2013-10-02 - Fight, ShiShi-kun! Ome Water Park Troubles!

Fight, ShiShi-kun! Ome Water Park Troubles!
Summary: A Jewel Seed manifests at the opening of Ome Water Park. Magical girls and mascots to the rescue — and Vita seeks revenge!
Who: Ren Aizawa, Tokiko Amagawa (as ShiShi the Lion), Jay Dawson, Suzu Hamasaki, Madobe Kuroi (as Merry the Melancholic Mule), Nanoha Takamachi, Fate Testarossa (as the Jewel Seed), Vita
Where: Tama Outer City, Ome Water Park
OOC - IC Date: 10/2/2013 - 9/27/2013

IT'S FRIDAY. Better start enjoying the weekend while it's hot.

A small water park located on one of the many rivers of the Tama region has done a lot of publicity lately. Predictably it's gotten pretty crowded and popular. Now everyone wants to go see what's up there! Lots of attractions, lots of staff, it shows why it's popular. It's awesome, and the heat lends itself to visiting these places. Especially on friday evenings!

But not everyone might be here for their entertainment. Somewhere in the park, a dim magical signature can be picked up. It's active, powerful, but trying very hard to hide. It's hard to pinpoint, though, and that's why people are going to have to suffer the crowds and scout the place if they don't want to just wait for it to show itself.

In such a location it'll probably be awful either way.

So far nothing has exploded, at least, but there's always that weird tingling in the air that tugs at the magically inclined. Like being observed, from all angles.

Hurray for Friday!

There's school on Saturday, mind, so it's not as awesome as it could be. But hurray for Friday anyway!

Suzu actually has limited homework to do today. She thought she'd go out for a nice long walk. It's not quite what she wants to do - she really, really wants to go swimming - but it's the best she can without causing problems she does not want to.

Suzu is currently not at the water park, but just near it. At Juuban she's assumed to be afraid of water because of how much she hates even rain and the fact that she's missed every swim day ever, but she's not too far from the river at the moment, sitting on the side in one of the parks and looking out at it a little wistfully.

The faint sense of magic is a nagging sensation to her, though - something new. She didn't feel it before. Suzu rises from where she was sitting and begins to pick her way toward the water park, half curious and half nervous as to what she's going to find there. It's probably nothing, right? She's not even very /good/ at detecting magic.

Vita is in the waterpark. She is also in a swimsuit. It is a white one-piece swimsuit with a big black skull in the middle of the chest. She frowns to herself as she walks around on bare feet, pushing through the crowds of much larger people. "I know there's a stupid magical source here, but I don't think this 'disguise' was a good idea." She grumbles to herself. "I feel so unprotected! Do people really wear this stuff for fun?" She looks at the evidence all about her, and it makes her frown some more. "I guess so. Can't I just make a barrier? Then I wouldn't have to bother 'blending in'." "Nein, Kapitan!" Graf Eisen replies, for her ears alone. He is currently a hammer-shaped pendant on a chain around her neck. "Die General will, dass wir vorsichtig sein!" "Yeah yeah, I get it. Don't show our hand until we know the prize is worth it." Vita sighs, elbowing a little kid out of the way. He windmills his arms and tumbles into the pool while she walks on, without even looking back. "This better be worth it, that's all." At least Hayate is safe at home with Shamal and Zafira, so no one here is likely to recognize the pint-sized redhead.

Something has been nagging at Tokiko Amagawa all day at the Institute. It's taken a few hours after school let out to track it down to the Ome Water Park - but it's packed with people, and she can't very well transform in the middle of all this, nor can she just walk around as Soldier Angel, right?

You're following SoldierAngel on Twitter.

@PeaSplash I have a plan, meet me outside Ome Water Park #ihaveaplan #megucateamup

ShiShi-kun the big cuddly orange lion lumbers his way out of a lockpicked back room and into the crowds of Ome Water Park, waving his hand with a frozen smile on his big cushy face-mask. "Welcome to the park, kids!" says a female voice trying to sound low and male, and ending up appropriately cartoonish. "Make the best of summer while you can, shi! Soft cream is 10% off today, don't forget, shi!"

ShiShi-kun comes to a stop in front of Vita, pointing a thick paw at her. "Hey hey, play nice now! Or we'll have to call security, shi!"

The water park was not where Ren planned on ending up on a Friday after school. Not that she's opposed to the idea of spending time in the cool water to escape the heat. She hasn't been swimming in ages, so it would be a welcome reprieve from her daily routine. But /no/. Unfortunately there will be no swimming today. Even though she's clad in a light t-shirt, shorts, and sandals combo and totally looks the part of someone seeking a dip in the pool.

<I AM CERTAIN THERE IS MAGIC AFOOT, YOUR MAJESTY> Souverain Heraut's crisp masculine tone echoes in Ren's head, prompting her to sigh softly and nod. "Of course I believe you. I can feel it too, you know." She mumbles, moving along through the crowds of people populating the park. This was not a good place for something bad to go down. Too many civilians. Ren blinks at that. Civilians? When did she start using that term?

Somehow. SOMEHOW. Between homework, working in Midori-ya, training, getting Alyce her tea for being battered, more training, and Raising Heart needling Ren for being a naughty little eavesdropper... Nanoha has managed to break off some time for a bit of relaxation! Rare, lately, yes, but a little needed, between getting shot and running around almost all day and night looking for Jewel Seeds with a Ferret. This is exactly why Nanoha Takamachi is in the water park. In a swimsuit. It's kind of adorable. But... A telepathic nudge of her Device, and the water park is suddenly a lot less fun. <A STRONG MAGICAL SIGNATURE IS DETECTED.> There simply is no rest for the weary.

Jay Dawson is at the water park because it's Friday, and he wants to go for a swim. Really, that's it. It's not like he's here to go hunt down some weird source of energy, or anything like that, and he's certainly not avoiding the actual pools because he doesn't know how to swim. Don't be silly.

Jay tends to stick out wherever he goes--he's clearly a foreigner, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He's tallish for someone his age (about thirteen), and thin. He reclines on a beach chair, arms crossed behind his head, a pair of sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He's wearing a pair of blue swim trunks as well.

Jay frowns as he watches Vita... being Vita, and shakes his head. Inwardly, he kind of hopes they call security, if only because it's getting boring waiting here for the whatever-it-is to show its face. It is an unknown unknown, and Jay doesn't like those.

Madobe has been moping all day because her brother's a jerk who didn't accept her forgiveness for eating her yogurt (which she had left, open, in his room) that she also happened to give at 3 AM. Brothers, am I right? When Tokiko sends her a message as SOLDIERANGEL through their twitter accounts because that's the most private and secure method of communication Madobe can imagine, she is actually happy to have a 'job' and sends a response.

@PeaSlash Be right there #mybrothersucks :|

Merry-Chan the Melancholic Mule is present, giving hugs to small children and patting them on the head. Merry the Melancholic Mule looks sad because Merry the Melancholic Mule is always sad. It was the only costume Sweet Pea could find...

Merrry pats a young girl on the head, finding this a lot easier to do when nobody can see her face than normal.

"That's right!" Merry follows after Shishi-kun. "If you're feeling down, there are better ways to express yourself, muu! When I feel sad, I get myself an ice cream! Do you need an ice cream, little girl, muu?"

Vita stops in her tracks as a large, fluffy lion beast blocks her path and threatens her with arrest if she does not comply with the local regulations. Her scowl deepens, her small fists coming to rest on her hips as she glares up at ShiShi-kun. "Are you this area's Guardian Beast?" She demands, her voice haughty and slightly heated. "I am sorry if I've violated your customs, but I don't have time to waste with your security. Please stand aside. I don't want to fight you, but if you try to restrain me I won't have a choice." She crouches slightly, still glaring up at the big fuzzy mascot, and puts one of her hands over the Graf Eisen pendant around her neck, free hand fingers clenching, waiting to see if she has met her first great challenge in this new world since awakening. Merry the Mule is met with another cautious glance. There are two of them. "This is bad, Graf Eisen," she whispers below her breath. "I might have to flatten the whole area if I can't pacify these creatures. Hopefully Hayate doesn't like to swim."

People pour in! They have fun. They meet, they do silly things, they get horrible feelings about this place. It's all pretty normal. Nothing's gone horrible wrong yet, although Vita getting Tokiko's attention might be able to be classified in the category of things going horribly wrong.

(As do most things Tokiko does.)

But so far so good. The magical signature isn't powering up, or waking up more than it already is. Being this close certainly makes it easier to track it down, though. It's... somewhere under the main slide. The brand new slide they just built. It towers over every other attraction here. It is the slide to end all slides. Like skiing on a diamond course, but for water parks. And boy is it crammed with people wanting to try it out.

Whatever's giving off the magic is under it, somewhere in the water. Just out of conventional view. Why would it avoid rampaging in such a good area?

Well, that's not an expected response. Tokiko - I mean, ShiShi the Lion puts a paw to his chin and tilts his head, pantomiming confusion. "No fighting in the park, shi!" ShiShi-kun finally concludes, holding his arms out wide. "Just be nice to your fellow parkgoers! That's all that ShiShi-kun wants, shi!" Tokiko looks around quickly for some way to extract from this weird situation, and spots - hey, it's Takamachi-chan! She might be young enough to still enjoy mascots, and it gives her an excuse to wander more to try to find that magical source. She thinks she's getting close. "Are you having fun, little girl?" ShiShi-kun says, waving his hand. "ShiShi-kun says welcome to Ome Water Park, shi!"

Though Ren is technically "on duty", there's no reason for her not to indulge in certain leisure activities. Like getting ice cream. Which she does. Licking the vanilla treat she's acquired she smiles softly as her taste buds tingle. A little bit of confectionary heaven to lose herself with before getting down to business. Leaving the vendor she moves closer to where two mascots are interacting with the parkgoers. Or one parkgoer in particular -- a short little girl with red hair.

Suzu Hamasaki gets momentarily delayed at the entrance because she does not have a bathing suit, nor was she expecting to spend money on this today. Suzu has never owned one in her life. Why would she need one? This is some kind of human thing, isn't it? The colours and designs are kind of staggering.

She gets in, though. Suzu is uneasy inside the park because of all the water around, and it shows, but as long as she doesn't actually get in or something she should be fine. The odds of getting splashed are pretty low, right? If she stays away from the actual attractions.

Suzu decides to head closer to the mascots, because they probably won't splash the mascot outfits (they don't look waterproof). She is trying to triangulate. This might take her a couple minutes.

Wow, Tokiko is good at this. As to be expected of SOLDIER ANGEL. She's going to have to step up her game! What the heck is a Guardian--ahh, that's right, Madobe understands! The girl is playing with the power...

OF HER IMAGINATION!

Merry the Melancholic Mule rests a hand on Shishi's shoulder. "I've got this handled." She tells Soldier Angel. "I know just what to do..."

She turns to face Vita and after a moment's thought says, "Orrrraaaa!!" playfully. "I am this area's Guardian Beast! Don't run while in the water park because you might slip and fall!" She waves her arms up and down and approaches. "Boo! Hiss! I will defend this area...but the custom is to answer our riddles three!"

She waggles a plush hand. "First riddle! What is your name?" She bends over to try and be less intimidating to this clearly yonug girl!

Vita frowns as the one Guardian Beast wanders off in the face of her challenge. Cowardice! This land must be weak indeed to have such paltry defenders. But she can't let her guard down, because now the second one is approaching her in a threatening manner! Vita crouches again, fingers tightening into a small fist around Graf Eisen, ready to summon forth her Barrier Jacket and her weapon! But.. well, it seems kind of silly, really, this beast. It is behaving foolishly. And.. a riddle? Vita frowns, relaxing a little bit. Then she says, "I got your answer right here, Beast!" She curls one of her tiny hands into a fist and punches Merry the Mule right in the face. Its cushioned somewhat by the big mascot head, but even without her power active, Vita hits a lot harder than an 8-year-old should.

It's not everyday you witness a little girl wallop a costumed mascot in the face. So when Ren sees exactly that transpire, she stops, eyes widening slightly. Talk about awkward. What was that little girl's problem, anyway? So aggressive! This was a water park where people were supposed to laugh and let their worries melt away. Obviously someone hasn't given the redhead the memo about proper behavior!

<YOUR MAJESTY. THE MAGICAL SIGNATURE.> Souverain Heraut prompts, reminding Ren of why they were here in the first place. Not that she's forgotten. Nope.

Jay relaxes in his beach chair, the very image of relaxation. It's only half-genuine, because the longer he sits here, the more uneasy he gets. Where is that energy source coming from? Why is this place not swarming with magical people shooting beams everywhere and dropping airstrikes?

Fine, then. If you want something done right...

Jay rises from his chair, takes off his sunglasses, and leaves them atop his towel so no one goes and takes his seat. He stretches luxuriously, rolling his shoulders; he watches the mascots and the oddly belligerent eight-year-old out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, /pow/. Jay blinks once, and hastily makes his way over to the slide before the lion makes good on its threat to call security. As funny as that might be, he doesn't want to get caught up in it on accident!

VIIIITAAAA UPPAHCUT!

Normally Sweet Pea could avoid a punch or just take it, but it is such a surprise to her that she just takes it full on in the snout. She is actually pulled up briefly into the air before she lands flat on her back, dazed. You can see the swirlyeyes in certain flavors of media.

"guh....ghh...muu..." Sweet Pea croaks.

God, Madobe thinks, why are kids today so violent and surly? Is this one related to that Li kid? Who is a ninja? Were they dating or something? Why is life so cruel, as to allow a proud middle schooler like her get beaten up by an elementary school student? In front of Soldier Angel no less?

At least she is wearing a mask, she thinks, so nobody besides Tokiko knows its her.

"eheh...eheheh....wahhh..."

Oh dear. Violence.

There's a pulse of magic in the water. A ripple invisible to the naked eye, but like a wave of power spreading out. It's a high pitched noise, like the obnoxiously loud gleaming of a gemstone. It almost conveys a message, not in words, but in feelings.

'PREY'.

The magical entity is now much easier to pinpoint. Because it's glowing. Civilians can see it. It's a bright blue gemstone about the size of two marbles. As it rises from the depths of the pool, the water begins to churn unnaturally. People rush out of the pool, but they kind of stay around it to watch.

The usual cries of 'ooh' 'aaah' 'that's cool!' 'what is it?' resonate amongst the crowd. On one hand this should totally save Vita from those two creepy mascots (or THEM from HER). On the other lives are now in danger!

"Hey-hey, shi!" ShiShi-kun turns around, staring for a moment as Vita just outright /decks/ Swee-- Merry. This is a problem. Not a problem on the level of a magical beast, but, well - it doesn't seem to have stirred, and that brat just hit her friend! Sadly, there's nothing magical about this, and so ShiShi-kun can do nothing more than stomp forward, point a paw at Vita, and intone, "Look what you did to poor Merry! I'm going to have to ask you to leave the park, shi!"

Something pulses deep within the pool, flaring like a beacon on the edge of Jay's senses. He stops in his tracks, padding closer to the edge--ignoring a lifeguard who tells him that this is not a swimming area, and that he should get to the end of the line. Jay keeps right on staring as the gem emerges from the pool, his eyes growing wide. He makes no attempt to move, looking every bit the enraptured civilian as he stares at it.

It's like he's forgotten his source of power is in a rented locker or something.

Annnd of course things only heat up. Ren's attention is forcibly averted from the growing confrontation to the much bigger threat. "What...?" She blinks at the blue gemstone that's causing such a ruckus, /and/ is emitting such obvious pulses of magic. Her hand moves to grip the ring that is Souverain Heraut's standby form. "This is bad... Why are they crowding around like that?" People always seem to not turn tail and run at the first sign of something supernatural. It made no sense!

Vita watches in satisfaction as the Guardian Beast flies backwards and lands flat on its back on the ground beside the pool. She dusts her hands together as she straightens, nodding her head. "Victory goes to the strongest, Beast! Next time, you should consider your words more carefully!" She puts her little fists back on her hips and scowls down at the defeated Mule. Then, of course, ShiShi-kun is stomping back over to confront her, and Vita wheels around to face the second mascot. "She attacked me! I was defending myself. Which I will continue to do if you force me!" She's getting a bit peeved now. Things might have gotten comically worse from here, but instead they just get regular worse. Or better, depending on who you are. Because at about that time, the magic signature pulses and begins to rise from the pool, a glowing blue gem! Vita whirls about as people begin to flee the water, her eyes widening slightly. How many pages of the Book would that thing fill, she wonders! The mascots are entirely forgotten. "Eisen!" She calls, hand going to her pendant at once. "Jawohl!" comes the audible reply, and suddenly there is a bright flash of red light and a small concussive shockwave, enough to likely send Shishi-Kun stumbling back a step. Out of the top of the red flash streaks a red line, the light clearing to show Vita, in full battle regalia, sweeping up and away, trailing visibly distorted air in her wake from the fury of her passage. She is not heading towards the glowy thing just yet, but rather seeking a more advantageous observation point. She will likely throw up a Barrier any moment unless someone else beats her to it.

Suzu Hamasaki was halfway over to the mascots before one of them gets punched in the face.

Suzu's expression changes from nervous to shocked in about half a second. Who would punch someone like that? "Are you okay?" she asks, hurrying over - she has no idea who's in the costume, or who Vita is, but she figures it can't have hurt that much - Vita's just a kid, after all. "What's going on over - "

Suzu becomes distracted a moment later by a stone rising out of the pool. She can feel it more intensely, and so can everyone else by the looks of it. Then she starts to inch slightly to the side. This doesn't look good. Suzu's hand lifts up, toward her star-shaped hairclip, as if absently touching them to reassure herself.

Well, /somebody's/ not worried about secret identities. Tokiko kind of envies that. She keeps her footing, taking a surprisingly tense stance for a mascot, and reaches up to remove the head-mask.

Tug. Tug, tug.

It's stuck. The mask is stuck.

The mascot-suited Tokiko looks about in concealed panic for a moment, before making a snap decision. There's a magical entity on the loose, potentially hostile. There are people /right there/ in danger.

ShiShi-kun leaps improbably high in the sky, flipping before landing in a battle crouch, paws clasped around two furry orange handguns. "Entering the situation zone, ShiShi-kun reporting! This is a designated red zone; all civilians evacuate the area! Don't worry..." He turns his frozen mascot smile across the crowd.

"ShiShi-kun's got this, shi!"

So much for fun. Sigh. In the hectic delige of countless people haveing waterpark fun, and mascots and little girls harassing each other; Nanoha has, so far, been working on trying to figure out just where the origin of the signature. It's the gleaming sound that gets her. Hands cover her ears with a wince, there's no mistaking the chime of a rousing Jewel Seed. <IT IS HERE.> "A-ah..." This is a problem. If she were to transform now, it would be... Well. Awkward with so many people around. <DON'T WORRY. I HAVE A PLAN.> For a moment, Nanoha is left staring inquisitively at the gem on her necklace, as if waiting for Raising Heart to elucidate on this keen idea to stealthily handle a dangerous issue. <BARRIER JACKET SET UP! . . . BEACH MODE!> "Bea-wha-?!" There's a flash of pink from the changing room she's managed to sneak into. And then Nanoha emerges, Device clasped in her left hand. In a white and blue swimsuit now. "Eh?! Eh?! This was your plan?!" <IT WAS THE BEST I COULD THINK OF, YES.>

Merry the Melancholic Mule seems to be crying underneath her mule mask. Something about that girl seems familiar but--Well, she's too distraught to connect any dots here. "Y...y...yeah I'm okay...muu." She says, pretty much entirely because she's too embarrassed to admit that a kid uppercutted her off the floor.

Wait that means---and that weird kind of talking--

"ah...that must be..." Merry snaps out of it. "Careful!"

She grabs at Suzu's arm. "It might be dangerous!" She pulls Suzu down, intending to cover Suzu's body with her own in case the stone or whatever starts shooting lasers or whatever. Or water guns. She doesn't know. She just knows Suzu is a normal girl and probably ill equipped to handle monsters! "Shishi will stop that monster! It is part of the show muu! Ha ha ha muu! ha ha muu. Ha..."

Violence AND magic. The Jewel Seed pulses again.

The water starts rising upward in a column. There's far more of it than the pool should be able to contain, suddenly. The column starts taking on a more humanoid shape, with massive arms forming. Though the head is still mostly just a really big blob of water.

In the torso of the monster, the Jewel Seed glows brightly, evidently shielded by the layers of now magical water surrounding it. Not EVERY civilian backs away like they should. In fact many of them just take a couple of steps back at most, now convinced they're watching some big show for the park.

That's unfortunately when the water monster turns its non-existent stare towards the crowd. It can sense all that magic, and it's hungry. It roars! It's kind of a loud, wet gurgling mixed with a roar. It lifts one of its arms, pointing its fist at the heroic ShiShi-kun. The hand fires off, like a big orb of water slash rocket fist. Blunt force, mostly.

Now they know it's hostile!

The situation accelerates! The surly little girl who punched out the mascot transforms! Then ShiShi-kun leaps impossibly into the air and readies for battle! Ren is a bit taken aback, of course. This is getting a bit whacky.

<YOU SHOULD TRANSFORM IMMEDIATELY.> Ah. Souverain Heraut being helpful as usual by stating the obvious. When the Water Monster takes shape and strikes out at the heroic mascot, Ren is more than inclined to agree with the device's suggestion. Turning around she runs to a secluded spot behind a closed hot dog stand. "A royal duty to defend against tyranny... To strike down chaos where it lurks... To become a shining beacon that beats back the darkness... SOUVERAIN HERAUT, SORTIE!" Ren says with absolute conviction as the ring comes to life and detatches itself from the necklace she normally wears it on.

<OK! BARRIER JACKET, SET UP!>

A flash of golden light overtakes Ren, who spins around as the pieces of her outfit form in quick succession. When the light fades, she's fully decked out, the half-cape on her right shoulder fluttering majestically in the wind. An ornate scepter is clutched in her hand, sparkling magnificently. Taking a deep breath in she steps out from behind the booth and falls into a battle-ready stance.

Suzu Hamasaki gets about two steps before Merry the Melancholic Mule covers her. She was not expecting that - she'd have thought that the mascots would clear out, too! But they're claiming it's part of a show... is that what they do up here?

It can't be, she decides. It's definitely attacking for real. "I'm going to get out of here," she declares, squeezing out from under the bulky costume and scrambling up to her feet. She certainly does hide pretty quickly!

Well, 'hide'. Suzu just ducked behind one of the ice cream stands, pulling off her star-shaped clip and tossing it up. It spins around her, her clothes turning into ribbons of light and reforming around her - a skirt-like sarong, an open and vaguely translucent vest with detached sleeves, a pair of abalone shells. Even her hair lengthens and shifts.

Seafoam Suzu comes back out a moment later, bare-footed, her hairclip back in place. /Now/ she's ready to fight... but can she actually just fight water?

Jay glances over his shoulder as red light erupts from nowhere, and when the spots fade from his eyes, he spots the first Magical Girl of the incident. His pulse quickens, and nervous sweat begins to bead on his forehead. Here is to hoping his disguise still works. "Look out!" he cries, as the water monster punches poor brave Shishi-kun. Act or not, he is going to help sell the hell out of this thing as one.

Vita stands in the air high above. Its not really hovering. She just sort of stands there, feet planted on nothing, looking down as the massive water-creature forms around the Jewel Seed. She holds Graf Eisen, now a warhammer in truth, across her shoulder behind her neck, supported by one hand gripped near its base. The other hand is on her hip. "Well. I don't know what /that/ thing is, but it positively reeks of magic." She says, sounding a bit excited. So many pages! Oh! She spots other blips of magic as people around the pool transform. She nearly salivates. Too bad she can only go after one.. and that big one is the prize, she's sure. But there's competition. Still, better safe than sorry. "Eisen! Barrier!" She snaps, and the Device responds, "Gefangis der Magie!", a huge orangey diamond-shape growing out from around her and soon swallowing the whole area.. civilians vanishing, leaving only those with magical affinity.. and possibly Jay Dawson, out of complete bad luck and circimstance.

ShiShi the Lion throws out his paws, anticipating the incoming mass of water and taking it on at full force. The splash pushes him back some, certainly more than a mass of water that size and velocity should, but the mascot costume isn't even wet when the water has cleared. "ShiShi-kun, ShiShi Strafing!" he calls out, running sidelong around the disappearing citizens, and firing his handguns when he can - not at the bulk of the mass, but aiming straight for the reinforced water protecting the Jewel Seed. The magical charges ignite when they exit the gun, burning up like gouts of golden flame.

In this way he passes in front of Jay Dawson, who seems to be the last civilian left (thank goodness for that brat's magical barrier, at least). "Take cover, shi! Bunker!" He throws his hands down on the ground, and a solid stone wall crashes upward, out of the cobbling of the park grounds, to stand between Jay and the monster. ShiShi-kun leaves Jay with one last message, as he leaps again into the air, straight at the monster, firing both guns as he goes.

"Remember to visit our gift shop, shi!!"

"Good idea!" Sweet Pea agrees, standing up and shaking her costume's sleeves for a while. It takes her a bit to actually fenagle her guns into her hands. Her head isn't stuck on she just isn't going to want people to know she's Sweet Pea after an 8 year old--even if she's a MAGICAL 8 year old--laid her out on the floor with one punch!

Eventually she gets a Sweet Pea Shooter out and aims it towards the creature. "Everybody deserves happy memories here, muu! Be nice to our friendly (except that red hair girl) guests muu!"

She fires off several pink blasts.

"Yes but WHY?!" Raising Heart decides to remain silent on the matter and halts any further discussion. So aside from her neat 'toy' staff, Nanoha can at least pretend to blend in as the water monster rises. There's just a problem. That thing is dangerous, and the mascots are going after it? Even WORSE, comes a familiar voice- two voices in the form of Ren and her Device. "Ah..." <A BARRIER HAS BEEN ERECTED.> Raising Heart suddenly warns as Vita's spell encloses the area. And all subtlety is out the window now that the civilians are safely out of the picture. "Did..." At this point, Nanoha decides not to ask. Just to Do. "Raising Heart!" <ALRIGHT. RESTRICT LOCK.> The Device announces, bands of pink light forming to try and bind the water and make it easier for closer people to wail on... Water.

The barrier washes away the poor masses of bystanders, although they don't seem to disperse entirely. Maybe the Jewel Seed's interference makes the events inside the barrier visible to those outside? Though if that's the case, it must be very hard to see and hear. Judging by their reactions that's the case, at any rate; they're still oohing and aahing! And cheering for ShiShi-kun, predictably.

The show finally heats up, and ShiShi-kun fights back! The bullets crash into the watery body of the monster one after the other, stopping an inch or two in. It's hard to tell from just looks, but the magical signature of the monster seems to be weakening with every hit, even if it's not sustaining a lot of damage. It is, after all, water. It'll be easier to exhaust it out than try to destroy its body, unless you have a fire or ice user with you.

Sweet Pea meets much the same success; her blasts disrupt the water protecting the Jewel Seed, but they don't make it all the way in.

Vita might notice, as the specialist in collecting magic, that every hit on the monster is leaving behind motes of mana and magic she could collect. If the prize is too contested, the consolation prize looks like it'll be quite meaty. It won't be worth a good Linker Core but it'll be close enough to filling a whole page by the end of the fight, at this rate.

Then it gets bound! Pink shackles form around the watery limbs of the monster. If they were physical, it would just slip through. But they're not. So unable to move, it resorts to ranged attacks.

Its body bubbles, and a massive shark made of water charges straight for the wall protecting Jay! The shark, like a porcupine, shoots smaller, water piranhas everywhere. EVERYWHERE. They're insanely sharp!

<BARRIER DETECTED.>

Ren watches as the barrier expands, and the civilians all disappear. "Well that'll keep them out of harm's way. Now we can really focus on downing this thing."

ShiShi the Lion and Merry the Melancholic Mule apparently have the same idea and start to attack. Ren would take the time to ponder just why two mascots for a waterpark are engaging a monster in battle but now isn't the time to try to make sense of things. Raising her scepter she focuses her magic. A split second later a dazzling array of jewels appear in the air around her, brimming with spiritual heat.

"GOOO!" The jewels spin around furiously before zooming off, aiming for the water pirrahna's that are going to really hurt should they hit anyone.

The water-monster looks at Jay not unlike how someone might look at a nice, juicy steak. He's gotten that look before, and instinct takes over; the young man throws himself to the ground, curling up in a tight little ball. Clearly, he's practiced this part a lot! The ground rumbles beneath him, and when he dares open an eye, he sees a wall made of concrete and brick between him and the monster.

"Thank you, Shishi-kun!" he cries. He glances up, but all he sees in the way of shelter is the wall, the barrier, and the slide. Best to stay where he is. Oh, and-- "I will! Are you having a sale?"

Vita looks around as her barrier swallows the area, a tiny frown still on her face as she notes the interference. "I don't know what that thing is," She says to Graf Eisen, "But it sure has a lot of magic." People begin blasting at it from all sides, and Vita's magic robot scanning eyes can see that its being weakened by the shots, even if they don't seem to be doing much in the way of physical damage. She also notes the freed mana floating around, but doesn't move to collect anything just yet- that is the consolation prize, after all. No need to rule out taking home the trophy just yet. The water-shark, spewing its water-pirahnas, passes by underneath. Vita is high enough that only one or two fishes snap in her direction. She holds up her free hand, the chimes of magic accompanying a glowing red triangular barrier which easily deflects them away. "Well then.. I guess I'll let them soften it up a bit first." She muses. Normally she'd be leading the charge, but Signum had warned her to be cautious.. and she's really not sure what this giant thing is. She's fully aware her chances improve if she observes a little of how it fights back against the others attacking it..

Seafoam Suzu remains on the inside of the barrier. This confuses her, mostly because she doesn't know what the heck the barrier is or why most of the people ended up on the other side of it. Still, she's not going to /complain/ if someone decided to protect a bunch of other people...

Suzu glances at Jay. She has to protect him, too - he's the one who doesn't even look or feel like he can fight back. Suzu strides forward, water gathering around her hands. "Sea spray!" she yells, spraying a wide arc of glittering, enchanted water, blessed with the starlight that looks trapped in it. She realizes, a moment later, that this is probably not going to help even a little bit.

And then the pirahnas come. Suzu yelps, throwing herself to the side. She hits the ground, rolls - and then rolls straight into one of the pools, vanishing entirely in it!

That's a very long jump ShiShi-kun made.

As he sails for the water monster, he drops his fuzzy orange handguns, which dissolve into a mass of lion dander in midair. He holds his hand out at the end of the jump, forming a small orange device looking something like a tambourine, and in his other hand a small orange control device. He holds his hand out and releases the orange device inside the mass of magical water, as close to the Jewel Seed's core as he can, and then braces for impact, pushing his legs forward. Hopefully enough of that core is semi-solid to jump off of, rather than just get caught in.

He's fought a monster a lot like this one recently, and learned a thing or two about them. A small light on the orange device begins blinking.

"Y--yAhh!!" Sweet Pea cries out, throwing herself away from several sharp water needles as they slam into the ground where she was moments before. Sweet Pea doesn't have much variety in what she can do to strike--if her pink blasts fail to push through that water shield...it may be tough for her to even touch the true monster here!

"AH..that's right! Maybe my cellphone can help!"

She shakes out her other sleeve until her cellphone (MAGICAL) pops out. She raises it up into the air and snaps a picture.

"SWEET PEA CELLPHONE ANALYSIS START!" She yells in Engrish as the cellphone scans the creature. Maybe she can get some tips. Or help her give advice to Tokiko. Or Seafoam!

Phew. <SUCCESSFUL LOCK.> Raising Heart congratulates. Up until the water forms some form of ghost shark. That shoots pirahnas from its body. Nanoha gawps. <PROTECTION.> Raising Heart reacts for her, having to worry less about doing things like mentally process 'shark that spits pirahnas', the Device erects a wall of pink light in front of its wielder, several of the sharp bitey fish slamming against it. It holds, but cracks begin to form after a few more impacts. But. This is just getting wild. She's just... Going to do what... Raising Heart's been teaching her. Holding up her left hand, a sphere of light forms in her palm. She's just gonna shoot it. Yeah.

Pink chains? Ren turns. "N-Nanoha..." She says softly, surprised yet relieved to see the young girl. Who is clad in a cute bathing suit. "Umm..." Well, at least she's dressed appropriately given their surroundings? She smiles and gives her a thumbs up. At least there's one friendly mage in the mix.

And... oh right. The pirahnas that her jewels didn't quite reach are still flying dangerously at their intended targets. Which also includes her. <PROTECTION.> Obviously taking a page out of Raising Heart's book, Ren raises her scepter and a wall of golden light sparks into existence, keeping her relatively safe from being chomped on.

Ren's attack intercepts a large amount of the sharp projectiles! It might not damage the monster but it sure will make everyone else's job that much easier. Jay is still safe! Although the way the monster targetted it might indicate it's smart enough to tell who to aim at. And that cover won't last forever! Vita observes. The projectiles can't get past her shield. ShiShi-kun has experience on his side, plopping a grenade inside the monster. As the water reforms, it's possible to use it to leap away, which is probably better than being caught in the explosion. Merry isn't one to leave ShiShi to do all the fighting, right? Her cellphone is whipped out and starts scanning! Results forthcoming. Nanoha also hides behind a shield, which holds for now. Her own counter projectile slams into the water, penetrates in and-- hey is that a grenade?

ShiShi-kun's explosive detonates, splattering the entire top half of the monster around the pool. The Jewel Seed lay exposed in the air, crackling with arcs of wild magic and energy. It's... not sealed. Definitely not safe to try and contain yet. It tries to generate more water to recover its defenses.

Sweet Pea's cellphone predictably enough reveals that, while exposed, the Jewel Seed would be vulnerable to being contained if you have the right spell. You just have to do enough damage to the watery shell to expose it! Simple, right?

Vita sees her chance. The explosive device detonates, sending the entire top half of the creature splattering in all directions, and exposing the Jewel Seed (Vita doesn't know that's what it is). Vita is almost directly above it, though quite far. Still.. seeing that source exposed, crackling with magic and energy, her eyes light up. "This is it. We're going, Eisen!" She shouts, her blood beginning to boil in anticipation. "Jawohl!" The Armed Device shouts in return, and without needing to be told, smoothly reconfigures itself into its Rocket Hammer mode, the sharp triangular spike roating out of the front a the triple jets spiral out the back. Changing her grip, Vita holds the reconfigured hammer above her head. "Raketennnn.." The jets spit, then ignite with a roar. Vita spirals straight down at the monster from above, accelerating the entire way, shockwaves ripping out from behind her as she descends.. aiming to drive right into the exposed core of the monster when she hits with all the force of a runaway freight train. "HAMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

"Huh..." Sweet Pea says. It seems like from this she doesn't have to push past the shield, she just needs to break the shield! Easier said than done, though.

"ShiShi-kun!" Sweet Pea shouts. "I've received information from..uh...the management, muu! They say we just have to disrupt the shield and then it can be sealed away, muu!" How, of course, is beyond her but if she doesn't have to punch through to the jewel...

She snaps her pistols out and--

"oh...you already...er, well, I won't let it reform!" She blasts at the water trying to reform, intending to disrupt it before it can repair itself!

Suzu Hamasaki vanishes in the water, falling - surprisingly - to the bottom of the pool rather than floating.

From deep in the water, there's a glimmer of light - and then a downright bright flash!

And then Seafoam Suzu resurfaces. There's something different about her, though; her ears are still the frilly fins they were once she transformed the first time, but now her legs are completely gone! Instead she has a large mermaid tail with long, elegant trailing fins, the scales faintly iridescent and glimmering in the light.

For the first time in a while, Suzu feels pretty good! Relieved, almost. She lets out a satisfied sigh. "Okay, you," she says, "I don't know what you are, but I, Seafoam Suzu, am not going to let you do it!" Vita opens up with a hammer at the core. Suzu doesn't attack the core - instead she 'attacks' the water that is trying to reform around it, sealing it in bubbles and pulling it away from the main mass to fall in the pool.

She swims circles around the monster, too. In the water, Seafoam Suzu is /fast/. She uses that tail like she was born with it. Which, of course, she was.

ShiShi-kun kicks off the monster, drawing his control device once he's clear enough from the blast zone. "ShiShi Anti-Personnel Mine, shi!" The eruption that follows is fantastic, splattering half the monster all over half the park, even splattering against the edges of the barrier.

The big lion mascot, suit a little charred from the backblast, comes landing by Nanoha in her swimsuit Barrier Jacket (aw, that's cute), and watches as a massive offensive begins upon what remains of the rampaging Jewel Seed. "Here it comes. Get ready to contain it, like before, okay?" No shi - that's the voice of the Soldier Angel speaking to Nanoha from inside the suit this time. ShiShi-kun puts his paw on her shoulder. "You can do it!"

The barrier shakes ominously as the mine detonates, a few stray clumps of concrete tumbling down its outer face. Jay takes this as his cue to get moving, springing to his feet and dashing away from the pool. Getting through that weird barrier is still out of the question, but--

"Everybody!" Jay cries, turning his mad dash into a wide, looping arc around the edge of the bubble. "Cheer Shishi-kun and Muu-kun on!" Just part of the show, folks, keep going with it! The sight of Suzu almost makes him double-take, though; he's never seen a mermaid-before, and he gives her a look that he /hopes/ the civilians don't see and interpret wrong.

Phew. At least her shield held. But the call of her name gets Nanoha's attention. To Ren. In an instant, the girl's face is beet red. "A-ah! It's! You- I mean! But! Thisisn'tmynormalBarrierJacket!" She blurts in a flurry of flailing. Until super mega ultra mascot savior ShiShi-kun is suddenly placing a hand on her shoulder. D-didn't someone warn her about bear mascots at one point? Regardless, though, it's when she hears SOLDIER ANGEL's voice that she nods. "Mm!" This time. She's prepared. THIS TIME. She plants her feet. A wide and runed spell circle of pink light forming beneath her as Raising Heart mode shifts. <CANNON MODE!> Gripping the rifle-handle and setting her finger on the trigger she takes aim and slowly pulls the trigger... <DIVINE...> Click... <BUSTER!> The FSHOOOOM of energy that lances out in the form of a massive pink pillar sends water everywhere, leaving a dry path on the ground, the shee force and speed splitting pools and parting water on its direct course aimed for the Seed monster. And... Oh crap, Vita!

Wait. When did a mermaid come onto the scene?! Oh well, at least she was helping? Ren can't be entirely too flustered. With the monster exploded all over the place thanks to ShiShi-kun's intervention, Ren lets out a small cheer. Ooops. She couldn't help it, though! Her heels click against the concrete as she hurries over to Nanoha and ShiShi, beaming brightly. "Well this seems to have gone in our favor! Good job!"

And then Ren gets to see Nanoha's /true/ power. Holy crap. <IMPRESSIVE.> Well... yeah.

The exposed Jewel Seed is hit dead on by the hammer. If this were an actual monster core, it would shatter into a million pieces, and the day would be saved, right then and there. Sadly this is not a monster core! This is a terrible Lost Logia, which ACTS like a monster core but isn't one.

Vita's blow rages against the core for several long seconds. During those seconds, Sweet Pea bombards the regenerating water shell, preventing its growth. The magical girl (mermaid!) manages to make things even worse for the Seed, as she seals off chunks of the water, actually making the shell take even longer to regenerate.

This is all time that Nanoha needed to charge up her laser.

The Jewel Seed suddenly cracks. That's... that's not good. Vita might feel an overwhelming pressure pushing AWAY from the Jewel Seed, and it seems like it's on the brink of detonating. This much built up magic could take out the entire park and punch right through the barrier! Until pink light can be seen, anyway.

Cue aforementioned laser.

Whether or not Vita gets away in time, the Jewel Seed itself is engulfed in the Divine Buster, and when the light and dust settles, it is left floating in the air, no longer letting off much of a signature. It's sealed. Perfectly safe to touch and contain now. Just don't HIT it.

The magical mermaid Seafoam Suzu is actually pretty good at dealing with water, mysteriously. Holding the drops and splashes away from it so it can't regenerate is definitely something she can do; the area around the monster starts to look progressively more foamy as she holds more and more in bubbles of various sizes. "Dream Bubble Trouble!" she calls, as she holds a particularly big wave back.

And then someone shoots the thing. Suzu didn't get a good look at who did it but it doesn't matter; the water sprays everywhere. Including all over her, despite her bubbly shields. But it isn't surrounding the Jewel Seed anymore!

Suzu doesn't know what the seed /is/, and her first instinct is to put that in a bubble too, a quick gesture of her hands releasing one to trap it in. The bubble shield isn't very strong, though - someone else can definitely contain it better. It's not that Suzu is weak so much as she has no idea what needs to be done to it.

That done, she looks around from her position in the water, trying to identify the other magical girls. ...and mascots, apparently.

Is...is that a mermaid? She's a mermaid??

Sweet Pea peers at the mermaid. And then she looks towards Tokiko. And then back to the mermaid. Big energy blasts of doom are sadly starting to become a normal faciet of Madobe's life but mermaids? Yeah. Mermaids.

"M...mermaid..." She says. "...Oh my gosh..."

She sinks to her knees, mascottly. "That's so cool." She really is not terribly concerned about the jewel, that reeks of hopefully someone else's problem. She supposes that this went as /swimmingly/ as one could have hoped.

Vita's hammering is a success! Or at least it seems so to her, as she grins like a maniac behind the flaring jets of Graf Eisen as the Device drives itself at the Seed, cracks beginning to show in the Logia. Of course, she has no idea what it actually is, so has no clue that this is a Bad Idea. Everyone around is saved from the price of her ignorance, however, because Nanoha decides to attempt to Befriend the Jewel Seed. "Energie Explosion eingehenden!" Graf Eisen suddenly warns, even while still pummeling at the jewel. "Wha-?" Vita looks up just in time to see the glowing, quickly expanding pinkness coming her way through the fire and smoke of her own attack. "Eisen, prote-" She begins to say, but isn't even quite finished when the blast strikes the Seed. Vita barely manages to throw herself out of the way at the last second, but not completely.. the blast clips her on its very edges and sends her spiralling away from the point of impact, where she crashes into a souvenier stand, levelling it. For long seconds, there is no sign or sound of her.

"Ah! Good shot!" Of course, only then does Ren realize that Vita is technically still within the blast radius. Oops. "Umm... Hopefully she'll be ok?" That question is answered when the tiny mage is flung soundly into a vacant stand. Ren winces. "Ow... I'll go and check on her!" The concerned magical girl leaps into the air, flying with enough speed to clear the distance in no time. She lands next to the destroyed stand, clutching her scepter as she walks closer, leaning forward.

"Umm... Do you require some assistance?"

The sealed Jewel Seed is now in a bubble.

It kind of floats there looking really cool.

For once... FOR ONCE... Nanoha did not get launched by her own recoil. Ports opening up with a hisssssssing gout of steam, Raising Heart rapidly vents all the magical heat buildup. Shoulders rise and fall in a huff of breath, and the looks like... The seed is sealed. She SHOULD be moving to acquire it. But she sort of lowers her staff, "U-um... Did I just." Did she just catch someone in the blast wave? The seed's not going anywhere now. Supposedly. "Thanks everyone, I'm uh gonna..." Maybe go check on that girl that crashed into the souveneir stand, too. That is her fault, after all. <IT WAS NON-LETHAL.> Raising Heart does note.

Well, nobody seems very concerned about claiming the Jewel Seed. ShiShi-kun watches Ren rush off to check on the little brat, so there just remains one thing to do.

"Thanks for coming to our spectacular end of summer show, everyone!" ShiShi-kun declares, turning and bowing to each end of the civilians outside the barrier in turn. "Let's have a hand for our guest participants, shi! Hooray!!" He leads the audience in applauding, and speaks sidelong to Merry in Soldier Angel's voice. "Go get the jewel before anybody does something with it, okay? Give it to the little blonde girl. Man, it's hot in these things, isn't it?"

Vita /explodes/ out of the wreckage of the souvenier stand like a missile, scattering debris in all directions and likely sending poor, helpful Ren right back on her butt. Ascending quickly, it is clear the pint-sized berserker is not pleased. Her teeth are locked in a snarl, and her eyes are nearly glowing bright blue as she scans the battlefield. "Who /did/ that?" She snarls. Luckily, her hat is more or less undamaged. THIS TIME. Those hateful eyes lock on Nanoha, standing down below. More specifically, on Raising Heart. Pink. PINK. "PINK!" Vita declares, as if declaring war. Then she launches herself at Nanoha, with an "aaaaAAAAAAAHHHHH" of rage, Graf Eisen's rockets flaring back to life with another concussive roar, her passage blowing up dust and throwing up whatever water is left as she zooms across the surface of the pool!

Jay takes a big, sweeping bow, and reconsiders joining the drama club. If nothing else, he could--

Vita happens, again. He sidles up to ShiShi-kun, and whispers: "Um, is this part of the act, too?"

Suzu Hamasaki has never been told she's cool just by existing before. One of her fins twitches. It may be a sign of embarassment.

"Uh, thank you," she says, with a smile. "I'm Seafoam Suzu. I just thought I'd help - "

Suzu has to duck (dunk, actually) when Vita skims across the pool to avoid accidentally getting a fly-by hammer. "Watch out!" she yells after Vita - and her target. All the bubbles holding up water abruptly vanish (the one around the Jewel Seed remains) as Suzu puts a new bubble-shield up.

This one is on Vita's hammerhead. It is, at least, a cushion. Unless she hits hard enough to pop it, anyway.

"Um..." ShiShi-kun says, quietly. "I don't think we're going to hire her back next time."

"Argh!" Ren /is/ knocked back by the rampaging Vita. She manages to regain her balance before falling onto her butt, though. "Jeez... Oh no!" She spins around to see the mad mage zip across the surface of the water, rocket hammer seeking to do damage to poor Nanoha.

<INTERVENE?> Souverain Heraut queries.

"...Right!" Kicking off the ground she takes off after Vita, spinning her scepter in one hand.

<ROYAL SHIELD.> The scepter spits out sparkling rubies that immediately zoom forward in an attempt to build a barrier between Vita and Nanoha.

Look at it there. The Seed's not going anywhere, and it's sealed and protected. It's even got a cool bubble field around it. Nanoha can afford to let it be for a few minutes, if only to apologize for her terrible aim. The issue in this is... Vita is INSANE. "Uh-" And coming right for her with murderous intent. "--Ah! Awwa! Ahh! I'm sorry!?" Well her original intent was to apologize, but it looks like she needs to PROTECT herself. Thankfully, like some gallant savior, Ren swoops in the way, but Raising Heart also rects her own shield at the last second. <PROTECTION!>

What's wrong with pink?, Madobe wonders.

She doesn't get involved in the fight with Vita and Nanoha. It's all pretty awkward and she has already been beaten up by enough kids today.

She turns her head to Tokiko and laughs, "I...I guess all's well that ends well, huh? Ahah...haha...haha."

...

"I'm...sure they'll be friends. Right? Haha..haha...ha."

Vita is like a boulder rolling downhill - the farther she goes, the more momentum she builds up on the way. She was all the way across the open area when she began, so by the time she strikes Ren's shield, out in front of Nanoha's, she has worked up quite a head of steam, the contrail of her passage twisting back to show the path she followed, her own nearly continuous shriek of rage lost amidst the powerful roaring of Graf Eisen's triple rocket engines. The pointed tip of her hammer slams into Ren's shield, vibrating as the continuous force of the gets push against it from behind, shockwaves of power radiating off in all directions. The shield trembles, holding for a few seconds.. then shatters apart under the force arrayed against it. And Vita immidiately encounters Nanoha's shield just behind the first one. But its pink. And she is very mad at /pink/ right now. The jets flare brighter. "SMASH THROUGH IIIIIIT!" Vita screams at the top of her voice. "Jawohl!" Graf Eisen snaps out in reply.. and the red cylindrical part of its shaft, just below the head, pumps upwards and downwards once.. twice. The rockets suddenly explode with unparalleled brightness, throwing the entire area into backlit relief as the cartridges are consumed, and cracks begin to grow in Nanoha's shield.. the water left ni the pool being rapidly turned to steam behind where Vita seems to hover in place, amidst a storm of fire and smoke around the fragile shield.

"Okay," ShiShi-kun says, "this is getting out of hand... shi." He elbows Merry. "I said get the jewel! Go!" And with that, he's off, running within closing distance of the giant pile-on, staring at it. There's no way Tokiko can close the distance on foot, and she's still stuck playing the part of this stupid lion mascot... ah.

"Park security powers, ShiShi Tear Gas Grenade!" ShiShi-kun declares, doing a pretty little pirouette and hurling a volatile orange canister Vita's way. It erupts in a thick, wide cloud of magical lachrymatory agent.

Sorry, buddies. Tokiko will have to make it up to you later. It's non-lethal, though!!

Suzu Hamasaki has to /push/ to maintain the bubble around Graf Eisen's head. It's not blocking the entire impact (of course) but it does do a little bit to spread it out, making it less bad than it otherwise would be.

Suzu herself is concentrating really hard just to keep it there. "Come on!" she yells, swimming - into the steamy area, where she just kind of falls, her long body thumping against the pool bottom as she fails to swim. She flops for a moment, distracted, before: "We don't need to fight any more!"

For a few moments, Ren considers the fact that Vita has to break through /two/ shields in order to reach Nanoha now. It's a relaxing thought! However, that pretty much goes out the window when her shield is promptly dispatched, and the rocket hammer moves on to start doing the same to Nanoha's. "Souverain Heraut! Please lend your support!" Ren cries out. The golden gem embedded on the bejewled head pulses brilliantly.

<OF COURSE, YOUR MAJESTY! ENGAGEMENT FORM!>

The scepter twists itself into a glittering rapier, complete with a jewel-encrusted basket hilt. "HAAAAH!" Ren cries as she charged forward to swipe at Vita. The tear gas chooses to make it's appearance at that moment, hopefully aiding the rescue effort.

"Eh? Oh. Right. Jewel." Madobe was hoping to totally not deal with that. "Sorry I'm still a bit loopy!"

She rushes over to push her hand in and take the jewel to...give it to someone else! Wait, she thinks, were they fighting over this? Or is that girl just fighting Nanoha because she randomly attacks people for no reason all the time? ?__?

That's. That's something else entirely. The German-shouting Device suddenly loading and spitting cartridges for an extra burst in power. <CANNOT SUSTAIN PROTECTION!> Raising Heart announces. And the pink shield shatters. "Hwa...?" Thankfully, Suzu's bubble prevents the impact from being bone-shatteringly devastating. But it's still more than enough, amid the tear gas cloud, for Nanoha's Barrier... Swimsuit to take the blow from the mad knight's supercharged hammer. WHAM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i4T6nRPC1Q

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaa?!" Off she goes. Into the distance and-. *~bling~*

"--Uh anybody else I can give it to?" Sweet Pea asks.

ShiShi-kun droops. "I'll give it to her at school," Tokiko says.

The Jewel Seed pulses lightly. In its sealed form, it seems harmless enough... but it's looking like it won't stay sealed for very long. Proximity to people, especially transformed magical girls, seems to be making it unstable again. Very slowly.

It definitely wouldn't last a day in someone's pocket. That first time, Nanoha had Raising Heart internalize the Seed. Seems like that would mean they'll have to have Ren do it... or Vita. If they don't want it unsealing and rampaging again.

Graf Eisen, the Black Iron Count, can smash through any barrier! He maintains his record here tonight, shattering through Nanoha's shield despite the forcefield blunting his tip! Had it not been there, Nanoha might have been splattered, but instead she is just sent comically spiralling into the distance. Blasting off agaaiiinnn. She'll be fine. Probably. Vita is left amidst swirling steam, panting heavily, standing in the air. Graf Eisen spews forth two spent shells, which clatter down onto the concrete base of the pool, along with a big cloud of steam. This steam.. blends with the tear gas that suddenly surrounds everything! "Wha-?" Vita asks, only now coming out of her oblivious berserker rage as she begins to choke on the stinging smoke.. and then she sqwaks a protest as Ren dives at her with a rapier! She brings Graf Eisen around just in time to deflect the blow, sending the other Device scraping off his hilt in a spray of sparks. "Hey!" She shouts. "You're asking for trouble!" She looks around, swirling in the air, keeping a defensive eye on Ren as she looks for the Seed.. narrowing her eyes (tearing up from the gas) as they focus on Madobe and Tokiko.

"Um. Well." Seafoam Suzu looks a little lost for a moment. "I hope she's okay," she says, shooting a glance in the direction Nanoha went.

"And you!" Suzu raises her voice at Vita. "I hope you're happy, causing a ruckus here after we just saved people! What is wrong with you?" Suzu realizes she is sitting immobile in the mostly vaporized pool. She pushes herself up with her hands, trying to subtly shove herself toward deeper water rather than being beached. "You two had better stop, or - or I'll put you /both/ in bubbles!"

CLASH! The two devices meet, and Ren grits her teeth. Then.../OH/. Ren watches Nanoha get flung away into the distance. That's really disconcerting. "Ahh!" She backs away from Vita, eyes wide, sword hanging a bit limply in her grasp. "N-Na..." She can't even finish saying the tiny girl's name. The tear gas begins to choke her a bit too, bringing a gloved hand up to cover her nose and mouth. "You're the one causing trouble!" She shouts back at Vita, looking down at the others on the ground.

ShiShi-kun accepts the Jewel Seed neatly - Tokiko doesn't know enough about these things to be able to tell that that pulsing isn't normal. She clasps it in her hand, but looks up as a teary Vita seems to be fixing her with The Look. "Oh, for... give me a second, shi," he says half-heartedly, getting really sick of this schtick now, and walks off to the side, behind a nearby lobby building.

What comes back out is an orange mobile artillery chassis painted with a motif of a roaring superdeformed cartoon lion, rolling along on tank treads. The mounted howitzer slides heavily into position, locking onto Vita's position, at which point ShiShi-kun's voice comes voiced over a loudspeaker.

"Are you really gonna make me do this, shi?"

Suzu Hamasaki stares at the tank. She doesn't know what a tank is. (Or a howitzer. Or anything of the sort.)

She debates dunking again just to get out of the way, except there's not really enough water left in this pool for her to do it properly, and she can't get to another one.

"Shut up!" Vita shouts at Ren, because she is a consummate debator. She flies up, out of the cloud of teargas, trailing little puffs for a few meters until they dissipate. She coughs and wipes at her eyes for a minute, before looking down.. and seeing the howitzer thing rolling out. She doesnt know enough to identify it as 'howitzer', but she knows a cannon when she sees one. She frowns. She's used up a fair bit of power in this fight already, and has precious little to show for it. She looks about at all the invisible mana bits floating in the air.. she should at least gather those up. But she has a feeling these meddlesdome mages won't allow her to do so at the moment. Hopefully they'll last a little while. "Eisen, we're leaving." Vita says, without responding to Tokiko directly. Without further ado, she blasts off straight up, curving slightly after a moment, within moments turning into a red streak flying off over the city. She'll be back in a few hours to gather up the scraps, but for the moment apparently she has judged the cost of going after the Seed too high.

Madobe looks on over to Vita, noticing her narrowing eyes. She doesn't reach out to pat or anything because Vita punched her in the face. Ughh it still hurts.

"Um," She looks back to the mermaid.

Somehow just knowing mermaids exist makes her feel better, a bit. "See you sometime again."

When a tank rumbles up and trains its sights on Vita... /Well/. Ren stares in disbelief. Though it seems to be enough to get the aggressive mage to stand down and retreat. A sigh of relief escapes from her, and Ren then makes her descent back to the ground. "Thank you." She smiles at the assembled magical girls (and lion?). "But... we need to go and find Nanoha!"

Suzu Hamasaki realizes, after Vita leaves, several things. She's still in the water, and she's not going to get out of the water very easily because she can't get her legs back until she dries off. And there's not even enough water for her to bring with her enough to get to a deeper pool...

She stares at the tank for a few moments, thoughtfully. Then she says, slightly urgently, "Can you give me a ride to the... 'changing room'?" She knows what those are! More or less.

The artillery unit sits there for a time, training its cannon on the sky, until it's satisfied that Vita is gone.

A hatch opens on the side of the unit facing away from the audience, and the Soldier Angel sneaks out, having finally gotten that danged mascot suit off. She holds the Jewel Seed up in the air as it trembles. "Another fine day's work! At least, as soon as I find Takamachi-chan..." She trails off, looking out to Ren. "You know Takamachi-chan? You're right, we should find her! She needs to do something to this thing. I hope she's all right," she says. She hurries off!

She hurries backwards. "Oh! Um... sure, mermaid-san! I mean... 'fellow park worker-san.'" She kneels and reaches down to lift Seafoam Suzu out of the water like a groom carrying a bride. "OKAY! Let's go!" she roars, hurrying off once again to find Nanoha!

So the lion was really a magical girl in disguise. Intriguing! And... yeah, makes a lot of sense now. Mascots didn't usually have amazing magical powers, as far as she knew.

"Yes I do!" She nods affirmatively, watching Soldier Angel sweep up the mermaid so heroicly. "And yes!" She follows after them, flying at a brisk pace.