Scene Listing

||

Scene Schedule

||

Scene Schedule RSS

Owner	Pose
Angela	Once upon a time there was a Magical Girl of Courage. She was a protector who fought alongside three other Magical Girls to protect their home. It was a kind world but... One day the Magical Girl of Courage made a friend but unlike most friends, this one was from a place that was an enemy to her world. Nevertheless, the friendship was true, right? It was real, right? As proofs of friendship, the two shared secrets about one another's worlds to each other and in doing so tied their bonds to their worlds as well. But one day, the Magical Girl's friend betrayed her all the same. Why? Only the Hermit of the Azure Forest knows for sure. Her minions were unleashed upon that peaceful happy world... And that was the beginning of the end of that beautiful kingdom. With betrayal stabbing her heart and nothing left to fight for, the Magical Girl of Courage turned her anger inward and outward. She abandoned mercy for mercy had led her astray, she abandoned thought because it was easier than reflecting on those she had hurt and lost. She became little more than a Servant of Wrath. Hm? You don't like my story? You want a happy ending? ... Don't you think we miss out on something if all we expect are happy stories, Lisa?
Angela	EARLIER "Do you remember? Back then we'd make a bet as to whether or not the manager could save an employee with over 95 percent mental corruption." Tiphereth B asked. "I remember. You bet he could, and I bet it was impossible. I was so excited to win that bet I kept insisting that we keep it up as a tradition..." Tiphereth A remembered "But eventually you stopped..." Tiphereth B said. "It got boring winning all the time..." "I never bet without thinking things through though... I always held on the hope of 'maybe this time...', you know? What do you think Manager? Do you think I could have won the bet eventually? A transmission interrupts the conversation. "Manager, your assistance is needed immediately!" Hod pipes in, anxiety writ upon her face. "Our team stationed in Hibiki's world ceased communication!"
Angela	WHAT HAD HAPPENED, OUTSIDE LYDIAN ACADEMY Angela had decided that her connections outside of her world was something worth keeping and so she advised to Manager X that warning the outside worlds about the escape of the Magical Girl Abnormalities would be good practice and Manager X agreed with the proposition. Knowing a few likely worlds that they had previously visited would likely draw the attention of these Abnormalities, Lobotomy Corp stationed agents at the worlds they deemed likely to cause problems. Since they just look like any other human in a suit so long as they didn't openly carry their EGO gear around. Instead they carried them around in duffle bags and avoid wearing their EGO equipment in public. OHNO's looked particularly heavy. "Mmph..." Tiffany said.
Angela	I REALLY WISH EVERYONE COULD SEE THE TRUTH OF THEIR OWN HEARTS. Those words she heard at Silver Springs High School never left Tiffany's heart and the Enkephalin Hod had given her helped her see what was hidden there. All she had to do was thank her and appreciate her and she could get all she wanted..."Oi, don't you think you're taking enough of that?" Sebastian, a new agent to the Training Team asked. "We're on the clock here..." Tiffany smiled. "It's just to take the edge off. I'm fine. I'm really fine." "Barapapa Da Doop..." OHNO, her subordinate, is skeptical, but... "...Wait...! Isn't that?" Sebastian pointed a finger out towards the distance where a giant pink abomination with a large eye in it chest, streaming paper tears, and massive hammers for hands was approaching. An acidic green substance was constantly pouring out of her mouth and her hammers. "SINNERS OF THE OTHERWORLDS, EMBODIMENTS OF EVIL!" The Servant of Wrath bellows. "I SEEK THE HERMIT OF THE AZURE FOREST!" The team is so focused on the Abnormality in front of them, they don't notice the Tiffany that stepped behind them...
Angela	And sliced at their backs with her sword. Only OHNO's reflexes allow her to twist her body and block the strike with her duffle bag as she's pushed away by the force of the blow. Tiffany gave OHNO a sad smile and stepped forward, extending her hands from side to side. "Haha... I figured it out... The truth of my heart... I wanted to save us... Save us from that Hell... This way, we'll be free... Join me, OHNO..." The green substance flows over her and the other fallen agents--OHNO is barely able to avoid jumping out of the way of the splash zone. The heads of the unlucky ones are pulled free from their body, their limbs are transmogrified to wood, red spikes push out of their neck and they turn, turn to face the Music Academy...
Angela	MEANWHILE MYSTERIOUS TRANSFER STUDENT Rose (actually an Agent of the Control Team) actually kind of likes the school uniform here. Her status as a COOL LONER had been the subject of much conversation though she had informed Hibiki early on that she's here to help keep an eye out for the Abnormality (while Hibiki was showing her around the campus). Despite not being exactly unfriendly, Rose preferred to eat by herself and wore a red wild rag (ie: a bandana) around her mouth--even during singing lessons. She had claimed there was a medical reason for it but wouldn't give the details and the ice cold stare in her eyes discouraged pressing the matter--at least from the general populace. It was during a lunch break where Rose was eating on her lonesome, feeling strange about being in a place like this for work, when she spotted the Hermit moving through the halls, the eyes on her robes glancing about for an old friend. Swearing, under her breath, she rushed off to her locker, sending a call to Hibiki. "Hey Pardner! We got a problem! The Hermit's 'ere and bound to cause a ruckus any minute!!" Rose doesn't immediately rush the Hermit, instead opening up her backpack and drawing out a strange mechanical scythe that snaps into an open position with a flick of the wrist and a large shotgun. Together these weapons are known as the CRIMSON SCAR. Once she looks up from gathering her gear, the Hermit is right in front of her.
Angela	"Call me... Speak my name... Then I shall speak yours in return... My companion, Servant of Wrath."          M         K Y        A   N       E     A      P       M C   S  ( O )  E A   P  | |  M   T H E N I S H A L L   L   E | | A     S P E A K Y O U R S    L   A| |N       I N T U R N     M   K Y         M Y C O M P A N I O N      E   M           S E R V A N T O F W R A T H         |_| BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbYva7AE8Aw MISSION OBJECTIVES * Prevent the Servant of Wrath from Killing or Transforming OHNO! * Prevent the Hermit of the Azure Forest from Killing Rose! * Protect Lydian Academy and its students!
Ishirou	Ishirou considers the Servant of Wrath the worst possible outcome for the city.  Not only because of the acid it can spew, but because of the other abnormality that appears with her.  The field for this would be large, and worse, the location appears to be Hibiki's school directly.  He opens up a Comline to Genjuro. <"You need to seal your base immediately.  Don't try and do anything heroic on your own, you need to keep the mist from getting down there.  Losing you and your people would do unspeakable harm.."> To who, he doesn't say. Already on the wing, Ishirou flies above the city, already on standby because of the expected attack.  He takes a breath while trying to plan out and get information.  Already, an agent is in trouble, apparently betrayed by another.  He sees the injured OHNO, and already is acting. OPTIONs fly out, snapping onto their body and providing protection, weapon capability, and flight.  "Get out of there, if you can still fight go for the hermit and support Rose there. If you can't get out and get medical," Ishirou says and takes a moment trying to properly examine the green mist.   More OPTIONs fly out, trying to grab other members of the team before they can be turned headless.  "Fall back from here," he pleads to them.  He turns midair and switches the unit into humanoid mode.  OPTIONs fly out, some hanging around Hibiki and others heading towards Meika.  In Hibiki's case, they'll latch onto her hands, providing bonus OOMPF for her punches, while in Meika's case, they'll provide fire assistance, aiming to keep her blows accurate.
Kukuru	After her last outing, Kukuru's in dire need of something to lift her spirits. Hearing that her new friends from Lobotomy Corp need a hand out in Hibiki's neck of the woods, then, gives her a good enough reason to head out for a little bit of physical activity! Once she finds out where the place is, anyway. One quick internet search later, and Kukuru appears on the roof of Lydian Music Academy, stepping out of an ominous purple cloud dressed in a similarly purple-ish black outfit consisting of a light jacket, a sleeveless top, shorts, and thick work boots. She's also got her usual glasses on, of course, although she clearly doesn't need them as she takes a moment to wipe off the flat lenses while peering over at the greenitizing of the fallen agents around Tiffany, OHNO, and the Servant of Wrath. "That's not normal... Mmn. Time to get to work." Kukuru murmurs softly to herself as she steps into another cloud that opens in front of her, dropping her out of the air directly between OHNO and Tiffany with only a mild amount of stumbling from getting the landing angle wrong. She looks from OHNO to Tiffany, then to the mangled agents and the Servant of Wrath before settling her gaze on Tiffany again. "Heeey. Cut that out." Kukuru gives Tiffany a disappointed and somber look, holding one arm out across from OHNO to put herself between them. "We're your friends, remember?" As she speaks, there's a gentle mental push into Tiffany's mind coming from Kukuru, as if trying to nudge her towards compliance more than just using mere words could. "If there's something that's upsetting you... You gotta talk to them instead of doing stuff like this that you might not be able to take back." Taking a deep breath, Kukuru starts approaching Tiffany, arms hanging loosely at her sides by then with her guard visibly/purposefully lowered. "Let's take care of that Servant thing, and then we'll figure this out back home, okay?"
Arcadia	Severe emergencies require rapid responses. Fortunately that's not hard when one of your primary traits is to be able to fly at rediculous speeds. Like that streak over there barreling onto the scene over the city in a literal blurr. It's not until it gets closer to the site that it slows down enough to be recognizable as Arcadia, spreading her wings and engaging aetheral thrusters to slow herself down enough to take in the scene. A few comments are exchanged over comms, and her magitek battle visor flickers into being across her upper face. <You heard it from the experts, they don't have a way to undo this.> <Which makes a damage control response all the more prudent> replies the Argoxandrian Elder on the other end. <Do them a mercy, Guardian, and remove their threat.><All over that.> Arcadia pulls up into her typical hover, scowling at the corrupted and advancing forces. "That will be quite far enough!" She thrusts forward one hand, several glowing rings appearing in one larger circle. Beams of energy erupt from each ring one by one, sequencing around the larger circle in a manner that gives allusion to the spinning of minigun barrels as it fires in an effort to slow the advance of the Servant of Wrath and it's unfortunate minions.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki also (probably) likes the uniform here! She wears hers with the blazer open like a jacket and tie looser than it should be. It's difficult to tell if she finds it more comfortable that way or if she genuinely just does not have the care in her right now to do it up properly. It could be both.     Thankfully, she's still had plenty enough care to be willing to show Rose the ins-and-outs, failing to voice anything more than murmurs that someone else would be better for it - it's not like she should have anyone else show the secret Lobotomy Corporation agent around. And maybe she can relate to the loner vibes, actually unfriendly or not.     ...This entire situation is bad. She's felt like it ever since she learned just about the possibility. If she's lucky, if one of these Magical Girls do show up sometime, it'll at least be further out in the city. Where they have Noise evacuation protocols, room to work with and react, things they can do before anybody--     Ishirou gets confirmation that their own agents won't make any risky plays - but that the safety of Lydian's students is also of the utmost priority. Thankfully, their other Symphogear user is ideal for keeping students out of the Hermit's path and handling the kind of clearing out that won't cause any kind of mass panic. One girl can only do so much, but it'll help a lot.     And it gives a wild-eyed Hibiki the chance to sprint down the halls towards both Rose and the Hermit, breathing heavily and moving fast enough her legs are already starting to hurt. Showing up directly at Lydian, here, one place where at least everything can be normal--is the absolute worst possible outcome. Minions of the Abnormality? Heads falling off? Her mind is racing a mile a minute, and the moment she turns a hallway corner to spot the Hermit, and Rose bringing out her weapons-- "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir TRON!"     A flash of golden light blows off her school uniform and replaces it with the undersuit and metal armoring of her Symphogear, scarf billowing out behind her as her dash picks up speed. Just in time to throw a heavyhanded, swinging blow straight towards the hooded Hermit's center of mass, intent on punching her as far back as she can away from Rose.     And leaving the magical girl panting and heaving, fist still clenched. "You won't find--whoever you're looking for here! And you won't hurt anybody either! I won't let you!"
Timespace Riders	Rose finds backup in the form of two sudden arrivals. Swirling impossibly outwards from a pinprick-sized point in space, a grey wool scarf whips rapidly around. As it expands, it deposits the would-be Demon King, Tokiwa Sougo, and his retainer, Woz.      Sougo's pastel pink buttonup is quickly held to his waist by the bulky white TIMESPACE DRIVER, while Woz's olive, apocalyptic double-breasted coat is likewise fastened by the BEYONDRIVER. Each transformation belt announces itself, as well as callouts for the futuristic pocketwatches each rider procures. BUBBLES! BLOSSOM!      The face of Sougo's watch bears the helmet of a blue armored fighter, with golden lightning bolts branching at 10 and 2, like hands of a clock. Woz's watch bears a red fighter, with icy tines of a snowflake serving the same watch-hand motif. Each displays a year, in white LCD: AU16 - fifteen years ago. Each of them slots their watch into a port on their belts--Sougo's slides onto the right side of his, while Woz's is loaded into a gate which promptly closes. Sougo's hands mimic the motions of a clock's, while Woz's right hand is held outwards in a theatric challenge. "Henshin!" "Henshin."                     Kameeeen Rideeeer! Zi-O . . . ARMOR TIME!                                         Sparking Joy! Flowing Laughter! Bubbles!                                           Kamen Rider Woz? WOZ?! Future Time!                                      Brilliant! Blizzard! Futurering Blossom! BLOSSOM!                      Hardlight clock gears, flying pink katakana, and green lasers simultaneously print both Riders' armor onto them, while also flying outwards to protect Rose and keep the Hermit at bay. Capitalizing on the opportunity provided by their transformatuions, both Riders rush forward.      Woz, in the BlossomArmor, is a high-speed, precision fighter, whose attacks inflict freezing cold as an aftershock. A red cuirass over a black bodysuit resembles the wristband of a smartwatch, with a snowflake motif etched along its surface. The pauldrons bear red ribbons, while his helmet sports 'clock hands' resembling the tines of a snowflake. He speeds in and stops on a dime, a small blizzard rushing past him to pelt the Hermit with fist-size chunks of hail. Channeling momentum from his burst of speed, he opens with a standing roundhouse into a back kick, circling around to make room for Zi-O's electrically charged haymaker, aimed at the Hermit's center of mass.      "Are you okay, Rose?" A blue helmet whips briefly over his shoulder to check on the agent and ensure she's good to fight. It's the analog watch to Woz's smartwatch, comeplete with lightning bolts serving as the hands of a watch. The blue cuirass and pauldrons sport bubble motifs etched into their surfaces, while the black bodysuit beneath is patterned with branching tendrils of lightning.
Kayoko Kirenai	Kayoko wasn't around for any of the radio discussions about Lobotomy Corporation's 'Magical Girls'. She does, however, always read the reports, and what she saw made her sick.     Chevalier Ishirou -- Potential Threat Warning >An entity that escaped containment by the Lobotomy Corporation, their world's version of a magical girl, is roaming the outskirts of Hibiki's Japan, and is soon to be a danger to life there. >Magical Girls from this world are known for having dual natures. They appear to have a humanish form, and a monstrous form when they break out of containment.     Memories of incandescent smudges of light in colors too bright and discordant to be intentional, blotting out the entire world around her, are burned in the back of her eyes like flowing phosphenes. Kayoko doesn't need to ask herself whether that thing was a monster-- there was never any question about that-- but learning that other worlds' magical girls were like that too, and that they warrant this kind of response, is somewhere between reassuring and terrifying.     Kayoko gets the call during class. Manners forgotten in the face of her first summons to fight offworld-- against a magical girl, no less-- Kayoko stands up from her chair abruptly during lecture, and upon getting the attention of the Sister teaching the class, announces politely but with enough urgency to deflect questioning, "Sister Toukei? I've been informed about a family medical emergency, I'm sorry. Sister Kurokawa will send you the doctor's note. I'll make up the work before tomorrow.")]     Sitting behind Meika on her sister's motor scooter, red helmet on, arms wrapped around her for stability, Kayoko trembles just a little bit against Meika's back while the pair rushes to the chapel to teleport. "...She's a magical girl, right? Do you think we can talk to her? Get her to...?"     Kayoko warps into the battlefield around Lydian Academy with a monochrome distortion, immediately looking around for the Servant of Wrath. It's not hard to find her-- but Kayoko still hesitates for a moment before lifting up the polaroid camera hanging around her neck and snapping a picture of her.     The developed picture takes a few seconds to print, and Kayoko habitually closes her eyes while it does, anxiety building while the radio buzzes with information about killed civilians being turned into minions for the magical-- for the monster. Once printed, Kayoko holds the picture up in front of her calling out as it expands into a shimmering doorway-sized portal.     "Magical Girl, Chevalier Cobalt!"     Kayoko's monochrome school uniform is obscured by a dazzling swirl of blue-gold light, coalescing into cutesy heavy armor, accented with a fluttering skirt above the greaves. A golden sword with a red heart gem embedded in the hilt shimmers into existence in her hand, matched by a golden shield in the other.     "Chevalier Vermillion! Hold off the Servant of Wrath! I'll support you!" Chevalier Cobalt, for her part, kicks into the ground with enough force to gouge out dirt, launching herself towards OHNO and Tiffany. "What did you *do*?!" Cobalt's voice is hoarse with desperation, brandishing her shield-- Pridwen-- to pin Tiffany in place and keep her away from OHNO. "That-- that can't be undone, can it? I thought you were here to help! Cobalt Radiance!"     At Chevalier Cobalt's skill callout, golden beams of light flicker into existence above the decapitated agents, weaving into dome-shaped cages. With a heavy sound as if they have the weight of real steel, the cages slam on top of the turned minions, trapping them in place.
Meika Kirenai	Emergencies always come rushed. That's never been unusual. Dipping class to hop across worlds is really quite a bit easier done than said, especially when there's authorities willing to brush things off and let discipline be lessened- only just a little bit. They've still got to keep up appearances. For the good of everyone, of course. '...She's a magical girl, right? Do you think we can talk to her? Get her to...?'     "We've got to try, right?" Meika doesn't dwell on it for long, save for an ever so slight shiver. Maybe it's just from the breeze ripping past as the two of them drive. The reports didn't sound pleasant, from how she skimmed, and Angela's comments on the radio only furthered to worry her. But what's certain is the threat, so onwards they go.     A monochrome flash heralds the arrival of Meika, astride her dusty red Vespa with her sister, its engine already roaring to a halt once they're on Lydian Academy grounds. Kicking its kickstand just a little bit too hard- and an ensuing wince from where metal hit her shin, Meika's hopped off. She's still dressed in her same-old school uniform, its same-old cross is still emblazoned across her breastpocket, and she doesn't bother to fix wind-blown hair before she's diving into her satchel for an all-too-important sketchbook.     She hesitates for just a moment, for the first time in the rushed journey to even get here. Is it okay for people to see? Will we get in trouble if we're not stealthy? Will we get in- but there's already plenty of commotion, so she simply gives a nodding look to Kayoko, her expression tight.     A page rips, crumples, and is held tight to Meika's heart. Her other hand swings her hockey stick up into the air, like a saluting weapon. Eyes flutter closed, and there's a brilliant flash of light. Striking, brilliant, steadfast-         ____________________________________         °Magical Girl Chevalier Vermillion!°         ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯     Her uniform is replaced by armor, her scruffy hair neatened, and her grim expression now once more confident and ready. Already rushing into action, ribbons flying and skates shooting out sparks of vibrant, ringing sound, Chevalier Vermillion is already charging up resonant, furious energy into her hockey stick's blade, spiralling up its shaft from her hands.     Now's not the time to show off, quite yet. Skipping up and into the air with a short hop, and blasting a wave of inelegant, discordant energy behind her, she's soaring through the air.     "Servant of Wrath! I'll make you hear me! Vermillion Phantasm!"     Diving feet first towards the enemy magical girl, Chevalier Vermillion- with barely having thought that she too was calling out a skill- blasts forwards, and as the blades of her armored boots connect, a nova of energy outlines its swinging arms and body to see just a little brighter how it moves and what to look out for.
Angela	OHNO, with tears in her eyes and vengeance in her heart, stares at Ishirou and says, "Scabadadee doo da dababadeedoo," as she opens up her duffel bag, revealing... What looks like a blood splattered bazooka with sawblades sticking out of it. She steps back but takes aim with it. It is impossible to understand her words but it's probably easy to tell what her plan is today. The green gunk is acidic but only mildly--but Tiphereth did warn about letting it get on you head so it can't be entirely harmless. There is a transmogrification element to the acid but it requires direct contact and a significant amount of it (and, frankly, relatively low mental defenses). Ishirou unleashes his OPTIONS as well and they pepper the Servant of Wrath with firepower. The creature roars in annoyance, distracted from OHNO thanks to the pepper fired as it swings its arms around to try and smash those OPTIONS to bits! "Rrrkr! raaakh!" Tiffany turns to look at Kukuru in the moments she has before the same transformation is afflicted upon her. "Haha, Miss Kukuru... You're the best friend someone like Rook could ask for, but for me... Someone who can push us back into that hole... Is just another monster. I just want to sleep forever... You're so strong...it's not gonna be a big deal for you...right?" Tiffany is not in her right mind. She turns to OHNO, desperate to use her own last moments to 'save' her friend only for Kayoko to shove her back with her shield. Tiffany realizes she's not going to be able to help them all. It's...a pity. "Haha...is that what the Control Team told you? We can't even help ourselves..." Tiffany laughs bitterly, that green goop spilling around her face. The illusory cages pin most of the transformed agents in the process but that doesn't really bother Tiffany. "I wished I could just forget everything...Everything I saw..." The transformation that afflicted the others hits her. Kukuru can sense the relief coursing through her in that moment. At least she drops the sword in the process. It was already too late for her, but that mental nudge probably prevented her from taking a swipe at Kukuru too. There is a moment of seeming resistance from the doll before it tries to assault Kukuru, the lingering effects of that mental nudge stalling it--long enough for Arcadia to fill the wooden doll full of holes and splintering it into wooden shards and cloth. While the Servant of Wrath is distracted thanks to all those flying OPTIONS, Magical Girl Chevalier Vermillion crashes feet first into its chest, right where the eye is. It PUNCTURES enough to get green goop leaking out of that eye in the center of its chest.
Angela	"Sisters...! I hear you!" The Servant of Wrath recognizes Meika and Kayoko as magical girls and resonates with them. The good news is that you CAN talk to them. "Help me defeat these EMBODIMENTS OF EVIL! Together we can balance all on the scales of justice! Never again shall temptation lead us astray!" The bad news is that she can talk to you too. Emanating from the Servant of Wrath psionically, comes a whisper. You have me torn, you have me torn, Can't remember who I was before. "I must reach the Hermit of the Azure Forest! She betrayed us all!" While it is chiefly trying to convince Meika and Kayoko, it is all too happy to swing its hammers at Arcadia and Kukuru who they perceive as being 'in the way'. These hammers hit about as hard as they look. It tries to swing at Ishirou too as well as his OPTIONS only for OHNO to blast it back with a wave of sonic power emanating from that strange weapon of hers, preventing her from going all in on Ishirou.
Angela	Rose is already on the backfoot by the time that Hibiki arrives. The scarf has fallen down to her neck, revealing a TOO WIDE mouth full of SHARP TEETH there. Is Rose wearing that scarf because she's embarrassed by it? Or just because she didn't want to worry the other students. Regardless, she doesn't pull it back up over her mouth as she shoots a flying wooden staff out of the air before it can clobber her in the gut. And to just admire Hibiki as she clobbers the Hermit in the gut, sending her smashing back into a wall, leaving a bloody smear against the wall. "I'm looking for my companion," The Hermit doesn't stop smiling. Maybe she can't. "The Servant of Wrath. She's an old friend. She used me, and I used her..." Hibiki can feel something out, a heart's song perhaps? W  W  I  L  H  M  B  I  H  T  B h  i     e  o  a  r     a  o  u   e  l     a  w  n  i     v     r    n  l     r     y  d     e     n              n        g                            e                         s Zi-O takes opportunity to strike at the Hermit but this time it's ready. A trio of wooden staves spin around, providing a protective shield of sorts, knocking hail, roundhouss, and even the haymaker away from its body. "I see you're intent on preventing me from meeting her..." The wooden staves fly out at bullet speeds, intending to slam into Zi-O's throat while another aims for the legs, trying to trip Woz up so that high speed of his ends up backfiring. The third goes for Hibiki's chest while Rose takes a few potshots at those staves while looking for an opening. "You holding up alright so far, y'all?" Rose asks.
Ishirou	OPTIONs fall from the sky, destroyed by the swipes of the servant.  Ishirou himself is forced to go on the defensive, and braces against one of the strikes before flying off just enough to avoid a direct hit.  The force was still more than enough to shake him and the RESCUE unit up.  He drops to the ground near OHNO.   "I know how you feel, but right now she's being handled.  Focus on the Servant, alright?  That is the real source of what happened here today," he says, dropping a hand on her shoulder.   Kukuru, Meika, and Kayoko go for Tiffany.  That makes things easier, he can't handle so many things at once, AND focus on the Servant's mist.  The analysis comes back, and he frowns.  Okay...he can do this! He flies up again and then evens out.  "POD, several missiles with the counter.  We can at least neutralize the effect of the current stuff..." he pauses, maybe... He holds up a hand, before a ball of light shoots down towards the Servant of Hatred, aiming to focus on the part of her that can create that mist...and try and damage it, he works especially fast when he sees his allies jump in for Tiffany.   Missiles burst into the air, all around spreading an agent that seems to be reacting with the mist itself, trying to neutralize it or at least provide enough resistance to those inside to give them more time to get out.  It's not perfect, but he should be able to do at least this much...maybe!   Now he just needs more time to try and anchor it here... OPTIONs fly out to Sougo and Woz, and also to Arcadia.  They hum to life, providing targeting data and power behind their attacks.
Arcadia	Protests are made. Hammers are swung. And Arcadia is having nothing of it. As soon as there is aggressive action towards the sphinx she goes from hover to blurr faster than most eyes can follow, zigzagging back and forth to farther frustrate the attempts to turn her into a nail. It's only one glancing blow that manages to connect, flipping her backwards in the air a little until she stabilizes herself. Brushes a few splinters off her armor. "Whatever happened, it is not worth all the other lives you would put at risk!" The thaumechanical trace lines in her armor light up, their glow shifting from standby into a blistering red-orange color. Her wings spread, and the OPTION from Ishirou is joined by several of her own magitech options manifesting in formation around her. With that some searing glow. "As a Guardian I put the many before the one. At one time maybe you understood this... But now you've lost your way. Consumed, corrupted, and only one way to purge the blight that has replaced it." Arcadia throws forward her arms, palms out. Elemental flame erupts from them. As does from her options, assaulting the Servant from multiple angles with the glorious plumes of flame. "FIRE SWARM!"
Kukuru	More magical girls? Kukuru actually recognize Chevalier Vermillion, even if their last meeting was less than ideal, and she greets both her and Cobalt with a gentle wave. Sadly, she can't greet them further than that as her attention is snatched away by Tiffany when she starts undergoing her own transformation. "Huh? But if that's what it was, why didn't you...?" She feels something off about what Tiffany's telling her. Do they not trust each other enough at the Lobotomy Corporation? Was there another terrible miscommunication there, too? Is this actually Kukuru's fault, just like those other times when she wasn't fast enough? Before she can really process what's happening or work through it logically, the Servant of Wrath starts swinging. One hand goes into a pocket to pull out a torso-sized steel claw, and the other goes outwards to try and hold back the hammer from striking directly against her. Miraculously, Kukuru actually manages to deflect the hammer just enough that's she's able to push back against it and stagger backwards clumsily, but without taking direct clobbering to her midsection. "You're their sister...? I didn't know you were all related." Kukuru comments, sounding cautious at first as she looks between the Chevaliers and the Servant. Even as she brings that claw out, though, she doesn't rush at the Servant of Wrath to try carving it up. Instead, she looks over at OHNO, then gives her a firm nod and holds her hand out. "I'm counting on you, OHNO. Once we get things back under control here, we can-" '...Kukuru. I should inform you, that simply ressurecting our agents whenever they fall will not help them. I understand why it seems that way, but if you come to assist us more often, you will come to understand that there is only one path through this Hell.' Kukuru trails off, then shakes her head. She doesn't finish that statement, either, before just starting to send out medical nanites out of her body. They spread rapidly at first, then converge on her allies outside of the academy, converging on OHNO and Kayoko in particular for both a healing and boost to their raw power.
Timespace Riders	Zi-O nods in the affirmative for Rose. "I have a good feeling about this," he says, holding an index up triumphantly. His hand balls into a fist, swinging laterally, with a split second to spare him from getting pummeled by the staves. Sparks fly from the blue bracer as it weathers the force of the impact, a current of rushing water conjured to turn the staves aside and blunt the remainder of their force.     Woz gets tripped up and goes flying, a red, ice-cold blur passing through the hallway before an OPTION rushes to meet him. Empowered with further reaction time, the retainer summons a polearm, and catches the wall with it.                                  JIKAN DESPEAR!                                                                   ICE-SICKLE!                                       The green-bladed sickle sports a snowflake at the other end, which digs a furrow into the wall and slows Woz down, allowing a rolling landing. Twirling the polearm overhead, he parries the remaining staves with swift, efficient his swipes summoning ephemeral, razor-sharp shards of ice to bat them away.     As an OPTION swirls around the Demon King, he calls out an order to his retainer: "Woz! I'll cover you--find out what happens if they meet!" A straight sword appears in his hand, with a clock's face at its crossguard, grey handle and flat resembling the metal band of a wristwatch. Its pink, square-toothed blade gleams in the school's overhead lights.                                  RIDE HEISABER!                                                                  HEY! BUBBLES!                                       Zi-O spins the hands on the clock's face, interposing himself between the Hermit and Woz. Going on the offensive with a shoulder-to-hip slash of the Heisaber, he follows up by reversing his grip and making a one-handed horizontal, into a straight kick. Each of the weapon's slashes, in addition to the sword's threat, summons a cutting crescent of pressurized water.     "Accorsing to this book," says Woz, standing prim and proper with his helmet angled down into the pages of a mysterious tome, "The Hermit and the Servant will attempt to kill each other, should they be allowed to meet." The title of the book eludes being read, its strange blue hardback cover seeming to shift under observation, silver wristwatch clasp gleaming.     The OPTION from Ishirou bolsters the timeliness and accuracy of the Demon King's parries. Zi-O, mid-clash with the Hermit's staves, makes a surprised noise.     "Further," continues Woz, "If we destroy the Hermit here, the Servant will be enraged by her death, and attempt to seek vengeance."     "That settles it... I'm not letting you meet her until I'm sure you won't hurt each other! Woz--take over, I'm going to the past!" Zi-O leaps across the hallway, his body briefly protected by surging currents of water as he trades places with Woz.     Woz parts with the book in a flash of green light, crossing the distance in scarcely a moment. As before, his arrival is heralded by a blizzard, but this time he circles 'round the Hermit rapidly, forming a whirlwind to briefly interfere with her ability to employ the staves. His polearm, guided by HUD feeds from Ishirou's OPTIONs, menaces with its reach and precision, attempting to hook her and corral her towards Hibiki in time for another blow from the Symphogear user.      With Woz using his polearm to battle the staff-launching Hermit, Zi-O flickers in the background. The lightning-bolt hands on the 'watch' that is his helmet turn in reverse, as a grandfather clock's sonorous chime sounds through the school...
Meika Kirenai	'Help me defeat these EMBODIMENTS OF EVIL! Together we can balance all on the scales of justice! Never again shall temptation lead us astray!'     "No! If you can hear us, if you can talk, you've got to know you're fighting the wrong foes! It's- It's your job to fight evil, to do that, you need to protect good! You need to protect people! At all costs!" Chevalier Vermillion hooks the head of her hockey stick around one lashing arm, pulling herself free from the gush of green goop. She can't risk it touching her, if it- if it does that to people. But she can't risk it touching anyone else, either. At all costs.     Anything that cuts skin is right out. Luckily, she doesn't need to. "Fight me! Focus on me! Those people out there aren't the sinners! They aren't the evil you're blessed to fight! Vermillion Pandemonium!" Floating around her, an array of translucent, flickering spears coalese in a booming roar. It's deafening to be near them, let alone wield them- but one after another, Chevalier Vermillion bats them at the magical girl with the sonorous end of her hockey stick, launching them forward with a peal of thunder. Formless, tangible sound impacts, moving through flesh instead of puncturing, pinning limb and muscles in trembling place like museum insects. It's as nonlethal as Chevalier Vermillion's magic can be, hurting even if it doesn't harm- but if anything else could risk more toxin, avoiding that is what's needed of her.     She can't respond psionically. But she can whisper to the Servant, to ensure it's the only one who can hear. "We'll help you remember. I know it's hard. I know it's scary. But you're in there, still, right?". Her voice is laden with emotion, pained but gentle. Far gentler than one should be, in a fight with people who are probably d- Remember to check their wallets. If they're gone, I'll make sure they're remembered. Chevalier Vermillion gulps, and she keeps whispering. "If you're in there, we'll get you out. This isn't the only way. Trust me. Trust us, okay? We're still here. When this is over, we'll- we'll show you how. I'm sorry if it hurts."     She almost feels guilty, as she keeps growing the energy in her stick. Tear the right way. You can do it. I- We know what it's like.
Hibiki Tachibana	'Sorry for all the trouble, Bikki. Let my guard down like a fool.'     "Hah...d-don't apologize, Rose. At least if it's here, I can..." Do something about it? Fight? Not have to think about it? She shakes her head, thanking both Sougo and Woz for their own timely arrival, before facing towards where the Hermit was smashed against the wall. Abnormalities can't die, so she doesn't have to hold anything back.     ...So why is her fist starting to tremble? Why is her voice catching in her throat, staring at the Hermit smiling like that? Why--     ...can she feel it? Resonating, the ability to connect - she doesn't know what it is. But it gets her to almost stumble in place, even as the hail of staves come forward. It's not a great time to be doing that at all.     "Old friend--" Her face scrunches up, and the punch she throws forward to knock the stave out of the air goes askew, the high-speed projectile still scraping past her side enough to draw blood.     Hibiki doesn't care about that. She doesn't vocally answer Rose either, but actions speak louder--she's already sprinting forward to close the distance with the Hermit again, intent on smashing a hand into the Hermit's chest for the second time. This time it's not to force her away, but to drive her back into the hard surface, shaking hand gripping tight onto her robes, face-to-face with the Abnormality.     She's not deaf to Sougo. And even more than that, Woz. They'll attempt to kill each other--     "Your 'old friend'...is out there rampaging right now, isn't she!? Why did you--so why are you--/why/!? When you say friend, do you even mean it!?"
Kayoko Kirenai	'Vermillion Phantasm!'     Framed by her armored headdress, Kayoko's face briefly splits into an excited smile. She raps Galatine's blade against the center jewel of Pridwen, knocking loose a cloud of glittering golden motes, and then when she points with the sword they all rush towards the Servant of Wrath in a swirling stream. The motes cluster around Chevalier Vermillion and with a callout-- "Cobalt Gleam!"-- the red magical girl's form distorts and refracts, splitting into a cluster of mirror images all moving slightly differently from each other. In posture, attack style, and even the leading foot when moving to skate-fly, the duplicates are all identical to the original Chevalier Vermillion, making it impossible to tell which is real.     Cobalt's excitement doesn't last long, though, as Tiffany continues to be problematic. Blocking Tiffany's attacks with as little retributive force as she can, she looks to Kukuru, someone she's never met but who seems immediately trustworthy based on her vibes. "Is she mind controlled? She's not-- she's not making sense!"     It stops mattering once that green slime starts threatening her head. The viscerally tactile demonstration of the two agents' heads detatching is still heavy on her mind-- she saw it, after all-- and Chevalier Cobalt shifts gears immediately when Tiffany's mental defenses start faltering to the same effect. Knights don't let *anyone* die.     Rather than blocking the swing of Tiffany's sword, Cobalt pushes past her, taking a blow on her gauntlet instead of her shield, and leaps off the ground onto a hardlight blue disc that shimmers into existence, shielding Tiffany's head from the green slime with her darker green cape. The acid washes over the magical girl instead of the mad agent, eating holes in her armor and cloth, singing the skin beneath, but she grits her teeth and wraps her arms beneath Tiffany's shoulders and hauls her onto the platform too.     Woozy from the mental pressure and hurting, Cobalt hauls Tiffany over one of the golden cages, briefly opening a hole in the top to toss her inside. Layers more of golden strings wrap around both domes, intertwining to visually become airtight, sealing the agents inside, safe from the poison. Safe from any more of it, at least. 'Never again shall temptation lead us astray!'     Kayoko flinches, then reasserts her stance, turning back to the Servant of Wrath. It takes her a moment to find her voice, before Vermillion responds first. "...People aren't evil, not as long as they're fighting to protect others! No one here is fighting against *you*, just the danger that you're causing! Please, just talk to us about the Hermit of the Azure Forest, tell us why you're doing this, and we can help you too. You're a person too. I'll protect you too, if you let me.     It only takes a moment for Cobalt's sight to find the Hermit inside the school, and only a moment longer to study her enough to create an illusory replica. She doesn't, yet, instead pressing forwards towards the Servant of Wrath, taking hammer blows on her shield without being knocked back an inch. "My name is Chevalier Cobalt. What's yours? Not the one we were told, right? Do you want to be human and in control again?"
Angela	The part of the Servant that exudes the green goop is pretty much everything, Ishirou will quickly realize. It's not just her tears, it's also her blood--but fortunately, he can at least damp down the general flood of the goop spraying everywhere and keep the exposure to a minimum even if the injuries piling up on the Servant of Wrath is only going to make it harder and harder--but Ishirou is definitely preventing a veritable deluge from spilling out. Managing Abnormalities is often more about mitigating their nonsense rather than trying to prevent it. Take what Kayoko is doing, for instance, taking some of that goop herself to prevent Tiffany from transforming (Arcadia helpfully shot a different wooden doll resolving the time paradox that results). OHNO, at least, seems to appreciate Kukuru's aid, the medical nanites purging that strange toxin from her body and removing a bruise from her arm. A BIT MORE SENSITIVE to sudden changes in demeanor at the moment, OHNO turns their gaze to Kukuru and rests a hand on their shoulder. "Ski-bi dibby di b yo da dub dub..." OHNO tells her seriously. What is she saying? Who knows, but her expression has shifted from that vengeful need to something kinder, something concerned for her. Not all Agents feel the way Tiffany does. Arcadia unleashes the plumes of fire--the remaining wooden dolls, trapped as they are, burn to ash and the Servant herself gets scathed by the flames, roaring in anger and pain. "No...! No!!" Tiffny begs as she's chucked into a cage, safe from others (and herself, she doesn't have her sword on her anymore). "Why, why won't you let me...save everyone..." She sinks to the floor in despair. Maybe one day she'll think back to the magical girl that saved her from self destruction and be happy about that. Right now, all she has is despair. "If I survive...I'll have to bear the stares of those who don't understand..." Meika tries talking back to the Servant of Wrath. The Servant of Wrath, as you might expect from the name, is not normally receptive to such things--but the presence of other magical girls soothes its rage somewhat. Though by that same token, it could just as easily make her go even more berserk depending on how the Work goes.
Angela	"I was meant to protect others... but I trusted someone I shouldn't have... I let the scales of justice tip too far in one direction..." And the intellect behind her is still about as alien as it is human. They are aspects of Duality, Lobotomy Corp had said... But you're still in there right? W  W  I  L  I  J  M  I  T  W h  i     e  t  u  e  n  h  o   e  l     a  '  s        i  r    n  l     r  s  t        s  l              n                 d "You know...what it's like? No, no--if you understood--why are you stopping me?" The Servant of Wrath screams and writhes against those bindings as if they were ripping through her arms rather than simply binding her. Kayoko speaks to the entity as well. She wants her to talk about the Hermit of the Azure Forest. "I HAVE TO REACH HER, SHE IS WAITING FOR ME!" The Servant of Wrath screams in visceral agony. "Sisters, please--do not tell me you fell to corruption again!" Her arms slowly pull up free as they try to smash everyone in the vincinity with HAMMER HANDS. This time, the magical girls aren't quite so lucky. She's still TALKING, at least, but she's getting desperate and less coherent by the moment. She's more story than human, but she is not entirely inhuman either. "My sisters, I lost them to the corruption as the kingdom fell... The Magical Girl of Love, The Magical Girl of Justice, The Magical Girl of Happiness... They were my sisters... My sisters... And the Hermit DESTROYED THEM AND IT IS MY FAULT."
Angela	"I just feel bad, nasty pieces of work like this causing trouble in a nice place like this." Rose says. Her eyes slant towards that trembling fist. Something compels even the loner to reach out a hand out to Hibiki, something should hold that hand Rose thinks. But her own hesitation makes her pull back her hand. Even her EGO is telling her that she shouldn't rely on others too much--or let others rely on her too much either. Don't tell her the truth about the Servant, she thinks. She's a good person doing good things... Instead she speaks with her own actions instead, blasting away two staves that try to slam down for Hibiki's back even as she throws a kick for the left leg of the Hermit, knocking it down to one knee. Woz sends the staves scattering about before they can counterattack, pushing the The Hermit can't avoid Hibiki slamming her against the wall like a doubly forceful Kabedon in progress. ''When you say friend, do you even mean it!?'' "Of course, there was nothing more true than our friendship..." The Hermit says. "That's why I was able to do everything I needed to do, and she was able to do what she needed to do." The eyes on the Hermit's robes twist to focus their gaze on Hibiki. "I was like you once... Wasn't I? I can see it in your eyes, I've seen those eyes in the mirror..." The Hermit asks. But that was a lifetime ago..." It doesn't attack with violence, just words--which can be pretty violent too actually. And someone takes a trip to take a peeksie weeksie at the past...
Angela	Sougo takes a look into the past. He doesn't see the Servant of Wrath, though, or even the Hermit. He sees a human wearing the green and white garb of a magical girl complete with a ribbon across her chest and a pair of hair accessories. She is in a building that reminds Sougo of the time he used his powers to peek into Lobotomy Corp's past before but it isn't..exactly the same, even if it is just as cold and sterile with a constant faint whiff of blood. Sougo sees her run after a black haired woman in a black and white dress and shawl carrying an..overly large spoon? "Hey Catt! Could you slow down? Hehe, you know? Why do you dislike people so much?" The agent dressed as a magical girl asks. "Is there any reason to like anyone at a job, especially in a company like this, Beozzi?" Catt asks back. Sougo probably gets a similar vibe as Rook from her even if it's not exactly the same. "Sure! I get what you mean, but everyone needs someone or something to give their mind a breather right? And I could be the one for you, Catt? So use me..." Beozzi smiles desperately. ...Catt doesn't respond. "L-look, Chief Joe and Chief Sasha are good friends, we could be the same!" "...If Catt used you, you'd break and shatter like a toy." Catt speaks, as if stating a fact. Beozzi can only watch her go.
Angela	Time passes... This time Catt is the one asking questions. "Catt wonders, why you aren't obsessed with the other captains?" "Because you have the highest grade, Catt! The team captains are all outstanding, but they aren't as cold and strong as you! I wanna be friends with Catt!" Beozzi's heart fills with hope. Here's a chance! Catt's stoic expression shifts slightly as she hears Beozzi's answer and not in a positive way. "...Aha, aha, no..." Catt laughed bitterly. "Your little make believe family..." Then she smiled wickedly. "Well it's fine it's fine if it's fun to you." Staggered, Beozzi can only watch her go.
Angela	Time passes again. In a battle against another abnormality, an agent gets wounded in battle only for the Abnormality to be mercilessly finished off with the help of a small green haired girl with small hammers leaking green goop who tears it apart--along with Beozzi who lends the green haired girl a hand. Later as Beozzi visits her in medical, Catt comes by bearing a gift basket. "Wait, Catt! Why did you come? Did you see what happened today...And finally decided to become friends with me?" Beozzi chases after her as she's leaving. "...Today?" Catt is worse than disdainful, she is oblivious and ignorant. Catt turned and left with two others who seemed so happy to see her. Like they were friends... "...I see... I'm still a useless one, aren't I?" Beozzi murmurs to herself. "If I became useless... If nobody seeks me anymore... then my existence is for naught!"
Angela	Time passes, Beozzi and the green haired girl are weeping together in the latter's cell, the latter weeping goopy green tears. "Friend... a being more special than anyone, calling each other by name..." The Servant of Wrath cried. "I must treat everyone equally in balance... I must uphold balance and be fair... I did the same before, thwarted everything for the sake of them..." Beozzi's world threatens to collapse. "...You didn't like being friends with me all along?" The green in the Servant of Wrath was turning red, all but for those eyes crying tears, burning through the cloth around its eyes. "D--don't abandon me!" Beozzi begged. "We need each other, we have to! Th-that's right! Use me! For your justice and balance, use me..! Your friend!" Beozzi was shocked at first when her EGO Gift rose from her head and started to enshroud her in the Hermit's cloak, cloth with red veins tightly binding her. But before the hood came down and she became something else, Beozzi smiled. I wasn't so useless after all.
Ishirou	Ishirou has the beginnings of a plan...but he just has to put the pieces together.  The dual natures of each of these people, and the magical girls are both home to and foreign to this world...this is the key.  He can't solve this problem...but he knows who can... He knows that they can...but he just has to make sure the dominos fall in the most favorable ways so that they can.  His scanners run on over time, his eyes looking at every possibility and calculating the results.  Even then... this chance is low.  That doesn't mean he can't stack the favor.   "Watch out, the blood is just as much the mist as her tears are!" he warns the others, the RESCUE unit shifting into flight mode, just as the hands come down to try and crush him.  He spins the unit around, just over one falling smashing hand, to run up the wind shear of another.  He's just barely made it.   "Hibiki, sending instructions through your OPTION.  Meika and Kayoko, you too!  Just trust me on this, it'll make sure you get the best chance to save them..." he says, firmly, and hits send.  For a moment their senses are tied, they are aware of each other.  Ishirou plots their movement, optimizing every step... They just need to get both of them unable to fight, but not defeated.  Weakened but not out of it.  Willing to listen, and willing to talk... Ishirou puts the last of this together, and once the plan is finalized.... He spins back around.  He soars along the Servant of Wrath, aiming to put shots where they need to be.  Opening up ways for Meika, trying to tip the scales just even more in the direction they want...!
Arcadia	For a moment even the bombastic fast-paced attitude of the Guardian of The Line dours. As someone who has only lived to protect her people and their allies Arcadia can sympathize a bit with someone who gave so much to others only to lose their way... And then the Servent just keeps wailing on and on about it, and her lack of patience has no forks left to give on the matter. Sympathy or not, all that matters now is that the Servant was a crazed anomalous threat to everything else. "Nyauuugh!" The hammers swing more... only to slam ineffectively into the ground. There's not even an speed afterimage. Arcadia just wasn't in that spot long before the hammer was even close to striking her, while her options had already scrambled after their attacks. There literally was just nothing at the point to strike. "Why do these things always involve so much excess talking?!" she objects, not that it's important to the moment. The hyperspeed movements have repositioned her in the air over Servant. "There is only one way to end this now..." The sphinx's arms flare forward, engaging every magitek port available. Her wings fan around her sides, spread so the emitters in the tips of the pylon 'feathers' are visible, already glowing. Her options realign to take up formation around her. "The only mercy I can give you, is the end of this hallow your existance became." Arcadia unloads with everything she has, in a myraid of arcane lasers and fiery bullets bombarding down, intermingled with bolts of electricity and spinning razors of wind. A cacophonic saturation of projectiles, directed at hammering down the Servant before they can retaliate with more than speeches again, keeping them pinned down beneath the rediculous barrage.
Kukuru	Truly, Kukuru has no idea what the hell OHNO is trying to say. That shift in her expression tells her enough, though, and she places her free hand gently over the agent's soon afterwards. Her own expression lightens considerably at that, and then her gaze falls on Tiffany as she starts to despair about her situation. "... You're right about one thing, anyway. We won't always understand each other. So what?" Kukuru lets go of OHNO's hand afterwards, giving her a gentle shove to get some distance as the Servant of Wrath howls and starts swinging those giant, painful hands again. Kukuru's reflexes aren't quite as on point this time as they were before, and she has to put more forward force into holding her ground. She buckles after a few moments and staggers back, though, but still manages to stay on her feet as some of those nanites return to pump some healing juice back into Kukuru again. Whatever happens, though, she can't afford to back off just yet even with the lingering presence of that horrible mist fighting against her regeneration. OHNO is with her. The Chevaliers are with her. Sougo and Woz, Hibiki, Ishirou, Arcadia, and even Angela technically sort of! Tiffany is still there, too, and she needs to make the caged agent understand. "Families don't always understand each other. Kids these days are just so much smarter than when I was a little girl, you know? They can talk circles around me, they understand all sorts of tech stuff I don't, and they know lots of psychology things and medical stuff... And even the ones that are only a little younger than me-" She looks at the Chevaliers first, then at Ishirou. Nope, too young. Arcadia? She's not really sure. Tiffany? OHNO? It's so hard to tell sometimes. "... But just because I don't understand all of it doesn't mean we hate each other. Families are still gonna be there for each other. We can take time to understand the hard stuff, and then get to know each other better and get closer that way. Don't you want that?" She smiles softly at Tiffany, letting that question hang for both emphasis and also because she doesn't actually know Tiffany's name. The Servant of Wrath, too, gets a stare from Kukuru afterwards, even though she can feel that mist starting to do something weird to her eyes. The threat to everyone here is still massive enough that even Kukuru has some doubts about trying to recover both the Servant of Wrath and the Hermit, but she's hearing plenty from everyone else about how it can be done. She just needs to trust in their judgment! "We'll make it work. You, us, them, everything. I'm counting on you all to know what to do, okay?" Kukuru falls through a cloud in front of her, and it drops her right on top of the Servant of Wrath. Her healing abilities have to work double time to keep herself together at such close range to the mist, and her only small respite from it is having that claw on. "And then... You two can work things out with each other, too, but only if you behave like good kids!" With that claw, she swings downwards to try and catch the Servant of Wrath in her freakishly strong grip. Should she get a hold, Kukuru actually loosens her grip a bit, partially to show that she could squeeze down harder, but also to maneuver a bit more easily as she starts shoving and swinging them around at everyone else's attacks, to try and disorient and confuse the Servant just before tossing them upwards to aid in wearing them down.
Timespace Riders	Zi-O, in the past, travels through bygone events. He can't change what's already happened, nor even interact at all. He's known this about his power since he first developed it, but even so, the Rider can't stop himself from reaching out towards Beozzi in vain, when he sees how Catt treats her. He doesn't stop himself from quietly uttering her name, when he sees how she runs to the Servant. The final event--her transformation into the Hermit--has him leaning against the cell wall, his helmet pressed against it as the weight of the dire relationship between them fully sets in.     In the present, the lightning-bolt hands on his clock-face-helmet stop their backwards crawl, and he points at the Hermit.     "Hermit! Beozzi! Whichever name you like."     He rushes in, Heisaber raised to join in with Woz, letting out a battle cry as he unleashes a one-handed flurry of blows, closing the gap between them with a two-handed thrust, holding the weapon half-sword. "Friends don't act this way--they don't treat hurting each other as inevitable, and run towards it at a sprint! Woz--take the lead!" Zi-O fades his offense with a backwards leap, procuring two transformation devices.                        WOW! Decade, Decade! DE-KE-I-DOOO!                                                       FINAL FORM TIME!                                                                 W! FANG! JOKER!                                     "As you wish, my Demon King!"     A deck of person-sized hardlight cards, blue and faintly translucent, encircles Zi-O and Woz. The two Riders become one, a square armored fighter of black and white, split vertically down the middle. The flat-screened helmet depicts an image of Kamen Rider W, the doubled Rider's helmet flashing on the screen as a barcode-themed baldric across the armor's chest scrolls the form's name: FANG JOKER     Fighting as one, they approach, the black half of the armor making a low sweep into a crushingly powerful axe kick. The white half of the helmet flashes, as Zi-O speaks up: "They don't 'use' each other, because they understand the difference between that and *relying* on each other! If you really care about the Servant, then you need to make her understand that equality *isn't the same as fairness!*"     The white half of the squared armor makes a hook punch, and a wrist-mounted blade swings out in its wake, battering any interfering staves out of the way with a white shockwave. "Giving everyone the same treatment doesn't work! Not everyone is the same! If they were--then Catt would have treated you better! She would have seen how lonely you were, how scared you were of being 'useless,' and given you the care you needed!" The black arm follows up with a series of straight jabs, intending to wear down and pummel past her guard.      "If you really consider the Servant your friend, then work to take care of that bond, instead of acting like it'll vanish the minute you disappoint her even a little!! Beozzi... you have to understand that you deserve to be happy, even if it means you're not 'useful' all the time!"
Timespace Riders	"Contemplate my Demon King's advice," says Woz, the black half of the armor, turning and launching a shoulder-mounted blade that flies through the staves, intending to wear the Hermit out through incessant defensive use of the staves. Anyone can tell he's the one 'driving,' because of the way he theatrically bends at the waist and points, to deliver the rest of the statement: "As you come to your senses in the wake of defeat." The black half mashes the stop on Zi-O's Timespace Driver with a flourish of the wrist, and spins it, both hands held outwards briefly for flair.                                   FINISH TIME!                                                                 STRIZER TIME BREAK!                                    Fighting for the both of them, Woz makes a standing roundhouse, the armor's black leg crackling with purple energy. Upon impact, a hardlight set of fanged purple jaws closes tightly around the Hermit, intending to crush the wind from her before tossing her once more towards Hibiki for a one-two finale.
Kayoko Kirenai	While Cobalt stays close to the Servant of Wrath, catching hammerblows on her shield and sword, a haze of twinkling particles of light, like snowflakes in firelight, gradually settles over the battlefield. A heavy blow from one of the Servant of Wrath's hands glances off of Galatine, crashing into the ground and briefly getting stuck, and Chevalier Cobalt wills a circular blue platform into the air above the arm, leaping on top before the Servant pulls her arm back up. She slams Pridwen down onto the back of the hammerhead hand, bracing her shoulder against the inside of the shield, to lock its movement up for long enough to talk. <J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "From what I heard from the Info Department, in her story she was once called the Magical Girl of Courage."     "All of your sisters, they're magical girls too? Love, Justice, Happiness... and you're Courage?" Kayoko does her best to keep the strain out of her voice while pinning the Abnormality's arm down. "My sister is too. She's Chevalier Vermillion, so we match. If anything happened to her, I would be..." Kayoko's voice wavers, "Devastated. I would be furious. I would want to lash out like this, too."     "I *have* before, when Vermillion has gotten hurt, and I blamed myself for making mistakes. But you and me, and all of your sisters, we're all meant to protect people, not hurt them when trying to get revenge. That's what connects us, and makes us magical girls. So hold onto that-- before the corruption, when you were all together, and all you wanted was to protect people. That's the part of you that's the Magical Girl of Courage, that thread that connects you to who you believed you were, with your sisters. So if you hold on to it, Vermillion and I can help you put together the rest." Kayoko looks over at Meika, engaged in her own pleas. "It helps, to have a sister around."     The battlefield is saturated with light by now. Gradually, with some heavy inertial resistance dragging them, the light gathers and hardens into complex networks of walls and reservoirs, forming canals to guide and collect the flooding poison. Aqueducts that appear to be made of glittery marble, barriers of hard-light stone arcing gracefully for hundreds of feet around the battle, directing the goop away from anyone it can hurt. Cobalt shudders with the effort, eyes shut, and the platform holding her in a position to disable the Magical Girl of Courage's arm disintegrates into static. Cobalt topples to the ground, knees down in the poison, then forces herself to her feet again.     "...It's brave, to fight for stories that aren't meant to end happily. It's a kind of judgement of yourself, how determined you're willing to be. We can be brave together, Magical Girl of Courage. I'll be your friend, too, if you'd want me to."
Meika Kirenai	As the Servant's frantic hammer blows swing wildly through the air, Cobalt's illusory defenses can only help Chevalier Vermillion so much. Her cuirass lets out a resounding echo, the metal taking the brunt of a hit that ought to send her flying- but instead, on a split-second impulse, she holds on to the hammer. An instant shock of her own gets sent back and up the limb, to the other magical girl. Furious- yet softer, holding back, ever so slightly -energy careens across the Servant's body, dancing like lightning and encircling like the aurora. It deadens muscles, saps strength, and it just doesn't stop pouring out from her for as long as she clutches.     It barely matters how much she gets swung, one-handedly clawing back a handhold on the magical girl's arm, and staying there like both their lives depended on it. <J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "From what I heard from the Info Department, in her story she was once called the Magical Girl of Courage."     "Courage. You stand for courage, right?" Vermillion's tone is soft, despite the throes of combat surrounding them all. Her grip is steadfast, she won't be going anywhere, so she has time to talk. If she weren't white-knuckeled underneath her gauntlets, or the threat of being pounded into paste against the ground below, it'd almost be like a hug.
Meika Kirenai	"I don't know how you used to do it- before, when you could shape yourself like a human. But please, listen, and know that I've been there too. You're not alone. Courage is beautiful. You can be that. You can embody that. Could you tell me what it means to you? I'd love to hear it."     She may not be able to talk psionically, but Chevalier Vermillion can still listen, deeper in, to try and hear what the Servant thinks- even if she's not saying it. Vermillion shifts her grapple, pushing herself back and up into the air, and stays standing like it was solid ground. "If Courage is something you love, something you want to be- you can be it. It's there. But it's so hard to reach for, if you don't know you can find it. I was so scared, too. I-" Despite it all, she giggles. "I have to use drawings, to get it right. But they work. I'm here. You can be too. Magical Girl of Courage... that's still you, you know. It can be. I promise. So reach with me, and believe in Courage, okay?"     This feels familiar. Vermillion has done this before. Not to her- not the Servant. She throws a sidelong glance to Cobalt, before she continues. "We'll find- we'll find what works easiest for you, if you need it. If you want it. If you don't want to be alone. F-feeling.. hurt, and betrayed, those don't have to come at the cost of Courage. Feeling-" She lets the thought stay unsaid, and replaces it with a different one. "You must care so much. Your teammates- Sisters, to try and be their Courage..." she whispers the next bit, just to the magical girl. "I can't know your hurt. But I know hurt like it. The kind that makes courage ache. That makes you angry, that makes you want to hurt the whole world, that makes you want to hurt yours-.. Holding on hurts so much, but... but it helps. It helps to keep strong, to keep faithful, to keep yourself all put together, to stay-" She cuts off once more. "Please keep holding on, please keep reaching for it. For the ones you love, right? The ones who- who needed you to be their Courage. The ones you want to be there for, fighting alongside."     It's a silly gesture, to hold out a hand to the Servant. Even if she could take it, there's no gurantee she would at all. But Chevalier Vermillion does so anyways. She nods to her sister. She's been listening to her, after all.     "Magical Girl of Courage... won't you reach with us, okay? And we'll reach back. It's not as far as it feels."
Hibiki Tachibana	'There was nothing more true...' "Then why!? True friends shouldn't--this isn't--!" 'That's why I...and she...' "Just for it to end up like this!?" 'I was like you once... Wasn't I?'     Hibiki doesn't move, even as her teeth bite down into her bottom lip. Her grip on the Hermit's robes doesn't release, but it does slacken. If it weren't for Rose covering for her a few moments ago, she probably would have been totally wide open for those staves. She still is, honestly. As her head hangs down, breaking contact with those myriad eyes...     "Friendship..." Her voice is low and shaky, like it's struggling not to crack. "...isn't being used. And being used back. It's not--like that. And it's full of so many...painful things. You wonder if you're even wanted, you wonder if you're good enough, you wonder if it'd be better if you were never there at all...     'I'm not really their friend. They would have done that for anybody.' 'They're just feeling pity for me. That's not the same thing.' 'They'll all just abandon me eventually, even if they're pretending right now'..."     "...You'll hurt and hurt some more...whether it's from fighting each other, or trying to hold onto that friendship as hard as you can, even when it's slipping between your fingers. Living every day waiting for when it's going to come crashing down around you, no matter what you do..." "But that's /NOT/ all it is! That's why it could never be something as simple as just using and being used!"     Her head turns back up towards the Hermit's hooded face, eyes wide and filled with a wild resoluteness even as tears are streaming down them. "Friendship is opening up your heart to someone else! Relying on them, and being relied on back! Pulling each other back up every time you need it! Being able to talk about anything! Do anything! Confide anything! It makes betrayal and pain be so much worse than it would be otherwise--but every time they're done hurting, they can understand why and start healing again, together!"     "Opening your heart to somebody else can make you suffer--more than anything else in the world! But it's also why you can still be friends, no matter how badly you think you burned those bridges!" '...You can't save everyone. Some people you can't save even if you give them a thousand lives.'     "--So I can't let you keep doing this! Hurting each other, killing each other, over and over and over again because it's the only way you think you can be useful to her! It'll never end! If you really are 'true friends'--then tell her how much she means to you instead of using her! And let her accept you for who you are, without using you! If you really are 'true friends'--"     The only reason she steps away is so that the duo combination of Zi-O and Woz can step in and lay down a beatdown of severe proportions. All while she tightens her fist, rears back her arm, and after Woz sends her her way...     She swings to punch her. Hard. Hard enough to send the Hermit clean through the wall leading outside, which is probably going to send them both for a tumble.     "--Then you shouldn't have ANYTHING to be afraid of!"
Angela	The time for a plan is now. Abnormalities don't die, of course, but you can drive them back into their cages with force. Sometimes that's the only option, actually. Just like in reality, learning someone's story doesn't mean you can stop them from a self destructive path. The Abnormality approaches the school slowly, but it is getting closer. It may be evacuated, but a school is still like a home. The people who go there spend almost as much time there as they do at their real homes. Sometimes their real homes aren't real at all and that school is the only one they get. It cannot be allowed to be destroyed. But at the same time, how can you fight for a happy ending if you can't expect it? Ishirou's shots ping off the creature but it is a tough thing. Still, it's moving closer. Will it talk? Or will it SMAAAASH? OHNO gets pushed out of the way of a bludgeoning strike that would probably have mulched her head clean off and Kukuru speaks to Tiffany. And Tiffany weeps. Hearing kind words like that right now are the last thing she wanted to hear. She feels her reolve weakening to the point of insignificance. She can't go back, not after what she did. Was she just supposed to let them suffer, what was she supposed to do? She can see clearly now Hod's distressed face upon learning what she had done, and what Hod's faith in her had cost her. She didn't care before. She can't answer with words, just with inelegant blubbering. Kukuru lends Ishirou a solid by guiding the Abnormality into bullets just so that what was plinking off of the Servant is now hitting critical points--and even guiding the creature into those lasers and fire bullets from Arcadia. The creature is burning and scorched all over its body, but it keeps on pushing--maybe even dragging Kukuru along for the ride. Magical Girls can get pretty determined. Kayoko and Meika work together and that always increases a magical girl's power exponentially. The Servant of Wrath has to fight alone. Kayoko understands the Servant of Wrath. The resonance intensifies. "Yes... That was their names..." The Servant of Wrath remembers. ''We're all meant to protect people, not hurt them while trying to get revenge'' The Servant of Wrath remembers when she held onto that feeling. ''That's the part of you that's the Magical Girl of Courage'' "I..."    n  t  d  n  e  l  I  d   e  I  e  O  M  l     e h     n        A     t T     w              n      a              a     D              W         pp Was an a  ro  l you were never willing to give             va ''We can be brave together, Magical Girl of Courage. I'll be your friend too, if you'd want me too.'' Gooey green tears drip freely from those monster eyes. Understanding the stories is the greatest tool in any Agent's handbook, but maybe only magical girls can really understand. The monster is held. ''Could you tell me what it means to you? I'd love to hear it.'' In being asked this, the Servant of Wrath remembers who she used to be. "To me Courage..." "...Was believing that people could be better, that they could be trusted even if they hurt you sometimes..." "My Courage...was the Courage to open up one's heart to others, even knowing...that it makes it easier to stick a blade in." Something smashes through the wall...
Angela	Meanwhile, Sougo can only change the future. But can he change a future that is desperately being reached for? The Hermit's gaze turns to Zi-O. The staves swoop towards Zi-O and Woz but Rose shifts to the defensive, deflecting strike after strike with her blade. Isn't it funny Rose? In your world you couldn't rely on anyone but here... Do you have the guts to accept it could be different? Rose's perma-smile with the many sharp teeth remains. Her eyes are as calculating as ever as she fights, spurred on by the dim echo of a memory she once believed in, louder now, louder. "Get 'er ass." Rose says. A multiple hit combo slams into the Hermit into one fo the walls behind which is the exterior of the school grounds. The strength is rapidly leaving the Hermit. The force of one story is being crushed by the force of another that living people are deciding to shout over the sad tale. ''Take care of that bond, instead of acting like it'll vanish the minute you disappoint her even a little!'' Hibiki has words of her own and even though her resolve may be shaken, it's hardly shattered. She may struggle with friendship sometimes, but that doesn't mean she has lost sight of what it honestly is. A human is harder to reach than an Abnormality in some ways. Humans don't have to be true to themselves like Abnormalities have to be. But Hibiki has faltered, and because she has faltered she can understand Beozzi.       S   A C T  I     N     ( 0 )   O    A If Friendship N   R hurts this much A T I'd rather it be  L Hibiki denies that thought. She tells her to tell her friends how much they mean to her, what it is... But it's those last words that hit as hard as Hibiki punches. ''If you really are 'true friends' then you shouldn't have ANYTHING to be afraid of!'' She is Mega Smashed through the wall. And the Hermit and the Servant are within view of each other.
Angela	"I..." The Hermit says. "...I'm sorry..." to the Servant of Wrath. "I thought... this is how I could help you." The Servant of Wrath clomps towards the Hermit. Her body transmogrifies from monster, to a small floating girl with bright green hair. Her eyes red from crying acid look at the Hermit, her hammers in her hands. She could smash her now, get her revenge but... Those words about courage, she can't deny them. She can't deny it. "It hurt so much..." The Servant of Wrath tells the Hermit, extending her hand-- --the cloak pulls away from Beozzi, as do the wrappings and the veins. All it leaves behind is a young woman laying on the floor, the tattered remains of a magical girl uniform around her. It wasn't just by her will she was returned to normal, only the demands that she remember who she was could have restored her form. "I remember who I was..." The Magical Girl of Courage says, smiling softly. Justice and balance finally restored... We were true friends... "Right?" Beozzi weeps. "We were, we were! I'm sorry... I'm sorry for not believing in it...!" "Make some new friends, now that you know how." The Magical Girl of Courage bows her head and vanishes in a flash of light. As an Abnormality, her existence is eternal, unchanging...right? Only time can tell. A second uniform had been left behind, along with a large Hammer leaking acid. Rose crouches down and picks them up into her arms. Se looks right at them with her monstrous smile. She doesn't pull the kerchief back up, looking over to Hibiki. "Hey Bikki... Maybe I could..." Rose rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. "Aww darnit, you know what I'm trying to say! How about next time there's lunch at the cafeteria, we have it together?"
Angela	Elsewhere, a spark of memory returns to Tiphereth A as she watches through the Agents' digital pads. Tiphereth B says, "Huh! I guess it's true, after enough time--Even I can win a bet sometimes." Tiphereth A is quiet but she says, "...Forget it... Enjoy the win." She walks away, leaving her brother alone as she remembers a time long ago. Lisa had thought that the stories having an unhappy ending meant to serve as lessons to learn from, ways to grow from the tale to become a better person. But Enoch ... ...For the longest time, he had said that the reason for unhappy stories was to fight for happier ones in reality. "But if that's what you believed..." Tiphereth A muttered to herself. "Why the hell did you sign up for that experiment looking to die? Why are you the one who always gives up and falls apart?" Nobody can answer her. Not in a place like this.
Hibiki Tachibana	Her arm is sore and hurting, and not just from the recoil of hitting something that hard. It feels like there's no air in her lungs, and she's panting for more of it harder than she probably should. Or maybe that's just because there's still liquid falling down her cheeks. But...     ...Hibiki can see, staring at the two of them, that they're finally able to have the meeting they were seeking so badly. But not the one they were intending to have. It's still sad, in a way. Watching the Magical Girl of Courage have to leave. She didn't get to talk with her.     Maybe that was for the best. Maybe it's good, that the Kirenai sisters and everyone else were there, she was here with Rose, and Sougo, and Woz, and the one desperate for true friendship no matter what form it took. Maybe. She doesn't know what, exactly, she's feeling in her chest as things finally quiet down, and the green-clad magical girl returns to containment.     But it doesn't feel bad. She knows that much. Sometimes saving the day today means shattering tommorow's hope. You'll only learn by trying.     "...Haha...I don't even know what I even said right there..." She murmurs to herself, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand as Rose glances over. Honestly, the mouth beneath her kerchief doesn't seem to bother her at all. And despite everything, she smiles just a little bit too.     "...Yeah. That'd be really nice, Rose. And...maybe I can invite some friends, when we do. I bet they'd really like you, too."
Timespace Riders	The black-and-white doubled Rider removes both transformation watches. In a wave of pink light, the armor disappears. King and retainer stand, Sougo's right hand joined with Woz's left, each Rider's other hand holding one key to the form they'd just used. Sougo, in particular, realizes after a second that he's still holding the grandiloquent pose Woz favors for detransforming, and grins, lowering his hand.      The two of them share a look, a silent understanding exchanged between them. Sougo poses a question, with his expressive brown eyes, flicking briefly towards the Hermit, and Woz nods, the corners of his mouth turned ever so slightly upwards in a faint, approving smile.      Sougo's fingers tenderly unlace from Woz's, and he steps through the destroyed wall, to check on the Hermit, following her reconciliation with the Servant. With one hand resting on the caved-out wall, he smiles with unabashed relief and warmth, an expression utterly suited to the gentle pastels of his outfit. Looking over his shoulder, at Hibiki and Rose, Sougo smiles wider.      "Somehow... I had a feeling you knew how precious the bonds between people are. Thanks for fighting to protect them. I have another feeling, too--that Rose is going to make a lot of new friends."      Woz purses his lips, eyes flicking briefly downward in a hesitantly thoughtful expression. After a moment's contemplation, he adds his own thoughts. "To believe that one is unworthy of that which others have serves one not at all. If you are not willing to reach out and take it, chances are next to none that the world will simply deliver it unto you. Esteemed Rose, Hibiki--" He bows slightly at the waist, one hand held out. "I bid you good day, and good tidings. Shall we depart, my Demon King?"      Sougo nods, stepping closer. "Yeah," he says, still smiling wide. "Oh, and... Rose, if you wanna hang out with us, too, just say the word."      Woz nods cordially, then reaches over his shoulder and flings his strange scarf outwards, the two of them disappearing as it envelops them and then vanishes into a single point.