Scene #6195: Tower of Santaga

Owner	Pose
Aoko Aozaki	Another day, another floor! Ascending the tower finally takes people to the 31st floor, which looks less like a floor and more like a very long hallway. The golden hue of the bricks is hidden by a thin layer of snow - yes, indoors - and lighting makes the area seem to be in broad daylight, a blue hue coming from several balls of... lasers... floating ominously overhead like tiny suns. Because they are in fact tiny suns. At the entrance, Aoko awaits, dressed in a white and red gettup emulating the typical look of one of Santa's helpers. She is holding something in one hand. It's gift-wrapped with rainbow paper, and shaped vaguely like a... magical girl wand? Almost assuredly that. The hallway does appear to be blocked, but not by physical objects. There are odd, phantom doors in the way, semi-transparent. Attempts to walk past them are met by slamming one's nose into the metaphorical door screen. The doors are fully physical, apparently, they just don't look it. "Hello, hello! Please introduce yourselves. I'm Aoko! I'm here to give you hints and also this!" She hands the gift to the first person who wants to have it. "If you use it right, this floor'll be a breeze!"
Doctor Strange	Doctor Strange ascends to the 31st floor, dressed not for the holidays but for sorcery. ...you might be able to say that the Cloak of Levitation, red as it is, is sufficiently festive. From the moment he sees the little suns hovering overhead, his usually dour demeanor darkens. With a sigh through his nose, he spots Aoko at the end of the hallway. "Yeah, hi," he says. "We've met." He takes a step up to one of the doors, testing its tangibility with a cautious knock. Knock, knock. Okay, that's solid. His attention returns to Aoko afterwards, and he gives her a blank, searching look as she explains. His emerald eyes focus in on the object she holds. Taking a look around, he heads back over to her and offers to take the present with visible hesitation, his face screwed into a suspicious squint.
Touta Konoe	Touta returns to the tower of Santaga once more. This time he had dressed appropriately when returning to the North Pole to be in this tower. He's been through a couple of the these floors already and a few he's seen being run by familiar faces, so there's not too much surprise when he sees Aoko appear as a Floor Keeper, or whatever the title of this was suppose to be like. "Hey Aoko, look like you decided to get in on the whole tower thing too?" He's pretty sure Aoko remembers him from Thanksgiving if not from the first floor of the tower so he does with the introductions for now. With that said he'd look around when he get a chance. It did definitely feel like they were all outside with all these strange 'suns' above their heads. Though he's seen Aokos Lasers and before and uh...They've seen pretty dangerous. If Aoko decided to hand Touta the magic wand he's probably going to step back a bit, "Yeah uh...I'm not good magical items...Definitely have someone else keep track of that." He doesn't want to ruin the challenge by breaking things that might be important. So instead of taking the wand himself he'll probably just walk around a bit and see if he can open some of these doors. See what's inside if he's alloweed to.
Staren	Although Staren has come to understand that Gilgamesh is... more complex than the initial impression of a spoiled royal who lays claim to everything, Staren is... concerned about Gil laying claim to the one holiday that has repeatedly historically resulted in periods of peace for the Multiverse. So he comes here not in support of this venture, but to see what's going on and make sure the people running the floors -- who Gil /kidnapped/, according to some rumors -- are alright. He's in armor, as always, and looks around warily until Aoko appears. When she does, he looks to her with concern. "Are you alright? Are you being held here against your will or anything?"
Aoko Aozaki	"Yep, yep! Gil promised me gifts and riches!" Technically, not untrue. And Aoko does like both of those things very much. That also answers Staren's question. "No way though, I volunteered!" That, she did. The gift is unwrapped, revealing the mystical and magical KALEIDOSTICK. Neither Ruby nor Sapphire, this is the original, a deep crimson red stick with a golden star in a white circle at the end, with wings coming out of the tip. Between the circle and the shaft is an odd, glowing crystal, the center of which seems to contain... a rainbow? Strange can tell it's a rift in spacetime. "Right, so! You guys just have to reach the end of the hallway to move on up. Of course, don't think it'll be THAT easy. I'll be over here, shouting you HOT TIPS if you get in trouble, so good luck!" Of course, this means the first obstacle is... the phantom door. A large prismatic door, phased out of reality, but still completely there. Any interactions with it result in nothing. It's like it can't be affected by anything you do, but it's still right there, and won't let you through.
Touta Konoe	"I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth Staren. Alot of people have been hosting floors and all of them seem to be doing it cause they want to. You can probably ask Hime-chan too if you're not sure. She ended up doing one of the Floors as well." He's not sure what brought up a question like that for question but he tries to reassure the guy none the less if Aoko's testimony isn't enough to persuade him to just go with the flow. As for this challenge though it appeared it was just going to be three people this time around with Staren, Doctor Strange, and himself. That was fine with him! If anything this didn't seem so crazy so far at least, and it also seemed like Aoko was gonna give tips if need be so not like they'd be too lost if there was an issue. He's definitely glad he didn't grab that magic wand now though when he sees that there's no doubt about it being some sort of magical artifact. Besides if he recalled Strange did say he was a Sorcerer Supreme which Touta sorta just equates to Magister Magi of his world. When he walks over to Strange though he's suprised to see that squint. Was he alright? Truth be told, Touta knew some things about Strange, but not like he knew everything about the guy... "Doc, you good? You want someone else to hold the wand or something...?" He definitely can't hold it, at least not bare-handed but he can probably get Staren to do it or something of the sort.
Doctor Strange	"Yeah, I did, too." Strange nods in response to Aoko. "Only way I could make sure it was being done right." After possibly passively insulting the person going out of their way to volunteer for everyone here, Strange peers at the Kaleidostick. His eyes dart back and forth between Aoko and the artifact as she explains what to do. Recognition flashes in those eyes after a cursory examination. "I'm fine," explains Strange to Touta. And that is all he says. With that extremely helpful answer given, Strange levels the Kaleidostick at the nearest phantom door. If he guesses correctly, the space-time rift in the artifact can be used to bring the doors fully into this plane, allowing them to be properly manipulated. He focuses his will through the artifact, and begins weaving a spell. Holding it in one hand like a baton, he uses the wand in tandem with his free hand to trace orange lines of energy through the air, drawing an elaborate three-pronged mandala of burning magic. The mandala is turned to face the nearest door, a circle drawn around it to enclose the spell... and the wand is tapped against it, casting the desired spell. Can the Kaleidostick allow them to fully open the doors?
Staren	Ah. Staren seems to accept that Aoko was bribed into it. He then looks over the puzzle... Such as it is. He approaches the door, and pokes it with a shock baton. Then he pulls out what looks like a crystal-studded flipphone and waves it around like he's trying to get a signal. "Hmmm..." He turns towards whoever's holding the wand now. "There's some kind of dimensional distortion in that wand... It /seems/ like using the wand on the door is the logical first thing to attempt. Are there any instructions written on it?" He moves closer for a look at the wand.
Aoko Aozaki	Strange uses the Kaleidostick! A rainbowy rift of energy tears open around him. The Kaleidostick peers through alternate realities, selects a version of Doctor Strange most suitable for the task of "opening a door", and downloads the existence right on top of him. This has no effect on Strange's memories or personality! Merely his being and capabilities. It's also temporary, he can tell. He can also put two and two together. That's the Second Magic, which means the stick probably belongs to a certain Wizard Marshall. Aoko may or may not be a thief! Or his friend. Who knows?
Doctor Strange	The Doctor Strange which appears is drastically different. While the Cloak of Levitation remains, that is the only thing which the two hold in common. The wizard's tunic is replaced with a sleek, navy-blue armor made of some sort of advanced metallic alloy, with gold boots clearly housing some sort of propulsion system, and fully articulated mechanical gauntlets. Set in the chestpiece of the armor is the Eye of Agamotto, held in place with a series of burnished brass rivets. His face is concealed completely by a helmet of a similar gold hue, with glowing red eyes set into its otherwise featureless face. Strange takes a minute to look around. He looks down at his hands, then at the doors. "Oh," says the doctor. His voice has been modulated electronically, not unlike one of Staren's suits of powered armor. Or, for that matter, Tony Stark's. His hands extend outwards, panels sliding open in the palms. Projectors fire up and begin writing sorcerous glyphs into the air, each one working on half of the mystic equation. With an electric whine, the suit completes the formula, and a blast of energy slams into the door, attempting to force it to become material. "Does Zelretch know you have this?"
Staren	Staren's eyes go wide as Strange changes. He stares in astonishment as magitech is applies to the doors. "Rotation!" Now he looks at the wand with even more interest! "You have a non-Abstractum device that can accomplish this feat?! HOW?" He looks to Aoko. "How does it work?"
Aoko Aozaki	"Does Zelretch know I..." Aoko laughs nervously. "Ssssssssure he does, why wouldn't he? Ahaha, it's not like I'd sneak into his office and look through his things while he's off on Christmas vacation in universe B-89-11.1, the universe populated entirely by Santas!" That is an oddly specific defense. "I mean sheesh, who do you take me for, a petty thief?" Of course not. On the bright side, the door opens! Or rather, becomes material, at which point anyone can just... push it open. Or kick it down. Aoko looks at Staren and shrugs widely. "Something something Second Magic something something operation of parallel worlds. I don't think anyone but the old man understands how it works. It's complicated stuff!" Past the door, the hallway looms. The snow animates itself, and golems of ice and snow march forward, ethereal just like the door used to be. They're wielding big candy canes like clubs, and when they swing them down, they're obviously physical enough to hurt the group! ... but harm doesn't stick to them! Except from the newly armored Strange. Aoko pipes up, from the entrance: "I'M CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGED TO REMIND YOU TO USE THE KALEIDOSTICK! I'LL SHOUT THIS EVERY THIRTY SECONDS IF YOU DON'T!" Gilgamesh had very strict rules about giving pointers.
Touta Konoe	"Doc...Doc is that you?!" Touta has noidea what the hell just happened. One moment Strange is there, the next thing he's looking at a robot magician with his voice. He knows magic can vary in its application but its a still a shock when something so random like this happens out of the blue. "Non-Abstracto-what-now device?" That's all that comes out of Touta's mouth as he tries to process what Staren just says. He'd appreciate if someone feels like explaining what the hell just happened but if not, he'll just try to go through this door since it's opened now. He figures he can take point, mostly because he feels like he's not going to be contributing to the actual puzzle solving of this floor, and if there's some sort of trap he figures that it might be better that he step in it than the actual magical guy and the tech guy. And what he sees on the otherside of this door is none other than magical snowmen. Not just magical snowmen, magical ETHEREAL snowmen apparently. No matter what he does he can't hit, and it seems they don't have the same problem though. Well at least he doesn't have to worry about dying. When Strange asks whose turn it is to play hot potato with the wand Touta denies it telling him to give it to Staren first. His own track record with magical things isn't good and besides...Does Aoko want to run the risk of having to try and find a replacement one of those...? Though if Strange wants to magically poof Touta with that wand, sure why the hell not? "No worries on my end! I trust ya!"
Staren	"Paralell worlds, huh?" That explains the rift. So it's not conceptual Rotation after all, but it's still pretty neat! And then there are snow goons. As we all know, snow goons are bad news. Staren dodges, then hurries back to Strange's side. He starts to reach for the wand, then hears Aoko's comment that Strange can use it on them if they're worried about messing up the magic. Oh. Good point. Yes, messing up the magic would have been terrible. "My turn! Ah, I mean, if you would, please." He bows his head and waits.
Doctor Strange	The Eye of Agamotto imbedded in the Sorcerer Armor's chest glows bright green. FUTURE Strange, also in power armor, tosses the wand to Staren, per Touta's request. Present Strange does as Aoko suggests and merely casts the spell on Touta from afar. When dealing with things he hasn't extensively researched, he prefers to let someone with an analytical mind have a crack at it versus someone who... openly admits they'll probably break it. He then disappears, traveling a few seconds into the past to throw the wand. Yes, he probably could have just cast the spell and thrown it normally. After testing a blast on them, he confirms that the same autospell works to force them into the material plane. He leans back, the suit compensating for recoil, and peppers them with harrying spells ! His flurry magical attacks target their legs, attempting to slow them down. Hopefully, Staren can find some way to dispatch them more permanently.
Staren	Strange doubles himself and the wand. What the hell?! Staren catches it. Well, if the sorcerer trusts he can activate it, it must be pretty idiot-proof. "Uh, Abracadabra?" He raps the wand gently against his arm. The magic of the wand seems to perform the opposite feat on Staren that it did upon Strange. Atop his head is a a dark red wide-brimmed, pointed, slightly floppy hat, with holes for his ears to poke through. The front of the hat bears the symbol: [><] The next most striking garment is his dark red cape, matching the hat. Under that is worn a loosefitting white shirt with long sleeves and a matching pair of baggy white pants. On his hands and feet are dark red gloves and boots to match the hat and cape, and clutched in his right hand is a wooden staff, about a foot shorter than himself, tapering to a point at the bottom and curling into a rounded knob at the top. Hanging at his right side is the blue messenger bag, completely unchanged. Magic Staren is grinning. "I've always wanted to try casting spells!" He points the staff at a golem two-handed, the wand briefly held against it. "FIREBALL!" That oughtta melt 'em!
Touta Konoe	The spell takes effect and honestly...Not much seems different about Touta. He's the same height, same face, same disposition. There are only two things that appear different about him right now. He appears to have some sort of staff, and is wearing some sort of cowl. As he looks at his body though there's a bit of a grin. Even if the changes aren't present on the outside. He can feel them inside. "Alright, I've always wanted to try this..." He holds the staff up and starts chanting. "Heed the contract and serve me, O King of the Skies! Come forth, Titan-slaying blazing thunder. Present the Widening Throwing Circle! Capture the objects first to the tenth! Established Area! Spirits, overwhelm us unto the critical pressure within! In three, two, now! Separation captivity! All spirits will send forth most valiantly like lightning! Hurl down lightning one hundred times and even one thousand times! Thousand Thunderbolts!" It seems like Staren isn't the ony one that has taken on some sort of magical persona. It's at this time the only person who would be familiar with the spell Touta conjured would be Staren. Because it's the same magical spell that was used by Nagi not too long ago in his recent encounter. A powerful bolt of lightning that descended upon the snowmen with enough force to go beyond just electrocution and to the point of burning them away and even the snow covering the field.
Aoko Aozaki	Making the snowmen material will definitely help, as it makes them imminently more vulnerable to punishment of all kinds. Of course, literal actual balls of fire are a great weapon too, blasting through the ranks of the snow soldiers like a hot knife through butter, and with reason. Thunderbolts are also, predictably, plenty hot enough when it comes to melting snow. Not to mention water conducts electricity. The hallway gets absolutely ruined by flames and lightning both. Aoko, from far back, shouts: "YEAH, GOOD JOB!" Of course, that's not all the hallway has for them. As they advance, they start noticing sparkling blue motes littered across the entire hallway's floor. One wrong step, and... The hallway is now a maze of lasers! Bright blue, burning hot, these lasers number in the hundreds, some stationary, some patrolling, some constantly peppering the group's current location. It's a right nasty mess! Are their current selves suitable for the task? They can always use the Kaleidostick as many times as they want.
Touta Konoe	Touta smiles. Even as the plethora of lasers begin to assault him he feels like this was fine. Because this form...This was the form he would have taken...If he had not been a failure. If at his time of birth what had been intended when he had been born had been successful he'd have been a magician just like his ancestors, just like Strange was...But he wasn't. Except for this single moment in time he can at least pretend he was and honestly that's okay with him. "Yeah...This is a really nice gift..." Those words come silently from the boy's mouth before he prepares himself. "Alright, time to really take advantage of this!" Once again he chanted the spell he had said previously. Though when he did so there was another set of words added to the end. "Stagnet!" Instead of the spell being released like it did before instead was retained in a spherical form. And then, it was slowly inserted into the boy's hand. "COMPLEXIO! MAGIA EREBEA: Raiten Taiso!" And from being a 'Mahou Shounen' Touta had done something he was actually capable of doing already. He literally became a mass of electrically charged particles. It's just, usually he had to depend on someone providing the lightning for him to do such a thing. But in this form...As this complete person, he had no such limitation and it felt, right..." Using the attributes given by this form Touta looked towards the other two, "I got this one!" And with that, he bolts off, literally. In this form he traverses through the maze at lightning-like speeds. Allowing him to dodge the array of lasers as they come and try to get to the end of this maze at the other side of the hall, or find whatever was the cause of this maze altogether. Maybe it was just the fanciful magic's influence but right about now, he felt like he could do anything!
Staren	Staren and Touta throw attack magic at the problem! Afterwards, Staren quips, "One of us is going to have to change." But he's grinning -- he doesn't mind at all. And then, lasers! "Uhh, barrier!" Staren tries to throw up a forcefield to block the ones /actively shooting them/, so he can have a few seconds to consider the maze. He holds the kaleidostick high... then hesitates. He waves his free hand at the hallway and intones, "I call forth... the MISTS OF MENZARIUS!" A light mist fills the hall, to make the lasers visible. Now then. Navigating a laser grid is /clearly/ a job for like, a super spy or a ninja or something else with great acrobatic skills and the ability to position your body /exactly/ where you want it. So, he figures he has some idea of how this is gonna go. Mage-Staren holds the kaleidostick high. "ABRACADABRA! CLASS CHANGE!" ...What's left is a Staren that's... wearing a band T-shirt and ripped jeans. His hair is shoulder-length, and he's wearing a backwards baseball cap. And he knows what to do. Staren puts on some sunglasses. "Whatever. This works." He steps towards the hall, and then hoverjets on his sneakers turn on. What follows is a series of acrobatic tricks, the hovershoes allowing him to do skateboard movement with no board, as well as crazy parkour and something like rollerblading or ice skating. Somewhere, somewhen, is a Staren that likes to MOVE, and now Staren has his skills. The tail even lets him shift his weight and move in ways a human couldn't! Staren lands on the opposite end of the hallway, after it all. "Pff." His long hair has gotten in his face, and he blows at it and then pulls it aside with his fingers. He's /about/ to look all cool, and then breaks a grin. "Okay, that was pretty damn fun. I can see why some people get into this kinda thing." He turns to Aoko. "So, what next?"
Doctor Strange	Strange holds his hands out, fingers pointed forwards. "Got it," he replies to Touta. The Eye begins to hum audibly, green light spilling out from the jewel in the suit's chest. Emerald lightning arcs between his hands, increasing in intensity until there's no space between the arcs--a ray of brilliant green light. It shoots out from between his hands... very slowly becoming a ring of congealed time. An unbroken chain of time spins rapidly in the air before him. The thrusters in Strange's boots kick on, the Cloak of Levitation lighting up with previously unseen electrical circuits. The Cloak holds him aloft, the thrusters push him--straight through the floating ring. His speed is amplified, and, like Touta and Staren before him, he navigates the maze. Staren's mist makes it easier for him to spot the lasers, and his own speed improvement mirrors the speed with which Touta had bolted through. Upon getting to the other side, the time acceleration wears off, and he shuts off the thrusters. The Cloak gently lowers him back to the ground. "Nice shirt," he says to Staren. "...dude."
Aoko Aozaki	Becoming light, becoming a skaterbro, and playing Superman 64 with Time Hoops are all suitable ways to clear the maze of lasers! Once the party is past the threat, the beams die off, the trap "disarmed" by success. Aoko, now further back, shouts, louder to compensate for distance, "NEXT IS A TEST OF VALOR!" Valor, huh? Well, there's another one of those doors ahead, but there's people in front of it, too. Or... faux-people, really. Replicas. Stand-in dummies. There's three; a man, a woman, and a child. The man is pointing a gun at the woman. The woman has a leash around the child's neck. The child is holding a bomb. It would seem that doing anything to any of them would set off a chain reaction. Is the goal to set only one off? To set them all off? To disarm all three? On each mannequin, a timer appears. Two minutes on the bomb. One minute on the woman's leash-holding arm. Thirty seconds on the man's arm holding the gun.
Touta Konoe	Touta trusts Strange with the gun, even with only thirty seconds he's sure a Sorceror Supreme can handle it no issue. As for the leash, he can imagine that Staren can get that removed no problem. Then tehre's the bomb...While the timer on it was the longest it was prbably the most dangerous of the three scenarios. Even if they stopped the other two from occurring if the bomb went off, the man, the woman, and the child would all be caught up in it. So with that, he's just going to take the bomb from the child and use the same speed as before to try and bring it to the otherside of the maze or farther if need be to let it detonate somewhere that would have no harm to anyone else. And if for some reason that was a flop because the bom ends up detonating pre-maturely he can just try to take the blunt of the explosion by smothering it from a distance. He might freak out Strange since he's never seen a kid explode before but it uh...Well actually, why does he need to do this for cut-outs again? Oh well, doing it anyway...
Doctor Strange	Strange calls out a request to Staren. "Staren," he says. "Wand me." There isn't much time to act. He creates another ring of time to increase his speed. When Staren casts the spell upon him the change is drastic. In place of the armored sorcerer, there now stands a shirtless Strange, in loose black pants and trainers. He is... scrawny. But when he leaps through the ring, it's plain to see that even without time magic, this Strange has ups. The leap is easily three feet vertical at its apex, and carries him all the way to the three-way standoff. He hits the ground and is immediately in motion again, his upper body turning and pivoting like a well-oiled machine. His muscles suddenly stand out in stunning definition. One hand rises up, striking the underside of the mannequin's chin. The other capitalizes on the application of force, and reaches to strip the gun from its hand. He's off the ground again in the blink of an eye, turning midair to plant his foot against the mannequin's chest. "haaaA!"
Staren	"Pff." is Staren's response to the comment about the shirt, but he takes it good-naturedly. And then... a hostage situation! Sort of. Staren has a vague sense of what direction this might go, but... <J-IC-Scene> Doctor Strange says, "Staren, wand me." "Sure thing! 'Dude.' ABRACA-CLASS CHANGE!" He points it at Strange dramatically! (And if that doesn't work, runs up to him and pokes him with the wand in case physical contact is needed) And then he holds the wand high. "ABRACA-CLASS CHANGE!" There's a blinding light for anyone looking directly at him, and then... "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!" Proclaims what is obviously a magical girl, ribbons and all, pointing the wand at the group of three mannequins. "I know it seems like the only way! But there's people out there that care about you! And if there aren't," She holds a hand to her chest, "/I/ care about you! And as long as ONE person cares, there's HOPE! Hope for a brighter future where everything is better! Because I'm going to MAKE it better! Whatever has caused you to fall into despair, I'll end it! Because SOMEONE has to! Even if you have no hope left, I'll help you!" She holds out her hands. "But you have to let me. You have to let hope back into your life. So put down the, uh... leash." Since only one mannequin still has its weapon.
Aoko Aozaki	Touta yanks the bomb. If not for the speed granted to him by becoming lightning, it would have been a terrible idea. Luckily, he's fast. The bomb detonates far enough that there's no trouble for anyone but the teenager, and even then, he's still fast enough to rejoin the group without a single concern of being caught in the blast! Strange opts for a more direct approach, ruthlessly beating up a mannequin to disarm it. The hair-trigger finger of the dummy would have been an issue if Strange didn't deliver blows like a typhoon. Luckily, he does, and the man topples over harmlessly. Which leaves the leash. A magical girl speech moves it! Not literally, because it's a mannequin, but clearly the trial(?) detects the effort put into it, and the mannequin's hand around the leash loosens, allowing it to fall to the ground. The door opens. There is one final door ahead. The floor is gridded, and there are red, blue and yellow tiles strewn about. There are also large, very heavy blocks, some red, some blue, and some yellow, scattered in the corners of the room. It's the dreaded block-pushing puzzle! Only the blocks are incredibly heavy, and they don't all match the size of the tiles they should be going on. In fact one of the blocks is a sphere! And one is a cylinder. Maybe they ran out of blocks? It might matter for the puzzle though.
Staren	Staren positively beams, grinning wide for a few seconds. So this is what it feels like to have a hope speech work for once! She could be sad that it won't work again... but her mind doesn't even go that way. There are problems to solve! "Maybe the wand works on the blocks too?" She tries it with a couple. "Abraca-cube! Abraca-slightly-smaller-cube!" And then Touta muses about trying the wand. There are probably all sorts of magical reasons why that's a bad idea but Magical Girl Staren BELIEVES IN HER FRIENDS! "You should reach for your dreams!" She strides up to him and hands the wand over.
Touta Konoe	Touta takes the wand and nods, "Well if I can cast spells right now I guess that means this works." And with that thought process he immediately starts twirling it between his finger tips for a moment to get accustomed to the wand's weight and dimensions. "Alright, guess we won't know if this works unless we give it a try." He aims the wand at the newly transformed blocks in an attempt to move them towards their designated spots all at once. He figures the only way this flops is if somehow he tranforms back from what he is now to normal...So he just needs to stop thinking about it...Stop thinking about it...STOP THINKING ABOUT IT TOUTA. The wand isn't going to return him back to normal if he thinks about it is it? Right? Right...
Doctor Strange	"Alright, alternate blocks. It's worth a shot," says Strange with a nod towards Magical Girl Staren. "I'm gonna try something, too." The sorcerer approaches one of the blocks. It's one of the ones that's too big to fit into its hole, as well as being the wrong shape. The cylinder, to be precise. He loosens up his stance, runs a thumb across his nose. One hand raises above and behind his head, fingers held loose--Staren and Touta both can see there are no scars upon them. Orange glyphs spark into existence around his arm, circling slowly around it. His hand balls up into a fist. It glows a bright orange, to match the color of the ring of glyphs around his hand... And then Strange strikes it, three times in quick succession, uttering a cry with each strike reminiscent of a famous martial artist. "Huh!" The first strike attempts to bend the shape of the cylinder into something smaller and more easily manipulated, as well as push it a little towards the nearest square hole. Advancing with his right foot, Strange strikes with the opposite hand, now surrounded by glowing runes and brightly burning, itself. "Ha!" That strike aims to force its shape into a square, pushing it a little further. Advancing with the left foot, he makes a third and final strike, a direct and forceful punch aiming to push it the rest of the way and send it sliding into its slot. "AH!" And after that, he simply watches as Touta moves the rest of him, once more relaxing his posture. "Nice."
Aoko Aozaki	Strange punches a cylinger into a cube, and by the same token, puts one block into position! Staren finds the wand can indeed change the shape of some of the non-blocks (or blocks, if mis-aimed!), and by the time Touta has ahold of it, he can use it to push them onto tiles! ... one at a time, sadly. But it's not like there's anyone or anything to stop them from progressing. One at a time still means the puzzle is solved, eventually! And just like that, the door opens. Aoko awaits for them at the exit (slash stairs going to the next floor), grinning. How did she get there? It is a mystery! <=(°o° )=> "Ahaha, good job! Well, the King said I had to give you something when you win, so--" A voice thunders. "AOKO AOZAKI." A man walks into reality. Rather literally so, as he shimmers into existence mid-stride, a prismatic kaleidoscope of endless realities and colors shimmering behind him before closing. He looks fairly old, with white-gray hair, a short beard and piercing red eyes. His outfit is very formal, including a sort of cowl or half-cape, all black, save for golden trimmings and white gloves. He has a cane, one of those simple ones that ends in a red orb for grasping. His free hand rises, and the Kaleidoscope shimmers out of reality, reappearing in his hand. He stuffs it inside his cape and looks at Aoko, half-amused and half-cross. "Ooooh. Would you believe me if I said it was Touko?" Aoko asks. Zelretch grabs the red-head by the ear and yanks her back. "No." "WELL, BYE GUYS, IT WAS FUUUN!" The two vanish as Zelretch pulls her back into that same effect he used to appear in the first place. She didn't even give you your prize! This floor sucked. The Kaleidostick's effects wear off moments later.
Staren	ANOTHER PUZZLE SOLVED! This feels great. And then someone takes the kaleidoscope and leaves. Staren holds out her hands. "Hey, wait, we need that!" Allowing worry into her heart breaks the transformation -- the be-ribboned outfit fades away, leaving a Staren in almost his normal clothes, except she's wearing glasses and a cat-ear hoodie with the hood down instead of a labcoat. She only has a second or two to be surprised about that before the kaleidoscope's effect wears off, and he's back to normal, in his armor and everything. After a moment, he turns to the others and opens his visor. "So, is this what all the floors have been like?"
Touta Konoe	And with that the stick returns...And Touta's back to being...Touta. There's a bit of disappoint. Maybe he was jibbed about the stockings, or maybe it was something else. But as soon as he catches himself bumming out he puts his arms behind his back and tries to put up a smile. "Well, that's a bummer. I was having alot of fun. Well, that was probably one of the more interesting floors I've been on so far. But now that it's done I think I'll probably just go home for a bit or something. Was good seeing you again Doc. And uh, Staren..." He really doesn't know what to say about Staren since the last time he saw the guy he had been trying to attack Nagi, and there was that whole accusation of them cheating. Now that he thinks about it, it was probably why it was a bit difficult for him to try being more casual with him than he usually would.
Doctor Strange	Strange is back in his traditional tunic-and-cape ensemble. "Yeah," he says to Staren. "More or less. I'm pretty proud of the one I did. Put some Christmas spirit in and everything. Think I scared people off with 'test of wits,' though." He makes air quotes for that, giving a sigh. Strange clicks his tongue. "Some of them are more straightforward, but in general, yeah, you need X item to do Y." The sorcerer claps Touta on the shoulder and makes finger-guns at Staren, then does his own version of Zelretch-ing away, burning a hole in reality and stepping through it. "Later, guys."