268/Crazy Motorcycle Chase

Crazy Motorcycle Chase
Date of Scene:	09 August 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Kyouko Sakura goes after a WPS convoy carrying valuable goods. Can Homura Akemi stop her?
Cast of Characters:	Homura Akemi, Hannah Sharpe, Kyouko Sakura

---

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Over the past few days, an astute observer would have noticed activity near the WPS building. It's a bit more busy, and more deliveries are given, or at least one can assume so. To most, it'd simply seem like business is booming.

But to those sensitive to magic, the tiniest scent of it can be felt. No matter how good one tries to hide it, it's still in the air. People oddly seem to avoid the area where deliveries are made. Those who make them, either seem to be clothed heavily enough that one can't see their faces, or seem nervous, and definitely reluctant to be there.

One 'delivery' is larger than the other. A big shipping truck is flanked by several black sedans. The frowning face of one Miss White talks in hushed tones to one overly-clothed driver. She swipes a hand through the air angrily, clutches her side, and then finally nods.

That hint of despair is larger in the air today. It feels familiar to Puella Magi.

A Witch lurks nearby. The Convoy hasn't yet left, leaving plenty of time for lurkers or potential defenders to prepare themselves.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko hasn't been able to forget WPS, Hannah, or what happened to her there. Well, of course she hasn't. But the 'lack of forgetting' is starting to border on 'obsessive grudge-holding.' Now, granted, the offenses committed against her were grievous, so perhaps that can be understood, but it doesn't change the fact that her behavior since she escaped has been... a bit worrying. If anyone was really aware of it, or cared enough to worry about her, which is up for debate.

    Whatever the case, Kyouko /has/ been keeping a close eye on the WPS building. Between Witch hunts, she'll come here and sit on the roof of a nearby building, staring and stewing. She wants to do something. She /needs/ to do something to make herself feel better, to make herself feel less helpless, less impotent. But nothing, so far, has revealed itself a likely target. She sure as hell isn't in a rush to go inside the building again.

    But as a result of her silent, fuming surveillance, she has noticed the increased activity around the loading dock. And she is there when that big truck, flanked by its guarding sedans, is loaded and prepared for departure. A pensive frown is on her face as she peers down at the activity, though she doesn't see Miss White herself. "Now this looks interesting.."

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura Akemi is in the loading area. Her eyes are hidden behind a pair of shades. She looks a little too short to be a bodyguard or armed muscle, at least to mundane eyes. Yet those who have seen her capabilities during physical training have learned not to question what she's capable of. Even outside of henshin, she's incredibly fit.

She leans against the wall, watching the shipment being loaded from behind her shades. Hannah is arguing. Homura is staying out of it.

She feels the despair nearby. She thinks she has a pretty good idea of what it is. If it's that important, it's going to need some protection when it gets moved, and that means Homura's particular talents are going to be important.

Still, for every one shipment that gets attacked, there must be, what, 100 that go off without a hitch? Homura has her eyes open, but she isn't yet suspecting that Kyouko is just out of sight.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
The argument finally halts, and Miss White walks over to Homura. She might notice the slight hobble in her step. Definitely still on the mend, and stubbornly still working.

"Alright, pretty simple. Follow the convoy, keep it safe, and try to not let anyone living get killed. Here." She hands Homura the destination, a warehouse on the harbor district.

"Be careful okay? Sorry I have to stay back." There's brief frustration in her face. There's a black motorcycle nearby, complete with helmet.

Working here has its perks.

Kyouko similarly isn't noticed. The covoy forms up, moving with two sedans flanking it, and a lead car. There's room in the back for Homura's vehicle. They start off down the road towards the park in the light traffic.

The sounds below Kyouko's perch are of a business suited man parking his ride across the street. It's a motorcycle, black and sleek, and illegally parked. Grabbing a suitcase, he rushes towards the office building cursing alarm cocks.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko is standing on the rooftop now, her frown more thoughtful as she watches all of the activity. The truck pulls out and begins to head down the street. That's a lot of security.. even she can see that. She notices the small-seeming motorcycle-driving figure at the rear of the convoy (assuming Homura takes up Miss White's offer), but she's too far away to recognize Homura, even if she could do so with a helmet on and all.

    "Dammit.. I'll never keep up on foot." She mutters to herself, eyes drawn downwards by the sound of that second motorcycle pulling into its spot before she even realizes exactly what she's noticing. Once she does though.. a feral little grin touches her face, fangs bared. "Well.. always wanted one of those anyway."

    She leaps off of the side of the building, nimbly plummeting across the street to land briefly on an awning, and then without slowing, somersaulting down to land neatly atop the still-running motorcycle. She spins her spear around and slides it against her back, where it sticks as if she had some kind of a sheathe although she doesn't. Her hand closes on the throttle. RrrrRRrr!

    Laughing, she suddenly guns the engine and the motorcycle rears back onto its back wheel, the engine roaring. It almost sounds like there's the sound of a horse whinneying mixed into the engine sounds. At the same time, a flare of red magic races down the bike from front to back, the paint shifting hue as it travels from black to deep, blood red.

    Then the front wheel comes down, and as soon as it touches the road she is peeling out of the parking spot in a screech of rubber and smoke, taking off down the street after the convoy.

    The businessman runs out a moment later, holding his newly acquired cup of SunBucks Coffee he just couldn't wait for. Sorry pal.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura removes her shades as Miss White approaches and accepts the destination, looking over it to make sure she has it memorized before she departs. "I'll be safe. I'll keep an eye out. Get well soon, boss."

Homura gives Miss White a gentle pat on the shoulder as she passes by her. She folds her shades up and hangs them from a pocket on her jacket. The helmet goes on, she climbs onto the motorcycle, and she waits for the convoy to start leaving before she kicks the kickstand into place.

She pulls behind the convoy, her eyes focusing on the truck and sedans in front of her. She pushes the Witch's wave of despair out of her mind, but it occurs to her that someone else might pick up on that.

She thumbs at her Soul Gem ring absentmindedly, perhaps to remind herself that it's still there. Just in case she needs it.

Homura hears the screeching of tires, and takes a glance into her rear view mirror. A red motorcycle... and the large spear on the driver's back...

"Oh you have /got/ to be kidding me," mutters Homura. Her henshin activates, classy business suit replaced with her Puella Magi armor. She reaches into her shield and pulls out a shotgun, aiming it backwards. No gunfire yet. Just the implied threat.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
The poor man watches as his ride flees away. His head falls in dejection as he weakly shakes a fist.

"Give me back my bike you..." There's magic, and then he faints, coffee cup staining his shirt. Not his day.

Miss White gives a wave as Homura goes off, and she enters the office proper.

As the red horsewoman rides atop her majestic steel steed, and Homura threatens, the convoy steadily continues on. From one of the sedans, a window opens and red eyes peer out. More robogangsters. For now, they simply watch.

Traffic is light, but one big van enters the four lane highway they're all on, seemingly oblivious to shotguns and spear-wielding motorcycle riders. It's soon pulling up beside Homura. There's loud music coming from within, a couple inside, the driver barely paying attention to the two riders. But an obstacle nonetheless!

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko is grinning like a madwoman as she revvs the motorcycle up to incredibly unsafe rpm, the bike redlining but seeming to suffer no ill effects as she dodges between the few cars on the road as if she was born to ride, though she's never been on a motorcycle before in her life. Must be the hidden Puella skill- driving crap you have no business driving.

    She still doesn't realize that back rider is Homura, even as she draws nearer, the lines on the street blurring past and looking solid to her eyes, such is her speed.

    That van pulls up beside Homura, and Kyouko curses silently, not that it could be heard over the rush of the wind anyway. She veers into the other lane, into oncoming traffic, causing several cars to swing out of the way although luckily none of them hit each other as the road is indeed relatively lightly travelled at the moment.

    She lets go of the handlebars with one hand, reaching behind her to grab her spear and swing it back around, rising up slightly off the seat as she gets closer, like a high-tech knight at a motorcycle-joust. Time for some highway robbery.

Homura Akemi has posed:
The hint wasn't taken. Homura sighs. Of course it wasn't taken. It's Kyouko.

Homura takes a moment to look at the van right next to her, and she drops speed to get behind it. Once clear, her motorcycle turns suddenly, back wheel kicking up and swinging out. The whole motorcycle pivots on the front tires until it turns a full 180 degrees, at which point the back wheel lands on the pavement. Her momentum keeps her going in the direction of the rest of the convoy, but she's now riding backwards. Can she even do that?

Her helmet is still on, despite the rest of her clothes being replaced with her henshin costume. She levels her shotgun at Kyouko and fires several rounds at the approaching cycle-jouster.

She's acting completely in violation of Japan's anti-gun laws.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
As Kyouko approaches, the sedans have had enough. With Homura getting behind the van, the sedan in front of it speeds up, while the one to the right slows slightly to get closer to the jousting Kyouko! The rooftop opens, and up goes a robo-youma, aiming a large machine gun, while more windows roll down. That machine gun and lighter guns start firing off at Kyouko, filling the road with bullets even as HOmura herself fires! Their accuracy is questionable given the distance, but it's still a danger. The traffic behind them understandably descends into chaos as one car hits another.

The van, as Homura spins around one-eighty and fires at the other motorcyclist, begins to swerve out of control! It bumps into the big truck, which then goes skidding! It swerves, the driver managing to keep it mostly in control!

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko /finally/ realizes that's Homura on that other motorcycle. It's something about the combination of her henshin outfit under the helmet, the shotgun (seriously, a shotgun on a motorcycle?) and the fact that she's now /driving backwards/. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." She says, unaware that the other Puella uttered the exact same words a few moments ago.

    She clenches the handlebar brake, skidding to the side just as the shotgun blast fires, the bullets ricocheting off the pavement as she manages to avoid losing much speed despite juking a full lane to the left. About this time though, the robo-gangsters emerge from the cars and a hail of machine-gun bullets starting hurtling towards her.

    Kyouko is perhaps beginning to think that she (as usual) did not think this scenario through before embarking upon it. Still.. "In for an inch, in for a mile!" She growls, as she leans up.. then stands on the motorcycle. She plants one foot on the handlebar, the other on the seat, pulling back on the throttle with her booted foot for a burst of speed that takes her past Homura and up next to the sedan to the right of the van.

    She then launches herself off the back of the motorcycle, landing nimbly on top of the sedan, sweeping her spear around in a violent swing that smashes into the robo-gangster and sends him flying off onto the roadway, where he instantly breaks apart and explodes.

    This happens in mere seconds, after which Kyouko then turns and runs down the back of the speeding car.. leaping off without pausing and /landing back on her motorcycle/ which has only had a few seconds to decelerate.

    Flipping back around to a sitting position, she now finds herself just behind and beside Homura. "Fancy meeting you here!" She shouts over the rushing wind, a maniacal grin on her face as she darts her bike around the other side to avoid the no-doubt incoming gunfire, her spear exploding into chain-linked fragments at a mental command, shooting down to try and wrap around Homura's bike's muffler pipe and drag her off balance as Kyouko then guns her bike off to the side, attempting to drag Homura with her!

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura leans over to the side as Kyouko zooms past her, changing lanes in order to avoid a collision. She looks over her shoulder as Kyouko takes out some of the robo-gangsters, gnashing her teeth behind the visor of her helmet.

Homura leans her bike over and spins it back around, where she's driving forward again, stuffing her shotgun back into her shield. When Kyouko backs up to greet her, Homura, in one fluid motion, takes off her helmet and throws it at Kyouko. "Don't you /ever/ quit?!" she shouts, loud enough to be heard.

Long hair now free, whipping behind her as she drives, Homura keeps a close eye on Kyouko. The chain-linked spear tries to grab her, but Homura's bike suddenly shifts, as if she had just done something in frozen time. Her hand reaches out and catches the segmented, turning and pulling to compensate for the tension that Kyouko is putting on it.

Time stops for everyone but the two Puella and their motorbikes. This might seem to put Homura at a disadvantage, but as one might realize as Homura smiles at Kyouko, all the vehicles have suddenly stopped, and there's a timefrozen car right in front of Kyouko.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Kyouko's predictions are right, as just as she leaps back to her motorcycle, the remaining robo-gangsters in the car fire their small arms at her! They're starting to get closer to her, still in the same lane, but definitely slowing down. Their shots get more accurate to boot!

Just as Homura stops time, one of the gangsters has pulled out a grenade, and is half-way to flinging it at Kyouko! The other sedan has managed to slip between the swerving van, several ak-47's aimed at the redhead. For now, there's no gunfire from the goons, the two puella alone in frozen time.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Homura's helmet is thrown directly at Kyouko, and she laughs, batting it aside with her spear. It spins away and slams into the back of one of the sedans before ricocheting off down the road. "No! I don't! Admit it, even you've got to be loving this!" The possibly insane Kyouko shouts back at Homura, her own red ponytail streaming back behind her.. as Homura's bike suddenly seems to blink to a different position, causing her chain-spear to miss it's target.

    Of course, then Homura /grabs it/, pulling on it. And then time stops. Kyouko is surprised, but she recovers quickly- she's seen this before, and was expecting it. That doesn't reduce the momentary shock but it does lessen it, allowing her to regain control quickly. The two Puella, linked by the chain-segmented spear, are essentially pulled into a momentary circle, motorcycles roaring around 360 with the chain stretched between them.

    But Homura is swinging her right into a frozen car! It's that van again! Kyouko curses. Suddenly the chain vanishes, simply ceasing to exist. Homura's bike may react unpredictably to the sudden loss of tension, but Kyouko is too concerned with the fact that this breaks the link between them, and suddenly everything is moving again and she's still heading right for that van.

    SHe kicks the bike down, sending it skidding onto its side with forward-diagonal momentum as she leaps off of it, up over the roof of the van. The bike actually slides on its side /under the van/, which has just barely enough clearance to allow this, while Kyouko leaps overtop of it.. spear re-appearing in her hand mid-jump. She slashes it down, using it like a whip to grab the handlebars of her bike and pull it back upright onto its wheels a second before she lands on it again.. resuming driving as if she hadn't just violated so many laws of physics (and traffic).

    Meanwhile, that goon threw his grande. Kyouko is no longer there, but the huge explosion goes off anyway behind her.

Homura Akemi has posed:
"We're wasting Grief Seeds!" shouts Homura. She does not specifically deny enjoying it.

Kyouko's chain vanishes suddenly, and Homura gasps in surprise as Kyouko is suddenly frozen in time.

At this point, she has three things to respond to all at once: Kyouko is no longer trying to drag her anywhere, Homura's bike is now out of control, and everything for Homura is still time frozen and is about to run into a vehicle herself.

Homura releases her tyrannical grip on the flow of time, allowing the black sedan she was /just/ about to run into to start moving forward again.

Homura's bike is unbalanced due to the sudden lack of Kyouko, and Homura's attempts to reclaim control end in her motorbike falling over and doing a sideways skid down freeway. This is /not/ good on Homura's knees or shin. Literally only her henshin magic protects her from it being a terrible wound. The dragging still leaves a rut in the asphalt, though.

A car behind her slams on the breaks as the wiped out Puella nearly comes to a stop in front of it. She brings up her arm to protect her eyes from the coming headlights. A second before impact she vanishes, suddenly upright and moving again.

The whole side of her bike is really messed up right now.

Homura pulls out an uzi and starts firing at Kyouko's bike from behind, aiming for her wheels to mess her up.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
The poor driver of the van audibly screams as a bike goes under the vehicle, and the rider seemingly lands! The car swerves again, and spins out of control, heading right towards Homura just after she opens fire with her uzi!

With a new line of sight, the sedan previously blocked by the van has it's windows open, and one robo-gangster aims an rpg! Whooooosh! It takes aim as it fires, even as smaller weapons fire at Kyouko. One gangster even throws a molotov cocktail at her!

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko glances back to see Homura spinning out of control. Perhaps to her credit, although she'd never admit it, she has a momentary pang of concern for the other Puella. There's an almost.. antipathetical affection she holds for the dark-haired girl and she almost doesn't want to consider the fact that one (or both) of them might actually end up /dead/ one day if they keep doing stuff like this.

    But then she refocuses her mind on the task at hand. With Homura (momentarily) out of the way, she centers her attention back on the truck up ahead carrying Miss White's precious cargo. Gunning the engine, she moves to catch up to it... just as the robo-gangster off to the side fires a freakin' RPG at her! "HOLY SH-!" Kyouko shouts, the wind stealing the words, as she tries to juke to the side again. She dodges the actual rocket (and the spray of fire from the molotov!) but the explosion shockwave when it hits the concrete barrier in the middle of the highway launches her clear of her bike and sends the bike itself tumbling away across the road.

    Arcing through the air, Kyouko twists like a cat, dodging Homura's uzi-fire in the process. Her spear lashes out, segmenting like a whip again, the tip puncturing the back door of Miss White's truck. Kyouko reels herself in at super-speed, zipping along in mid-air until she *thumps* into the back of the truck, grabbing the edge and trying to scrabble up on top, knowing Homura is closing in again (if the continued uzi-fire is any clue).

Homura Akemi has posed:
"SERIOUSLY?!" shouts Homura as the van starts swerving out of control next to her. She shifts to the side with a quick lean away, and speeds foward to avoid the out of control vehicle. She looks backwards, hair flipping in the wind as she considers. .oO(I'm gonna have to /do/ something about them. They're going to die if this keeps up.)

She stops shooting at Kyouko for a moment to focus on getting rid of her current distraction. She vanishes again, reappearing on top of the civillian van, kneeling, hand pressed on the roof, with purple energy surrounding the whole vehicle. She tries to force it back under control, /her/ control, and steers it to pull off to the side.

Doing this spends a lot of time that isn't used trying to stop Kyouko, and Homura can't just timestop to avoid that. This might be bad in terms of protecting the truck, but Kyouko wouldn't be so crazy as to use that cargo even if she got it, right?

Right?

Homura's motorcycle, by the way, vanished as well. It's parked further on up the road. Just in case.

Yes, she did just park her motorcycle somewhere safe and then run all the way back to the van.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
As soon as Kyouko climbs atop the truck, one of the Sedans fans out to continue pouring fire at her, though they're more careful this time. They can't afford to hit the truck! The other sedan pulls up close, and through the sunroof, the two non-driving robo-youma leap up to join her on top! One brandishes a pair of knives, while the other has a steel pipe in hand! Both rush Kyouko at the same time just as Homura goes to protect her civilian charges!

The van slowly regains control, and comes to a stop. The driver has passed out, and the passenger is swiftly drinking herself into a stupor, mumbling about 'crazy motorcyclists' and 'quitting drinking forever'.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko is so close to her goal, she can taste it! Looks like Homura is busy saving some civvies, too! Now is her chance! She scrambles on top of the van, standing up like a car-surfing champion even as the truck weaves slightly in traffic. She pulls her spear out of the back of the truck, snapping it back into a single piece, and just in time too.

    The two robo-gangsters climb up on top of the truck! Kyouko scowls at them. "Look, I really don't have the patience for you guys right now!" She grates, as the one with knives rushes her from in front. She ducks down smoothly, as the pipe-guy rushes her from behind as well, and spins her spear in a tight circle over her head, both ends hitting both robo-gangsters in the head at once, sending them toppling backwards.

    Then she stands again and drives the tip of the spear down through the roof of the truck, dragging it in a quick circle, the magical blade making short work of the mundane metal and carving a hole into the interior which she drops into without bothering to look except to make sure there's room. YOLO!

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura hops down from the roof of the civillian van and lands on the street. She takes a single look inside the cab of the van, watching the two normals inside pass out or freak out, and just shakes her head. "Idiots. Lucky to be alive." is all she mutters.

You were expecting her to say something heroic? Too bad! It's Homura-chan.

Homura appears on top of the van she was /supposed/ to protect moments after Kyouko is done cutting a hole in the roof of it. She lowers a shotgun down at Kyouko and shouts, "Do you wanna just surrender now or should I shoot you a few more times?"

A lot of bravado from Homura. She probably doesn't expect Kyouko to actually surrender or even stop. She probably just thought it'd be a fun thing to say.

"Seriously though, Apple-chan. I think this has gone on long enough."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
As Kyouko descends into the innards of the truck, with Homura pointing her gun right at her, there'd be the feeling of something solid and yet slightly slick. Not so much wet, but very much close to glass; bulletproof glass, in this case. It seems her spear cut a little more deeply than intended, as there's a cut inside the massive tinted-black box. It's large enough to fit two Kyouko's inside by height, and large enough in width for several people to links hands side by side.

A quick glance would confirm a similar box deeper down the truck, and at the end, what appears to be a suitcase of some sort strapped down to a similarly strapped table. It's clearly marked 'Do Not Open'.

That mere scratch on Kyouko's perch bleeds at first hungry energy, and then an outright /scream/. Something batters against the glass. The feeling of a Witch's rage is right beneath her feet! A lesser feeling can be felt from the next box over.

The suitcase gives off an odd aura. One she might remember if she was paying attention to Miss White's special glowing Grief Seeds.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Up yours, Akemi!" Kyouko spits back at Homura as she points a gun at her and demands a surrender. She drops down into the hole at the same time, so any potential shotgun blast goes right over her head. She finds herself standing on a strange box.. her eyes darting about, noting the other stuff in the truck as well.

    Then that feeling bleeds through the damaged box.. and that scream! "Oh, good lord." She mutters to herself, flinching. "Nothing's /ever/ easy for Kyouko Sakura, is it?" She glances up through the hole at Homura. She can probably handle it. Then she darts down through the back of the truck, running for the table with the suitcase on it.

    A few quick slashes with her spear severs the straps, and she grabs the suitcase. "Time to get the hell out of dodge." She redhead murmurs, glancing back at the shrieking and shaking box before kicking open the cargo doors on the back of the truck, and then leaping out, suitcase clutched to chest.

Homura Akemi has posed:
"Dammit, Kyouko!" shouts Homura as the redhead takes the suitcase and runs. Homura could probably kill the Witch and turn it back into a Grief Seed if she really had to, but that suitcase... !!!

"Kyouko!" shouts Homura, "That thing is dangerous! Even Miss White barely survived using it! Don't do anything stupid!"

Homura Akemi has to choose. Does she supress the Witch and keep people alive, or does she go after Kyouko and get the suitcase back?

Between the two things, the Witch would be the far larger problem if it got loose. Kyouko at least isn't /actively/ malicious, just selfish when it comes to certain matters.

So in the end it really isn't a choice. Homura stays behind to deal with the witch, looking for a way to repair and maintain the seal or, failing that, getting her explosives ready.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
The Witch howls, that horrid feeling washing over the area. One passing drive, as the truck slows, intentionally rams into a light pole. Homura's choice is likely a wise one. On the wall, there's an orange case, labeled 'open in case of emergency'.

Inside, seems to be some sort of brick of metal, a pill, and a lighter.

The instructions are clear. Place brick on broken glass, light pill on fire. If sealant fails, destroy cargo.

Kyouko leaps out to her freedom, and right into one of the cars! The black Sedan's drive is an easy skewer, and the sedan equally easily stolen.

Kyouko could even have a nice red new sedan, with a sunroof as she makes off with her stolen green grief seeds.