2014-08-13 - Feng Shui 3

Title: Feng Shui 3
Summary: Having failed to obtain Dream Land theme park by legitimate means, Easter tries the illegitimate. A joyous free-admission day is interrupted by the unleashing of hordes of X-Eggs - can Dream Land, along with everyone's dreams, remain unbroken?
Who: Black Lynx, Amu Hinamori, Nadeshiko Fujisaki, Cute Wolf Tsukiko, Prism Keeper Red, Prism Keeper Orange, Nanoha Takamachi, Lera Camry, Ren Aizawa, Cure Peach, Scarlet Rune Maiden, Nori Ankou GM: Juri Arisugawa Guest Starring as 'the scenery': Mytho
Where: Tomoeda Theme Park
OOC - IC Date: 26 February 2014 - 8/13/2014

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

The sun shines brightly on Dream Land. School is out for the day, the skies are clear, and there's a special promotion today - anyone under the tender age of sixteen gets free admission to all rides, all day long. With weather and opportunity coinciding, the youth of Tokyo are enthusiastically partaking of the offer - excited children dragging paying parents along as cursory chaperones. Dream Land as a whole - rides and decorations all painted in bright ethereal colours - seems all the brighter for nearly unprecedented turnout.

That same enthusiasm and brightness does make the park's flaws all the more prominent. A handful of rides are completely closed for repairs that aren't making any progress, the colourful paint is wearing down in places, and the rollercoaster is a touch more rattly than it should be. Still, there's an innocent charm to the theme park - even in the places time is taking its toll, the overall aesthetic shows the heartfelt attention its caretakers have given it over the years.

So come one, come all, to Dream Land! Join the teeming hordes of excited children, partake of the sites, thrill yourself on exciting (but perfectly safe) rides! Safety comes first, but fun comes immediately after - and the delighted screams and laughs of happy youngsters resounds above the chipper music. The lines might be long, favourite flavours of mochi might be running out, and elementary students will run into the legs of everyone older than them at some point or other-

But this is the best side of Dream Land. May all your dreams and wishes come true!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Exams are done. Lera survived them somehow; with everything that happened, like finding out where Broken Ground is and that her mother's former assistant stole him, she barely had time to focus on exams until they were on her. She managed to do them -- partly because she's a Mid-Mage and quite good with math -- and that calls for celebration. The girl is standing in front of a broken ride, frowning.

She wanted to go on it.

But at least other rides are working, and this place has a lot of positive vibes. She waves cheerfully at a group of children going by, and then lifts up her comically oversized frozen fruit slush drink. She chugs some down with an industrial sized straw.

"I wonder where to start..."

<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.

Nori Ankou came here... alone.

Mostly alone. She has a backpack on. Along with a wide brimmed hat and some sunglasses, despite February not being the harshest of months in terms of sun exposure. She is currently in the queue for the rollercoaster. To her eyes, this place is beautiful, and she wonders silently why she never came before.

Batiste is reading the internet on a smartphone, within that backpack. He did not get a giant fruit slushy.

<Pose Tracker> Nanoha Takamachi [Infinity Institute (3)] has posed.

What is Nanoha Takamachi doing here alone? The rides, the squeals of fun and joy, the other kids having so much fun.

Normally on a day like this she'd be hanging out with Arisa and Suzuka, but it would seem that a certain Arisa Bannings is still fairly furious with her; and the divide that's been forming between the girl and her friends is...

It's fairly depressing, as the third grade Inifnity schooler sits on a bench, staring off into space while absently whittling down some cotton candy.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The amusement park is bustling with activity, and Ren is apart of it. She moves happily past other equally happy groups of people, a nice refreshing peach soda in hand that she sips at liberally. Exams being through is partly why she's here. The other is much more... private.

"Hmmm... Endo-kun and I could go on that." She mumbles to herself as she checks out one of the spinning rides. Yes. She's here doing a bit of recon before the date Endo promised to take her on. There's nothing wrong with going on ahead to make sure everything works out as planned, is there? Nope! Nothing at all! Ehehehe...

It's when she turns to head off towards the rollercoaster that she spies a certain little redhead sitting on a bench. All along. With cotton candy.

"Nanoha-san...!" Ren calls out, moving over to the third-grader with a wave and a smile. "I didn't think I'd see you here!"

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lera keeps drinking her slushie through a straw, contemplating for a moment. She spots Nori and raises a hand -- she remembers her from a coffee shop! -- and then she spots Nanoha Takamachi. Who, she realizes, looks depressed. That makes her frown for a moment. The teenager shakes her head, before she starts off towards her quickly as she can. She raises a hand as she gets closer.

And then Ren is coming up, from another direction. She looks at the black-haired girl -- and feels guilty again -- before she smiles, and waves her hand at her, too.

"Nanoha! And Ren! I didn't expect to see either of you here. This is a coincidence like..." What's an American coincidence? "...something related to unlikely events with bald eagles!" the 'American' calls out, stopping as she gets closer. She smiles at Nanoha in particular, trying to look reassuring. The smile falters a little too early, though. "This place is great, isn't it?"

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Opportunities for free rides at a theme park don't come every day, so Ikiko Hisakata is here to make the most of it. The lively energy of the crowds helps offset the closed rides and fading paint, and the fifth-grader has a content smile on her face.

She recognizes several classmates and others from Juuban, but those are mostly in the category of passing acquaintances, so they're greeted in passing with a nod and a wave, but that's about it.

Over there, though, are a few more recognized faces. "Hi Nanoha, Ren!" she calls out as she walks over. "This place is pretty fun!"

<Pose Tracker> Nanoha Takamachi [Infinity Institute (3)] has posed.

"Muh?" The call of her name rouses Nanoha from her reverie. Looking up from being so lost in thought, blue eyes give a few quick, stupid, blinks before recognition dawns on her, and the child flushes with brief embarassment from being caught lost in her own world again.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Raising Heart is chiding her for cancelling the internal training session she had set up for Nanoha then and there.

"O-oh! Ren, Lera? Ikiko?" She blurts, as the trio come upon her. Quick, act natural!

"Aheh hehhhh~. Mm, it's pretty fun, I was just a little tired, so I thought I'd sit and catch my breath a bit~."

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

And then Lera pops up -- and Ikiko too too! Ren turns away from Nanoha to give them a wave. "Lera-san! Ikiko-san!" And then her gaze is back on the petite redhead, who /does/ seem to be fairly down in the dumps. It's easy to tell what with the contrast between her and everyone else walking about. But of course, Nanoha being Nanoha, that gloominess "disappears" once she realizes all the attention is on her. Ren looks a bit concerned, though nods at the laid out excuse.

"Oh! Are you alright? Do you need something to drink?"

<Pose Tracker> Akemi Tsukiyama [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Having gotten off the train fresh from Akita Prefecture just that morning, Akemi's day was spent wisely- registering herself again at Juuban High, making sure her classes and teachers were in order, looking at her shoe locker, checking out places to rent, getting a place, settling down with some groceries and an umbrella.

The rental place is, of course, an old house that was rumored to be haunted or something along that line. Akemi will take good care of it!

Checking out the various kami shrines around the area, Akemi hears of the Dream Land theme park- and their deal. People sixteen and under get free admission! What a great way to end the day!

Cue Akemi's silent tears at the sign that corrects her misunderstanding. It's UNDER sixteen, not sixteen and under.

A few minutes later, fussing at the strand of dark red hair atop her head, Akemi sighs as she hands over the admission fee at the ticket gate. "I just turned sixteen last month, too."

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

"Or maybe a bite to eat?" Ikiko offers. "Sometimes being tired means it's been too long since you last ate." After all, being energetic isn't as easy as it seems; it's actually pretty demanding work, albeit often fun.

Still, taking a moment to rest /does/ sound like a pretty good idea, so she takes a seat on the bench, leaning back and stretching out.

<Pose Tracker> Mei Akatsuki [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

"T-Today's the day!"

Mei Akatsuki loves theme parks. Mei Akatsuki loves rides. Mei Akatsuki loves getting in places free -- even though Roy and Biv essentially counterfeit money now, so that's honestly the least of her worries right now.

One thing Mei Akatsuki does not love is roller coasters. And this is quite embarrassing for her.

You see, she isn't really the type to be easily scared by stuff. She's the girl who squashes the roaches in the locker room, who goes down into basements when the power's out, who pets the snakes at zoos. Putting supernatural things aside (like youma), there isn't a whole lot that scares her badly. So why roller coasters make her vibrate with anxiety is beyond her.

No more. She will *conquer* this silly fear, and she will do it today, with the help of her best friend Reiko!

Maybe...just not right this second. Mei stands at the foot of the roller coaster, watching it rattle along its tracks, and swallows hard. The panda train's still open, right?

"Heeeey, Reiko-chan. Let's go ride the panda train for a bit. You know -- to build up our courage," she says to her orange-haired friend, with a smile that's a bit too bright. Stalling? Noooooo.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lera grins and nods at Nanoha, once. "I know what you mean," she says. "It can get very overwhelming here! We can fetch food and drink if you want them. I know where the slushy stand is."

She hefts up her veritable bucket of the stuff, before she smiles, looking back at Ren -- and then at Ikiko, who Ren mentioned. She turns to her and sticks a hand out for her to shake. "Hi," she says. "I'm Lera Camry, a ninth grader at Infinity! I am from America!"

The bald eagle plushy dangling from her belt sways for emphasis.

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

"Who would get excited over some silly theme park with rides anyway?" Amu sighs overdramatically as she walks along beside her best friend, hands clasped behind her head. And yet, despite her words, she keeps stealing glances at said rides as she walks past. "I... I suppose Ami would like that one." Yes, her parents asked her to come check the place out for her little sister. Amu is definitely not here for herself, and is definitely not excited about the prospect of getting in free or trying out those rides.

"...that one might be a little too scary for her. Maybe I should try it out just to be sure. That's probably safest, right, Nadeshiko?"

"Ah, Amu-chan's not being honest with herself again!" Ran floats around from behind Amu, giggling behind her pom-poms. "You should just enjoy yourself!"

"And enjoy the decorations!" adds Miki, already sketching some of the pavilians on a tiny pad.

"And the tasty food. Ooh, cotton candy!" Suu floats over to one of the stalls and points insistently.

"....-fine-, I suppose it can't hurt." Rolling her eyes, Amu goes to buy some cotton candy... and after letting her Charas scoop tiny pieces of it, she takes a bite. And another. She is definitely enjoying it for someone who seemed so negative about getting any. "Here, Nadeshiko. Do you want some?" The half-eaten cotton candy is held over toward her friend.

<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Love Momozono was ecstatic when she heard about the special promotion that was going on at Dream Land. Free admission? How could she pass up such an amazing deal?! The answer was that she couldn't, she wouldn't miss it even for a dozen of Kaoru-chan's donuts! The young Juuban student had whipped out her cellphone immediately after school to invite some of her friends to come along. Because she didn't just want to by happy herself, she wanted everyone to be happy.

The first phone calls were made, but these efforts of hers proved to not be very fruitful. Miki-chan? Busy with a fashion shoot. Buki? Helping out at the clinic. Setsuna? Mysteriously unavailable. Miyuki-chan? Also super busy! Love glances down at the name next to Miyuki Chinen's in her contact list, Daisuke Chinen. Love Momozono blinks her pink eyes before tossing her cellphone back in her purse. Going to the amusement park can be just as fun by yourself!

The auburn haired middle-schooler bounces up and down in pure anticipation as she finally makes it though the busy admission gates of the amusement park. She begins to dash off towards the nearest attraction, but suddenly halts in her tracks as she sees a different and as equally cool attraction down the path a bit. Love is suddenly stricken with indecision on where to begin her fun, amusement park adventure first. There was only one course of action to pursue, Love Momozono must ride -every- ride. New game plan in mind, Love heads for the nearest attraction, a panda train.

<Pose Tracker> Nanoha Takamachi [Infinity Institute (3)] has posed.

Gloominess? What gloominess?

Nanoha isn't gloomy, she's smiling! Pretty brightly, too. "I'm fine!" Nanoha chirps to Ren. She was just totally catching a breather was all!

Really.

No lie.

See? She's enjoying that cotton candy. "-Oh huh, a slushy might be nice." You people are going to make Nanoha fat.

<Pose Tracker> Reiko Touyama [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Reiko Touyama stands next to Mei, looking up through her glasses at the big roller coaster. It vibrates a little when the cars rush past, but that's normal for roller coasters. Right? She means, they wouldn't have it operating if it wasn't safe! Surely with all these other rides shut down, responsibily, she thinks. She seems all set to give this a shot, even though she's not exactly thrilled. She's going with her friend. That makes her less uneasy.

"Wow..." she says with wide eyes up at it, before she looks back down to Mei. "Ah-- Mei-Chan, maybe you're right. We'll get sick or something on this if we go straight away! This should be, The last thing we right tonight!" she says with a reassuring tone.

"Besides, it's not like it's going to dissapear. We'll have all night to get to it!" she says with wide eyes.

She looks around a bit in the crowds and various stands. "Let's. Find the Panda Train then and get a better look at it! I bet it's cute...." she says as she adjusts her glasses.

She fumbles into her pocket for a digital camera and tugs it out and fiddles with the settings. "We should find someone to take our picture by them." she says.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

No gloominess, huh? Absolutely none? Are you sure? One-hundred percent?

Ok.

"Oh they have /really/ good slushies here!" Ren nods, looking over to Lera and Ikiko. "...I think I may get one too!" And then she downs the rest of the soda and tosses the can in a nearby trash bin. She's obviously pumped to be here among friends, now. The date scouting has taken a back seat to this.

For now, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Ikiko blinks for a moment at the offered hand, then smiles and shakes it. "Nice to meet you, Lera! I'm Ikiko Hisakata, fifth grader at Juuban!" she beams. A friend of friends is another friend, right?

She glances over at Nanoha. "Any flavor you'd prefer, Nanoha?" she inquires inquisitively. Hey, she's feeling energetic; why not be helpful with it?

<Pose Tracker> Nadeshiko Fujisaki [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Nadeshiko Fujisaki is, predictably, walking along beside Amu with her usual assured, graceful gait. She hums rather than actually answer Amu's comment because she already knows--

Yep, there they are, Amu's charas reliably not letting the girl get away with such flagrancy. "I'll ride it with you if you want, Amu-chan," Nadeshiko chimes, an offering to save face.

Temari floats guilelessly over her shoulder; a little dangerous, with how many children are about who might be able to see her, but Nadeshiko didn't want to let her friend just miss everything, after all. The kimono-clad fairy looks around with wide (literally) sparkling eyes.

Nadeshiko glances over from her fairy when she's prompted to find Amu has re-entered orbit with a cotton candy. "Oh! Certainly, Amu-chan. Thank you so much." She reaches up to pluck off a piece, gingerly, first holding it up for Temari to pluck off her own piece. "It seems very busy today. I'm sure Yaya will be jealous."

Or already here. One of them, though.

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

One of the most recognizable celebrities in Japan is currently almost unrecognizable with her blond twintails pinned up beneath a hat, her face hidden behind huge, dark sunglasses, a velvety soft fawn trenchcoat pulled closely about her with the collar popped high.

Utau Hoshina looks like an /extremely suspicious person/, but not, particularly, like herself. She gets her fair share of weird looks from the sea of children, but they haven't risen as a tsunami to engulf her, so she knows things are going well.

<< I told you, >> her smug manager's voice whispers, over her earbud. << Nobody suspects a thing. How helpful of Dream Land to bring all these youngsters into one place for us. >> A camera, mounted to a whimsical lightpost, rotates as the slim young lady walks by, focusing its lens on her. << You look so forlorn. Is it because you don't get to ride the rides with your sweet brother? >>

Clutching the hems of her coat, the girl looks up at the camera with a thundrous glare, one that easily penetrates the magnificent lens of her glasses. "I'm a pro," she hisses, her hair starting to bush out of its pins with sheer wounded pride.

<< Just do your part of the deal like a good pro, then. >>

Pressing a hand to her chest, she wavers, very slightly. This is so different from a typical concert, and in its way, so much harder to go through with. Everyone's laughing and smiling. Dream Land is overflowing with joy. Isn't that why she loved to sing?

One of the eggs in her purse rattles faintly.

<< Do it now!! >> snaps Yukari Sanjou. << Or do you want-- >>

"All /right/," the girl snaps, and suddenly, in a whirlwind of sparkling violet shadow, she embraces the other side of her dream.

Lunatic Charm stands atop that same street lamp now, the bat wings on her back, chest, bracelets and crown all glittering darkly. Her dress and boots are the very color of blood. With a bound, she's upon the ferris wheel, riding one of the cars up to the top. With a step, she's balanced effortlessly at the apex of the frame.

And with a single breath and an open mouth, she sings a song so beautiful and so lonely that hearts cannot but swell, and dreams cannot but emerge. Children begin collapsing left and right; some are merely asleep, but the truly unfortunate, those with the strongest dreams of all, stare dully at nothing as eggs emerge from their chests.

Emerge -- and quickly darken into little more than shadows, orbs of purest black. X Eggs, X Eggs, everywhere, nor any Embryo to pluck.

From her perch, the strange, lovely, sad young woman looks upon what she has wrought, and sets her jaw. She will not cry. She will not regret. She's doing this for love.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa transforms into Lunatic Charm!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 5 opponents!

<Pose Tracker> Ikuto Tsukiyomi [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

High schooler Ikuto Tsukiyomi is too old to enjoy the free admission. Boo!

But as unlikely as it may sound, this isn't the main reason the taciturn teen in black isn't in the best of moods today. He isn't normally known for exuding the joy of living, but he's not so often in such a noticeable, nearly palpable /funk/.

The tall boy isn't waiting in line, or enjoying a snack, or anything. He's simply leaning on a lamppost, looking like he's waiting for someone. He's looking at a fixed point on the ground intently, having no interest whatsoever in the colorful, charmingly old surroundings. He's not here to have fun.

At his feet, the tiny catboy Yoru, visible to none but him and a handful of people, snacks on the fallen remains of a comparatively huge corndog.

"Nyaaaaawn. What a fuddy duddy she was, not even letting your sister talk to you for five minutes, or just go on a ride or something. Isn't this place just like the amusement park you'd visit as ki--?"

"Yoru."

Ikuto's mascot and companion falls silent, realizing he may have been running his mouth a bit too far. That's not the only reason the tall boy called him out, however. Ikuto looks up, steel blue gaze locking on to the X-Eggs. It begins.

"My own heart," he incants, "unlock."

He place a hand on his chest, a certain key hidding under his shirt, and acrobatically leaps several feet into the air. Ominously silhouetted against a full moon painted on the backdrop to the haunted house, the cat-eared boy who lands on a different street lamp, Black Lynx, steels his heart for what has to be done.

COMBAT: Ikuto Tsukiyomi transforms into Black Lynx!
COMBAT: Black Lynx has fully healed himself. He is now ready to take on 5 opponents!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

On Midchilda, you shake a younger person's hand without blinking. They might be your boss or even your boss's boss. Lera doesn't remember, sometimes, that Earth does not quite work that way, so she returns Ikiko's handshake firmly and with a smile. And, it seems, without any of the doubtful look in her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, too!" she says, as she pulls her hand back, and then takes a long around. She takes everything in, considering for a moment; one finger taps against her side.

"I like cherry the best," she says. "But the blueberry slushie is good, too, Ren-san. Follow me!" she says, before she points a finger forward -- and starts to march. "To vict--WHAT!"

She sees the kids ahead collapsing, eggs beginning to rise up from their chests. Her eyes widen and she spins around -- and looks towards Lnatic Charm, gasping softly. "What--what are you doing!?" she yells, while she reaches into her jacket pocket, pulling her pen out. It spins between her fingers, before she gets a good look at Black Lynx; he stole a star shard from her, once. She looks briefly at Nanoha, Ren, and Ikiko. There isn't time to hide her identity.

"Soaring fire, burning spirit!" she yells. "Soaring Sky, SET UP!"

Light flashes up her, and a red skirt flutters; green coattails shoot to the side, as she turns, her high-necked jacket on her. Lera clutches the beam sword that appears in her right hand, expanding out from her pen in a flash of light, then catches the second with her left. She winks at them.

"I'm Magical Cheeseburger Propane-chan, and cheeseburgers never go with eggs!" she says. "So you'll need to return these to their owners!"

She holds her right sword out -- and the weapon crackles with energy. A magical circle appears in front of it; then, a bolt of red light shoots off it, flying up towards Lunatic Charm.

COMBAT: Lera Camry transforms into Barrier Jacket - Dual Mode!
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Jet Burst on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Lera Camry's Jet Burst, taking 14 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Blinkblink. Amy reaches up and pokes her ear with a finger. "Do you hear that, Nadeshiko? It sounds like a voice." The girl frowns, squinting as she tries to tell if she's just hearing things.

"Amu-chan! I sense X-eggs!" Miki is always the first to notice these things. She points in the direction of the ferris wheel!

"Up there, on top!" calls Suu.

"Let's go, Amu-chan!" Ran bounces forward, 'leaping' in midair.

Amu's hands come up to her chest, thumbs and forefingers forming a diamond shape. "My own heart...." Flickflick! "Unlock!"

A pink glow surrounds Amu as Ran floats down, her egg closing around her. Amu reaches for the egg, pulling it toward her chest. When the light fades, Amu is wearng a pink cheerleader's outfit. "Chara-transform! Amulet Heart!"

She can't fly, but she's able to jump fairly well, leaping up to balance on a light post. "I don't know you you are, mysterious person, but if you're making X-eggs appear then you must be with Easter!" It seems she doesn't recognize Lunatic Charm as Utau, at least not from this distance. "I--" Pause. "Cheeseburgers and eggs?" Blinkblink. Amu quickly shakes her head and -points- again. "I'm going to stop you, then I'm going to purify these eggs!" Nadeshiko will totally back her up, right? Her free hand drops to the side, and a baton materializes in it. "Heart Rod!" With a flick of her wrist, Amu sends the baton flying toward Lunatic Charm like a boomerang!

COMBAT: Amu Hinamori transforms into Chara Change Ran!
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori transforms into Amulet Heart!
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has used Spiral Heart Boomerang on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Amu Hinamori's Spiral Heart Boomerang, taking 15 Fatigue damage!  Amu Hinamori is Psyched!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Nightmare Trident, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Amu Hinamori!  

<Pose Tracker> Love Momozono [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Swinging her arms from side to side, Love Momozono was merrily walking her way towards the adorable Panda Train when something beautiful resonates through the air. A huge grin appears on Love's face as she clasps her hands together excitedly. She didn't know there was going to be a free concert today too! This was going to be like....the best day ever! But the happy young middle-schooler's happy smile turns into one of shock as she watches the group of younger students in front of her drop to the ground. Love Momozono sprints over towards the nearest fallen student and attempts to shake them awake when suddenly the appearance of the strange X eggs causes Love to fall elbow past ankle backwards in surprise. What were those things?! But there really was no time to think, it was time to do something about this. "I can't let whoever is behind this get away this!" Whatever it was, it was bad. Love quickly reaches for her 'cellphone'.

Love quickly activates her cellphone with just a touch of her finger. "Change, Pretty Cure!" Her ams go wide as she gestures out to her sides broadly. "Beat up!" She now takes off in a quick sprint towards where it seems these eggs are being gathered at, her body encasing itself in a pink light as she runs. With every step she takes forward, Love Momozono quickly begins to disappear to reveal a pink-clad warrior with blonde pig-tails. The blonde warrior leaps up into the air and lands on the ground near where Black Lynx stands ontop a street lamp wherea loud CLACK sounds from her high-heeled boots as she lands. "This pink Heart is the emblem of Love! Freshly-Picked! Cure Peach!"

Cure Peach points a finger at Black Lynx accusingly. "Stop what you are doing to these children now! They are just trying to be happy and you should be ashamed for ruining their happy day!" She implores of the cat-eared street-lamp stander.

COMBAT: Love Momozono has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Love Momozono transforms into Cure Peach!
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Reach Out To Their Heart on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki has fully healed herself.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Perhaps all the joy and happiness floating around was ultimately doomed to attract something foul. As she turns to head for the slushie stand with Lera, she witnesses some very strange phenomena -- that being the sudden collapse of several children around them, followed by the sudden emergence of weird egg-shaped objects from some of them. "W-What?!" Ren takes a step back, shock apparent on her face. "The children! Are... are they...?!"

Lera, of course, takes this as a sign that some very urgent magical intervention is needed. "Lera-san!" She calls after the magical heroine who is already attacking the one who seems to be responsible for this act. Ren gazes up at the woman atop the light pole, having already pulled out the ring that is her device's standby form.

"There's no other choice.... Souverain Heraut, SORTIE!" She shouts, taking a step forward. In an instant there is an eruption of golden light around her, which peels off her civilian clothing and replaces it with the reinforced fabric of her barrier jacket. She bursts free from the cocoon of energy, gripping her scepter as she flies through the air. "You shouldn't do this to children!" She yells at Lunatic Charm, gaze full of outrage.

But then she notices someone /else/ standing casually on a light pole. "Eh?! Are you in league with her?!" She calls out accusingly to Black Lynx. And then she sees Cure Peach admonish him, and that's all the confirmation she needs as to where his allegiances lie.

Averting her course of flight, she streaks over toward him, raising her scepter up and bringing it down for a strike!

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa transforms into Barrier Jacket!
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Imperial Slam on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly counters Cure Peach's Reach Out To Their Heart, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Steeled Heart, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Cure Peach!  Critical Counterhit!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly dodges Ren Aizawa's Imperial Slam, taking 20 Fatigue damage!  Ren Aizawa is Psyched!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Ikiko recognizes Ren and Lera in their henshined forms, having fought alongside them previously. Still, this isn't the time to compare notes about being magical girls; there are people falling unconscious, and one of the likely suspects around here is...

"*You*," she quietly growls, recognizing Black Lynx from the Winter Fairy fracas in Hokkaido. Tapping her locket, she murmurs "Lycan Locket!" and after a brief silvery glow there stands Cute Wolf Tsukiko. Leaping to a clear spot, she glares at Black Lynx. "Every time I run into you, you always seem to be causing trouble!" the wolfgirl yells. "Well, this time we are NOT going to let you get away with it!"

COMBAT: Ikiko Hisakata transforms into Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Bark! on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly counters Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Bark!, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Psyched!  Exhausted applied to Black Lynx!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Steeled Heart, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!  

<Pose Tracker> Akemi Tsukiyama [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Cotton candy. That's Akemi's prize of the day. Maybe a few rides or, what, some games?

She's lost in thought, gazing at her wallet, then up. "There's an awful lot of kids here..." The crowds of kids enjoying themselves, laughing, screaming, crying, smiling. "Guma-san... I think I'm already missing home." The sentence is spoken underneath her breath, barely audible to anyone passing by. "... Ah, you're sleeping. Well, nevermind, then." She chomps on a mouthful of blue cotton candy, grrining at the taste.

It's a bittersweet moment, to feel at once a part of a place and distant from it, away from your home. Another chance at seeing the city, a new way of life.

That's the moment it all comes crashing down.

"What's happening?" Akemi nearly drops her cotton candy. Throwing it aside, Akemi looks at the children, lying listless while eggs rise from them. "This is... something's trying to hurt all these kids!"

Guma, the ancient bear spirit nested in her body, slowly awakens from her sleep, her voice running through Akemi's mind. "These people have the nerve to prey on children? They'll receive no mercy from me."

Akemi's expression sobers, suddenly looking older than her age of sixteen, an effect that carries to her voice. "Lotus Seal, unbind!" The hidden red tattoo on Akemi's back ribbons around her body as she transforms, her casual clothing becoming one of the short-skirted kimono of the Scarlet Rune Maiden. Focusing her amber eyes on Lunatic Charm, the Scarlet Maiden dashes forward, red energy encircling her right hand like a knife. Leaping into the air, she slashes forward at the young woman. "I don't know what in the world you're trying to do here, but children should be be able to play without fear of getting attacked. You care to explain yourself?!"

All the while, a young voice echos in the Maiden's head. ("Shouldn't you ask first, then attack...?")

COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama transforms into Scarlet Rune Maiden!
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama has used Scarlet Knife on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Akemi Tsukiyama's Scarlet Knife, taking 17 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Mei Akatsuki [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Yes. The panda train. Nice, cute -- and more importantly, slow and close to the ground. Good thing Reiko-chan is on the exact same page as she is, because if she wasn't, there would be a lot more screaming and motion sickness.

Mei nods excitedly as her friend suggests they find someone to take their picture, and she starts looking around for a kind stranger to do just that when she starts to feel...tired. Like, not just the drowsiness she fights everyday in math. /Really/ tired. The young girl abruptly stops her search, blinking rapidly and rubbing at her eyes to stay awake.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Reiko-chan," she says, then yawns a mighty yawn. "I may have to take a nap. You don't think there is a room with cushions anywhere, do you?"

She opens her eyes again when she sees a little girl a few feet away collapse completely, her ice cream cone hitting the sidewalk with a wet *squish*. Oh boy, that is completely not normal.

Also, what on Earth is that music?

"Augh, Reiko! I think this might be a youma!" Mei squeals, her energy returning to her like a wave crashing on the shore. Who knows what protected her from the influence of the song; perhaps the fact that her immense dreams already came to life when the darkness took over her story? Whatever the explanation, it doesn't matter.

Because she's found the source of the music that almost put her to sleep: a girl with bat wings on top of a ferris wheel. Good thing she gave the Prism Keepers wings, too. Otherwise, the fight would be a lot harder.

"I found it!" she says, summoning red energy around her and transforming in a flash. (Hey, everyone's unconscious, so who'll see?) "Reiko, see if you can find out what else is going on. I've never seen this before, and I'm worried there might be more than we're seeing."

After that astute observation, Prism Keeper Red makes a decidedly less thoughtful move.

Namely, hurling herself at the perpetrator -- youma or human -- at the speed of a speeding bullet.

COMBAT: Mei Akatsuki transforms into Prism Keeper Red!
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Red Comet on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Red's Red Comet, taking 15 Fatigue damage!  Prism Keeper Red is Psyched!  

<Pose Tracker> Nadeshiko Fujisaki [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Nadeshiko blinks up when Amu calls her attention. "Hm?" she murmurs, looking around. "Soething on the loudspeakers, maybe...?" But there wasn't much music worth noticing before--

"Nadeshiko," Temari breathes. "I sense it too. X-Eggs!"

Nadeshiko ticks her eyes to the side, nodding at Amu. "Something's wrong," she says. "Amu! Quickly!"

Amu's already on it, though, while Nadeshiko's looking up at the form of Lunatic Charm, riding on that ferris wheel, well out of Nadeshiko's reach. She balls one dainty fist. "X-Eggs everywhere...if we don't stop them soon, they'll hatch!"

"Other magical girls will probably arrive soon," Temari notes, quietly. "We can hold them here until then."

Soon is right, Nadeshiko thinks, a little surprised as the sparks of light are already racing across the sky to challenge Lunatic Charm. She sees people lining up to fight, and she shout, loudly, "Mind the black eggs! Don't hit them, whatever you do!"

No sooner does she shout the caution, though, than her eyes find a different target: "Him," Nadeshiko mutters. "I don't know that I can keep up with him, but...I have to try!" Then, loudly: "Temari! Chara Change!"

"Yes!" Temari chimes, and produces an elegant dancing fan from nowhere, sweeping it through the air over Nadeshiko's head. "Chin! Ton! Shan!"

A breeze brushes past full of wildly out-of-season cherry blossoms.

And then Nadeshiko is exactly the same except for her hairpin turning into a cluster of the same petals, and a full-sized naginata in her hand, gripped with an expert's hand. And, also, a smile like she's about to go Akira Kurosawa on somebody. "BLACK LYNX! GET YOUR THIEVING TAIL DOWN HERE SO I CAN CARVE IT OFF! What do you think you're doing!?"

COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki transforms into Chara Change!
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has used Unmaidenly Conduct on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx perfectly dodges Nadeshiko Fujisaki's Unmaidenly Conduct, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phy_ra_DDaU

"Ha, like I'm allowed to eat cheeseburgers anyway," snarks Lunatic Charm bitterly as she lifts her chin, tilting her head just far enough to the side to avoid Lera's magical bolt. It's an incredibly intimidating way to dodge, but she may have underestimated the Midchildan -- her cheekbone is a wee bit scorched, as though it was sunburned all in an instant. Eyes narrowing, she lifts her hands and returns fire with a barrage of brilliantly purple energy bursts that are moving too quickly to identify as anything else, for now. The Scarlet Rune Maiden and Prism Keeper Red attack her as well, and she again avoids the slash and self-propelled rocket slam with an economy of motion, this time by stepping back and onto the next ferris wheel car over. Her wings beat fiercely to make the move in time, and despite her outward sneer, inwardly she knows how close that was. She sets her chin stubbornly, slashes a hand coldly across her chest. "I don't know who you think you are, but I don't owe you anything." This defiance is reinforced with more purple blasts, which shower the area in explosive rain.

She's not normally a front-line combatant, not an enforcer quite like this -- in part because her ability to draw out X Eggs is too valuable, in part because she's just a wee bit volatile. The latter is on full display when Amulet Heart appears. They haven't met yet, but from the abject loathing, unadulterated loathing, that spills from her violet, violent eyes, this one is Known to her.

"YOU!!" Leaping down from her perch atop the ferris wheel, she summons a nightmarishly sharp-looking three-pronged trident (continuing the devil theme of her red leather getup and bat wings), and tries to swipe the Heart Rod out of the air. The impact is jarring, which makes her all the angrier, but she manages to continue forward to finish the strike. "This is all your fault! I won't let you keep ruining everything with your interference!"

Who knows /what/ her manager told her Amulet Heart's been up to, but regardless, she continues to press in close, laying about with that trident of hers as though beating a rug. Sharply.

The X Eggs, little blobs of darkness hovering above the chests of a few dozen now-comatose children scattered about the park, are beginning to tremble. Some shudder more fiercely than others, and the first explodes into two pieces with a crack louder than a twenty-one gun salute, revealing the X Chara within: a squashed black figure crowned with a big red X, possessed of eyes and mouth that gleam wickedly.

"USELESS!" he screams, summoning his own blast of dark energy, which slams into the Panda train, blasting off a wheel. "I try and try but it will never get fixed!"

A second egg hatches. "IMPOSSIBLE!" she shrieks, pulling at shadowy pigtails, gathering beads of darkness into her palms and sending it crashing into the roller coaster. "I worked so hard for it, and then it went to someone else!"

Another couple dozen rattle ominously.

<Pose Tracker> Reiko Touyama [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Reiko Touyama has the same problem Mei does as they search around for a friendly person to take thier picture--- in that a rush of sleepyness sort of washes over her. "Not just you Mei-Chan~ Maybe this was a bad idea to come today so soon after school..." she says with a suddenly loud yawn. "But..it's free... today."

And then the other children around begin collapsing, or falling into trance like states. "Woah... " she follows along, like a dart as she arrives on the scene. She nods curtly at Mei, and transforms just shortly after her friend, in a rush of orange colored energy, becoming Prism Keeper Orange. "Right Mei-Chan..." she says quietly... "Wait... ah--it's some cat boy, too!" she says.

She'll go ahead and take flight, toward Black Lynx as she opens her eyes. "Ah! You have something to do with this! I know it!" she says!

She doesn't know. But everyone is yelling accusingly at him. She possibly feels left out.

"It's wrong to.... make kids faint and ruin my day out with my friend!" she says frantically, as she flutters in midair.

She finishers her angry tirade with a beam of orange energy flying from her right palm into Black Lynx.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa transforms into Lunatic Charm and Small Army of X Chara!
COMBAT: Reiko Touyama transforms into Prism Keeper Orange!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Butterfly Effect on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Butterfly Effect on Akemi Tsukiyama.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Butterfly Effect on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Dream Trident on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Diva's Heart on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Beam on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa accepts Juri Arisugawa's Diva's Heart, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's The Butterfly Effect, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Dodge!  Lera Camry's Fade ability activates!  Lera Camry's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx fails to dodge Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Beam, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Prism Keeper Orange is Psyched!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's The Butterfly Effect, taking 21 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's The Butterfly Effect, taking 20 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Akemi Tsukiyama's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Dream Trident, taking 32 Fatigue damage!  Stagger and Tangle applied to Amu Hinamori!  
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama transforms into Scarlet Rune Maiden!

<Pose Tracker> Black Lynx [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Pretty Cures. Why did it have to be Pretty Cures?

To be fair, Black Lynx is in luck (relatively speaking), as there's only one of them this time, but Cure Peach's presence, and her heartfelt appeal to him, is enough to cause his faint scowl to deepen.

"Do I look like someone who knows shame?" he asks in a voice meant to sound nonchalant, even jokey, though his expression doesn't quite make it there. Tsukiko, whom he also recognizes from before, also challenges him. He meets her show of determination with impassible silence, though for the briefest moment, he averts his gaze.

The two magical girls who hold his attention right now receive a swipe of his arm-affixed claw for their troubles. He doesn't even leave his perch, as magic takes care of delivering the sharp slash straight to them.

Then comes Nadeshiko, with her shouts and unfathomable violence, and Ren, who flies towards him and forces the young man to leap away with almost effortless-looking swiftness and grace-- though the latter manages to swipe a few hairs off his trailing tail before he touches the ground. An orange beam even grazes his side, leaving a tiny scorch mark-- He underestimated the Prism Keeper, perhaps because of all her flailing. He won't make that mistake again.

The moment he does, however, he's back on the offensive, and what an offensive it is. Just barely quick enough for the naked eye, he's darting around the amusement park turned battlefield, one moment grinding along the edge of a teacup ride, one moment spinning from the pole holding up a carousel horse.

Between the attractions, however, come sharp strikes precisely aimed at the magical girls who chose to target the Black Lynx. Some are precision strikes that would easily disable a normal human, others are even swifter than the rest yet unfocused.

He does stop for a single second, once again perched up, this time on top of a cotton candy cart, to hear Lunatic Charm scream at Amulet Heart in the distance. His ears twitch.

COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Ricochet on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Legato on Prism Keeper Orange.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"Sh-she just dodged!?" Lera mururs softly, before she sees the singe on Lunatic Charm's cheek. She takes heart at that, then she nods fiercely, and calls up: "You have no right to do this! Those things look important, what--whatever they are!"

She jumps up at Lunatic Charm, this time. As she does, light flashes along the length of her left sword, and she swings it up to point towards her opponent. The eggs begin to hatch, a rolling wave of darkness and force thundering at her. Her leap carries her over it smartly, and she sails with it, riding it to go faster for a moment.

Her eyes shoot to the side, regarding Amulet Heart briefly, before she slashes at the girl, leaving a line of light in the air behind her. She flies at Lunatic Charm in a flash, and then past her, slashing with her outstretched sword in the passing.

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Strike Soar on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Ricochet on Nadeshiko Fujisaki.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Legato on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to counter Lera Camry's Strike Soar, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry is Psyched!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Nightmare Trident, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Lera Camry!  

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

That glare is enough to make Amulet Heart take a step back on her perch. "Wh...what?" Pause. Blink. "...me?" She looks to the left. Then to the right. Then, in confusion, she puts a hand on her chest. "Do I know you?"

"Amu-chan!" comes the voice of Ran inside her head. "Look out!"

Amulet Heart's eyes go wide as she throws up her arms, trying to guard against that fiendish trident... WHAM! "What did I--" WHAM! "--ever do to you?" WHAM! "Who -are- you?" CRASH! "Waugh!" With her arms thoroughly bruised and scratched from the repeated battering, Amulet Heart's guard finally falls, and that final thrust of the trident gets through, knocking her completely off the lamp post. It is perhaps pure dumb luck that she lands in a bush rather than the hard ground, but that doesn't make it not hurt. "Nnnn..." Give her a second.

Rustlerustle. Amulet Heart shakily gets back to her feet, covered in crosshatches from the battering and the dirt alike. "If you have something against me, then say it! Don't go involving every kid around here!" Amulet Heart tries to glare right back, though it's more defiance than anger.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Black Lynx's Ricochet, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates!  Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has used Don't Get Cocky! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Amu Hinamori's Don't Get Cocky!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is Quipped!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange fails to brace Black Lynx's Legato, taking 19 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach narrowly braces Black Lynx's Legato, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cure Peach's Block ability activates!  Cure Peach's Parry ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko narrows her eyes as Black Lynx gives her the silent treatment. "So you want to focus on the others, huh?" she says, sizing him up before looking at the others going after him. The girl with the naginata is intimidating enough to not look like she needs much encouragement, but the others...

"Let's work together to take this guy down!" the wolfgirl calls to Ren, Cure Peach, and Prism Keeper Orange. "I know we can win if we give it our best!"

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Encourage the Pack on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Encourage the Pack on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Encourage the Pack on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Encourage the Pack, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki narrowly braces Black Lynx's Ricochet, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Encourage the Pack, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Ren Aizawa is Cheered!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Encourage the Pack, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cure Peach is Cheered!  

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Oh!" Ren finds herself blinking at the space where her scepter lands. He's gone! Gah! He's a fast one! She shouldn't figured as much -- given his cat-like appearance. She whirls around, gritting her teeth. Tch! He probably thinks he's /so/ cool, too!

Nadesihko and the Prism Keeper gain a glance from her in the meantime. Especially the orange-tinged little magical girl, who looks a bit out of her element. Nadeshiko on the other hand seems primed to really do some damage to the catboy. It's very likely they know one another -- and are /not/ on the best terms on top of that. Ren goes to say something when her device chimes aloud suddenly.

<INCOMING.>

She doesn't have much time to get up a barrier when Black Lynx's attack comes sailing at her. With an "Oof!" she's pushed back into the light pole he was previously perched on, causing it to buckle and bend inward from the force of her impact. Yeah. That hurt a bit.

"Why you...!" She mutters, a bit angry at herself for letting her guard down in the first place. But Cute Wolf Tsukiko's encouraging words come through at that moment, and the bad feelings mostly melt away, leaving Ren back to her former demeanor. "T-Thanks!" She calls out in gratitude, before once again setting her sights on the elusive Lynx. "I'm not through with you yet...!" And to make good on this she heads for him again. Though instead of trying to hit him like before, she opts for stopping short and tossing out a bolt of energy from her scepter. Should it make contact, it'll immediately begin to shape itself around him in an attempt to incase him into a dark, glittering gemstone that'll make movement a not so easy task for him.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Spinel Coffin on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Cure Peach's words do not seem to get through to Black Lynx. He must be as cold-hearted as one of baddies from Labyrinth or their robotic Nakewameke minions! Her foe retorts by slashing at the pink wearing Peach fiercely. Peach lets out a cry of surprise as the blow lands, tearing at the front of her outfit, and sending her spiraliing backwards. It was one heck of a hit! She doesn't have much room to recover as Black Lynx attacks again before Peach is fully back onto her feet. The young warrior can do nothing, but throw up her arms to weather another huge blow from the powerful slasher.

This was going to be a tough fight, but thankfully there were other magic girls here too. She recognized what she thinks are the Prism Keepers and Ren among the crowd, but it is someone that she doesn't recognize whose words reach her first. Tsukiko was right! It was too early to feel discouraged! They had to fight on! Cure Peach hops energetically onto her feet and turns quickly to the wolfgirl. "You're right! Let's do this, together!" She smiles happily before adopting a more serious look on her face. Peach now nods her head firmly towards the other girl before dashing off towards the direction of Black Lynx. Love grabs ahold of a nearby street lamp and hoists herself up so she's clinging horizontally onto the side of it. Now where did that cat-eared foe go?

Pink eyes light on fire as she eventually zeroes in on Black Lynx. She then crouches against the side of the lamppost and -springs- off it with a closed fist leading the way. "Hyaaaaaaaaah!" adds the pink-eyed puncher as she flies through the air towards Black Lynx.

COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Pretty Cure Fresh Punch on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

That attack is always a gamble. It has great potential for damage, certainly -- it can and has done much for her in the past when she's needed a way to get very close, very quickly. Unfortunately, the blast shield that is her red energy can only take so much damage before it starts to crack. Worse, if an opponent is quick enough, they can dodge the attack entirely. Like this one just did.

"Oh, not again!" Red curses to herself as she sees her target leap out of the way at the last second. She forcibly wheels herself around for a second attack run only to see a hail of purple energy flying her way. "Gyaaah!"

An attempt at dodging is made. It is only successful in the sense that she is not knocked out of the sky. So...yay?

Panting from the effort of staying airborne while being bombarded with evil magic, the Prism Keeper spots another girl, one she hasn't seen before. Actually, there are a few girls around here that she's not familiar with: she looks from the girl with the energy swords to the girl with deeply red hair (like her!), then back to the girl who's getting attacked with the trident. Not. Cool.

"All right, I don't know who you are. And I don't know what your...things are either," she says, gesturing confusedly at the large number of X Charas. "But you are ruining this day at the amusement park, and I'm /assuming/ doing something evil to those kids. So, as the proud magical girls of Tokyo, we will not let you go unpunished!"

She's about to launch into her speech when -- gasp! -- those dark eggs begin to hatch into youma. That's...gonna need to be taken care of, isn't it.

"Hey! I'll take care of these things. You guys focus on what's-her-name!" Red calls out, then dives back down to the ground, pivots, and hurls a beam of pure red at the youma attacking the Panda Train.

The roller coaster can wait. Hey, if it's destroyed, she doesn't have to get on it after this fiasco's done, right?

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Paint It Red on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx fails to counter Ren Aizawa's Spinel Coffin, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to Black Lynx!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Con Sordini, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Ren Aizawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Red's Paint It Red, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly dodges Cure Peach's Pretty Cure Fresh Punch, taking 21 Fatigue damage!  Cure Peach is Psyched!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Prism Keeper Orange looks at Nadeshiko like she is crazy as she yells about and threatens Black Lynx, it's this display that causes The Cute Wolf's words of encourgament to fall entirely short of thier intended effect. "Right!.. sure... Cute Wolf." she says without any real conviction behind it, as she sort of withdraws as the Black Lynx moves to strike.

She tries to draw her arms up in the classic defensive manuever, but fails entirely to block his powerful attack. She winces. "Ah!...."

She frowns as she takes a deep breath and charges color energy into her hand, and then, her Chroma wand as she makes it appear...'I hope Mei-Chan is having better luck than I am...' she says under her breath.

She tries to steel her nerve again. She can manage. There's others here to help her! Though she only recognizes the Cute Wolf.

"Everyone! People like this are horrible! Let's show them why we won't stand for it!" she says raising the wand overhead. "Get the newspaper and tell him he's a /bad cat!/" she says as she flicks her wand backwards, then forward! And wispy flick, a school of stark, magical orange Koi rush from the space in front of her, in a path into the Black Lynx.

Reiko might not be thinking about this action too carefully, given.

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Schools of Pain on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Purple blasts rain the area as Lunatic Charm evades the Rune Maiden's answer. Holy red energy reaches out to brace against the impact of the violet offense in front of the Rune Maiden. "'I don't owe you anything?'" Her lips curl in a smile as Lunatic Charm coldly . "You're right, you don't owe me an explanation. But those kids there? They do. In fact..."

Her eyes narrow, experience and age lying deep within. "It's rather convenient to have a bunch of kids in the same place for you to prey on, in an amusement park down on its luck like this. A bit too convenient, if you ask me."

("It's just a coincidence, Guma-san.") The Maiden frowns inwardly, watching as Lunatic Charm leaps down from the ferris wheel to engage Amulet Heart. ("Oh no! Those eggs are hatching! We got to leep an eye on the other eggs, like that one magical girl said!") "Can't be in two spots at one time..."

That's when someone speaks up. Looking towards Prism Keeper Red, the Maiden nods towards the similarly red haired girl. "Right. I'm going to take a wild guess and point her as being the source. The voice I heard earlier was female, not male. Maybe if she's taken care of, the eggs will return back to those kids."

Still, she doesn't engage Lunatic Charm just yet- instead, she studies her from afar- she may see something that the others might not see.

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden performs an analysis on Juri Arisugawa!
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly counters Prism Keeper Orange's Schools of Pain, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Sashimi Slice, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Prism Keeper Orange!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> http://www.jukebo.com/nana-mizuki/music-clip,orchestral-fantasia,qukpfl.html

Red washes over the X Chara, pacifying it; the purity of the Prism Keeper's attack is such that it calms more than it breaks, blinking blearing and unhappily at her. "H-HOPELESS," it bawls, "Nothing ever works..." Its buddy, with pigtails, lashes out with more of those balls of dark energy, straight at Mei. They burn with their own dark light.

"STUPID!" screams a third, exploding out of its shell to rush at the huge water tower in the middle of the square. For such a tiny thing it seems to pack quite the punch, the air booming in its wake as it rockets forward, sure to topple it over and cause grand-scale disaster if it impacts.

Focused as she is on Amulet Heart, Lunatic Charm doesn't notice Lera's back attack until the last moment. She lashes out with her trident and tries to catch the blade within its prongs to potentially disastrous effect, but she's too slow, and a huge slash is scored upon her right wing. Sparks fly everywhere, and the girl chokes off a gasp of agony harshly. "Tell that to... to..." Pain makes her stupid, but she remembers at the last minute what's on the line, and stammers out, "...to your maker, because you'll be meeting him soon!"

Nice recovery, Utau. Back in full diva mode, she smirks unapologetically at the Scarlet Rune Maiden. "Isn't it though? /How interesting/..." Something about her words make them more than mere words. The timbre of her voice, in itself, has extaordinary power, exquisite allure. It is enough to dizzy the listeners, all on its own.

But Amulet Heart is besieging her with questions and accusations and they make her head hurt, or that's what she tells herself. Her heart would never hurt over this little pipsqueak. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID! AND I AM YOUR ENEMY, LUNATIC CHARM!"

She rushes back in for another round of brutal slashes -- but it's a feint! She comes away on the other side after whispering, right in Amu's ear, "...remember me."

And at that moment, the shard of violet energy in her palm detonates just behind the girl's head, if she's not careful.

<Pose Tracker> Nadeshiko Fujisaki [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

"Nadeshiko!" the little kimono-clad fairy Temari yelps, looking around. "The X-Eggs are hatching!"

"What, already!?" the suddenly much gruffer-voiced young lady grates out, eyes darting around to watch in horror as the X-Charas are already getting aggressive. "No!" she yelps. "AMU!!" she adds, looks up. ...wait. Whoops. "...LET HEART! The X-Eggs are hatching! We can't let them run rampant!"

But Black Lynx is attacking, and Temari shouts, "WATCH YOURSELF!" with a similarly gruff tone to Nadeshiko herself; she whips around, sweeping her naginata hard to parry the incoming shot. It works, but the hit rings in her bones, and she huffs for breath afterward. Teeth gritted, eyes slitted dangerously, she peers around. "Where'd you go you dirty alleycat...!" Her physical abilities are just /less/ than Ikuto's, she knows this. A Chara Change isn't as good as a Transformation in that regard, even her particularly physicality-focused one. Which means she's got to be smart to get his attention. Fortunately, she's surrounded by people with better muscle than she has, with a Pretty Cure and the Cute Wolf and a Prism Keeper all on that. That opens up her options some.

For instance, it lets her track Black Lynx's route through the stands for a few attacks, before shouting, "I'll pin you down and stop this! ORRRRYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

And then hurling her naginata downrange, the air corkscrewing around it from the sheer force of that throw! It embeds itself blade-deep in any wall it might happen to hit. Fortunately, due to magic, it cannot actually murder people.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Dark Light on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Collateral Damage on Mytho.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Dreadful Tune on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Dreadful Tune on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Butterfly Effect on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lera Camry narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Dreadful Tune, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry's Fade ability activates!  Lera Camry's Flash ability activates!  Diversion applied to Lera Camry!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko tries to cover Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Collateral Damage, but cannot get there in time!
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has used Naginata Pin on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly dodges Nadeshiko Fujisaki's Naginata Pin, taking 23 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  Tangle applied to Black Lynx!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's The Butterfly Effect, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori's counterattack, Pom-Pom Barrier, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Collateral Damage, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's Collateral Damage, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Dark Light, taking 24 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  

Michiru Kaioh has reconnected.

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Dreadful Tune, taking 22 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Blind, Diversion, and Trap applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden!  

<Pose Tracker> Black Lynx [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Black Lynx then raises an eyebrow as Tsukiko points out that he's focusing on the ones besides her, then rallies her fellow magical girls. Not a bad idea, since each of them individually trying to match his speed is unlikely to be a good tactic.

The school of fish flying in Black Lynx's direction distracts him away from the matter of Lunatic Charm's alarmingly intense anger, and supernatural senses focus back on the school of koi sent to teach him a lesson. His eyes widen, his expression brightens(??!?) and his mouth opens to reveal two sharp canines. Animal instinct kicks in as he swings his arm to slice the incoming future sushi. Though some of his slices seem to meet their mark, the fish's determination cannot be underestimated, and the snap of his jaws finds nothing. The remaining fish peck at him.

He blinks, and gets back to his senses. What was he just /doing/?

Ren's scepter fires a bolt, and Black Lynx raises his claw in protection from it. While it doesn't look spectacular, those who have already seen him in action know that this thing can deflect just about /anything/ when he concentrates his power into it, up to and including magical bolts. It pings harmlessly at first... but then, the cat-eared young man is enveloped by magical runes. He grits his teeth and glances at the mage. Well-played.

This is also the moment Cure Peach chooses to perform her incredibly spring-loaded flying punch, and Nadeshiko to play a game of "pin the tail on the cat" with a super sharp naginata. His moves are sluggish, and although in both cases he manages to avoid the attacks flying his way, he grits his teeth in effort. He can't keep this up. His eyes dart to Tsukiko, who seemed to want his undivided attention... She has it, for an instant.

"Well, if you /insist/." He's already gone before he finishes saying those words, but not before bouncing in to deliver a brutal flying kick in the wolf-girl's direction. Brutal enough, in fact, that it might be enough to break away the magical jewel hindering his movements.

Once again, he's made a safe distance between himself and the others, namely by /sailing through the air/. Leather straps and coattails flapping in the wind, he bombards the four magical girls from above with magically-empowered swipes of his claws, leaving deep gashes in the ground below!

COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Détaché on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Jeté on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Jeté on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Jeté on Nadeshiko Fujisaki.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Jeté on Mytho.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko fails to counter Black Lynx's Détaché, taking 20 Fatigue damage!  Bind Break! All of Black Lynx's debuffs are cleared!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko's counterattack, Silver Fangs, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Black Lynx!  
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa fails to dodge Black Lynx's Jeté, taking 19 Fatigue damage!  Stun applied to Ren Aizawa!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden covers Mytho for Black Lynx's attack, Jeté, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly braces Black Lynx's Jeté, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Scarlet Rune Maiden's Parry ability activates!  Cripple and Stun applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden!  
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki fails to dodge Black Lynx's Jeté, taking 18 Fatigue damage!  Cripple and Stun applied to Nadeshiko Fujisaki!  

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

There's that barrage of anger and malice again! "Wh... what did I -do-?!" From the look on her face, she has no idea what she did! "Lunatic... Charm?" Is she really my enemy, wonders Amu... She's so angry at me, but she's such a pretty girl. Maybe she's confused me for someone else?

Amu doesn't have long to wonder over what's going on, though, as she leaps back from the feint with the trident. "Where'd she--" Remember me. Whispering right in her ear! Amu flails and turns bright red, spinning around in place. "Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing?!"

And then she sees the purple energy about two inches away from her nose.

Amu acts on instinct, flipping backwards and landing in a crouch. Both arms come out and, with a shower of pink sparkles, a pair of pom-poms materialize in her hands. When the flood of butterdlies andd ark energy strike against the pom-poms, a bright pink field of energy materializes around Amu, sending the blast scattering to both sides and above her.

"Lunatic Charm! If you really do have something against me, then...!" She pauses, voice falling slightly. "Then I guess that's fine. I still don't understand, though... but that's fine." Nadeshiko's voice calls out from where another battle is taking place, and Amu looks over toward the X-eggs and X-charas beginning to wreak havoc. "Th..that's fine if you want to hate me and not tell me why! You can hate me, whatever, but let me help these kids!" Eyes scrunch closed, and she stamps her foot down firmly. When she opens her eyes again, there are tears of desperation glistening... and she shakes her pom-poms toward Lunatic Charm, trying to keep her away for long enough to do something!

"Everyone! If you can, get the X-charas and X-eggs together! I... I think I can do something to help, but only if they're in one place!"

COMBAT: Cure Peach fails to brace Black Lynx's Jeté, taking 18 Fatigue damage!  Cripple and Stun applied to Cure Peach!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has used Pom-Pom Flourish on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Amu Hinamori's Pom-Pom Flourish, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Amu Hinamori is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

You know, Red thinks it's a bit easier fighting unintelligent youma than the people who command them. On the whole, youma tend to be a lot less good at words, so she doesn't find herself getting mocked as much. Besides, she *knows* she's smarter than a youma. While she'd like to believe she's smarter than most bad guys...that's really not true at all.

So she'll leave the sentient people to her allies. Right now, she's got some monsters to fight.

Her beam of red seems to have a weird effect on the X Chara -- almost like it's calming it down. And now it's talking, too?

"Hopeless?" the girl repeats, tilting her head to the side. Why would a monster be so sad? "Aww, nothing's ever really hopeless..."

Then it dawns on her that she is speaking to a monster. Three, actually; one's joined the fray, it seems. And one of them fires blasts of black light at her that she does not have the wherewithal to dodge or mitigate in any way.

"Augh!" she cries out as her flimsy attempt at a shield shatters before her and the lights make it through, burning her skin with their somehow still-dark energy. She's pushed back several feet by the impact, but thankfully manages to stay on her feet. Her response is immediate, almost reflexive. With a snap, she summons several roses in a circle around her, all needle-sharp and covered in thorns. With another, she lets them fly towards each youma, not saying a word.

Well, until the shots are off and she hears the Amulet girl's instructions. Then she lets out a quiet and embarrassed "...whoops."

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has used Rose Darts on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.

Fate Testarossa has partially disconnected.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Red's Rose Darts, taking 22 Fatigue damage!  Stagger applied to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Prism Keeper Orange watches with a wide eye'd, anime sweat drop as she watches what goes down with her Koi. O_O;

"Ahhhh! You're not supposed to eat my Koi!" she exclaims with exasperation! But her eyes, in her astomishment as she looks around disbelivingly, spots some of these black critters heading for the large water tower. Her eyes go wide in exasperation! "Ah...!" she races down at the full speed her wings will allow, those tiny, tiny wings- and puts herself between the attack, and the tower, outstreching her arms and forcing a shield of Koi into exitstance that race around her, and the struts around the bottom of the water tower. This takes some energy, but it protects herself, and the tower successfully. She huffs and hrmphs. "Stop it!" she chides the creatures, probably unsuccssfully "Stop hurting people and the things they love...!", before she races away. Her Koi remain, if just for a few more seconds in her wake before popping out of existance.

She makes a more angrier face at Black Lynx as she sends a medium sized bright orange koi to go be an annoyance around him. Overall swimming up and around and all around him.

"Red-Chan, I hope you're okay....." she calls out worriedly. There's a lot going on.

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Something's Fishy on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko yelps as one of the odd characters rockets towards the water tower, frozen in shock for a split second. Fortunately Orange was able to intercept it, so the wolfgirl turns her attention back to Black Lynx. When the catboy does a flying kick at her, she tries to snap her fangs at him, but woefully mistimes it, getting kicked hard in the chest and sent tumbling.

"Ow..." she winces as she stands back up. "So you want to fight like that, huh?" She runs forward, then leaps at Black Lynx, trying to land on him feet-first before bouncing away.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Overrun Bounce on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly counters Prism Keeper Orange's Something's Fishy, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Sashimi Slice, partially gets through, doing 4 Fatigue damage to Prism Keeper Orange!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx fails to dodge Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Overrun Bounce, taking 15 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Psyched!  

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Ren's ploy works, and she locks eyes with Lynx afterward. Yeeeeah. Didn't expect that, did ya? She tries not to come off too smug, though, and breaks eye contact to focus on a much more pressing matter -- the eggs hatching and going hogwild on the park itself.

"U-umm!" She stammers aloud, eyes widening at the destruction the weird creatures are trying to cause. This is /not/ good! "Souverain Heraut! What are those things?!"

Her device chimes out a response. <AT FIRST GLANCE THEY SEEM TO BE YOUMA. BUT THERE'S A LOT MORE TO THEM THAN THAT. FURTHER ANALYSIS REQUIRED.>

"B-but we don't have time for that!" The mage says in a slightly panicked tone. "Maybe we should-"

Black Lynx is in her space before she can finish that sentence. /Hello./ "Kyyyaaaa!" She yelps, and there is a futile attempt to dodge out of the way of his claw swipe. It fails more or less, and Ren recoils backwards clutching her chest while looking down to assess the damage. It's just superficial -- though her vest is sporting noticeable claw marks now. The layer of protection her barrier jacket provides was enough to keep him from really gutting her good it seems.

<YOU ALREADY HAVE AN OPPONENT. DISENGAGING HIM IS NOT WISE AT THIS TIME.>

"...Right." She grips her scepter tighter, using those words as the fuel she needs to get through this. And besides -- Prism Keeper Orange seems to be on the case! What a determined little girl! They'd be in good company with Nanoha for sure.

Her resolve toughened, she goes in closer to Lynx again, intent on helping Tsukiko -- who took a nasty kick from the cat-like foe just moments before. "HEY! GET A LOAD OF THIS!" She shouts, holding her scepter out as a Midchildan circles appear around the shaft. And then comes a mana-infused rainbow /wave/ that tears through the air towards him.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Radiance Noble Aura on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx fails to dodge Ren Aizawa's Radiance Noble Aura, taking 21 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Nanoha Takamachi [Infinity Institute (3)] has posed.

So things were a little touch and go there for a bit. When all the chaos started and children started just dozing off and passing out right where they were, amid the flurry of henshins and transformations, where did Nanoha Takamachi go?

Well actually the truth is, she slide aside just a bit while no one was looking and donned her Barrier Jacket and set to the task of grabbing, dragging, and hoisting the occasional errant unconscious person somewhere a little safer, or erecting a shield and tanking a flyng piece of themepark with her face when necessary.

Well not really with her face, but you get the point.

After a fair amount of doing this, a head of red pigtails on a blur of white zooms back into the fray from her offscreen antics, white boots tapping down onto the ground as she hoists her device.

<PROVIDE FIRE SUPPORT FROM A DISTANCE.> Raising Heart chirps at her.

"Right, right."

That, she can do. "Okay sooo... Magical lyrical--" Wait why is she doing the incantation? She can just...

"SHOOOOOOOT!"

<DIVINE SHOOTER.>

It's a small hailstorm of pink bolts and spheres of light that herald the young mage's return to the fray, serving skillfully around non-targets and homing on their intended destination.

COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi transforms into Barrier Jacket!
COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi has used Divine Shooter on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Something's... different about Lunatic Charm. The Maiden senses it, deep in her being, as she begins to really study the girl. Something about the balance of light and dark in her being- something related to the eggs, and the X-chara, yet not.

'"...to your maker, because you'll be meeting him soon!"'

"Ngh..." ("Guma-san, what's going on?! Your vision's all fuzzy!") Stumbling back, the Maiden removes herself from the area of that voice, leaping down onto a lower branch of the ferris wheel. Pressing one hand to her head, she looks up to see Black Lynx attack, his claws moving dangerously close to some of those eggs-

Guma would consider it, in retrospect, to be maternal devotion and will that powers her to leap over, just in time, to bounce away a part of Black Lynx's attack, even if a claw manages to tear a rip in her leg, holding her down. "This is no good," she says, gritting her teeth, "but I'm not the only one in this fight!" Clutching a hand to her chest, she wills parts of the lotus seal's energy into the air, the ribbon of protective energy landing against three she can see battling Lunatic Charm.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly counters Nanoha Takamachi's Divine Shooter, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Nightmare Trident, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nanoha Takamachi!  
COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi has used Divine Shooter on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly dodges Nanoha Takamachi's Divine Shooter, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Amu Hinamori!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Prism Keeper Red!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QKXUmS3xjU

"Don't you know /anything/, you interloper?" Lunatic Charm harumphs as she is pom-pommed -- a strand breaks off and into her mouth and she has to raspberry out a sputter to clean her tongue. "These kids... they're beyond help. Their dreams..."

She clenches a fist, then scissor-slices her palm away. "Well, only the strong survive!" Prism Keeper Red seems intent on proving her point, her thorn darts wracking several X Chara with pain -- while several others faceplant, or fall right on their sweet little shadowy bottoms, frantically getting out of the way. None of them are yet totally defeated, it seems, but given that someone has decided to dedicate herself to their eradication, they're banding together to fight back.

"MISERABLE!" "CARELESS!" "HELPLESS!" "LOST!"

Each of the little guys has something sad to say, it seems; their tiny voices are malicious, but suffering themselves. Grabbing hands, they play ring-around-the-rosy with Mei in the middle, summoning a pillar of darkness from the sky to crash down towards her!

If Lunatic Charm was going to dwell further on her role in all this, being abruptly assailed by dozens of pink energy blasts very thoroughly distracts her. She brings up her trident as a shield, spinning it in a circle so quickly that it hums, breaking the bullets upon it harmlessly, if a little exhaustingly. She glares around at all the magical girls surrounding and accosting her -- she's long since lost her cool.

"ENOUGH!"

That doesn't make her weak, however; feeling deeply, after all, makes one deadly. Still waters run deep; turbulent waters run naaasty.

With a graceful flap of her wings, she withdraws out of the immediate vicinity, and holds her arms above her head, the trident vanishing back into sparkles. Still more appear, and more and more and more -- points of violet light that gradually intensify, coalescing into...

...butterflies. These energy attacks of hers were always butterflies, and now there are dozens, hundreds, thousands, a hurricane of hurt and torment that crashes down upon her assailants -- and the battlefield itself -- with all the fury and frustration she can muster.

"NIGHTMARE... LORELEI!!"

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Nightmare Lorelei on Scarlet Rune Maiden.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Nightmare Lorelei on Prism Keeper Red.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Nightmare Lorelei on Amu Hinamori.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Nightmare Lorelei on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Nightmare Lorelei on Mytho.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko covers Mytho for Juri Arisugawa's attack, Nightmare Lorelei, taking it upon themselves instead!
COMBAT: Lera Camry narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Nightmare Lorelei, taking 73 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry's Reverse ability activates!  Lera Camry's Tactician ability activates!  Stun applied to Lera Camry!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry's counterattack, Soaring Spinner, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Nightmare Lorelei, taking 55 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Nightmare Lorelei, taking 51 Fatigue damage!  Stun applied to Amu Hinamori!  
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Nightmare Lorelei, taking 47 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Scarlet Rune Maiden's Parry ability activates!  Stun applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Nightmare Lorelei, taking 40 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Stun applied to Prism Keeper Red!  

<Pose Tracker> Nadeshiko Fujisaki [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

As the destruction intensifies, Nadeshiko grits her teeth. She's being pulled in too many directions!

She pegs Black Lynx with that shot, and then has to hustle over and actually retrieve the spear, an effort which leaves her wide open for Black Lynx to assault her. It's abrupt and painful; she emits a high wail and flies through the air, tumbling to a painful stop short of a wall. She wheezes a little, but pushes herself back up, eyes slitted dangerously. She has to rush over to the naginata, planting her hands on it and one foot rather undaintily against the wall, barking, "WATCH THOSE X-CHARAS! I don't care what they do, you MUST NOT destroy them! Try to herd them, if you can! Don't let them break too much!"

And then, "HHNNNGH!" she growls out, tugging hard to rip her spear free of the wall and tumbling backward in a decidedly unsafe way, landing flat on her behind. "Uggggh you...thieving cat! First you take the Key, then you take all those Heart's Eggs, and now you're making off with MY PATIENCE!!"

She shoves herself to her feet with the help of her naginata, and does the only thing she can really do for the moment: Run in Black Lynx's direction flailing wildly and hope against hope that she hits him at some point. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has used Naginata Flurry on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx fails to counter Nadeshiko Fujisaki's Naginata Flurry, taking 22 Fatigue damage!  Black Lynx is Quipped!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Con Sordini, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nadeshiko Fujisaki!  

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lera manages to keep her blade away from the trident, twisting away at the last second -- and lands a blow. Her feet hit the ground and she turns, pivoting, kicking up some of the amusement park's dust when she does. She looks back at Lunatic Charm's wing, and grits her teeth, before she shakes her head. "I don't have a master, so I'm afraid that message will have to go undelivered!"

<Can I count as a master? That sounds fun. You could fetch things for me-->

"SKY."

<Yes. Sorry.>

She takes off into the stands -- and sees the naginata flying through the air, in a tight corkscrew. Lera ducks away from it, just barely, and the blade lashes through her barrier jacket's right sleeve. It shimmers, when it does; then she leaps, slamming down into a chair, before springboarding off it, and coming at Lunatic Charm. She hears the shout as she comes down at her.

Then the butterflies coalesce into existence -- and blast outward. She swings her right sword downward through it, a magical circle flashing under foot while she hags in midair.

<Soaring Spinner.>

The blade turns into a bright blur of light -- and does a wide arc, leaving a slash of light in the air as it flies at Lunatic Charm. The butter flies are parted for a moment, but then they rush back in. They catch Lera and the force of it sends her flying, straight into the frame of the roller coaster. The metal I-beam she hits bends in, sharply--

--but her boot-clad feet, instead of her back, hit it. She lets out a wordless shout and kicks off the roller coaster, twisting 'round in midair. Lera spits, a trickle of blood running down from a split lip. She only has one sword, which she grips with both hands. "That isn't true! People besides the strong survive! Sky, get ready!"

<Always. Setting up the spell.>

"Here we go!" Lera yells, and focuses. The energy around her remaining sword flickers -- then flares, shooting out to the length of a long sword around the bronze prongs at the center. She swings the blade back over her shoulder.

<Inferno Slasher!>

The Midchildan mage shouts wordlessly as she drops down, chopping the blade down with a determined, mighty slash once she closes the distance between her and Lunatic Charm. The blade bursts, then shortens back to short sword length after she drops past.

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Inferno Slasher on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Lera Camry's Inferno Slasher, taking 30 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Cure Peach is just too slow to keep up with Black Lynx. Somehow he is always one or ten steps ahead of her in attacking with tremendous speed while dodging her mighty punch. There has to be some way for her to even the odds, but what could she do? The thought of a possible counter-attack has to wait as Black Lynx is on the offensive once more. A powerful magical claw swipe is aimed Peach's way and she knows she's too slow to avoid this one. She attempts to make an 'x' with her arms to block the attack, but even this is too late. The sheer impact of Lynx's blow smashes Peach into the ground and kicks out a cloud of debris in the process.

The dust settles and Peach pushes her way back onto her feet. But that last blow was really something and Peach only makes a few steps before staggering and falling right back over, kicking up some more dirt in the process. She places both of her arms down on the ground and forces herself back up onto her feet. Her eyes quickly flash around to those near her and she soon spots Nadeshiko who nearly had turned Black Lynx into a shiskabob. "Hey! Do you think you can distact him? Let's give him a one-two-punch and get these children back their happiness!" Peach says as she then turns and watches wide-eyed as Nadeshiko wildly charges their mutual enemy. Her direct style of fighting was totally in synch in the way that she herself fought! "Yeah! Go get'em!" adds Peach cheerfully as she hops into the air before nearly losing her balance again when she lands awkwardly in her high-heeled boots.

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Withstand applied to Prism Keeper Orange!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Let's Get Our Happiness! on Nadeshiko Fujisaki.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki accepts Cure Peach's Let's Get Our Happiness!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Nadeshiko Fujisaki is Cheered!  Empower applied to Nadeshiko Fujisaki!  

<Pose Tracker> Black Lynx [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Black Lynx manages to keep his cool, this time, in the face of the fishy foe Prism Keeper Orange sent before him. He slices and dices, once more, and although it's not as clean-cut an affair as he'd like, at least he manages to stave it off.

Then, another challenger enters the fray, one wielding a device not unlike Ren's. Ikuto's ears twitch as his magical senses warn him to Nanoha's arrival, and just in time, too, to let him dance through the magical beams, barely getting grazed by the veritable hail beset upon him. Hi, Nanoha, meet Black Lynx. This is the sort of thing he does.

Lynx has freed himself after being tricked by Ren, and won't be fooled again, but this doesn't mean she's out of options. The rainbow wave is large-- perhaps too large to dodge, though that doesn't stop him from trying, but then Ikiko comes from another angle to give him a taste of his own medicine. Even raising his claw to defend himself from Nadeshiko's berseker assault, something he's effortlessly done several times before, doesn't quite cut it-- He barely manages to deflect the strikes, and gets several small cuts for his troubles.

He's sent slamming down onto the ground, but despite visible bruises, he lands on his feet, and already looks to be back for more. Despite appearances, and feline grace being his obvious greatest asset, he also seems surprisingly resilient.

He can't fall here. He still has a job to do. Utau started it, and he must finish it. For her sake.

Nanoha's arrival means there might be others, and they're running out of time. The eggs are restless (an understatement!) and although Amulet Heart seems to be forming a plan, she's biting more than she's ever chewed before, isn't she? Summoning every last bit of his strength, Black Lynx leaps several dozen feet in the air to meet nanoha, who isn't as exhausted by the fight as the others, and therefore gets the brunt of the whirlwind of blades that constitute his assault.

Then, he flies down in a graceful arc, not sparing the airborne or perched ones, aiming to clip their wings (figuratively or not) along the way, before landing right next to those who can only afford to run and leap, intending to trip them up in a similar way.

With what he needs to do next, he mustn't have all these /distractions/ in the way.

COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Cadenza on Nanoha Takamachi.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Finale on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Finale on Nadeshiko Fujisaki.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Finale on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has used Finale on Prism Keeper Orange.
COMBAT: Black Lynx has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Black Lynx's Finale, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates!  Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa covers Nanoha Takamachi for Black Lynx's attack, Cadenza, taking it upon themselves instead!

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

With the massive barrage of butterflies launched by Lunatic Charm heading everywhere, Tsukiko tries her best to herd them elsewhere, but gets hit by lots of them instead.

Lots. Of /painful/. Butterflies.

The wolfgirl hits the ground hard. Even with her normal resilience, this is going to take a few days to recover from.

Still, her mind is set on the hunt. She starts running towards Black Lynx, trying to box him in so he cannot escape. If this goes well, the others should have an easier time hitting him...

COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange perfectly counters Black Lynx's Finale, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Black Lynx!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Herd the Quarry on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa fails to brace Black Lynx's Cadenza, taking 33 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

Butterflies. Dozens and dozens of butterflies.

The Scarlet Maiden draws out her energy in an attempt to knock aside the brunt of the blow, but since it's not just one, but many, her body is pushed to its limits. "Agh!"After the full wave of pain passes finally, she falls to one knee, glancing upwards at Lunatic Charm.

("You seem like you're holding back...") Guma pants underneath her breath, murmuring to the quiet voice inside her. "It's not fun taking on these two and protecting those kids, but besides..." ("Yes?") "There's something going on with her. She's not a demon, and her friend's probably the same way, judging by the others' reaction to him. Fighting demons... is more simple than this." She stands, running a hand through her long hair. "But I'm not really going to last long if I hold back, am I?" She chuckles, then raises a hand into the air.

.... The same hand is them plunged against the ground a moment later, splitting the ground.

"Earth spike!"

A tower of earth jabs roughly into the air with a rush of air, aimed straight towards Lunatic Charm.

COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Earth Spike on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki fails to dodge Black Lynx's Finale, taking 30 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Scarlet Rune Maiden's Earth Spike, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach fails to counter Black Lynx's Finale, taking 29 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach's counterattack, Pretty Cure Counter Punch!, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Black Lynx!  

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Oops. It probably wouldn't help to tell Lunatic Charm that she didn't mean to stuff the pom-poms into her face. "Er..."

Only the strong survive. "...do you really think that?" Amu stands up straight and fixes her eyes on Utau's. "What kind of attitude is that? They're kids! Little kids should be allowed to play and have fun and explore their hopes and dreams! Not have them stolen away!"

For a moment, though, Amu is entranced by the older girl's movements. She really is graceful... Amu bets this girl doesn't even flail around like a fool like she does. But she only has a moment to think about it before a flock of dark butterflies descends upon her. It's all she can do to cross her arms in front of her face and clench her eyes shut, pressing against the attack. Her arms, already battered and sore from the trident earlier, take another pounding, and several of the butterflies still slam into her unguarded legs and stomach. She can only hold out for so long before she's overwhelmed. Pink-clad Amulet Heart disappears in that attack, and when the butterflies finally leave, she's flat on her back, breathing heavily.

For just a few seconds, she stays down, slowly opening her eyes. "I'm not going to give up on them..." With a cringe of pain, Amulet Heart slowly pushes herself up to her feet, though she's more than a little wobbly. "Lunatic Charm... we can argue more later! But right now... right now..!" Amulet Heart stares straight at the dark magical girl, clenching her hands tightly into fists. "Right now, there are kids' dreams I need to save!"

A drumbeat begins, and Amulet Heart pivots on her heel. One arm comes up, pointing directly at the X-Charas. "Negative Heart: Lock On!" Hopefully that shout will get their attention for a few seconds! Pink energy begins to glow around her as she brings both hands back to her chest, forming them into the shape of a heart. Rings of pink energy shoot out from the Humpty Lock on her chest toward her hands and beyond, reforming the rings into heart shapes as they get bigger and bigger, flying toward the X-Charas.

"Open Heart!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Amu Hinamori has used Open Heart on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Amu Hinamori has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly counters Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Herd the Quarry, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Tangle and Trap applied to Black Lynx!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Legato, partially gets through, doing 5 Fatigue damage to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Amu Hinamori's Finisher, Open Heart, taking 82 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Red [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

They actually seem kind of sad.

Don't get her wrong, they're still monsters. Monsters that were spawned from unhappy children, or so she gathers from their words and the fact that they hatched from the eggs above the unconscious kids. But are they the real enemy here? Is there a part of them that's still...human?

If they are still human, has she been hurting them all this time?

That's the thought that fills her head as a red shield appears over her head, and from the ring of suffering maybe-children, maybe-monsters comes a beam of powerfully dark energy.

Red squeaks, then takes the duck-and-cover position underneath the shield. She doesn't have time to think about where it came from -- only that it's holding up against the blast. Holding. Holding.

Broken.

The energy of the dark beam cracks and shatters the shield, and she's at ground zero of an amazingly powerful blast that singes her wings, her outfit, and cracks the ground around her.

Images of her past battles where she has suffered great injury flash in her mind, and for a second, this seems like it will be one of them--

And then, it's over. Thanks to that shield, the poor Prism Keeper only felt the tail end of the attack, rather than suffering the full thing. Granted, she's seen /better/ days. But she's also very much seen worse ones.

"Nice try," Red says defiantly, though her voice is shaky from the effort. Propelling herself into the air with a powerful leap, she leaves the circling X Charas behind, levelling herself with Lunatic Charm once again. "But I know that they're not the enemy now. You are."

She summons her Chroma Wand, which appears in her right hand with a burst of light. Light that does not disperse, mind; the jewel that crowns the Wand glimmers, then begins to gather more red color energy around itself.

"I've fought people like you before. You're a bully. A no good bully who tries to convince others that their dreams are worthless."

An unwelcome memory of /that one friend/ glistens in her mind for but a second, and the light around the Chroma Crystal falters.

No. Now's not the time for remembering her.

"I'll put a stop to it once and for all!" she finishes with conviction, and the steady glow returns to her Wand, pulsing and ready to fire.

"All right! Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain!" she cries out, and in a flash, a portal of red opens above Lunatic Charm's head, raining down red from the soul of a girl who's dreams used to be just as unsteady as the children's below.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Prism Keeper Red has used Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Red has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Prism Keeper Red's Finisher, Prism Aegis Power! Red Rain!, taking 70 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Things... aren't looking so hot. Ren takes a moment to look around at the surrounding scene. Those eggs are bad news for sure, with someone having to continually break off from the main fray to defend the park itself from being utterly destroyed. The mage bites her bottom lip, convinced that everything needed to be brought to an end before a passed out child gets blasted by accident. <<Nanoha! I'm going to->>

Lynx chooses this moment to rudely interrupt. Because that's what jerky catboys do apprently. She braces against the brunt of the onslaught, letting her armor soak most of the damage. More cuts appear on her vest, these deeper than the ones before. Though it holds, still, for now.

She lowers her arms and lets out a puff of air. But her relief does not last once she sees Lynx headed straight for Nanoha to deliver what will no doubt be a haymaker of an attack. "Nanoha!" She calls out, zooming off without a thought to put herself between the redhead and the predatory feline, erecting a golden shield of protection. It's a noble effort that's fit for a heroic magical girl such as herself.

But the shield does not hold, shattering from the force of the hit which is thus transferred onto her fully. It carries her back, sailing clean over Nanoha as her body tumbles and tosses within midair. And /then/ she comes crashing down /hard/, skidding along the ground. Her body kicks up dirt and bits of concrete along the way before she /finally/ comes to a rest.

And then... silence.

...But not for long! Ren stirs, sitting up slowly while rubbing the back of her head. She moves her hand away to look at the sticky blood that coats her fingertips. "U-ugh..." She says simply, standing to her feet after she's sure she won't fall right back over. "I'm alright." She reassures anyone who may be listening, walking back over towards Nanoha to rest a hand on the little mage's shoulder. "I'm glad I got here in time. But now... like I was saying before /he/ decided to be a jerk..."

Ren moves away from Nanoha and takes to the air again, flying higher and higher... and higher still. Finally she stops, looking down at both Lunatic Charm and Black Lynx as they continue to get hit with attacks from increasingly desperate magical girls. "Souverain Heraut... we have to try."

<YES. WE CANNOT LET OUR ALLIES DOWN.>

The scepter shifts, and very quickly forms the spell both device and master have in mind. A glittering crown spins above, and Ren speaks aloud.

"EVERYONE! PLEASE MOVE!"

And then she brings down the heat, a beam of concentrated raw energy being launched as the crown explodes. It's /wide/.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Ren Aizawa has used Brilliant Ray Decree on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Ren Aizawa has used Brilliant Ray Decree on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Prism Keeper Orange eek! Her eyes go wide again and she summons up another wonderful wonderland of koi around her to absorb the assault, slowly hovering backwards. She looks kind of scared, if a little bit, before she gasps. "We won't..let you wreck the park just because.. you want to!" she says. She doesn't know the actual reasons, but really is it important? Jerks trying to wreck theme parks are jerks all the same!

"...and hurt everyone here! And summon these black creatures!" she huffs. Wow, there's a lot she doesn't know. So far, it's been-- those weird guys going on about the sorrow guage, and the Shades she's fought. She wonders.... just what else is out there now. If there's more stuff like these. Geeze!

She raises her wand over her head. "I'm so upset!" she says with as much fury as she can muster. "Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst!" she calls out as a giant, orange colored beam, filled with color energy rockets out from it.

"Eeek!"

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Ren Aizawa's Finisher, Brilliant Ray Decree, taking 71 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: FINISHER! Prism Keeper Orange has used Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst! on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Orange's Finisher, Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst!, taking 45 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx fails to dodge Ren Aizawa's Finisher, Brilliant Ray Decree, taking 60 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

Cure Peach's smile turns upside down when suddenly Black Appear next to her and attempts to attack her point blank with another deadly attack. The young warrior panics and swings a punch towards her foe which leaves her wide open to the attack. Once again, Peach gets blasted across the battlefield, tumbling end over end until she comes to a complete stop by smashing into the ground a good dozen meters away. Shakily, Peach picks herself back up and struggles once more back onto her feet. She can't give up! The children here depend on them to save them from whatever these X-Eggs were! Peach had no idea herself, but she knew that they must be no good!

Gasping to regain her breath, the Pretty Cure warrior eventually stands as firmly and proudly as she can muster. She could not take much more before she was down for the count. That means she will have to muster whatever she has left and try to make it count!

Peach claps her hands above her head, a look of pure determination appearing on her face. "Nasty things, nasty things, fly away!" After clapping her hands together, the pink-eyed girl slowly begins bringing her arms down to her sides. She quickly raises her hands back up over where her heart would be and forms a heart overtop with her hands, pinky fingers extended out. "Pretty Cure, Love Sunshine!" An explosion of pink energy explodes out from Cure Peach and travels quickly towards her foe, Black Lynx, in an attempt to catch the quick cat in its wide beam.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Peach has used Pretty Cure Love Sunshine on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly braces Cure Peach's Finisher, Pretty Cure Love Sunshine, taking 44 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Nadeshiko Fujisaki [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Nadeshiko hears Cure Peach's request mid-flurry, and flashes her a big, jagged smile. "I can keep this kitty busy!" she laughs. Actually she probably can't, he's just /better/ than her, but she's kind of in the middle of an attack so she doesn't have time to break down why a Character Transformation is going to beat her Chara Change most of the time.

Peach's cheer does her some good, though, and she presses the attack hard enough that even Black Lynx can't quite keep up! He finally makes his move, zig-zagging across the field; the hit slams into Nadeshiko's chest and sends the little girl tumbling with a growly "WHOOF!", flat on her behind. Again. She glares up at him, daggers from her eyes, and again rises, legs shaking. "Black Lynx..." she seethes, stumbling forward. "I don't know what you're planning...but we have to purify these X-Eggs! If you're gonna stay in the way of that, I'll...I'll keep fighting! OOOORYAAA!"

Even tired, her grace is superb; she glides toward Black Lynx, eyes slitted to knives and swings her blade, a sharp, harsh thrust.

COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has used Needle Thrust on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly dodges Nadeshiko Fujisaki's Needle Thrust, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Nadeshiko Fujisaki is Psyched!  Black Lynx's Fade ability activates!  Black Lynx's Flash ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Nanoha Takamachi [Infinity Institute (3)] has posed.

In the hectic chaos of -butterflies everywhere- and magic and lasers flying, Nanoha seemed to at least pick out the right idea on who to shoot. Kudos for that. Now the slight issue comes in the fact that reprisal follows soon after.

"-... Ah..."

Soon enough she's staring straight up as Black Lynx is descending upon her, blades flashing and ready to hack apart her Barrier Jacket and body beneath it.

She brings her Device up, a weak attempt to guard herself as Raising Heart begins to cast the auto defense spell.

When Ren leaps into the path for her.

It's fairly frightening, watching her friend's shield utterly shatter and to see the frenzied flurry of flensing blades descending upon her. The fact that Ren gets back up afterwards is a little relieving, but it still looked very... Injurious, despite her claims of being fine.

Somewhere, deep down, Nanoha begins to feel guilty. And it actually doesn't make her feel so awesome when that hand sets on her shoulder. But Nanoha purses her lips as she grasps Raising Heart's grip as the Device shifts forms.

<CANNON MODE.>

She's taking aim, motes of pink light gathering in front of the spear-like head. Nanoha doesn't have much to say right now. Raising Heart says it for her:

<BUSTER SHOT.>

COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi has used Heavy Laser on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nanoha Takamachi has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Black Lynx narrowly counters Nanoha Takamachi's Heavy Laser, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx's counterattack, Con Sordini, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nanoha Takamachi!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

One moment, Lunatic Charm is standing proudly, and the next she is gone.

In order to really understand what happened, however, we must examine this sequence of events frame by frame.

Tight zoom on Lera Camry-nee-Cheeseburger-Propane-chan, who is slashing downwards with a sword that has brutally expanded in size and strength, pure energy emenating from the shortsword to magnify it manifold. The smell of ozone permeates the area as individual molecules of air are separated, tinged by the sharp scent of singed hair as Lunatic Charm, her eyes widening to the size of saucers, LEAPS backwards and out of the way --

-- and drenched, as the Red Rain pours down on her. She's already red-themed, but now she's a silhouette, and while not totally unharmed by this energy, it isn't as bad as it could be... but it's flowing down and away, along the ground, the massive puddle rising to subsume the gathered X-Chara, returning them, en masse, to X Egg form --

-- and in the same heartbeat that Ren Aizawa's magnificent beam comes toward her, Amulet Heart is putting it all on the line, and the combined brightness of their feelings whites out everything in a moment of perfect radiance.

When the light from the Midchildan-style blast fades, there's nothing to be seen of the mysterious girl. Perhaps she was vaporized outright; or perhaps she managed to flee at the last moment.

And when the light of Amu's heart fades, a great miracle has happened here. The X Eggs are X Eggs no longer -- their darkness banished, their shine regained. They are as many colors as there are dreams, and, called by the hearts they belong within, they float peacefully back into the comatose children, whose breathing normalizes, though they do not awaken.

...except for one, an X Egg that never managed to crack into an X Chara, which was on the periphery of all this, a little further away from Lunatic Charm...

...and a lot closer to Black Lynx.

<Pose Tracker> Black Lynx [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Black Lynx may be resilient, but as he's quickly finding out, so are the girls he's fighting. Ren protected her friend, and she, along with the others, all pick themselves back up even after his relentless onslaught. All he can offer in response to that is a weary sigh.

He grits his teeth as Tsukiko and Nadeshiko cut off his escape routes, and Nanoha's powerful beam of light keeps him focused on pouring the magic power Yoru grants him into deflecting it-- effectively slicing a laser, yes.

Then come, from three directions, tremendously powerful, tremendously beautiful waves of light, brilliant, orange and sunshiney pink, respectively. With his limited range, Black Lynx does what he can to move so that he won't take the worst of them, which is a lot like opening an umbrella while falling down the Grand Canyon.

A creature of darkness would have been vaporized on the spot. And despite Black Lynx's name and some of his most private beliefs, he is not one of them.

Still, they say a cat has nine lives. Judging by the shaky way the young man, his skin singed, his costume ragged, pulls himself back on his feet, he must have just used up a good amount of them.

He looks up, vision still blurry, where Utau just was a second ago. She's escaped. Good. She won't be looking at him now. This is the most important part. If she had been, it would have been even more painful than even all those brilliant beams of light put together.

And the remaining egg floats towards him, like a moth drawn to a flame. He saw Amulet Heart's last attack. He knows enough to know she doesn't have another one in her right now. No one here does. He has a job to do, and he will do it.

A swipe of his hand, and the egg is in his grasp. What follows next, to everyone watching, might seem agonizingly slow, but it really only takes an instant.

An egg, a dream, is such a fragile thing. Crack.

Purple, glowing mist seeps through the Lynx's fingers, as black eggshells dissolve, leaving nothing behind.

Just on cue, a nearby young boy wakes up, wiping his eyes. "I knew it was an impossible dream," he mumbles, "I've got to be realistic..."

Black Lynx doesn't turn to look at the boy. Having maintained a perfect poker face throughout the agonizing process, he doesn't start now. He does, however, speak up. He says far, far more than he usually does.

"Just so you know... Even without any help, most people break unneeded eggs. That's what happens to all the adults walking around with tired looks on their faces. They've long abandoned the egg holding who they wanted to be."

He falls silent and remains there, knowing he fully deserves whatever will be shouted, thrown or shot at him next.

COMBAT: Black Lynx has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Lera hears Ren's cry and looks out, sharply, and sees the colossal beam that her and Souverain Heraut made. She yelps and jumps, after finishing her slash, leaping up into the air. She does a backflip in midair, then lands near Nanoha and Ren. She looks between the two of them and nods. "Good job," she says, looking at Ren. "She was tough! We almost--"

<Lera. We have one left!>

She looks at the last remaining X Egg, then she looks at Black Lynx. Her eyes narrow, and she starts moving. She never gets there in time; he has it in hand and breaks it before she gets there. Her running slows, then, and she stumbles at the end. Her mouth opens and, for a moment, she is too surprised to really answer.

Then, something ticks over in her head when the boy wakes up and speaks, and she gets angry instead. "Why--why did you do that in the first place!? It wasn't yours!"

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (5)] has posed.

Tsukiko nods in grim satisfaction as the attacks rain down on Black Lynx. Teamwork, that's what it takes to bring down someone like-

Crack.

She watches in horror as the catboy basically explains that he just crushed someone's dream -- literally. Lera's voice of outrage shakes the wolfgirl out of her stunned expression, and, like the Device-wielder, she is ANGRY. "What gives YOU the right to just *crush* someone's dream?!?" she yells, the edges of her form starting to blur into a fierce silvery glow.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Ren doesn't look right away to see if her attack successfully got rid of either (or both) of the targets it was aimed at. She feels an overwhelming wave of tiredness wash over her, but she remains standing. Or floating, rather. Though her altitude is decreasing steadily, until she's down back on the ground, landing a bit unsteadily. As Lera comes over and congratulates her, Ren puts on a relieved smile. "Thank goodness. I don't have much power left-"

Soaring Sky's sudden exclamation makes her go still. Her gaze falls on Lynx soon enough, who has a single egg in his grasp. "What is he doing?" She questions, leaning forward on Souverain Heraut for support. And then she watches as he breaks it, earning a gasp out of her. "N-No!" While Ren doesn't know exactly what these eggs are, the fact that they came out of the chests of children tells her they are extremely important. /And he just crushed one./

"You're... you're awful!" Ren hisses, taking a step towards him. She doesn't get far though, the lack of mana causing her to stumble down onto her knees. "Ugh!" Her breath is labored as the world spins around her. But she's not so completely out of it that she misses what Tsukiko says.

Those eggs... were dreams? And the one he just crushed was... was...

It's enough to make her collapse further.

<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.

Prism Keeper Orange blinks what just happened, that egg cracked and...

"Wait, what!?" she says with a panic'ed expression as Black Lynx finally makes some connections in her head thanks to his explanation. "T..that's barbaric!...that's..unthinkable! Why would you!?" she sort of grasps at her chest a moment. Her brain is kind of coming to terms with 'this person just broke someone's dream'. This makes her sputter, it makes her angry!

She just angrily flicks her Chroma wand into the air, and a burst of energy sort of emits midway across the swing into Black Lynx's general direction. It's aimed with a sort of bizzare anger behind it.

"Jerk!----"

"Mega Jerk!.... Bully!" she sputters out. She continues with ever other terrible name she can think of in her head, but all of them are awfully childish.

<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.

The children, thanks to Amu's sacrifice, seem to be restored. That's good, but one egg still remains, as well as one cat-haired young man.

Crack.

("Oh no....")

Contrary to the inner emotions of Akemi, the Rune Maiden regards this event with a sad, sober calmness.

She knows a part of what he says is correct. And yet, at the same time, it's incorrect.

"If someone decides to give up their dreams, or on who they wanted to be, it's their decision," she states bluntly. "A difficult one, but one that is ultimately theirs to make. That's what makes humanity precious. Regardless of whether or not you say is true, or how true it is, you have no right to take that decision from them. Can you imagine the pain of someone crushing your dreams for you? Or did someone already do that to you?"

The way the Maiden gazes at Black Lynx is not entirely unsympathetic- he looks ready to take a beating, after all. Could he be like that girl he was with? Could someone else be behind all this?

Still. This is an area Guma has little experience with. The cat-earred boy could possibly start the process all over again.

She can't allow for that.

Scarlet hair begins to float upwards, adrift in the power unlocking from the lotus seal tattoo on her back. Now fully exposed, the lotus seal unravels, red ribbons of glowing light traveling from her back, across her arms, and then focusing on her hands. "I don't know your reasons, or if someone put you up to this," the maiden says as she raises her hand towards Black Lynx. "But I can't abide by this. Not when you might continue the process right here."

("But he just crushed...!")

Her gazes softens, as she utters the words:

"Scarlet Lotus Seal."

The energy she summons twist in a split second into the shape of the blooming lotus, beaming forward on a course towards Ikuto.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Scarlet Lotus Seal on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Amu Hinamori [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

That final Open Heart took a lot out of Amulet Heart, especially as tired and battered as she is. She breathes heavily, not steady on her feet... but she smiles, knowing that she was able to cleanse those X-charas and eggs and send them back to their owners. "...I wonder where that girl went?" For all that Lunatic Charm was out for her head, the blonde didn't stick around!

But the day has been saved! ...or has it? Amulet Heart's tired eyes focus on that one lone egg that managed to evade her cleansing blast. "Ah--" But it's grabbed. Wait... and she knows who that is, too. She takes a step forward, holding her hand out. "Wait, don't--!"

But it's too late, and she can only look in horror as the egg is destroyed. "How... how -could- you? That was someone's dreams and ambitions!" While she's far tooe xhausted to fight, she can at least walk and yell, and she staggers in Ikuto's direction. "It doesn't matter if he would have abandoned it! That would be his choice... you took it from him! You... you...."

"I really hate people like you the most!"

COMBAT: Black Lynx accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Finisher, Scarlet Lotus Seal, taking 70 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Nadeshiko Fujisaki [Ohtori Academy (5)] has posed.

Nadeshiko holds back rather than press, because despite appearances she's not /in fact/ a micro-Yakuza assassin.

"Black Lynx. It's over, end this! You don't--" An X-Egg wanders past, and Nadeshiko's eyes shrink to pinpoints. "NO! BLACK LYNX, DON'T YOU DARE!" She can see him grip it, whips her blade up, already her feet are pounding forward--

Crack.

She stumbles to a stop, knuckles white on the shaft of her naginata even as one hand releases it, blade hitting the ground. Her eyes and Temari's both travel to the young boy nearby, and she all but withers, head falling down.

"'Every child has an egg in their soul'," she mutters, halfway for herself and halfway for the benefit of the people around who aren't totally clear what just happened. "'The Egg of the Heart, their would-be selves. An egg you can't see with your eyes.'"

She takes a step forward, her blade sparking on the ground. "Those Heart Eggs...contain the dreams of who those kids hoped to be when they grew up. When they become depressed by life's struggles...or just when you /tear it out/..." Her eyes narrow, flashing up. "...it becomes an X-Egg, and runs rampant."

Another step forward, a slow breath in and out, while Temari hovers behind her, her eyes flashing with anger.

"But that doesn't excuse this! Even if...even if that egg would've disappeared someday! That was someone's would-be self...and you had no right! I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"

Nadeshiko's grip shifts...and she breaks the unspoken rule, as her feet blur beneath her, charging at Black Lynx.

"IKUTO TSUKIYOMI!!!"

It's the last she can howl before her voice descends into a chaotic, gutteral shrill, the half-mad joy of the fight replaced with a helpless anger as her blade darts and weaves, wielded with a weird, furious grace, sweeping wide arcs to try and catch the thieving cat and spear the stuffing out of him.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Nadeshiko Fujisaki has used Fujisaki-ryu Meteor Attack on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Nadeshiko Fujisaki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Schools of Pain on Black Lynx.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Nanoha Takamachi [Infinity Institute (3)] has posed.

When Black Lynx -doesn't- further return reprisals, Nanoha pauses. And at first, blue eyes look on with confusion as he clasps one. And then crushes it. Nanoha has not been a magical girl very long, but even a short span of just a handful of months have taught her that even abstract concepts like hopes and dreams and wishes can be given form. But what she sees happen just now is enough to make the child stiffen, glancing to the wakening boy blearily rubbing his eyes and dismissing his dreams as folly.

And her eyes widen. And it's a look of horror so abject and shakingly strong that one hand clasps over the breastplate of her Barrier Jacket.

She does not join in the cries of outrage and fury, merely going dad silent, reflecting internally.

What -IS- her dream?

She was so clueless of it months ago. And now only does she have the faintest flickering shards of an idea of one.

"I... Don't think so." She murmurs, "E-... Even if one dream is lost, there are always more. ... People make their own dreams. Right?"

Right?

She sounds a little unsure there but. For ONCE she realizes she's somehow managed to avoid injury. This is a realization she's thankful for as she quickly knees by Ren, undoing the white ribbons in her hair and beginning to struggle and use them as makeshift bandages for her friend. Anything to take her mind off the resounding question whispering in her ear.

If she lost her own dream... Would she go back to having no purpose, all over again?

COMBAT: Black Lynx accepts Nadeshiko Fujisaki's Finisher, Fujisaki-ryu Meteor Attack, taking 82 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Black Lynx is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Black Lynx accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Schools of Pain, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Black Lynx is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange is unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.

The pink light of Love Sunshine fades along with the bright colors of her fellow magic girls' attacks. Peach recognized this feeling, this was definitely the big push they needed to turn the tide in this fight. But the young girl quickly realizes that not everything is going as it should. In fact, things are quickly become a nightmare. Cure Peach may not know anything about the magnitude of what happened before a few moments ago, but watching what is happening around her help clue her in. And her heart breaks at the sound of young boy giving up on his dream. The finality in the tone of his statement rips at the strings to Peach's heart. "No..." She begins as her exhaustive wave washes over her. "How will you ever get your happiness if you give up on your dreams?" Peach says in a soft voice tinged with melancholy.

The angry cries and attacks of other magic girls forces Peach to remember that the fight wasn't quite over. But then again, was it? Black Lynx wasn't attacking anymore and had shattered a child's dream. Was there a point in fighting past this point? Would this have even happened if Peach was a little stronger and was able to end this fight before Black Lynx shattered the egg? All these thoughts nearly overwhelm the blond-haired Cure Peach, but she shakes her head from side to side. This wasn't like her at all! Everyone could still get their happiness, even the kid whose dreams were crushed! Peach looks a little better than she was before, but she's still exhausted, emotionally drained, and unsteady from her wounds. All she can do was flash a hopeful smile and hope that everyone here, including the dream-crushed boy can persevere. "We can all still get our happiness, I know it!"

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Dream Land is somewhat worse for wear, but not razed to the ground, which could have happened easily if not for the thorough self-sacrifice of the magical girls present today. It's certainly closed for the rest of the day; as the visitors to the theme park begin to stir, they theorize 'earthquake' or maybe 'intense vandalization plus a gas leak' and start filtering out.

A day has been ruined -- and a dream smashed.

More than one dream, actually.

That night, the owners of Dream Land look at each other from across their kitchen table. They pass a cup of coffee back and forth with the ease of a old couple long used to sharing each other's drinks.

"So, this is it, my dear."

"I know, beloved. We had a good run."

"Should we... should we just let it close its doors?"

"I don't know..."

They stare at each other, then out their window, at the Tokyo skyline below.

"No," they say in unison, their voices harmonizing with each other as well as their hearts. "Just because our dream is dying doesn't mean we should deny everyone else's."

One sighs while the other drinks. "I'll make the call."

<Pose Tracker> Black Lynx [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

I... Don't think so.
How will you ever get your happiness?
It wasn't yours!
What gives YOU the right?!?
I can't abide by this.
You're... you're awful!
Mega Jerk!.... Bully!
I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!

I really hate people like you the most!

Utau isn't there to watch anymore. So why did he just feel...

Black Lynx, apparently also known as Ikuto Tsukiyomi, closes his eyes. He could, if he was so inclined, offer many rationalizations, explanations, excuses. The tremendous power of the Scarlet Rune Maiden's lotus seal, the sheer righteous rage that carries Nadeshiko's blade, and even the vengeful pecks of Prism Keeper Orange's koi friends... Black Lynx takes them all, and predictably, gets knocked down.

The young man who gets up is not wearing a black magical outfit, but rather a school uniform that may perhaps look familiar to some. The cat ears still on his head-- a Chara Change, much like Nadeshiko's --make it clear that he's still the same person, however.

Without saying another word, he turns around, and leaps away into the night. He's done, here.

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

While Lera is yelling, she becomes dimly aware of the fact that Ren is collapsing. She turns quickly -- and then manages to catch her, despite being weak herself. Being thrown back into a roller coaster left her feeling sore all over, but she can hold a friend up. She looks down at her, guiltily, and shakes her head once. "Ren-san..." she says, trailing off. "Hold on, okay?"

Then she looks up (slightly, at any rate) at Nanoha. "Y-Yeah," she says. "People find their dreams all the time, so he'll be okay..."

But her voice wavers. She isn't so sure about that.