distracted. "How are you still wearing that absurd getup after all of this time?! It was my impression that this matter was being handled by the faculty and PTA, and thus not under my notice. How have they accomplished nothing whatsoever in taming your outrageous ways?!"

    The vehemently confident, even slightly smug authoritarianism she puts on when blistering on about acceptable enemies of The Rules is something that all vapourizes moments later. 'Thankfully' just barely in time to not have to ask Strawberry any difficult questions, because Staren opens her fat mouth, and Lilian swivels on her like a woman possessed. Eyes wide, teeth clenched, fingernails pressed to her throat as she throws the catgirl up against a locker, her voice low and vibratingly livid. "How dare you. How--"

    The heroic ninja interrupt happens! For about two seconds, someone's theme music is playing. It cuts out abruptly, because the tone shift is now so severe that it might as well be raining indoors right now. Even the blackness of a single blink is an eternity compared to how long it takes Lilian to discard that gym bag, casting it away and into Staren's face to block her sight and distract Erika, and swing the non-regulation size waster at Erica's side mid-drop, already having immense spinning torque that will turn the blunt weapon on Staren a fraction of a second after.

    The terrible and feared ability of The Girl With The Perfect Grades has come out: Gifted ~ After Hours.
Kale Hearthward "A what- a dog?"

Kale immediately turns his head, in search of the contraband canine. "Nobody's allowed to have dogs on campus!"

*CHOMP*

"Unless it's a registered service dog, I... think?"

"Or a dog person? Wait..."

He looks back at his clipboard. There's a big bite taken out of both the clipboard, and the entire stack of forms. "..."

"MY CLIPBOARD!"

"MY FORMS!"

He loses it, staring at Kukuru, for a moment, slack-jawed...

... and then his jaw shuts. "... Oh. Oh, wait."

He drops the partially eaten clipboard, and reaches into his backpack... and pulls out his *other* clipboard.

"Hah, only the truly unprepared go into a troublemaker confrontation with only one clipboard!" he says, as he clicks his Gobo-brand pen open. "And this time, you aren't going to eat it!"

Indeed, he goes to stay far away from her as he starts writing!
Hibiki Tachibana     Yoinked cleanly by the wrist while she's still caught by surprise, Hibiki goes straight up and makes eye contact with Eryl--only to purse her lips and narrow her eyes back at him. "Man, you really don't know a thing, do you?" She could be saying that in response to the names, to the question...or both.

    And then in the next second, she's letting out a 'bweh??' and going HIGH and then LOW, falling through the air--although she catches herself in a sloppy landing on one knee rather than ending on her back again, with reactions greater than the average delinquent. "The whole idea is the drinks that you guys banned, and /those/ jerks are taking advantage of. You think anyone other than you 'model students' are gonna make it past exam season without something to pick them up? Studying anywhere near enough is gonna leave them passing out standing up the next day...!"

    She springs back up off the ground, going to straight up tackle into Eryl - and end up tumbling across the hallway floor several times over with him if she lands it, waiting until she's on bottom to use the leverage to kick up and send him flying towards the wall.

    "Those stupid rules you stick to so hard are just gonna make the whole student body suffer...!!"
Darren It's just this one song, fam, promise! Gets stuck in your head.

    Darren grins as Touta's back up. The scrawny kid's fast--as fast or faster than he is strong. It's too hard to track him with eyes--and that would just be playing into the blitz, anyway. Damn son! You run a hell of a blitz. I love the pressure! The lights dim. But I can pass -and- run, my G.

    It comes from above. *Smart.* He's off like a bolt. Touta strikes him square in the back of the shoulder. Even with the protective light screen flickering faintly in the low light, Touta's blow strikes with a heavy, meaty impact. Darren is forced to the side mid-gait, but he tucks the (poke)ball, pivots his hips and drops low to guarantee a solid footfall, then re-corrects mid-stride. He wasn't lying.

    If I don't see you at tryouts I'mma be mad disappointed. The ladybug follows him in hot pursuit, zipping forward. Darren makes a forward pass, and Saucer recalls Roswell, who remained in Touta's strike zone following the drop.

    Darren then recalls Saucer. "RED! TWENTY! HIKE!" No hut. Harry immediately re-emerges, alongside a four-armed sarcophagus. A blizzard blows into the hallway, obscuring the three of them save for vague, indisctinct shapes. From out of the hailstorm, Ramesses rockets forward like a bullet, having slingshotted himself with stretchy, ghostly arms that flare out at the last second to try and bowl Touta over.
Kukuru After thrashing around with that chunk of clipboard, Kukuru spits it out into a trash recaptacle waaaay over there. She's never explained how she could do that so well, and she never will.

There's no need to explain keeping the floor clean, after all.

What she's not expecting, though, is for Kale to have brought... TWO CLIPBOARDS. At this point, however, she can't even be sure that'll be the last of them! Thus, she's caught between a rock and a hard place if both of those things were clipboards. What can one girl do against such insurmountable obstacles?

The same thing that sort of worked before, but with a side of EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL. "Kaley! How can you be so heartless? I just wanted to help everyone study better.." She's still chasing after him (albeit kind of slowly) to snap and grab at Kale's backpack with teeth and scrunched up hands respectively, but she's also starting to turn on the waterworks. It's not all lies, either, as she really did want to help people get their grades up!

It's just not enough for her to cry without playing it up like some kind of streamer turning up the wetness for subs. More distressingly, though, is the fact that she's actually pretty good at acting like it's really upsetting.
Touta Konoe     Touta can feel the impact as he delivers the blow but, while there's some meat to it. . . he can feel the resistance from the lightscreen and knows for a fact it's not as juicy as he was hoping for. He's got no idea what the hell it is, but whatever it is was definitely making things hard to land a solid hit against this guy. Sorry to disappoint, but American Football's not my game!

    He watches as Darren pivots and sees the swap out. It's enough to click his teeth a bit. It was tough playing a team sport when you were the only one on the team! He could use that excuse though. He wouldn't let himself do so. The events that follow are. . .

    Again, Harry decides to double team with this sarcophagus that already puts the pressure on Touta, the hailstorm that ensues obstructing his vision entirely not really able to expect the attack, so ultimately. . .He's gotta just take the blow. Whether Ramesses shot like a truck, a bullet, whatever Touta already had up his guard and once again was showing his lineman endurance, all but grinding several feet back till he ultimately stops the spookster on his own. "Hey Spooky. . .Give your QB a message for me. Boo."

    All a sudden with the phantom menace locked up with him, Touta prepared himself, bringing a fist back as it began to cover itself in a dark miasma. He slams the fist right into the ghost hoping to give it an experience of a dark type move as he'd propel this coffin at Darren to put him to sleep a little.
Staren     The catgirl(?! Sure why nyot) grunts as she's thrown into a locker and then a gym bag that is hopefully not full of swords or something smacks her in the face, knocking her glasses off.

    Erica's sword meets air, the silver-haired girl's eyes widening in shock before she's sent flying into the wall with a loud, metallic KLONK. That took a lot more momentum out of the sword than Lilian was probably expecting, but Staren still grunts and clutches at her side from the impact, then tries to grab the wooden sword to slow Lilian's use of it.

    Great... That just got her mad... do I have to do things this way after all? Her other hand comes out of the bag with a remote control, the faint click of a button already pressed, and reaches up to move the mask into position. It covers her mouth and nose and extrudes a clear face-cover for her eyes, making a seal as smoke bombs that dropped with Erica go off, plumes of choking smoke starting to rise...

    But what was the remote for?

    Metal armatures bust through the locker she was thrown against and wrap around Staren, telescoping metal bits extending and covering her more until what stands in front of the locker is a ten-or-eleven foot tall robot!

    The Protege has bulky, stubby legs like oversized armored boots, and less oversized arms, one of which is holding the warped locker door as a shield and the other is holding a baseball bat with thrusters on it.

    Massive shoulder pauldrons and a small, human-size 'head' with three glowing line optics in the Concord's orange color and a long ponytail sit atop a barrel-chested body covered in segmented armor plates with a ridge in the middle for deflecting head-on strikes and rectangular glowing greebles of uncertain purpose on each side of the chest.

    The head and chest have a white-and-Concord-Orange-trim scheme going on and look more recently painted, while the rest is a more dirty, faded white with black at the joints.

    "How dare *I*?! That fucking HURT! She better be okay!" Staren's voice comes over the speakers, and it swings to bash Lilian with the 'shield'!

    Inside, Staren sits almost curled up into a ball in the *ridiculously* cramped cockpit, frantically moving control sticks.
Eryl Fairfax     A tackle! Eryl braces to catch it, redirect it! But school shoes are not made for judo, and the school keeps its halls well-polished. As a result, he can't maintain his footing, and he goes tumbling with Hibiki, Seperated from the brawl, he lifts his feet and presses them against Hibiki to push her off him before getting back to his feet. His hair is dishevelled and his clothes wrinkled from the slide.

    "Caffeine isn't good for you," Eryl says flatly. He takes a moment to brush his hair back into place. "Using it can create a dependence. Especially in young, still-forming brains. You think I don't know? I was running on four canned iced coffees a day to get to where I am." Tugging the blazer to straighten it out. "But I quit. Not just while in school, completely. It feels great. I sleep better, beat my alarm in the mornings, and feel rested. This is possible for everyone."

    He steps up to Hibiki, looking at her seriously. "If it causes grades to fall, the curve will compensate. A passing grade is enough. It has always been enough. It doesn't have to be this way. It can be better for everyone. The Concord seeks their own benefit, and the Watch lashes out against anything and everything, even a helping hand. The ban is for our benefits. I know it is easy to dismiss the rulings of those above you as ignorant, or even destructive. But, take it from someone who knows true abandonment; having others look out for your best interest is the best thing in the world."

    He starts jabbing; something picked up from his brief stint in the boxing club. Fast punches launched from his left hand while he keeps his right lowered, protecting the body. Until it's not. A fast uppercut, aiming to launch Hibiki!
Hiromi     "'Especially Lilian.' Why?" There's no avoiding that line of questioning. It's Hiromi's dogged pursuit of some unspecified conclusion. "Do you desire power, to handle 'responsibility'? Or, are you given 'responsibility,' for your power?"

    Avoiding actually being hit by the tone-breaking strength with which Hiromi wields that chair leg is the obviously correct choice, though what's worse is how she keeps swinging, keeps forcing her opponent back, without any sign of tiring, nor of impatience. Openings must be created, rather than found. This, too, was the correct choice.

    The gun might have worked. Without surprise, when it comes up, Hiromi's hand rises, eyes narrowed, just barely looking over her raised weapon. The aim is good, but it's her imposed hand and the improvised weapon that take the shots, rather than her cheeks. Her face is barely splashed by the deflected paint, and too far from her eyes to force a flinch.

    The spin-kick might have worked, if the gun had, but that chance is already gone, and she'd left no time to consider changing the combo. There's no opportunity for the hold that would have followed to materialize at all, because Hiromi's dropped the chair leg, caught Strawberry's foot in the hand already raised to protect her face, and twists her body in the direction of the spin before it can happen. The impact is a soft roll with the blow, but in return, the momentum is amplified and redirected, risking both dislocation and an uncontrolled spin into the lockers.

    "I've made my pack." Here at MCM Academy, the gang Hiromi had run with is mostly still just rumors, with only a few who can claim to have actually gone away to visit her home territory. It would be odd if she meant 'the Concord, generally,' phrasing it that way. "Have you made yours? No. You follow."

    The follow-up isn't immediate. Hiromi allows a moment to hear, and collect. It's after that moment that she advances, seeming to fill the hallway by force of presence, her foot flashing out to strike precisely to Strawberry's left with a resounding crash that pops half a dozen locks open, followed by a backspin to hit just as close to her right, and before the echo has had a chance to fall below deafening, Hiromi's elbow comes in to shove her opponent inside the opened door.

    How are you still wearing that absurd getup after all of this time?! It was my impression that this matter was being handled by the faculty and PTA, and thus not under my notice. How have they accomplished nothing whatsoever in taming your outrageous ways?!
    "Because they are weak." Hiromi follows up this answer with, "You wish to tame me?" Her smile is as sharp as ever, impossible to determine where the line between 'pleased' and 'predatory' is meant to be drawn. "Welcome to try."
Kale Hearthward > "Kaley! How can you be so heartless? I just wanted to help everyone study better.."

"W-what? I'm not heartless..."

It's a *critical hit*. Especially when the waterworks start flowing. "I- I don't..."

He's flustered enough that Kukuru can easily just yank *his* backpack *and* the other clipboard off of him, disarming him. Kale's entire motive force runs on popularity and ego, and right now, he has just made a girl cry. This sort of emotional blackmail is like taking direct unshielded psychic damage.

... And he's out of clipboards, forms, and everything else. "Y-you..."

He keeps backing away from her, hands in front of him, as if to ward the crying girl off. He's out of options.

Well...

... not out of options.

Just out of good ones. Out of ones that won't backfire horribly. Out of ones that aren't... cheap, dirty tricks, especially on someone like Kukuru.

But this was supposed to be the Paladins' big bust - deliver a stunning blow to the Concord, and show the rest of the school that their authority is not to be questioned. Is... is all of that worth it?

It isn't worth it.

Kale does it anyway.

Abruptly, he stops backing away, and plants both feet in the ground. "Kukuru!"

He takes a deep breath. He extends an arm, a hand, a finger - pointing directly at her, accusatorially.

"You!"

"Are a BAD GIRL!"

Heaven help him, for hell hath barred its doors.
Darren But you -do- have a game. I see you!

     "REGULATOR!" Calling an audible from the moment he sees Touta winding up for that swing. Ramesses' glowing eyes flicker, binding himself up with those ghostly arms, bracing for impact. It was a good call--especially given the fact that barrier seems to have worn off. But Touta made a better call.

     Ramesses is knocked out cold, battered squarely in his center of mass. His four arms fall limp, and he's bathed in white light before he can hit the ground. My man running Shadow Punch to predict my spikes. Respect.

     With Roswell's swords gone, the play clock is ticking. He's gotta run something. Another screen? No, Touta saw through the last one. In the protection of the blizzard, Darren's eyes gleam. Rushing seems like the game plan--Touta's called out the last two passes. "ROCK! 14! HUT-HUT! HUUUT! HIKE!"

     Roswell's back out, Harry's been called back. The little alien's running a route behind a friend-shaped plesiosaur. An off-tackle run. Usually you run these against large backs. Touta isn't large, but he hits harder than most backs Darren's come up against.

     Nessie's eyes gleam as she thrashes wildly, attempting to slam her substantial neck into Touta or else clothesline him with the prongs on her shell. Roswell, running a route behind her, levitates overhead and throws a telekinetic haymaker that causes the air to crackle with purple glints of his psionic energy.
Kukuru It worked! Kukuru's still crying a bit as she works off the last of that forced sobbing, and she even believes that she's legitimately upset to the point that she kinda forgets to capitalize further with that opportunity. That, of course, gives Kale the opporunity to get his own bearings back together, and she flinches slightly as he addresses her by name once more.

"Huh? What's...?" He's not writing. Does that mean Kale's finally ready to turn over a new leaf? She smiles, holds her hands out as if ready to take his, and-

'You!'

'Are a BAD GIRL!'

Nobody's ever called her that before. A struggling student, perhaps! A creative baker, certainly. A convenient decoy, very much so! But... Bad?! Inconceivable. Impossible.

It's such a shock to her system that she slumps back, clutching one hand to her chest while falling sideways in that dramatic sitting pose with her legs on one side and her body leaning the other way.

"No, that's... That can't be! It's not like I'm a Watch girl, or like..." She's not naming Hibiki or Hiromi, but she's definitely thinking really hard about both of them right now. "I just wanted everyone to have a fun time at school without having to worry about everything that's gross and bad outside! Without having to worry about being so dreary and sad inside! If wanting that's bad, then..."

She sniffles, wiping another tear from her eye before turning to Kale once more. "How can anyone be good?" She sniffles again, not having to try very hard to keep the water flowing. When it's truly coming from the heart...

Kukuru's guilty tripping power has reached its peak!
Touta Konoe     That suppose to be the name of a blitz or something? He's got no idea what Shadow Punch is, but it's definitely a cheeky remark for what he knows is referring to his punch. He sees the sarcophagus return to the grave as it goes bathed into the light, and he's finally starting to feel like he's got some rhythm to work with. The question now was how far would it go. He was catching up, but would time run out before he made the big play. Hard to see.

    What was probably harder to see was what Touta had planned next. An off-tackle play against a larger back made sense from what Darren had seen thus far. Touta was definitely taking a beating, but he was eating them up way better than most. If that was the case it only made sense to try and fight muscle with muscle. It's just that this time he doesn't go muscle with muscle. It had seemed that this time Touta was going a speed route. Rather going a full on collision with Nessie, he literally long jumps that neck of her. It's not a clean jump mind you as he rolls to the ground but he recovers just as quickly and continues rushing Darren like he's about to spear tackle the poor guy. Although it's less a spear tackle and more of him possible going for another one of those 'shadow' punches again if that fist he was getting ready had anything to say about it!
Lilian Rook     "Yes. How dare you." Lilian responds to Staren, not in the least bit swayed from her cold anger at all. This is the legendary ice queen berserk button of the otherwise theatrical but absolutely impartial arbiter and interpreter of the Rules and Codes of MCM Academy. Clearly it is not mere rumour. "Or else you'll what, Stacy?"

    "What's the matter? Not used to being hurt? That's entirely your own fault; I gave you ever chance to at least try to do the right thing. But if you want to tell me that I'm wrong --if you want to change the rules and dictate how I can act-- then it is my job and privilege to stop you with the full weight of this Academy's perfected integrity!"

    The frankly supernatural quickness of the student council disciplinary head isn't done justice by the talk. The line Lilian was elected on was, after all, that fairness should not, cannot, wait; justice should not, cannot, be slow. The shield craters into the hallway before it encounters any fleshy resistance. "For possession of contraband, violence against a fellow student, resisting and obstructing a student council executive body, enabling peer infraction of rules, use of an unauthorized robot on school grounds outside of the proper facilities, unscholarly conduct, foul language, and creating a hostile atmosphere, I exercise my power of executive judgement!"

    There's a cacophony of rattling clanks and scraps inside the cockpit from the hull all around. Lilian has secured fifty feet of lock-chain somehow (from her bag?) and pefectly looped it around and between the robot's limbs and joints. A forward lunge sends her pulling it one way, dragging its feet out from under it to topple in the other direction. "These are the rules that truly protect those who need it, and not those who are simply the most fortunate! The thing you claim to desire, but cannot abide! Start over again; beginning with your attitude!"
Hibiki Tachibana     As they both rise back up and re-ready themselves, Hibiki meets that serious expression with a grimace of her own. Her skepticism isn't being hidden at all--but as blows begin raining in, she's forced to take her attention off of his face and onto his fists. Her own clenched hands come up in a not too dissimilar stance, and her feet shift back.

    With every punch, Hibiki loses ground, made to either weave off to the side out of the way of another jab trying to find her, or bringing up a palm to try and quickly deflect it to the side. "You're not everyone, you know. /I've/ drunk soda for ages, and you don't see me struggling to get out of bed. I mean, I do, but for other reasons. And overdosing on canned coffee is a heck of a lot different than getting a soda to pick you up at school...!"

    The upper comes by surprise. Her eyes go wide, and her body posture shifts to the side. The launcher doesn't quite launch, but it smashes into her jaw at an off-angle that ends with her not going clear off her feet but rather stumbling back with a grunt of pain. She drags the back of her hand over her mouth and shakes it off. "Tch. You don't need to tell me /that/. But 'looking out' for them like this...I can't get behind that. You got the Watch all wrong, and a real inflated view of what the Paladins are trying to do. If you wanna look out for the students, there's better ways to do it than taking away something they all need!"

    She steps back in, in a blur of motion. A fist comes low, trying to hook into Eryl's stomach--and then a twist of her body sends her own coming up in a rising uppercut trying to return the favor. She won't let him fly though; right behind it is a forceful jab meant to strike him in his center of mass and floor him.
Kale Hearthward There. He did it. Was it worth it? Probably not.

"I'm sorry, Kukuru, but you need to understand..."

Oh. Oh no.

The waterworks. The guilt trip. It's too much. It's all too much.

"... A-ah..."

He falters a bit.

"I..."

This is bad. This is really bad. Think, Kale, think.

"...If..."

"... If you agree to stop selling contraband, I'll take you out to get ice cream?" he offers, desperately hoping to salvage some sort of win from this.
Kukuru Part of Kukuru does understand. Although the desire to help people and her friends came from a place of genuine good interests, going against the rules... It's not like she was completely blind to what she was doing.

It was just easier not to ask questions or think too hard. After all, having someone guiding her... Well, that just made it easier for everyone involved. With the answer staring her right in the face, though, it's too hard to ignore even with someone as oblivious as her.

The waterworks are about to start again, but Kale already knows the way to Kukuru's heart. Perhaps he's always known. Or perhaps...

She's reading too much into it. Kukuru's never been that good at reading.

"... Ice cream? I didn't know you were... I thought you were... Huh." She avoids eye contact with Kale as she looks over at the contraband scattered around the place, the damage caused by shredding and biting and all sorts of physical stunts around the west wing, and then...

She slowly looks back at Kale with a strange look in her eyes. It's only for a brief moment, but there's the briefest flicker of something sinister in her eyes before she goes right back to her usual sleepy look.

"Sure. It'll be cheaper if we get one big bowl to share, right?"
Kale Hearthward "Yeah? I mean, yeah, it would," says Kale, entirely oblivious to this idea as anything but a platonic cost-saving measure.
Eryl Fairfax     Eryl catches the punch in the stomach. He's developed down there, but not enough to shrug it off. He doubles over, and catches the uppercut. His head snaps back, but he doesn't stumble. Slowly, he looks back down at Hibiki, and something in his eyes has changed. "You're right. I'm not everyone. I'm worse. A poor scholarship boy from the part of town no one goes to if they can help it. But you know what? I got here. If the likes of me can, anyone can."

    He raises his fists again, and throws another jab. But he's too far away to make it connect so why?... the answer becomes apparent. The first, fully extended, uncurls. A rubber band, stretched between a thumb that pulls back, and the index fingertip that points at Hibiki's forehead. The band flies, striking her sharply between the eyes.

    "And you don't need it. You never needed it." He moves in, jabbing again. This one does connect, and another rubber band is launched as he retracts the fist. "MCM Academy is here to prepare us for the world outside. How do you think that will go if you already have a dependency on caffeine and sugar? You'll be like those exhausted office workers, too tired to cook for yourself, running on coffee, miserable." Another straight, but this one is a feint, stopping short to fire another rubber band at Hibiki's leg.

    "It is not enough to prepare academically. We must prepare mentally, spiritually. When you're an adult, the range of choices before you expand, and many of those choices are bad. We must develop the inner strength to pick the good ones, and never compromise. Maybe then, we can avoid becoming shitty adults."

    The cuss is unbecoming of Eryl. But he districts from it by splaying out both hands. Rubber bands stretch from the thumb to every fingertip on both, and they rapid-fire at Hibiki!
Darren      Taking on Darren directly means wading into a howling blizzard--but Touta does it, and not only does it, but lands a clean blow, squarely on the QB's jaw. My boy's got hands! Darren's forced to the side, but there's already a pokeball floating alongside him.

     Roswell and Nessie are swapped out. In comes actually just stonehenge, with two rocky arms and an innocent smile. Slabb gleams with some sort of protective barrier, then leaps into the air just as Darren regains his balance.

So do I.

     Guard up, Darren wades through the blizzard as hail rains down--the fist-sized shards seem always to just miss the QB, who is adopting an honest to god southpaw stance. Boxing club. Right fist at eye level, left next to his lowered chin. Using his core, Darren makes a few feints, twicthing one way or the other.

     Darren isn't tall, but he's taller than Touta. He's fast--mixing in shortrange teleports with traditional footwork, and keeping his opponent at arm's length with quick, long-range jabs and straights that still hit plenty hard. Of course someone as slippery as Darren would be a fucking out-boxer.
Strawberry Princess      "Ah-!" is all Strawberry manages to say, between her foot being caught and being thrown. She intuitively twists her leg just right to keep it from being dislocated, but there's no defense she can muster against hitting the lockers at speed.

     She gasps for breath in a way that is also simultaneously a groan, blinks away the shock, and starts to clumsily push herself up again. The pain hasn't really set in yet, but she's already shaky and numbed.

     "N- no... that's not true," she whines. Instinctive contrarianism. The reasoning comes later: "Blueberry and Blackberry, we're together! We made that, even if it's small. But what's the matter if I'm not as strong as you yet? Weren't you a kid once, too??"

     "This is what nourishes me. These friends are what help me grow. I'll show you..." Finding her feet again. Unsteady, at first. "How good they've been to me!"

     Hiromi makes the first move. The kick to her left, she blunts with the wand, tilting it so the thunderous blow glances off. It jars her bones even so, turning her fingers numb. She tries to bring it around to block the other, but fails; the second kick is only cushioned by her arm tucked defensively against her side, and she staggers backwards with her face drawn in a hissing grimace.

     She ought to be on her last legs, blinking red for the finishing move. Her dedication to her friends keeps her going. Through her now-straggly hair, she sees the elbow coming and ducks it by harrowing inches. What was meant to strike her instead only strikes the back of the open locker.

     She brings the wand up mid-duck, aiming it at Hiromi's center mass. It looks like it's going to be another solar plexus jab, barely worth defending against. There is no way for Hiromi to know that 'Strawberry Princess' is an actual, factual magical girl.

     Her wand's crystal glows. Its light bleaches everything chiaroscuro white. With a noise like thunder, it discharges its energy point-blank into Hiromi's body. The kick is enough to launch her back through the open classroom door, out the window, and into the yard far below. However much fight Hiromi still has in her, it'd be a chore to get back.

     And Strawberry, for her part, doesn't have it in her for a satisfying round 2. She sinks to her knees, leaning on her wand and breathing shallowly. Under her breath, quiet enough that she hopes nobody can hear, Strawberry Princess murmurs: "Fuck. That was bad."
Kukuru "Oh, perfect~" And with that, Kukuru's... Actually, she never had a plan to begin with. Her brain is really good at tricking her into believing things, though, and everything just happened to work out right in the end! She takes Kale's hand without further complaint, content to plot out their totally-romantic-and-fated ice cream real-date on the spot. "I know one place that's pretty close and okay, but it's kinda pricey. And there's another one further out, but it's really close to the good farmer's market..."

She has completely forgotten about fighting over drinks already. SHE'S IN LIKE.
Touta Konoe     Darren calls back more of his squad, and Touta keeps himself ready, though what really brings a smile to the kids face is when Darren brings up that Southpaw style. Touta's eager. He wants to be able to bring hold his own against that blow. He's ready to once again bob and weave or just stick to the defense. Though as he tries to bounce on his feet, there's a stagger. One enough that he can't help catch his attention. So as Darren brings up those fists, Touta just gets himself ready. Bring it on!

    Traditional footwork and the teleporting all give Darren great maneuver ability, and his strikes are really finding purchase as Touta all but tanking the hits as best he can. How this tiny kid can take so much abuse is questionable and in fact, if anyone else in either the Paladins or Concord was watching properly, probably the main concern would be less that he was trying to sell energy drinks and more of a 'WHY IS THIS GUY BEATING UP A KID?!' Though getting knocked out here by a shrimp wouldn't be good for the QB's image.

    Still an interesting question is asked to Touta. What is his sport? "Back when I was in school more often. . .All of them! I got buddies on all the teams so I always get pulled in to help, but if you're asking what I do best, well that is. . ." At this point, just as Darren comes off from one of his teleports, Touta does something unboxer like, he kicks at Darren's leg to disrupt his stance. He attempts to slide in with his tiny stature as he goes right into Darren's core. He reels back his fist as he lowers his stance and makes his answer known to the guy, (+xterm15,". . .Chinese Kenpo!")] With that last work, he'd exhale as his fist at his side propelled outwards like a bullet. The shift of his stance put the power of not only his fist beyond it but well the entirety of his body, even the ground below his feet felt like it was crumbling ever so slight under the torque and weight of his fist aiming right for Darren's gut. And well. . . If his unfocused strikes thus far have been this tough. . .How tough would a full on strike be?
Staren     Staren is heavily berated! It isn't fair. Things weren't supposed to go this way!

    Is it because I reacted this way...? Was the mistake mine? Or is this just how it always goes?

    And then *chains* come out and she's charged with crimes and her veins turn to ice. No. No no no no. No way. No way. NO WAY. There is NO WAY any student at this school could know that story. But it couldn't POSSIBLY be a coincidence. That just doesn't HAPPEN!

MANY YEARS AGO (But An Exact Number Would Give Obsessive Fans Lots Of Continuity Errors And Anachronisms To Point Out)
    A mecha much like this one, with different details, blockier limbs and no defined 'head' and with air conditioners stuck to its back linked to some kind of freeze ray, stands alongside the assembled heroes to face down a horde of alien creatures and... a random lecherous priest?

    A teenage girl's voice rings out as it points dramatically: "Alright, space creatures! You're about to learn this place is way less friendly than your home planet! In the name of truth and justice, friendship and love, I, Techno Genius Catgirl Heroine--" There's a brief pause, she shouldn't use a name that can be tied back to her, "--Seika, shall defeat you and make the city safe for all its good people again! o/~ Come and get iiiiiit! o/~" The mecha's exhaust vents open and vent heat off full blast, trying to get the energy-sucking aliens' attention.

SLIGHTLY LATER
    Sarah could cry. She has been a magical girl for less than ONE DAY and already defeated. She looks out the tiny backup viewport of her beaten and broken machine, being swarmed over by alien creatures... which then... leave? Did the other heroes drive them off?

    She struggles to get the hatch open from her extraordinarily cramped position, and climbs out. The horde of aliens is fleeing into the distance. The other heroes are nowhere to be seen.

    But what ARE surrounding her are a whole lot of police cars and a tow truck. Uniformed officers step out, and the tow truck guy with a heavy chain. They must be here to tell her what a good job she did and tow her mech back to a workshop! It's her dream to join the police and defend the people when she grows up, you know! So it will mean a lot to her to hear from them what a good job she did!

SCENE TRANSITION TO STOCK SOUND EFFECT CELL_DOOR_SLAM.WAV
    From the exact same camera angle, the beaming catgirl is now a sad catgirl with tears flowing, still in her magical girl costume with her hands wrapped around her cell's bars.

AND SO, NOW

    No no no no NO NO NO this can't be doomed to happen again to daughter just like to mother, it CAN'T, it just CAN'T be the way of the world. But what can she do?! Ice and panic fills her veins.

    And then Erica is on Lilian, with leg sweeps and kicks to try and make her lose her balance and become unable to pull the chain -- or fall into one of the pit traps that still litter the floor! "When the justice of those who stand in the light fails us, it falls to those who move in the shadows to set things right. I said: Unhand my sister!"

    The place where Lilian's sword hit earlier, there's a bloody tear in her skin and... metal underneath? And one of her eyes gleams red... Ah, THAT'S how she took the hit like that and still moves. Cyborg ninja!
Hibiki Tachibana     Why is he--the sneak attack is caught too late. The sneak attack lands head-on, and she recoils from the snap of high-speed rubber smacking right onto the bridge of her nose. "Gah--!" She tries to get a word in against what he's saying, but that was just the start. Back again, with another sharp thwack of the makeshift projectile finding its mark. She almost catches onto the next one, but the feint catches her hook link and sinker, and her footing is disrupted as she buckles from the impact. That'll teach her for wearing shorts.

    She glances back up with grit teeth just in time to see the finisher prepared, and her eyes go wide before she crosses up both arms. "Everyone needs something or another...besides themselves...to do what they need to do and get through the day...! Whether you like it or not...everyone has a dependency on something...!" Attack after attack is layered on, springing off her forearms. She has to brace against it. Where did he learn to do that one-handed anyway!?

    "Talking about all the choices we'll get, but that uncompromising nature you got...is exactly why you can't see any other option! You should have worked with the students to get them ready for exams, not pull a stunt like this without any warning! Maybe they wouldn't need soda if they had better ways to study than staying up half the night! Don't hold everybody...to your standards!" There's a visible clenching of her teeth at Eryl's break in wording. Maybe that's some kind of sore spot.

    And then she suddenly breaks off to the side, swiping a hand out to catch one of the projectiles out of the air before sprinting through the hallway. At an arc to stay ahead of his aim while closing the distance--until she loops the rubberband around one thumb and primes it with the other, returning fire straight back for his face. It's just to make the opening she needs to suddenly lunge in the rest of the way, throwing an open-palm thrust towards his chest to try and throw him back against the nearest locker.

    "If you don't wanna be a 'shitty adult', then change the way you do things!"
Darren Darren's chin is tucked straight down the middle, even as his body is turned to the side. He switches stances from southpaw to standard, right arm up to guard his face, left bent to protect the ribs, shoulder facing Touta.

     The leg kick takes him completely by surprise, eyes going wide as he's forced off-balance. Touta's punch rockets into his arm, completely overpowering his attempt to roll it off with the left.

     Instead, with a pained grunt, Darren rolls -with- the force of the blow, pivoting to make a devastating counter aimed at Touta's temple.

     No sooner is the attack made than does Darren blick backwards, and Slabb comes crashing back down to the ground, moving so quickly that the air around him ignites and illuminates the darkened hall, hail-dented lockers, shell-scratched walls and all. The impact is every bit as weighty as an animated stone arch would imply.
Lilian Rook     Lilian does not get to see Staren's flashback. She theoretically could, but doesn't want to, because Staren said the Bad Words and thus her head is probably filled with rancid thoughts that Lilian is really doing her best not to think about via sublimating it into the catharsis of totally legal and morally correct violence.

    Assertions to the contrary are, ultimately, pointless. "Your first mistake was believing I've ever once stood in the light. My rules are ironclad because they can be followed by anyone; even those in the dark. Blame yourself for your terrible decisions." After all, if Lilian were somehow convinced that this were unjust, things would only be more dangerous for the pair. And it's already bad enough, because:

    "No." Lilian effortlessly slips from Erica's frontal assault, hopping lightly over a low sweep, turning sideways from a high kick, and then aggressively diving into and under a roundhouse, tackling Erica around the leg still touching the ground, leaving the kicking limb stuck over her shoulder, and then pulling the chain through and heaving Erica over her shoulder, only to spin free of the grab herself and thus bind the remaining length of chain firmly around her several times. Now, strutting away from the tangled robot and chained girl, Lilian is able to punish the sister delinquent with swiftly crushing pressure from the metalic bind getting tighter and tighter.

    "Are you ready to surrender yet? You aren't winning this one, and neither are your friends. My justice doesn't fail, ever. If you give up now, of course I'll follow my own rules and send you to the faculty board for processing, rather than continue to be forced to hurt the pair of you like this."
Strawberry Princess      Strawberry slumps back into the open locker, shifting into a sitting position with her legs crossed. Skirmishes are still raging, but they're dying down in the Paladins' favor, and she's not in good shape to pitch in. Instead she pulls out her cute pink cell phone again, with all the heart and moon and wand keychains on it, and types slowly.

PALADINS GROUP CHAT: 11 NEW MESSAGES
MahouLove: hey
MahouLove: i just wanted to say, while i have a minute
MahouLove: I love you guys.
MahouLove: All of you.
MahouLove: This last year and a half has been...
MahouLove: The best time of my life. For a lot of reasons.
MahouLove: And each of you are one of those reasons.
MahouLove: It's hard to imagine, but I didn't really have friends before.
MahouLove: Being in the Paladins has helped me grow so much.
MahouLove:
MahouLove: I want it to go on like this forever.

     Bruises are already starting to blossom where Hiromi hit her- she pulls up her shirt a little, grimaces at what she sees, and pulls it back down. She's tired. Everything hurts at least a little bit. She has no idea how she's going to finish frosting those cookies, or explain how she got so beat up to her mom.

     But it'll be okay. She can be happy.
Darren      There will be a number of flavored drink packets finding their way to Touta, in the near future. Darren, battered and bruised, picks up his duffel bag and shuffles through the dying blizzard.

     "WHOO!" A whoop of triumph rises from the dimly lit hall, but not Darren's. It's Fartrell Cluggins, the safety, and John Wingdings, the kicker! Darren is ambushed by two well-meaning teammates who'd snuck in to watch. They dump a cooler of lukewarm drinking fountain water on him, because that's all they could find on short notice.

     The two attempt to carry him but forget about the hail and water on the ground, slipping everywhere and falling in a heap.

     "Y'all're dumb as hell but I appreciate it," says Darren, sneakers squeaking on the floor as he tries to get back up.

     "Is Touta gonna hit the tryouts, D?"

     "Nah," says Darren, eventually just levitating ominously. He makes his exit with Roswell and his two teammates, flying comic-book style through the melee as it wraps up (Darren and Roswell carrying Cluggins and Webdings).
Eryl Fairfax     "Of course you don't have many choices now. We're teenagers! Can't drive, drink... why do you accept those rulings but not this one?!" Eryl is losing his temper now. He jerks his head to the side to avoid the returned rubber band, and the opening is ruthlessly exploited. The palm jab slams into his chest, and Hibiki is rewarded with the satisfying sound of air rushing out of Eryl's lungs.

    He flies back, slamming into the lockers and sliding to the floor. The doors are now warped by his impact as he slowly gets up, coughing. "Looks like... we're adding 'damage of school' property to your charges now..." He stands, and... where the hell did he get these GIANT rubber bands?!

    He stretches one, between his palm and his elbow, keeping the latter bent so the band doesn't go flying. And then, in an instant, he dashes forward and delivers a chopping right. There is no finesse here. This is overwhelming force. And as his arm straightens, the band snaps, adding a second strike to it that feels like getting slapped by a fish.

    As Hibiki reels, Eryl chambers a kick, and stretches another giant band between the sole of his foot and his knee. The kick is launched, and the band flies again. "You are the minority, Hibiki Tachibana. Most students accept the mandate with a grumble. Others have flooded the Student Council suggestion box. We are amenable to changing our minds, if asked and presented good reasoning. Skulduggery and backroom deals accomplish nothing but creating division. One way or another, I'd like to spend out graduation with smiles on our faces. Together."
Staren     Kukuru and Hibiki are fighting better, and bits of well-spoken pleas reach Staren. "Kukuru, Hibiki... even your *words* are better..." Hearing her older sister brings Staren out of her despair, her voice practically screeching over the speakers in panic, "Nee-san, NO! Run away, she's too dangerous!"

    It's too late though, cybernetic ninja or not, Erica's wrapped up in the chain too now, refusing to make any noises that show her pain. There is a whole tragic backstory there about her escape from the order of assassins that turned her into a living weapon before Staren's parents adopted her and have been trying to help her adapt to normal life, but there just isn't room for it in this episode!

    She's wrapped her hands around the chain. "A shinobi fights on even beyond death, I don't f...fear pain..."

    "FOR GOODNESS SAKES, ERICA, STOP! Whatever happens, we'll be worse off if we fight more! A-at least this way we'll be together, right? If she beats you unconscious, I'll... *sniff* I'll have to face the disciplinary committee alone!"

    "...I'll... Support you where I am needed, sister." Erica stops pulling on the chain and resisting.

    Staren takes a long sigh of relief, that can't last, tears running down her face into her scarf. She mutters between sobs, "'m not strong enough to change things with words OR with fighting. Hibiki and Darren's words won't change anything either. I can't stand up for myself, I can't stand up for others. I can't even get freaking *energy drinks* to people. Useless. I'm always useless..."

    Staren glares in Lilian's direction, not that it can be seen through the pilot compartment. "And don't even start with the 'join us and be good enough and we'll give you table scraps instead of crushing you under our heel' talk. I'll never be 'good enough' the way you want."
Hibiki Tachibana     "Because this one was made by a dumb teenager just like me who's thinking about it the entirely wrong way! That's--" Ignoring the mention of property damage (she's blamed a lot for that), she trails off and grits her teeth at the sight of the most fearsome makeshift weapons he's brought to bear yet. That speed...!

    Thud. Eryl's anger meets a very hasty defense of Hibiki's forearm coming up, absorbing the worst of the blow and yet rattling through the entire limb, and not preventing the band wrapped around his arm from snapping past and belting her clean. She stumbles back with a hand gripping where it landed, only for the kick to come up. She reacts instinctively and reaches down to grab his ankle from both sides, but that once again still leaves the band to snap painfully past her defense and into her gut.

    "Ngh...I get it. I just can't get behind doing things that way. I wish there wasn't any need for us all to be part of different groups...we're all trying to reach the same thing - graduation - aren't we? And I know you're doing what you think is best. ...But if this is how it is, the only thing I can do is what I think is right. Suggestion boxes, councils to change the rules...I can't wait for all of that when there's students who need things to happen right now. Sorry."

    She means it. The look in her eye has shifted, and there's a wince before she glances up to make eye contact. She purses her lips. "...One way or another, I want to make sure everyone can have a smile on their face, too! Even you, after all of this!" All at once with a loud shout, she tightens her grip, twists, and hauls upwards as quickly and strongly as she can - trying to flip Eryl entirely head-over-heels, a full 360 vertical spin through the air, and floor him completely. She's not going to be too far behind him after that either way though, falling down onto a knee and huffing for breath.

    ...Well, she planned to get caught so the others would be sure to make it out safely in the first place.
Eryl Fairfax     Eryl's foot is caught. A precarious position. He stares at Hibiki as she rebukes him, refuting the authority of the Student Council. He wants to insist that they're not stupid teens, but... all teens are stupid. This he knows.

    She flips him. Or tries to. He only tips back instead of tumbling over, and immediately kips back up to defend against what comes next... but only sees Hibiki collapsing. Immediately, he rushes over to catch her...

    And a bell resounds through the school. The final bell. The one that calls an end to all club activity, and warns students to exit campus grounds within the next 10 minutes. The one that ends MCM Academy for the day. No longer a school. A school demands teachers and students. Once that bell resounds, everyone is just people.

    He returns to where the fight broke out, carrying Hibiki over his shoulder. "All right Paladins. Round up the injured. The nearest dorm has a nurse on staff I believe. We can drop them off there." He stops, looking at the scattered cans. Bending down carefully, he picks up an iced coffee, cracks it open with one hand, and downs it in a single gulp.

    "And start thinking of what we can propose to the Council regarding lifting or easing this ban. It's a bit heavy-handed honestly. And making a lot of work for us."