391/Corporate Corruption pt 1

Corporate Corruption pt 1
Date of Scene:	19 September 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Miss White has evidence that the CEO of WitchHunter Professional Services has tried to kill her. Twice. And Ao too. She's had enough, and intends to lure the man to the rooftop of the WPS building for a reckoning. But how far will she go to settle matters, and who will appear to stop her before she crosses a line she can't go back from?
Cast of Characters:	Homura Akemi, Yuko Minami, Hannah Sharpe, Mamoru Chiba, Takashi Agera, Haruna Kurosawa, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Euphemia Barchetta, Mikoto Nakajima

---

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Miss White has had enough of her boss' crap.

Between constantly being drained of resources, trying to turn IT against her, and /then/ attempting to kill her twice? It's enough to drive a woman mad. And the girl is one to remember slights.

Those working for WPS, or otherwise in Eclipse will get a text from Miss White.

'Time for a change in leadership. Get ready.'

Others who know her will get something a little more frightening: 'It's time! I'm finishing matters with that old bastard!'

Could Hannah have finally gone off the deep end?

It's just past eleven at night, and the moon is full. The older CEO, with his average looks and greying hair, steps out onto the rooftop. Hannah's already waiting. A dozen of the robo-gangsters the company uses files out in front of him protectively, right between his subordinate and himself.

"So. Miss White. You've finally come around to it, have you? Agree to my terms, do everything I say, and you'll make enough to retire on. You're too unstable to run this company. And your insistance on raising these 'Puella Magi' is utterly insane. What you're doing will ruin everything."

Hannah laughs.

"You were stupid to come up here, Boss. And only bringing that many? Child's play. Raging Tempest, SET-UP!" Magic bursts around the girl, wind dancing as motes of blackness spill off of her. Her anger and hatred is palpable enough that a sickening feeling would briefly flow around the nearby Mitakihara.
% The sudden emergence of a Barrier atop the WPS rooftop isn't exactly subtle either.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
And there's the signal.

Ikuto crouches on a branch, already in the form of Black Lynx. He waits, until he hears Hannah's command of 'set up'. Then he suddenly leaps up, through the branches, his form silhouetted against the full moon for just a moment as he draw his legs up, shifting his center of balance.

Then, with catlike speed and agility, he seems to suddenly shift directions in the air, and sails down, his shirt-tails flying behind him. Only to land at Hannah's side in a beastial crouch, left hand flat on the roof, right arm raised as if to attack. But he doesn't immediately dive into the fray.

Yuko Minami has posed:
     Only one more hour left. Yuko hadn't been waiting long at the local game store since she already had the game pre-ordered, but she still wanted to actually get the game home within the first hour of the midnight release. That'd give her enough time to get all the early patches downloaded just in time for a binge-gaming session over the weekend!

     That plan, of course, is dashed when she spots that Barrier emerging suddenly. Looks like gaming will have to wait, as much as she'd hate to admit it.

     One alley transformation later, and Cure Boost is on the scene! Not by any sort of jumping or flight, though: Instead, she's just climbing up the side of the building at a rapid clip. It's going to take her some time to get up there, though, and her ascent definitely isn't stealthy at all! She might look like some sort of publicity stunt, though, what with that mostly-green getup.

Homura Akemi has posed:
"Oh really?" asks Homura Akemi, appearing behind the CEO. "You think I'm some kind of joke? Some silly little side project?" There is no lack of dourness in her voice, and there are hints of contempt and mockery along with it.

She flips her black hair behind her, letting the locks rise and fall behind her. "Seriously... White-san has been more than patient with your foolishness. This has been coming for a long time."

"You can call it a power grab, or you can call it justice. Either way, we won't have to tolerate your idiocy anymore."

She's talking a big game, considering how messed up she was as recently as a couple days ago, but she can fake it pretty well by leaning 'casually' against a nearby wall and timestopping whenever she needs to move. She's got a reputation to maintain!

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Euphemia had been waiting for this- maybe not this specific circumstance but after what had happened with Ao and the warehouse she knew something would be happening, and she was ready for it.

    When she gets the message from Hannah she doesn't wait for any potential contact from Riventon, hopping up off her bed and picking up a green gem out of it's a fancy case on her dresser and holding it up. "Bulwark, it's time!"

    <Time for what, Master?>

    "Time for someone to reap the whirlwind."

    <I do so love a party!>

    Not long after Hannah transforms there's a burst of green light in the air as Euphemia, now Helix, Transfers in. After a quick assessment of the situation, and the fact that several of Eclipse's roboyouma are present, she comments quietly to Bulwark, "Priority one is making sure Miss White is safe; everything else is secondary." <Yes, Master.>

    With that the girl drops down and lands behind Hannah and a bit to the side. "I'm here," is all she says, raising her shields up and taking on a defensive posture, much quieter than her usual demeanor, her cyan eyes peering across the rooftop at the CEO.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi Agera, AKA Riventon is, for once, not a man with a plan. He was out testing the mobility limits (read: flying around and generally having fun) of his new henshin - when he recieved Hannah's text. Well, obviously in this case it's Miss White's text. At the same time, Axion Gamma perks up. ==Barrier deployment detected, due South.==

That's in the direction of WPS headquarters to, so he's headed there; soaring through the sky like a blueblack comet. It's so nice having a Device that can talk!

When Riventon lands (on Miss White's side of the field, of course, though a decent distance away from the Puella Magi Homura) it's in his new Barrier Jacket - which is more like a Barrier Lab Coat, if someone could make a lab coat out of black shadows that seemed to create random patterns and faces on it. Gone is the mask that used to cloak his face - revealing the white hair and nearly-permanant sneer. But even with the entirely different uniform, anyone who's ever been in contact with Riventon can feel it's the same person. The fact that the device on his right hand is the same helps too - even if it looks far less old, the black metal practically gleaming in what little light there is.

It takes Riventon approximately 0.2 nanoseconds to figure out what's going on here. "You put up with him for longer than I expected you would." he says, as an aside, to Miss White.

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Gull was in Eclipse for a bit as Scorn! But now she's Cure Gull. She knows how Eclipse works... Desparia explained it to her when she was her pupile as the former mentioned Scorn. The strong prey on the weak. Part of making her part of Nightmare division was for protection---people didn't screw with Nightmare Divison or those close Desparia. She was strong.

But who was stronger...? Hannah? or This Guy? She never met the other guy during her brief tenure in Eclipse. She doesn't know.

So Cure Gull is racing through the air looking like some twinkling seafoam green star that comes down for a landing. Corvus is on her shoulder as she lands next to Hannah, who seems set to fight?

She points dramatically to the CEO! "You won't hurt White-chan!" she calls out. "So let me use the langauge you understand best!...." Corvus sighs and holds a wing to his face. "Oh lord...."

<S-S-Suiiiiit! Time to Change~>

Cure Gull is now in a ridicolous light seafoam green two piece suit complete with tie in a feather pattern!

"You're Fired!"

An explosions of Gull feathers go off behind her exploding into sparks.

Corvus sighs.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
And somewhere off in the not too great distance, there's Mikoto, or 'Tessen' as she's given her name out when witnessed in henshin. And really hoping that the disguise spell in her Barrier Jacket is as good as it's supposed to be.

Tonight she's out for a flight, just getting some practice of her own in, slaloming around between office buildings at something resembling Ludicrous Speed. It's a classic training excercise, according to a note she left herself in Carnwennan's memo-space... or did someone else leave that there, a long time ago? It was a pretty bitchy note, complaining about the commandant chewing her out for breaking windows. Mikoto doesn't have a commandant, does she?

"Alert, mistress. Barrier activation, vector six three carom twelve."

Her introspection cut off, Mikoto banks around a bank to face the designated direction and head towards it.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Ikuto and Yuko get a grin from Miss White. "Trashman-kun! Shield-chan! Here to watch this scumsucking old man get tangled up in his golden parachute?" She laughs, long and hard. The CEO just sighs and runs his hand through his hair.

"You've been planning, I'll give you that. Do any of you really think this woman gaining more power will end well? She's insane. She's been trapping Witches, experimenting on them, and snatching up every weapons manufacturer and raw materials provider she can get." Comes the Boss. He snaps his fingers. Two of the robogangsters pull out shotguns, and aim them for Ikuto and Cure Boost. They're not the strongest, but, their weapons at least are reliable once pumped with magic.

Homura's appearance has his eyes going wide, but he calms quickly. There's only the smallest amount of magic on him: more than the average person, but nothing against even one of the assembled group.

"Hmph. Fool girl. She's using the Puella Magi for power. That's all she cares about. Power so she can 'obtain her dream world'. An insane parasite. What do you think she's going to do when you and all the others are of no more use to her? You'll be right here where I am, betrayed."

One of the robogangsters similarly pulls out a gun, a pistol this time. Big chrome deal. It fires at Homura, but who knows if it'll be able to hit the girl with her time stopping.

Miss White winks at Riventon and Helix as they arrive, even as each one gets their own robogangster to deal with! Two electrified batons are aimed at knees and faces respectively.

"When you pull off a coup, Lab Partner, you need to let the resentment and drama of it stew for a bit. It's more satisfying that way. Heh. I wonder if we should break his legs first." The tone of hers is darker, something malevolent in her eyes that's never been there before.

Those in Eclipse, and perhaps others, would know she's been using those odd grief seeds more often.

Gull-chan! Hannah's brow twitches. Somehow, the very /aura/ of that suit's color and patterning makes her eyes burn.

"...Glad you made it Gull-chan. N...nice suit." See? Hannah can try to be polite sometimes.

Cue two robogangsters coming at her! Both wield swords, and they try to cut up the Cure!

The old man turns to her.

"Hmph. We'll see. I have not survived in this place as long as I have for nothing."

Mikoto would get there soon enough, and already there's one robogangster firing at her with a rifle!

Hannah rushes in herself, punching apart two of the robogangsters. Despite the now terrible odds, the CEO seems entirely unconcerned.

"I'll ask all of you again. Are you really going to back this woman? I'll not hold back if you do. Kill her. There is no limits to her greed, her lust for power. She will horde it like a dragon of old. She'll drown this world in darkness."

He then nimbly ducks out of the way of a thrown robogangster head from Hannah.

"How dare you talk about my dreams! You know nothing of what I want and what I will do to get there! I...I am going to reshape /EVERYTHING/!!!" Howls the girl, tainted wind magic flaring up. Her linker core glows visible, emerald obscured by pulsating blackness.

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Gull can sense the tenseness in White-chan's voice at the suit. Luckily, the Suit lasts all but a moment before it gives way back to her usual Pretty Cure-ness. Then there's two robo-gangsters running for her--- she brings her arms up in front of her in some sort of pose and then takes a step forward and grabs one of the swords of the robogangsters... then flips around and sends it flying off the side of the building. It may pass Cure Boost on the way down on her way up.

The other one gets sent up into a whirlwind...."Gull...Feather Twister!" she calls out, sending the robogangster into the air. Gull darts upwards with her wings and kicks the thing off the opposite side of the building.

She's hoping these things can't fly. They probably can't!?

Then she looks over to Riventon. She blinks. Then she blushes.

"Oh... Uh. Hi..Hi Riventon-chan..." she says as she turns back to the situation at hand down on the roof. Maybe he'll stick around long enough when this is over to ask him things.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto's rather unable to answer the CEO's question immediately. Mainly because dodging shotguns blasts! With his quickness though, Ikuto's next claw strike lops the shotgun's barrel completely off. Now the robo-jerk has a sawed-off shotgun! But it won't get a chance to use its new weapon...

Black Lynx leaps away from the roboguard, backflipping in the air, landing on the edge of the roof in a crouch. His claw begins to glow, and he swings the arm forward. "SLASH CLAW!" And with those words, three silvery slashes of energy fly through the air at the robot. Unless the robot moves quick, it's probably going to get cut in three places-- at the neck, at the waist, and at the knees.

Then he stands straight on the edge of the roof and hops down onto the roof proper again. He starts to walk back to the group. This is when he answers the CEO's question. "...Someone's got to be in control. I don't care who. But your answer to someone disagreeing with you is to try to kill them and the people close to them." He points to the CEO with his claw. "YOU don't have any place to talk about horrible leadership in that case."

Yuko Minami has posed:
     Even with the power of the Precure flowing through her, Cure Boost is more used to travelling horizontally rather than vertically. As such, she's panting a bit by the time she finally gets up there just in time to see... A whole host of familiar and unfamiliar magical girls! Some even with dramatic transformations happening on the spot.

     She really needs to work on her own entrances, come to think of it. Still, that's something to worry about /after/ dealing with whatever this situation is. Something to do with that old man over there and... Okay, she's not really following at all. "Miss White? What's going on here?"

     The sight of shotguns aimed at her tells her more than enough, and Cure Boost slams her fists together to draw her tower shields out of thin air! Between her own strength and the power of the shields themselves, it's a simple matter for the Precure to charge straight at those robogangsters, ready to take those shotgun blasts for both herself and Ikuto head on!

     "I don't know what's going on here, but I'll trust Gull and the others I've fought with long before I start trusting you!" Speed notwithstanding, Cure Boost still reaches one of those robogangsters quickly enough and sandwiches it between her shields! After a blast of her elbow pistons pressing those shields inward, the robogangster emerges as little more than a pile of scrap.

     "... We /are/ helping Miss White with this, right?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura glances towards Riventon for a moment. She's still mad, but she's not really in 'pick a fight with Riventon' condition. Still, it's odd seeing a face associated with him.

Well whatever. He's not the one she's taking vengeance out on today.

At the CEO's words, Homura pulls a magnum out of her shield and says, "Manufacturing weapons? You mean like this?" Dramatic gunload, point gun at CEO.

"Betrayal. Those sure are some words coming from you, creep." Homura shakes her head, "No one's going to save you here. There's nowhere for you to run."

The robogoon's gun comes out. Homura is no longer there, the bullet hitting the wall she used to be leaning on. She's standing next to the robo gangster that fired on her. She lifts her magnum. She's not so out of shape that she can't pull the trigger. The resulting blast puts the goon out of commission, though the recoil is a bit too much for Homura at the moment.

"Forget his legs," says Homura. "My opinion? Let's just be efficient about it. Gives us more time to hide the body."

Homura answers the CEO again by lifting a shotgun in his direction. "Yes. I am, in fact, going to back White-san. Honestly, far better people than me have killed for far less. Don't expect me to have any trouble sleeping at night over you."

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
A burst of laser-fire splashes off a Round Shield that appears in front of her as Tessen flies towards the barrier. "Oooh, they want to play that game? Okay!" A search-drone is cast, formed, and dispatched, hurtling ahead of her, its immaterial form traveling at near-mach speeds to locate the shooter.

"Ahhh, goons. I seeeeeeee youuuuuuu!" And then Carnwennan adds her own two cents: "Flicker shot." A trio of silver-blue starbolts forms, orbits once around the girl's body, then one at a time they zoom off goonwards. The first impact knocks the goon off its feet, the second hurls it across the roof, and the third embeds it in the next builing over.

"Goon Golfing, Par three!"

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Helix doesn't even give the roboyouma the dignity of activating Terra Shield as the baton swings for her face. Already in a defensive stance all she has to do is raise one of Bulwark's large shields in front of her face, the Intelligent Device itself more than enough to deflect the blow, the electricity woefully ineffective against Bulwark's Earth elemental magic.

    The girl looks almost bored as her other shield flips around to the tune of <Hybrid Mode>, a dark green laser sword emitting from the barrel of the newly emerged cannon just in time to slice the robot clean in half. It's not actually an especially strong weapon, but the robogangsters are meant to fight with a numbers advantage not one on one.

    When Miss White charges forward she follows after at a slower pace, wading into the group of robots ready to jump in front of any attacks that look like they might land on any of the assembled magical boys and girls- Hannah especially.

    She's momentarily distracted by the appearance of Cure Boost, and she tosses the magical girl a wink and a thumbs up along with a cheerful, "Nice shields!" Ah, there's the exuberant Helix we're used too!

    When the older man speaks up and tries to persuade people to abandon Hannah it causes her to pause, quieting back down. "Drown this world in darkness?" She turns her eyes towards the WPS Director as she rages and thrashes robojerks, her Linker Core visible... and tainted. The young girl's head cants to the side momentarily, and her eyes momentarily widen.

    The CEO gets through to her- she believes him.

    Too bad she's more than just 'okay' with that potential endgame.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon keeps that sneer on his face all through the old man's talk. Sure, a lot of what he says is true. A lot of what he says would be even more true if it were directed at Riventon, though, so he's not in any mood to listen to it.

"The time for old men who sit in chairs and delegate the actual work to those with talent, while growing fat and lazy off their work, is quite over. The new strength in the world has no more need for you."

A robogoon with an electric baton charges for Riventon! ==Melee contact is being attempted, Meister.== his device helpfully announces as it automatically puts up a large, dark blue Round Shield. The relative power strength of the shield means the Robogangster's attack might as well be a soft throw pillow. It recoils off the shield, and Riventon reaches out, his left hand grapsing the Robogangster's face. "You know, these things only work because of the dark energy. If you take that away..." he says, as he draws the power out of the Robogangster, through his hand where it appears as a small black orb. The Robogangster crumples to the ground - inactive. "Tada!" Riventon adds with all of the flair of a stage magician.

Then he crushes the orb in his hand. The dark energy takes on a liquid form, dripping to the ground, where it reforms into a small humanoid creature with red eyes and a graping red mouth, clawed hands, and a vicious little giggle. It jumps away and dives into any remaining Roboyouma, seeking to tear them apart. "Besides, mine's better. You're just an old businessman leaning on power you don't even control yourself, much less understand."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
As it turns out, robogangsters cannot fly. They fall pretty well though. One slams right into the CEO's car. The man winces. Still, bigger things to worry about.

Ikuto's robo goes to pieces! "It's necessity! I can't let this company be ruined by some upstart /child/ with more ambition than sense!" He yells back.

Miss White is quick to answer Cure Boost! "Taking power from my Boss that tried to kill me and Ao-chan." A smirk.

The CEO's hand comes up, power flaring into it as Homura points the weapon at him. But it's soon unnecessary as another robogoon is felled!

"Run? Please. This ends here."

Hannah sighs. "Always so scary! But that is so /boring/! Where is your sense of drama? ..You were in the chess club in school weren't you?" Comes the girl, grinning,teasing as more of the goons fall. She laughs. It's low, tittering, and full of bloodlust. Yet, there's some hesitation in her voice. Despite all of the taint, there's still some good in Hannah's soul holding out. But for how long?

The CEO just shrugs. "Think what you want, girl. You're dieing here too. All of you!"

Mikoto gets a strike with robogoons!

Helix blocks shot for Miss White, and destroys goons in turn! They're almost all gone by now!

"You can feel it, can't you? That disgusting energy in her? It'll truly drive her mad, and then her wrath will taint everything."

The Dark Dog tears apart the roboyouma! The other one falls apart!

"Only idiots try to run everything that way. I have real power. People with talent that do what I want."

With the last goon fallen, it's the CEO left. He chuckles. "Now I know your strengths." That power flares again, and there's the sensation of space twisting. A doorway appears, opens, and a blue-skinned woman in a white kimono steps out. The air around her drops by ten degrees instantly. The ice youma turns to the group of magical girls.

With a snap of her fingers, an icey person-sized box appears. Inside is the shivering form of Ao Karina. She's pale, and from the looks of things, may well freeze to death if nothing's done.

"The girl freezes to death if you do anything, Kasagami." Comes the CEO.

"A...Ao-chan!" Screams out Hannah. Her anger turns to fear. Fear, back to burning hot desire to kill.

The ice youma snaps her fingers, and a lance of ice slams into Hannah, only to encase her in the same! Four objects fall out of her pockets, frozen alongside them. Four glowing grief seeds.

"Kill...you...Kill...you..." Comes Hannah's voice from that icebox.

That youma then raises her hands, and each magical person will be faced with lances of ice!

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"Ruin the world with ambition... or ruin it with lack of ambition," Ikuto replies. Either way the end's the same. Burn in fire or freeze in ice. Fire's quicker."

And speaking of ice...

"...Crap." This to the realization that Ao's encased in ice. And then Hannah's encased in ice!

But see.... just as the CEO knows their strengths now, Ikuto knows a little of what to expect from that ice youma. And now that Ikuto's seen what that ice lance does, he isn't going to get anywhere around it. Plus, he also expects that youma to use more of them.

Ikuto waits only long enough for his ice lance to be set on its path towards him. Once it's committed to its path he lunges forward, ducking under the lance's flight path, and speeding towards the ice youma. And as he nears the youma, he swings that claw.

He's not going to stay in range, though. He's actually attempting a flyby slash to the youma's side. Not literally 'fly', since he can't actually fly. But he's trying to shred the youma's side as he zooms past her, hopping from one side to the other, to keep the youma from getting a bead on him.

Homura Akemi has posed:
'This ends here.'

"It most certainly does", bites back Homura. "You actually think you're going to live to see the sun rise? Pathetic."

Homura glances at Miss White, and then back at the CEO. "Taint? Darkness? Is that supposed to disgust me? Please. I'm a Puella Magi."

'I have real power. People with talent who do what I want.'

"You know it's funny, because so does White-san! I'm paid rather well for my talents, in fact. I'm pretty sure I'm more talented than anyone you could summon."

Homura watches as the Ice Youma appears. Ao-chan is frozen in ice?! Inexcusable! Homura's eyes burn with cold rage. "You know what? Maybe we'll kill you the slow, painful way after all!"

The threat to Kill Ao-chan does make her pause, but letting him live just because he has a hostage isn't going to fly!

A lance of ice comes after Homura, and a timepause later she's well out of its path, standing close to the ice Youma with a large flamethrower in her arms. She launches a stream of fire at the ice youma, but the CEO doesn't get ignored, and that stream of flame is swung his way, too!

Yuko Minami has posed:
     Was... Was she just complimented? By another green girl with shields, even? Cure Boost's normally serious (or tired) demeanor actually lightens up some because of that, returning the gesture with a bright grin. "Yours, too! Especially with the... That was a beam saber, wasn't it?" Why didn't she get a beam saber, too? That would've been great to have, especially IN the shields like that. Alas, it was not meant to be.

     That response from Miss White is more than enough to get Boost on her side and focused on the matter at hand again, though! Granted, the strange energy coming from Hannah is rather worrying, and that dark muttering of hers isn't helping matters any, but if the Precure has to choose sides...

     ... It's definitely going to be on the side of the one not bringing out an ice youma to kill them all. "You call her tainted, but you're the one holding hostages! A monster like you can't be trusted!" Irritation and mild confusion is evident on her face as she stacks those shields in front of each other, grunting lightly at the impact of the ice lance crashing right into her. It's not quite enough to stop her in her tracks, though, and the Precure even starts rushing for that youma with the lance still embedded in her shields.

     "If you let them go now, then we'll go easy on you! Or..." She offers a quick glance at Miss White, then rears back and launches the front shield at the youma via a carefully timed piston-punch to the back shield. "... I will, at least!"

     She probably won't.

Mikoto Nakajima has posed:
And that's it for the goons, as Tessen zooms in towards the rooftop, circling it once to survey the scene. And let everyone know that they're not alone. Oops. A witness!

"Summoning in progress," Carnwennan intones, and the yuki-onna and Ao-chan appear. And Hannah gets froze.

"That wasn't very nice," Tessen snarks, hovering at the edge of the roof. "So, are we going to do this the easy, way, or the hard way?" she asks, as Flicker Shot begin to form around her. One... three... seven... thirteen....

Euphemia Barchetta has posed:
    Helix manages to keep a few attacks from hitting Hannah, but isn't quick enough to intercept the one that counts- the ice lance that suddenly freezes her solid. Now both Miss White -and- Ao are trapped in magical ice cubes. Upon seeing this Helix isn't pissed, but rather Extremely Annoyed. Her eyebrow twitches a little. "That girl has been through enough, don't you think?"

    More lances of ice shoot from the Youma, and she doesn't particularly feel like being frozen in place. She holds arm out towards the oncoming ice lance and a Midchildan magic circle appears in the air in front of her. It's no ordinary Round Shield, however.

    <Explosive.>

    The lance strikes it and gets it's tip busted up, and the shield shatters- but this is working as intended. The force of the strike and the magic within it is reflected, the front of the ice lance exploding outwards and disintegrating the rest of it, leaving nothing but a rain of tiny ice chips to clatter harmlessly against Helix.

    "If you think you've seen the extent of our powers by sending those pathetic robots against us you made a big mistake," she comments.

    Though people will likely need tanking they might have to rely on the -other- shield sporting magical girl in Cure Boost for the moment, as suddenly there is a great need in her other supportive skills. She gives another smile to the tower shield bearing Pretty Cure, "Thanks! And yep, it sure was!"

    Perhaps predictably it's time for another dark green colored magic circle to appear beneath Ao Karina's feet, the cyan haired girl putting a bit of extra energy into the familiar spell as she tries to magically remove the ice binding her. "Dispel!"

    <Dispelling>

    She'll rush for Ao immediately after, trying to scoop up the taller girl as best she can manage and get her safely behind the small hoard of magical boys and girls here to help Hannah. If her spell doesn't work she'll instead begin defending the block of ice itself.

    She could have tried to free Hannah first- her primary purpose for being here tonight is, after all, to protect her. But by now Euphemia knows that the best way to truly protect Hannah is protecting Ao Karina and keeping her from harm.

Haruna Kurosawa has posed:
Hot Dark Scientist Boys can now wait as Gull hovers there in the air and lances of ice come her way. She throws up a whirling barrier of wind and feathers in front of her. This does not stop the ice lance. It's too fast and it crashes against her shoulder and sends her spinning in mid air. "Nrg....You....." she says through sheeething voice.

Boost says some things. She says it a lot better than she can.

Gull is still not very good with words. "Corvus......" she whispers to the bird on her shoulder.

"...there's nothing I can do here, Gull. I'm sorry. None of the PreCards we have are going to work here. The only form change we have is /ice/ based and that's not going to help anything here!" he says.

Gull grits her teeth. She's not experienced. What do you do in a situation like this?

The only thought on her mind is... Ao-Chan. Please don't die.

She hovers there lost in the perplexity of the situation. She can't just...wind and feather blast this thing and hopes it help. "Corvus...would. Would a purification...?" Corvus answers. "I don't know what this thing is. It feels bad but..."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon sees one of those massive ice lances coming his way! And he does... nothing. Because he's still testing his new Device, and it performs flawlessly. ==Auto-Guard! Round Shield!== it announces of its own accord, putting up the same sort of shield that defended against the shock prod from before. The lance shatters against the barrier.

It also has the effect of making him look really, really unconcerned.

"So what exactly is your endgame here? If you hurt Ao, you still lose in the end. I don't see any way in which you can win." ==Statistically speaking, it would require a miracle.== his device adds helpfully.

Then Miss White is lanced, and frozen! ==Still statistically impossible.== his device adds, as Riventon holds out his right hand, beginning to channel energy into it. A small orb of dark energy builds up in his palm as he readies an attack, but he doesn't turn it into an attack, yet. He's just waiting, watching.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's so confused, so confusing; it's so desperate and difficult. Below the battle, the city moves along, unconcerned and unknowing; cars crawl through the streets and pedestrians walk and music would filter up if it were quiet enough here to hear it, but it's not. Everything's singing, but with tension and violence instead of with voices raised in song.

The stars are out and the moon is up, a bright waxing crescent, too-large in the sky above the barrier.

Between the attacks and the brief, terrifying pauses, between the sounds the ice youma makes and the silence of the ice and the shouts of the combatants, through the wild displays of energy so dangerous and vivid--

--a crackling red streak whips through the air and impacts the ice holding Hannah motionless and helpless. It's a single long-stemmed rose in bloom, and in slow motion it buries its stem deep in the ice prison.

There's an immediate crack like a gunshot, then the crackling of splintering ice--

--and an agonizingly long half second later, the entire ice block simply shatters into chunks and rubble.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
"At least ice leaves something behind. Fire just destroys everything and erases it all."

The swung claw from Ikuto slams into the youma, sending her skidding back as the kitty goes zipping by. She turns, trying to Ice Lance him repeatedly, but he's just too fast! Bits of ice fall off of her!

Homura comes in for the kill, and the ice youma throws up a massive ice wall. It saves her from instant death, as the flame blasts through, and burns away her arm! She rides an ice-slide away from the magical girl.

"I'll do whatever I have to in order to see this company prosper and make sure she doesn't get more power! Besides. You're not exactly innocent, are you? You are a threat too and need to die!"

He literally uses the youma as a shield, coming away with only a few minor burns. The youma by now has to form more ice on her body to keep from collapsing! Suddenly Cure Boost! Wham! She shield-crashes the creature to the ground! No ice lances just yet, she's stunned!

"Idiot. The rest will just kill me." He adds to Boost.

The ice youma doesn't ignore Mikoto! She waves her hand as she struggles away from Cure Boost! At least twenty ice bullets race for her, trying to destroy the flicker shots!

"The only easy way is you leaving."

"If she would stop hanging around that vulture, that there would be no need for her to be in this situation."

Helix gets to work! The ice youma is too busy to bother going after her again, and then she's working on Ao-chan! THat magical barrier appears, and as though it'd been subjected to Homura's flamethrower, the ice coffin begins to melt! It won't take too long, just a few seconds! Then Ao will fall into Helix' arms!

"Give up, girl. You are powerless. Powerless to stop me! You are weak and useless!" Comes the CEO at Cure Gull!

He snaps his fingers, and a door opens above her. A piano falls from it!

Riventon shatters the lance like it's nothing, and even the youma reacts. Her icey face shows outright fear of the labcoat wearing man's power, stumbling back to hide behind a shield of ice!

"Simple. That idiot girl cares too much to sacrifice her little friend. If I hurt her, kill her, Kasagami White will break."

That majestic rose lands. The ice block shatters, sending glittering reflections of moonlight and rose petals everywhere. Miss White floats there, eyes unfocused and limp.

"Hat...guy?" She mutters.

She has so many friends here. Riventon, with his science and ambition they both share. Helix, the violent and enthusiastic girl who has done somuch to help Ao and even cares for Hannah's goals. Cure Boost, the stalwart, protective Cure that's willing to defend even Hannah. Homura Akemi, the efficient and loyal and brutal friend who holds so much in her heart, Tuxedo Kamen, the man who forgives and chides and forces her to be better. Ikuto, trashman, and able to appreciate just how different Hannah is from the rest of Eclipse. Mikoto, the flying magical girl ready to destroy evil! Cure Gull, the redeemed woman who made the right choice, spared Ao, and gained a friend for life.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
And this horrible little man is here trying to kill them all with his trash youma. These lovely people that Miss White can't help but hold dear into her heart.

That beautiful, elegant rose blackens and wilts as Miss White imagines the worst: all of them laying dead. The CEO taking her company and making it just another cog in the machine instead of a brilliant rising star.

Love and hatred are so very linked. That deep, deep love for her companions fills into the darkest, more horrible of hate. Misty blackness filled with hurt, fear, anger, and all-consuming hate for the CEO pulls the floating grief seeds right into Miss White's linker core. The area shudders as all of the contained magic is devoured in Hannah's endless greed and ambition. Her eyes close as she floats in the air, eyes leaking blackened blood. It pours, and pours, and pours like an oozing wound, beyond what should be in her body. It's thick, like mud.

He's taking her friends he's taking her friends HE'STAKINGHERFRIENDS!

"DIE!!!" Howls Miss White.

The CEO was right. The world, for those here, floods into pure Darkness.