1474/Close Call for a Catboy: Device Mages to the Rescue!

Close Call for a Catboy: Device Mages to the Rescue!
Date of Scene:	29 April 2024
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	When Easter sends a large number of youma goons after Ikuto, the exhausted catboy finds himself on the ropes until two Device Mages, one he knows and one he doesn't, arrive.
Cast of Characters:	Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Zephyr Windstar, Yuki Hoshino

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Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"Damn, they've really been persistent lately." The catboy was breathing a bit faster than usual as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, a group of Easter's trenchcoat-wearing youma "goon squad" following behind on the roofs and through the alleys below.

Ikuto stopped on a rooftop, noticing that he was getting a bit too close to Radiant Heart for his own comfort. "We can't lead them to the academy! Other people could get hurt. Time to make a stand."

Yoru's eyes darted left and right as the youma shuffled to form a loose circle around Ikuto. "It's good to think about your friends Ikuto but I think we're in a bit of trouble here! You're all worn-out from fighting and running from these guys, and Easter just keeps sending more every day! We're in a pinch, nya!"

Ikuto grinned. "We'll get through this, Yoru. Come on!

My Heart, Unlock!"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    It was a slow day. Working the soda cart during school time is a drag, not many customers. The tall brunette leans under the sun-shade and watches the world go by with her mismatched eyes... until her Device gives a soft chime, like a notification tone from a smart-watch.

    The Enforcer looks at her bracelet, like she's looking at a notification, but is talking to her Device through Telepathy. <What's got your circuits in a knot?> she asks, < Dark Energy signatures. Multiple. Low-grade. Mana-signal. Fluctuating. > comes the clipped response, as if Tenraikaze were still processing the incoming data. <Fair enough.>

    Zephyr locks up her cart, chaining it to a signpost and putting up a 'Out To Lunch, Back Soon' sign in both japanese, and stylized english script. She then ducks down an alleyway, tugging the coin-like Standby form of her Device from its braclet mount. "Set up!" < Standby Ready. Setup! Device Mode set to Gale Mode. Barrier Jacket set to Windshear Form. > She takes a couple of hops, before leaping up into the air and winging over to close in on the youma signals, and the fleeing Chara-bearer.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Most days, Yuki gets her lunch from the school cafeteria. Today is not one of those days. Maybe she's just *bored* with it.

Whatever the case, she's not there, and she didn't bring a lunch from home, so she's decided to hie forth and find something more interesting than vending machine ramen. She's just opened the door of a small family restaurant, taking a sniff of the aroma of delicious dumplings, when a small 'ding' sound rises from the little octagonal brooch she wears.

"Hm?" she asks, curious, and takes out her phone to look at the screen.

<Energy signature detected,> reads the notice on the screen. <72% similarity to previously-recorded signature 'dark zone'.>

The girl sighs and shakes her head. She taps a few more keys to bring up a map. "Okay, that's pretty close." With considerable regret, she lets the door close behind her as she slips into the alley.

"So much for dumplings," she mutters as the digitized light-show washes over her, leaving her in her kimono-like Barrier Jacket.

It's time to fly. Which is at least a pleasure of its own....

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
It was a brutal, desperate fight. Ikuto knew he wasn't in the best shape right now, having spent the better part of the past two months running from mobs of these youma and doing his best to take them down in small groups when possible. Easter had been relentless in their pursuit, and he'd even had to ask for a dorm at Radiant Heart so he could have at least one truly safe place to hide out.

The metal claw flashed through the air, stabbing into one of the goons before Ikuto kicked it away. He found himself with no choice but to take a punch to the face from another that had come up from his blind spot. Even turning to avoid taking it flat, it rocked his vision and he had to steady himself.

This was bad. From the corner of his eye he saw one of them set down a briefcase with an absolutely -ancient- mobile phone inside. He could hear the youma shouting...something, into the phone's receiver but couldn't quite focus on what was being said. All he knew was that there were a lot of them today. Too many. He could feel Yoru already straining a bit to keep him in his transformation. There were four youma surrounding him while others prepared to jump in if necessary. Normally these wouldn't be a problem, but...he was tired. -Yoru- was tired. All this running and fighting had taken its toll.

"Damn you, Director...Nikaidou...I'm not going down here!" Ikuto was pushing himself and he knew it, but he couldn't stop now. He wasn't sure running away was even an option anymore as he grabbed another of the youma by the face and swept its leg to bring it crashing down on the rooftop.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr glances toward the flare of another Device activating... then returns her focus to the upcoming signatures... She comes to a stop above the melee, watching as Black Lynx takes a hit, then another... "Barrier Expansion."

    < Barrier Expansion! > replies Tenraikaze, as an oil-on-water like barrier dome expands over, pushing civilians and other non-magicals out of the combat zone. "Right, lets get everyone on comms." < Telepathy! > The Device chimes, pinging Zephyr's words into the minds of those within the barrier field. <Gonna keep this brief. Name's Zephyr, I'm a Mage, and I'm here to help... Coming down from above.>

    With that, she angles downwards, forms a spell seal under her feet and kicks off with her axe-like Device held for a horizontal slash at a group of these goons angling to get around behind Black Lynx. < GALE SABER! > announces Tenraikaze, as the blades of the axe-head begin to boil with unstable purple mana, that explodes like a shaped charge on impact.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
<Warning! Barrier space detected!>

<Warning! Incoming communication. Accept link?>

Yuki blinks at the messages that just came up in her virtual screen. "... accept link," she agrees, after a moment's thought. <I go by Knight of Dawn,> she replies to the mysterious Zephyr. <Coming in fron the north.>

She swoops down towards street level as the fight comes into view, seeing the Black Cat pursued by Men In Black. Well, that certainly makes decisions easier.

<Aurora Flash!> voices her Device as the flashbang-like bullet goes off in the face of the youma with the telephone, hopefully distracting him long enough for her to get in another spell.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto heard Zephyr in his head, but knew better than to question what was going on when she announced herself. Seeing something coming down from above he took a defensive stance and focused on the youma in front of him as some of the flankers were blasted.

Then he saw a familiar sight, and heard her blast the youma using the old phone. Knight of Dawn, in all her glory.

He was trying to remain focused on the youma currently engaging him, and while they really shouldn't have been a threat to him these circumstances were far from ideal. Yoru didn't have the energy for Slash Claw right now so Ikuto was down to just using his fists, feet, and the metal claw on one hand to fight.

He struck out with the claw to stab at another, but this time the youma took it into its arm and laughed as its three friends closed in and started punching, kicking, and overall beating down the catboy.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    <We're gonna need to talk about this after we clear these guys out.> states Zephyr as her metal-shod boots clak resonantly on the ground. She hefts the axe-like Device over one shoulder, and holds out her right hand. "Wide Area Bind." she states. Tenraikaze chimes, its blue crystal flaring and writing across its surface < Ribbon Bind! >. Purple bands of magic erupt from multiple smaller spell seals that draw into vision around her, lashing out to wrap around as many of these goons. Hired goons. As possible, locking them down and hopefully giving Black Lynx some breathing room, and opening up attack avenues for Knight of Dawn to deal enough damage.

    She is rooted in place herself, having to concentrate to keep this spell going.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki was preparing her next spell when the violet light of a binding spell wrapped itself around the goons. That's going to be a *huge* help for her. An unmoving target is so much easier to blast, after all.

She skids to a halt in mid-air, halfway down the blck, and raises her left hand to spread her fingers wide as a spell-circle appears before her hand. "Mage Sign: You Lose," she intones.

She's echoed by her Device as a series of light-darts fade into view, launching themselves out at the pair that were attacking the Black Cat. <Aurora Lancer>. There aren't many, but each carries as much oomph as she can shove into them, and without needing to home on their targets they're faster than her usual.

"Leave. The Cat. Alone."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto was doing his best to defend himself from the beatdown, but was down on one knee when Yuki's attack took out the youma around him. Getting back to his feet, he saw the rest of the youma goons stepping up for a fight, some cracking their knuckles and another kicking a leg out to limber up as they walked up with a swagger in their step. There had to be around...ten of them still. He didn't see any more coming, thankfully. Easter seemed to have committed all they were willing to for today, now that the catboy had help.

He wanted to fight. Wanted to not look weak in front of the other two. Just as he began to take a step forward though, he felt his Character Transformation drop. Yoru parted from him, landing on his shoulder and looking as tired as Ikuto had ever seen the Chara. "Sorry Ikuto...I can't keep going nya," the little cat Chara said.

Ikuto nodded, giving Yoru a pat on the head. "Yuki-chan and another Mage named Zephyr are here. With their help it's gonna be okay, Yoru." Ikuto was barely standing now, but he had to keep going. He wasn't going to let others do everything for him, not when they'd come to his aid like this.

The catboy looked around and saw something he could use: a metal bar, possibly ripped off the fire escape during the fighting. He took it in his hands and glared at the youma. "Yuki-chan, Zephyr-chan! Let's finish this trash off so I can thank you two and explain myself!"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr lets her bind drop... holding that many for that long is hard to maintain, but at least the ones beating on the boy are dealt with. "That's the plan." she glances at Yuki. "Not bad barret control... self taught?" she asks conversationally as she shrugs her axe from her shoulder, and sweeps it one-handed toward the approaching goons. < Impulse Barret, Concussive Shift. > announces the Device, as large purple 'wisps' form in the wake of the Device's passage. They grow to about the size of a softball each, then lance out at the approaching goons with a sharp crack like a gunshot. The bolts aren't exactly /fast/ moving, about the same speed as an average baseball pitch, but each one detonates like a grenade on impact.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki nods to Zephyr, "Had to work out a lot by myself," she explains briefly. Then she dodges quickly to one side, just in case one of the youma has gotten off a shot with the bindings released. Her movement leaves a trail of light-darts behind her, ready to fire.

<Third Hexagram: Chun. Difficult beginnings,> speaks the mechanical voice as the darts fire off in series.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto's about to run at the youma to help...when they all drop from a combination of Zephyr's explosions and Yuki's darts of light. As the defeated youma disperse into dust, the catboy drops the metal bar and falls over.

After a few moments he's up again, looking to the two Device Mages. "Thank you. I, er. I think this would have gone pretty badly without the two of you to...save me." He looks away, somewhat embarrassed at the state the two saw him in. Yoru is asleep on the catboy's shoulder, and Ikuto motions to him. "We've been fighting those things pretty often for the past couple of months. Yoru's really pushed himself hard to keep us in the fight, and I've been trying to not drag anyone else into this. Yuki-chan, I'm sorry for not saying anything about this. And Zephyr-chan, it's nice to meet you. I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi, and those monsters you two dealt with are the rank and file of Easter Corporation as of late. They've been trying to capture me ever since I cut off contact with them after deciding to stop doing their dirty work."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr, on seeing the last of the goons fall and disperse, dismisses her Barrier Jacket and Device. Her normal outfit is pretty normal, despite her towering 5'11" height. A pale yellow T-shirt with a popular J-Pop band logo, burnt orange cargo trousers, and work boots. "Zephyr Windstar... I'm a TSAB Enforcer, but that probably doesn't mean much to either of you." she glances to Yuki. "I work the Jan Ken Pop soda cart." She twirls her coin-like Device along her fingers, before slotting it back into the silver bracelet on her right wrist. "This is Tenraikaze, my partner." she adds, gesturing with her right arm, and earning a chime from the Device. "So... Easter Corporation? I can't say I've heard of them, but if they're using Dark Energy, they can't be doing anything good."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki descends to land somewhat roughly on the street near Ikuto, her own barrier jacket dropping out with a pixellated, fritzy bit of static before it fades into her normal school uniform.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Zephyr. Your assistance was quite welcome."

Turning to the Black Cat, she looks him over briefly. "How long have those thugs been after you, Ikuto-kun? You look exhausted."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
The catboy nods to Zephyr. "Easter Company spends a lot of time corrupting the Heart Eggs of young children by causing them to give in to despair, releasing dangerous little creatures called X-Charas. I'm ashamed to admit that I used to aid Easter in doing this. It's a long story, but...I'm possibly their most hated enemy now, and I'll do anything it takes to bring them down."

Looking to Yuki, the catboy gives her a smile. "Long enough that I had to work out a way to get a dorm at the Academy so I could have somewhere to rest. Lately there have been enough of these youma out and about that I've tried to keep their attention, though. I've no doubt Easter would commit to causing all sorts of trouble to draw me or my friends out if they couldn't get at me directly."

He looks around, shaking his head. "I didn't want anyone else possibly getting attacked the way I have been, so I was trying to keep Easter's eyes on me. Turns out they've got a lot more resources at their disposal than I expected."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Whatever you think they have, triple it and you'll probably be on the lower side of the right amount." remarks Zephyr, folding her arms over her chest. "Look, my Barrier'll be coming down in a few minutes, how about we head over to my soda cart, get out of the middle of the street and pretend like everything's cool." she suggests, making a gesture over the way she came. "I need to get back soon anyway. Soda won't sell itself, y'know."

    She's got a strange accent, but speaks clearly enough, if a bit informally at times.

    Zephyr does bow lightly to Yuki. "Nice to meetcha too, if y'wanna talk shop on spellwork, I'm usually around here during lunch time." she then reaches into one of her pockets, and tugs out a business card, offering it one-handed. "Or gimme a call or a text message. That's my number." She offers one to Ikuto too. "Same goes for you, or if y'need help with these Easter jerks again."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki glares at Ikuto. "So long as that, and you have not approached anyone for help in fending them off?" She sighs and shakes her head. "Well, at least this batch won't be bothering anyone anymore."

She looks over to Zephyr, nodding. "I'd appreciate the chance to chat about that, especially with a professional."

She turns back to Ikuto, about to continue chiding him. "You," she starts, when her stomach rumbles. Loudly. She had, after all, been on her way to lunch when all this started. " - are going to lunch with me." She turns to Zephyr and adds, "You're invited too." Then she starts looking around for a nearby restaurant.....

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto heads over with the Device Mages, nodding and accepting the card. "I'll keep that in mind. If this is the sort of effort they're going to put in to deal with me, I'll need all the help I can get. I can't use spells the way you two can though. I'm a Chara Bearer, and Yoru here is the reason I can fight.

In his sleep, Yoru mumbles out "Mrhh. Manifestastion...hopes and heart's desire...catboy. Nya..."

Ikuto smiles. "Lunch with a Knight in shiny, pixelated armor and a new friend sounds great. I've got a heck of a story for you two." Yoru perks up at the mention of lunch. "Oh yeah! Ikuto got thrown out of a window a couple of days ago nya!"

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr chuckles softly. She doesn't say anything, but the interplay between these two is obvious even to the normally rather socially inept Enforcer. She gives Yuki a bow. "I'll have to pass, thanks, but I have to get back to work."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki nods, "It was a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I'll look you up when I have a couple of hours free. Perhaps after school tonight."