Scene #9131: Star¤Twinkle PreCure ~ Blue Cat's Declaration ¤ Snake Eyes!

Owner	Pose
Merelisa Shaynore	Not privy to that, Blue Cat dramatically shrugs and walks into the vault. "Guess you got a free ride, nna. Now if you'll excuse me, I have--" Click. She comes to an abrupt halt, handcuffs rattling. She looks down at her chained wrists, and her sunglasses slide partway down her nose without the ability to use her hands to push them back up. Underneath are brilliant green eyes, slowly strafing across the Elites arrayed around her with a hard to read expression. "Blue Cat--! But she was helping us!" "Sh-she's a criminal, lun, but doing it right now is...." "We didn't promise... but it still feels like breaking one." "Didn't expect someone to prove me right already--" Her eyes land on Natsuki and linger, and then she closes them and bows her head. "... I see. So that's the way it is. As Natsuki says, I can hardly blame you for believing that I'm telling the truth about myself." "So, then, now that we're back to normal: allow me to reintroduce myself--!" In an instant, Blue Cat's body melts away, leaving the cuffs empty and jingling where her wrists were. In her place is a blue-furred housecat, already mid-leap to soar up to the top of the highest gold pile where the glowing cylinder of the Stellar Note is. When it lands, it morphs back into Blue Cat stanced with her arms spread wide, Stellar Note gripped in one hand, and a grappling hook that snatches the rack of priceless Rainbowian jewelry and ratchets it towards her in the other. "I am the one who traverses the universe, the space thief, Blue Cat! But that isn't all, nna?~ I am she of a thousand false faces, whose name strikes fear across the galaxy, who no bond can hold and no defense can stop! And I, too, have a wish your Star Drop will grant!" Just then, the upper door to the balcony of the vault slams open. Kappard, with his double sword in one hand and an unconscious Doramus dragged across the floor in the other, steps in, and tosses him unceremoniously over the edge onto a (rating-appropriately fall-breaking) pile of gold, which frees up his hand to point dramatically at Hikaru and Lala. "Precures! Your time has come!" "And that's my cue to go, nna?" With a clean backflip, Blue Cat launches herself up onto the balcony with her arms laden full of iridescent jewelry and the Stellar Note in hand. Kappard steps back in surprise, expecting her to attack him, but instead she just shapeshifts and morphs into the form of Doramus, ducking under his arm and running away through the manor. "Help, help! Oh no, it's terrible! Guards! There's a fight going on!" . . .
Merelisa Shaynore	Kappard is only stunned for a second, and then gasps in indignation at the same time as Hikaru and Lala do. "Hahhh--?!" """--She stole the Stellar Note!!""" He clicks his tongue and twirls his double sword around, green light-blades (legally distinctly flickering at the edges) shooting out. "Bah, no matter. So you would degrade yourself to working alongside a common thief for your convenience, Precures?! Then let me strike you down like the rats you associate with, just as I did this gilded whelp here!" Kappard dramatically sweeps his hand across his face, fingers splitting for his eyes and orange visor to peer through, and spins his weapon behind his back. A black glow creeps up from each end of the hilt, gradually subsuming the green into impenetrable vantablack with a searing orange corona. He slips into archaic speech, chest projected like he's giving a Shakespearean stage performance. "My blade, Baldome! Draw in and crush the hearts of those who hath stood in my way!" He holds the sword-- Baldome-- above his head, and from further beyond in the manor, a heart-shaped bubble of light flickering through a rainbow of colors zips through the door and gets absorbed into the darkness of the blades. The dual blades swell up in size, and then pop into color, becoming two massive playing cards like the ones Blue Cat used in the heist. He flicks the new form of Baldome upwards, and a pair of cards fly out to slap right on top of the Star Color Pendants the girls hadn't recovered yet, and then flip face-down and disappear, leaving shapeshifted illusory gold where the Pendants once were. "Ahh--!! Hikaru! Without our transformations, Blue Cat will get away, lun--!" "It's okay, don't worry about it right now! One thing at a time, Lala. I'll help everyone in fighting with the thing Miss Nue gave me, and--" "Lun! I got Yuma!" As the unpowered Lala leaps to wrap Yuma in her arms and then disappear together with the invisibility ring, Hikaru holds the Zi-O ridewatch up to her chest. Without a belt to attach it to, she pulls out her sparkling pink Star Color Pen and plugs it into the side as a replacement for the Pendant. A glowing projection of a clock appears behind her with a tinny vocal callout, numbers replaced by different pictographs of planets, until the spinning hands both land on noon-- the star. Her armor appears with a flash, visually echoing the Zi-O armor in pink, with the katakana for PURI KYUA-- on the mask. But also, she has a skirt--!! Pleated in twelve sections, pink and yellow with stars all over and the Roman numerals 1-12 equidistant around the edge. "The twinkling star that shines throughout the universe, Kamen Rider, Star!"
Combaticon	> "Blue Cat--! But she was helping us!" > "Sh-she's a criminal, lun, but doing it right now is...." > "We didn't promise... but it still feels like breaking one." Decepticon Onslaught shifts his posture a bit, tightening the chain of his handcuff to Blue Cat. His free hand lifts, wrist splitting open and flipping a blaster pistol into his waiting hand. He doesn't seem to notice either Natsuki's expressions nor Rita's more jilted reaction, "Sometimes such surprise is necessary for particularly troublesome criminals--" The thief transforms, prompting a little startle from Onslaught when his manacle chain goes slack. Taking a step forward, his recovery is swift-- and derailed by Kappard's arrival. Beside Onslaught, Brawl squares her shoulders and clenches those big metal fists of hers. Taking the cue from her body language, Onslaught's eyes dart briefly to his underling, then focus on Kappard more directly. They briefly flit to Blue Cat when she transforms again and makes her escape. > """--She stole the Stellar Note!!""" "Brawl," Onslaught's full attention shifts to Kappard. "On it!" the bulky Decepticon crouches slightly, then LEAPS from the lower section to the upper; right past Kappard. She has no intention of hitting him or even bothering him. Rather, Brawl slams into the balcony doors in a burst of dust and debris. A rapidly descending mechanical noise accompanies the sounds of destruction, followed by the rumble of a tank engine and the grinding trundle of treads. As the dust here starts to settle it becomes obvious that Brawl-- in the shape of a huge quad-tread tank-- is pursuing the disguised Phantom Thief with flashing lights and about as much care for collateral damage as an artillery barrage. In the vault itself, Onslaught takes stock of the situation. Their foes have split; Brawl is now in pursuit of one of them. The other, here, most likely must be subdued. The two human children are unpowered-- a quick dart of his eyes confirms Hikaru's transformation and Lala's disappearance, though. That seems to have solved itself. His eyes dart the other direction; Swindle is actively ignoring Kappard, instead browsing the vault's contents like a shopper at market. "Swindle--" "Already on it!" The merchant cheerfully replies, raising one hand with fingers spread out in a wave-- without looking. His belly drawer slides open and from it he retrieves his black arm cannon once again. The purple lines light up when he connects it to his left forearm. Only then does Onslaught return his attention to Kappard; his laser blaster has been aimed at the Nottraider this whole time, though. > "The twinkling star that shines throughout the universe, Kamen Rider Star!" "Onslaught, commander of the Decepticon Justice Division. I have no patience for obstructions," He fires a single shot, a bright purple lance of light zipping past Kappard as an obvious warning shot, "Surrender what was stolen and step aside."
Futaba Nuki	Hearing handcuffs getting locked on, Futaba's gaze slides over to Blue Cat, then the Combaticon next to her. There's an annoyed noise that comes out of the ninja at first, her expression distinctly one of 'really? now?' despite her not saying a thing. Still, she's pretty sure Blue Cat has something up her sleeves to handle something as simple as handcuffs, so she's not in any rush to bail her out. Instead, she watches the thief's transformation into an actual cat and lets out an intrigued noise of approval. It's one she's used herself quite a few times in the past, but it's always vindicating to see others using the same trick. What gets less approval from Futaba is the fact that she also snags the Stellar Note. "Hey! You're really leavin' us with the bill here? I thought we had something special!" She calls out, clutching at her chest dramatically. Her inevitable betrayal isn't surprising in the least, but it's still irritating considering the reason everyone's even here. Kappard arriving is certainly a surprise, though, considering the last Futaba had seen him was on the planet with all the funky little food creatures on it. "Eh? Oh, hey, you made it off that place! And that's-" A beat, as Doramus hits the gold. "Him, too. Uhh. Wait, were you scoping this place out, too?" She asks, looking from Doramus to Kappard before looking over at... Doramus again? No, that's Blue Cat, and she's actually able to make herself sound like her transformation target. "Holy heck, she sounded just like him. How'd she even...?" Futaba's going to have to think about that later, unfortunately, as Kappard makes his intent clear with the power of Baldome on display. The bigger concern, however, is keeping Hikaru and Lala safe as one of them goes invisible with Natsuki's ring and the other turns into- "Kamen Rider Star?! Oh, THAT is... Mm! Fantastic, Hikaru, Zi-O." Pumping her fists in excitement, Futaba slides over to the side as she thrusts a hand out to point at Kappard, an excited grin plastered right on her face. "You're in for it now, Kappard, because you're about to witness the real power of a crossover! Kamen Riders, Precures from the sea of stars AND the sea of the sea, THE Lady Nue and ninja hero from Sotenbori, and robot cops from space?" She's pretty sure the Combaticons are space robot cops, anyway. Why else would Onslaught have those handcuffs? Futaba snaps her fingers, then slips her flaming katana (still in its sheathe) out of her fanny pack in an underhanded grip to point the hilt towards Kappard. "Better not underestimate this deadly combination, or it's cosmover for you!"
Natsuki Nuki	Last time, on Star <^> Twinkle Pretty Cure -- Natsuki Nuki, proprietress of the Golden Caterpillar Club and still in shiny black single side-leg slit eveningwear, had looked across to Lilian Rook upon the revelation of the 'dragon' being a scaly doted-upon housecat resting on a pile of treasure. > 'If you throw Futaba at it, you might feel better.' With the permission implied, was what she had said to Lilian Rook, besides. By the time she had looked back up, Onslaught had used a big set of Cybertronian cuffs to secure Blue Cat and proved her right direly early. The ensuing scuffle - and ensuing smear frames of snapping right out of those cuffs - were the exact proof of Blue Cat's big talk. Natsuki is right about to leap into things herself when the upper door to the vault bursts open and another figure starts bellowing combat starting dialogue. 'Precures! Your time has come!' "Kappard!" Natsuki greets, arms wide, now finally excited-interested in something happening. 'And that's my cue to go, nna?' The interest dies on Natsuki's face, timed to '''--She stole the Stellar Note!!''' and the immediate dashing-off and alarm-raising escape of Blue Cat. There's a hard pause where Natsuki takes one step towards treasure pile, Blue Cat, and even Kappard -- and Kappard decides that he's going to fight them anyway. His performative Clap! Clap! Clap! goes Natsuki's hands, brought together at Kappard's declaration and singularity banner showing, the final clap keeping hands together as hands curl inward and work into squeezing and rolling knuckles until they fuzz thicker, bigger, popping and cracking loudly as the chimera woman savored the experience before her with a faint curl of black lips and a flash of eyetooth. "Are you going to make this interesting for me, Kappard? Are you really going to crush my heart?! Come on, take a hold of it and show me!!" She challenges. Still, the 'most interesting thing' that happens is quite concretely Hikaru's pendant-replacement transformation. Natsuki hadn't known how Hikaru would use it - she didn't know how she was supposed to use it without eating the thing whole, but she had a very good feeling about the investment that had already paid off. Futaba's cheering in the background barely even makes her mad! She used her title and everything. "The same goes for you, Futaba. Impress me -- or I'm tossing you first!" Natsuki calls across to her introducing sister as the slit fall of her evening dress shortens from floor-length and nearly gownlike to pencil dress short as all the shiny-dark slicks and extends in its true shape - more tail - and scorpions up over her back, hanging spade staring nose-down and eyes out at several times its normal size. Swinging hips through a step and turning, the muscular appendage splits and extends a lining of centipede limbs and two spiked mandibles about the end-mouth, smashing down into the treasure pile and Kappard in an extending-long line. Half black scale-splash, half chitinous wave, an overly-fanged and mandibled mouth lurches and scuttles past impact to lunge at Kappard's chest from the treasure!
Rita Ma	"'Surprise is necessary'? You're saying that about one girl who can't even fight?" Cure Glow struts up and jabs a finger against Onslaught's chest accusingly, with an indignant panache only granted to her by her Cool Older Mahou role. "She's done nothing but help us this whole time, even if she was sort of mean! If you think that's justice, I'll--" "And that's my cue to go, nna?" ". . . Ueh?" Rita's sympathy for someone getting profiled by a space cop evaporates the moment they aggrieve the magical girls. "Hey, wait, come back here!!! A soft light in the--" "Help, help! Oh no, it's terrible!" "A soft light--" """--She stole the Stellar Note!!""" "You're not allowed to keep running while I'm doing this!! Cure Glow!!!" Rita glows white from within like an incandescent bulb; there's a series of rushed organic squelching noises as indistinct ribbon-like things whirl around her, and then she's visible in that delicate blue-and-white-gradient dress with the detached sleeves. For about half a second. "Hikaru! Follow me!" she says, and then potentially makes that difficult, because her pursuit of Blue Cat looks like a backscatter of gold coins and a little wind-rustling of Kappard's clothes. Bye!
Timespace Riders	... I see. So that's the way it is. "Aw, come on," Sougo bemoans, largely to himself. "Doramus sucks, so why do we care what she takes, as long as it's not the Note?" And I, too, have a wish your Star Drop will grant! Woz sighs. "Impeccable timing as ever, sire," he intones back softly. The retainer flings his scarf outwards, sending it flying after Blue Cat, only to snatch at empty air when she leaps backwards. His brow twitches in irritation as he recalls it, sending it out a second time and coming up empty a second as she makes her escape. He recalls it, and is presumably about to teleport after her when Sougo stops his arm. "Hold on a second, Woz," he says. Lowering his voice, "She has the advantage in a chase. And besides, the others are going after her, too. Let's hedge our bets--a thief never expects to have their stache stolen from, right?" "...cunning as ever, my Demon King," Woz purrs. "Very well," says the retainer, lowering his arm. The twinkling star that shines throughout the universe, Kamen Rider, Star! A smile between them passes, and they both reach for their transformation belts. "Henshin," shouts Sougo, spinning his bulky white Timespace Driver after posing with his hands swept in a circle like those of a clock. "Henshin," Woz calmly utters, in unison with his king, sweeping the neon green side-gate of his sleek black Beyondriver closed with a grandiloquent gesture of his hand, held upwards in a challenging gesture towards Kappard. KAMEN RIDEEER.. (RIDER..!) ZI-O--ZI-O!! II! Amazing! Time! Future! KAMEN RIDER WOZ? WOZ?! Two other Kamen Riders are here, both resembling timepieces; the Demon King, bearing symettrical motifs of an analog wristwatch, cutting a knightly silhouette in his gold, silver and pink regalia, and his retainer, in lightweight armor resembling the band, app icons and face of a smartwatch in black and neon green, over a shining silver bodysuit. The Demon King calls forth two swords, each like a hand of a watch, rushing towards Kappard and leaping up to meet him with a rising X-slash, the attack carrying aftershocks of polychromatic energy that slice a second time. As he lands on a pile of gold and skids down it, sending little coins flying, he combines both swords together into a greatsword and closes the distance for a clash. Woz is... "IWAE!" Up to his usual, gesturing with a sweep of his hand (and necessarily, the touchscreen spear he holds, too) towards Kamen Rider Star. "She is the light of inspiration and hope," proclaims Woz, helmet tilted high in exultation. "Visible even in the darkest reaches of the universe," he continues, pointing upwards with the index of his free hand. "Her name is Kamen Rider Star--and this is the moment of her glorious advent!" He only joins the fight after he's finished Posting, leaping in late with a falling thrust from the spear, fading for a lateral swipe from Zi-O and pressing back in for a sweep with his leg.
Lilian Rook	'Sh-she's a criminal, lun, but doing it right now is....' 'We didn't promise... but it still feels like breaking one.' "Oh for fuck's sake--" Lilian gasps out, frustration briefly so irrepressible that she's too late to use a more polite word. "She's helping us! Even thieves have enough honour to wrap up the heist first! What's wrong with you?!" shouts Lilian Rook, who thinks a normal quality about the dynamics of consistency and trustworthiness and represents the absolute average level of consideration for when to turn on people. "Who do you expect to side with you now?!" But then, shortly enough, Lilian's unvoiced questions as to just how special a galactic thief could really be in this goofy place are answered quickly and dramatically, seizing her undivided attention. There isn't even time to betray that she's impressed before Blue Cat has what they (originally) came here for, making the entire exercise even less worthwhile than how it had begun, and-- 'Help, help! Oh no, it's terrible! Guards! There's a fight going on!' "You don't even sound like him!" Lilian yells after the phantom thief, as if trying to drown out Futaba coming to the exact opposite conclusion. There's a lot she could say about pointlessly making things worse; about her wounded faith and about trusting the others to be basically decent people and deal with the Combaticons for betraying her, not gang up on her; but there'd be no point, since she's a Precure sympathizing poseur. 'So you would degrade yourself to working alongside a common thief for your convenience, Precures?! Then let me strike you down like the rats you associate with, just as I did this gilded whelp here!' "Say that after they transform, Kappard!" Lilian spits, staring daggers over her rigidly squared shoulder. "Or is a lowly opportunist waiting to strike them at their weakest how you want to be remembered? Because you're saying a lot about thieves for this back alley mugging." 'My blade, Baldome! Draw in and crush the hearts of those who hath stood in my way!' Lilian doesn't call out the name of her sword. The part of her that was proud to be the wielder of it had been subsumed some time ago by the idea that its proud legacy is enhanced by being wielded by her, though she isn't certain when. The thought on her mind as she draws it, throwing off her own deep black sword-wake, and crosses the distance to cross blades with Kappard, too fast to be seen for nine tenths and striking with incredible weight and force, is, "Thou shalt abide no surrogate, no imitation, no omission, for the fullest of thy strength, from thyself or any other!" "And how dare you know him out first!"
Merelisa Shaynore	"I thought we had something special!" Before backflipping away and scampering out the door, Blue Cat hits Futaba with the index-finger-pulling-eye-down maneuver with her tongue sticking out. "Then there's your lesson, nna? Maybe it'll be special when I see you with the cuffs on too, nnaha!~" "You're not allowed to keep running while I'm doing this!! Cure Glow!!!" Kappard clicks his tongue and narrows his eyes warily at Cure Glow. "Tch. A third Precure...? No matter, I--" He's cut off with a goofy 'ouoh-?!' as Rita simply dashes past him in late-season powerup speed, the green hair around the bald patch on his head fluttering in the shockwave. "... Then, Star! Your allies may have granted you new powers, but Lady Mujinko's blessing shall always outpace your meager teamwork! Baldome will shatter your measly armor in a single strike!" "Surrender what was stolen and step aside." Kappard frowns from up on his overlooking ledge, and raises his arms out dramatically to indicate the vault. "Hahh? And what have I stolen, exactly? What is it here that you are owed? To what order do you claim to call me a thief?" #-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: 243"Wait were you scoping this place out, too?" "No-- you were the ones skulking around beneath even this worm's notice, scavenging for scraps even when they were torn from your hands only moments before! I, Kappard, know my strength and act upon it-- and that is why I will be taking home today's entire pot!" Hikaru, meanwhile, is so excited about this new development that if not for Rita's call, she might forget entirely about the lost Stellar Note. She holds out her hand to inspect and show it off, pink and silver gauntlet with a bold yellow star on the back, and squeezes it into a fist. "This is astronuts! Lala! I've got the armor, and I feel super strong, like I transformed, and--" Then she gapes, as much as a Kamen Rider mask can gape, at Sougo and Woz's henshin. "Oh--! We did transform! And it looks just like Mister Demon King's! Twincool...!!!" "Alright!" Bolstered by Woz's hype, Hikaru squares her stance and raises her fist defiantly. "Prepare to face the full strength of Kamen Rider Star and all her friends, Kappard!" As Hikaru is getting used to her armor and rearing up to leap after Rita, Kappard swipes Baldome across the room again, sending out an explosive dealer's hand. Seven giant cards magically apparate and launch in an arc, sticking in the piles of gold all around the room, and the one in front of Hikaru flips over to reveal-- a King of Voids, which immediately explodes and separates her from Rita. The others flip over to various lower-values, detonating in sequence around everyone. "Say that after they transform, Kappard! . . . Because you're saying a lot about thieves for this back alley mugging." "Khhh--" Kappard catches Night Mist on the edge of one of the card-blades of Baldome, pushed backwards with his arms shaking at the impact. It's obvious that Lilian hit him where it hurts, emotionally, because he makes a frustrated growl in his throat before shoving her off and pointing one of the blades of Baldome at her. "And yet, even when I find them defenseless and unprepared, here they are, transformed anyways, and supported by you dozen ingrates. How can they claim any scrap of their strength as their own, when I can strike you down just as I did with the lordling's bootlickers?! I will have that Star Drop--!" "Kappard Strike!"
Merelisa Shaynore	Unlike the Blue Cat themed card attacks, Kappard's cut through the air in defense of Natsuki's tail is pure black, lingering to spark and then explode like Sougo's afterimages. One of the cards of his sword rolls up into a cone to better form a blade, which he uses to catch Sougo's attach and retaliate with a fencer jab to him and Lilian, before he leaps off the balcony to land with a 'splash' on the gold pile to face off against Natsuki and Hikaru. "Are you really going to crush my heart?! Come on, take a hold of it and show me!!" "Lady Nue," Kappard's tone drops to almost-respectful, like acknowledging an opponent in a duel. "The rivers of my heart are mighty and ever-roiling. With my strength and Lady Mujinko's guidance, any lesser heart will be swept away and pulverized against its shores in an instant--!" "Nobody's heart here is 'lesser', Kappard! We're all stronger for being friends! So..." Hikaru unfolds the pink clock-dialed sword that came with her suit, and grips it firmly (and a little awkwardly) in both hands. "Star Slash!" It might come as a surprise that the manor is, in some parts, built to accomodate a tank of Brawl's size. It also might not-- the high arching ceilings and wide halls festooned with art and lavish furniture are kind of exactly the garish luxury you'd expect from Doramus and his house. Doramus-- rather, Blue Cat obviously wasn't expecting pursuit of that scale, and lets out a comedically girlish 'nya--?!' of surprise when she glances behind her and sees a tank rolling over the carpet. She adapts quickly, ducking out of the main hallway and into narrower passageways to slow Brawl down, while still calling for guards. "They're after me!! Guards, stop them! Stop them however you can!" Moments later, the windows lining the hall all shatter around Brawl and Rita when she streaks in a moment afterwards. Ziplines snap-snap-snap down in sequence, heralding the arrival of dozens of black tacticool security goons with various shades of green and blue alien skin and muscley builds. Half of them raise up laser guns in formation (set to scuff-and-stun!!) to pepper Brawl, and the other half draw stun batons and slide in from either side to block the hallway in front of Rita.
Futaba Nuki	"You don't even sound like him!" Lilian hurts Futaba on the inside, and the tanuki looks away briefly as she considers just how different their standards are. "Maybe it'll be special when I see you with the cuffs on too, nnaha!~" Futaba's cheeks puff out briefly as she starts to laugh, holds it in, then swallows it to feign a scandalized gasp instead. Hikaru, Lala and maybe Yuma are still here, after all, so she needs to behave for now. "Baldome will shatter your measly armor in a single strike!" Seeing those cards spreading out, Futaba slams her hands together to start running them through a rapid series of ninja-esque hand seals. "You think a bunch of paper cuts'll really cut through that kinda armor? Kamen Riders ain't built to fold from one bad hand, and neither am I!" Turning her free arm into a stone slab, Futaba starts advancing on Kappard rapidly while purposely swiping her giant rocky appendage at the oncoming card. She's not expecting it to explode right on her, though, but the burst is more surprising than anything else as she just eats that explosion head on, chipping off some of the surface before she pulls that arm back into its regular shape to grip the sheathed katana with both hands. "If it's the power of our hearts you wanna compete against, then you've really got way too much on your plate. There ain't anyone with more heart than this crew right here!" Futaba boasts as she ducks into a low stance, gripping her weapon like she's imitating some kind of iai stance and about to sprint right into Kappard's legs. True to form, Futaba is, in fact, telegraphing her strike because she knows she's fast enough to reach him that quickly. The sheathed katana swings forward, yet the blade is never drawn. Instead, she's just swinging it, scabbard and all, like she's trying to take Kappard's legs out from under him before stopping abruptly instead of passing by. She kicks off the ground to launch herself right at him as a followup, aiming to headbutt him right in the face with her own hard-headed... Head!
Rita Ma	Cure Glow is most easily visible in the crunch-braking wall impacts she uses to corner. At the first one, she glances back past Kappard, widens her eyes, and grimaces. "Hikaru!" she calls out, reaching out a hand despite the fifty-some feet and explosion separating them. Her eyes dart between her friend and Blue Cat's fleeing back. Is it really Precure-like to leave Hikaru behind? ... Is it really Precure-like to let the Star Drop go? "Rrr- that's not really Doramus! That's Blue Cat, the thief! Don't listen!!" But that moment of indecision before she resumes pursuit gives the guards just enough time. The first few, Rita can zip past along ceilings or walls, but then the crush of bodies becomes a solid obstacle rather than difficult terrain. That's a lot of them. But I've done this sort of thing with Ms. Grier plenty. It's fine. I just have to-- Midair, sailing towards a bulky guard in a feral pounce, Cure Glow cocks back her claw-posed hand like it's a deadly stinger. Tactical armor, but exposed neck. Clean. She can see it so clearly: the eviscerating follow-through, the kickoff of the falling body, the smooth line that'll blender her through the next five-- She can see Hikaru and Lala finding a headless body and blood under her nails, too. No good. Adjust. What happens instead is a kinetic blizzard of soft strikes. Cure Glow twirls off swinging arms, slides under legs, and handstand-vaults over shoulders in a single continuous flow. Each punch and flying kick is also a boost or a redirecting juke; three guards per second hit the ceiling, slam into the floor, or sail back out the windows in an ongoing wake of soaring burly men. Still, with all those zigzags, her forward motion only matches 'jogging'. And 'three per second' is ten seconds plus, against dozens. "This isn't right! You've got to know it isn't!" Rita yells in a moment where she can see Blue Cat through a gap in the wave of goons. "Those girls have gone through so much already! I can't let you add to it, Blue Cat! Take this!" A stolen stun baton is hurled through the air like a javelin, through a fist-sized window in the ranks of guards, at Blue Cat's back. Surely it'll have to do.
Natsuki Nuki	'...and that is why I will be taking home today's entire pot!' While it's not directed at Natsuki, the Nue-woman isn't just negative-quipping Kappard. She's actively engaging with him. If she doesn't gas him up, how is she supposed to claim any credit for defeating him? If she doesn't respect him even a little bit, how will she claim victory has meaning, and defeat was just a temporary setback? If she didn't go in, how would she even reason it to herself? "Show me, show me, SHOW me!!" Natsuki calls, in the same cadence as her rising 'oi, Oi, OI!' ripple of activity, using arms and the bloom of six extra segmented arachnoid limbs about her torso from lower back, the eight-layer block of arms and limbs well weathering Kappard's initial poker-sword sweep without being knocked back at all. Then, framed as a leaping spider might, the Nue's dark-scaled tail slowly retracts back through the mess of gold and chips and lesser treasures, darkening and smearing across the gold and leaving nothing left in its scuttle-slithering retraction towards her back, aimed between the two playing cards that Kappard had used to transmute the Stellar Notes into yet more treasure-pile. She knows Lala and Yuma are operating nearby - a straight attack was the safest card to play against Kappard's initially better starting hand, and still provided the invisible pair with plenty of room to maneuver, and less treasure to sort through! Being here, fighting Kappard, was exactly what Natsuki agreed to anyway, and there was no harm in a table rake for her work. First, the Precures would get back their power, then she'd be paid back, then the Stellar Note would be a project. That just required her to-- 'With my strength and Lady Mujinko's guidance, any lesser heart will be swept away and pulverized against its shores in an instant--!' --seize a moment. Releasing her block, and springing up on the force-downed spring, Natsuki's wild expression is of glee. "That means I'm not lesser! Ahahahaha," She madly calls, birdsong and frenzy both. "-you're such a flatterer! Don't hold back, now, Kappard! Show me the whole might of your blade, your mastery, Mujinko's power!" Overhead of Hikaru's Star Slash, Natsuki's jumping spider leap carries her high up and barrages down a gold cascade of coins spat back out of both tiger-palms like bullets, each smoking with a vile-etching curse that stings like being hit by the lingering press of sharp-pointed brands! "Can you defeat the Pretty Cures past us with borrowed powers? You didn't ask who they borrowed from! The Demon King, Tokiwa Sougo! And me!"
Combaticon	THE CHASE: > "Nya--?!" "Don't think you're escaping that easily! This place is extra roomy just for me!" Brawl's boast at least carries through on the fact that she's not being slowed down at all by having to go through walls. It turns out to be a rather straightforward chase, with the only real damage she's thus far caused being to the doors and the decadently lush carpet and opulent hardwood. When a sharp corner comes up-- there's that transformation sound again as one of her burly robot arms unfurls, sinks her fingers into the flooring, and uses it like an anchor turn to pivot the full ninety degrees without slowing down. She releases the floor and re-transforms her arm into one of the rear tread assemblies without skipping a beat, "What good is that thing without the Star Drop anyway?!" It's a lot narrower here, the fenders of her front turrets occasionally smashing through expensive architectural elements and anything that protrudes too far from the walls. Guys bust in from all directions. Given how large her vehicle mode is, it's a simple matter to land on top of her, especially when she isn't firing any of her guns. It's not that she cares about Doramus' house; it might damage or destroy the Stellar Note. It doesn't stop them from provoking a strained sound with their lasers, though, "What the slag-- that one's the crook, over there! She's a shape-shifter, glitchheads! Oh for--" That transformation sound plays out again-- in reverse. The enormous tank splits open and reduces in size in the same animation frames, reorganizing its shape into a bulky nine foot tall bipedal robot already in a run. She's slower like this, but already planned for it. Brawl's turret swivels around, aiming both barrels downward. She throws her hands up, balled into fists, and fires directly into the floor behind and beneath her. The explosion knocks back the goons swarming her while also hurling the Decepticon up and forward in a parabolic arc-- bringing her fists down on the disguised Blue Cat if she doesn't move, "--I'LL STOP HER MYSELF!!"
Combaticon	THE VAULT: > "She's done nothing but help us this whole time, even if she was sort of mean! If you think that's justice, I'll--" > "Oh for fuck's sake--" The instant Blue Cat escapes, Onslaught sweeps his eyes across Rita towards Lilian, gesturing with one hand in a clear 'see?', "The intent was to betray us all along." Returning his attention to the fight, he adds, "No matter how confident a thief you are: Do not try to deceive a Decepticon." > "Hahh? And what have I stolen, exactly? What is it here that you are owed? To what order do you claim to call me a thief?" Onslaught tilts his head forward a bit. From Kappard's higher position, the Decepticon's eyes completely disappear behind the bill of his officer's cap. In a tone that might be 'muttered under breath', "Seriously?" Raising his voice, the Decepticon also lifts his face while Kappard deals with so many people all wanting to get a piece of him in close combat, "The pendants you warped away just a cycle ago. You know who those belong to." The cannons on his back articulate slightly, "But you never had any intention of doing so." Without changing his standing posture at all, Onslaught opens fire with the two guns on his back, filling the air around Kappard and his balcony with flame and shrapnel. "Violence it is."
Timespace Riders	I, Kappard, know my strength and act upon it-- and that is why I will be taking home today's entire pot! "Are you certain?" asks Woz, suddenly very enriched by the presence of an enemy Poster. Leaping backwards to afford himself the space to transform, he lands with his typical regal poise. Holding the Quiz Miridewatch in his hand with the same gravity and menace as procuring a switchblade, Woz indulgently presses the stop and brings its holographic face to life. QUIZ! Giant playing cards land all around Woz as he closes the sidegate of his Beyondriver. Action! Touei! Future Time! Fashion! Passion! Question! A fleet of green lasers behind him forms rapidly into a spherical printing matrix, as a triumphant brass fanfare sounds. The matrix shifts in hue from green to orange, before the new armor snaps onto his body. Futurering Quiz! QUIZ! The Quiz armor is as lightweight as Woz's other forms, with its key difference being the questionmarks present on the helmet crest, app-icon pauldrons and the watch-wristband tabard. His right side is the burning red of truth, his left the ice cold blue of a falsehood; both are represented on his app-icon pauldrons as an O and an X. The final touch, as the fanfare wraps up with a pleasant flourish and the lasers dissipate, is a set of orange backlit katakana flying in to snap onto his faceplate: KU I ZU. His spear has transformed, as well, from a spear into a cane with a green crook. Zi-O fared worse from Kappard's opening strike than Woz did; between the two he's the more honest fighter and suffers for it often, though he'd never complain. The parry strikes him dead on and his armor shoots a spray of sparks, then a second time with the aftershock, though he plants his heels rather than stumble. Lilian's got a greatsword, too... it seems like they're really good at controlling space. So, what would happen if I got him between us? And... gave him more to worry about, too? Pushing forward with the intent to put his physicality at issue. Another clash of blades, and this time, with a grunt of effort, he attempts to force Baldome to the side, stepping a circle around Kappard. With his grip still on that watch-hand greatsword (with the weird crossguard that looks like his first form's face), he separates it into its two constituent blades, swiping hip-to-shoulder with one and downwards with the shorter, before following up with a straight kick to force him off balance and towards Lilian.
Timespace Riders	How can they claim any scrap of their strength as their own, when I can strike you down just as I did with the lordling's bootlickers?! I will have that Star Drop--! "True or false," Woz proclaims, from midrange. "You are as fitting a judge of strength as you are an example of it." A stormcloud forms over Kappard's head, thunder rumbling ominously. "The correct answer is False." His left pauldron swings out to the side, revealing a cold blue X. Woz leaps in right as Zi-O makes his kick, the crook of his cane descending hard on Kappard's wrist, before the haft swings upwards in a surprise blow aimed at the chin. Above, the stormcloud roils, growing larger. "True or false. Strength comes only in the blessings one is given or the allies one makes." Again, the blue X swings outwards, with a buzzer sound. "The correct answer is False," says Woz, as the stormcloud begins to flash from within. He harasses Kappard with his weapon's crook, checking Baldome with it, snagging or striking stray limbs at exactly the worst time for Kappard, always waiting for when Zi-O or Lilian do something he also can't ignore. If it's the power of our hearts you wanna compete against, then you've really got way too much on your plate. There ain't anyone with more heart than this crew right here. You didn't ask who they borrowed from! Not everyone out here likes the 'Precures', by the way, lun... "...True or false. One who dares to stand against the apathy of the world, even with nothing and no one beside them, is stronger than its minions will ever be." The pauldron swings wide, and the burning red O is revealed. "The correct answer is True." The room is awash briefly in light as lightning strikes, reflected from gold, followed then by the rumbling bellow of thunder.
Lilian Rook	'This is astronuts! Lala! I've got the armor, and I feel super strong, like I transformed, and--' "Well, it's a good thing that Hikaru is happy, and can defend herself, but Lilian can't help but feel that this is a little bit wrong. Like giving dog food to a cat. Bikkification. 'And yet, even when I find them defenseless and unprepared, here they are, transformed anyways, and supported by you dozen ingrates.' "So where are yours Kappard?!" Lilian snaps right back into the dramatic clash of blades. His observation annoys the shit out of her too, but she's slightly better at keeping it to herself when she's angry. "Your patron gave you power, didn't she? Where's Eywon and Tenjou? The other Nottreiders of your empire?" 'How can they claim any scrap of their strength as their own, when I can strike you down just as I did with the lordling's bootlickers?!' "I don't want to hear that having a few allies is a cheat code from you! It's not even something you can't have-- you just act like you're too good for it!" Hm. Lilian will not internalize these words. They're psychological warfare against an enemy after all. 'he rivers of my heart are mighty and ever-roiling. With my strength and Lady Mujinko's guidance, any lesser heart will be swept away and pulverized against its shores in an instant--!' "Even the form of that sword is copied from someone else, isn't it?" Lilian throws out a short, derisive stage laugh while deflecting jabs on the defensive. "Far from dashing them on the rocks, you're desperately clinging to them to stay above water!" §Hey. What's the point of this? He's fairly tough, but it's not like he's strong enough you have to throw him off his game to have a chance. Rita is probably just about to grab the Stellar Note by now. You're not even that angry at Blue Cat. Aren't you overcompensating for something?§
Merelisa Shaynore	"There ain't anyone with more heart than this crew right here!" "Right!" After the explosion from her Star Slash, Hikaru whirls around with her skirt flaring out, proudly pumping her fist in front of her chest. "You'll never beat us down with that rotten heart of yours, Kappard! My heart is stronger because I'm fighting to protect my friends and the universe that I love, and you're only fighting for yourself!" "Tch-- shut up, you brats!" Kappard's sword sparks off of a punch thrown by Kamen Rider Star, and the flash of magical followthrough sparks that sends him stumbling backwards look like tiny little star shapes. While he's recovering his balance, Futaba nails him in the face with a headbutt, and he grunts and claps his hand to his nose. Each of them are met with his sword spinning rapidly in his hands, the cards turning into rotor-like blades held above his head and angled to crash right into them. "Violence it is." "Violence it always is." Spinning above his head, Baldome catches and blocks the missiles from impacting him, but the ensuing explosions still completely envelop him. When the smoke clears, Kappard rears back with Baldome still spinning, and hurls it through the air in an arc to slice past Onslaught and Lilian, before returning to his hand. "Violence is the rule that governs the beasts of this galaxy! And I will deal back twice what you deliver to me!" "No! That isn't true! People only have to be violent when bad guys like you make them fight!" "No? Then, Star-- explain the man that stole the pen from you first!" ". . ." Hikaru squeezes her fist, rhetorically beaten into momentary silence. "So where are yours Kappard?!" When snatching Baldome back out of the air, Kappard shifts his grip to keep a gap between his hands in the center of the haft. The hard gold hilt of the dual blades is sturdy enough to clash against Night Mist with his full leverage to support it, fighting back against the weight of Lilian's greatsword. It also, conveniently, gives a perfect face to face window framed by the massive playing cards to either side. "I would never... trouble Lady Mujinko... with a trifling matter such as this. If I falter such that she feels the need to take my place on an errand, then-- that's only because I'm not strong enough!" He tries to push back and create distance again, but Lilian's sword sparks off the hilt and slides down to shear one of the card blades in half. The massive playing card flashes, just like all the others right before they exploded, and Kappard tries to leap backwards to get away from the blast, but half is still attached to his sword, and the explosive shower of coins leaves him scuffed and scraped.
Merelisa Shaynore	"You are as fitting a judge of strength as you are an example of it." With a now one-bladed Baldome, Kappard grits his teeth and swings at Woz to keep the Poster at bay. "I, Kappard, know strength! Who would be a better judge than me?! You?! What strength have you been forced to cultivate?!" "Strength comes only in the blessings one is given or the allies one makes." "False?! You insufferable buffoon-- if you claimed it was true, then I would still force myself to become strong enough to crush your miserable alliances by my own hand and send your hearts drowning to the depths!" Kappard spins around, and a ring of face-down cards slides out of his sword to float around him, and then a second ring of them around that, with almost every card a suit of red except for one. A green ball drops down from nowhere, rolling around the rings like a roulette table, sparking off the air as it gradually slows down. "...True or false. One who dares to stand against the apathy of the world, even with nothing and no one beside them, is stronger than its minions will ever be." After the lightning strikes him, Kappard effortfully pushes himself back to his feet, swaying, with the roulette ball nearly stopped. "Agreed. Then, would you also agree, that when the deck is stacked against you--" Baldome swishes out to the side, and Kappard nudges the ball further, so instead of stopping on the red cards, it falls on the singular black jackpot. "Cheating is only fair?" "That means I'm not lesser! Ahahahaha," Baldome flashes, and black light envelops the entire length of the blade. Natsuki's cursed coins get absorbed into a tugging swell of gravity around it, vanishing into the void, and Kappard laughs wildly excitedly. "Then prove it, Lady Nue! And I shall prove to you the might of a lone Nottrei warrior!" The darkness around Baldome swells and then bursts, leaving him with two playing card blades again. They each grow in size and outline in superheated orange, and then the cards flip over to reveal a matched pair of Aces of Voids-- symbols of black broken hearts dead center in the card face, surrounded by accretion orange and white. Kappard disappears, and a black line traces through the entire vault to where he reappears on the balcony, delayed for a moment to get his attack callout off before exploding. "Kappard.... Royal Flush."
Merelisa Shaynore	"Rrr- that's not really Doramus! That's Blue Cat, the thief! Don't listen!!" "What the slag-- that one's the crook, over there! She's a shape-shifter, glitchheads!" "Wha--?" "Don't listen to 'em!" "They're tryin' to trick us!" "Yeah! Just protect Lord Doramus!" Either these guys are exceptionally stupid, or Blue Cat's nature as a shapeshifter might not be well known. Surely they have to be briefed on the details of the most prominent thieves in the galaxy, right? Doramus has to pay them enough to afford quality information abilities. Probably. Either way, they're not dissuaded from gooning up Rita and Brawl's way forwards. Rita can blast through them like they're bowling pins, and Brawl's cannon sends them flying. They might be loaded up with state-of-the-art gear, carrying flashy weaponry in too-many pouches with a coordinated, expensive entrance, but if you've blendered one set of overpriced overhyped private security goons, you've blendered them all-- complicated by the fact that Rita can't blender them. Still, money only pays for one-hit KOs, and when the goons get thrown against the walls by her and Brawl's attacks, they stay there. "What good is that thing without the Star Drop anyway?!" "Ah--" The question seems to catch Blue Cat off guard somewhat, and she stumbles in her run. Though the security guards are blasted away by the handful, when Brawl leaps heavily towards Blue Cat, she darts out of the way shockingly quickly, with equally zero remorse for the splintered floor and shattered decor. She skids away and recovers her footing, mentally and physically. "What, did you expect my entire master plan to be printed on the back of my calling card?~ Stay dizzy while I run in circles around you, nnahaha!" "Those girls have gone through so much already! I can't let you add to it, Blue Cat! "Everyone in this universe has a wish, nna?" When addressed by Rita rather than calling out in the guise of 'Doramus', Blue Cat's feigned face and voice slip incrementally back to what she's familiar with, with a smirk notably unlike Doramus's own smug expressions. "You can choose them, but I will always choose me!" 'Doramus' twists around to run backwards away from Rita, in order to properly emote, which means Rita can pinpoint the exact moment her eyes widen at the baton flying straight for her. She ducks to the side, but a jolt of stun-energy zaps off at the near miss and causes her to stiffen up, the out-of-place tail that she kept tucked away poofing up from the shock. She staggers and hits the wall, and then her form melts away into a blue-furred housecat that veers into an unimpressive side door. When Rita follows, and Brawl inevitably breaks down some part of the wall to get through, they find a room full of terrified maids. The servants, all in white frills and the Dragon Clan colors, huddle together in fear on the far side of their chambers, and some shriek when the two Terrible Thieves loom over them. H-help!" "We don't have any money!" "Take anything you want!" "D-don't hurt us!" Was there a glimpse of cat ears on one of the maids? It's hard to tell, with all of them huddles together and some of their heads ducked, if Blue Cat is hiding among them, or if she ran ahead. If she is, then searching for the telltale ears and tail will be hard, with the maids all presumably being otherwise innocent, and the guards closing in from behind...!!
Rita Ma	The last dozen guards are all flung aside in one burst of effort, and Cure Glow steps over their collapsed bodies, briefly catching her breath. (Since when does Rita get winded? That can't be method acting, can it?) "This goes beyond just being self-centered, doesn't it? You're practically trampling on those poor girls," Cure Glow calls out. And her own words rattle in her head as a reply. "Everyone in this universe has a wish, nna?" "The justice of 'who owns something' isn't as important as the justice of 'who needs it', Lala." She hesitates for just an instant. Then tenses again. Blue Cat isn't obeying the rules she's tried so hard to learn! "Hey! Stop running!" - - - - Cornering with a floor-annihilating skid, Cure Glow barges into the next room and finds-- "H-help!" "We don't have any money!" "Take anything you want!" "D-don't hurt us!" -the exact kind of reaction that stabs at her heart. Rita staggers backwards, hands up defensively. "I- I'm sorry! I don't mean harm, I promise! We're here for a bad guy! Um, please stay safe!" A quick apologetic double-bow, and then she's starting to zip away in pursuit of where Blue Cat has presumably gone. Only . . . Could she have been in there? I didn't see any doubles. Can she look like somebody totally new...? If I keep chasing, I might be turning my back on Blue Cat... but if I double back, I might be letting her get away! A second of indecision passes. Then two. Finally, before sprinting off to comb the rest of the manor (and probably return to the Kappard fight if Blue Cat doesn't appear again), Rita does something very un-Cure-like. Left lying conspicuously on a smashed dresser near the maid room is a beautiful piece of rainbowian jewelry. Inside, only visible on deep deep scrutiny of the largest gem, is a little insectoid Antegent grub peering out.
Combaticon	CHASE: Brawl slams her fists down, splintering the lavish hardwood on impact. The backs of her legs have already transformed, relocating tank treads from calf to the soles of her feet. Twisting at the waist, she raises a hand and waves the goons away as they continue to pepper her with laser fire, "If I was the bad 'bot, don't you think I'd be shooting back by now?!" "Honestly--!" She swivels back towards Blue Cat, "'Best security money can buy' my tension gears. Makin' me look like the smart one, what a day--" > "Everyone in this universe has a wish, nna?" "And if you're strong, you take what you want," Brawl shoots back, "And you have to be strong to do that because someone is going to try and stop you--" Cat dives into a side room and Brawl actually skids past this time, twisting her legs and feet in such a way that shreds the woodwork. A tread catches on an underlying reinforcement and the entire Combaticon suddenly tips over in a tumble that smashes her into a wall. Amidst the debris, an expensive painting falls down with a clatter, followed by a quick, "I'm OK!" This basically guarantees Rita is first in the room with all the maids and a possibly disguised criminal mastermind. She's back on her feet and winding up to smash her way through when Rita bolts back out to check other places, drawing a perplexed sound from the Decepticon. Crouching down, she gets her head through the door to take a peek for herself, "Uh--?" After a pause, she shifts enough to put a hand through the doorframe as well just to make a 'calm down' sort of gesture to the terrified, uniformed staff, "I'm not here to hurt you. Brawl, DJD. There's a thief loose in the mansion and I've orders to arrest 'em. If you see anything weird, contact me or my boss, huh?" Her wrist extrudes a thin metal card that she pinches between thumb and forefinger, holding it out for the nearest (terrified) maid to accept. Only then does she extricate herself from the doorframe while almost not damaging it. Rearing up to her full height, she shouts after Rita, "I'll check the other side!"
Combaticon	VAULT: > "Violence is the rule that governs the beasts of this galaxy! And I will deal back twice what you deliver to me!" The spinning Baldome blade throw finally gets Onslaught to change his posture; flexing at the knees and bending forward with a lean to the right, perfectly accounting for the boomerang blade's cleaving angle. On its return trip, he shifts the other way, working around the different angle it's spinning through. "Now you are talking like a Decepticon," the Combaticon Commander straightens his posture, lifting his blaster. With a mechanized sound, it flips back into his wrist, "We can play the social games. Work hard to get what we want peaceably. It is a new thing for me. Sometimes it even works. But at the end of the solar cycle, when it comes to people like you..." Onslaught flexes his knees again. The lean his torso takes this time is leaning into motion-- he springs forward and upward. There is no drawing of a weapon like the others; Onslaught instead draws back one fist and thrusts it straight for Kappard's jaw in a motion that sends his body into a spin. A spin that allows him to easily follow it up with a spinning kick, aimed squarely at the ribs with the two pairs of tires from his artillery truck mode that makes up the outer back side of his robotic calf. "...It is the strength of one 'bot over another."
Futaba Nuki	Shaking her head off after the impact, Futaba braces her katana against her forearm as she continues to meet his slashes directly instead of trying to avoid them. The sword and cards grind against the scabbard, carving bits off and revealing the flaming katana underneath, bolstered by an extra layer of... Stone? No, that's Futaba's arm shifting forward to add more ablative material between herself and Kappard's blades. "Show us your heart, then, Kappard! You keep bringin' up Lady Mujinko and not wanting to cause trouble for her, but you ever think about how she feels?" Futaba doesn't know a thing about Kappard or Mujinko, but his intense loyalty to her lets her make some guesses. The next flurry of Kappard's blades has Futaba pulling her legs into her body to drop down a few feet, letting the slashes pass just overhead. She springs back up moments later, taking a few purposely high swipes at Kappard to give him just enough room to avoid it (because of the rating) before swinging her free fist in from below to try and catch him with a solid kidney punch. "A real leader worth her salt would want to know about unexpected trouble springin' up on a errand!" The sword-holding hand isn't just left to hang around doing nothing, of course, as Futaba's rapid transformations come back into play. The sword arm comes around from behind Kappard as she starts trying to just pummel him with the weapon's handle, now coming at him from both sides with heavy blows instead of using the katana as an actual cutting and sabbing implement. "A real leader'd want to know what's going on, not get left in the dark! Just hearing half-truths, being fed nice sounding lines while things're going bad and getting worse..." Futaba stabs her katana into the ground, then swings herself around it to throw her entire stone-enhanced weight into a dropkick aimed at launching Kappard right at Natsuki. "And a real leader wouldn't send her best into battle all dried up! Seriously, get some water in there already!"
Natsuki Nuki	'Strength comes only in the blessings one is given or the allies one makes.' Natsuki, falling out of the air and balancing on sharp-clicking spiderpoint legs that turn her one story fall into a faint bounce and little step-back, floating until her heels ka-click on the ground. Grinning, arms wide among the pile of treasure, she turns right hand down and rolls a gold coin across her knuckles until spearing the head-face through with her thumbclaw. "Did he insult you? Because you've got it wrong inside - that's why you're getting hit! You--" Natsuki flourish-flicks off the broken coin on her hand and levels it in an accusatory point. "--in the moment, you forgot that strength also comes from within! Your power, your will, your conviction! Don't deny it! That's how Quiz will get you! If you forget yourself to shout 'no'!" Swept out left hand, forgotten in showy strut and motion, comes in to beat against collar and upper chest, a thump-thump of force that leaves fist clasped to chest. It's not just 'Quiz', though - it's everyone, and everything, shouting words to see what draws a rise. Of course, Kappard knows that. He was right in the first place. He and Natsuki aren't that different. They're just different-blessed in some of the important ways. They both want it. They're just fighting to decide: who wants it more. The roulette wheel winds down, Natsuki taking a position with right foot back and hands raised in lightly curled ready claws. 'Cheating is only fair?' "Using your natural edge isn't cheating -- it's the privilege of the strong!!" She shouts back, crackling with a cloak of stormy thunderhead about her shoulders and down her back, tail lashing drawn back to hover scorpion ready above head. 'And I shall prove to you the might of a lone Nottrei warrior!' Kappard's Royal Flush tracer beam isn't actually what Natsuki was ready for, but she should have expected it, all told. In this situation, were she the lone monster and Kappard one of the many, she'd probably have exploded at him. That she's tracer lasered is merely disappointing in the faintest sense because: She kind of wanted Kappard to hit her with his full force! Instead, she's beamed. By the top pair. Natsuki's arachnoid cage of defending legs and dropped-low tail are carved through with two orange lines. The energetic playing cards slice through her centerline in an X and she remains in post-hand hitstun as her stormy-crackling cloak of bad weather and attitude crackles like a blade parted mist. 'Did Lala find the pendants?' Natsuki wonders, a snarling serenity, and then, of course, she explodes violently with the rest of the vault. In the wake after, foul weather mires and wets a large area of the vault where Natsuki took the attack full-on. From the mist drops one large orange shoulder and the black foreleg it's attached to, snapping vault floortile and crunching the metal underneath as it lands. From the mist, not a woman but a monster, a beast looms forth, tusk-toothed fanged in opposite curl-outs and snarling further stormclouds out like breath-mist tinged with the faintest and misplaced snickers of birdsong. Tiger-eared and dark-backed, the Nue takes another set of advancing paces from the disaster in the vault, and moves to 'roar'.
Natsuki Nuki	Thunder peals out and lingers, a deafening blast inside the mostly-closed room that echoes in time with the bright-bright flash of conically forking lightning from jaws and tail in tandem up at the second story balcony. The backblast of the Nue's sky-splitting indoors is a wash of further wet mist and dark clouds, tumbling and rolling coins and jewels to the outside of the room that hadn't been destroyed or sucked up prior. In the aftermath, just after, those who have sensitive hearing -- are probably temporarily deafened with the 'tiiiiiiii' ring of tinnitus. Those with protected hearing or who are built different, or using the subtitle track, get a fairly clear follow up: "Don't say I'll flush and just show me a nice pair!!"
Timespace Riders	Then, would you also agree, that when the deck is stacked against you--cheating is only fair? "Indeed I would!" Woz merrily laughs as Kappard swings at him, catching Baldome in the crook of the Jikan Despear's question-marked head. He twists the haft and sets green sparks flying with the impact of the two striking surfaces. A pivot in his posture advances him forward, and he strikes out with a hook kick aimed at Kappard's center mass. "However...," Woz says, relishing the delivery of his point with a mid-battle smug hand flourish, watching indulgently as Kappard cheats the roulette, "I am afraid that makes only one of us, for you seem to be of two minds about fairness." --in the moment, you forgot that strength also comes from within! Your power, your will, your conviction! Don't deny it! That's how Quiz will get you! Woz makes an amused little 'hm.' Advancing on Kappard by way of an insufferably confident strut which can only come from the certainty that one has their opponent downloaded mentally, "You were as quick to point the disparity in numbers as you were to boast about defeating a palace guard-- with borrowed power, even." "I would expect nothing less," says Woz, planting the hooked end of the Jikan Despear into the vault's floor, causing a grinding noise as he uses it to control his advance into the graviry well, "From someone whose very weapon announces proudly his acceptance of 'the rule that governs beasts of this galaxy' at face value, gleefully taking a place as yet another of their number." SAIKYO FINISH TIME! BEYOND THE TIME! By this point, Zi-O and Woz know well enough what's coming, and prepare their own finishing strikes. Woz, fighting closer to Kappard than Zi-O at this point, goes for a right hook as the crackinling orange energy builds up across his armor, but his fist hits empty air. "Woz!" Zi-O's greatsword is wreathed in golden energy, with pink katakana arrayed along the flat of the now-burning blade. It's substantially larger than it was before--large enough for Woz to stand upon it, and the way Zi-O is holding it implies that's exactly what he expects his retainer to do. Woz makes a graceful, high-flying moonsault over the span of the vault to alight for a moment on Zi-O's sword, briefly hanging over the black line as it zips from one side of the vault to the other. When his feet are planted on the blade, Zi-O shouts with effort and launches Woz into the air after Kappard.
Timespace Riders	"True or false," shouts Woz, as he descends. "Outnumbered or not--the Precures cannot be defeated by those who have already given up." A large holographic viewscreen appears in the air between Woz and Kappard, alternating a selection between two options: O and X. Zi-O, using his greatsword as a polevault by burying it in a pile of gold, launches himself into the air, twisting in a corkscrew overhead to bring the blazing sword down on Kappard, sending the katakana ('Zi-O Rules,' a play on his king thing) rocketing into the Nottrei warrior like missiles before the explosive burst of the sword's corona. KING GIRI-GIRI SLASH! QUIZ EXPLOSION! Woz's finishing strike reveals the answer to his question, as he crashes through the true side, his leg wreathed in a ring of red Os, which surge forwards and slam into Kappard like a coiled spring, exploding as Woz gracefully springs a backflip from the point of impact while the Royal Flush explodes below.
Merelisa Shaynore	"Now you are talking like a Decepticon," "Hohh? Is that so?" Despite all the trash talk, Kappard's mood seems to be trending upwards. Lilian might have been right, that he came here either expecting no Precures or defenseless Precures, but trading insults and attacks with worthy-enough opponents-- and, even Hikaru getting in on it-- is more of a benefit to him than a hindrance. He falters a bit under Onslaught's punch, and then snaps his hand up to redirect the bot's momentum when he tries to twist around, sending Onslaught flying off to the side with a crash. "Then I invite you to talk like one too! It isn't only your paltry strength against mine that I have to overcome! For I, Kappard, to be the mightiest warrior on Nottrei, I will have to be stronger than every one of you combined!" "Using your natural edge isn't cheating -- it's the privilege of the strong!!" Kappard throws his head back and laughs while the storm intensifies overhead, and he swipes Baldome out to his side. The Blue Cat cards disintegrate into black-tinged ash, and the green wavy blades of the default sword replace them. "Well said, Lady Nue! Then allow me to capitalize on that privilege now!" Rain starts to bend towards him in a bubble, directed by his hands to accumulate more and more water around him. When the lightning strikes, the bubble boils and bursts, but from the black-steaming swirls, Kappard brandishes the new form of Baldome: sharp-edged storm clouds crackling with dark blue-green lightning. He holds it up with a triumphant "Hahh!" and leaps down from the balcony, driving the sword two-handed downwards to plummet into Natsuki with a coincidicing lightning strike lanced through it. "And a real leader wouldn't send her best into battle all dried up! Seriously, get some water in there already!" Rainwater spilling out of his sword and pooling at his feet, Kappard puffs his chest out and rolls a hand dismissively at Futaba. "And whose doing was it that drained the planet of all its water, hahh?! Not my Lady Mujinko's! It was the rule of strength, the rule of numbers, and the folly of compassion! So when I seize the way of the galaxy for myself, the rivers of Nottrei will flow free and forever ours!" "Someone whose very weapon announces proudly his acceptance of 'the rule that governs beasts of this galaxy' at face value, gleefully taking a place as yet another of their number." Knocked to her knees by Baldome's lightning strike, Kamen Rider Star forces herself back to her feet and nods firmly. "Woz is right! Whatever happened to hurt you, Kappard... it doesn't have to be the way everything works forever! Will you really be happy helping your planet even when you know you'll be hurting so many other people in the same way?!" Kappard makes a frustrated noise and closes his eyes to shake his head. As he does, an outline in the pouring rain darts behind him, person-shaped but without a person inside. He misses it, focused on Hikaru and Woz. "The cowards who smiled while handing our planet over to ruin are not my people. Neither are the lazy gluttons who siphoned it all away, feeding on compassion until they were fat and happy. I say, if they suffer, then let them suffer and try and take it back! My people are those on Nottrei, who already have! I don't have the patience to coddle them!" Hikaru flinches and steps back, uncertain. "Th-that's horrible... but...."
Merelisa Shaynore	"Star--!!" On top of a pile of gold, Lala flickers back into visibility, with Yuma clutched in her arms and humming excitedly at two specific golden relics. When Lala grabs them up, the Blue Cat-Baldome induced disguise melts away, and she's holding the two Star Color Pendants, one of which she throws to Hikaru. One budget-saving flash of light later, and The Milky Way stretching across the heavens--!" Cure Milky is standing there instead. "If that's your reasoning, Kappard, then I reject it! I want to protect everyone in the entire galazy, lun! And there's nothing you could say that'd make me believe in anything but caring about them!" She puffs up her cheeks, and her antennae spark with green electricity that zaps out to shock Kappard in place. "Star, now!" "Alright! Staaaar Kick!!!" Joining Sougo and Woz, Hikaru jumps up and streaks towards in a meteoric kick, magical star on the base of her foot. As he's stuck in place, kicked twice over, and struck by Zi-O's sword, Kappard's guard finally breaks and he goes crashing against the wall. He struggles to get up, fails, and then slumps down. A black portal opens up behind him, and just before he vanishes through it, he grunts, "This isn't over, Precures--" . . . Meanwhile, after Rita and Brawl have gone from the manor, and security disperses slowly, a certain maid peels off from the group. Cat eared, with brilliant green eyes and a tail bundled up beneath her dress, she saunters across the room and her disguise melts away. Blue Cat scoops up the left-behind ring with one finger, twirls it around, and then sighs. "Nna... some of the haul got away from me, what a hassle. Still..." She looks down at the glowing Stellar Note in her palm and adjusts her sunglasses. "Eleven more to go, nna. And then... well, what use are they without the Star Drop?"