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Angela	This time there is no warning from Lobotomy Corp. Not because of malice on their part but because Nikki, the captain of Central who had been sent out to search for the Knight of Despair, had neglected to mention that she had FOUND the Knight of Despair because Nikki... had other plans for the Knight of Despair. Nikki is a pink-haired red eyed woman wearing the Funeral of the Dead Buttterflies Ego Gear. The Ego Gear is called Solemn Lament and includes a pair of pistols, one white with a black butterfly pattern and one black with a white butterfly pattern. It also includes a black tuxedo with white gloves. On her back, she is carrying a black coffin with a butterfly insignia on it. She is also wearing an eyepatch (she is not a pirate). And she is making their way out from the Warpgate heading into Kagoshima. And she isn't alone. An eleven foot tall woman is with her. This woman has long dark blue hair and a similarly colored gown, both are patterned with the white sparkles of distant stars. She has pale skin and a black teardrop tattoo under one eye. Her arms, and half her face, is covered in black shadow and numerous swords float around her, easily more than eight of them. The two of them make their way through the streets, gradually approaching the school but not in a direct path. "She is approaching us. She was drawn here such as I was," A black tear escapes the Knight's eye. "And now she is drawn to me."
Angela	Their approach through the city is interrupted by the much more typically proportioned Queen of Hatred--and Carol, another Agent from L-Corp. "What're you doing, Captain?" Carol fiddles with Wrist Cutter. "You were supposed to return the Knight to L-Corp, not team up with her." "The Queen of Hatred's the bigger threat. Knight agreed to go back with her." "Senpai." She says. "To think you've been corrupted as well... I know you tried your hardest to hold it back..." The Knight of Despair sends four swords stabbing into the Queen of Hatred, impaling her from four separate angles. "What a pity, you do not even remember the scores of bodies you've left behind. I will not allow you to become the villain again." The Knight of Despair says, still crying, as their sorrow fills the space around them. BGM:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc3SQyM-Gvg&ab_channel=Mili    /\      /\        WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING   \II/    \||/               WAW CLASS THREAT (88II88)(88II88)            KNIGHT OF DESPAIR   /II\    /II\       WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING    II      II    II      II    II      II    II      II    \/      \/ The Queen of Hatred starts removing the blades, her eyes filled with sympathy and empathic pain--indeed, Love for the one who just stabbed her four times. "The Dark Kingdom's using you... I can't let you...hurt this world or my new friends!" "As your sister... it is my responsibility to clean up after you. Do not think I will tire in this task."
Kayoko Kirenai	The sun hangs low in the sky over Kagoshima, bathing the city in a muggy, oppressive air. Despite summer coming to a close soon, the sun shows little sign of setting early in the evening, as close to the equator as this is. The Warpgate only sees a thin trickle of travel, as usual, with very little reason to come or go from this normal city in a normal earth, in favor of ships and planes passing in and out of city limits, out of familiarity rather than efficiency.     The warning stands, as usual: Please do not disturb the city with your--     "Cobalt! What is going *on*?!"     Chevalier Cobalt is racing through the city, sprinting and weaving between crowds, already transformed. Probably no one will be suspicious of the invisible voice rushing past them as she talks into her phone, and they'll probably attribute the sound to the gust of wind following in her wake. It's remarkably sloppy for Kayoko.     "I don't know!" Cobalt's been running towards the location of the fight since longer than Kurokawa's known about it. The Magical Girl of Love's erratic behavior warranted occasional surveillance check-ups, and after a gasp of alarm, Kayoko had quickly made excuses to leave A/V club early. The Cherub network wasn't nearly as fast, or as omnipresent.     "You said that your new magical girl friend was safe! This is a *disaster*!" Cobalt winces, as she hesitates at a crosswalk, then crosses the active street simply by leaping over it. "She *isn't* a problem! This is one of-- one of her sisters, they--"     "One of her 'sisters'? So this thing is just like her? Is that what they meant by 'berserk'?!" 'This thing' sends a jolt through Kayoko's chest, opening her mouth and struggling to respond for a moment. Kurokawa continues before she can. "And you *knew* that, didn't you? Kayoko, you can't *hide* stuff like this from us! Your immature recklessness might get people *killed*!"     It's good that Kurokawa hasn't heard the worst part yet. Kayoko having a constant magical eye on the unfolding battle is why it's so difficult for her to respond. She skids to a halt on top of a solar panel overhang nearby, overlooking the Knight of Despair fighting her friend, the Magical Girl of Love.     People, civilians, the ones who could never and *can* never perceive the fights that happen almost nightly around the city-- are screaming and running. Car alarms go off as vehicles back up into each other in their drivers' panic to escape, people flee into nearby buildings, some loiter around curiously, dangerously in the potential attack zone, still certain that this has to be some sort of performance.     Kagoshima has no Elites. No one here is experienced with evacuation or safety protocols of this nature. The intersection, the parking lot they're fighting in, the university buildings on the other side of the lot-- all of them are teeming with frantic, panicking life, a thousand eyes locked on the dueling magical girls.     Cobalt grits her teeth, trying not to hyperventilate. Miles away, Meika is given the agreed-upon code for 'emergency': a *particularly solid* hardlight smack, followed by-- after a quick distance scan to make sure she's alone-- the address of where to go, floating in front of her face.
Ritsuka Fujimaru	"Senapi, Miss Jeanne? It sounds like something big is happening in... Kagoshima?" "Let me guess. We're going to be going to getting involved in there again? I swear, those brats don't even...!" "We didn't even need to ask her that time. Wonder why." Jeanne is not in a good mood when she comes out of the Warpgate. She's already donning her black and purple armor ahead of time, even, as she practically launches herself out of the Warpgate, leaping onto a nearby light pole to look down upon the duelists with a scornful glare in her eyes. "... Hey! You assholes! If you're going to fight, take it somewhere else!" She shouts down at the four with unveiled aggression, a flag forming in one hand and braced behind her back while spears form overhead as she holds her hand up to call them into existence. She hurls them down between the duelists as a clear warning, although the fire bursting out of the spears indicates that she's not too worried about either side's safety. Ritsuka and Mash, noticing the general panic and loitering observers alike, show up about a minute after Jeanne shows up and quickly spring into the action afterwards. Instead of joining in the impending fight, however, they aid in the efforts to try and wave the observers away from what's going on while shouting in fluent Japanese. "Keep it moving, people! Closed set! Don't record any of this or post it online, or we'll find out and sue you into the dirt!" "That's right! Please don't push, and don't get injured on the way home! We're... Um. We're using practical effects, so the explosions could be unpredictable and highly dangerous if you're loitering like this!"
Ishirou	Ishirou launches from his home.  Someone might notice it is the same world as Candy's but right now this isn't important.  He had been resting, trying to ward off both headaches and full-body pain from his nervous system trying to (as he feels it) rip itself out of his body.  At least the itching on his wrists stopped.   Ishirou hit a Warp gate.  Then another warp gate, and then a third.  Eventually, this puts him above the Refulgence world... in space.  It'll take some good calculations, but eventually, he locks into where he needs to drop... and drops from an extremely high altitude towards the battle.   This /sucks/ because reentry is always a pain in the ass.  So many things can go wrong, so many things can put you off course, but... it'll look less suspicious and hopefully hold up the veil for Kayoko's peace of mind.  The moment he gets close enough, the armor shifts from space flight to normal flight mode.  He hoves in very high soaring towards the battle and correct courses.  It'll be harder to see him coming down at this angle.   Once he reaches an appropriate height, he starts hacking into various ISPs and internet hot spots in the area, aiming to take them offline, or at least under his control.  Combining his efforts with Tamamo and Kale, he directs people through what he does have control of to evacuate.  Both to make evacuations efficient, but to also make sure mind control runes are on everyone's route.   He shifts out of pure flight mode and into humanoid flight mode once he comes through the sky to hover above the L-Corp problems.   The first thing he does is send some OPTIONs to Carol.  Aiming to share with her his Superhumanity, his combat options, and scanning equipment.  The Queen of Ha-Love is down, it appears, so that'll be... not great.  Especially if she transforms.   "Carol, hold in there, if you need a path out let me know, but those OPTIONs should let you fight them on my terms."
Kale Hearthward	PALADINS AUXILIARY BASE - HANGAR ADJACENT MEETING ROOM "... We're not going to help an underage person run away from home, Paladin or not." "... We're not helping her run away! We're just, you know, making sure she'll have enough food, some cash, maybe a ride-" "Hearthward, listen to yourself. If you want to help the Kirenais that's one thing, but - this plan isn't helping, it's burning all of your bridges to make things *worse*, and-" The attempt to get some sense into Kale's head, as enacted by Kale's medic, is interrupted by the mission alert. "We're going to talk about this later." --- The East Wind does a fly-by at high altitude - out of the way of all but telescopes and air radar (for which flight plans have already been automatically filed). As it passes the island overhead, it leaves behind Kale Hearthward - who freefalls downwards, head oriented to the ground to reduce his air resistance as much as possible. And then he immediately groans as his eyes assess the situation from afar. Civilians. Plans abruptly change from containment to evacuation, and Kale's about to key up his mic to order the East Wind to land and rejoin him when- <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Hello--! E-everyone, I-- I'm sorry, but please c-continue to treat this like the Temptations. Please don't be-- be noticeable, a-at all, until you get to the fight." ... <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai strained through gritted teeth, "Chevaliers. Please." Kale, still in freefall, puts a hand on his forehead. "Ugh." "I really, really shouldn't." And yet, he's having a hard time saying no. <J-IC-Scene> Kale Hearthward says, "Fine. Kire- Kayoko. We'll *try* to contain it without raising an alarm, but we're going to talk about this later, alright?" He continues his freefall (though he never really stopped) aiming towards the spot where the fight's starting. Maybe someone will spot a person freefalling - Kale's counting on rational explanations of 'trick of the light' or 'just a cloud or a bird or something' for the people who might spot him for the couple seconds he's dropping, with that and the proceeding lack of 'person falling from plane to their death' news to help people convince themselves, and Ishirou sanitizing social media later to help take care of any videos he might have shown up in. Falling undetected is easy enough. Landing undetected is the hard part. As soon as he's about a few dozen feet from the ground (which he hopes is close enough to the fight), he flips over in midair, reorienting himself towards the ground, and clicks his heels and flares his jet boots. Simultaneously, he throws out the spell he's had at the ready - a pocket of dense air, more like a pillow, appears at his feet. This all takes place in literally a second - with Kale going from terminal velocity to a controlled (if rough) landing on his feet, and then immediately getting on with his containment efforts. Wind walls go up around the fight - nearly invisible walls blowing inward, intended to corral any stray attacks and keep the fight contained. That should, hopefully, keep the crowd from danger. Mostly.
Tamamo	Tamamo doesn't usually swing her gravity about to control the motion of others upon less than a first meeting. They're people she's not truly met, and doesn't intend to meet, but who are merely within sight of her. Nor is she at all stealthy -- the bunrei arrives in her full and heavy regalia, flowing robes and shining gold, three great, fluffy tails behind her, and proceeding at an attention-grabbing clip, for having arrived, for once, without the aid of Lilian to reposition her. Maybe she should really get some more personal conveyance... but motorocycles have their own particular dangers. She'll think on it later. <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "If you would like people to be calmed, I can manage this much."     This is, as fortune would have it, something she can do. She can't prevent others from seeing her, but she can spread out charms to their maximum range and, people falling in and out of her orbit as she moves, impress upon them that she is a trusted but unremarkable emergency responder, a feeling that will stick with them until they have some compelling reason to believe that that can't be true.     She can't do anything to help the approach of others from other directions, nor is she prepared to play along with Ritsuka's chosen fibs.     Once arrived, Tamamo looks up and--     "Oh, my, you are a rather tall one, are you not? I am unsure as to whether sisters should be so -- ah, might you explain...? No, if Ms. Angela's explanations were understood, I suppose it is rather useless to attempt disarmament through diplomacy. Might you direct your attention this way in just a moment?"      A moment is how long she needs to scatter barrier talismans behind herself, forming a wholly insubstantial wall of 'there's nothing here; turn around,' as well as to scatter paralyzing lightning traps in front of her.     "Now, might you both please come here?"
Kayoko Kirenai	<J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Hello--! E-everyone, I-- I'm sorry, but please c-continue to treat this like the Temptations. Please don't be-- be noticeable, a-at all, until you get to the fight." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "I'm trying to contain it." <J-IC-Scene> Ishirou says, "That... will signifigantly slow me down. I can't fly that way." <J-IC-Scene> Kale Hearthward says, "In this crowd?" <J-IC-Scene> Mash Kyrielight says, "I think it might be a little late for that, but... Oh. I've got an idea." <J-IC-Scene> Kale Hearthward says, "Negative, Chevalier Kirenai. We need to evac. I'll send your church a nice apology gift basket later." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "... Please. I'm-- it's really, really important." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "That doesn't undo it. You can't undo it once it's exposed like that." <J-IC-Scene> Ishirou says, "...Sorry but too many people are endangered." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai strained through gritted teeth, "Chevaliers. Please."     Chevalier Cobalt hesitates before running down to join Love. Not out of malice, but if Cobalt turns visible right in the middle of that scene...     Invisible it is, then. Cobalt leaps down from the solar panels, not noticing that she cracks them with her sabatons, and runs over to Love, throwing up her (also invisible) Galatine to block one of The Knight of Despair's swords. "Love! It's Cobalt! I'm here to help you and your sister!"     Light bends and folds around the perimeter of the parking lot, shimmering visibly as she tries to exert control over the broad area. For a moment, Cobalt's invisibility flickers off for everyone to see, before her wide-scale illusions take hold. Taking Mash and Ritsuka's cue-- for better or for worse-- everything within the lot distorts just a tiny bit, so that attacks seem less lethal, magic more plausible and practically generated, and Cobalt's armor fully covering her face and identifying features.     None of it is perfect, and none of it is one-sided towards the civilians, either. Cobalt's armor lags behind her during quick movements, Ishirou's Options are birds that move in a distinctly un-birdlike way. Attacks from the Knight of Despair are slightly off-kilter, making it just that much harder to tell where they *actually* are.     And between everything, Ishirou trying to contain the spread of information, Kale trying to contain the spread of people, and Mash and Ritsuka providing a "plausible" explanation-- people's attention only *intensifies*.     A supposed movie set, abruptly set up in a university parking lot, using dangerous practical effects, that a dozen people are *sprinting* to; Kale's flash of movement in the air drawing a fraction of attention upwards to notice Ishirou-- and a fraction is a *lot*, when a downtown city block is suddenly on high alert. Tamamo sells her own persona perfectly, approaching calmly and confidently, but the sheer *scale* of the abrupt event can't help but still catch eyes.
Timespace Riders	<J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Hello--! E-everyone, I-- I'm sorry, but please c-continue to treat this like the Temptations. Please don't be-- be noticeable, a-at all, until you get to the fight." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "I'm trying to contain it."     Sougo Tokiwa cannot comply with that--not when people are in danger. As such, the Demon King and his retainer arrive pre-transformed--the Demon King in the symmetrical analog wristwatch themed Zi-O II armor and Kamen Rider Woz in his baseline smartwatch-themed armor.     Zi-O wields a greatsword with a broad silver blade and a crossguard that resembles his helmet's faceplate. Woz, meanwhile, takes the field with a green-tipped spear, which sports a touchscreen just below the tip.     Zi-O stops running, past a line of parked, alarm-blaring cars, to shoulder the blade and put a gauntleted hand on the shoulder of a curious gawker. "Run! Get out of here, *please!* It's not safe!" He shakes the civilian urgently, his helmet nodding backwards to indicate the safest way to run, before resuming his sprint to rejoin his waiting retainer.     On past the outer perimeter, and into the parking lot.     Zi-O's pink lenses, katakana which spell 'RIDER,' sweep across the parking lot, taking a hurried measure of the situation. Jeanne's spear is thrown from on high. It should give a few valuable seconds of distraction...     "Woz! Get between them, now!"     The retainer, the more nimble of the two, bobs his helmet once in assent, before making a leap that clears the distance of the parking lot easily, soaring over blaring car alarms and evacuating civilians alike, landing between the Knight and the Magical Girl. His spear his held mid-haft, one-handed, tip pointed to the side. "You are hereby ordered to cease this fight at once," says Woz, as Zi-O rushes to catch up.      That's only going to be a few more seconds, at best. So Zi-O goes on the offensive, so to speak. "What is this about?!" calls Zi-O over the din of panic. Taking a position standing back to back with Woz, the flat of his sword is used as a broad surface to block any incoming swings. "Did you come here to settle anything at all--or just to act out a story you're too scared to rewrite?!" he vehemently demands of the Knight.
Dysnomia	<J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Hello--! E-everyone, I-- I'm sorry, but please c-continue to treat this like the Temptations. Please don't be-- be noticeable, a-at all, until you get to the fight." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "... Please. I'm-- it's really, really important." <J-IC-Scene> Dysnomia says, "Oh fine. Because you said please. I'll approach from high altitude. I can do that much."     'High altitude' isn't a compromise anyone from this world would be happy with, and Mia knows it the instant she realizes how close the warpgate is to occupied space.     It's just that she doesn't really care that much.     Her wings sprout from her back, and then she's in the air passing likwe a ghost through the the ceiling, violet trail drawn in the air behind her as she ascended into the sky and over the sleepy little city that was trying so hard to pretend that the rest of the multiverse existed only at their convenience.     Dysnomia certainly didn't. She burned through the air, watching the town folded out below them. It's not hard to pick out the details and find the trouble in the crowd. Not for someone like her.     She angled down, avoiding the wind walls by approached from a direction that none of them were pointed.     Dysnomia came swoooping in, pulling out of ao screeching dive at the very last moment and landing with what for anyone else would be bone-shattering force and a dull impact.     She stands then, looking around at the civilians around them, frowning. Her own will isn't as clean as Tamano's, but she reinforces it nonetheless. Something less desperate and scrambling than what she released in lobcorp, maybe...Something a little simpler. Something more like...     ...The creeping unease, walking through the dark. Don't look back, or you'll see. If you see, it's real. If it's real, it can hurt you. Walk a little faster--its not following me...but what if it IS? Don't notice. Don't BE noticed. I'm scared. I'm scared...
Hibiki Tachibana	Kagoshima has no Elites.     And yet, the air is full of shouting voices and the footfalls of desperate civilians.     My Captain's lost it and has brought the Knight of Despair to Kagoshima. Hibiki had gotten...not quite enough rest, if any ever truly would be, but there was no chance of her continuing to get any the moment she heard about this. If it was another Temptation...maybe. There's a lot going on, and if the turnout would be anything like the last visit here...     But it's not. It's one of of Lobotomy Corporation's Magical Girls, and an Agent taking things into their own hands. Even beyond the danger of this happening in Kagoshima of all places - without a Temptation attack to smooth things over like last time - even when the situation is very much not the same, she can't help but remember what happened with the Servant of Wrath...and Tiffany. Is it something about these four girls in particular that draws people in to do these sorts of things?     Although, it's not like she can talk, coming here herself.     Compared to a lot of the other Elites, Hibiki isn't very notable at all in her rush to reach the battleground. She's just a normal, if somewhat oddly dressed for the setting, person sprinting at full speed through panicked, chaotic streets. The only difference is that she's pushing through the crowds, in the direction they're hurrying to escape from. Even from a world where this sort of thing is 'normal' and publicly known evacuation measures exist, the chaos isn't that different when you're in the middle of it.     Intentionally or not, she ends up more or less following Kayoko's request - with the crimson pendant taken from her neck, string looped around her hand, only after she gets within sight range of the Magical Girl of Love, the Knight of Despair, and the two opposing Agents facing off.     "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron...!"     The golden flash of light shrouding her transformation dies down just in time for her to throw a full-force gauntlet-clad fist forward into the side of the Knight of Despair's flying blades, to throw it off target and send it spiraling harmlessly off into the distance, if it's not shattered on the spot.     Which ends up putting Hibiki in a similar position to the pair of Kamen Riders; right between the pair of both of them as if a physical shield, eyes shifting left to right between the two Magical Girls as she braces up against further attacks from either of them.     "You two--why are you here, fighting /each other/!? You can't do this!" Because they're in Kagoshima? Because they're both magical girls? Because they're sisters?
Meika Kirenai	Miles and minutes are both resources Meika can't spend as efficiently as she'd like. The emergency signal, as painfully abrupt as it is, spurs her into action. Sitting alone in her room is private, but before the address is phantasmically written in front of her, the creaky window of her bedroom is pulled open, bag and notebook snatched up, and hockey stick pulled from under her bed. It's the full regalia of what she needs to help out, with something like this- but her breath hitches, as she hops up to sit on the windowsill.     Trains aren't fast enough, I'll have to take my- Oh. A pause, and she jumps down the distance- nearly ten feet, but it's a practiced landing, softened enough to be safe even as the impact courses through her knees. Come on, Kayoko... you'll see me, you can hide me. It'll be fine.     Shouldering her bag as she dashes, ready to hop up on the encircling brickwork walls of her family home, she's ripping a page from her notebook, and tucking it up against her chest. She wouldn't call if this wasn't needed, right? A flash rings out, chiming like a bell through humid air, as cicadas chorus nearby, and Chevalier Vermillion is vaulting off, to skid from rooftop to rooftop, each skate-push accelerating further than the last.     C'mon, Kayoko... Her heart sinks for every second that passes that her eyes still work, and how visible and exposed it means she must be, as suburban neighborhoods blend into quiet shopping strips, the magical girl doing her best to keep her impacts and the rush of air around her silent, split-second routes planned to try and position trees between her and the roads below to preserve any semblance of secrecy in her traversal. With the stomach-twisting dread comes sinking regret, but the decision is too late to take back now. Eyes focused and strained in the immediacy of action, Chevalier Vermillion barely notices her form start to f-f-flicker as she races onwards, silent sounds and red-grey smears trailing behind her.     When she finally reaches the site of the battle, coming in from above, the fear, dread, and guilt get pushed down just enough to refocus, her sounds and the world around her sharpening once more, gleaming bright as she vaults from a buildingtop to skid-brake to a halt in the parking lot. Her three-point landing, and the subsequent grip-trail her armored gauntlets tear in the asphalt to help stop her, rings out pristinely like a stricken bell.     "Cobalt! What's the situation? I-" Her eyes catch up in that moment, to the brawling between the Abnormality magical girls- one of them wounded. "It's- it's not Temptations?" She freezes midway to standing up straighter, if only for a second. It's not the time to think on how screwed that makes her, that all of this is visible, to everyone, bar what her sister is doing to prevent that.     Skates kicking off once more, chunks of asphalt chipped away at with every sliding kick, Vermillion seizes the opportunity Woz's entrance and Cobalt's invisible (to light- the familiar echo silhouette of her is visible enough to Vermillion's senses) approach makes, to try and soar by and grab the Magical Girl of Love, to pull her to safety and cover- If she's the target, then I've got to-     Covering behind a car, she takes a sparse moment to breath, and check in. "Love, Cobalt, who *is* that-? Is it- is she like you, Love? Like Courage?"
Angela	Fortunately the Knight of Despair seems focused on the Magical Girl of Love (The Queen of Hatred if you prefer) right now and isn't carving into others but those floating blades are hovering quite precariously. Unfortunately, Despair in particular doesn't seem to be concerned with the Masquerade. "Don't linger, we have to take her out and get out quickly." Nikki asides. "We're not supposed to use our magic powers out in the open here..." The Queen of Hatred says, which might explain why she hasn't started blasting yet. But she has clearly survived wounds just now that would kill anyone else. She isn't actually unconscious either, which is actually probably more worrying to Ishirou. In fact once she pulls the blades free, the wounds start regenerating. Before a fight can break out, Jalter throws some smoke bombs to try and sell the event as some kind of production. Carol is the only one who actually listens to Jalter's threat, stepping back and raising her hands into the air, Wristcutter in one hand. "Hey," She says. "Just trying to stop the Knight from skewering everyone she comes in contact with." "And we're here to stop Love--The Queen of Hatred before she goes berserk and blows up the school." Nikki says before firing a bullet out and blasting Wristcutter right out of Carol's hand. The Agent hisses and stumbles back, grasping at her wounded hand. Her wrist aches. The Knight of Despair turns her head to look at Jalter and says, "Another Knight? ... No, you are fallen like I. A pity. I will bring you to your peaceful respite, and I shall follow." Carol feels augmented by Ishirou. "Thanks," She says laconically. Her Captain isn't going to let her just pick up her EGO Weapon so she uses the power granted to her by Ishirou to charge her Captain directly. "I know how you feel but you're pulling innocent people into this, Captain!" ...But Nikki has a smattering of vampiric power on her side and far more superior fighting experience. And most importantly, Incapacitation. She extends her hand and a power excretes from her hand and she blows it directly into Carol's face. Carol immediately slouches and passes out in Nikki's arms. Nikki gives her a kiss on the cheek, sets her down gently on the floor, then kicks her out of the way and towards the Wind Wall. The Wind Wall? The Knight attempts to stab through it with a spare blade only to find it readily pushed back. "Mm." The Wind Wall isn't (At the moment) in the way of her objective so she leaves it be. How the Wind Wall affects the Civilians around isn't really her concern. Similarly, Tamamo's efforts to calm the crowd aren't her concern but she unleashes her talismans and utilizes a bit of Influence herself that unconsciously gets both the Knight and Nikki to unconsciously step forward right into them, causing them to both suffer a severe electric shock! Seeing Tamamo present gets Nikki a bit nervous--she's heard who she's attached to--but she presses her lips together and....tries to shoot Tamamo! With a gun! That fires bullets that explode into butterflies upon impact??
Angela	"Rewrite a story? Tch..." The Knight is annoyed by Sougo's words. "I have tried again and again but she cannot remember her own tale to learn from it. I have fought her many times ere now, and I will fight her again." The Knight turns to face Sougo and attempts to spear him with three blades, a singular black tear drips down her eye and she emits a sob. A pulse of sorrow emanates out of her and she sends a blade slamming for Dysnomia's gut. The Knight aims to send another blade flying into the Magical Girl of Love but Hibiki is there between them, trying to hold them off from fighting one another. The Magical Girl of Love says, "Well...she's corrupted by the Dark Kingdom, silly...But I can't fight her without transforming, they said..." Though she frowns like she's clearly reconsidering that rule right now. "I have failed my Kingdom. I will not fail this one. I will defend it even if they see me as a beast." That's when a movie set sprouts up around her. The Knight of Despair (and frankly everyone I'm running here) are bewildered for a moment at the change of scenery but it doesn't last long. The Knight turns to Kayoko. "Sister." She says, the Magical Girls seem to consider Magical Girls to be sisters as well as using terms like Senpai and Kouhei. It's strange. "I beg you not to be fooled, she cannot exist in a world of peace. Not even one of a false peace such as this." She DOESN'T send blades after Kayoko. She's using a more powerful Magical Girl attack: Talking. ...But while she's talking, Meika grabs at Love and pulls her away, back closer to the Wind Wall. The Queen of Hatred is delighted, "Meika-Chan!" She says. "Is it okay to blast her now?" She beams. "I have to fight Evil, Meika-Chan. I /have/ to. I'm sure she'll calm down if we trounce her for a while, that's how it usually goes back at L-Corp!" She doesn't send explosions at Meika but the Knight of Despair is incensed by this enough to send another three blades flying right at Meika! And indeed, she sends blades flying out towards many others too. Kale, Sougo, and Jalter each get one blade flying right at them. Hibiki gets two, all heading for one of her eyes. And Nikki uses this opportunity to take another shot from her pistols, this one for Ishirou. She's presuming the Elites are out to stop her from her task at this point.
Ishirou	Ishirou can only do so much in support of Carol, who is almost immediately taken out.  Worse, he recognizes that EGO.  Nikki is dangerous, exceptionally so, and next to the Knight of Despair... Well, this is just going to get very very dangerous.  Ishirou's forced on the defensive when those shots fire at him.  Butterflies breaking apart and flooding him.  The best he can do is boost away, keeping his distance, while he deploys two machine gun-like from his back, slapped over his shoulders, and is supported by his arms. They fire a spray of bullets, trying to break as many of the butterflies as they can.  OPTIONs are deployed, aiming to share his superhumanity with those who don't have it, flight for those who need it, and his combat options to support others who have limited other options.   Ritsuka is supported more heavily first, as the three of them work as a team, and Ritsuka works similarly to how he does.  Information is sent to her head, letting her know as many details as he can safely let her know, allowing the OPTION to filter the information for her own safety.  More than that, her own accuracy and firepower are augmented.   With that, the two shoulder-mounted weapons shift.  New ammo is loaded into them, and the barrels are augmented.  Now, instead of rapid-fire bullets, two large shots fire to smash into the side of the Knight of Despair.  They explode, and will hopefully spray shrapnel down onto Nikki as well.  However, they're there to keep pressure on them, Ishirou's real power is support. "So what do you hope to achieve running in with just one other person?  If you really wanted to help them, based on what happened with Courage, you would have sought our help.  This isn't about them, it's about /you/," he shoots back at Despair.  "...It's natural to want to make up for your mistakes, especially when you think you're at fault for hurting others... but..." he says, trying to form the right words... "Taking it all on yourself /isn't/ the way to settle this.  Blaming yourself isn't either.  Holding that all in your heart will only make the tragedy play out again and again."
Kale Hearthward	> "I beg you not to be fooled, she cannot exist in a world of peace. Not even one of a false peace such as this." "Yeah, well, I don't do too well in peacetime, but you don't see anyone locking me up, either." It comes off as quippish, but really he's being mostly sincere. Kale pulls out his sword, going to parry the incoming skewer. There's a lot of talk on the radio about whether the two magical girls are people, then whether any of the abnormalities are people as well, and a pointed question posed by Sougo to Kayoko. He focuses on keeping the wind wall up - and doing some talking of his own. "We have resources. Facilities. Ones that focus on helping people. If they can't go free without hurting someone, we can still make them as comfortable as we can." Then to Kayoko: "Are we managing to keep the masquerade going enough? I only know enough illusion magic to cover myself." It also itches here, in a way that it doesn't itch outside.
Dysnomia	Dysnomia's arms turns smoky and vibrant, as her hands opened into claws. She held out her hand toward Nikki drawing a finger back toward herself. "Get over here, troublemaker."     There was a shimmer in the air, as her telekinetic array purred to life. It closed around Nikki, pulling her to Dysnomia in a swift sudden motion.     Her hand closed around Nikki's wrists, pulling the agent's guns aside by force as she bought time for another function of her suit to come online. "Rebellion I understand. But, the tin can is right. Why take it here, around all these people. If you wanted to STOP people from getting hurt."     "So are you stupid?" She asked, as her suit whirred. "Or is there another reason?"     Electricity arced down her arms, without waiting for a answer, cascading over Nikki into a debilitating wave, her own flavor of Incapcitation.
Kayoko Kirenai	"It's- it's not Temptations?"     "It's not *Temptations*!" Compared to her shining blue and gold armor, practically radiating the image of a children's storybook hero, Cobalt's voice is thin and strangled, barely below a shriek, and painfully young. "It's-- it's Justice, or-- Happiness. One of her *sisters*."     The Elites arrive with spread-open wings, tech and magic flaring right out of the warpgate, Kamen Rider armor already on, telling people that 'It's not safe'--     The entire parking lot pulses in and out of negative-color, the Knight of Despair bathed in searing red and alien white, skin inverted black tinged blue, everything disjointed and hard to look at.     "All of y-y-you! You're-- this isn't-- everyone's *seeing* you!" Kayoko's body and voice tremble, her sword wavering in her hand, as the extent of the disaster gets wider and wider. "I can't-- I can't fix all of this at once, I can't--"     Perched on the edge of the solar panel overhand that Kayoko had landed on earlier, crouching like a gargoyle, is Spot. The Cherub's eyes are on Kayoko specifically, right when she glances over to see it, and then it purposefully breaks eye contact to lackadaisically scan the panicking crowd. Another pulse of inverted color ripples through the parking lot, radiating from Cobalt, and she tenses up standing in between Justice and Love in her efforts to stop it from happening again.     "Justice. You don't have to fight Love like this. I know that Lobotomy Corporation keeps making you fight, and treats you horribly, but... you don't have to do that here! I'm Magical Girl Chevalier Cobalt, and that's my sister, Chevalier Vermillion. We were able to help Courage, and Love has been with us for a *month* helping us fight evil." Golden motes of light swirl around Love, collecting in her wounds as they regenerate, healing her faster. Without noticing, Kayoko's illusory armor has vanished, leaving her in her typical flashy armor with her face exposed.     "We can help you. It doesn't have to be the same way it always is, we can help you try and be better. Both you and Love." Despite her firm words, Kayoko's voice still sounds tiny, rasping at the edges with how tense her throat is. "Love? We'll fight Justice if we have to, but in the meantime, how else can we help her? Other than just fighting?"     Supernatural fear and supernatural calm layer over sections of the crowd, only adding to the mixed messaging. Ishirou can keep a stranglehold on data as long as he's nearby, but he's not erasing people's memories, and many people instinctually flee before calling their friends and family to tell them about the battle. Long minutes after the Knight of Despair opened her attack have passed, and it's truly no longer possible to contain the news. Kayoko's phone buzzes in her pocket.
Ritsuka Fujimaru	Spotting Cobalt and Vermillion from the corner of her eye at first, Jeanne raises an eyebrow slowly when they move to join and back up, respectively, the Queen of Hatred below. "Am I missing something here? Are you... Allied with her, then?" She asks with a moderately less furious tone of voice, taking a moment to just eyeball everyone that's shown up to help bring this situation to a more manageable state. She can't complain about more hands to rely on, at least, although... All these people means it'll be harder to make an impact, especially against that significantly larger Knight of Despair. Her gaze lingers on her a fair bit longer, too, before trying to connect some dots as more names get thrown about. Courage. Justice. Despair. Love. Hatred. "... Tch. There's too damn many of you here already. If you wanted to fight, you should've picked a place that isn't so damn crowded. THen you would have all the time in the world to beat the crap out of each other instead of causing a shitshow around here!" She scolds them in equal amount, staring right at Carol and Nikki when they issue differing explanations for the situation. Whatever happens to the Agents is of no consequence to her, and for good reason! She doesn't know them, anyway, and she probably won't remember much of their pair. What does get her attention, though, are the words of both the Knight of Despair and the Queen of Hatred. 'Another Knight? ... No, you are fallen like I.' 'I have to fight Evil, Meika-Chan. I /have/ to.' 'I have failed my Kingdom. I will not fail this one. I will defend it even if they see me as a beast.' Jeanne doesn't react immediately, although there's a barest hints of a scowl starting to form on her face as she looks at the Queen of Hatred. "You would call her evil for following her duty, then? Tch. You're just as brainwashed as those children. We'll figure you out later... But you!" Her glare falls on the Knight of Despair next, and her hand snaps up as the blade comes flying at her. She barely deflects it just in time, getting a clean slice across the cheek that's followed by a brief brush with her thumb, a glance, then another scowl. "Don't get so full of yourself, using that as an excuse!" Leaping off the light pole, Jeanne's flag twirls around her once as she dives at the Knight of Despair, slinging it around like a spear to throw blow after blow at the fallen knight. Black and purple flames burst around the pennant, but never seem to consume it even as she keeps slamming and thrusting the weapon at her singular focus. Unbeknownst to her, having those options from Ishirou floating around her makes it easier to direct her swings and strikes, but it's just as likely she'll accidentally swing her flames at it in the process. "Fight her, torment her, kill her if you want, but do it for yourself! You're a knight, aren't you? Then find someone else worth serving that respects you! If they call you a beast for that, then they're not even worth the shit on your boots!" MEANWHILE Ritsuka and Mash are still hard at work trying to shoo people away and guide traffic, and the movie effects have the former getting more into the act while the latter is still kind of shaken at being called out earlier for the shitty plan. "S... Senpai. Should we be helping Miss Jeanne and the others?" "Mm... Nah. They've got this."
Tamamo	The lightning traps aren't meant to do a lot of damage on their own, but they are meant to stun the Abnormal magical girls long enough herself and others to act. Tamamo doesn't immediately get a chance to, since Nikki's shooting at her.     "Your supervisor," she says, conjuring an ornate mirror in the way of the butterfly blasts, "has declared you 'rogue.' I understand your position, as well as her necessary reasons for disavowing you." The shots shatter at an angle on the mirror, hanging completely still in the air, without apparent effect, though one might notice the slight degree to which it's pushed back, before Tamamo steps forward with it.     The 'movie set' lie cannot be helped, at this point. She'd like to keep the others out of harm's way, the civilians who are now sure to be attracted to watch the show, but there isn't even time to criticize Mash for the choice, just as there isn't time to seal off the other roadways. She'd like to, but not as much as she'd like to take a closer look at these two sisters -- not the Kirenai sisters, but the ones they're so adamantly defending.     Well, I need not ask others, when I have them directly before myself.      Whether or not this is a condition that may be healed... I suppose...     "A pursuit of 'justice' at the cost of all else, is it not? You know the location of the monster to be slain, and so, you forsake all else. A knight pursues, in those tales, a dragon. Is it not wonderful, to be on the side of justice, that all may be forgiven in its pursuit? Even the breaking of one vow can be forgiven, for the sake of a higher vow. To do any less would be to allow a tragedy to befall those who knew not how dire was the need to act. Yes, I understand this very well."     Using her mirror like a shield, Tamamo advances first on Nikki, its surface hiding the talismans slipping from her sleeve into her hand until she's tossed them around the sides. Each flies in a different direction before reorienting, as if pulled by strings, toward the agent. These are her gentler weapons, containing only an energy-sapping lethargy in the curses they carry. So long as they're removed before too long, they probably won't kill someone, even if they all hit.     "It is far too freeing, and far too great a temptation, to have such a thing as allows one to ignore all objections to one's actions. What an attractively simple world to seek."     But this isn't the thing that's really most concerning her. It's the Queen of Hatred, or the Magical Girl of Love, Tamamo's eyes are focusing on. Those eyes narrow, blink once, and she feels for the threads of Fate, seeking them back toward the supposed kingdom, the start of the story, and to her comrades and sisters.     "Just what is it that binds you?"
Timespace Riders	A knock-down, drag-out fight, about feelings. Kamen Riders like Zi-O know these sorts of fights; how messy they can be. How they don't always lead to some greater understanding after the fact. Sometimes they're just ugly. He hopes, as the spearing points race for him, that this isn't going to be one of those. But, as the Knight's black tear is spied from behind pink katakana lenses, he braces himself for the possibility that it will be.      Two are halted by the flat of his greatsword, driving him backwards and pushing Woz towards Love. The third forces him to shift, pushing the flat of the blade and ceding ground with a sidestep, to guide the impact away from his head. It rakes across his shoulder, just as Woz wheels around from behind the Demon King to strike back.      A series of rapid, short thrusts from the spear is made, the retainer's work quick and precise as he attempts to drive the Knight back (away from Love). His persistent offense mixes in a strike aimed upwards at his taller foe's midsection, flowing into a haft strike and followed up with a surprise snap kick from the left leg.      But Zi-O isn't capitalizing. He's conversing. Thinking. <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Love, and Courage, and her other sisters, too. Whether this is Justice or Happiness. They all-- they all deserve better than how Lobotomy Corporation treats them." <J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "It's- it's horrible, there. For them." <J-IC-Scene> Sougo Tokiwa says, "What about the other Abnormalities? The ones that aren't magical girls? Do you think they get treated any better?" <J-IC-Scene> Kale Hearthward says, "Are they all people, then?" <J-IC-Scene> Angela says, "They are stories. But, essentially, human ones. They are birthed from the collective unconciousness." <J-IC-Scene> Sougo Tokiwa says, "They're 'stories,' yes. But they breathe, and talk, and feel, and none of them asked to be made or born. They have that in common with us." <J-IC-Scene> Sougo Tokiwa says, "So I'm asking you--Cobalt and Vermillion--if all of them can count on that kindness from you, or if it's just the ones that look like you." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "H-how could you say it like that?" <J-IC-Scene> Sougo Tokiwa says, "Easily. Because I wanted to know. And you gave me the answer, just now, with that reaction. Don't worry. I'm not going to stop helping you."      Rather than join in, Zi-O turns to Love. "Fighting evil is about more than just the fighting. It's also about nurturing good, isn't it? Right now, 'fighting evil' means -not- 'blasting' her. No matter how much it hurts. Because if you do... she's just going to take it as proof that you haven't changed. Please believe in us. And if you can't, then believe in Cobalt and Vermillion." I can't-- I can't fix all of this at once, I can't--      That flash, just now--that inversion. It's familiar. He'd seen it before. He forces himself to look at it. "Then don't," says Zi-O, turning back and removing the pink-white half of his twinned Ridewatch from the bulky white Timespace Driver at his waist. He slots it into the sword, and flips a switch on the sword's crossguard. "She's more important to you than some dumb secret, anyway." ZI-O SAIKYO!      "Right?" The Demon King's greatsword is bathed in polychromatic light, shifting rapidly across the visible spectrum. With a hip-to-shoulder cut, he sends that light forth as a projectile. Woz disengages from his assault with a high-flying moonsault. A starburst of shifting color leaves behind silver afterimages of disembodied clock faces, before slamming into the Knight of Despair.
Meika Kirenai	'One of Love's sisters.'     "Her sister. Okay." That's key to how this is handled. Not a monster, not really- It's just like with Courage. Poor girl... Justice or Happiness, and the answer comes quickly. Vermillion watches, relieved for a moment, as her sister's golden motes help Love with her injuries- something she herself can do precious little about- but as soon as they have, she's helped the other girl up to her feet. '...Without transforming.'     Vermillion sucks her teeth, a quiet hint of worry. "...Do you need help to do it right? If... is that why you're not allowed to..? I can.. I can try, to.. m-maybe something in my notebook can help- you could use one of the drawings I use, maybe. They help me shape it right, Love. Cobalt's got her ways, too... so.. quickly, now.." If requested, she'll hurredly offer Love her notebook, a crude, torn up journal full of childish drawings of knights and heroes, gleaming in their resplendant armor, page after page full, but with more pages ripped out and gone than remaining. Something personal, and from the heart, to know what to aim for. That's what Chevalier Vermillion thinks Love is struggling with, in this moment. 'I have to fight Evil, Meika-Chan. I /have/ to.'     Love is talking to the right girl to cave to a beg like that. Vermillion flinches, and stands back a step, nodding. She dusts asphalt crumbs off her gauntlet absentmindedly. "Okay. We'll fight. But- your sister, we're here to help her. She's not evil- she's... this hurts her, too, to be like this. I'm sure it does. I'm certain. So..." Another short nod, her white hair bobbing with her head.     "Together, then? I'll keep you safe." It's a statement more to put herself into a position of the dynamic more than out of worry for Love- though Vermillion has yet to see her actually fight, after all. Still, a faint smile comes across her face- something between nostalgic and reminiscent.     Vermillion, hockey stick in hand, vaults feet-first over the roof of a car, and springs into action against the Knight of Despair. Crackling like thunder, a nova of roaring sound, red. spiky, and intangible, builds up around her as she closest the gap. The three flying swords are met head-on, with the ingenious and foolproof plan to try and twist around and launch herself off them- as soon as Vermillion can duck and grab onto one of the, the another soars past, out of usefulness, and the third crashes hard against her armor with a defeaning peal- and a silent shout of pain. Still- her fingers grip tight for that moment, and the redirecting leverage is enough to help catapult her at the enemy Magical Girl, hockey stick trailing ever so slightly behind, and ready to be whipped into a thundering uppercut. Her ears catch something, and her posture shifts. 'I can't-- I can't fix all of this at once, I can't--'     "Cobalt! We- If we end this fast, I- I can try to help clean up! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, but- it'll- it'll be okay!" Over the years, she's never gotten particularly good at lying.
Meika Kirenai	"Stand down, Justice! You're- you're hurting so much, here! We can help! My sister is right! We *will* help, if you just- if you just make it a little easier for us to" She trails off, words bitter in her mouth, as the world pulses negative around her. Oh, Kayoko....     "A world of peace... this- this isn't one! If she needs... purpose, something to fight for, to do... there always is! Don't strangle her from trying! Listen to her..." A pained tone in her voice, as if she isn't quite talking to Justice, and isn't quite talking about Love. A flick of her hockey stick as she's closed-in, combined with a pirouette-like jump into the air, and Vermillion does her best to try and knock any of Justice's remaining swords out of the sky- and possibly hammer them like nails into the asphalt below, anything to keep her from putting them to harm. 'I will defend it even if they see me as a beast.'     "You're not one! You're- you're trying your hardest! Like everyone is! Please, Justice! Stand down!" Vermillion begs, aching familiarity in these sorts of arguments. Please... "Your sisters haven't fallen.. they're there, and they love you still. Let this go. Please..."
Hibiki Tachibana	Well...she's corrupted by the Dark Kingdom, silly...But I can't fight her without transforming, they said... I have failed my Kingdom. I will not fail this one.     "Love--" You're way too ready to fight your own comrade.     Hibiki's brow furrows, lips tight together. The Magical Girl of Love's eccentricities were only so much of a problem in the past, but it's a different story now. Meika and Kayoko believe in her vehemently--yet the Knight of Despair, the Magical Girl of Justice, is so very set on preventing past mistakes from being repeated that she'll go this far.     ...Justice. Does she have the ground to stand on to talk about that? Is there a 'right' here? Is it letting Love prove herself by fighting for her friends, against the forces of evil? Or is it letting the despairing Magical Girl take everything upon herself to protect this world? Is there a third option, if they try and try and try...like with Courage?     She's not sure. But what she does know is that these sisters shouldn't be doing this--at least not here. A pair of swords come in at high speed, and Hibiki has to rapidly turn on her heel to react; while moving, both arms come up from below, the metal of her gauntlets pressing up against the razor-sharp edge of the blades.     Sparks fly, slight gashes are dug into, but she manages to just barely send both of them into spinning arcs high overhead, up into the air above her, before bringing her fists back up. But it's not immediately the Knight of Despair she's focused on, but the Magical Girl of Love, glancing back over her shoulder. "...A fist without any hesitation behind it doesn't have any weight. There's nothing wrong with fighting to protect. But don't be that eager to fight someone you care about--'corrupted' or not. She's still your sister...isn't she!?"     And then it's back to the other Magical Girl. She can't help but feel...something, looking at her.     Someone so lost in their own failings, so set on doing what she must regardless, that she can't actually find the words to express anything right away. She tries, fails, just for her face to scrunch up in frustration at herself.     But if this isn't ended soon, Meika and Kayoko's situation is going to get even more out of hand. So when one of those pitch-black blades comes back down from overhead, she punches the hilt of one to send it flying back at the Knight of Despair just as quickly and forcefully as it was first sent at her, the shout that accompanies it a little louder than it has to be.
Angela	"She's been on the PUBLIC BANDS for months!" Nikki protests. "She killed our Captain, she killed my teammates! She took my eye, she ripped Rose's MOUTH off! Every night I hear Carol weeping! So forgive me for actually trying to DO something about it!" Nikki shouts back to Ishirou. He can fire blasts into the Knight--who doesn't seem to be the dodging type--but Nikki is spreading away from Despair specifically for this reason. It doesn't occur to her that Ishirou is speaking to Despair. There is some clear resonance going on between the two of them--and also between her and the Magical Girl of Love over there. Despair only says, "The Tragedy has been on loop for longer than you've been alive, child," with a strange tenor. ''I don't do well in peacetime, but you don't see anyone locking me up either.'' "Perhaps you ought to be." Despair says, but there's little heat in the quip. Instead the weeping woman considers Kale's offer and says, "If you believe you can contain her, feel free. But if you cannot my blade will seek her once more. Will your comrades agree?" "But..." Nikki falters for a moment.
Angela	''I know Lobotomy Corporation keeps making you fight'' "Nay. She was beloved by the four magical girls of Lobotomy Corp." Carol is starting to stir, blearily opening her eyes and looking up at the Knight of Despair. It's so unfair, she thinks, they're so beautiful but their fates are so cruel. She covers her eyes as she weeps through them. She remembers, in hearing Kayoko and Meika speak, that she never wanted to be their enemy. Not even after they did so much harm to her and her loved ones. But she just didn't know what to do. And so she turned her blade on herself. Just a little bit so it wouldn't be noticed but so she could feel real. Kayoko gets another pulse of despair emanating out from Justice. She doesn't WANT to do this so much as she feels duty bound. "I sense we are similar, Cobalt." The Magical Girl of Justice wishes for the will of the brave knights to pay out as much anyone, but she can't deny experience. "She needs war. I know no other way. It is not just enough to fight, those around her must occasionally fall as well...Can your world supply this existence to her? Are you offering to take this responsibility from me?"
Angela	MEANWHILE...Dysnomia telekinetically tugs Nikki towards her during her own moment of hesitation. She flies free into the air and right into a TASER. Nikki jolts, the second shock for her of the day and she sinks to one knee, breath wheezy from pain. "She wasn't leaving!" Hibiki then deflects a pair of blades. They fly into the air, spin and hover into place for a moment before suddenly turning their blades back towards Justice and flying into her at relativistic speeds, punching into her body and causing her to jolt back from the pain of it. "Hhanh..." This was NOT Hibiki's doing. Rather, it seems to be a side effect of deflecting those blades away. Then Hibiki DOES knock one right back into the Knight of Despair anyway. That's three of her own blades impaling her now. All thanks to Hibiki! "No! Justice!" Nikki shouts. "Dammit, you weren't satisfied with fifteen huh?? We only had one target!" Tamamo speaks to her. Nikki steps back, a bit fearful of Tamamo largely through association but--then--she also is the lady who made one of L-Corp's top agents go into a CAGE, just by asking nicely(?). She doesn't know what the Abnormality is capable of. The talismans slam into her--not all of them, she shoots several out of the air--but enough hit that a sapping sensation hits her and Nikki tumbles onto her back. She tries to channel that vampiric power that she's made a deal for, and it's helping--but not as much as she'd like. The EGO Gear provides some protection as well, but still not enough. "Rogue...? HAha.....ha...." Nikki is starting to lose it, openly weeping as well.
Angela	Tamamo looks at the Magical Girl of Love's story. It is a simple tale. She fought for Love on behalf of the Kingdom run by the Magical Girl of Happiness. She was so skillful in battle that, in time, she had simply eradicated enough of the Kingdom's enemies that she had nothing left to fight. She began to wonder about meaning. What meaning did she have for her own existence if she had nothing to fight? Without Evil, what meaning did Good have? And so... The Queen of Hatred decided to be Evil so that Good would have meaning And so she fought for Love, and then she fought for Hatred, and then she'd weep over the fallen, and she'd forget, and then she'd start it up all over again. But the weave goes deeper. Tamamo sees a memory. There is no vision, for her eyes are closed. Just blackness at first. And then she hears Carmen's voice whisper, Angela...let me tell you a story... Once upon a time... Storybook pictures pulse within Angela's mind's eye. She imagines herself as a magical girl of Love, fighting for Evil with childlike innocence. She dreams of having friends, friends who are not so unlike sisters. A King who would bring happiness. Persephone? A Knight who would fight for justice. Lilian? A Defender with endless Courage, putting herself in harm's way to defend her charges. Petra? At some deep subconscious level, is this how... The memory goes farther back. To a woman with fiery red hair, smoking as she leans against the wall and looking at a brown haired woman with carmen-colored eyes delivering a sermon, using the four girls as an example, speaking of duality and balance. She creates hypothetical girls to deliver a message, though they aren't even girls yet, exactly. Just a story.
Angela	"Our options were limited, were they not?" The Knight asks of Jeanne. ''You would call her evil for following her duty, then?'' "Not at all." The Magical Girl of Love says, still smiling. "The evil within her is what I have to defeat, not her herself! She can resist temptation whenever she wants." But there's a strange tenor in that voice, just like with the Knight. The Knight attempts to fend off Jalter with her own blade but one fallen knight is maybe a little less fallen than the other. She breaks through her guard and stabs her right in the chest, taking advantage of her weakened state to hit her hard as well. The Knight drops into a crouch. "Is that what you say...?" ''Then don't. She's more important to you than some dumb secret anyway'' The Magical Girl of Love glances over to him shortly before Sougo slices through the Knight as well. She's only a WAW and she's rapidly getting overpowered. Meika gives Love a notebook. Her eyes literally sparkle when she sees the pictures. A Mid Season Upgrade, she is no doubt thinking. She might not be literally using those words but that's the effect of it. "O..okay Meika-Senpai! I'll follow your lead!" She beams. There is a sense of relief from her that she finally gets to join the battle. Is that alien, really? Maybe it isn't so alien. Meika too has entered battlefields because she felt she had to before. Love had a feeling she'd understand. "In the name of Love and Justice, here comes Magical Girl!" Love shouts as she darts onto the battlefield, relief and joy on her face as she spins her staff around in the air and sends stars slamming into hovering blades, causing them to spin and slam back into Despair. Meika follows through, deflecting a last pair of blades that slam into her. She's now out of swords. The Knight stumbles back, black horns pulling out from her hair as she sinks to a knee. "Was I...unable to help? Did all I do...cause harm?" A heavy pulse of despair, uncontrollable, explodes out of the Knight of Despair, threatening to overpower those near her with INTENSE and SUDDEN Despair!
Dysnomia	"There we go." Mia said, mercilessly, as Nikki staggered away. She followed at a slow walk, the joints in her claws cracking as she flexed. "Revenge. You're here for revenge. That's the truth, isn't it? And the people here, they didn't matter enough for you to thi--"     Then, The knight of Despair falls to her knees and her feelings resonate...     Dysnomia's attention, fixed on the agent, had no warning. It hit her like a physical wave, and she staggered, and--     ...Blood. She tasted blood. Her throat howled with fire, mouths opened in screams stolen by vacuum. Her claws were slick with the flesh of the slain, and she knew that they had been right. They had all been right. She howled, her voice burning plasma and death and...     She caught herself midfall, most of the way through collapse, her claws scraping on the pavement. She ran them over her face, to confirm she was still 'human,' and exhaled, tension sliding out of her.     Dysnomia stood, a slow, laborous affair, but stand she did, a gaseous something seeping through clenched teeth. <J-IC-Scene> Dysnomia says, "I'll try to restrain the Knight...Or at least slow her down. Something like this, I don't know if I can do it long. Whatever you do, do it fast."     "You did." Dysnomia said to the knight, and she didn't realize that her teeth had grown sharp, as she had, turning her hand toward the knight, a telekinetic shimmer coiling around them. "Now what?"
Ishirou	The pulse... the wave of despair was almost too much.   In fact, at that moment it /was/.  He could feel the despair in his heart, his own failings... his own sorrows and mistakes rising up and threatening to overwhelm him.  Worse, he can feel his wrists itch again, still under the effect of The Well, which isn't making this easier for him.  It threatens to draw him down, deeper and deeper...     'You shouldn't have come back...'         'You should have stayed dead.'             'I've just gotten him back to normal...' He could just turn himself off in some junkyard, and they'd never find him.  He could just cover himself up and not let the world perceive him... He could just live in the vain hope that he could really be human... He bites down, but not back... maybe all of these things were true, but... he still had a reason to keep pushing on.  He strains, he tears at himself... is bleeding/crying/wanting to be torn out.  He pushes himself just a little more... He has to shovel the coal... First, he speaks to Rogue.  Struggling to speak under the weight of all of his despair.  "Did you try to help them first?  Or are you here because it makes you feel better?  Stop... stop trying to justify your actions as /their/ pain that forced you into this.  They're already trying to stand on their own again..." Second, it was towards Despair herself.  That... that he's sure he can't help.  He doesn't have the connection, but it's Meika and Kayoko who do.  The duality of a magical girl, something he isn't but he /can/ help them.  OPTIONs fly out, sending information both to Meika and Kayoko.  Trying to provide them with every advantage, every need, where they need to stand, where they need to act.   Then more data directly to Meika herself.  She knows the potential of this magical girl.  Then towards Despair... he grits his teeth.  Shovel that coal... He fires a direct attack on her, attempting to draw out the despair with a mental link.  Instead of letting her wallow in it, he'll try and drain it into himself.  The only thing he knows how to do... Is suffer.
Kale Hearthward	> "If you believe you can contain her, feel free. But if you cannot my blade will seek her once more. Will your comrades agree?" "..." Kale rubs his face. It's a bit... selfish of him, but he wasn't actually considering the possibility of the Knight of Despair taking him up on the offer. It's a lot of paperwork and process and meetings and work, dealing with containing a high power entity in an ethical way. And he's still dealing with getting Lance situated, even. It's not enough that he'd consider retracting the offer, he wouldn't ever actually consider retracting the offer, it's just... you know. It's just more unpaid overtime, stacking up. "Yeah, well..." He glances around. "We'll see how many of them see reason. And you yourself are-" Whatever he was going to say is cut off as the wave of despair washes over him. For a moment, he's lost, amidst the sea of despair. He has plenty to despair about. People will show up to see someone else fail over seeing him succeed. People still groan when he shows up, or expect him to fall flat on his face. And he's having trouble shaking the things that keep him held down - the expectations for attention and recognition, and the disappointment when he doesn't get it. People's hearts are these bright little pinpricks because the world is so strong and heavy, it squeezes them down to infintesimal size. It really is... like this. He can try to improve. He keeps getting pushed back, often by himself and by his own mistakes. But it doesn't have to be that way. Feel me tell the world: 'I wish his heart weighed more.' And feel it obey that wish, because I'm in control! It's pulling back to give you room to grow. And yet... no. It hasn't all been getting pushed back. He's pushing forward. He's making mistakes, but... he's getting better at this. He has to. It feels nice, doesn't it? To have that breathing room. You're like a little flower being given a bigger pot, so you can spread your roots! There's challenges. Not everyone's easy to get along with. Not everyone *wants* to get along with him, and it's not his right or their responsibility for it to be otherwise. Success isn't going to come instantly or consistently, and success is only step one on anything really bearing fruit for him. Now notice something, once you've relaxed into that. Your feelings, your memories, your wishes- they aren't sharper, or stronger, but they are just 'more'. And when something presses on you, tries to sway you, you'll feel it just wash over you and pass. You're too big and bright for that, now. A drop of ink... Kale takes a breath, and sheathes his sword. He walks forward, carefully, towards the fallen Knight, and goes to clap a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. It's what you do going forward that's going to matter more. If you've made mistakes, then there'll be more time to make up for it. A lot more time." "I mean... A drop of ink can't color the ocean."
Tamamo	The one Tamamo hadn't expected to see -- no, she hadn't expected any of these particulars. A story from the collective unconscious, perhaps, she could have guessed. But this... was far too personal. And yet, that makes what it all the easier to see these wishes fulfilled. Easier than pulling on the threads of humanity as a whole.     She feels into the past while the Knight of Despair makes her namesake known, but her Tamamo's defenses are solid, for the moment. Only for the moment, but her will is strong. So long as everyone else buys her a little more time, she can find the shape of the wish. Nikki will be cared for in the process. <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Chevaliers Cobalt and Vermillion, do you wish to change their fate?" <J-IC-Scene> Dysnomia says, "I'll try to restrain the Knight...Or at least slow her down. Something like this, I don't know if I can do it long. Whatever you do, do it fast." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "I have followed the threads, and seen what birthed them. They cannot break this cycle on their own. Their stories do not allow them to be otherwise. What would you sacrifice to save them?" <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Change their fate? Yes! I want-- I don't want them to feel like they have to do this anymore." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Sacrifice? Like--" <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Like what?" <J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "What- what'll it take?" <J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "Whatever's needed." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Peace is always the first sacrifice, but I have no need to hear a price. I only wish to hear the depth of your determination." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "They're basically our sisters too. I want to protect all of them. Justice, Love, Happiness, and Courage." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Very well. Please endure for a few moments more, and then accept that which I will offer to you." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "...to each of you."     Stepping back for trivially more distance, makes a brushing motion that sweeps a burst of wind directly in front of her, clearing the smaller debris. She lowers herself to sit, kneeling in seiza, and pulls a pair of blank paper strips from one sleeve, and her brush and ink from the other.     "'To pen a new story' is the modern expression, no? Ah, but I have not quite the knack of modern utensils." She does, on the other hand, have perfect control of a calligrapher's brush, so long as she's not disturbed. Careful strokes, neither quick nor slow, the speed controlled as much as the pressure, form flowing lines. A girl, a knight, a crown, a land, a serpentine dragon with its scales on display -- the subjects of the story take shape, some more recognizable than others, though the meaning of the story is less apparent. The cracks are filled in with detail too fine to discern.     It's sudden, when she's finished. "Here!" One paper for each, to be given to each. "Best you drive deeply, for you wish to cut old threads, that they not reform. This is the kindest path I can offer to you."     As she said, peace will be sacrificed. The method is a necessarily violent one, and the resulting future won't be free of the same.
Kayoko Kirenai	"She's more important to you than some dumb secret, anyway."     "You don't get it!" Cobalt shouts at Sougo, as one of Justice's swords glances off of her shield, scraping the red gem in the center. After flinging her arm to the side to throw Justice's sword off-balance, she stays frozen there for a moment, rigid and shaking. "This doesn't-- This won't *ever* go away! None of this *works* without a perfect record! You can't just say-- say that th-this time it doesn't matter, and you'll do better next time! They'll never *forget* us messing up this time!" <Tac-Paladins> Ishirou says, "I did post a warning about the L-Corp Magical girls, and they'd want to find each other sooner or later. <Tac-Paladins> Tamamo says, "If so, it would be the fault of those who brought the queen here, in truth, that these events would occur."     Kayoko shudders, drawing her shoulders up to attention, head still locked towards Justice, but her vision is focused on Tamamo. Is she angry at Kayoko? Is it her fault if anyone dies here? She really, really didn't mean for anyone to get hurt-- and Love *didn't* hurt anyone! <Tac-Paladins> Ishirou says, "I agree, Kayoko... but also do not forget that she has caused mass slaughter. I know you want to help her, but... do not forget what she is capable of."     Of course I'm not forgetting that. Does he think I'm a child? Light wobbles around Cobalt, like a mirage. Why does he think he needs to say that? She needs *help*, it doesn't matter what she did in the past. She never had anyone to help her control herself. "Can your world supply this existence to her? Are you offering to take this responsibility from me?"     "Justice--" Cobalt starts, dropping down to the ground from her hard light platform to stumble towards the Knight of Despair. "Dame Justice." The 'Knight' feels important, even if it's a part of the wrong title.     "Magical Girls like us need to be able to depend on each other. This is what I'm good at. I know it's... scary, to have to trust that other people will want the best for her too. But Love is my friend. And you're my sisters, too."     When Love lands beside her, after fully disarming Justice, Cobalt graps her hand with a gauntlet. "Right, Love? There's evil to fight all over the world. Things that want to actually hurt you, not just your sister, who doesn't know how to properly help."     Kayoko is able to weather Despair, as long as she's given an opportunity to carry it forwards and improve it herself. The failure of keeping the battle hidden isn't on her mind right now-- that's something she'll never have a chance to fix. But where she can help, where she's *going* to help, is with Justice and Love, right in front of her.     As soon as Tamamo holds out the talismans for the Chevaliers to take, Kayoko rushes over, cape falling inelegantly over her side when she bends over to take it from her hands. She pauses a moment, bows her head, and says, "Thank you, Tamamo-no-mae."     Before the Knight of Despair stands up from kneeling, Cobalt is back by her side, elevated on a blue platform of light. "You haven't failed. Knights just need other people to fight *for*, not just against. I want to remind you who you're fighting for." And with that, she ducks beneath Justice's downturned head, avoiding all the black spikes, and places the talisman right in the space on Justice's chest.
Ritsuka Fujimaru	'Our options were limited, were they not?' For perhaps the first time today, Jeanne's expression actually softens. Only slightly, and just enough to not be scowling, but it's something! "Far too much. We were fed lies, and look where that led us. Death, and..." She pauses to pull her flag back with another flourish, looking from the Knight of Despair over towards the Magical Girl of Love. "Forced to fight your sister while those who demand your service call you beasts and monsters, force you into believing in their causes... It's almost enough to make me want to join you in your fight." For a moment, she really considers it, too! Turning her flames towards the Magical Girl of Love, joining forces with the Knight of Despair in setting the city to the sword, slaying everyone that'd oppose them... "... But that would be exactly what your owners would want. A convenient excuse to dispose of loose ends." She finally utters, after some words are exchanged over the radio. She glances at Kayoko, at Meika, at Hibiki, at Tamamo, then finally at the Magical Girl of Love with a weary sigh. "And don't you get full of yourself, either! You've got some work to do, too!" That moment she takes to scold (?) Love, combined with suddenly seeing the Knight taking a knee, is enough for Jeanne to get caught completely off guard by that sudden wave of DESPAIR hitting her at nigh-point blank range. She, too, drops to a knee right in a front of the Knight, struggling not to let it overtake her as well. So many things that could've been done better. Differently, at least, perhaps one that would have even given her the love and adoration her other self had gained. Maybe it wouldn't be real, but it'd be more than what she has now, wouldn't it? 'Did all I do...cause harm?' "... So? That was then. If you're that torn up over what happened, then do something different now." Pushing herself back up with her flag, Jeanne scowls at the Knight of Despair again as her hand clenches into a fist. She steps forward with her fist raised behind her, and then she throws a full-force uppercut right at the Knight's jaw. "Find someone else to serve. Someone else to hate, if you need that to spur you on. Get angry at anyone but yourself!"
Hibiki Tachibana	She killed our Captain, she killed my teammates! She took my eye, she ripped Rose's MOUTH off! Every night I hear Carol weeping! So forgive me for actually trying to DO something about it!     Hibiki remembers it. The mountaintop, where Rose was losing herself when faced with the Magical Girl of Love. The Queen of Hatred. One look at the overly peppy blue-haired girl most of the time would make it impossible to imagine her capable of harming anyone like that on purpose - but the pain was real. Nikki's pain, right now, is also real.     What does she say to that?     Dammit, you weren't satisfied with fifteen huh??     Whatever it might've been, or whatever surprise might've existed in the face of Despair's own blades turning back upon her even before she took action herself, is forced back down and smothered beneath a mixture of indignance, anger, distress, the instinctual urge to pull away from something painful. It catches her voice in her throat and makes eyes go wide with hardly-restrained emotion.     Which leaves her woefully vulnerable to the towering Knight being brought low, and letting off an attack that bites much deeper than any sword could.     The Despair Of Unintentional Harm is like a physical weight that heaves down onto her heart, heavy enough that her trembling knees give way and drop her down onto them, hands on the street asphault barely enough to keep her upright. It is a despair that tugs and tears away at countless fragile, wounded things. So, so, so many times. Again and again and again and againandagainandagain--     Did all I do...cause harm?     "...Even when all you wanted to do was protect. Yeah..." Hibiki murmurs with some strain back to the Knight, a hand desperately clutching at her chest as she pushes herself back up. "Even if you say...all that tough stuff about fighting your sister, being seen as a beast...your real feelings about it are clear as day." Hibiki's eyes drift down.     But she leaves it at that. Justice and Love are Kayoko and Meika's - with a little help from Tamamo - to truly, truly get through to right this moment. When she lurches to a stand, it's to stagger off not towards Justice, but Nikki instead. The one resonating with her. The expression on Hibiki's stark face is difficult to read, approaching where the flurry of talismans has disabled her.     "...If you have...a connection with Justice, you should know yourself, shouldn't you? If you know anything about them at all. They've all been stuck in a 'story' that'll repeat over and over and over again...just like Courage was. So why the hell...are you deluding yourself into thinking doing this, here and now, /repeating/ it--what part of that is 'doing something about it' or making any of it better!?"
Timespace Riders	They'll never *forget* us messing up this time!     "If you believe there is -any- chance you will be rewarded for doing as they wish, for having a 'perfect record,'" calls Woz, as he lands from his fade following Zi-O's projectile, "Then it is -you- who does not 'get it.' They will dismiss you and punish you regardless of what you do, -because- you bought into the lie of good behavior. The sooner you realize this, the more able you will be to protect what -actually- matters to you, over what you are -told- to value--"     Intense, overwhelming despair suddenly wracks Zi-O and Woz both.      That silver greatsword clatters to the ground, a moment later, followed by the point of Woz's spear. The Demon King has fallen to one knee, his eyes boring holes into the pavement through pink lenses.      Is it really possible? The thought comes with a terrifying drop in the stomach, for Zi-O. That some stories can't be rewritten, through honesty, through trickery or through force. Justice is transformed, again--why did I expect any different? <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Was it truly so simple...? All four, together... yes, I see." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "I have followed the threads, and seen what birthed them. They cannot break this cycle on their own. Their stories do not allow them to be otherwise. What would you sacrifice to save them?" <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Change their fate? Yes! I want-- I don't want them to feel like they have to do this anymore." <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Sacrifice? Like--" <J-IC-Scene> Kayoko Kirenai says, "Like what?" <J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "What- what'll it take?" <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Peace is always the first sacrifice, but I have no need to hear a price. I only wish to hear the depth of your determination." <J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "Whatever's needed." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Very well. Please endure for a few moments more, and then accept that which I will offer to you."     Zi-O's hand slowly closes over the grip of his greatsword. No, I was right to. He rises to his feet, drawing a startled noise from his retainer, who slowly looks over, now shaking that emotion off, as well. "There are more ways to fight than just in the way we were just fighting. Haven't you seen that?" asks Zi-O of the Knight. He removes the black-gold portion of the twinned Zi-O II Ridewatch, and is Sougo Tokiwa once more.     A boy fresh into college age with warm brown eyes still wet with tears, and a mop of amber hair peers at the Knight of Despair. He wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his navy peacoat, a persistent smile still on his face. "People 'cause harm' all the time. The mistake is in thinking that you never will. In thinking that, once you have, you've immediately become some kind of villain and gone against everything you thought you were." He shakes his head. "It sucks when you do it. But the important thing is just... being better than you were the day before. It's not an irreversible thing that sticks to you forever. Just remember that, when you're fighting for Justice."
Meika Kirenai	'Was I...unable to help? Did all I do...cause harm?'     The crashing waves of utter hopelessness wash around Chevalier Vermillion, as the words echo and drip into the landscape. Her limbs grow heavy and the shine to her armor fades and f-f-flickers with distant thunder echoing through buildings on the clear, humid day, Justice's voice long replaced in Vermillion's mind with her own. Radios are abuzz with worry and fear, the weight of what Justice and others are accusing Love of. Body counts, harm, the things someone ought to regret. I'm sorry. She should. But she needs help, too. I'll still- I'll still stand by her... if- if anything I do can be to help someone, it's more worth it. It can help balance it out, right...?     Disengaging is rarely a practical move against Temptations, but a fate better than forcibly sloughing off clay-like flesh awaits the battling magical girls here today. Heel-turning on the skates is easier, when Justice's aura takes everything in Vermillion to not just run and hide from, aching dread filling her stomach- but Tamamo offered hope, if not for her, for others- and that's good enough to fight for.     Vermillion whispers across the battlefield, her words silently delivered just to Kayoko. {"I'll-I'll handle Love, Cobalt, if you can stick yours to Justice. They'll- they might be distracted by each other, so, it's a perfect chance, or- you get the point! We can help them..."}     Once retrieved the talisman is gripped less like a note and more like a lifeline. If it'll rewrite her fate, her story, then... 'Penitence is for stories, not people.' Chevalier Vermillion shudders, the remembered phrase unbidden to the forefront of her mind. Beneath the buffeting waves of despair, it's hard to not be jealous of the hope clutched between her fingers- that Love may get to change her fate, to remember, to repent- but Chevalier Vermillion, someday, won't. I should be happy for her. She's got this chance. Make the best of it...     No matter how gentle or pure the intentions here, to save lives, Vermillion can't afford leeway in the application of the talisman- and just asking Love to agree gives leeway, so if we know this is right, there's no choice. Ducking back, with shaky steps against metal-on-asphalt ringing, Vermillion holds her hockey stick out like a staff- at Love, her ally.     Vermillion whispers once more, this time to Love, and to Love only. {"I'm sorry. If this hurts, bear with it, Love. It's for the best. Trust me."}     By the books, just like Kayoko would. Show them you're trying too. It's- it's not just about Love and Justice. This is such a mess... put your best self forward, or- Vermillion chokes. Or there's no use even pretending there's a chance left.
Meika Kirenai	"Magical Girl of Love, another page is there for you to turn. Vermillion Pandemonium : Hope-Temprered spears!" Her hockey stick is hit against the asphalt with a resounding crack, as tracelines of red energy shoot along its chips and eroded pathways, until nearing where Love is standing. Erupting from the ground, translucent screaming spikes of sound, tangible enough to penetrate through flesh, yet weak enough to simply hold in place without cutting, jut through the other Magical Girl. It's the most she can do to ensure there's no risk of refusal, no erratic change, and- It'll help this be done faster. The threads need to be cut, right?     "Love." She says, out loud instead of whispered, once more emboldened enough to stride close. "I.. I said I would help you. I'd help you shape things right, and... a story needs to be shaped, too. You.. saw, the drawings. I made them, for me. This'll help you, for you. I'll cut the lines that... that hold you from..." Her voice cuts out as she approaches the magical girl, pinned through like a bug. I'm sorry. It's for the best, like I said. "To fight evil without... without causing harm. That's what everyone wants, right? I- I know.. I know I do. I wish... I was better at it. You can be, maybe." She doesn't look Love in the face when she plants the talisman against her, the palm of her gauntlet pressing hard, to be sure whatever magic, whatever anything in it, takes hold.
Angela	''You're here for revenge. That's the truth, isn't it?'' Nikki is too defeated to properly answer her. She is on the floor suffering. Add it to the pile. Meanwhile, the Magical Girl of Despair radiates...Despair. It's pretty fitting! Dysnomia asks a question. ''Now what?'' The knight is gripped still--but is scarcely trying to escape. And it doesn't stop the, shall we say, negaverse energy radiating off of her. At the very least, it keeps her still even should she try to escape. ''Stop trying to justify your actions as /their/ pain that forced you into this. They're already trying to stand on their own.'' Nikki's weeping stifles some as she pulls her arm from her eye. She thought she was doing it all for them, but was it really just for herself? The strange drone-wielding twink seems to be speaking from experience and it's true, isn't it? Rose and Carol are both standing once more. "You're...I think you're right." Ishirou can draw that despair into himself but it's Endless. It's her NATURE. But at the least, it can buy some time for the others to consider what to do. Hopefully this isn't permanent. Did Kale just make an offer he figured would be rejected?! He did! But the Despair comes regardless as it overpowers the Knight. ''It's what you do going forward that's going to matter more. If you've made mistakes, then there'll be more time to make up for it.'' The Knight of Despair looks at Kale for a moment. She doesn't respond with words, but she heard him. It might matter that she did in a moment.
Angela	''Don't you get full of yourself, either!'' Love blinks cluelessly, mid starblast. But Ritsuka can feel some sympathy for the Magical Girl and suggests it is possible to find another kingdom to serve. Get angry at anyone but herself. The uppercut slams into Despair's chin, creating a brief pause in the Despair. She does not answer Ritsuka either, but she heard her. Some part of her is listening to her fellow fallen knight. Tamamo has a plan Love HASN'T actually transformed yet. Her magical girl uniform is just her daily wear. Despair on the other hand does seem to be falling back into their own monstrous state. Sougo takes a fucking risk and dehenshins in front of someone in ready reach of many long swords. But he he speaks as to how people cause harm all the time and the mistake is thinking you become a villain in doing so. To this, Despair does manage a weak, "My Justice...was too severe...?" ''Your real feelings about it are clear.'' It is always easier to give advice than follow isn't it? Perhaps that is just human nature, really. Nevertheless, while Despair sinks further at the shame of being so readily perceived... Hibiki focuses on Nikki. And demands an answer. What about this is better? Nikki simply murmurs, "If it's inescapable...What else am I supposed to do? Just take it?" Tamamo has an answer, even if it's a choice that Nikki never truly had. She takes the brush and paints a sequel but...
Angela	Kayoko reveals a truth--saying in as many words that even if you reverse time you can't reverse this particular tale. SOMETHING is out. Only time can tell just how much this will change her home city, her home world. But despite the harm the Knight of Despair has done... Kayoko still, STILL against the seeming desire of her superiors...still fights for the Knight of Despair, for other magical girls--even if that means taking the blame. Cobalt speaks to her. Thanks to the efforts of the others, she has the ability to be cogent for a moment. ''Magical Girls like us need to be able to depend on each other'' "Chevalier...I am ... imperfect. I cannot carry the weight of my Sisters for them. I...took some pride in being one who did not fall, the last to fall, perhaps..." She speaks to Love too, who seems a little more hesitant to agree. "W..well...Yeah..." ''You haven't failed. Knights just need other people to fight *for*, not just against. I want to remind you who you're fighting for.'' A talisman is placed upon the Knight. She remembers... She remembers fighting, playing, teasing, loving, reassuring with her comrades. A water-like tear drips from her eye rather than the black ichor as she stares into the distance. The kingdom forgot her but she never could forget the kingdom. Even if it never really existed. And Meika Kirenei remembers. She remembers that unlike the Magical Girl of Love, the chance to remember will not come for her. And she bears her staff at her. Love looks at Meika, uncomprehending. "Meika-Chan...?" She forgets the codename in the moment, sensing something is up. She is pinned in place--she doesn't even know to try to dodge. Meika places the talisman. ''To fight evil without...without doing harm. That's what everyone wants, right?'' Love is silent as the magic works through her.
Angela	It is Dysnomia who notices what's happening first. She senses that a Collapse is about to occur near her. The Magical Girl of Love is going through some shit. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSXtTDbvS40 Love doesn't dramatically howl or shriek in agony. Instead, her eyes widen just a bit more as tears start welling up in her eyes as she... Remembers The Corpses Of Her Friends. "Oh no..." Love says, crying openly. "I remember..." The staff unleashes power. The spikes fall apart into dust as she hovers in the air. She hangs there, in place. "It's true that I saved a few people..." Love says. "I fought for Love, but in turn Hatred and Resentment followed in equal measure..." She sounds less like an anime cliche storm now. She almost sounds... Sadly, Horrifyingly... Human. "For as much happiness we wish upon for, we cannot help but curse someone else...A kingdom for a kingdom. If there is no Evil to fight...If I defeated all the Evil then..." Mirror shards materialize and stab through Love from all directions. It doesn't seem to harm her. She doesn't even stop speaking. "Then I must be the Evil that remains." Love says, almost like it's a relief. She raises Meika's notebook into the air and shows her a page, something she's drawn there in a brief moment of battle. A beautiful, pink and blue winged serpent with stylized pink hearts for spines. "This is me, Meika-Chan. Isn't it a beautiful transformation?" Indeed, it is Dysnomia. A surge of darkness encompasses Love and her body transforms into its monstrous form--the first time anyone has seen a Magical Girl turn into their alterego. The Queen of Hatred looks down at the battlefield, flaps their wings once. A thought pulses across the battlefield. Thank you, Meika-Chan, Kayoko-Chan. It was fun pretending with you. And with a burst of speed, flies away from the battlefield at top speed.
Angela	But... The Knight seems calmer now. Her tears are no longer black. "You changed it...so she remembered. Because she remembered, she returned to her current self... But if she won't forget..." She wipes her tears away with her hand, the blades in her body vanishing as she stands up. The Knight manages a smile. "Perhaps we can at least write a new tale for her. Let's...fight together, sisters." And then she sees Carol. She crouches down and summons a set of EGO gear for her--just like with Courage and hands it off to her. "You faced us alone, fighting for what you believed in even though we had harmed you. You would make an excellent Knight, despite your pain." Then she turns back and approaches the Chevaliers.
Angela	But... The Knight seems calmer now. Her tears are no longer black. "You changed it...so she remembered. Because she remembered, she returned to her current self... But if she won't forget..." She wipes her tears away with her hand, the blades in her body vanishing as she stands up. The Knight manages a smile. "Perhaps we can at least write a new tale for her. Let's...fight together, sisters." And then she sees Carol. She crouches down and summons a set of EGO gear for her--just like with Courage and hands it off to her. "You faced us alone, fighting for what you believed in even though we had harmed you. You would make an excellent Knight, despite your pain." Then she turns back and approaches the Chevaliers. "Chevalier Cobalt, I cannot reverse the tale of what I caused happen here. But I can turn myself in and serve for what I've done. I just ask you show mercy to Nikki, I took advantage of her wounded heart in pursuit of my duty." She bows her head. "I surrender."
Ishirou	Others will feel the victory, but Ishirou bet a lot on them being able to do it... For this, he drew upon a well of incomprehensible sorrow and despair.  He drew this into himself knowing the price that it might cost him.  But... but he knew that what they were feeling wasn't so different than what he did.  If he could turn this around for them... Then they would have a better story.   He falls to the ground unceremoniously.  The only thing protecting him was the RESCUE.  He rolls across the ground, as his body is wracked with the Despair he forced into himself to buy even that fleeting moment of possibility. It hurts like hell.  Both physically, and mentally.  All he can do right now is cry and sob and exist in agony.
Dysnomia	"Her act always seemed so artifical," Dysnomia marveled, watching the Queen of Hatred as she mantled her true self. It was a beautiful moment. A Collapse, beyond the border of the ranar system. The thought had never even occured to her. "So this is who she really is."     Dysnomia smiled, as her claws slid back into hands. The face of someone blessed to witness a miracle. Her even her talk of hatred. She felt, in spite of it all...Proud.     "You're right." She said to Justice. "She can't run away from this. She shouldn't. I wonder what she'll become now..."
Hibiki Tachibana	If it's inescapable...What else am I supposed to do? Just take it?     Hibiki doesn't answer that verbally, as she lets Tamamo's efforts - everyone's efforts - and Meika and Kayoko actualizing them, speak for itself. Her head turns away to watch every moment of it.     Despair is cut through, to find the Justice beneath.     And Love was finally able to face the Evil, and remember.     Rather than surprise, which only lasts a short while, the feeling in her chest is...bittersweet, maybe, watching the Queen of Hatred ascend off into the distance. It certainly feels that way, when acceptance of the self and the 'tale' moving forward has to take this form--but maybe, eventually, there'll be genuine happy ending waiting at the end of it all.     ...Hm.     After the fact, Hibiki glances from street corner to street corner, recalling the rest of the situation as reality settles back in past fleeting emotions. She watches the Knight, and the two Kirenai sisters...who are going to have a lot on their hands now. That 'happy ending' might be a far way off. Kayoko--and Meika too, they're right there. There might not be another chance in the near future to talk to them like this...     But she remembers Meika's torn-up expression, on the night watch they spent together.     And she remembers her choked up voice, over the radio, after reading that report.     And she decides she won't interrupt a moment between magical girls. They have enough to deal with already without her presence adding onto it.     Hibiki's eyes, taking on some of that exhausted haze once more, briefly drift to Carol and the EGO gear now resting beside her, then finally looks back towards Nikki. "...It's not inescapable. A lot of the time, when you can't do it by yourself, you just need someone else's hand to help pull you out of the darkness and back on your feet."     "...I'm not really sure what's going to happen next, but hang in there. And...even if it was because of your own hurt, I'll make sure Rose knows you were still thinking about her, too."     The Paladins are going to have a lot of clean-up duty here - in more ways than one. So nobody has to mind a girl not affiliated with them at all slinking away between buildings, returning back to casualwear out of sight, and shuffling back in the vague direction of the Warpgate.     There's still a lot of things she has to do. Talking with Rose is still one of them.
Tamamo	The talismans are delivered, and Fate is cut and rewoven. It's not a complete transformation, even if what happens to the Magical Girl of Love looks that way. Watching, Tamamo-no-mae can be certain of that. What she's seeing is, at most, an indirect result of anyone else's actions. This was the form that was already within, and gaining it is the inevitable result of restoring her memories. That restoration is what the bunrei, herself, had wished to see, even if it the memories, themselves, are tragic.     It's not all tragedy, perhaps. She can't peer into the mind to discover those answers. She could ask, were it not for what happens next.     'Her act always seemed so artifical.'     Thank you, Meika-Chan, Kayoko-Chan. It was fun pretending with you.     "There comes a time to dispense with pretenses. Would that you had one more suited to say, 'I am proud of how you have grown.'" The words aren't likely to reach anyone who needs to hear them.     Tamamo puts away her brush and ink and stands. Her work isn't complete merely because the evening has reached a climactic moment.     All he can do right now is cry and sob and exist in agony.     "There, now," Tamamo says, withdrawing a healing talisman for Ishirou, and leaning over him to place it on his back. "We did what could be done. It is better than that for which any well-informed party had hoped, I should wager, even if some of the less-informed should find complaints. Take solace in that today was no failure on your part, nor mine."     Looking around for any others who need healing... Tamamo can't see where Hibiki has gone. "Did she wish to only be present for the fighting...? I do hope that she is not avoiding me, at the least." Though speaking aloud, on reflection, Tamamo would rather that part not be overheard. <J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "She- oh, God, she's getting away... Oh, oh no..." <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "So, this is the form taken by her healing. You were warned there would be sacrifices, should you succeed, Chevalier Vermillion. You did, and so, the tale continues."     What ails those two is more than physical healing will resolve. Still, Tamamo feels drawn to say... something, despite not even having had a chance to learn much about the Holy Refulgence. It takes her a bit, before finally saying, "'Magical girls like us,' is it? The choice of which of two obligations to serve, of which kingdom to serve... this is available to you, as well, o knight. Should you continue to choose her, you may call upon me. I would not leave this matter half-done."     She'd really like to leave the mess of a broken masquerade behind, on the other hand, but there is also the obligation of being a Paladin. It's horribly tedious, but Tamamo isn't the sort to let that sort of frustration cross her expression when there's a need to maintain appearances. She can agree with Kale that there's a need to at least show that an effort was made, even if it's ultimately pointless. That will make it easier to shift blame onto the unfortunate Nikki, who can be spirited back to the Concord, resulting in there being no need to punish anyone.
Meika Kirenai	'This is me, Meika-Chan. Isn't it a beautiful transformation?'     Horror and shock cross Chevalier Vermillion's face- but not surprise, nor confusion. Her eyes are drawn to the sketch newly-placed upon the notebook's pages, how monstrous it is, and the love put into it. It's frightening, to her, that loving something like that could come without guilt and revulsion.     Pained tears stream down her face. "Don't *thank* me! This isn't right! I- This isn't pretending! You're just giving up!" Each word is spat with choked bitterness, as the Queen of Hatred soars up and off into the sky, impaling spears long since cast aside. Chevalier Vermillion falls to her knees, armored plates clacking soundlessly against the asphalt, clip-denting it slightly, as resonance frequencies conflict and ultrasonically chip away at small pieces of the material. "You... you can't. Please don't go, we're trying, too..."     It's not until after Love is gone, flying off into the skyscape, that it sinks in just how bad a situation that is. Fully visible, a dragon is soaring through Kagoshima. With the notebook...     Sinking dread threatens to swallow her just as much as Justice's aura had done so. Oh no, oh Lord, she took it, it's gone, I can't- Transformations are a messy thing, and drawings she's scrawled in that notebook are precious to Chevalier Vermillion, the keys to bringing about what she aims for, what she feels she has to be, for everyone. Without it, she's barely a Magical Girl- and even less so a Knight. Its loss is dear- something to get back, as much as confronting Love again will be a necessity, but right now all her thoughts just turn to frantic panic. The buzz of action can no longer hold off the aching anxiety of 'what's next', after a catastrophe like this battle. 'So this is who she really is.'     Bitter hostility drips into Vermillion's voice. "No. It's not. Don't- don't sound like you're happy about this! Can't you see how..." Her voice chokes out to nothing. "Artificial? She- she was trying to be something she chose, and.. isn't, now, don't..." It feels hollow and wrong to talk on that, as hard as she tries to force words out to Dysnomia. She can't deny the relief in Love's voice, the expression, that it feels more real and natural, so she sits there, and shudders. As her armor, her wind-streaming ribbons, f-f-flicker around her, her eyes close, and the quiet ring-thundering flash cuts short her transformation. Meika can't bear to keep it up like this, even as it feels more like an ending than it ever has before.     With barely a whisper to her sister, Meika blurts out her worries. {"I- I'm scared, Cobalt- Sis. This.. wasn't supposed to happen. I don't know what's next."} A shallow, bitter pause. It's never good when the big sister is terrified. {"I- I'm trying. I tried. You believe me, right? That it- that I wanted this to.. to go.. differently?"}     Still. Justice, at least, seems to have been helped somewhat- and seems happy to see Love respond at all, even in this way, to the ties of fate being loosened. It's a phyrric victory. Thoughts of cleanup, of rectifying this all, are so heavy they're hard to keep in mind without feeling woozy. Her gaze shifts around to the lingering assistance, and those already on their way to leave, with eyes that would almost pleading if she'd look anywhere but at the ground beneath people's feet.     "T-thank you, everyone, for...... for trying." She mumbles, barely audible amongst the buzz. Her uniform skirt is staining itself in parking lot dust the longer she stays still, but it doesn't feel like she's allowed to move yet, nor that there would be any point.
Meika Kirenai	'The choice of which of two obligations to serve, of which kingdom to serve... this is available to you, as well, o knight.'     An impossible choice her heart longs to jump at. They should be one and the same, right? I should want them to be. I- I should want helping them, and helping everyone, to coincide. And.. I should want both. On her knees still, Meika just trembles, quietly. "I- I thought I was helping.. both. I don't want.. to give up on her. I don't. Even if I should. I can't bear to, I-"     She swallows back the knot in her throat, and stumbles up to her feet, legs shaking, the back of her shoulders still sore from the glancing sword impact. "It... shouldn't be up to me. I don't think I'd choose right."     A sideways glance to Kayoko, and Meika's jacket sleeve is brushed against her own eyes, coming away wet. Don't cry in front of them, not like this. You're supposed to be stronger than this. Chastising thoughts don't do a lick of good.     As she passes near her sister, she speaks up once more, quiet and soft. She tries to put a brave face on, and look her sister in the eye. She manages this for only a handful of seconds, both soon fading and turning away.     "I- I'm going to go home, when we're.. done doing what we can." A pause. "Maybe it's... b-better you do too, with me. So you don't face anyone alone. Or... maybe it's.... better I come with you, to.. to Our Lady. Same reason." The soft offer of a safeguard won't do much, but everything else feels worse than useless. She reaches out to tap her sister on the shoulder, and hesitates, hiding her hand away in an oversized pocket.     "We'll get through this." She's still never been good enough at lying.