1554/Witching Hour

Witching Hour
Date of Scene:	04 June 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown Neon District
Synopsis:	Shiniko and Lacrima attack a pair of drug dealers for justice and energy, which one takes priority unclear. Puella Magi Sayaka and Cure Spark take issue with this attempt, and prevent the pair from doing lasting damage to their chosen victims.
Cast of Characters:	Sora Hisakata, Norie Okana, Naomi Yomada, Sayaka Miki

---

Sora Hisakata has posed:
Any entertainment district like this is going to have its unsavory elements, and this one is no exception. A pair of drug dealers is peddling their wares near one of the more private clubs, trying to get the partiers hooked on their addictive, life-destroying products.

One of them is a girl around the age of some of the clubbers, pretending to be one of them rather than the accomplice of her fellow dealer, luring partiers with a few drinks behind them out to get them to try this cool new thing. She's got a pair, and is headed towards the thirty year old guy who is doing the actual sales.

And then, on this new moon night, as midnight approaches, the lights around this alley blink out, as do the stars. The only source of light that remains available are two glowing red eyes, looking at them from above. The girl to which these eyes belong giggles, it is childlike, youthful, but where there ought to be innocense there is naught but malice.

"Oh my, you two thought you'd get away with that~?" Shiniko's sing-song voice carries far, every note adding this feeling of merciless, sadistic vengeance that's about to unfold. "Shall we teach them what happens to the wicked, Lacrima~?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Not too long ago, Shiniko asked for Lacrima's help. Lacrima is happy to help because there's energy in it for her! Besides, you know, Shiniko being one of a small handful of people she can even begin to pretend to apply the word 'friend' to on various levels.

Something still seems off about Shiniko but..it's literarly none of her bussiness- and maybe she likes Shiniko more like this herself. Who even knows.

Still Lacrima lets herself hover downwards, towards the affair going on down below. She doesn't glow-- she just has stunning purple features.

"They get punnnished~" sing songs Lacrima, elongating the 'punish' a bit there.

Naomi Yomada has posed:
Another day. Another explosion. Naomi finally did it. That boombox she's been working on has seen its last day. Not only did it explode this time but it caught fire. The plastic and materials in it are gone and melted. Her moms about killed her for this one. She's officially grounded for the next 2 weeks from tinkering.

After being grounded she went and got cleaned up. From there it was bed. The sooner the punishment ends the sooner she can go back to having fun! That was several hours ago.

"Naomi-chan, Wake up. There's trouble!" The pink fairy is shaking the girl. "I don't know what it is but it feels very bad. Like corrupt and stuff!" Naomi learned the hard way about staying in bed when Lilac tries to wake her up. She quickly gets up and gets dressed. Then a few moments later, she is outside. "Lead the way." With that, Lilac takes off, leading Naomi towards the entertainment district.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    It's a late evening, and a new moon at that. Sayaka hurries home, feeling tired and knowing she should conserve energy with apparently no witches anywhere in sight. As she steps towards the Neon District, she shivers as she notices some unsavory types here and there.

    Up ahead, she spies the familiar form of Naomi, whom she sadly let down when she fled the scene last time. Maybe she should apologize to her, but Sayaka is glad to see that she at least seems more or less safe.

    "Hey! Remember me? How are you doing?" she calls out, quickenning her pace as she hurries after her. "Careful, this isnt a terribly safe place this time of night.."

Sora Hisakata has posed:
The shadows that cover the alley don't have a harsh edge, they effect grows weaker the further away it is from Shiniko. Lilac can no doubt feel the dark energy emanate through it, it's bad alright. "They get punished~" The Witch echoes Norie.

She lands down next to the pair of drug dealers, shadow hands grabbing them by their shoulders. "So how do we punish addiction peddlers?" Shiniko thinks aloud, not assuming Lacrima would offer a meaningful suggestion, but she's already draining the girl a little, and the man is held out towards the Witch's vampiric 'friend' to uphold her end of the bargain.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima purses her lips as she watches with bated breath. She grins a bit. "Well." she says. "We could curse them! Or.. rather, you could. I have my own method of that..." she says as she reaches out toward's the man--- placing just a finger tip, against his most likely scared as hell form- because horrible nightmare creatures descend on you-- what do you think you feel!?

"Draneje~" she mutters out-- and she begins to drain by touch- the current best way for her to do it-- perhaps the only way at the moment until Ayana arranges the meeting with her friend!

Naomi Yomada has posed:
Naomi continues moving into the Neon District. Lilac quickly moves back to her, "Naomi-chan you forgot again! You gotta change!" The fairy flies around the girl while Naomi just facepalms. "Ugh Why do I keep forgetting!"

She pulls out her mirror and speaks, "Time to..." EEP! Oh look its the bluenette from her first night as a Pretty Cure. She likely doesn't know but... "Oh umm. Hi! Thanks! I didn't get to thank you when you were fighting that umm... monster." She is trying her hardest to play up the mundane factor. Not like that will happen. Her mirror is still in her hand complete with the cards in her other hand to transform. She's caught and there ain't no hiding that. "UMm. Yeah. Theres a problem out here. Lilac told me. You may want to change. She said its pretty dark." She blushes a little. "I sorta do too. A lot happened after you left. Pardon... "

"Time to change!" The cards are in the mirror and they quickly cover her image. "Pretty Cure! Rolling Mirror Change!"Immediately she is covered by a cloak. As her clothing is changed. First her arms then her legs, Her skirt. Then she whips off the cloak. Finally the prebrace on her arm and the mirror pouch complete the ensamble as she poses, "Curiosity, Sparking the fires of imagination! Cure Spark!"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    Sayaka frowns as she peers up ahead. Wait, why are there no stars in the sky under that particular area in the alleyway? Worse, she's sure she hears voices from there, and can sense some sort of dark, forebording magic coming from there..

    Her eyes narrow, quickenning her pace, even though she knows she shouldn't get involved. Hey, she's a Puella, and without any witches to replenish her magic that she can find, it would be dangerous..

    But Sayaka never said no to helpless people. She's surprised when Naomi is accompanied by a fairy, and rushes tot join the frey, but no time to ask questions now. "Right, let's help them!" And she pulls out her soulgem, transforming as she enters the alleyway.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
"Of course we curse, them, but with what?" That seems like a question of some importance to the Shadow Witch. "Oh I know. An insatiable craving to apologize~" She's about to start working on that particular curse when she notices a distant light and some voices, "Lacrima~ I think we've got visitors~"

"Have you come to help punish the wicked~?" Shiniko asks as unfamiliar people approach, her red eyes focusing on the incoming voices, seeing despite the darkness in which they find themselves.

"Or are you here to try to save those maggots~?" The Shadow Witch's voice suddenly holds a lot of unrestrained malice, every syllable dripping with undisguised hatred of the very idea that people might want to stop her. "If you do, we'll stop on you like the gnats such enemies of justice are~"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima turns toward's the Puella and Cure Spark as she removes her hand rather suddenly, and looks quite annoyed. She regards them. A purple Pretty Cure, and a Blue Puella. She looks between them both.

"Trouble." she says matter of factly.

She raises a finger at the two.

"You two better just leave. It'd be better for everyone." says Lacrima. "We finish here, you don't need to waste your energy saving losers. Make sense?" she asks softly to the two arriving heroes.

Naomi Yomada has posed:
Okay. Its dark. That is definitely going to make matters a little more interesting. It's getting darker though and that is causing her a little worry. That is about the point she comes up on the source of the problem. As The Shadow Witch and the Energy Vamp give their exposition. Lilac whispers to Spark, "Thats the source... Its them!"

Cure Spark looks at the fallen people and frowns, "You came sought out mundanes and did this to them? Why?! You are magical in nature. Why would you use your power on these guys. So what. They are dealers. If you gotta get involved, take em to the cops! You are not judge jury and excutioner." She glances to the Puella and takes a breath. "I can't let you keep doing this. You are acting worse then they are! I was expecting a terribad or some other youma. You're supposed to be heroes for people, fighting for good. Why are you doing this?"

Spark gets ready to defend herself. Its clear she is young and that she is a little naive but she's made her choice and she's been warned so she is ready to fight. "We can help you if you will walk away from this, right now."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    Sayaka blinks as she watches Naomi's transformation. Woah, not bad! Well at least this time she wont have to fight at full-force, hopefully. "Alright! Let's take care of this!" and she rushes after Cure Spark into the alleyway, although her smile quickly fades at the sight of the two girls hovering over the criminals.

    "Hey, what's going on here?" As the Shadow Witch and Lacrima oppose them, Sayaka just frowns all the more, shaking her head. "So, you've come to prey on these people? Even if they're criminals, I cant forgive you! Allow them to pay for their crimes in prison..Not like this!"

    She points a finger at them accusingly, "Leave these people alone, or I'll have no other choice but to stop you!" She doesnt fight yet, hoping to give them a chance to surrender first at least.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
Shiniko giggles at the reprimands of Cure Spark and Sayaka, every bit of laugher mocking as well as full of malice. "That's the best joke I've heard in months. Rely on the cops who are taking a cut of their profits to look the other way to deal with them? I might as well politely ask them to stop selling drugs~"

"I am doing this because innocent people are getting hurt. These people aren't innocent~" Shiniko starts looking towards the interlopers, and shadows stretch across the walls, until two large hands, with sharp claws reach out for Cure Spark, attempting to grab her and hold her steady.

"If you're trying to stop us, that means you're trying to help these villains get from ruining people's futures, I can't tolerate such evils~" Shiniko seems to genuinely believe that her ends justify the means she's taking, "So we're going to have to teach you a lesson~"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima blinks at Spark. She seems annoyed at the speech. "We're strong. They're weak. They're doing wrong. Just because they're not magic doesn't mean that they don't deserve due punishment like this!" she says. Oh, then Spark offers to /help/ and this causes her to /snap/!

"I DO NOT NEED HELP! I AM NOT BROKEN! OR--OR NEED FIXED!" she snaps. "YOU'RE JUST UPSET BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT STRONG. LIKE ME OR SHINIKO-CHAN!" she calls out.

Oh that got her good. She scowls at the two, both Naomi and Sayaka.

She doesn't wait for Shiniko's lead in-- there's already a sudden bolt of dark energy flying from her palm toward's Spark- the source of the insult of wanting to 'help'.

Naomi Yomada has posed:
WOO! That rattled some cages! Thank god she had gotten ready to defend herself. As soon as The attacks come flying at her She launches herself upward and out of the way of Lacrima's attack. There is a lot of darkness and a lot of shadows. Yeesh this is the worst time of fay for this. "Careful!" She shouts to Sayaka.

The pretty cure lands herself. She's still got shadows coming her way. "Okay. I am NOT playing in the dark tonight." She rolls the gem on her prebrace, "SPARK BLINDING FLASH!" She throws a hand into the air and the dark is quickly made light. She hopes that Sayaka didn't look her way when she did this. That would be bad. Blinding a teammate is the opposite of good.

"Yeah! Real strong! Having to pick on mundanes? Even if they are dregs they are not in your league." She frowns. This is difficult. She has an idea of what Sayaka is capable of from before she became a pretty cure. That doesn't mean she knows what Spark can do! "Listen, we don't have to fight. You need help if yuo honestly believe you are completely fine!"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    Sayaka frowns, shaking her head. "No! I believe in the justice system..Allow them to take care of these criminals! There are greater evils out there that you should use your powers against, not using them on harming people who cant fight back!"

    Then, Shiniko attempts to reach for Cure Spark with her shadowy claws. "Look out!" she yells at the other heroine, but it seems the other girl is already quickly leaping to safety.

    "Alright, time to end this..." While Spark attempts to blind them, Sayaka swings her arms out in an arc, summoning six swords, two of which are hurled at Shiniko's shadows, attempting to cut at the claws; Two more are aimed towards Shiniko, attempting to pin her to the wall, and two more are hurled at Lacrima, attempting to pin her down as well.

    Fortunately, she covers her eyes with her cloak before the blinding flash can affect her own eyes.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
Shiniko is blinded by that light, her shadowy hair reflexively curling around her as she can't see what's coming her way. Under that light, her shadows retreat, the stars once again becoming visible, as do the neon lights of this alley Sayaka's swords dig into the protective layer of shadows, going through and causing the the Witch to yelp out in pain..

In response, Shiniko grabs the drug dealer she was draining before once again, holding him up with her shadowy hands as darkness pools up below him, forming cold flames that suck the heat out of the surroundings, even from a distance it should be easy to tell that those flames could easily kill him.

"Since you seem so keen on promoting crime, I'm putting you to the test~" Shiniko justifies her hostage taking, "Either this one is your friend, and you back off to let him live; or you have an issue with me beyond that and he dies while we continue fighting~" Of course there's other options, she doesn't seem inclined to acknowledge them.

Norie Okana has posed:
Flash! Lacrima covers her eyes but doesn't make it in time- blinding by the sudden light. "Nrg!?" she mutters out. Swords come out to the pin her and one does indeed, slam through her top right shoulder and pins her to the wall. She shrieks out a moment--- before she reaches up and grabs--and pulls the sword out--- black smoky mist eminating from the wound as she reaches up to hold it a moment as she stops the flow of 'bleeding'.

She looks back up with a scowl--- then Shiniko makes her ultimatium and she stops a moment.

"I'm fine and well!" she lies. "I do not need your help and these people don't 'need your help'!" she spits out.

"They'll be fine. And live. Just punished." she insists.

"Unless Shiniko-chan decides she's had enough apparently." she says.

Naomi Yomada has posed:
The infamous choice. Its the thing that heros always dread and those on the other end of the spectrum completely love to use. Spark frowns as she watches the situation unfold. "Think about what you are doing? You are hurting someone just to try to make your point."

That isn't a choice. She glances to Sayaka for a moment and then to Lilac. She frowns. This is just a really nasty situation. Her eyes begin to tear up. This is the opposite of the things she's been doing. It breaks her heart to be forced to do something like this.

Her wet eyes look at the Shadow Witch and the Vamp. "Fine. You want me to make a choice. This is my choice. Light of curiosity, turn into Sacred Power." The area ignites yellow and cyan light as intersecting lightning bolts appear behind the girl. "Love Prebrace! PRETTY CURE BALL LIGHTNING!!!" The lightning bolts turn into a ball and go flying at Shiniko and the thug. (She doesn't know if it catches Lacrima or not.) It wraps around the two, purifying them.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    Sayaka glares at Shiniko as she grabs the thug and threatens to kill him if they dont back off. Her eyes glower angrily. "Alright. That's it! You just crossed a line, and there's no going back!" she glances at Spark as she launches some sort of attack - at both Shiniko and the thug?! Her eyes go wild, stepping towards her.

    "No, wait!" but as it wraps around them, she's surprised to see the attack has more of a purifying effect than a damaging effect. She grins, "Good idea!" And while Shiniko is hopefully busy with that, Sayaka leaps towards them both, attempting to grab the thug and if successful, to leap skywards with him, to spirit him somewhere safe. Hopefully.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
The purification ball wraps around Shiniko, who cries out in pain and drops the thug, with Sayaka catching him before he can fall into the cold fire. It's near impossible to do that without clipping through it, but a Puella ought to be able to handle that; the thug can't.

When the light fades, Shiniko's hair looks tattered and her skin looks like it has a smidge more colour, apparently she's having difficulty maintaining her henshin in the face of that. Rather than keep fighting, she cuts her losses, reaching out towards Lacrima.

Then, a shadowy pentagram forms below the Shadow Witch; if Lacrima accepts the hand she'll attempt to pull the vampire into it, and it explodes into more dark fire. A brief fire, that fades quickly, leaving no trace of what was found within.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima was expecting an attack, but that's also a purfication attack. She goes to reach out her hand. "Shiniko!" she calls out-- she doesn't know if there's anything there to 'purify' on Shiniko, but surely that hurt regardless--- but still--- the purification rips across her fingertips causing darkness to be stripped away--- and she pulls back her hand before she looses it to the purifying energy--

Creatures of pure darkness have trouble with this it seems.

When it's done she's just teleported over to Shiniko's side. "Shiniko-chan!?" she says.

Still, Shiniko wants to run, so she goes along, dissapearing into the dark cold fire along with Shiniko, it seems!

Naomi Yomada has posed:
Cure Spark frowns softly and shakes her head, "Damn." She whispers. She doesn't know where Sayaka took the other thug but there is still one here who is very much drained and dealign with the aftermath. "Umm... I don't have my phone. Are you okay."

Lilac shakes her head over the whole thing. How could two magic girls go so dark. Still, the fairy gets an idea, "Spark! Use the cure cards!" She quickly brings out the PreCard Decor and fishes out a pair of the cards.

Spark smiles, "Thats a really good idea! Time to Change!!" She pulls out prechan mirror and puts the cards into it. "N-n-n-nurse! Change it up!" Immediately her uniform changes to look like that of a nurse. Quickly she begins taking care of the man, making sure he is okay and making certain he is comfortable. "It'll be okay. We will get you some help just as soon as possible."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    Sayaka lands on a balconey a few stories up in the alleyway. She did indeed get clipped by Shiniko's flames, but fortunately she's not too badly hurt. Hey, she heals very quickly afterall. Once the two girls flee the scene below, she lands back on the ground below, still holding onto the first thug and peering curiously at Cure Spark.

    "Phew, guess we chased 'em away. Can you heal this one too? I guess we can just dump 'em at the next police station, or tie 'em up and call them to come pick em up."

    She smiles, "You were pretty awesome by the way. I didnt get to introduce myself earlier, I'm Sayaka Miki!"

Naomi Yomada has posed:
Spark is definitely playing the part of nurse right now. She actually seems to know what she is doing. That is mostly because the precards and not really because of her knowledge of first aide. "Oh welcome back! Sure! I can help him!" Quickly she starts patching up the other guy.

The pink fairy flies closer to Nurse Spark and speaks, "I feel the excitement and energy of being up on stage inside me!!! Ooh my nose itches!! Rub it please!!!" Spark rubs her nose and she giggles before sneezing. Out pops a pair of cards. On them, is two parts of a Pop Idol outfit! The fairy quickly puts them in the Precard Decor.

"Cure Spark!" She states with a smile as she finishes patching up the guy. "We can talk more later if you want." She comments to the Puella Magi. "Its nice to meet you Sayaka-san!"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
    Sayaka smiles, "Nice to meet you, Cure Spark! So sorry I fled the last time! I guess I've been having some..Err..Issues, regarding my powers lately. But I'm relieved you're safe..And better than ever!" she pulls out her phone and starts dialing the police. "Alright, I'll let 'em know where to pick 'em up. So all we have to do is tie em up and leave them..Probably easier that way.."

    She does sigh a bit as she peers towards where the two girls left. "That's too bad that those two girls didnt want to put their powers to good use..Well, I guess we'd better get to work, and worry about that later.."

    Fortunately, Sayaka manages to find some rope nearby, and she uses it to carefully tie up the thugs, acting rather hastily as she does so. The thugs are both unconscious now, but there's no telling how long they'll be out cold for. Once that's done, she climbs back to her feet, glancing at Cure spark a bit nervously, "Sorry to bail on you, but I gotta go..See you next time!"

    And with a cheery smile and wave, she leaps off and out of sight..Once she's far enough away, Sayaka de-henshins, breathing more heavily than she should as she glances at her soulgem..Phew. It doesn't seem to have been tarnished too much from such a short fight, but she must be more careful from now on!