303/Late night battle, kidnapping of a knight

Late night battle, kidnapping of a knight
Date of Scene:	16 August 2015
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Storm Knight is hunted down and captured for her Device!
Cast of Characters:	Fate T. Waldia, Suzuki Natsume, Takashi Agera, Ayana, Euphemia Barchetta

---

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     While it was a bit inaccurate to say that Storm Knight is wholly predictable... she is not exactly the hardest person to find. She wasn't hard to see due to her generally white/grey clothing and hair, as well as the fact that she was patrolling generally any time she had time and was healthy enough to! ...Which was fairly often, especially during the summer. Storm Knight took her duties seriously., even though nobody really gave them to her!

     As such, it's no surprise to find Storm Knight in the park, currently sitting in a convenient tree as she keeps an eye out over the park. For some reason, parks seemed to draw a large amount of villains. That and the schools. Generally, she does her best to do a patrol between the parks and the schools. She planned to move in about an hour or so. Not that she likely would get to do such, of course.

     "It's been pretty quiet tonight, Verdrehen Sturm, we might be able to go home and sleep after another quick round." Storm Knight murmurs to her device, the Naginata simply gleaming slightly in response. It could understand her, though Storm Knight still couldn't fully understand the device. She sighs as she slowly stands up, stretching out. Quiet times like this reminded her of that question that Miss White had instilled in her, intentionally or not. Why /did/ she fight? She cited duty, but just duty was a hollow reason... hmm.

     A distracted knight in her watch makes for an easy target. And right now, Storm Knight was distracted. And, more importantly, 'alone'. Beyond, perhaps, her Device.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon leads, doing corkscrews in the air occasionally to make sure he hasn't lost any of his group. Once the arrive - shortly after Suzuki's device likely pings out a warning, he stops. And begins to generate a barrier. While he lacks the ability to make a small barrier, this one will do its job, sealing Suzuki in with those who would make her a target. And, like most of his magic, the barrier too is tainted with a palpable feeling of darkness.

"We're after the Device that's in that park. I am resonably sure it's attached to someone, though. We can bring her in too, if she refuses to relinquish the device. Fate-chan, Shadow-chan, get in close if you can and wear her out. I want to avoid damage to the device, so we'll have to go after the person themself.

"Helix-chan, your job is to do the same and make sure if she tries to escape that you hit her with those pinpoint blasts. If Fate or my familiar need to fall back, you can cover them with your shields. I'll do the same, and focus on keeping the barrier up."

"Don't harm the device; but don't show its master any mercy if she doesn't surrender!" he says, before flying in closer and announcing very loudly. "If you want to prevent harm, you will disengage your device and hand it over. Any other action is il-advised and will result in a whole lot of personal discomfort on your part!"

Not that he expects her to lay it down. People can be so picky about magical items, he's found.

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate Testarossa flies just a bit behind Riventon, far enough for them to have room to comfortably maneuver, but close enough to support him if someone suddenly attacks. As the barrier goes up, Fate looks down to locate the target. It doesn't take her long, since the barrier excludes anyone irrelevant to their current mission.

A lone target, against the four of them. They have a huge strategic advantage, and Fate can cut her off if she does try to run, or at least she assumes. Even with the numbers advantage, it would still be best of the target surrenders her Device without a fuss, so Fate tries intimidation first.

Fate breaks formation and races towards Storm Knight, moving at crazy-high speeds and landing right in front of her.

<Scythe Mode>

Bardiche's head rotates as the device transforms into an energy scythe. She holds her scythe with both hands, pointing the energy-blade end at Storm Knight. Fate's not actually attacking yet, but it's pretty clear what Riventon means by 'personal discomfort'.

She quietly stares at Storm Knight and doesn't say a word. She feels no need to repeat what's already been said. The glow of her scythe's blades plays upon her features, casting a sinister shadow over her face.

She doesn't exactly look cruel, but she does look determined. Determined to take what she wants from Storm Knight, in any case.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    "Roger, roger, bossman!" Helix states, flying towards the park while keeping her altitude up, trailing a bit behind the others due to the disparity in their flight speeds. Getting in close is something she can do, but not quite as easily as the others. She'll keep Bulwark in Device mode for now and prepare a few balls of green magical energy around herself at the ready to begin corralling Storm Knight in when she sees her.

    <Terra Shot> is announced by her Intelligent Device as the homing attacks are created. Eventually she catches sight of the white hair and outfit, and points down towards Suzuki, "There!"

    Fate dives down and a few moments later the green energy balls fire off, swinging around to threaten from the opposite side of Storm Knight as the blonde girl. When she simply lands, however, the balls change their path, and simply start circling menacingly in the air behind the Armed Device user.

    Whew! If Fate wants to try intimidation it sure would have messed things up to blast the target.

    Now would probably be a really good time for her to land and form a triangle or something around Suzuki with the other two girls, but instead she's just stunned by just how -cool- Fate looks right now, standing there menacingly with Bardiche in Scythe Mode. "Kakkoii..!"

    <Yes, Master.>

    Even Bulwark agrees!

Ayana has posed:
Ayana doesn't fly, like the others; instead, the fox-girl bounds from building to building with mighty leaps that cover great distances. It might as well be flying, but it isn't: not quite.

Takashi's Familiar lands just beside Fate, and unlike the blonde, the Fox-girl /does/ speak up. "Hi," she says with a smile. "We'd really super like to have your device. It's for Science! And also because we're asking nicely. Do you think you could give it to us?"

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Suzuki was /terrible/ at detection. She didn't even know her device's searching spells even existed, in fact! Even she was not oblivious enough, while thinking on things such as motivations and why she fought... to not notice the barrier go up. Some sort of Youma? She shifted reflexively, pressing herself against the trunk of the tree that she was in, holding still to try to keep herself unseen and unnoticed until she could figure out the situation...

     Until Riventon speaks. She doesn't move immediately, instead staying in that relatively meager amoun of cover and stealth. Her grip on her device shifts, her other hand lifting to rest on a lower portion of it. When he demands her relinquish her device and power it down, she drops out of the tree. She begins to walk calmly, still staying silent as she begins to approach Riventon, her device held in a relatively neutral position.

     He had a device. As did that girl who seemed to be flying. Wait... flying? Could she fly as well, if she knew the spell? Hmm. Storm Knight would have to practice this later. Still, the girl was rather suddenly dashing up in front of her, her Device shifting modes. Another thing that would be nice to know if her device could do. Not turn into a scythe, mind you... but shifting forms. Storm Knight lifts her own device reflexively, the device lifted in a defensive pose.

     "...This is the second time in a week that someone has asked me to disengage my powers and abandon a friend." Storm Knight says, holding her device carefully. She looks towards Fate, meeting her gaze relatively neutrally. A scythe was something that had to arc around to be particularly effective; she had a reach advantage over that. At least... if this were normal kendo. Storm Knight takes a slow breath.

     "I'm sure you can understand when I say that I refuse to just hand her over. That would be the equivalent of leaving those who I have sworn to protect unguarded." Storm Knight says, her grip on her Device tightening. The shots shooting behind her don't... actually even cause Storm Knight to flinch. This is either out of simple unawareness of them shooting towards her, or simply nerves of steel. It'd be easy to assume the latter, but frankly, until it was too late? It was definitely the former. And then there were shots orbitting harmlessly behind her. More or less.

     Still, it did bring Storm Knight's attention to Helix. Her gaze flicking up towards her. Three enemies, one which seems to be a longer ranged attacker. Tactically, she was at an incredible disadvantage, frankly. Especially when Ayana arrives. Storm Knight shifts her gaze towards her briefly. Well. At least she seemed to be asking nicely instead of actually threatening her! And also somewhat explaining what they wanted her Device for! That totally made it all alright, really!

     Okay, not really. "No." Storm Knight states simPANZERHIDERNIS.</span>" A radiating shield of energy appears behind Storm Knight, as she moves forward, her Naginata swung in a swift, low strike. Aimed for Fate's ankles. There was no magical energy in the strike -- however, as a Belkan device... the edge of her naginata blade was actually sharp.

        <DER EINGRIFF WIRD EIN VERLUST. SCHWINDEN EMPFOHOLEN.>

    "It's alright, I won't give you up, partner." Storm Knight murmurs to her device. She was completely misunderstanding that it was telling her to run. Luckily, she already was fairly certain she'd have to do that... but it would be difficult with bullets at her back and a combatant at her front.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon sighs. "People like you always want to do it the hard way. You know. Fools." he says, channeling energy into his hand from his gauntlet.

He's ready to engage her himself - but partly, this is also an exercise to test his new allies, so the blasts he fires from his hand are small, and more meant to harass and keep her still. "You really do not understand the gravity of this situation, do you?" he asks, as the small blasts shoot toward her. "We're getting what we came for, the only thing fighting is going to do is hurt you."

His device opens up the mental link that Euphemia only recently told him about. "I don't care what happens to her, just make sure we get that device intact. She's resisting, so bring her down. As hard as you have to. I'm here to back you up." he adds.

Hopefully that swipe for Fate's ankles doesn't make their partnership a short one!

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Naginatas do indeed have quite a bit of reach, and Belkan devices have certain advantages over Midchildian ones in melee range. Fate is fast, and she can certainly play the kinds of footsies games required to hold her own in situations like this, but surviving at a reach disadvantage often requires parrying, which might damage the targeted Device. That is if it doesn't just overwhelm the Midchildan Bardiche to begin with.

So Fate takes a different path. The low swipe is anticipated and lept over, Fate leaping up and away as the Belkan blade swings underneath her. The naginata, large as it is, probably leaves the user open for a moment, or at least that's what Fate thinks. Still, the amount of time it'd take to land and then go in for a counter-slash is probably too long for that opening to be used effectively.

Fortunately, Fate has one option she can use to attack Storm Knight, even as she's still mid-air. She levels the top of the scythe at Storm. <Acr Saber> announces Bardiche, and Fate responds, "Fire!"

A crescent wave of enery flies out from the top of Bardiche, flying towards Suzuki as Fate's feet finally touch ground again. Unless Suzuki has some projectiles, the range advantage might be Fate's after all.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Helix' new friend is being attacked! Boo! She doesn't like that at all!

    Okay, so it's a simple weapon based attack towards the ankles, but it's still an attack. The shield that appears behind their target has the cyan haired villain scratching her cheek a bit. "Doesn't she know these are homing?" she mutters a bit to herself.

    Riventon's urging is all it takes to spur her into action too. She was thinking of taking it a bit light and slow but between being told not to go too easy and feeling a brief pang of fear for Fate she doesn't hold back too much.

    The three orbiting green blasts break away from one another, one shooting in from Storm Knight's left, another from her right, and the third crashing down directly from above. It's an attack meant to track and hit high mobility mobile targets- using it on a grounded, mostly still target is massive overkill. On the upside it means they're not especially powerful, so far as magical attacks go.

    That, however, isn't what the white haired Device user should be worried about. A quick mental command, and Helix' device changes.

    <Hybrid Mode> Bulwark announces, one of her shields twisting around so the long point is facing forward, rising a bit in the process to reveal the bore of a magical cannon. <Magnum Boulder>

    The shot rings out, but travels so quickly the impact will come first, crashing into the barrier and appearing as a bright green streak directly connecting the barrel of the cannon to it's impact zone. Even the first shot of this is likely enough to shatter the wide area defense, and only a few of seconds later a second rings out, and then a third.

    These shots are more stronger, but Helix isn't an overwhelmingly powerful attacker. Even so the pace at which this will keep up is withering, and with Riventon firing blasts too and Fate and Ayana keeping her occupied up close? It's hardly sporting.

    But Helix doesn't care about fighting fair.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana scowls faintly as her very nice request is turned down. "Hmf," she declares, and a cloud of dark energy begins to form around her, seeming to exude from her fur and her skin. "Gloom," she murmurs as the cloud coallesces around her.

As Suzuku attacks, Ayana's scowl turns to a furious anger, and she doesn't waste any further time. "Why is it?" she asks almost at a shout, "that you magical girls always /attack/?!" She charges forward towards Suzuki, heedless of the incoming attacks from Fate and Helix. It's a straightforward charge--a shoulder aimed for Suzuki's midsection, with enough force behind it to lift the girl off the ground and pin her to the tree if she isn't quick enough to avoid it.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Okay, it was one versus four, and... Riventen seemed to be the lesser threat right now. He was organizing, but it seemed he was not using too much energy for one reason or another. "...More those loyal to their friends, but many on the side of evil seem to believe such things foolish." Storm Knight says calmly in response. As Riventon shoots his weak bursts at her... she simply allows her Barrier Jacket to absorb them, barely reacting to them beyond possibly shifting so that the bolts don't strike vital points. Pew pew pew. Okay. She could handle that much, at least.

     Still, fighting against four people was a losing fight. Leaping over the Naginata was half-expected. As Fate leaps, Storm Knight turns her own device almost immediately, flipping it to bring it up in an acute angle, swiping up in a diagonal movement to bring it sweeping up. The movement was quick, but... well. There was an issue with this. Arc Saber was that issue. Which was sent flying at her at point blank. She had to shift that attack quickly, the shaft of her device shifted to attempt to defend against the attack. However... that follow-up attack had been a mistake, the attack hits her.

     Nope! Storm Knight didn't know those magical attacks were homing. She had a good idea, but she didn't even really know her magic. She was, however, keeping somewhat of an eye on Helix. As much as she could. It was hard to keep a track of four people at once. Still, it was in part Ayana's incoming attack that resulted in Storm Knight's evasion of those three energy balls -- Storm Knight immediately leaped back to try and put space between herself and Ayana, as well as Fate. What she did not leap back far enough for, however, was that Magnum Boulder. The first shot may have missed coincidentally... but the second and third? Storm Knight wasn't ready for that. They struck. "...Would you attack, if threatened and asked to turn over your ability to protect those you care for?" She takes a soft breath, gripping her naginata. Using a Cartridge here would just be a waste of a cartridge, she couldn't win this. But it might be her only chance.

     She'd put that off though. Instead, she shifts her device forward, aiming as if she were about to move in for another strike. She takes a deep breath, as energy began to gather and lightning began to crackle around her. "Verdrehen Sturm!" She takes a step forward...

                <BLITZ SCHRITT.>

    Suddenly, Storm Knight is consumed in electricity, and she begins to dart forward. At first, it might be assumed it was an attack. However, the sudden arc to attempt to dash AROUND Fate and Ayana and towards the exit of the Park! It was a fast movement, however, it was likely that it would be easy to get her. She had taken nasty hits, which meant that in addition to not being entirely speed-oriented... she was weakened.

    Fighting would just get her injured. So she was trying to run.

Takashi Agera has posed:
"Oh of course, now she's going to run away!" he grouches. This is reminscient of another fight over a magical item... only this time, he has the advantage in both numbers and battlefield awareness. Being the one directing the others lets him react to her escape attempt first.

    <SCHATTENSCHLAG!>

Riventon's device announces the attack, and a sudden burst of magical energy erupts from his gauntlet, shooting out in a massive beam of negative energy. It is /just/ in front of the Storm Knight, but if she doesn't (or can't) slow down she'll find herself engulfed in his blast, with all of the bad feelings and damage that comes with it.

"I am absolutly sure this is not the best course of action for you!" then, telepathically. "Put that scythe in her back if you have to. She thinks she can run now. She's wrong. I'm sure you're much faster."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate watches Storm Knight's moves carefully. If she's to take the brunt of Storm's offense, then she'll have to play a defensive game. Still, Fate can't seem to help but notice the mistakes being made with regards to magic, yet the use of the weapon shows a high level of skill. What's with this girl?

Storm Knight is surrounded by electricity, and Fate grits her teeth, anticipating an attack.

The attack doesn't come, and instead Storm Knight passes right by a surprised Fate. Retreating? Well, that's the tactically wise choice. It might actually save her, if she could actually outrun them. Fate, however, is a speed-focused magic user. It's her specialty.

Riventon gives a command. 'if you have to' is the qualifier that Fate pays attention to. Fate isn't that mean if she can avoid it, but that isn't the only reason why she goes for a less hostile method. The truth is that rooting the enemy in place is probably a better course of action.

Fate takes off and flies over Storm Knight, mentally commanding Bardiche to change forms.

<Device Mode>

Fate spins around as she lands in Storm Knight's path, cutting her off as she levels Bardiche at her target.

<Thunder Bind>

Cuffs made out of magical energy, brimming with electricity, appear around Storm Knight, attempting to tighten around her wrists and ankles. It should stop her from running, at the very least, if Storm Knight doesn't manage to avoid it.

Even if it doesn't, Storm Knight will still have to deal with Fate getting in her way. She wont be so easy to shake.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    The three energy shots miss Storm Knight, but Magnum Boulder hits and just as importantly Ayana's attack forces the Belkan Device user away from Fate. Though the fox familiar will have to be careful not to get pegged with attacks intended for their target using methods like those. Sometimes attacking from range can be dangerous to those in melee!

    Then lightning surrounds Suzuki and she's off in a flash. Well, that sure is annoying. If it was Helix alone she'd probably have a pretty good chance of getting out of there, provided she could dodge the incoming beam strikes from Bulwark's cannon and smash through the barrier. Luckily Riventon's timely intervention in the form of a massive negative energy beam.

    The hypervelocity cannon fire is stopped and instead Helix takes advantage of the fact Storm Knight is going to need to change course pretty soon.

    She starts channeling magic and then swings her arm down, a pair of Midchildan circles appearing on either side of Riventon's blast. "Root Wrapper!"

    <Root Wrapper>

    Four tree like roots suddenly erupt from the ground around each circle and then whip towards Storm Knight, trying to wrap around her limbs and body before hauling her physically straight into the ground.

    Helix isn't quite done, however. She doesn't trust Storm Knight to not have a way out of the bindings- she's proven to be extremely determined and a bit reckless, and 'cornered animals' can fight extra hard.

    So if her roots manage to grab hold, even the slightest bit? "Salt the Earth!"

    <Salt the Earth>

    A magical assault to go alongside the physical one as any and all binding roots begin to sap mana directly out of the fleeing girl.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana skids to a halt as Suzuku speeds past her in the other direction. The fox-girl spins in place and turns to give chase. "Gloom Binding!" she declares, and the shadows around her coalesce into tendrils of negative energy which seek to reach out and grasp the fast-moving Storm Knight.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     An energy beam aimed just ahead of her... Storm Knight was moving incredibly quickly-- like with sprinting, doing more than gradual changes of speed or direction were... not necessarily the easiest of things. Instead of trying to slow and stop herself, she lowered down to try to avoid the worst of the shot -- and sped up, hoping to just outrun a laser. This was not, however, something easily possible. It was a laser. Lasers were fast, and no matter how fast she was... well.

     It wasn't enough. It cut along her back and caused yet another painful strike to the Storm Knight. She grits her teeth as she begins to change her direction rather suddenly. So escaping wasn't going to be likely possible. They knew what they were doing against someone fast. And another Device was beginning to speak the same language of hers. She was beginning to make a sudden beeline for Riventon, the tip of her Naginata visible through the lightning that was engulfing her. Aaaaand then suddenly there was a Thunder Bind on her ankles, her arms having moved coincidentally out of the way. Speed and being caught in a bind... well. Her speed was against her.

     Storm Knight falls forward, only kept from going straight into the ground at full speed by a sudden barrier forming to cushion her fall. Regardless, she was downed. And then there were roots beginning to wrap around her, holding her against the ground. Storm Knight begins to grit her teeth, especially as that magical assault attempts to drain her energy. She was not done fighting. "...Verdrehen Sturm... help..." She murmurs, mostly under her breath.

                <PANZER EXPLOSION.>

     It was the last ditch effort spell, a final attempt to escape. Her barrier jacket itself begins to glow briefly... before exploding outwards. This left all but the bare minimum of her henshin in place, and even that was a bit tattered. Still, it was likely enough to shred those vines, and stop that draining magic. It didn't do much for those bindings on her ankles.

     Mostly out of pure desperation, Storm Knight had begun to force herself up again. Desperation to not get caught, to not give up one of her very few friends. She began to get up -- only to have that binding suddenly enwrap her. Pulling her back to the ground. "...Something... Verdrehen Sturm... we have to get away..." She murmurs again. She was weak, she was tired. "...Use it." She murmurs, thinking of that cartridge.

                <NEIN. DIE GEFAHR IST ZU VIEL.>

    In a weakened state, already having used one of the 'last ditch effort' spells, her Device decided that it is, understandably, a terrible idea to use a Cartridge right now. Storm Knight continues to struggle, before she simply stops her movement, keeping her grip firm on her Device, but otherwise no longer offering resistance. Two enemies faster than her. Too many enemies more skilled with magic than her. She would have to step up her game. She resolves, if she escaped with the ability to still fight...

            She would find Lena. She needs training.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon walks up to the Storm Knight, laughing as he does so. "Why don't you fools ever listen. Just have to go all out making it as hard for me as possible!" he says, his voice steadily getting more and more upset. "I should just kill you right here and take what I come for anyways!" he adds.

But then he doesn't. Either out of some small desire to not go that far, or just because he has no real reason to, he doesn't do any unncessary harm to her right now.

"Bulwark, could you please inform this girl's device that it is in her best interest that it returns to standby mode?" he asks. He's unsure if Bulwark can communicate with the Storm Knight's device, but it was able to talk to his just fine! And yes, Bulwark is now being treated as a member of the team. In time, Bardiche probably would too.

"Then take her energy so she can't fight and I'll transfer her to a cell, too." he says through the telepathic link. "If I have trouble understanding her device, we can use her maybe."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate narrows her eyes as Storm Knight suddenly stops. Is there another attack coming? The young blonde isn't willing to just assume that's the end. She takes one step towards Storm, and then another, holding Bardiche out in front of her.

Between three people trying to bind her at the same time, she was finally caught, and it's a good thing, too. Fate watches Storm with a frown. She's still not sure what to make of her.

Fate glances towards Riventon, and then towards Helix. "Midchildan magic is nonlethal by default. We could just blast her until she stopped." She doesn't do that, either. It would be really painful and really mean when energy draining might be... easier? Maybe? Maybe not?

Helix asks her something over Eclipse's line, and Bardiche transmits it to her directly. Does Sealing work on a Device? May as well try it.

<Sealing Mode>

Bardiche's head rotates around, the neck extends, and three large wings sprout from the base of the head. Fate starts charging up a significant amount of magical power, probably far more than necessary to seal Storm's device, but Fate doesn't trust Storm to give up that easily. She wants to make sure.

"Fire."

<Sealing>

A wide beam of golden electrical magic fires from Bardiche to Verdrehen Sturm.

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    The roots catch hold and help to stop Storm Knight and even start draining away Mana, but when the barrier jacket detonates it's enough to blow them away. It's good enough, Helix decides, because it seems the other two girls had the same idea and their binds seem to be holding just fine.

    Now that the speedy knight has stopped moving she drops down and lands nearby, though without the dramatic diving attack she was holding her altitude for. Her eyes flick over to Riventon when he mentions killing Suzuki, but she doesn't announce her displeasure at such an overreaction to someone putting up resistance in what is effectively a mugging.

    Mainly because he doesn't actually do it.

    <Device Mode> Bulwark announces, the cannon disappearing beneath the shield. She watches intently as Fate and Bardiche attempt to seal away the Belkan Device, honestly having no idea if it's going to work.

    Either way she was given an order, though it makes her wince a bit. "Well, sorry about this but, you know, orders are orders!" She holds out an arm towards Storm Knight whatever happens with Verdrehen Sturm. "Salt the Earth."

    <Salt the Earth>

    Roots whip out from her barrier jacket and wrap around the bound girl, one of them 'conveniently' placed over her mouth. Then draining begins, and dark green lightning like energy begins crackling over the roots, and over Suzuki herself if it's allowed to continue. Her own mana is converted to power the attack itself and, as ordered, Helix keeps it going until she's either stopped or the poor girl's mana bottoms out.

    It's far from a pleasant experience, and Helix' usual joviality is notably missing. "Maybe I should have just smacked her in the head really hard..."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana crouches down beside Suzuku's head as the girl is drained and her device is bound. Even though Suzuku can't respond, Ayana continues the conversation from earlier, "Honestly, there's nothing wrong with defending yourself. But you attacked another girl, and that's what's so messed up. You're evil," she tells the girl, "just like every other Magical Girl I've ever met. I mean seriously, a naginata to the ankles? What did you think would happen if she hadn't been able to dodge, or block? You'd have cut her /feet/ off, and she'd have probably bled to death."

With a shake of her head, Ayana stands and walks away from Suzuku. She approaches Fate and inspects the girl briefly, then smiles and gently pats the blonde on the head. "You okay?" she asks.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Storm Knight shifts slightly, she listens silently, her eyes sliding mostly closed. "...I listened. I heard. I rejected." Storm Knight responds softly. It was not in a bratty tone, simply pointing out that she /did/, in fact, listen. she just didn't obey. The comment that he should just kill her got a slight shift of her hand, gripping the Device tighter. There was a subtle crackle of electricity at the threat to her life. She briefly considered attempting to stab Riventon's foot, but resisted.

     She was in a bad situation, no need to make it worse. She grits her teeth slightly as she shifts very slightly. "She can understand fine." Storm Knight says simply. She was, however, not letting go of her device, or her henshin.

     Except for one very important issue with that. Fate was using sealing magic on her device. "...What?" There was a bit of alarm in her exhausted voice, as her Device was forced into its standby form. The small naginata form now gripped firmly in Storm Knight's hand... who was soon Suzuki Natsume, as her Barrier Jacket rapidly disintegrated, leaving behind her unhenshined form. The tall helper girl of Seiyou. "..." Verdrehen Sturm was in standby mode now, which meant she couldn't access her magic. She couldn't strengthen herself. She shifted very slightly, Onto hands and knees, which was about as much as her Device could manage.

     The use of Salt the Earth was barely necessary. She'd still not fully recovered from that fight with Phantom. She didn't even have all of her Cartridges refilled, which was likely going to be to Riventon's displeasure. She only had one non-empty cartridge. And it wasn't even properly filled right now.

     Aaand then Ayana kneels next to her, says that she attacked another girl --when she was /clearly being threatened/. And magical attacks had been sent floating at her back! She simply Looks up at Ayana with an incredulous look, staring at her silently as she speaks. She simply slowly shakes her head at her statement of her being evil, and that Fate would have had her feet cut off, or she'd have bled to death. She had no illusions about her strength. She was a 14 year old girl. One who was well trained, but she was a /14 year old girl/. She couldn't cut anyone's feet off! Probably... not that she could voice any of this. Because vines. She did try to convey this as much as she could with incredulous looks and shakes of her head and other various shows of emotions and vague 'mmphs'. It wasn't really effective conversation. It was probably about as effective as when her Device tried to talk to her.

Takashi Agera has posed:
He waits for the roots to do their work, for Suzu to drop out. Even still, when he leans down, he has to pry her device out of her fingers, one at a time, the clutch she has on it is so great. But finally he does wrest it from her. He throws it up in the air and catches it again.

"Lot of work for one device." he says, looking at it. Then he turns. "Everyone did great. Especially for a first time out. You all used your gifts, your abilities, and worked together. It's only up from here." he says, grinning.

He begins to cast a Dimensional Transfer spell to send Suzuki back to a holding cell near his lab. "We're gonna hold all that power in our hands. We're gonna take it all." he says, looking at them. "We'll rise to the top - we'll get your mother what she wants, Fate-chan - we'll remove the threat of those magical girls, Shadow-chan - we'll make sure you have all the fun but stay safe, Helix-chan and Bulwark." he adds, making promises to each of them.

Suzuki is enveloped in the light of that spell and sent to holding. With her device in his hand, he can't imagine her breaking out. "Still, she was strong. It's a shame she chose to fight - we might have been able to work with her like we did with you, Helix. More strength is good, and she does have it." he adds. Oh well.

He looks down at her device. "Now the real work begins."

Fate T. Waldia has posed:
Fate blinks as she hears Ayana's words, and then blinks at her again. Huh? Well, sure, Storm Knight /did/ go for her ankles, but her barrier jacket probably would've stopped it from cutting her feet off. She looks up at Ayana as she's patted on the head, a little confused.

"I'm fine."

How to put this...

"... but actually, I don't think she would've hurt me that badly from just one strike."

No comment is made about multiple strikes. Actually, there's a reason why Fate didn't stay in melee range for long. Storm Knight knows what she's doing with a physical weapon. If this had been a one on one fight...

Riventon gives a motivational speech, and Fate quietly listens. When Precia is mentioned, Fate nods. That's right. Restoring mother's smile is important.

As for Storm Knight, well, revealing her true self doesn't mean much to Fate. Fate doesn't know her 'real' identity, since she doesn't go to school at all.

"That device..." says Fate. "It's unusual."

Ayana has posed:
"Of course not," Ayana agrees with Fate, tilting her head curiously at the girl. "But she didn't know your barrier jacket would protect you from her attack. In fact, she didn't even seem to know how to use her own device. It was telling her to run, and she barely understood anything it said." She shakes her head faintly, then smiles at Fate, "Just because you were safe doesn't mean she wasn't evil for attacking you without knowing you'd be safe. Anwyays, /I/ am hungry. I think I'm gonna go hunt for squirrels. Anyone wanna come?"

Without waiting to see if anyone else is coming, the fox-girl transforms into a three-tailed black fox, and scampers off towards the park. Apparently she was serious about hunting squirrels.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     The last thing that Suzuki Natsume sees and hears is that teleportation spell... and once again, Ayana calling her evil. She doesn't say anything, shifting slowly as she's teleported off, her device taken. And then...

                The darkness of unconsciousness.