2751/The Best Tokyo Could Offer

The Best Tokyo Could Offer
Date of Scene:	29 August 2025
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Everyone has bills to pay, and as a member of Obsidian, Hawkmoth's bills are paid with energy - and his akuma are powered by bad moods. Unfortunately for him, an angry otaku is the best he can summon up today... and Wako, Rashmi, Coco, Koji, and Amy have a hard time taking this one seriously.
Cast of Characters:	Gabriel Agreste, Rashmi Terios, Koji Silvia, Wako Agemaki, Amanda Faust, Coco Kiumi

---

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Ah, Tokyo, a bustling metropolis, the home of more than fifteen million people, including but not limited to locals, commuters, tourists, and more. A city that had survived for many centuries, that had grown, evolved, overcome...

A city with not a single worthwhile heart-and-mind to corrupt. Seriously?! Really?!

Hawkmoth stands in his observatory within Obsidian Tower, a look of frustrated disgust on his face.

"I cannot believe this is what I've been reduced to... truly, is there not a single acrimonious divorce happening? Not a single child fighting with their parent? No romantic troubles afoot? This is the worst feeling in Tokyo today?!"

This would be the anguished, frenzied expression on the face of a man in his late twenties, sitting in his bedroom in his apartment. His name is Hikaru, and he's got a window open to catch the breeze, and he's so distracted with looking at his computer and typing angry comments that he doesn't even notice the akuma that flits over and sinks into his t-shirt, branded with the logo of a relatively recent shounen anime, the adaptation of a manga with moderate popularity.

"It can't be ending!" He rants, as his shirt turns dark and the butterfly symbol of Hawkmoth's power flashes over his face.

"But it is ending, Stancellation," Hawkmoth declares, striving to sound more sympathetic than he is and failing. "Your favorite manga, DDDDDD is indeed ending, and there's nothing you can do about it! You'll never get to see it reach it's potential... the manga will never see a conclusion... isn't that a shame?"

Hawkmoth could not care less.

"It's more than a shame! It's a travesty! It's a crime! It's - how DARE they!"

"That's right, how dare they! That's why I've given you power - so you can go and steal their energy, and -"

"KILL THEM ALL!"

The window being open is suddenly a good thing, because it means only the window screen is broken when Stancellation goes hurtling out the window. What had been a scrawny nerd is now a hulking figure wearing a suit, colorful tie, and an enormous guitar, along with a string of letters, DDDDDD repeated endlessly across the suit.


In downtown Mitakihara, one can find all sorts of businesses - major corporate offices, endlessly similar salarymen type buildings, restaurants, you name it. One of those buildings is the headquarters for Shounen Leap... and it's UNDER ATTACK.

"SHOUNEN LEAP, YOU'LL KNOW MY FURY!" Stancellation roars. He's clinging to the side of the building, climbing higher and higher in an effort to reach the rooftops. "I'll bring you down, the same way you brought down DDDDDD!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The heat is beginning to slowly ease back, just in time for summer to near its end. It's the eternal struggle of the student; how can one truly enjoy days off from school, if one is too heat-flattened to move? This is why Rashmi has spent more time helping out at the Korma than summers past; access to restaurant-grade AC puts pep in one's step.

But today has been a slower day, and with the temperatures falling closer to 30 than 36, Rashmi decided to do a bit of used-book hunting! ...Only for one of the larger offices in Mitakihara to have an attack of the Youmas.

Stepping into an alleyway, the Devicer takes a moment to henshin, then flit skyward on holographic, dragonfly wings.

And *of course,* the first thing she sees upon getting in semi-conversational distance with King Otakong -- Stancellation, rather -- is the logo on his shirt, and it just pops out.

"Oh I heard about that one! Big fan?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Every year, Shounen Leap likes to do limited re-releases of old works in a specialized formats.

Today, perhaps unfortunately, is that day.

This year, it is Active Armour Madgun, Knifemaker Dogs, Taffy Catasrophe 2034, and Phantom in the Bullet. All seminal works of the 80s, and a couple that Koji has had to suffer through watching grainy anime and complex plot explanations from his father.

Which is why of course, Koji is in an arm-lock by Saburo Silvia, who's wearing his Madgun shirt that's so faded it's an outline, and has a can of beer in his hand. For the young man, it's him shrinking in on himself as his dad starts a 15-way conversation/argument regarding an obscure plot-line from a single issue from 1986 that somehow is responsible for the entire plot-change course of a series, and of course, it's about as exciting to otaku as football is for the UK.

    'Please... something... ANYTHING... get me OUT of this...'

Never ask what you know shouldn't be answered.

Because when Stancellation hits the building and yells like that, the fans cheer because they think it's to give more buzz to the event!

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"...wow." At first, Wako just stands and looks up at the shape determinedly scaling the Shonen Leap building, head tilted slightly. "Look at him go."

He doesn't seem to be stopping - and he's definitely still shouting. Someone should probably do something. Wako glances around, more out of habit than anything, before the Waw emblem begins to glow pink on her chest. "Apprivoiser."

Moments later, the Galactic Maiden is floating upward in a bubble of faintly glittering pink light, catching up to Rashmi and Stancellation. When she's close enough to hear what he's raving about, she pulls a wry face. "Sorry, this is... about a manga? Really?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh dang, Shonen Leap is right here and having some kind of otaku gathering event. Cool! Amy is checking it out and waves to Koji as she approaches, "Hey again! And wow, that's wild Silvia-san, I only partly know half of those series but that's almost as nuts as Magical Angel Creamy Mami almost getting a mecha spinoff videogame."

    Which is a sentence that will no doubt only make more discussion, but just then Koji is spared by magical business!

    "Oh uh... oh no! A monster is attacking, um, everyone get to safety!" She warns people, and then runs towards the danger. Look, this happens so often it's getting hard to muster subtlety every thime.

    Soon, Amy lands on a lower rooftop across the street and considers this problem.

    "HEY, UH, GUY!" The Puella Magi calls out. "I know it sucks, but if you attack the building, aren't they only gonna have to cancel more niche manga to pay for maintenance costs?"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
As Rashmi is flying closer, Stancellation is gripping the building with one hand and winding back with the other, guitar gripped by the neck. As she flies within range, he smashes the guitar against the reinforced glass - and it's the glass that breaks, cries of panic ringing out from the people inside.

Stancellation doesn't even acknowledge them, continuing his climb.

"I'm the biggest fan! I've collected all the merchandise, I've collected every issue, every volume... and now it's going to become collector's merch before it's time! THEY CANCELLED IT!"

It's an anguished scream, just in time for Ginga Otome to make her way to the group, and at her dismissive comment, he howls again. "IT'S ABOUT ONE OF THE YOUNG GREATS! It's about trying your hardest in the face of adversity and hardship! YOU WOULDN'T GET IT!"

Rather than fight either young lady, Stancellation starts scrambling up even faster, hands digging holes into the building, cracking glass and stone and leaving shards and bits to fall behind him.

Amy calls out behind him with a reasonable take, and he just shouts, "WHO CARES ABOUT THEM? THEY AREN'T DDDDDD!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
        << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

<< ...Yeah okay this is gonna get *wildly* out of hand if he's already doing damage to buildings, >> Rashmi says to her compatriots, and a complex seal spreads out from under her feet.

        << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

Before Stancellation can get much closer to his chosen victims, the staticky yellow-and-black field spreads out in a flash, enveloping the whole of the block and phasing the fight out of the way of people who can't protect themselves.

"And that's a *good* message! I like it when stories focus on that! But I think you might be missing the point a little bit if you're 'trying hard' at murder in the face of adversity!"

Koji Silvia has posed:
As Saburo turns to his son to comment on how exciting this year's re-release show is... only to find a dotted outline in the air where his son should be standing. Looking left, looking right, and then the girl who just started in on the fanon brawl with them is running off and gone. He just scratches the side of his head, and takes a sip from his beer, "Man, kids these days... no patience. In my day not even a typhoon would get us out of a line for a game release, or a book launch... enh... he'll be back." He goes back to his 1v6 fight about how aging tropes are relevant and should not be edited for the context of a new audience.

One depressed-sounding << SET UP. >> later, and Hanzo is boost-launching himself up and up, AND UP... practically running up the side of the building at near superhuman speeds.

If not for Rashmi's Barrier, the audience would have gotten a real 'OOOOOH' about a vertical skid-stop.

Hanzo takes it in, and despite the 'really' expression on his face, he does end up lending his two yen on the conversation, "Media's a hard place to get into. The landscape is fierce. Everyone's trying to come up with the next Cyber Ascension Principality... or Cutie Heal, which is still going. And sometimes it's too much expectation on the person behind it. They don't meet everyone's expectations, including their own. Series get cancelled more than anyone likes... and everyone hates it. But it's also a business. And they're fighting to keep Leap alive, too, so they can keep printing their best stuff. Except Two Part. I'm GLAD that's finally done."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Ginga Otome winces a little when the window breaks. "Yeah, I guess a barrier is a good call here." A bit anticlimactic for the folks who thought they were seeing some kind of promotional show, but what can one do when broken glass is raining from on high?

"Sorry," she tells Stancellation conversationally, "I'm more into My Fortunate Engagement lately. It does suck about your fave being cancelled, just... I don't see how all this is supposed to help."

She tips her head toward Hanzo, as though concurring with his words. She's made no move to attack yet - she's just floating, keeping pace with Stancellation's climb.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy sighs. "Man, I was gonna say I feel for you, but like, you're makin' it kinda hard with your single focus... Those other manga are someone else's DDDDDD! What about those manga authors, what about the people who just work here, trying to get through the day and now you're determined to show them that their trying hard means nothing?!"

    She nods as Koji speaks up, "Yeah, yeah, exactly! I'm finding so many manga that are cancelled before I even found them, or abandoned, and like... I'm sure they're someone's DDDDDD, that spoke to them on a personal level... I'm sure of it! Because the author put their feelings into that story and it resonated with you! But if you'd destroy Shonen Leap and deny that to everyone else... you're no better than um... Why was it cancelled, again?"

    He's not stopping, though, so she conjures her gyrojet pistol and starts firing up at him -- and with her able to focus and not dodging attacks right now, she's able to make sure missed shots just poof away into pink sparkles before they hit the building! ...It's a barrier now, but whatever, she can practice!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Though it's the very tail end of August, it will still take a bit more for the season to turn, and Coco had decided to celebrate the last few days of the season by taking a batch of ice cream for herself, Rina and Noel (she had invited Caren too, but she had turned out to be busy with one such Subaru who had been monitoring the ice of the Antarctic as part of a British research group; good for her).

Coco had let her be with a promise to share later, decorated with a wink at the tail end of it.

She is well on the way to the Ice Cream Parlor, on her phone with Rina, talking about Michal and sharing how the three of them are going to surprise her with a visit when she notices the hulking mass of muscles monkeying his way up the Shounen Leap headquarters.

Is this Hawkmoth? It's probably Hawkmoth, isn't it?

"Yellow Pearl Voice!" she declares, the pearl in her shell locket responding to her and starting to shine with a yellow light. A kaleidoscope of colours covers Coco's clothes as those change into her yellow gloves and boots with flowy extensions, as well as a yellow blouse with a yellow skirt, while her pearl expands into her trusty E-Pitch microphone, its blue shape settling comfily into her hand, the yellow jewel nestled safely in the head's center.

"Hey, Hawkmoth! Don't you have a family? Aren't they going to be mad you attacked their favourite manga publishers?", she calls out at the villain, floating up in her Live Stage not far behind Stancellation.

Yeah, she is scraping the bottom of the barrel with appeals. But she knows next to nothing about DDDDD.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"There's nothing that can help! These greedy bastards - they call this a business?! Everyone knows they propped up Kamaboko! Just look at that slop sequel with his STUPID kid Sturiku! Who names a character that?!"

The people in the offices he's trashing are starting to scream, and as they do, the guitar strings strum, building up a song as they drain away energy...

And when the barrier goes up, the song fades out, the strings stopping.

I cannot believe these stupid children are even entertaining this, Hawkmoth thinks, and manages not to say it out loud with the skills that come from sort of raising a child. "They're trying to stop you, Stancellation! They don't care about your favorite series!" And neither do I! "Clearly, violence is the only solution! Drain them of all their magical energy!"

That should meet his quota, for this month and next month. For sure.

"Those series' can have their OWN fans rampage for them! If they couldn't get someone who loved them enough to take on the execs, why is that my problem, huh!? THESE PEOPLE WILL JUST GO HOME ON PAID LEAVE BECAUSE THEIR OFFICE GOT WRECKED OR SOMETHING! THEY CAN JUST GO ONLINE AND MOCK ALL OF US SAD BECAUSE THEY KILLED WHAT WE LOVE!"

He might have said more, but Amy's gyrojet shots start firing, and they start hitting too, striking the akuma in the back and hands and he yelps, cringing.

"Ah! It hurts! It hurts so bad! I'll destroy you too! You're standing up for the jerks who canceled DDDDDD just because they thinks 90,000 sales a month isn't good enough!!!"

And he swings his guitar, launching a wave of musical notes shaped energy at them.

It's not that strong. Honestly feels a bit like a slap to the face, no more and no less. But it's something! The strength of this heart!

Hawkmoth considers Yellow Pearl Voice's plea, and thinks, if Adrian liked mass market slop this much, I'd ship him back to Paris on the first flight. He's smart enough not to say that, though.

"Hawkmoth is my friend! My ally! My mentor! He doesn't care about his family anymore than I do! They don't understand us!"

Wow, Hawkmoth is really regretting this one.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Hey!" Wako objects as the music notes hit, with pretty much exactly the same degree of mild offense she might have used if Stancellation had actually tried a slapfight and clipped her with a wild flail of a hand. "Honestly, do you think this sort of behavior would impress, umm..."

A beat; she looks toward Rashmi with a faintly chagrined expression. "Hey, Pagemage-chan, who's the main character of DDDDDDD again?"

Abandoning this line of attempted persuasion, she makes an exasperated noise. "What if I just put him in a hamster ball right now," she says. "Yellow Pearl Voice and I could probably purify the heck out of him pretty quick."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Hanzo just sighs as he has that moment, and just says with the shake of his head, "Oh, please tell me we're not about to curbstomp a NEET."

It's almost too casual as he ignites a Ghost Knife and extends it into a sword-form, the lazy swings as he deflects a b-minor, an a-flat, and a f-sharp there at the end that stabs into the building.

But when Ginga Otome suggests a speedy end to things, "You mind if we knock him around a little, let him rant a little longer and then do that? I just... really need an excuse not to be down there right now. Please?"

aHE actually has some pleading in his voice, like a cat who is insisting it's never been fed in it's entire existence, but hasn't gotten to the 'FEED ME-NOWL!' noises.

    << CHAIN BIND - PARALYSIS. >>

A half-dozen small magic circles appear in the air and ghostly blue kunai and chain come shooting out to bind up Stancellation, as Koji-as-Hanzo says to him, "You stay there a moment, we'll get to you. Just need to fine-tune your defeat. Once this is done, we'll give you some water and a cookie, and you'll feel better."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The musical notes are, at first, treated like proper threats; a couple get dodged, one gets blocked -- hang on... -- and a fourth slips past her guard to... rock her back very slightly in the air.

....Oh this poor boy. It is *so fortunate* he's probably not gonna remember this rampage, because like...

Rashmi would cringe herself into a locker and stay there for a *week.*

<< ...Oh he *is* one of Hawkmoth's, good job Yellow Pearl-chan! >> she says, adding Coco to the link. << ...And I have no idea Otome-chan, I don't follow musical dramas? I'm more of a Lavender Neverfarm girl myself, when it comes to the popular stuff. >>

"So uh... buddy?" she calls out to Stancellation. "We're gonna hit you, like, *a lot* now, and then those two sweeties are gonna help you with your rage issues.

As she speaks, a dozen golden Barrets materialize around her.

        << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE >>

"...And then water and cookies, yeah."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "HEY!"

    "I may not have even stayed with it for a hundred episodes, but Kamaboko brought a lot of people around the world joy! --Woah!" Amy rocket-jumps off the barrier-building just in time to avoid the wave of music.

    "It made a lot of people feel things, too! Costume no jutsu!"

    As she flies through the air and does a hand seal, the pink sparkles are accompanied by a poof of smoke this time, and then she's in Kamaboko's signature outfit, with her hair in twintails again for some reason.

    She lands in the barrier-copy of the shonen jump building, through a window destroyed earlier, glaring at Stancellation and then looking at her hand. "...Okay, I got nothin'. I can't make clones, I can't make a ball of cutting wind, I don't really have any attacks themed to this costume. Yeah see," she gestures as sealing kunai are thrown around Stancellation, "He's the one with the ninja stuff."

    She conjures a rocket launcher and was going to start blasting, but like, Koji's asking for this fight to please drag on a little, so... "Rocket launcher no jutsu!" She fires... right past him. Oh no. She missed.

    Amy points up at their foe and slings more words instead: "Are you even listening to yourself?! That show was about a kid who kept on going for an impossible dream, just like in DDDDDD! Even when his whole village mistreated him and treated him as worthless every day of his life! He had no one who understood him, either!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Is that what this is about?", Yellow Pearl Voice stares with wide eyes at Stancellation at his lamentation over Kamaboko. Oh. Talk about an overreaction.

"So, your manga, uh..." Her eyes travel to the logo. "DDDDDD, right? I am sure it lived a good life, and if it could talk to you, It would be thankful you shared all those times with it, and would be encouraging you to take its lessons in the real world, and...", she hesitates, her voice trailing off.

Would this help? She has no idea what the manga is about. She has no idea if there even are any life lessons in it! Maybe it's a comedy that never takes itself seriously! Is she helping? Or just revealing how little she knows about its contents? She can't really say she cares much about this guy's troubles.

<< Hi, Pagemage! >> Coco greets the Device Mage as she is added to the link. << Thanks for the comma!>> To Wako she adds << I am gonna do just that! >>

The musical attack makes her shake her head. You come at her in her domain, Hawkmoth. Are you sure this is really what you want to do? She can't even say this is Dark Lover-level, and it's especially a very far cry from the Black Beauty Sisters.

Loving past the limits of the heart inside
Finding out the reasons after all has died
Holding on to hope inside a hopeless place
Knowing all was worth it just to see your face

All my love erupting in a fountain
All my love ascending up the mountains
All my love is reaching to the bottom of the sea
All my love enraptured by your visage
All my love outside for you to witness
All my love I'd give to you so we can swim again

The Live Stage's glow flows and pulses in time with the music, and the air starts filling with purifying soundwaves, erasing the negative beat and assailing the dark energy within Stancellation. This is gonna hurt, but it's for your own good.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"HOW DARE YOU NOT TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!!!!" Stancellation is stomping his foot, but considering he'd been climbing a building, this mostly results in shattering more glass, great cracks spreading through the window panes and causing him to wobble and nearly lose his own grip.

"...Don't splatter yourself before the heroes can take you out, Stancellation," Hawkmoth says with great exasperation.

"I'M NOT GOING TO GET TAKEN OUT!"

...sure, Stan.

"HOW DARE YOU ACT LIKE I'M SOME MONSTER OF THE WEEK-"

That's about when Koji's binds strike home, a half-dozen small magic circles that have him trapped. He struggles, half-hearted and upset, and then -

"THERE'S ONLY SIX D'S YOU LITTLE BRAT, I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL HAVE YOUR BLOOD AND ENERGY!"

...Hawkmoth is going to shut up now, actually. Wow. Okay. Maybe there was a reason this guy had the strongest negative feelings in Tokyo tonight.

"YOU'RE DEFENDING KAMABOKO?!"

The binds shatter.

"YOU'RE A STAN OF THAT TRASH HEAP?! KAMABOKO DIDN'T EVEN CHANGE THE NINJA WORLD! EVERYTHING STAYED THE SAME! Who cares if he was bullied as a kid! He didn't even make that stupid village a place where other kids wouldn't get bullied! They just sold out and ran for too long! NO WONDER YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND MY RAGE!""

The guitar is hefted and swung - this time instead putting out a musical attack (weak, uncoordinated, with no sense of rhythm or tone), it's a straight up melee attack that swings with such force that even the wind generated will blow them back -

And then Yellow Pearl Voice starts singing, and the guitar tumbles limply towards the ground, where it shatters into pieces, forgotten on the pavement. Stancellation cringes, gripping his head, rocking back against the building -

"You... your song... it's so beautiful that it hurts! It's just like the music Fortunate makes! How can anyone sing so well... and hurt me so bad!"

Well... he's wide open now that's for sure. Meanwhile, Hawkmoth wonders idly if should warn Yellow Pearl Voice that this guy is absolutely about to become her newest fan? .....no, that's her problem.

Koji Silvia has posed:
This is, admittedly, getting a little out of hand. Ignoring the fact that gravity is less a law and more a casual reminder in this Barrier Space currently, and Hanzo is standing sideways on the face of the building, he still has to leap to avoid the wind and debris from that rather impressive attack... but like most fan rage, it either festers or it fades, and it seems like the big guy is more the latter.

He lands, as if the side of the building is his normal gravitic plane...

    (Okay seriously, who let this whole thing get past key animation?! *sigh*, whatever...)

... and then sends to Rashmi, or he intended to, but was so distracted he used the party band: << Actually, there's one you should start, Rashmi. It's called It's Allright to Flirt with Boys in a Wizards Tower?. Anyways, the main, Chime Borime is a newbie villain under the Rakshasa Alamvush, a newbie and not very powerful demon as her patron. They've flipped the script on the harem trope, with Chime's primary focus as Zia Doorsenagger, a veteran male villain's servant to the Asura Virocana who Chime believes if she can finally get him to notice her, she'll become the best villain on the planet. But she doesn't know Zia's so lovestruck by her he's literally scared stupid any time she's around. According to more than one reviewer it's a fairly accurate and meaningful adaptation of Hinduism and the Deva-Asura wars. >>

    The pause from Hanzo both mentally and physically is palpable.

<< Right, sorry. Uhhh...>

    << PHANTOM IMPALE - DISRUPTOR BLADE. >>

What sounds ominous is just a sword-shaped blade made of disruptive magic that is thrown at Stancellation's chest, to weaken the binds of Phantom's influence on Stannie, and ready him up for a purification.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Yeah, you kinda are a monster of the--"

KAMABOKO DIDN'T EVEN CHANGE THE NINJA WORLD!
    "He WHAT?!" Amanda's voice actually screeches in surprise. "You're kidding me?! After all that and like hundreds more episodes, nothing?! UGH! What the f***! I heard Our Hero Schooling pulled that shit too, can you believe it?! ...Ah, that wasn't a pun on the English dub, I--"

    WHUMPF! The wind catches Amy off-guard and sends her tumbling into the building.

    "Oof... can we all just agree that Mystery of Mahogany ripping off all of these characters and doing it badly and not even putting any thought into its own premise or gameplay is really dumb and we can all hate it together?"

    She's content to lie there out of the way and let the purifiers do their thing.

    "And series where the I'm-gonna-change-the-world protagonist sells out to defend the status quo and make people suffer just like they did. I am down for hating that too, I can't believe it's becoming a trope. Like they're trying to poison even our dreams now..."

    Beat. "HEY HAWK MOTH IS MAKING KAMABOKO AND OUR HERO SCHOOLING END THAT WAY AN OBSIDIAN PLOT? YOU GUYS ARE EVIL."

    << Oh, It's Allright to Flirt with Boys in a Wizards Tower was actually deep? I only watched one episode, I might have to check it out then. Anyway, uh, purify away, everyone! >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
How is it *Kamaboko* that sets this guy off?! What is this allergy some otaku have with pop-culture?! Whatever the true reason for this burst of nerd rage, the air-cutting swing that follows catches Rashmi off-guard, slamming her into a building across the street. << Aaaaugh... Sorry, Hanzo-kun -- ow -- but we gotta take him seriously. >>

And just as she winds up to hold another, bigger Barrage on poor Stancellation... Coco's music rings out, brushing the soreness from her bruises, and sending their *enemy* into rapture.

"...Hawkmoth this is just embarrassing," she murmurs.

        << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >>

There's a lot of reasons to use sticky ice in this attack. Chief among them, because by the time Coco and Wako's magic has done their work, he's not gonna be *up* to hanging on to the side of a building over twenty stories up.

At which point the pallet of bricks that is Hanzo's recommendation hits the channel. And Rashmi just... stares for a moment, asking herself if that's what she sounds like when someone mentions Tolkien.

<< I'll have to check it out! >> she says, rallying to her friend's defense.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
<< Oh, Lavender Neverfarm is really good - it's so pretty! >> Ginga Otome opines. << But I have to be in a mood to cry, you know? Can't just pick it up casually... >>

Hanzo's pleading has her hanging back, even once Stancellation breaks his bonds in rage. Still hovering in her floating shield, she bobs in the air, correcting in the wake of the wind from the guitar swings. "I'm sorry, okay?" she protests aloud, holding up both hands. "I wasn't trying to make fun, it's just a lot of D's!"

Stancellation is definitely not listening. After Hanzo and Rashmi unleash their attacks, the Galactic Maiden makes her move - a sphere of dawn-pink light glimmers into being around the Akuma, flooding swiftly with purifying energy that joins what Yellow Pearl Voice's song has already begun.

"I really need a name for this that isn't 'hamster ball,'" she muses aloud, mostly to herself.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
<< You know, doesn't it make you feel weird hearing only half of a conversation? >> Coco asks over the comms, watching Stancellation stomp in rage and presumably get belittled by Hawkmoth. "Don't listen to Hawkmoth! He is not your mentor, he is using you! He only wants you to get the Miraculous! That's why he is treating you like an episodic villain!"

... Which he pretty much is, and takes away a bit of vigour from her words, but they are here to stop him, not much they can do about it. At least she will be able to use a Live Stage to catch him when he loses his powers. Actually, she should probably ask about that.

<< Who wants to catch him after he is stopped? I can use a Live Stage to break his fall. Do we go with that, or does someone have a better idea?"

"You are not really giving it a glowing review", the blonde mermaid tells Amy. "If they lack that much honesty in their work, I don't think they are going to get far at all. Is that its author's first work? It can still be a learning experience for them, and deliver a better work as a sequel, or with an original setting", she considers.

All my love across a yellow sky
Trapped inside waiting to reach your mind
All I have is what you mean to me
Our bond across seven seas
All my love across a moonlit night
Held inside waiting to set you free
All I have is what you mean to me
Our bond across seven seas
Our bond across seven seas
Our bond is everything to me

So when you're sinking deep
Into a restless sleep
I will guide your dreams to me
A burning torch to light the way
A promise that I'll never break
Til nothing's stopping you and me

She wouldn't know what to do if she got a fan out of this experience. After all, it's not like she has a name as an official singer in her henshin. Still, her purification doesn't stop, and she extends a hand in his direction as part of her dance routine, just like her purifying voice keeps reaching and pulling out the darkness in his heart, to be replaced with calm and contentment.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"THAT'S RIGHT! That's - that's right! All of that build up and it didn't amount to anything... but Shounen Leap gave it so many chapters! So many issues! And yet DDDDDD... Fortunate... how could they do this to us!"

Stancellation wanted to be taken seriously, and now he is, sort of. His heartfelt outpouring of emotion is sincere, but also not very... well, admirable. This is still all over a manga, after all.

Koji's impaling blade of disruption strikes home, and the black suit jacket flickers, revealing the branded shirt beneath! Rashmi's glace-shifted barrets pummel him, sticky ice spreading and glooping together, conveniently sticking him to the building, where he has no choice but to listen to Yellow Pearl Voice's singing, and be subject to Ginga Otomo's purifying light -

And between the two, there is soon nothing left but an extremely pale, kind of gaunt man in his late twenties, trapped in sticky ice and staring at Yellow Pearl Voice like a man who's found water in the desert, or god in this Chili's.

"You're so... wonderful..."

Meanwhile, perhaps Yellow Pearl Voice was right about Hawkmoth feeling embarrassed about this one, because the akuma flutters right over to Ginga Otome, doesn't try to touch her, and just waits for the purifying end to this whole sorry ordeal.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< I got him, >> Rashmi calls out as the hamster ball and purifying song do their work. By the time it's done, she's in arm's reach of the mass of golden ice sticking the poor man to the building, and she reaches out to get a firm hold on the boy.

"She really is, isn't she?" she says cheerfully, as he expresses his admiration for the mermaid. "You could do a lot worse than listening to Yellow Pearl Voice! We're *proof* that her music makes people want to be better, y'know?"

...Look this is a chance to maybe get this guy out into the sun. If he gets drawn to one of Coco's concerts, well... at least he'll be touching grass and around people! Maybe it'll help?

Once he's secure, the ice disappears, and she carefully brings him down to earth.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Watching Stancellation change back into poor Hikaru change back into a vision of what could be for many a young and growing otaku, Hanzo ends up rubbing the back of his neck, as his hair suddenly remember the direction gravity goes, and hangs 'downwards'. But he looks up and over at Hawkmoth finally, and just exhales... readying up to say something... then just shakes his head as he falls OFF the building and goes plummeting back towards the ground, skydiving past Rashmi.

<< Someone PLEASE come save me in about 15 minutes? You'll know where I am... >>

He drops himeself out of the Time-Space Barrier, out of henshin, and thanks to his Storage, he's coming around the corner back to the line carrying a conbini bag with cold drinks and some onigiri...

...and Saburo just hooks his arm on Koji's neck and drags him right back to the conversation, "Look I'm tellin you man, Madgun as a franchise is only in it's purest form BEFORE they did Madgun Claw. Seriously, it was like they were trying to get girls to watch a show that was all about overinflated drama and revenge in the 90s. Who's gonna let their daughter watch that, huh?"

    A Breath.

    "OH hey there, Kojiro, thanks for grabbing me snacks!"

    "Dad wait I was-..."

    *CHOMP!*

     "...gonna eat that..."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
<< Thanks, Rashmi-chan! >> Wako's purifying bubble releases the poor guy to Rashmi's care, once the ominous purple butterfly abandons him and he's fully purified. "Aww, Yellow Pearl Voice, you have a new fan. That's wonderful!"

She eyes the butterfly warily as it approaches her, but when it doesn't seem inclined to try to alight or anything, her expression swiftly clears into something almost like sympathy. Without another word, she lifts one hand, index finger extended--

--and fires a single bright spark of purifying pink energy into the butterfly from point-blank range."

"...So," she says. "That was a thing that happened."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "I dunno, man." Amy replies from inside. "'Boyfriend Sometimes Girlfriend' and 'Magitora' are up and ending just as the first started to cook and before the protagonist of the second could realize, while 'She Called Herself the Archmage's Apprentice' and 'Reincarnated to Master the Spear' get endless chapters and an anime adaptation of OP protagonist crap and not even using their own goddamn premise."

    "Authors and publishers feel that samey stuff that doesn't ask the audience to think is safer, I guess. I dunno how to fix that. But at least we get some good stories..."

    Hey now, manga and stories can be important to people!

    Amy comes out to the window to look up at the frozen man now enthralled by Coco. "I hope now he can move on, though. Whatever problems made this the most important thing in someone's life, must really suck..."

~ Fifteen Minutes Later ~
    "Wait, Madgun Claw was trying to make Madgun appeal to girls?!"

    Amy, who was approaching to 'rescue' Koji, stops in her tracks. "Ohhh right yeah I can see it, with the bishounen and all... Well I'm glad I'm not straight, that would've been confusing. Do girls really think Yuusha Huy is boyfriend material?? He has the personality of a log."

    Oh no she's getting drawn into the discussion... Sorry, Koji!

Coco Kiumi has posed:
<< Thank you >> Coco tells Rashmi when the Device Mage takes care of catching the man free of Hawkmoth's influence. It really is over, and with the butterfly flying over to Ginga Otome, she can trust her with taking care of the akuma, and put the word end to this incident. << Go for it, all yours! >> she encourages her fellow magical girl. That was a precise purifying spark.

Apparently she does have a new fan now, and one that looks rather sickly to her. He kinda looks like he has been neglecting himself, really. Was this all due to his obsession with DDDDDD? "Thanks for enjoying my Pichi Pichi Live! Please take these feelings and use them to avoid neglecting yourself, ok?", she recommends him with a smile.

"I apparently do", she replies to Wako with a smirk. This is certainly not the outcome she expected, but it's not like she doesn't get it. Here is hoping he uses this as an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and start bettering himself.

"Maybe he will have an easier time. Hawkmoth is sort of pointing people to us so we can give magical therapy, isn't he?", she replies to Amy, blinking at that peculiar thought. They certainly wouldn't have been able to help them otherwise.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I mean, I'm not fond of the *method,* but I'm not gonna complain if he's gonna help us help people," Rashmi says with a shrug, setting the dazed man down. "Speaking of... where do we wanna eat after we've collected Hanzo-kun?"

--- Fifteen Minutes Later... ---

"I can kinda see it?" Rashmi says as she comes up behind Amy. "There's a big 'I can fix him' vibe around his fans. And the fanfic. Oh boy, the fanfic. Anyway... Sorry, Skyline-san, but we need to borrow Koji-kun? There's gonna be a watch party after the first day of school, and we need to make sure the equipment's set up. C'mon you two!"

And, as she is used to doing with Koji involved, she just takes hold of his and Amy's arms, walking them off and out of the party.

Because sometimes it helps if you don't let anyone have time to argue.