1808/Like Clockwork

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Like Clockwork
Date of Scene: 14 March 2015
Location: Midnight Shrine Tokyo <MST>
Synopsis: A clockmaker is identified as the host to a monster known as a Life Gear. Both the Confederacy and Union take action to stop him!
Cast of Characters: 11, 127, 172, 589


Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The last of these monster hunts that Miko went on as a magical girl also was a joint Union/Confederate operation. But maybe it was less 'Union/Confederate' and more 'Miko + A Friend + Confederate'. While she definitely has Confederate interests in mind here, she's not thinking of it in those terms. It's easier to not bring the war into the subject and just work with Sakura for a common goal.

    Though they should probably hang out in a way that DOESN'T involve hunting down monsters at some point.

    For this operation, they've identified not only a type of magic that shouldn't be around at a certain watchmaker's shop, but White Rose has also possibly identified who is behind it. That means they're going into this forewarned as to what they're dealing with - a stark difference from the previous mission.

    Miko is dressed in her standard outfit: white, long-sleeved shirt; brown sleeveless vest over-top; knee-length brown pleated skirt; socks; shoes. No reason for anything fancy this time around. White Rose won't be going into the unassuming shop with them, but while the group is gathered at a nearby cafe, she's giving them a run-down on the situation. While munching on a chunk of a chocolate chip cookie.

    "So, people have been confused lately about how much time has passed, thinking it's earlier than it is, or a day before the present, and stuff like that. We tracked these victims to this old watchmaker's shop that has suddenly seen an influx of business. A quick inspection got me close enough to determine there's Time Magic on the owner's time pieces. This type of operation is pretty standard for a group of Nether Realm enemies known as the 'Epoch Saints'. We've faced them before, but we don't really know much more than that, or what their agenda really is." the fairy explains. She is small, with curly white hair, red eyes, and standard fairy wings. She pauses to fly up and glug glug glug some milk. Smacking her lips and letting out a satisfied, 'Aaaah~!' she flies back down to wipe her mouth on a napkin, and then suddenly returns to serious explanation mode.

    "They implant something called a 'Life Gear' inside of someone, and then that person starts stealing 'time' from those around them, usually by some kind of physical object, though occasionally an action like shaking hands or smooching, or even just gathering people in one place via some kind of event and stealing their time all at once. Seconds, minutes, hours, or even entire days can be stolen. When enough 'time' has been taken, the Life Gear awakens and transforms the host into a monster. It may also transform earlier if confronted by magical girls, and is weaker due to not having time to develop fully. Defeating the monsters frees the host and returns the stolen time to the victims." White Rose flutters up into the air, and Miko shifts in her seat to try to block any other customers from seeing the careless dream pixie. "Ideally, we want to force it to transform early. It will be easier to beat. But we don't know how much 'time' it has stolen or how much it needs to transform, so don't assume anything about its strength! Overwhelming violence is the order of the day!"

    White Rose nods her head several times, hands on her hips, and asks, "Any questions?"

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura is here! Alone with... a boy. A high schooler, maybe - or possibly university student? It can be hard to tell. He's very pretty, anyway, which makes him look a little younger than he actually is. He introduced himself as Yukito Tsukishiro, a friend of Sakura's brother. He seems to be 'in' on this whole business, at least. Maybe he's keeping an eye on Sakura for her brother? He's dressed in casual clothes - t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He's kinda thin, which is odd, because he's eating even more than White Rose.

    Also with Sakura is Kero, of course, who is -also- eating rather gluttonously. Sheesh.

    Sakura herself is dressed in pale pink and blue - a pink tank top and blue jeans, along with pink sneakers, and a blue, long-sleeved jacket. "Time magic... mmh. ... I hope we find Time soon, Kero," she murmurs.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    While Kirikou can be down with hanging out with someone, even a Union someone, for reasons not related to monster hunting... well, hanging out and hunting monsters together is a pretty awesome thing too. It honestly didn't take much persuasion to get Kilik to sign up for this. Killing monsters is pretty much his all-time favourite type of mission... particularly considering how unlikely it is for him to be assigned a mission to join a band or eat a lot of food. He's no stranger to having to destroy humans who have turned into monsters either... though in most cases, those he hunts are those who chose to become monsters.

    The Twins are here, of course. Sucking noisily on straws embedded deep into milkshakes. Kirikou's enjoying a pastry. He puts it down though, raising a somewhat sticky-fingered hand. "Overwhelming violence is my specialty." he grins. "But... this guy. These guys. They didn't choose to become monsters right? Any chance we'll get to meet the Epoch Saints on this? Or be able to stop the monster before it gets going?" he asks. Not because he has much hope, but ... well, because it has to be asked. Besides, they have a Union rep joining them. Petals isn't as insufferable as most of them, but ... well, she's probably not very murderous.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal man was good to help with monster hunts, after all monsters preyed upon the tax base of the Confeds, also he saw no need to incite an uprising y neglecting their jobs. After all these were not the humans of his world and thus he didn't consider them the same until they proved otherwise.

"Temporal humm?"

Metal Man thankfully isn't alone as Flash Man is her,e though that slasher grin he tends to have, may be possibly creepy to some? He's got a very good understanding of Time and could be a boone here.

"So something that is altering time more or less? Maybe they are stealing time from people?"

Metla Man pauses "You mean say to take a day of someone's life and adde it to their own?"

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    Miko says, "We're not sure of the details of how they come to be possessed, I don't think. But there has definitely been a pattern. People who don't have long to live, really old people, people who are scared of death... Basically, people who might benefit from adding on more 'time' to the end of their lives. That's as close as we can figure it, anyway. There's a magical girl group known as the Witching Hour who are the normal bunch to face the Epoch Saints, so they might know more." And hopefully helping them against the Epoch Saints will give the Witching Hour a favorable opinion of Princess Paladin, and perhaps the Confederacy by extension. "The only reason we even know the name 'Epoch Saints' is because one of the monsters blabbed a bit too much when I was killing it."

    White Rose nods to Metal Man. "Pretty much. Stealing 'time' to augment their own. Where the Life Gears are coming from, and why someone is distributing them is a big fat question mark." She scratches her cheek as she looks at Yukito curiously. Presumably introductions have already been made. "If we're hoping to save the host, the best thing we can do is confront him and force him to transform. I don't know if he'd retain a monster's resilience if attacked in human form or not, but it's already been stealing 'time' for a bit now, so delaying isn't in anyone's best interests. Some kind of covert mission to sabotage plans or whatever is just unnecessary. We know where the host is, we know WHO it is, the only complication is getting him alone and not getting any bystanders involved. When they're cornered, they'll transform for sure!" The fairy clenches her fists.

    Miko nods and says, "Defeating the monster will free the host. Any damage taken as a monster is reversed when they go back to normal. I don't know if we have any likelihood of actually running into the Epoch Saints. We don't even know who they are or what they look like. But they're the ones calling the shots, presumably, and enough interference in their plans might draw them out. Most of these types tend to be powerful, though, so it might not be a good idea to fight them if we do run into them."

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    "We need to get the target alone? Mmmh..." Sakura considers for a moment. "...Well. If they're not immune to magic or something... then that migth not be hard." She flicks her wrist - and produces one of those wonderful Cards of hers. This one depicts... a maze. And is named The Maze. Well then.

    Yukito peers down at White Rose when she looks at him... then gives a little finger wave and a smile.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Kilik grins down at Petals. "I'll leave the magic to you. I can't think of any good way to get some old guy alone, and I don't really want to!" he claims.

    Slightly more seriously, Kirikou turns to Fire and Thunder. "No holding back then." he says, though the words are as much to everyone as to them. "Just a regular monster hunt then. Destroy it, and the human host is saved." he says, shrugging. No different than hunting Kishin eggs then. Except there's not going to be a soul for Fire or Thunder afterwards. Oh, and it's not actual killing too. That's fine. He no more gets off on killing than Fire and Thunder would enjoy eating an innocent soul.

    He glances down at the card Petals is carrying. "That's amazing!" he puns cheerfully. "I bet he won't know what hit him!" he adds. Figuring, inwardly, it's likely to be Fire. Or Thunder. And probably various weapons from his companions.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man humms and seems about pleased as Flash Man is, so they take a little time but on a large scale? If you took a min of life say from everyone in New york you'd add 15 years of life to your own. A clever trick relaly and this makes him him wonder about if Flash Man and He are really well suited for hunting this thing. Given they are not alive in the biological sense. He moves in and get the idea they are to save the host and looks to Flash who grimaces but nods in agreement.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    It seems like they have a plan! Sakura's Maze should help them isolate the enemy, and then it's just down to pummeling him until he turns good again. Easy peasy! Soon enough, the group is on their way to the watchmaker's shop. It's not necessarily small, but it's crowded with all manner of clocks. Grandfather clocks, cat and owl and other-animal locks, clocks with music boxes, alarm clocks, and countless others. Some that look like people, some that look like fictional characters, some that look like household objects such as telephones, on and on and on. Big, small, medium, and - of course - there are wristwatches in abundance beneath several glass display cases.

    It makes the place feel much smaller than it actually is to be hemmed in on all sides like this. There's also the sound of all the clocks tic-tocking all at once, each with their own tone and pace, but all keeping track of the same time in the same rhythmn. Miko glances around, trying to spot the owner, but the shop that has been so busy of late seems to be empty of customers for the moment.

    She glances at the others to see how they're faring and if they've noticed anything. Despite all the noise of clocks, it also seem kind of quiet somehow. Empty, with just machinery working and no people around. It's peaceful in its own way. Miko actually... Regrets she has to have the owner of the store as her enemy. She thinks she'd like to just sit here sometime and listen to the clocks. Explore and examine the wide-variety. It's a really cool place. And something about it just resonates with her.

    For a moment, she worries maybe there's some kind of magical influence, but probably Sakura would alert them if there was anything like that.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    And so off they go! With Sakura walking along without a care in the world, apparently - hands behind her head, kinda humming idly to herself. She at least is not at all concerned. Yukito seems to be fairly cheerful himself, too, although come to think of it he's been pretty cheery this entire time. Must be from hanging out with the mega-cheerful Sakura so often.

    Kero, meanwhile, ducks into Sakura's pocket.

    As they enter the clock shop, Sakura can't help but gaze around in awe. "Woooow... there's so many... um... clocks." Pause. "Huuuh. I guess that's... to be expected in a clock store..."

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Kirikou peers around, fascinated almost in spite of himself. He can't wear a watch of course. It'd be ludicrously silly to wear one when it'd interfere with his chosen weapons. Still he's enough into bling to appreciate the style of a nice watch. Or, as it were, a tastelessly-ostentatious one. The twins can have watches though. Of course they're not restricted as their clothes and ornamentations don't matter when they're transformed. Their chosen style is more Mickey Mouse than Rolex however, and they seem just fascinated by the ticking mayhem of the entire collection of everything.

    "This kind of job will drive you crazy, you know." he confides to Miko. "All the ticking. You'll soon tock to yourself." he adds. Other than that though, he just waits. He doesn't have the first clue about this sort of magic, and will wait for others to provide the clues for now.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man is more than willing to cover things as he goes in, Flash Man meanwhils primes his plasma shotgun making ready for whatever might be going on here. The two Wily robots get they might be for in a bit of a time delaing with magic after all. However Metal's been around so long he's just used to it really there's no other way to say more than that.

"Keep alert."

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    While Miko and Sakura and Yukito and Kirikou and the twins could all pass for customers readily enough, even if it's unusual for such a mix to come in at the same time, the two suspiciously-garbed people coming in with them is a bit much to miss. An elderly Japanese man in very old-fashioned clothes emerges from the back room behind the counter to greet them. Miko doesn't get to respond to Kirikou's bewildering pun, because she is focused on this stranger.

    "Welcome, everyone." the elderly man offers, his eyes squinted, and a smile on his face. He seems kindly, like someone's grandfather, but he is also definitely the host to a Life Gear, according to Miko and White Rose. "Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, or anything in particular you're looking for."

    Miko bows respectfully. This may be wasting precious seconds, but rather than rushing into things, it's better if she gives those with her the chance to prepare and act while she distracts the host. "Thank you. I heard you've gained a lot of popularity recently with your newest time pieces. I was wondering if you could show me one of them?" she asks with a polite smile.

    The man laughs lightly and says, "Hoooh? I'm popular now? I guess I HAVE had more customers lately..." Then he gestures at the display case in front of himself. "You are free to look at any of these. Perhaps you will find one that suits you." One squinted eye cracks open a bit to peer at the rest of the 'customers'. "And perhaps your companions too."

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Yukito steps in front of Sakura, ostensibly to take a look at one of the animal clocks. He glances down at one of the twins - Fire or Thunder? He has no idea, they're practically identical - and smiles a bit. "What do you think of this one?" he asks.

    Meanwhile, Sakura is using the distraction to mutter out an incantation. "O Key that hides the power of the Stars..." it begins!

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal And Flash Man need to get some better way to hide htier nature but the two hooded and cloaked wily robots? Are just casually checking out the store. Wily did need a new clock and they are actually considerng legitly buying one if nothing actually goes down while they look. However both are watching thier own HUDs as well for any energy signatures...

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Kirikou gives a winning grin to the old man. "She dragged us in for watches." he claims, not bothering to have to act interested in the merchandise. He IS interested, even if he's got no intentions of being a customer. "Newest pieces huh? You got anything really spectacular?" he asks.

    Thunder looks up at Yukito, but doesn't reply. She's just wearing a small smile, the same as she habitually wears. Either she doesn't understand him, or she doesn't understand... or she just doesn't talk. She just stares at him with that little smile, being admittedly just a wee bit creepy in that way small children have. And no, Kirikou doesn't explain. That would detract from their mission... or he's just amused at Yukito probably getting flustered. One or the other, or possibly both.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    It seems the old man isn't actually able to sense magic, so he's unaware of what Sakura is doing. Maybe he really is just normal. Maybe Miko was wrong. As she advances towards him, making sure to keep her eyes on him and not on the merchandise, she hopes everyone else is ready to act as soon as Sakura does. She doesn't want to risk having to pick up one of the watches because she was prompted to or something and get afflicted with its curse.

    "Certainly. Come, come. They're over here, young man." the shop owner replies to Kirikou. "You can both even try some on, if you like," the elderly man says, almost as if reading Miko's mind.

    She smiles a bit wider and says, "Oh, how generous. I'll see if there's any I would like to try on first." She looks in Kirikou's direction, trying to warn him silently. 'Don't touch anything.'

    She's coming closer and closer to someone who may be the host to a Life Gear. A monster who could easily tear her apart in her squishy civilian identity. Her heartbeat is a bit faster than usual as her nervousness increases, but she tries not to let it show as she bends forward to look at what lies under the display cases.

    They'll have to act fast when the moment arrives.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Yukito blinks at Lightning in mild confusion for a few moments at her reaction... but then just smiles. It's a pretty gregarious smile! Sheesh. Is everyone from Sakura's world like this?

    "Release..!" the incantation finishes. It's... hard to miss that -something- is going on, now, as a bit of wind picks up, blowing dust around Sakura. Not to mention the glow from ehr magic circle!

    Sakura then steps out into view, a card already being produced from her pocket. "Maze..!" she calls out, card flung into the air, wand broguht up. Her magic circle appears at her feet again...

    There's a disorienting -twisting- of space around them, and then...

    Green. They're surrounded by -green-. After a few moments it becomes clear that they're in a green corridor, a few yards wide, with a green sky above them and a green floor below them. But. Seriously. -Greeeeeen-.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    Kirikou has no issues with taking point here. Unlike Miko, he can transform into battlemode in an instant. And even without his weapons on his fists, he's still got speed and toughness on his side. Nothing's going to catch him unawares while his guard's up... or so he hopes.

    He catches Miko's look at mention of trying something on. By her concern, he supposes that might be a bad move. He might not get all her meaning, but some of it's clear enough. He'll keep the old man focussed on him, at least until things start to happen.

    Thunder does respond to the big smile, her mouth opening into a wide grin. A REALLY wide grin, as if the child's mouth could open up like a snake's. No unnecessarily-pointed fangs though, just normal children teeth in that too-wide mouth.

    When the Maze spell slams around them, once Kirikou's oriented himself within the green, he blinks. Then he raises his fists. "Fire. Thunder." he says, calmly, presenting himself before their 'victim'. The twins obediently take the cue, turning into streaks of reddish-orange and yellow-blue that flash to his upraised fists, forming around them and coalescing into massive gauntlets. Gauntlets that are somehow... grinning malevolently. And Kirikou himself is smirking to match them. He doesn't attack though. No point in attacking the human before the monster's revealed.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man is just keeping to himself however the offer to try it on does get his attention he's a bit guarded now given they are likely in the den of the beast at the moment. He's got the feeling it's about time to act and they start moving towards Miko he know what he's got to do and Flash Man is already prepping his time stopper should it be needed, yet he's cautious when two different temporal powers meet it can get messy.

Their scanner go off but it's too late and soon they are pulled into the mze with everyone else, as they arrive the cloaks come off and their nature is clear.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The store owner lets out a surprised noise when wind starts blowing around inside the store, and is even more surprised when he finds himself in some kind of green corridor or something. "I-I knew it! Magical girls! Intruders!" the man cries out, revealing he is indeed not what he seems. He doesn't know what Kirikou is exactly. Perhaps some sort of Magical Boy. The two armored figures are also unrecognized, but might be familiars or mentors or something. There's lots of weird magic out there.

    "I've gathered almost all the 'time' I need to become immortal! You won't stop me at this stage!" Then his old-fashioned clothes seem to swell and smooth out, becoming thicker and gaining a metallic sheen. His flesh turned to bronze, and his eyes gain a glass coating, under which the eyeballs themselves seem to roll and move wildly. His nearly-bald head is smooth metal, his white moustache is copper wire, and a large cog wheel rotates out of a 'slot' that has formed in his back. That must be the Life Gear, almost wholly integrated into his body!

    Miko is disoriented by the shift in space but her gohei has already appeared in her hand, and with a quick twirl, a wave of pink light passes over her, transforming her into a shining pink silhouette. Her body visible grows taller, but also slims down as well. Her hair style shifts, as well. When the light splinters away from her, it leaves behind a new outfit like a cross between a school uniform and knight's armor, and a woman in her 20s who looks nothing like Miko at all. In her hand, her prayer rod has become a long metal rod with a pink crystal sphere on the end.

    She doesn't waste time with speeches like most magical girls would. She simply yells, "SHOOT HIM!" And then aims the Sacred Scepter at the Monster. "PENANCE BEAM!" A spiralling pink beam of energy shoots from the staff, trying to drill through the enemy! But his transformed body is sturdy, especially if he was close to transforming originally anyway, and it might take more than one attack to get through his defenses!

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    "SHOT!" Sakura calls out, as she flicks yet another of her cards into the air and brings her wand up to meet it. A psycadelic cloud of light forms from the card, floating up into the air... and resolves itself into a girl. Why are most of the Card spirits female?

    The girl has awesome punk rock hair, as a note. Bright pink, with a bright yellow streak down the middle. She raises both hands in a 'gun' gesture... and fires a beam of light at the monster!

    Yukito, meanwhile, takes a few steps back.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    "Magical GIRLS?" Kilik protests, more annoyed by the silent laughter of the twins in his head than by the words of the old man. "You may be almost immortal but you're senile, old man!" he insists. He hunches low, standing his ground, letting himself become the natural melee target and letting his weapons stand ready as a shield that covers most of his body without the need to move more than a few inches to block any incoming attack.

    "What do you mean, shoot him?!" Kirikou demands. "I left my guns at home! They get a bit obvious." he adds, grumbling somewhat. Though mostly this is clowning around... guns are practically useless in a fight like this for him, especially compared to the twins. "Besides, never bring guns to a FIST FIGHT!" he cries out, launching himself into a metal barrage into the clock-like body of the target. Not overcommitting, not seeking to do serious damage, just ringing out blows to establish some threat and make sure he's not ignored.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man folds his arms across his chest. "I'm not magical nor I am Female. Immortal? Sorry nothing lives for ever. Everyone goes for the long walk with the Grim Reaper someday."

Metal thinks he got what that cop ment a long time ago fionally. He wasn't bad for a Union but for now he's got ot deal with this he looks at the trnasformed man He thinks for a moment and Flash Man brings his arm up as he goes

"Tic tock, don't think your the only master of the clock."

He seems to become fast inhumanly fast as he mvoes in trying to get in to get in close to the monster.

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    The pink beam strikes the transformed man in the chest, but he throws his arms out to the sides, causing small cog wheels and gears to propel themselves from his metallic sleeves and go flying crazily on erratic arcs towards Princess Paladin like clockwork shuriken or something. Paladin's body has been enhanced her transformation so she gracefully leaps back out of range, dodging and darting to avoid the attack.

    Thankfully, Sakura's card, Shot, managed to keep the pink-haired magical girl from being pinned down, pelting the monster and driving him to shield his face with his arms.

    When Kirikou lunges in and begins to pummel him, the Life Gear doesn't see it coming. He is knocked back several steps, over and over, as the fist-fighter leaves dents and caved-in areas of the metal shell with every strike. When his arms finally stop shielding his face, a pair of blades appear in the Life Gear's hands, one in the shape of an hour hand, one in the shape of a minute hand. Then he begins to counterattack, lashing out rapidly even if there's some strange energy leaking from his body in places where he has taken the worst damage.

    Flash Man's accelerated approach should keep him from being struck when the Life Gear tries to take on both Kirikou and the Robot Master at the same time, allowing him to get in close enough to attack as well. Paladin is free to attack again, but with her allies in the same area as the enemy, she can't get a clear shot.

    But she transformed in order to take out the enemy. That was the 'rule' established. And sparing her allies isn't part of that. So though she wants to resist, she raises the Sacred Scepter above her head and calls out, "DESTROY THE GEAR ON HIS BACK OR TURN IT TOWARDS ME SO I CAN DO IT!" Not a good idea to telegraph strategies, but whether it's her that destroys the enemy or someone else, it's all the same according to the Law Magic that rules her in this form. And it's better to yell out than to just unleash the Holy Nuke she is preparing to use without warning anyone to get out of the way.

    "You won't stop the Epoch Saints! They rule all eras!" the monster yells defiantly. "This fool's 'time' will be brought to them no matter what!"

    He is basically doomed at this point, so maybe he's just trying to convince himself or something.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    "The thing about the Shot," Sakura says, to no one in particular. "Is that the more it attacks, the more accurate its attacks get. Once it starts you really can't -stop- it..." Which is why she doesn't use it very often!

    The Shot, meanwhile, keeps on firing at the Life Gear. Given a direction on -where- to attack, she follows it instantly, swooping around behind the monster to take aim at the gear! ... Wait, she takes orders from people who aren't Sakura? That's weird.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    The reason Kirikou's one of the top fighters in Shibusen, the reason he beats people with larger weapons all the time, is precisely because his own weapons have such a short reach. There's only two people who can reliably beat him. Black*Star, who uses his bare hands, and Death the Kid who uses guns. Swords, polearms, flails... all reach-based weapons take time to swing. Typically much longer to swing than it takes him to move his fists to interpose.

    Clock hands are no exception. Sure, the monster has reach on him. So what? Almost everything has reach on Kirikou in a fight. He has speed, he has armour, and he has soul. Metal rings on metal as he blocks blow after blow from the presumably deadly hands of time. He can't really counterattack, and the blows are pushing him around mercilessly, but they can't get through his guard either.

    When Princess Paladin gives her order, Kirikou catches on immediately. Freed up somewhat by the arrival of Metal Man, given a bit of a respite to move as he will, he begins to circle the monster. The creature can turn to face him, exposing its back to others, or it can remain facing Paladin and others and allow anyone moving to get behind it. When your lone vulnerable spot is on your back, it REALLY sucks to be surrounded by dangerously mobile powerhouses.

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Things are not easy right now but the magical girlls seem to be doing prety well he knows he was hear as mis support and he knows it.

Flash Man laughs. "Your think that?! Your out of time!"

Metal Man sighs inwardly the time puns. He's used to hsi brother doing this he hears ths bit about the gear however. He shifts about leaps flipin and launches a single blade for the gear if he's lucky he will score a hit.

"Let's keep this together!"

Miko Fujimoto (589) has posed:
    Shot bombards the Life Gear's vulnerable location, and Kirikou keeps its attention on him. When Metal Man comes flying in and hurls a Metal Blade into the gear, the monster can't figure out which foes to face or what to do. The gear cracks and shatters, and a ripple of grey energy radiates outwards as the monster screams out in a sound like crashing industrial-sized rolls of sheet metal. The time of others' lives is returned to them, and they'll never remember why they were confused by entire days going missing to begin with. New memories form to replace the old ones, and the whole matter is forgotten.

    But for now, they are still in Sakura's maze with an elderly man who is lying unconscious on the floor - and no longer made out of metal and clockwork. Paladin lowers the Sacred Scepter and releases her breath slowly. She'll hold off on reverting to her true form until they're somewhere safer. "Good work, everyone. That was significantly easier than facing a Life Gear alone. Sakura, if you can return us to the store, it would be appreciated."

    There's more she'd like to say. Things she's thinking. But none of it would contribute meaningfully. Still, she needs to report to White Rose later. So it's 'immortality' that people are being promised? Or was it just this one man who wanted that? Life extension seems to be the key theme with these hosts, but if they're gathering 'time' under the delusion it will help them, but the true purpose of the Life Gears is to harvest and bring that time to the Epoch Saints... Part of the mystery of the motivations of this villainous group may have just been revealed. Turning normal civilians, desperate to live, into a proxies for the theft of 'time' from other people's lives.

    To what end exactly still remains a mystery... But it's progress.

Sakura Kinomoto (172) has posed:
    Sakura snaps her fingers. The Shot Card returns to being a... card, and Sakura kisses it gently before stowing it away. "Exit, please!" she says cheerfully. The wall to her left suddenly slides down to create a doorway, more walls sliding up into place and down out of the way to form a corridor leading to a white, shining beacon. Sakura happily begins to walk towards it!

    Followed by Yukito, of course.

Kirikou (127) has posed:
    "We cleaned his clock." Kirikou states with evident satisfaction, straightening from his combat crouch. "Seriously though, what is it with idiots and immortality? Like they think it makes them unbeatable? I don't care HOW old you are. You're still going down if you're stupid."

Metal Man (11) has posed:
Metal Man hold shis fire as he's hit the gear, Flash Man seems sad and powers his weapon down. He's just glad this mess is solved, well Metal Man is. He now looks about to the others and moves to go recover his cloak.

"This never fails to amaze me these things tend to be as varied as robots."

It's kinda strange that but he's long eince got used ot it.

"You never yell you are unstoppable or can not be harmed. It never ends well."