2618/Eyes On The Prize

Eyes On The Prize
Date of Scene:	15 June 2025
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Seriss is up to something -- and it's not just a fight this time, she's searching for something. But what? Rashmi, Coco, Amy, and Hinote are joined by the recently arrived Souta for a dangerous fight... and at the end of it it's really not clear who won.
Cast of Characters:	Molly Skyline, Rashmi Terios, Souta Camero, Amanda Faust, Hinote Kagari, Coco Kiumi

---

Molly Skyline has posed:
Tokyo is a city that never realyl sleeps; but there are certainly times when it slows down. A lazy Sunday afternoon is one of those times; nobody's at school, most offices are shut for the weekend, and on this particular Sunday a lot of people are catching up on things like homework, family time, or just rest. (Or, you know, video gaming.)

Seriss Nyx is not one of those people. She has far too much to get done.

The dark sorceress hovers over the city, up amongst the clouds, in her armored Henshin and born aloft on translucent red wings. All three of her weird creations hover around her, occasionally screeching at each other in their incomprehensible tongue.

"Yes, my sweet," answers Seriss to one of their queries. "It is time for that."

Seriss descends, dropping down to land in a crouch on the corner of a skyscraper rooftop, and watches the three strange sarcophaguses take up positions nearby, hovering around the top floors of another skyscraper. Seriss rises back to full height, and clutches Cygnus Lich, taking a deep breath.

"Time Space Barrier. Maximum range."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. BARRIER DEPLOYED. MAXIMUM RANGE WILL INCUR MANA DRAIN. >>

"Noted." As Seriss accepts the Lich's warning, a dark pulse of energy radiates out, shifting all the colors to something a bit more... purple. A bit darker. Civillians disappear, and as the barrier grows and expands for miles to encompass a sizeable portion of the city, any Mahou in the area will most certainly recognize that something is up.

"Begin."

The three creations named for the fates all screech in agreement; and together, a series of inhuman eyes open across their faces and fire purpleish beams of energy, shattering glass and converging on the center of the building where they form a squirming, wriggling mass of oily blackness; it grows and corrupts, absorbing what it touches as it begins melting the building from the top down, bringing a satisfied smile to Seriss' lips.

"Just as predicted. ...Let's see how they handle this."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It *was* going to be an easy Sunday.

The wedding menu for Usagi and Mamoru was almost complete, most of the recipes had been locked completely down and were fairly simple to actually make; gathering people to do the production would be the biggest step. Work on Hanzo was past the difficult stages, and most of the steps now were fiddly and required integration time. All of which converged to give her a surprising amount of downtime on a day where no schoolwork was in the offing.

*So of course Seriss' signature had to show up downtown.* Because that stupid daimon *refused* to allow Rashmi to have nice things. Stuffing her tools back into her Device with a frustrated groan, Rashmi found the nearest balcony at the Dorms, henshined, and took off toward Mitakihara.

<< Nicomachea, throw a message out on text and Device bands; whoever's active and seems to have free time. 'Seriss Nyx is getting up to big stupid downtown, help appreciated. Explanations en route if you're not familiar with the name. Thanks!' >>

Nicomachea loosed a bright *bong!* as the message went out, and Rashmi simply heaved a long-suffering sigh, waiting to see who among her friends would bite.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Souta Camero, unlike the city of Tokyo, does in fact sleep. Which is kindof a problem for his hair sometimes. He has a lot of hair, and therefore a lot of problems, and his favorite hair products don't really exist on this planet. He's in the process of shopping for a new hair care routine when the barrier is deployed.

    < Barrier Detected. Extreme Radius. >

    Souta adjusts the way his glasses rest on his nose and telepathically asks, < How far away? >

    < Central Point: 3.5 KM away. >

    Over three kilometers? That's a pretty sizable distance for a barrier. It would take him some time before reaching the radius, right?

    He's in the middle of thinking this when the saleswoman at the beauty store just vanishes in front of him. The world tints purple around him, and his green eyes go wide. He turns around, his long blonde hair twirling behind him as he walks out of the store. His hands remove the glasses from the bridge of his nose as he commands, "Paradise Spectrum: Barrier Jacket."

    < Mission Start >

    As the glasses glow a mixed red and green, they turn into a pair of tonfas with glowing green mana blades.

    < Slider Fin >

    Clouds of dust kick up around his feet as he seems to hover centimeters off the ground, as he dashes through the now empty shop and launches himself up the side of the nearest skyscraper. Rashmi's ping gets his attention.

    < Souta Camero en route. I've read the report. I'll be there soon. >

Amanda Faust has posed:
    This weekend is a brief chance to relax. Recovering from the stress of the end of the Crystal Tokyo trip and Chibiusa turning evil and New Moon being loose and Usagi being captured and being yelled at by teachers for not focusing and THEN lerning there was sort of a plan and that she might have a future and really TRYING in class and she could really use a day or two of rest and she gets... a day, at least, so that was something.

    The message comes... without the power going out? << What is she up to THIS time?! >> Amy's rocket departs from the dorm roof and speeds into the barrier...

Hinote Kagari has posed:
A bad feeling in the night, tingling down your spine. Hinote sits at the ramen joint slurping down soup, Tracy enjoying his own little gyoza dumpling as he looks into the sky. "Something is rotten in the city." he says.

Pulp Noir is now hoping up a fire escape, running, jumping across alleys as he holds onto the brim of his fedora. He gets a text. He slows down to answer.

< I'm on the case. >

He continues running as he jumps across a smaller roof to a fire escape on a taller building as he continues his ascent.

He's jealous of fliers. El peeks out from the back of his hat occasionally. El too, can feel the chill. El thinks it's spooky.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
It's a lazy sunday afternoon indeed, and what best way to spend it than with your boyfriend?

This time the two of them had hit the streets without a particular destination, just looking at anything the city had to offer. They were already on their fifth shop visit, holding a book the two of them had dug up and bought on the spur of the moment. It was a stop they had made on Rihito's request, result of a glimpse he had caught in the window, a new addition to a collection of books his mom used to have, and it only came out a few days earlier.

But this is not why he had suggested it. Yes, of course there were feelings of longing attached, but this particular volume also leaned into music sheets meant to be played by a violin with a vocal backing to it. Who is to say they couldn't find inspiration for their own activities in the coming days?

When Seriss Nyx's barrier came however, the two of them were about to take a break at a crepe shop, one fully deserved both with the running around they did across the windows and the jogging they had done just before they had started hopping through shops.

"A melon crepe for me", Coco asks the vendor, already retreating to make space for her boyfriend when the blur of the barrier passed, and soon they were left alone, to his blinking and her scowling. "Something again", Coco sighs, brushing Rihito's shoulder. "You head to the Pearl Pier, ok? I will find you there after this is over", she urges him with a slight push and a quick kiss.

"I... I hope I get used to this soon", he shakes his head almost as if disapproving of the barrier's sudden entrance, and he returns the gentle brush. "Don't take too long", he asks worried before running off.

She hasn't even gone back down proper before she has already started calling on her pearl's power. "Yellow Pearl Voice!" With the kaleidoscope of colours that leads her transformation, she has returned to her Idol form, and the Live Stage lifts her in a hurry towards the direction the Barrier came from.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Oh awesome, >> Rashmi breathes in relief as the messages start returning, and as she dives into the Barrier, Nicomachea begins to light up Rashmi's mind with location markers.

    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

As the communications net settles into place, Rashmi's voice can be heard in the back of her allies' minds. << Good afternoon everyone, and thanks for being here... sorry about Seriss, y'know... still existing. I'd like to introduce TSAB Inspector Souta Camero, this is gonna be his first experience with Earth insanity and it's gonna be the deep end. ...For reference, Inspector, Pulp Noir here is a magical detective, and one of the best in the business. Paradise Spectrum, I know Chrono gave you all the reports, so reference Chara Bearer, Puella, and the Mermaid Kingdoms for what you can expect to see. Yellow Pearl Voice *probably* won't be an active combatant, but her song eats at Dark Energy so there's good odds she'll end up targeted. Her Live Stages make *great* shelters though, so if you're in trouble look for her. I'll be switching between support, defense, and offense as needed, but don't be afraid to call out in case you need assistance and I'm gonna miss it. This concludes the in-flight briefi-- WHAT THE WHAT. >>

As Rashmi banked around a skyscraper, the center point of the Barrier came into view, and an *entire melting building* is definitely an escalation from the usual. After hanging in the air for a moment, Rashmi shakes her head. << OKAY DEEP END IT IS. Don't target the things with the eyes or Seriss herself; an *entire melting building* looks like problem enough for today. >>

Seriously? A *whole building?!*

Souta Camero has posed:
    Souta Camero leaps across from one building to the next when he spots Rihito down below. There's a bit of panic as he mutters out loud, "Is he lost or something?! How is someone like that here?"

    < Appearance can suggest several possibilities. Unawakened magic potential. Low level magical ability. >

    "Is it okay to just... leave him here?"

    < Safety likely if kept out of Combat. >

    After a pause, Souta says, "Track him, and warn me if he gets too close to the fighting."< Confirmed >

    After making sure his tracking spell is working properly, Souta continues his journey towards the skyscraper and the unholy mass growing from it. He narrows his eyes as he assesses this situation. Rashmi's reaction isn't that far off from his own inner thoughts. Not a very easy foe to deal with. Good thing he's not alone. "Halberd mode. Mana Filter: Fire."

    < Confirmed >

    < Duly Noted, Rashmi. I'll be going in up close. > is his telepathic response, as Paradise Spectrum changes form. The energy blade of the halberd burns with a yellow-orange-red gradient, and Souta slides down the side of a building for a moment to line himself up for one big jump. With a burst of mana and speed he leaps through the air, flaming polearm raised high and when he reaches the horrible mass he slashes downwards at the wriggling mass, falling until he hits a portion of the building's wall that hasn't melted yet.

    < I have to admit. This is... new. >

Amanda Faust has posed:
    < Hoo boy. > Amy agrees, when Rashmi says Inspector Camero is jumping in on the deep end.

    Don't target Seriss? < If you do, physical piercing attacks work best on her shields. Or plasma? >

    Seriss is... melting a building? "What's your game this time!?" Amy asks, as she flies into view, and then she sees the building isn't melting, it's being corrupted, "Uh-oh."

    She flies that way, dropping incendiaries on the top of the mass and then diving down towards the base of the building to start spreading fire around it... she doesn't want to find out if this will corrupt everything in the barrier.

    It's concerning that Seriss has taken the safety precaution of putting up a barrier around this experiment, after all...

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Oh crap, the building he's climbing now is...melting? Corrupting? What? He hops across the alleway quickly and has to grab onto the edge of a broken fire escape this time as he crawls up the piping a bit before getting across to creaky stairs. He walks the rest of the way and whews a bit.

There he is. Finally. at the top of the city.

< Huh. Welcome to the case. This is -- oh you've read reports. Then you know. We need to get our friend out of that thing in the end. > He says.

He produces a pistol from his coat and frowns, leveling it at Seriss. "What do you think you're doing this time?" he asks.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco's brow furrows at the sight of the melting building. If this is Seriss' way to say she is not messing around, well, they sure have received her message, but... << This barrier, it belongs to Seriss, right? Is there a reason she would waste power like this? It will be destroyed when the barrier drops, right? >> Something didn't fit somewhere.

<< We are all doing our best, Page Mage >> Coco conveys in a chipper voice. This is when she would give the redhead a smile if they were near each other, but well... Her tone of voice will have to do, hopefully.

And there is a new guy apparently, in a manner of speaking. If he is already in the TSAB, it's likely this is not his first rodeo. << Hello, Inspector Camero. I am Coco, but I also go by Yellow Pearl Voice if we risk being overheard. >> She has been making do, since it's more a title than an actual alias.

<< The reason for that name is that for a Mermaid Princess, their Pearl is their alter ego, but if Chrono gave you a report, you can ask your Device more about it later. Look up Panthalassa too, that will help you clarify a few things about Rihito. >> Technically a strong possibility, but it was hard for him not to be one, with what his family had kept and his hair and eye colours.

No chance of getting a definitive answer without asking Gaito or Rihito awakening his powers. But well... It wasn't so pressing a matter that she would want to disturb him, and she is not sure how he would react to another Panthalassa. Rihito is safer like this, really.

<< I told him to go to the Pearl Pier, that place is well protected. >>

But it's time to show the TSAB Inspector the power of her voice, and the brightness of the Live Stage raises slightly in response to her convinction.

"Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

The rainbow wind blows at a far off coast
Before dawn, there was a melody I heard
It's a very nostalgic song.

The birds that fly towards the eastern sky
now escape to the treasure island using this shortcut.

Where the paradise of the seven seas lies
After the stormy night, to tell my love I will be born again

Even if there comes a day where everyone
is to journey away from here, as long as we sing the melody of the seven countries
I'll never forget.

The song releases a cascade of positive emotions, immediately raising morale of any who feel its impact, and it is accompanied by purifying energy, that corrodes the darkness, and its pleasant melody still sounds wrong and hurtful to those that look at purification with disdain.

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Ahh, Rashmi darling, you've arried. I see you never rest; your parents must me proud of you, I shall have to meet them someday. Oh! And you've brought friends, how wonderful." Seriss watches as the heroes arrive, one by one. "Lich, deploy Neutron Wall, in case any of our foes wish to test our defenses."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. NEUTRON WALL DEPLOYED >>

A globe of energy snaps into place around Seriss, and she steps off the building, letting her wings carry her as she floats down alongside the melting building -- now halfway gone and rapidly travelling towards the ground. "It is good to have an audience, isn't it? Are is meant to be witnesses. Appreciated. And--" She stops as Souta just goes straight for it, lodging his halberd into the growing mass of oily blackness that is absorbing matter from the building as it dissolves it,

"And not treated like that," she declares, clucking her tongue disapprovingly. "I suppose you'd throw a tin of beans at a painting as well, you philistine. Cygnus? Magnetar Beam, attractor shift, four second duration."

<< ARMED >>

"Fire." A brilliant blue beam lances from Seriss' staff to strike Souta, and he -- along a few bits of the building's metal fram that get torn loose in the process -- finds himself hurled across the street, and through the wall of the opposite skyscraper, into a currently unoccupied office space (though all the computers are still turned on).

"Now where were we. What am I up to this time? Advancing my goals." The building continues to degrade and disintigrate; all the way down to ground floor and beyond, leaving a yawning pit with whatever Seriss is creating, wriggling and finding its final form in the darkness.

Coco's song washes over Seriss, and she gtits her teeth, narrowing her eyes. "And that is quite enough of that," she grates, "Honestly, the lot of you. I suppose you'd show up to a classical concert to play a saxaphone in the audience. Clothos!"

one of the monoliths descends, and all across its surface... mouths appear, replacing the eyes, with lips peeled back and teeth showing.

<< ## DArK oRATiON ## >>

And then the mouths all being... talking, with voices like varying pitches of fingernails being pulled across chalkboards until the fingertips bleed.

<< ## All beings mUst periSH. DEATH is inEvitablE. EntropY is The most NATURaL statE of beIng. LiFE is iRRElevAnt. SUFFERING is a neccESSary FUnctIon of Existence. NONE may eScape thEsE inevitABLE TRUThS. ## >>

The droning continues; the voices endlessly proclaiming dire messages of degredation and despair, and dark energy radiates out from Clothos t oclash with Coco's song.

Whatever is forming in the pit seems to be nearing completion. A big, oily black hand, covered in smooth metal plates reaches up, slamming down hard enough into the pavement to crack it. And it is big.

Very big.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Inspector wai-- >>

The warning comes too late, and Rashmi winces as Souta is sent through an outer wall. << ...Yeah she does that. She's... picky. Also horrible. And just the worst. *Also* a jerk. >>

Over half a year of this situation has, clearly, been wearing on Rashmi's nerves.

"Ah," she says, as the building gloops into the ground, and begins to reconstitute into a giant monster. "So, today's experiment is 'am I *more* of a pain in the butt if I do the same thing as before, but more?' YOU COULD HAVE JUST ASKED. ALSO YOUR STUPID EYE ROCK IS RUINING YOUR DATA." ...Being in the middle as corruption and purification war in the very *air* seems to be giving her a bit of a headache.

Drawing in a deep breath, she flits toward the Souta-shaped hole in the building, peeking in briefly and glancing about to the rest of her allies. << ...So we'll probably want to probe for weaknesses... Pulp Noir, I wonder if that water-gun of your'll be handy? We haven't been able to *wash* the goop off the creature last time... >>

In the meantime however, kaiju-sized monster will need to be countered with quick as well as small...

    << *BONG!* >> << TERA ACCELL -- BOOST UP >>

Wispy golden energy darts out to Amy, Noir, and ino the building to see a Souta, as Rashmi moves closer to Coco, in case the mermaid needs any assistance in the near future.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy bristles at the implied threat against Rashmi's parents.

    Philistine? "I'm sure it's very impressive. So is a bioengineered plague. Even you put a barrier around this one."

    Clothos speaks of the end of all things. And then there's a voice only in Amy's head:

    << How fortunate that neither of us care what is natural, Amanda! >>

    She has mixed feelings about being on the same page as the Incubator. But... "Please." Amanda shouts, dryly as she can manage while shouting. "Neither of us got these bodies naturally! You don't believe this crap any more than we do!"

    She continues to fly around the pit, frantically throwing fire grenades down, hoping she can encircle it before it grows even bigger!

    She'll save the wisp for blasting the monster, if she can.

Souta Camero has posed:
    As Souta hears Coco's explanation, he responds, < Thank you, Yellow Pearl Voice, for clarifying. I get... concerned when I see unarmed non-combatants in a barrier. >

    There's a lot of data to process. Souta's the kind of person who gets handed a stack of reports and makes it his personal mission to read each one, but Chrono is also the kind of person to make a lot of reports. Paradise Spectrum brings the relevant details to his mind for him to peruse.

    Granted, he's also in the middle of combat, so his Device also gives him a summary: Rihito's potentially magical, not awakened, and handsome-- Was that last detail really necessary?!

    To Amy, he transmits, < Thanks for the strategic tip. I'll look for an opening. > To Pulp Noir, < Thank you. I understand. She needs to be... I believe the term used is 'purified', correct? >

    He actually has yet to see purification in action, though the reading he's getting on Coco's song is providing a clear demonstration. This is his first time seeing it.

    It's also his first time seeing what it's like to get shot with a high-powered energy beam. "Return Shield!" he commands as he sees the attack coming, and almost as soon the magic circle appears before him, it cracks and then shatters. Sadly that defense is best used against barrets, not big powerful attacks. The inspector takes a moment to reconsider his tactics as he tumbles through the air and smashes through a wall, coming to a stop faceplanted into the ground amongst an office full of still functioning computers.

    < Get Up, Champ. >

    With a groan, Souta gets back up to a kneeling position. He watches though the hole he just made in the wall as the building beyond gets entirely dissolved. Yikes. She can just... do that?

    Rashmi comes to check up on him. "I'm here. Still alive," he says, as he stands back up on his feet. He's a bit shaky, but he's putting on a brave face. "Thanks for the assist."

    "Prepare three Barret Sparks. Mana Filter: Lightning." His weapon shifts, going from fire to electric. "Load Slash Beam spell. Swap to Flier Fin."

    < Mana Filter, Confirmed. Slash Beam, Confirmed. Casting Flier Fin. >

    The dust clouds around his feet turn into tiny wings, and he leaps back out of the building and towards danger. He glances towards the monolith that is trying to counter Coco's song and notes, < Well someone is having a bad day. >

    As he gets closer to the new monster, he commands, "Deploy!" as three glowing balls of mana, Sparks, trail behind him. Each one firing lighting-charged barrets at the youma. "Fire!" is his next command as he swings his blade in the direction of the monster, and a crescent of electric mana flies at the beast.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir can hear the suggestion, and the boost. And much like Rashmi this clash of good and evil literally happening in the air is giving him a weird floaty migraine that makes him tug the brim of his fedora down over his eyes darkly. "Something is rotten in this city." he repeats as he leaps over the side of the building and shoves the pistol back into his coat as he walks along the fire escape and then produces... a tommy gun.

He aims the gun down at the very very large encroaching monster and huffs. "That's... a big un." he says to him as he starts firing---! A powerful jet of water from the barrel of the tommy gun, in rapid, powerful pulses, much like the power of a firehose x100 times over.

< Working on it. Someone else handle that... blocky.. thing. > he says.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
It is not the usual kind of vocal assault Coco typically expects, but even without the medium of a song carrying those messages of despondency and uselessness are still virulent drops of acid falling on the positivity at the core of Coco's being and eating away at it.

Perhaps it's a good thing that's merely spoken, because it helps a lot in getting past that disdainful pressure, buzzing unpleasantly in Coco's ears, a twist of pain on the mermaid princess' face that causes her to stumble, and there is even a dimming of the Live Stage's light.

Really, she should be glad that Nyx hasn't allied herself with Michel, or she would be pressed to push back against the current of negativity that would ensue. But still, she can't hide a nervousness on her face, that Seriss Nyx would begin adapting to the yellow mermaid's fighting method and use it against her.

The song of the seven seas however continues its path, pushed on by Coco's will, while forming three Live Stages somewhere around her for the support and protection of her allies.

At the very least, seeing that Souta has emerged again after the big strike is a positive sensation. Her blasting someone away like that couldn't help be a little demoralising.

Souta's Device ought to eventually find out that this is another <<Ship>> however.

Molly Skyline has posed:
A second hand follows the first, bracing to pull whatever monstrosity has formed up out of the pit; though the creature's left hand looks... damaged. The black good that ought to be covering its metallic bones is gone, and the limb is mishappen and lame. Explosions detonate in the pit, and the hands tighten as though in pain.

"Already they have damaged you," Seriss laments, as a several stories-tall titan drags itself up out of the ground, revealing armor already scorred and pitted from the detonations; a humanoid shape with great inky wings on its back, that rises to its feet, robbles for a moment like a newborn calf, and steadies itself.

"No matter," Seriss sighs. "You are formed enough. Arise, Argus, and begin your task."

<< ## AFFIRMATive. SCANNINg CommENCING ## >>

The creature unfurls its wings and begins to rise; and all across its armor plates slits widen to reveal balefully inhuman green eyes, glaring out at the world. Brilliant green beams, pencil thin, burst from the pupils of each eye; there must be a hundred of them, and as Argus rises up into the air they sweep across the city, moving independantly of each other. Several of them pass over the assembled heroes, but as far as anyone can tell they seem entirely harmless.

<< ## ScANNINg ## >>

Seriss rises along with Argus, her own wings carrying her as he commences his task -- and immediately, he is assaulted by the water blasts from Hinote's gun. A handful of the eyes glow firecely and explode, their searchbeams snuffed out.

"That is quite enough of that," Seriss declares, while Argus is assaulted not only by Hinote, but by Coco's song as well. "Clothos, position between Argus and the Mermaid. Cygnus Lich, extend out shields around Argus."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. WARNING: SIGNIFICANT MANA DRAIN WILL OCCUR >>

"Noted." The globe of energy around Seriss is briefly visible, as it expands to surround Argus as well; and it continues to glow, where it gets hit by Hinote's water blasts. Meanwhile, Clothos moves as instructed, continuing to spew its vile blasphemy between Coco and Argus.

<< ## RESIstancE iS DoOMED to FAILure. VictorY is BY its NATUre impermaNENT and ULTIMately ThE only truE FORce in the GALAXy is ENtrOPy. AlL youR COMBineD ACTIOns are MEANinglESS IN the FaCE of ETERNITY. DEATh WIll CLaIM YOU toMORrow iF noT TOdAY. SUCcess IS a TEMPORARy OInTMENt to ASSUAgE the PERManENCE of DEfEAT. YoU WILl DIE. EVEryTHINg YOU CAn HopE To ACHIeVE WILL be meaninlesS ## >>

And then there are lightning charge barrets coming for Seriss' latest creations; they hammer into her shield, making it glow with the impacts as she, for the moment, remains safe with her creation behind it, even as its limits are sorely tested.

"Enough. Cygnus Lich, lock targets on Amy, Hinote, and the newcomer," she instructs, making little square brackets appear around them on her Battle Visor. "Charge Dark Barrage, six hundred homing barrets, one third for each target."

<< ARMED. WARNING: MANA LEVELS AT SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT >>

"Noted. Fire." Seriss brandishes her staff, and three seperate torrents of barrets charged with crackling dark energy are unleashed, aimed at each of the three targets Seriss has chosen, all while Argus rises higher and higher into the air.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh okay so we're acting like *suddenly it's out of bounds* to attack your monster," Rashmi grumbles, and a dozen Barrets flicker into being around her. "Were you gonna let us in on the *rules* for your stupid game, or are we just gonna blindly annoy you?"

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLADE >>

The Barrets lengthen, assuming the shape of swords -- more proof for Souta that she and Chrono are probably very close -- and launching out toward Clotho.

While it may seem a strange choice of targeting, the nihilistic screed is bothering her, bothering Hinote, and more than either of them *very much* bothering Coco. So a dozen shield-breakers ought to do enough to degrade *its* defenses, to allow her to follow up with something capable of shutting it up.

<< Guyyyyyys, get to cover! Frankly the best defense against her throw weight is *half a block of buildings!* >>

Souta Camero has posed:
    Paradise Spectrum might not yet have enough data to conclude the presence of a ship, but the fact that Coco arrived in roughly the same direction as Rihito is noted, as is the fact that she seems to know him with some detail.

    Argus... is that the name of the newest monster? Souta's telepathic HUD, that only he can see, gets updated with the new designation. Oh yikes, that is a big one isn't it? Not that the inspector can really be surprised considering it consumed an entire skyscraper.

    It seems, despite his efforts to avoid direct conflict with Seriss Nyx, the dark general has decided to intercede on her minion's behalf. Which means that Souta will likely have to attack her directly. Not what he was looking forward to doing, but... it is what it is.

    Souta lands on the ground, as his movement mode changes, and he speeds along the ground as if his feet have jet engines in them. Two hundred barrets is a bit much for any single shield, so he doesn't bother with it at first, instead speeding and spiraling in a closing circle around Seriss as the steady stream of barrets impact the ground behind him, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Eventually the stream catches up to him, and he has to protect himself.

    "Return Shield!"

    The magical circle appears to his side, between himself and Nyx, and the barrets that impact the shield get trapped by it, forced into an ever growing ball of 'no you'. Once the shield reaches its capacity, Camero launches the resulting ball at Argus, hopefully letting Nyx get a taste of her own medicine.

    Some of the barrets get through his defenses anyways, impacting Souta's already damaged Barrier Jacket. He eventually dives into a building to give himself at least a little bit of mitigation against the frankly ridiculous amount of magic coming his way.

    After the barrage ends, Souta bursts through a window and charges towards Seriss Nyx as his halberd turns into a glowing yellow plasma greatsword arcing with magic electricity. He leaps into the air and tries to pounce her, announcing his spell as his sword, for an instant, grows in size and power.

    "Spectrum Overdrive!"

    Will that do literally anything against her shield? He'll have to find out the hard way.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir manages to snuff out some eyes. Search beams. Whatever they're called on this gargantuan thing. He draws his hat down a moment as he smirks. Alright that worked a little, but perhaps not like how Rashmi wanted. He finally gets ready to ascend again and starts climbing when charged barrets fly out of the sky and smacks him into the air. Oh...

Oh that's dangerous. He begins to fall and tumble through the air and grabs onto a fire escape quickly as he grunts and hears that note from Seriss own device. He thinks on this a moment.

He huffs. and then starts to taunt Seriss. "I'm sorry. I thought I was fighting someone powerful and dangerous. Is that all you got!?" he sputters out as he starts firing at this new 'Argus' creature again with the tommy gun, another powerful jet of water as he fires off from the hip. He readies himself...

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is glad for Coco's song. It's hard to hear clearly with Clotho's rambling, but it's so nice to have something else to try and focus on, her friend's songs do usually lift her spirits -- and extend her soul gem.

    Also lifting her spirits is the sight of the damage done to the new creature's hand.

    And then she's right back on edge again as this creature uses... new tactics. She tries to frantically avoid the lasers, imagining them slicing everything to pieces... but they're just sensors.

    She hopes.

    "Uggggh, shut. up. If you believed any of that you'd have given up already!" And then she's frantically trying to outfly lightning barrets -- counter-micromissiles fly back to take some of them out, and she crashes through office windows to try and get some of them to hit buildings.

    Again, only in her own head, she hears: << Your death will not be meaningless. When you complete your contract, you will buy more time for others to find a way to hold back Entropy forever! Perhaps, with magic we Incubators do not yet know of, ideas such as your futurists' matrioshka brains and tipler oracles can extend civilization indefinitely! >>

    Forget Argus or Seriss -- just trying to track the barrets and hold Coco's song in her heart while not quite being able to fully tune out Clotho, and Kyubey's words on top of it making her imagine an accelerated-time civilization where Incubators could harvest so many more magical girls as their short lives are lived in realtime months or days or hours or who-knows--

    She misjudges a turn and clips a wall, bounding off at a bad angle and crashing through a cubicle farm while some of the lightning barrets rain into her back, "AAAGH!" before she crashes back out another window, flying for the edge of the barrier, just trying to put some distance between her and Seriss so she can breathe and refocus.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
While embracing the kind mother's wishes in her heart
She wished that everyone would journey on a miracle-filled adventure
With overflowing tears and prayers, I just don't know anymore
But there still remains a fantasy of a night where stars fall for the shining future!

To the paradise of the seven seas!
After the stormy night, to tell you my love I will be born again
Even if there comes a day where everyone...

is to journey away from here, as long as we sing the melody of the seven countries

I'll never forget!

Having so many layers between herself and the dark energy spread is helping lessening the darkened crushing sensation that it is for Coco, and she feels herself lighter in all senses, giving extra reach to the power of her voice.

Meanwhile, the Live Stages she has positioned take even more companions, positioned to help reduce the overwhelming power of Seriss' attacks. "What gives, Seriss?", Coco questions her behaviour. "Does it stings that badly that we won't let you do as you please?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
Attacks rattle off of Seriss' shield, and it glows orange with the impacts as damage is done to it. Finally it drops as Souta's return fire hits it, and while Seriss is certainly resistant to dark energy attacks she isn't entirely immune. The falling of the shield allows some of Hinote's water blasts to get through, causing more of Argus' eyes to burst. But there are just... so many. The monster shrieks in agony and holds its good hand up to take more of Hinote's blasts, as it continues to rise and continues to scan.

Rashmi's sword-shaped barrets hammer into Clothos, and the dark oration stops mid-sentence as the attacks score its surface. Unbidden the strange sarcophagus's mouths are suddenly willy with eyes, still framed by teeth, that all turn their baleful gaze in Rashmi's direction.

<< ## TARTARUS JUSTICE ## >>

No sooner is the spell howled in outrage than it fires, a multitude of dark energy beams unleashed in Rashmi's direction -- but at least the oration has stopped, allowing Coco's purifying song to properly fill the battlefield once again, washing over Seriss and her creations and making the dark general grit her teeth and several more of Argus' eyes burst.

"ENOUGH!" she snarls, "Cygnus, Neutron Wall, dark shift. Protect Argus and I.

<< AFFIRMATIVE. WARNING: MANA LEVELS BELOW SIXTY PERCENT >>

"Noted. Deploy." A globe of dense, dark energy forms around Seriss and her creation, providing some respite against the purifying song -- at least for now. And then-- Hinote earns her attention. "Rapid charge Event Horizon, lock target: Hinote, fire when ready."

<< CHARGING. WARNING: MANA-- >>

"I SAID FIRE WHEN READY." And dutifuly, Cyngus Lich abandons his protest about Seriss' mana levels and starts charging the attack, with a progress bar shown on her Battle Visor. Her gaze turns towards Coco, and she holds up one finger. "Don't worry, little mermaid. I haven't forgotten about you."

<< ## SECoNDarY TARgET lOCatED ## >>

Argus interjects his success, all of his remining search-lasers briefly pointing in the same direction before they resume scanning. "Excellent," comments a suddenly placated Seriss. "Clotho. Lock target and ascend to surveilance level. Atropos, deal with the mermaid. Lachessis, help Amy become a witch."

Clotho screeches its agreement, and it ceases firing at Rashmi; its eyes all focus in the direction Argus pointed, and then it glows purple and rises, picking up speed as it rockets into the sky, rapidly disappearing from view. The other two monoliths, meanwhile, all spawn eyes of their own across their surfaces; they zero in on Coco and Amy, respectively, and begin firing rapid blasts of dark energy.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Eyes encircled by teeth are *terrifying.*

Eyes encircled by teeth that are intoning the words of a Devicer spell are 'there was a spider' levels of nope.


    << *BONG!* >>
    << SOLAR FLASH >>
    << SOLAR FLASH >>
    << SOLAR FLASH >>By the time the first word is out, the first of Rashmi's flash-step spells has activated, carrying her a respectable handful of meters away from her position, and *toward* a handy building. Her second and third blink her most of the way behind a *second* building, where the storm of Clotho's ire can hopefully be ridden out.

Unfortunately, while infrastructure *is* the best defense against coherent beams, it's not a *perfect* defense; one after another, a trio of beams chew through masonry and steel reinforcement to blast Rashmi away from her improvised cover, bobbling her into and through a picture window belonging to a break room, where the redheaded Devicer proves that couch padding has limits on what it can cushion.

But there's no time to let dizziness fade; not when she heard Seriss target *Pulp Noir.*

    << SOLAR FLASH >>
    << SOLAR FLASH >>

Guided by little more than Nicomachea's assistance and her absolutel trust in her Device, Rashmi does her very best to cross as much of the gap between herself and the Chara Bearer, to take hold of him and *fly* him to safety.

Just ignore the bleeding cut over one eye, the scuffed and half-shredded Barrier Jacket, and the faintly green tinge to her face. It'll be fine.

It'll be fiiiiiine.

Souta Camero has posed:
    The Inspector's shield managed to get through the barrier, which lets it drop long enough for others to deal damage to Argus. Only for the Neutron Wall to get back up. Just how much mana does Seriss Nyx have? She isn't exactly cutting corners on her expenditures here.

    For the moment, Souta Camero is getting left alone, or at least he isn't getting attacked. The fact that Argus is apparently looking for something and has just found it is... unsettling. What exactly is the plan here? Seriss set up a barrier that spanned for miles, knowing full well that magicals would get drawn in-- Is that what this is about?

    Souta thinks to his Intelligent Device, < Paradise Spectrum, take note of that direction. She is searching for something. We need to make sure she doesn't get it. >

    < Confirmed, Champ >

    As for the battle, he's not sure what to do except try to get the Neutron Wall down again, so he stands next to its edge and starts swinging his greatsword into the shield, over and over in a quick flurry that would likely be impossible if his blade wasn't effectively weightless.

    Of course, staying still and wailing on one target means he's not really focused on defense.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir stands there as the attack charges and Argus moves into the sky. He can't follow that thing. He can't fly... So he moves to the next case. What happens when Seriss uses up all that mana? He has theories. "Oh come on is that all what's that building up charge up there? A 40 watt bulb!?" He asks as he holds the brim of his hat up.

He's getting ready to brace for a large hit when suddenly he's whisked up and away by Rashmi. He curses a little under his breath, as he starts firing off the tommy gun single handledly. Not great aim this way, and this time, it's magical blasts, rather than water.

"I'm trying... to get her to zero out..." he mutters to Rashmi he says with a huff, coat moving in the breeze.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
'Help Amy become a Witch?' Does she just feels she can just spout anything that comes to mind? She is not sure whether she is getting so complacent with the situation, or she just doesn't realise that she has managed to strike sounding both offensive and unaware at the same time.

That Atropos has found something is only relatively important. They still can only try and stop the Daimon, and hope it gets frazzled enough to decide to retreat.

However, she is also changing tactics and going after her this time too, and Coco tries flying behind buildings, remembering Rashmi's warning. Would that really be enough? A Live Stage is called out to, and added in front of her, both it and the one she is in strengthened to prepare for the impact.

"Seriss, do yourself a favour and stop talking", Coco can't help but scoff. "I am not sure if you understand what you are wishing on Red, or what would happen if you get what you want. Why don't you go look for what a Witch is? I get it. You don't care what happens to her, and we can't make you, but do you really want a Witch here?"

Then the Daimon's attack strikes and while some of it bounces away after passing through the building, it still breaks into Coco's sphere of light, striking into her and cutting off her breath when the pain strikes her.

Yet, she cannot afford to waste any second here. With the loss of her Live Stage she is in free fall, and she forces one of those other ones she has created to catch her, trembling lightly from the effort.

"I hope you are ready for an Encore, Nyx! Live, Restart!", nonetheless she smiles back into her Stage.

Without even a sound, the color changes.
If you look up at the baby blue sky,
Your faraway memories will awaken.

That's the Ever Blue sparkle of the ocean I love.
I now gather the power to protect the future in my hands.
There is a lovable person, and there is a lovable place
In order to protect my the sparkling blueness and my pure feelings the way they are.

The boundless feelings of joy mix once more into purification, and a Live Stage forms at the same time, trying to envelope and trap Clotho and stop it from examining further Argus' indications.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh thank goodness it shut up.

    But Seriss declares attacks on *everyone*, and instead of sticking to her 'me-and-my-MOTW' tactics, she's now using all of them.

    AURA P--

    She aborts the attack and dives behind a building as Lachessis tries to measure her fate shorter than she wishes.

    This is a problem, because if she can't see Seriss or Argus, she can't target them. She really needs to work out a strategy for her allies to use laser designators or something...

    << She probably does. >> Amy answers Coco. << Then she could study a Witch. It's not like she won't be able to defeat me. >>

    ...She'll have to risk it. Amy suspects that thanks to Argus, Seriss and her minions can target regardless of vision, but... maybe not?

    Mini-missiles fly up and explode into smoke above a building.

    And then more fly out over a few other buildings and explode... just as Amy flies up by the first smoke cloud, where it blocks sight from Lachesis but she can still see Seriss. She lets Coco's song of hope for a future fill her heart and help her soul gem shine, and shouts at the body-stealing witch,

    "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

    And a bit like something Mami would do, many one-shot artillery barrels conjure spread out above and around the Puella Magi -- a specialized version of her Communal Blazer attack, a bunch of copies of a big weapons rather than a huge mix of big and small weapons.

    The sound of their firing echoes across the battlefield, as APFSDS projectiles are launched at mach 5 right at Seriss. Like scaled-up arrows or darts of heavy metal made to pierce through tanks, spinning from their fletching-like fins, not that anyone can really get a good look at them in flight at that speed.

    Amy doesn't stick around to appraise the results -- as soon as she fires, she dives back between buildings to escape reprisal, returning to the annoying stalemate. << Did I get her? >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< EVENT HORIZON CHARGED. FIRING. >>

As a massive orb of dark energy forms at the tip of Seriss' staff, she swings it around to point at Pulp Noir -- and, by extension, Rashmi as well since she has grabbed hold of the detective and is trying to fly him to safety. The dark energy crackles into instability and fires, unleashing a wide, destructive beam that follows the pair. As it fires, a series of brilliant blue orbs blink blink-blink into being orbiting Seriss; fifteen of them, and one by one they fire beams of their own charged with intense magnetism, tuned to try and hit the fleeing pair of targets and drag them into the dark energy beam that rends deep wounds into the buildings of downtown Tokyo.

<< WARNING: MANA LEVELS BELOW THIRTY PERCENT >>

As the assault ends, Cygnus Lich reports the updated levels of Seriss' mana, helpfully stated outloud -- good thing, perhaps, that Molly never got ahold of the mmodule for Starcrash that had telepathy built into it.

"Noted," states Seriss quite calmly. She hovers behind her Neutron Wall, watching it roil and clash with Coco's purifying song, and glow bright orange wherever Souta's sword strikes it. "What do you hope to accomplish?" she asks calmly, hovering where Souta's strikes likely would hit her, if not for the shield. "Engage me in close combat? is it your wish to die, I wonder?" She sighs audibly. "Lich, reinforce the Neutron Wall."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. REINFORCING. WARNING: MANA LEVELS-- >>

Seriss sighs audibly, "Noted," she interupts, with a hint of irritation in her voice.

<< ## PRIMaRY TARGEt LOCatEd ## >>

Argus' report interupts Seriss' conversation, and she ahhs, smiling, as Argus' searchbeams briefly point all in the same direction. "There you are. ...Atropos, lock target and ascend to surveilance altitude." And as with Clotho, Atropos marks its aquiescence; it stops firing at Coco, and proceeds to rocket upwards, swiftly becoming lost to sight. "Argus, continue scanning for tertiary target. Lachessis, engage all hostile targets. Cygnus Lich, reconfigure for close combat."

The remaining Weird Sarcophagus ceases firing for a moment; its eyes close, then mouths break open all over it.

<< ## SYMpHONY oF DaMNATiON ## >>

Eyes fill the mouths, and beams of searing hot dark energy open fire, directing blasts at everyone; they aren't fantastically well targeted and many of them just blast craters in the ground or holes in buildings or blow parked cars to pieces. Meanwhile, Seriss staff screams and cries as it audibly grates and clicks, transforming from a staff into a greatsword with a spiked, black blade.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< I've got you, >> Rashmi thinks to Noir, in what she hopes is a reassuring tone of voice -- her head is starting to clear, after all, and as Nicomachea delivers the specs on the magic that's building up... well, *that's* a problem.

    << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >>

On *Pulp Noir's* ankles, golden wings unfurl, as her one chance to keep him out of the way of this devastating attack presents itself.

<< Noir-kun! Red-chan! FOCUS FIRE ON ARGUS, if you can break through the shield anyway all the overspill'll hit him! >>

And with that, she shifts her grip on Noir such that she's only holding one of his arms, and with a double spin in the air she just *hurls* him parallel to the street, away from the Event Horizon's field of effect. Which gives her time to get out of the way too--

    << *BONG!* >> << TERA BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

--Except she seems to have chosen to boost her teammates, *instead of* defend herself, and she cannot help but shriek in pain and terror as the 'magnetic' beams draw her into Dark agony.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Camero doesn't stop slashing even as Seriss comes face to face with him. Is she trying to psyche him out by standing there, he wonders?

    "I could ask you the same. What exactly is it you're looking for here? I know it's magical, because that's why you set up a barrier. You clearly don't seem to care that we know you're looking, either. Is it an item? A person? A location? If it's something that moves, finding it once wouldn't be enough. Not unless either... you're able to track it somehow or... you intended to do something about it right now."

    Souta says all of this over the voice of his own energy slashes hitting the orange-glowing barrier. This continues until one of the monoliths is told to start firing dark energy at him, at which point he hover-slides across the ground and away from the Neutron Wall. "Barret Spark, Max Charge. Deploy!"

    After a significant mana cost, a single Spark, significantly larger than the ones Souta made earlier, appears in his wake. It starts firing a steady stream of electrical barrets at Seriss, or rather her shield, until it expends all of its stored mana and poofs out of existence.

    Souta, meanwhile, keeps avoiding fire until he finds several buildings to hide behind. He moves surprisingly fast on the ground, actually.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The Live Stages she has used to hinder Clotho have apparently failed, but that doesn't matter yet. Whatever Seriss is after, they still haven't found, so she can just try again and see how that serves her. She hardly has the opportunity to focus on purifying the darkness surrounding Seriss now though, with the youma pulling her focus away.

The yellow Mermaid Princess raises her right arm and calls out within herself Aqua Regina's blessing, the bracelet on her wrist shining with white radiance as a halo of yellow light moves downwards from the mermaid princess's head and her clothes change again.

Her left glove now adheres to her arm with a pattern made up of water ripples, while on her left leg a stocking has shown up with the same water ripple pattern, and on her right hand and on her legs a yellow glove and boots with flowy extensions show up.

Her Live Stage still struggles to bounce away Seriss' attack, but it's barely enough to eke by in this greater Idol stage, and for once Coco can breathe out in relief.

A sphere of bright light rapidly approaches the Weird Sarcophagus once more, but Coco's focus is fully turned to it this time, and the purifying voice filling the air heralds an additional threat that the monster should consider, because the Live Stage is not stopping in its path, and the momentum carries it ever closer to Clotho, striking it alongside the purification.

Except, she doesn't really have to abandon her original aim? With Rashmi's spells helping out her song like her voice is on loudspeakers, she is effused in that white-golden glow once more the magical melody reaches much further now and with much vigour. It may even potentially help Rashmi in turn, dulling the impact and lessening the pain of the wounds she does get.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir spins in the air and gets thrown down the road as he floats there a moment and his eyes go wide as he throws a hand forward, now safe from the attack thanks to--- "Rashmi-chan.....!" he can hear the shrieking....

"Oh no..." says a tiny voice from Pulp Noir's fedora. "Hinote... I got this...!" says the tiny voice with strange determination as El, Utau's tiny angel chara that's been hanging with Hinote flies out and with an questioning "Eh?" crashes into Pulp Noir and two things happen. One. Tracy gets thrown out with a spin. Yelling and cursing in not swears.

Secondly. Hinote goes through a second Chara Transformation--- a brilliant gold light wings that unfurl to reveal....

YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL!

A stalwart, angelic figure, clad in silver armor, replete with heavenly sword and shield bellows out. "FOUL, DEMONS! GO BACK WHEN YOU CAME!" he bellows mellodramatically, not ... really sounding much like Hinote, or Pulp Noir, as he draws the shield to him, a brilliant gold light forming. "GUARDIAN RAY!" as a large, brilliant gold beam of raw purification forms and he RAKES it from Seriss to Argus, shining out skyward like a beacon in the dark suddenly before it fades out. Hoping to wipe out two targets at once with the powerful attack.

"BEGONE!" comes the strange bellow again.

Molly Skyline has posed:
As the first of Amy's supersonic rounds impact Seriss' shield, the Neutron Wall seems to hold. Then more of the rounds hit, and the shield breaks, dissipating with a burst of dark energy that washes over everything nearby (mostly Souta). Of the last couple of rounds, one of them hits Seriss directly.

<< BREAKWALL >>

The emergency shield Rashmi once crafted for Molly snaps in just in time, and the impact hammers into it and explodes from sheer kinetic energy meeting a dark barrier. The final round hits Argus, and the resulting impact severs his already weakend arm.

With the shield down, Coco's light bathes both Seriss and her creations, and none of them are fond ot it; a multitude of Argus' eyes pop, leaving milky white ichor dripping down all over his armored form. Seriss just grits her teeth, but Argus shrieks, a sound like metal being torn apart as the light bathes over him; Lachessis abruptly focuses all of its fire on Coco as well.

Then Your Guardian Angel's attack comes it; it shatters the Breakwall and blasts into Seriss, cracking her armor plates and heating them up until they're almost molten on the surface, before Argus interposes. The attack melts the armor off his back in short order, shutting down even more of the eyes.

<< WARNING: BARRIER JACKET COMPROMISED. WARNING: MANA LEVELS BELOW FIVE PERCENT. WARNING: ARGUS UNABLE TO CONTINUE SEARCH >>

The warnings flash across Seriss' Battle Visor while they are being announced audibly; the dark sorceress wipes the back of her gauntlet across her lips, and just... chuckles softly.

"Engage secondary core," she instructs in a calm town of voice; and a second pair of wings blink into being on her back, below the main pair. "Engage Phoenix Funeral."

All around the battlefield, glowing purple motes illuminate in the air and rush inwards, straight into Seriss, making her glow softly for a brief moment.

<< MANA LEVELS RESTORED >>

"Lachessis, retreat. Argus, die." Seriss hefts the greatsword in her hands, while a high-pitched whine builds in pitch from the ruined body of Argus; Lachessis glows purple, and promptly vanishes, bringing an end to the assault on Coco. "I have enough of what I need. I'll be going -- but first," she points the greatsword in her hands at Souta, "It's time to test your mettle. Cygnus, restore Neutron Wall, only around me."

<< AFFIRMATIVE. DEPLOYED >>

As Seriss gets relief from Coco's purification, she notes, with a quirk of her lips upwards, that Rashmi did in fact get hit by the Event Horizon -- and to her judgement, appears to be out of the fight. Well, out of it enough.

And then with a battle-yell she comes straight at Souta, swinging a sword that crackles with dark energy.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Oh yes, Rashmi is very well out of the fight. When the roiling chaos of Dark-empowered magic dies down, Rashmi is un-conscious, and falling to the ground. While she *is* falling from a height that would kill most people, her Barrier Jacket *is* still active, if not very intact... But Souta at least would know that the Jacket *will* sacrifice itself to absorb the impact, leaving her alive. If unconscious, and in enemy-held territory.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A lot of things are going on!

    But.. "RASHMI!" Amy can catch her while weaving between buildings, at least.

    "Rashmi... Rashmi wake up, she's abandoned Argus and refilled her MP... Whatever she does next..." But where can she bring Rashmi while the fight is going on? A live stage, maybe, but it might divide Coco's focus.

    She's safest moving... << Uh... I caught her... is the telepathic network still up? Nichomachaea, are you still online? >>

    She'll bring Rashmi to the others, somewhere out of Seriss's sight.

Souta Camero has posed:
    Inspector Camero, Godoka rest his soul, dove straight into the deep end with this fight. Going not only against Seriss's minions but Seriss herself. A bit more than he suspects he can chew.

    Well. This is considered a horrible death planet for a reason. He just wasn't expecting to do something with a high chance of getting him killed right off the bat. Maybe he should've taken Sugata's 'jokes' a bit more seriously.

    As the waves of darkness wash over him, the force whips his hair back, and he has to hold up his arm to guard his face.

    Later on, when he's fleeing to create distance, Seriss decides to pursue him, and Paradise Spectrum lets him know.

    < Warning! Incoming Hostile. >

    The Inspector looks behind him and sees the dark sorceress and her blade of darkness. A comparison of relative velocities shows that fleeing isn't really an option. Which means all he can do is stand and fight it. However, the greatsword isn't that useful for defense relative to...

    "Tonfa Mode. Mana Filter: Ice. Solidify."

    As Souta turns around, his energy blade turns into a pair of blue, chilly energy tonfas, which he crosses in front of him to catch the massive greatsword. Ice freezes around his feet, giving him a bit of stability as he absorbs the first hit. The strike drives his hovering feet into the ground, leaving an impact crater where he stands. A bead of sweat rolls down his cheek as he becomes viscerally aware of the difference in power between them.

    Strike after strike comes in, and he deflects and redirects each one with skill becoming of an experienced TSAB officer, but it only lasts so long before a solid hit smashes through his cold blade and leaves a gash in the arm of his barrier jacket, and the flesh underneath.

    Upon hearing of Rashmi's fate, he commands, "Paradise Spectrum, manage the telepathy network. Charge mana batteries."

    Seriss might have her second wind, but Souta is on his last legs, and while he's managed to stay in the fight so far it's largely been through avoidance, and that burns a lot of mana over time. However, one lesson he's had burned into his mind from his training is this: Defeating the opponent isn't always necessary to complete the objective, and right now it seems as if his allies are managing the latter without him.

    'Any fight you can walk away from is a good one.' he remembers one of his friends saying. Though wasn't that saying supposed to be about landings?

    "You might be stronger than me, Seriss, but strength isn't everything! Paradise Chain!"

    Green chains of energy shoot out of the ground, trying to wrap around Seriss and hold her in place, even if only for a moment.

    "Spectrum Overdrive!"

    Souta's tonfas become super charged, and he stabs them towards Seriss, with the intent of freezing her in place for a moment. Not to finish her off, because he doesn't have nearly the mana or power for that, but to stall her so that he can flee he does.

    And flee he does, dashing into a nearby building to break line of sight, and continuing to run through building after building, not worrying about causing property damage because this is a barrier, and generally trying to get away from the monster of a Dark General as fast as he can.

    < I'm withdrawing. > he transmits, < My apologies, but we've done what we can. Please be safe. >

Molly Skyline has posed:
Seriss is singularly focused on her chosen target -- Souta. As he swaps his sword for tonfa she intensifies her attack, assaulting him with blows that prioritize power over accuracy, uncaring that he blocks and simply hammering through the best defense he can muster -- until she finally makes him bleed, and he opts to try to freeze her, if just for long enough to get away. She catches most of the chain with her sword, intent on yanking it away from him; but the desired effect goes off anyway, and slows Seriss down just enough that she discontinues her pursuit.

"Excellent strategy," she comments to his retreating form. "Cygnus Lich, it is time to go."

Seriss glows purple, like Lachessis did moments earlier, and vanishes.

And then the intensifying whine from Argos reaches earsplitting levels, and the Youma explodes, sending shrapnel and ichor in all directions, shattering windows and inflicting further damage on the ravaged area.

And then, the barrier goes down; and aside from a few last bits of ichor showering down into the streets, setting off car alarms and causing a few fender-benders amongst surprised drivers...

It's as though nothing happened.