30/Gem Heist!

Gem Heist!
Date of Scene:	29 May 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Hannah Sharpe, Raging Tempest, Attempts to hold up a bank on Eclipse's Orders with the help of a bunch of youma. Can our heroes stop such an act and save the day!?
Cast of Characters:	3, Nanoha Takamachi, Yuko Minami, Etsu Miyazaki, Hannah Sharpe, Runealy Waldia, Suzuki Natsume, Junpei Matsuo, Jun Kaneko, Mamoru Chiba, Signum, Takashi Agera, 50, Rurako Doji, 53

---

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
Last night, Hannah would find a conspicuous envelope, containing a letter- in Braille, of course, informing her of an assignment she is to complete on this particular day. It is signed by Professor Tomoe. That is enough to ascertain this is a call from up high. She's to help partake in a bank robbery, of all things. But first, she has to meet someone in a dark alley.

Hannah meets with a woman in a bizzare uniform and monocole with a black lens and a clawed gauntlet. "Here." she says in a german accent. "I've been instructed to give these to you." she says, placing them into Hannah's hands. They appear to be a small handful of black orbs. With that, the woman leaps up the sides of the alley, using some sort of weird clawed gauntlet, and away she goes- well not before turning around near the top of the building. "Just throw them, and you shall have help!" she cackles. Well. That was weird.

Netherless, IN THE BANK, it's closed. A couple of security guards, but otherwise, it's locked tightly. Inside the vault, rests a collection of gems- a series of museum pieces, which were being stored here in the vault for safety. This is what eclipse seeks. The note said that subtleness was not required.

It's probably best just to kick the door open and throw those orbs, rather than play at being sneaky.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
~Some time before~

After reading the letter, Hannah was quick to the job. One swift Henshin, and she arrives in the dark alleyway, taking the offered black orbs. She'll hardly ignore orders from Tomoe-sensei himself! Indeed, she looks a little giddy. She feels a little guilty, but truthfully, there's a certain /excitement/ in committing a felony. She bows, and just as she's straightening, the woman's gone!

"Mmm...how strange. No manners these days, suspicous coated figures."

~At The Bank~

For all that she's a little bit bright, Hannah can sometimes be pretty literal. 'Kick the door in'. 'Don't be subtle'. She can do that. Her leather jacket and the edges of her kimono flap behind her as she pauses at the bank's door. One geta-clad, sockless foot slams into the bank's front door, hopefully hard enough to send it careening into some poor guard as a burst of magical wind propells it forward from that foot. Both knuckles of Raging Tempest are already swirling with cutting winds.

"GOOD EVENING!" She calls out, almost cheerful, before tossing those orbs!

"My name is Miss White! I would very much appreciate it if you all would lay down your firearms, truncheons, et cetera and lay face down on the ground! This is a bank robbery." Then she puts up a boxer's stance, all smiles and politeness.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha is going to be in /so much trouble/. Yuuno let her know that he found a possible Jewel Seed at a certain bank. It just so happens that Hannah is robbing said bank.

Leaving the ferret behind (He might show up later), Nanoha transforms into her Barrier Jacket. "Raising Heart, Flier Fin!"

"Yes, my Master."

Thus, there is a nine year old girl flying through the air, rushing to the scene at top speed. She happens to arive just after Hannah blows the door off its hinges with a mighty boot. She Frowns.

Naga Amaya (53) has posed:
     Naga Amaya is making her way down the street with her bo staff strapped to her back., mumbling quietly to herself, but she still seem to be in a pretty decent mood as far as what other people might be able to tell. Sooner, her mumbling gets a little louder, "Go to the bank after school they say, but the bank is likely closed this late..." She hangs her head, and sighs a little bit.

    As Amaya gets closer to the bank, and rounds the corner just to see someone kick the door open.. She drops her jaw, "B.. b... bank robbery?!" She points out the person that just kicked in the door with her staff, "Bank Robber, stop right there!"

Rurako Doji has posed:
Rurako Doji was roaming about the city, checking the alleys and generaly on the hunt for anything dark or evil. She was out of her battle form, and just acting like a student who enjoys a late night stroll... until she hears the sound of.. maybe a wall knocked down. "Probably a criminal... but oh well.." She says as she ducks into an alley and exhales, raising her left finger and drawing the symbol for Protection in the air, Kanji, before swipeing through it and changing into lady silver, a flash of silver light and her Hakama, kimono, haori, mask, and even hair become silver, and on her right hip is a Silver katana, lady Silver has come to play.

"It's a very loud bank robbbery, theif-chan, I'd suggest you calm down and wait for the police, or we can do this the old fashion way." She says as she places a hand on her katana. "I'm lady silver, The blade that will cut evil from the earth!"

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    "Isn't this great?" asks the Ace of Spades to the Ace of Diamonds, standing on the edge of a roof overlooking an alley, arms fully extended to both sides as she walks the edge like it's a circus rope. "It's like we're really superheroes! Oh, oh! I know what's missing!"

    Cue rapsy, dark voice. "I AM THE NIGHT."
    Pause.
    "I AM THE LATE EVENING."
    Better.
    "AND THIS CITY--" Cough rasp cough. Etsu evidently cannot handle the BATMAN VOICE for very long because she kind of chokes on her own saliva there. And then flail flail whump right off the rooftop and into the dumpster in the alley. A few moments pass and she pokes her head out, whining. "I'm okay! ... this is a bakery dumpster. Aww, it's all sticky. At least it doesn't smell bad."

    One presumes this is when alarms go off, or that the Ace of Diamonds is going to catch glimpse of the disturbance from atop her perch. For her part, the Ace of Spades just complains. "H-Hey! Gimme a hand, I'm stuck."

    Don't worry, they'll make it in time.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune wanders the streets of the Mitakihara area, curious about it now that a few of Tokyo's defenders have given her reasons to take an interest in it. She is only passingly aware of the bank... it's big, but she has seen plenty of big places here in town and learning about Earth's financial systems is not at the top of her priority list.

Learning about why someone - she hadn't seen exactly who, at the time - just smashed the door open however, /is/ a top priority. "Wha!?" She sees a familiar figure head inside, and a familiar voice. "'Miss White'? Why would she...?"

Time to get to cover. Ducking into an alley, Runealy shouts: "Summoning Princess' Tiara! The Line of Succession..." Gold and jeweled headwear appears in one hand, passed to the other and brought to her forehead in one smooth motion. "...Transform!" A flash of red light covers her, and when it fades she steps back into view in full magical form; the person who has only identified herself as 'The Princess' so far.

She has the presence of mind to look up and around, taking note of all the arrivals... some familiar, some not... and then rushes for the bank door while calling out to the 'chief of security' she knows as Miss White, "Why are you doing this?! This isn't like you at all!" She's loud about it; Runealy wants her voice to carry since she can't /see/ the aspiring bank-robber yet.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Matsuo Junpei actually had business at the bank not all of ten minutes before it closed to make sure the band's account had enough in it to cover what he had been warned would be a lot of incidentals most first timers to live performances would forget about. Why he was still in the area was unimportant outside of the fact poor luck,m or maybe a universe intent on having him go through a really bad day. No matter. There he was eating freshly bought goods from a taco truck while wearing a pair of heavy over ear headphones.

Yet even though he was all but deaf to the world he could clearly see woman put boot to door causing him to just... stare. Then SUDDEN MINIONS!

Wait what? He... recognized that face. Vaguely. Sorta. Brief flashback to the concert where he slapped the power of Rock into a boy band. Why was she here? Why was she kicking a door into a perfectly normal loooking bank? Deep breath as he undid the headphones in time to hear 'Ms. White' demand compliance with the guards.

There was a voice in the back of his head demanding he actually not do what he was doing, which was rushing to the now open bank. "H-Hey!" He tried to get Ms. White's attention. "What're you doing? No." He stood with his hands exposed and in the open. "No... I can see whats going on. What I want to know is... WHY?!" He wasn't in the bank proper. Just a bystandard trying to figure out how to compromise involvement and keeping his neck safe by being hopefully close enough to the street to run for it.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
    Because of the apparent dangers of simply existing in this city, Suzuki had begun to take her 'obligation' to protect weaker people to heart. Not that it was really an obligation to begin with, but that's beside the point. She'd begun to patrol the city when she had the chance! Luckily, her parents were very understanding, considering how she was raised. She just said 'I'm going to go patrol' and they'd just force her to take her kendo training sword along with her.

     Of course, she had far better than a wooden sword, and usually she stowed it somewhere safe, so that she didn't have to worry about it when she activated her Knight Clothing. As such, she was coincidentally patrolling the area of the bank! When, well. There was suddenly a disturbance at the bank! Good! Time for her to put her training and justice to work! So that she could save people!

    "Alright, we've been practicing this." Suzuki murmurs to her device, shifting the naginata up slightly. "Let's see. What did you call it, Verdrehen Sturm?" Suzuki taps her chin thoughtfully, before there was a ping from her device. "Ah, right!"

            <BLITZ SCHRITT>
            "Blitz Schritt!"

    After the call out in unison, Suzuki is consumed in a burst of electricity, running down the wall of the building she was presently on at extreme speeds, and zipping into the entryway of the bank -- likely PAST Hannah, as she skids to try to stop herself, her steps ending up a bit unsecure as she turns towards Hannah. Oh crap oh crap oh crap! She just barely managed to keep her balance and make that look graceful! "You have endangered the weak and innocent, I will..." She pauses, looking up towards Hannah and pausing. Was that...? No, it couldn't be the girl she'd fought alongside the other day. She was a hero, even if she said some strange things! "I will punish you." She finally finishes, her voice coming out resolute in spite of her brief confusion.

Yusha Yuna (50) has posed:
    There's a redheaded girl just staring at her phone, her expression a classic look of "Huh?" with a dash of "Wait, what?" This is followed by a moment of panic that swiftly converts into pure excitement. The small, cow-like fairy orbiting near her, to whom other pedestrians pay no mind (giving the girl some curious but largely uninterested looks), doesn't quite share the excitement. It's busily eating something that looks suspiciously like beef-jerky.

    Moments later, and the girl is nowhere to be seen. A somewhat different-looking girl has reached the standard hero's evening route of the rooftops (pro-tip: people who don't jump roofs rarely to never look up), and is making pretty good time for having no ability to fly, teleport, or even super-dash. She keeps glancing at her phone, which is softly beeping and displaying some kind of GPS app. There's some fuzzy indicators on it for other moving figures.

    "Woah!" And then she takes the last jump too far, misses the smaller building in front of her, and WHAMs into the one just past it, catching herself on her hands and inevitably falling back to street-level. "Gah--ahh, where's next, somewhere--this way!" And then she's off again, closer to the ground. The bank is just one more street over. She doesn't know it's a bank, but she does know it's 'active.'

Signum has posed:
The mysterious Knight, who is not at all Signum, was out and about the city while in her transformed state. Carefully zooming up and out of eyesight from the people below, she was doing legitimately heroic things which were not at all related to scouting sweet, savory Linker Cores to put in the Book of Darkness and heal her master. Not that at all. Heroic stuff like flying. And staring down. And not stealing magic.

She lands easily on a rooftop and stares down at the bank. Her purple gaze narrows and she activate Signum Vision. It has no powers and is pretty much just her assessing on-site individuals while trying to pick a valid target. Eyes flick over numerous people.

First Hannah Sharpe - Bank Robber. Authorities will try to apprehend. Threatening. Odds of Success: Low

Then Nanoha comes under her silent gaze - Responder. Goes against code of honor. Odds of Success: Not Mitigated By Risk of Retaliation or Dishonor

Finally Etsu on a nearby rooftop - Clumsy. Low Experience. Inattentive. Potential. Odds of Success: High

Signum resolves to 'help' out the Ace of Spades. And so with an easy leap, she tries to head over towards that rooftop, "Greetings. I am the Knight of the Sword. Will you allow me to accompany you?" She inquires, face frozen in that neutral expression as she stares at the two.

Yuko Minami has posed:
Tonight's mission: Find a place that's actually open and sells cayenne before dinner's finished! Why Yuko's parents couldn't just do it themselves, she isn't sure, but with the recent spate of activity flaring up over the past week... Better her than them, at least. Still, why couldn't they just open the door to the supermarket for a minute?

Just as she finally finds that store, an alarm sounds! Dinner will have to wait, and... Hopefully, her parents won't be too worried about her being a little late. Noticing the commotion at the bank, Yuko ducks into an alley while whipping out her mirror phone thing.

Some green flashes of light and several dramatic shouts later, Cure Boost appears! It takes her a little longer to actually GET to the bank, but get there she does! She doesn't even wait until she's at the bank before starting to shout from across the street.

"My shield is the one that will protect the heavens! Cure Boost!" She does feel a little silly about doing that without any real fanfare and while clonking across the street with her tower shields in tow, but it'll do.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    The Ace of Diamonds sits on the edge of the roof, drooped forward, looking tired. "We shouldn't even /be/ here. It's my night off! I was up late /last/ night, Spades, you know the system. One night on, two nights off! I've been pulling way more than my weight here, and..." Jun groans lightly. "Come on, Spades, we're barely the late afternoon at this poi-..."

    There goes the bank alarm. "Well, let's go, Spades! Evildoers awa-..."

    The Ace of Diamonds looks left and right, and Spades is nowhere to be seen on the roof. But plaintive cries ARE coming from the dumpster below, so she walks to that edge of the roof, peering down wth a floop of her catbeanie, and... Frowns. "Spades, you're in trash. This is why I told you not to play on the roof!" She calls, before hopping down to join the presence of...

    Mystery Knight.

    "Uh, excuse me." Diamonds wonders, looking between Signum and the Etsudumpster. "Sorry, my friend just... fell... Into garbage. We're fine here!" Jun announces, before hurrying to the dumpster to help Etsu out. "Don't ever tell Hearts you fell into a /dumpster/, she'll never let you get over it. She'll be making references for /ever/. And could you, um, /not/ attract the mysterious helpful Magical People? You're like a magnet for weird older people! This isn't a good power! Beetles /don't have that power/!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi Aegra is in the area purely by coincidence; he's leaving an Eclipse lab, where he's been working on a device to pick up pulses of magical energy, in the hopes of finding more of those creepy monsters, the ones that drop the pointy little trinkets of condensed energy. As such, even while leaving, he's quite engrossed in the machinations of his own mind, and is mostly walking around the streets of Mitakihara on autopilot.

He's not deaf, though, and eventually the blaring of the bank's alarm shakes him out of his plotting. "Hmph. Common criminals." he says. That's before he notices other... people, who radiate energy, strength, power, starting to respond and move towards the area.

"Well, not my problem, but... can't hurt to gether information." Eclipse had, as of late, been getting more aware of the activities of powered girls and boys (it was always young ones, like him, he noted) that were starting to grow active in Tokyo. It was certainly curious, and Takashi could never turn away from curiosity. Ducking into an alley, he activated his device, Axion... changing into his barrier jacket and shadow guise, the rapidly collecting shadows of dark energy making a cape behind him as he leaps up to the side of a building, and begins to watch as things unfold.

It wasn't, after all, his style to rush into things without absolute knowledge. But from here, he's got a great vantage point.

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
Hannah throws the black orbs and they hit the ground and explode into black smoke---- suddenly, out of the shadows, and the dark corners of the night bank, pop trenchcoated figures, clad in brown, with pale, grey skin and weird red eyes, are 'men' adorned with fedoras, packing various flavor of firepower, pistols, and sub-machine guns that look like the old gangster style thompson styled ones in old movies. They level thier guns at Security Guards. (Who have the smarts to run for cover) and Magical Girl alike and begin to unleash a hail of magical 'bullets' into the various magical girls confronting Hannah, both verbally, and non. Some begin towards the back towards the vault. This is going to become a problem fast. Even as more appear from the shadows.

The orbs slowly distengrate into dust, cracking down the middle.

These things don't talk much, except with thier weapons it seems- but at least they seem to know what they're here to aquire. The disposable minions of Panther Claw tend to be very good at that. They also have the smarts not to shoot at Hannah.

Runealy and the Storm Knight get the brunt of the attention, hard and fast.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah doesn't yet notice Nanoha, flying as she is and far outside of her hearing for now. But Naga Amaya and Lady Silver both catch her hearing. With a mental command, Raging Tempest's readout glows.

"Wind Divination!" Comes the Device, a female british voice. Hannah takes a deep breath, soaked in the sensations of the air around her.

She, of course, steps into the bank before addressing the pair.

"Good evening, Lady Silver-san, Miss Hero-san. Unfortunately I cannot do that. Please refer to me as Miss White. What can I say, subtlty is not my strong point!" Comes the woman, again polite, and her stance hardly changes. She seems more focused on those arriving than the security guards.

Nor does she yet realize Ace of Spades is here! But no doubt she will once she gets out of that dumpster!

So too does Runealy arrive! Hannah sighs a bit to the Princess.

"At the risk of sounding rude, Princess-san, you have met me...what, twice? You can hardly say that for certain, can you? Besides, I assure you I have my reasons. You are welcome to attempt stopping me." There's a sweep of one hand, almost an invitation for her to try. Not that she realizes Rune can't see it!

It's Junpei-san! The man's arrival first sparks confusion, a little worry, guilt, and then a grin when he calls out. For some odd reason, the woman looks a little proud.

"A reasonable question. But I am not about to spout my reasons so freely. Try beating it out of me, if you are capable of it." Invites the woman. Her stance grows more active, hopping from foot to foot in anticipation.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah feels the air move around her as the burst of speed that is the Storm Knight zooms past her. She's several steps too slow, but backs off, her coat fluttering from the pure wind kicked up from Suzuki's passing. Her hands go up tighter, ready for a strike to guard against. It doesn't come, as the other girl barely manages to stay upright.

"...Well, I suppose I cannot deny that." She /did/ kick down a door.

"But you are free to take our security friends outside, Miss...I do not think I ever caught your name." Then she hmph's.

"Punish me? Impossible. Are you saying that you are some warrior of justice? Hmph! Do not speak such futile words. The weak and innocent are always stepped on. No one can stop that." Comes Hannah, her voice growing hard and bitter.

Her Bitter Villain Speech is interrupted by a loud whump some ways away. Frown. It certainly /wasn't/ the Hero Yuki Yuna! Couldn't be!

Hannah Sharp may not be the greatest traditional mage in the world, but her Device's suitability and physical strength are high! Who knows if Signum's analysis will pick up on that or not.

Cure Boost arrives, shield in hand! Shouting across the street.

"...Dear God there certainly are a lot of you. EXCELLENT! I was beginning to think this would be a trivial matter, but there are so many strong and brave people here! Hah hah hah haaahhhhhh! Oh, the mere sight of you all makes my blood run hot and my heart pound in anticipation! What are you all capable of? What are your limits!? How strong are you!?"

She takes a deep breath, managing to calm herself down slightly.

"But, as much as I /love/ the thought, I will leave you all with this: let me take what I need, and in return, both yourselves and this fine security officers shall be unharmed. Well? Come, come, I am a busy woman." Offers Hannah finally.

She doesn't yet know her compatriot is around however!

Suddenly she has minions. Hannah looks surprised for a moment, but then recovers. "...Disgusting as ever, but useful." Ahem!

"Right! /NO KILLING/! Understand? Give me covering fire, and let the security guards flee /unharmed/ if they choose to do so!" Orders the woman.

"I guess that means diplomacy is off. COME! Show me if any of you are more than mere words!" Yells Hannah, even as she takes her place in the middle of the group, ordering a few of the goons to head towards the bank's vault. She sets herself up to defend the goons going for the objective!

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Things go upended very quickly. Shady guys with guns pop up out of nowhere and start shooting at people. Nanoha frowns. "Raising Heart!"

"Divine Shooter."

Pink balls of raw magic begin to manifest around Nanoha as she brings her staff up. He swings it towards one of the trenchcoated demon-guys, one of the ones unloading on the Storm Night and cries out.

"Shoot!"

The orbs hurtle at high speed towards the youma. Not that she even knows what a Youma is. They're not her thing, though they probably will be soon.

Naga Amaya (53) has posed:
     Naga Amaya's first reaction when she hears the guns is to let her face go completely white, "Guns... guns.. " She seems to pout a little bit at the sound of them, and runs back around the corner, breathing heavily. "Th... This is stupid.. I can't deal with that stuff..." She looks over to her staff, worried, then peaks back around the corner of the building. She doesn't know who Miss White is referring to when she says Hero-san, and it definitely can't be her?" She then smiles weakly, collapsing a little bit, crouching down against the wall, staying out of the way for the time being.

Yuko Minami has posed:
Is that the girl from the concert? Well, one of? Squinting a bit at Miss White, Cure Boost pounds her shields together as she points at the white-haired magical girl dramatically! "Hey! Stop this right now, or I'm-uh. We're taking you down!"

There's quite a few more magical girls around than expected, and the bank robber seems more than prepared to even out the numbers! Jumping into position (more of a short hop, really), the green Precure slams her tower shields together to provide a practically impenetrable barrier against the bullets coming her way and for anyone else behind her!

"Is that so, Miss White? If you think you can take us all down, then you'd better think fast!" With the shields in front of her, there's not much Boost can really do on the offensive front alone. Still, she's advancing towards the bank at a steady rate, using BRUTE FORCE to try and get closer to the minions and the source of all those bullets in the hopes that the rest of the warriors will take advantage of the opening.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Lady Silver draws her katanna, and takes a low stance, holding the katana paralelle to the ground with one hand, the other extended as she gives hannah a smirk. "Let's Dance." She says as she makes a charge in at the woman, a burst of speed followed by the thrusting at hannah with her katana.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
            <GEFAHR ERKANNT.>

That ping was the only thing that let Suzuki know that the bullets were incoming, and Suzuki shifted quickly to dodge as many of them as she could, letting bullets graze past her instead of using a spell to defend against it. It possibly LOOKD almost like an elegant dance, though in reality it was internally panicked movements, trying not to get /shot/. Several of the bullets graze across her, and there was a good strike to her side and left thigh. "Sssss." A small hiss of pain escaped her lips, though she recovered relatively quickly, thanks to her Knight Clothing's protection.

And then... she's surprised by Miss White. "I am the Storm Knight." She shifts her device slightly, lowering the tip of it. "Yes. I am a warrior of justice. It is the responsibility of the strong to protect and support the weak and innocent from those who step on them." The Storm Knight responds, several arcs of lightning crackling around her as the rest of her Blitz Schritt's electric charge dissipated.

"You will come to learn this in time, as well, I'm sure." Storm Knight ends, her eyes narrowing slightly. Still, she was given a very good opportunity. "Still." She straightens up, her naginata moving from an aggressive stance to a more passive one. "...I'll take you up on getting the workers here out." Immediately, Suzuki moves towards the security team, moving to help up any who had been knocked over by the door. "You heard her. Everyone, get out, quickly. It's not safe to be here!" She calls out towards the employees.

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    "It is TOO a power! And it works!" The Ace of Spades protests, crawling out of the dumpster with the Ace of Diamonds' help. A bit clumsily, but better than nothing. Her bright blue eyes fixate on Signum! Or they would if she had the ability to fixate. It's more that she looks at her intently for a few seconds and then gets distracted by all the noise and lights. For HER, this is absolutely a new record.

    "Um! Hello. I'm Et--" Awkward pause. "I mean I'm the Ace of Spades! Superhero! I'm also a knight with a sword!" Grasp grasp. Waaaait a minute.

    Spades returns to the dumpster and retrieves her sword.

    "Now I am! Are you going to help us stop a bank robbery?" Is she? Well at this rate they will be LATE to the bank robbery but psht, details. There is so much noise and so many lights coming from the bank too! My gosh what's going on over there?

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Runealy is only partially aware of various others... the Aces, Signum, they seem to be heading off in a somewhat different direction than front-and-center of the bank. Others observe from a far, and she fails to notice the likes of Takashi doing so. Yuna does seem to be approaching, and is seen in the edge of her vision accordingly. Cure Boost and Nanoha likewise. Lady Silver is given a quick glance, with Runealy's eyes fixing on her blade for a moment in particular; it's very exotic and different compared to what the princess knows.

Miss White's words rattle her. "For certain? No. But you protect this city's healers! I've seen that!" Archaic words, those; 'healers' instead of 'EMTs'. "I can't imagine you'd be so... ah!?"

Her protests are cut off by gunfire. Bullets. The 'invisible arrows', as Runealy thinks of them. Homura has explained a little - precious little - about them, and she knows what to do. Surrounding herself in a red forcefield bubble, Runealy winces as she feels the tiny projectiles impact against it. Waiting for a lull in the barrage, the princess' defenses then lower as she tracks where Nanoha was firing. Not to shoot at the same trenchcoat-wearer Nanoha is, but to aim just past that one and launch a green orb from her wand. It aims to 'explode' into emerald sparkles on impact, which Runealy hopes will cut down one of these threats before it can fire on either of them!

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Matsuo Junpei heard others show up and felt heartened. No need to go after someone that could go toe to toe with things that ould down humans purely by being around! The problem is now his mind was screaming that this woman's behavior was highly inconsistant. Did she have to do this because someone had something on her? Was it like that movie where someone had to do a thing otherwise love interest/sibling/parent/child would have Bad Things done to them? "Why?" He asked again. "You're hurting people doing this. Please stop." Not that asking nice ever did anything in these situations. Kicking a door in and demanding armed guards get face down was a bit of a comittal move. Frankly he felt lucky he didn't have a pair of matched sucking chest wounds for just showing up.

Except now there were gangsters. No really. Actual fedora striped suit gangsters with guns. Yea that was Junpei's cue to not be standing out in the open. He was alergic to lead. He was even more allergic to whatever these guns were firing even though it was not lead.

Still, Hewas surprisingly lucky in not being shot, and even more lucky in having some relatively heavy thing in arm's reach. He wasn't thinking. Literally no thoughts in his head. Move. Move move move move because you stop moving you get shot lots and getting shot means you can't play in the band.

At Hannah's words Junpey flung whatever he'd gotten hold of at her, "THE ONLY STEPPING I SEE IS YOU!" He shouted even as he kept trying to keep from dying. Contradiction there since shouting caused attention to focus and focused attention was bad. "You are no better than these monsters if this is the best you can manage. Just another predator even if you're wanting us safe from all the othe rpredators." Wait mouth what are you saying? Stop antagoniszing the punch happy woman that can summon minions with magic guns. No mouth! Bad! STHAP!

As Junpei moved he foundf more things. Random knickknacks and all pretty useless as weapons, to throw as he shouted. "The only difference between you andd that thing at the park, or that other thing that attacked my friend's school is you have a pretty face. Stop hiding behind the guns and I'll fix that."

MOUTH WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN THE REST OF ME INTO?!?!?!?!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Since the alarms are already blaring, the actual security's not an issue, and there's essentially mass chaos going on in the lobby, there are a lot of lights and shadows. Someone takes this priceless opportunity to silently pick the lock of a side entrance and slip into the building, keeping to the shadows and behind counters and plants and columns, freezing whenever something flashes and lights up the area he's in.

Slowly and carefully, or quickly and quietly, Tuxedo Kamen makes his way toward Hannah's target.

Signum has posed:
"Greetings, Ace of Spades," Signum says formally, bowing as if she were a knight (she is), and then standing back up to her normal height. She attempts to muster a smile, but it looks slightly awkward and forced, "You have a fine blade. I will gladly help you."

She considers the bank robbery. If one of the criminals there has a Linker Core, she might be able to spare Etsu some pain and recovering, as well as avoid breaching her own code of knighthood. The forced smile gives way to a neutral expression.

She looks to the Ace of Diamonds and asks, "Shall we proceed if I am not intruding? It is more pressing to handle the crime at hand," the Knight points out in a neutral tone.

Yusha Yuna (50) has posed:
    Oh wow, lots of people here. And some of them look like heroes! Kinda, maybe? Probably! Yuna looks over from the duo with the mystery knight, to the princess, to the naginata knight, to a flying girl, to--bank robbers! The pink-haired girl stands stock still for a few moments, then tilts her head to one side , finger to her chin and eyes widely curious.

    "Why'd it react to a robbery?" No explanation of what she's talking about is forthcoming, because there are far more important, immediate events.

    "Okay!" Hannah's speech makes things a lot easier to understand, so Yuna's grateful for that. "If you think that--you'll have to see it's wrong. If you can't see it for yourself, then let me help." She's smiling, now, with that cheerful look of one entering into the ring. This lasts right up until the shooting starts.

    "Ahhh! Hold on!" Her hands move too quickly to follow, sparks flying off her gauntlets. Is she actually moving fast enough to block bullets, or is she reading the trajectories? The obvious panic makes it hard to believe the latter. "Gak!" She keeps this up for only a few seconds before gratefully dashing behind Cure Boost. "Hello! Thanks!" A Hero has to remember to give a good greeting, but the circumstances are a bit hasty for more than that.

    From behind those shields, Yuna launches herself as high in the air as the building allows, her grin now firmly returned as she somersaults, coming down from her ballistic arc with a dropping heel to Hannah's position, following right up after Lady Silver's attack.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    Jun looks over her shoulder, at literally gangster youma shooting firearms at the assorted crowd of Superfriends: Magical Girl edition, and at Etsu, and then at Signum, and she really... can't argue against that. This, for all intents and purposes, seems like a just-slightly-off (or maybe, totally The Rightest) version of how things normally goes. And, considering that there's a bunch of Knightly Types already around...

    Mmmmmmeh seems legit.

    "You're right, you're right." The Ace of Diamonds relents, her her beanie drooping slightly as the flop to either side. "There's something more pressing than you being /smelly/, Spades. Fine. I'm the Ace of Diamonds, let's work together for now." She offers, formally, before drawing one of her magical pistols, and a single card - which is tossed to Etsu.

    "Here, clean yourself off with this." She offers as she flicks the Flame card, before turning. "Don't mess with my kohai, Knight." She mutters to Signum, before jogging off towards the stairs of the bank, and the ongoing brawl. "You two have fun! I'll be supporting you."

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
The Trenchcoat clad warriors seem to obey Hannah's orders- when the guards opt to run away, the actually stop shooting at them. They however, don't stop shooting the magical girls. They never speak trash, or ugh, or groan. it's very weird feeling these 'men'.

Nanoha shoots pink balls of magic into the fray, and takes out two of these beings. They don't slump to the ground-- they explode into black smoke. Further cementing that these guys aren't /real/. Well. They're real. Just not real /people/.

Runealy manages to takes out another two.

The ones headed backwards and now trying to break into the vault! One even's produced a sethescope

MEANWHILE, Newcomers onto the scene are regreeted with a hail of magical bullets. Incidently, the people the Storm Knight is leading out, don't get targeted. These things know how to follow orders Well.- if not particularly skilled at much else besides pointing, and shooting.

Tuxedo Mask goes un-noticed by the gangsters, but they're all pretty busy shooting at magical girls right now. None of these things are standing guard.

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    "Swordbuddies, yay! Come on, let's go be HEROES OF JUSTICE!" The Ace of Spades does not, in fact, realize her membership in Virtue kind of makes that phrasing very awkward. It'll hit her eventually. But for now, she's all too happy to introduce herself as such!

    Catching the card from the Ace of Diamonds, Etsu slides it across the length of her blade, causing either the sword or her belt (it's not very clear) to announce: /FLAME/

    This causes the magical girl to spontaneously erupt into flames. She panics for a few moments before realizing it isn't hurting her. And then she awkwardly looks at Signum. "Um, well. Let's go!"

    And so the Ace of Spades dashes straight for the bank!
    ... while on fire.
    Yeah she's visible.

    And within moments she's being gunned at being MAGICAL GANGSTERS. She flails her sword in front of herself, actually manging to slice a few of the bullets... but for the most part she's getting nailed and continuing to run in a straight line. Into the gangsters. While on fire.

    "Yaaaaaaah!"

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha frowns again. There seem to be no end to these goons. The girl calls out to the other powered heroes below, trying to foster some co-operation. "Everyone! See if you can herd them to the middle of the street!"

"Raising Heart, Canon Mode!"

"Yes, My Master."

The staff shifts the golden head swirling into a much more aggressive look, a firing handle swinging out just below. Almost at the same time, Nanoha just nods, and the staff speaks again.

"Chain Bind."

Magic circles spring up at street level, intricate formulas and lines swirling as pink chains of magic launch out to grapple at the gangster Youma and drag and hold them in the middle of the streets.

Signum has posed:
"Mm," Is the extent of Signum's reply to the Ace of Diamonds, a note that one could infer is agreement, but is not explicitly so.

Her eyes light up in surprise when the card makes Etsu burst into flames, "Ah... wait..." Signum quietly says when the girl runs off. She jogs after, not having to take too much exertion to keep pace as she dashes along in the wake of Etsu. This spares her the bulk of the bullets and serves the dual purpose of allowing Etsu to use up her own energy while Signum stays as fresh as possible.

Several moments after the first volleys, though, Signum flickers and reappears amidst a group of the gangsters that are shooting at Etsu. She's fast, that's for sure. And her sword is out of its sheath, drawn as she says simply, "Fall."

There's a spin in her step as one hand curves and arcs the blade, trying to bisect at least one Youma if not moreso with a single swipe. The other hand, clad in its gauntlet, travels in the wake of the blade. Any Youma that falls within reach of her, she attempts to snatch its Linker Core in her hand in an action she disguises as a warrior's flourish.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Hnn?" The Princess is startled by the results of these shots. She hurries behind a table to hope it will offer some protection from the shots heading her way, pausing only to reflect on one thing: "They turned into smoke?" What does that mean? Are they unnatural, inhuman?

Regardless, they have her contained for the moment; she /wants/ to go after Miss White, but can't manage it without getting seriously hurt. Runealy props her wand over the table to launch another orb from where she thinks she's being attacked from, but stops when the Ace of Spades - ON FIRE - rushes in. Not comfortable to continue 'best guess' shots while someone is plowing through the area, Runealy stops shooting and pokes her head out to see what, exactly, is happening. That's when Nanoha tries to give her some idea on what to do. It's strange; the princess is not used to being given orders or suggestions except from a few specific people in her life.

Yet she's willing to give it a try. Runealy sprints out, heading in the direction of the hallway leading to the vault. She's not trying to get into the hallway itself. Instead, she's lashing out with a few red energy rays at the trenchcoat monsters and trying to make this part of the bank uninviting for them. Hopefully they'll be driven toward Nanoha's efforts!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's still rather a lot of battle going on; it looks like the mooks haven't finished opening the vault yet, which is laudable for security and for maintaining the good guys' objective, but it's awfully inconvenient for Tuxedo Kamen.

He just wants to look inside. Really.

The tall dark masked man edges into a shadowed alcove designed to shield a drinking fountain from the bank's aesthetic, but which does a decent job of shielding impatient sneaks from view as well. He waits only somewhat impatiently.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Cure Boost goes all Hero-Speech on her! 'Miss White' is more than happy to respond!

"I have been told I think rather swiftly when it is important. And what coudl be more important than such spirited opponents! Do not dissappoint me, Boost-san!"

Lady Silver makes her stance, and Hannah slams her knuckles together.

"Show me what you are capable of, Silver-san!" Hannah feels the air displacd around that powerful weapon as Silver charges. Hannah's movement pauses, guard up, head well protected. She doesn't move until the tip of that blade gets but an inch or two away from her body! Raging Tempest pipes up!

"Wind Rider!"

Currents of magical air gather at Hannah's feet, and in a burst of wind-powered motion, she ducks forward and beneath that thrusting blade! Seeking to get below sword and into Silver's guard where a slash would be difficult, she aims a powerful uppercut for her jaw!

Another hmph, at the Storm Knight. "And do you actually think there can ever be enough strong people to protect those innocent lives while the world is the way it is? It is futile! A wasted effort!" She counters with feeling, and more than a little boiling wrath.

Runealy isn't forgotten either!

"That is correct. But I did so out of my own will, not out of some foolish attempt at defending some intangible concept like 'justice'. Even then, there are so many out there, right now, being hurt. As we all are right now, we are truly powerless."

Junpei's words have her scowling. "DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THIS TRASH!" She screams, eyes widening, for a moment completely incensed. Knickknacks are punched out of the way, one stapler going flying back at Junpei!

"I am more than these filthy creatures! I will not deny I am a predator, but I do so with will and purpose of my own!"

Then, she smirks. "...Please. There is bravery and then stupidity. I would be utterly destroyed without a few distractions right now. Once I deal with /these/ ones, I will..."

But, Hero Yuna has words for her too, and her anger fades slightly.

"...Make me see that it is wrong? Do you really think you can do that? Something like that would require changing the nature of this world. Impossible."

And then, the form of Yuna comes slamming down with a summersaulting heel kick! The distraction of Junpei has her less guarded than normal, and she takes it right on the shoulder! Just in time, her Device puts up a shield, but the impact has her geta-clad feet breaking holes into the concrete floor! She groans in pain at the shock running through her shoulder, iron-hard muscles and barrier keeping her bones from braking. Muscle strains as she seems to hold the entirety of Yuna's weight with her body.

"Not much technique, clumsy, but you have physical strength and spirit! Good! But you leave yourself /OPEN/ like this!" Flexing her aching arm and shoulder, she forces back Yuna's body, trying to shove her higher into the air! Her left arm goes back up in a guard as she swings her body from her own movement, aiming a right hook to Yuna's midsection!

But her gangster allies are being cut down quickly. She frowns, even as her senses watch all three of her immediate opponents.

"Status report! Is the vault open yet?" She asks the nearest goon.

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
The Youma take the INCOMING Ace of Spades, she just charges in, on fire, coming in swinging. Lots of "Gangsters' explode into black smoke, lots being about six that get pushed aside by the shove alone! These things don't take a lot of abuse. However, there's a lot of them, and for every two dispatched, another appears from the shadows. At least logic dictates there's an end to the mess at some point then.

Nanoha pulled out some goons onto the street. When they arrive in a sudden pile of a mess, they begin shooting at Nanoha in earnest.

Signum slashes into Youma, trying to snatch linker cores. Signum probably learns this is a waste of time as nothing at all comes of it. These things don't seem to have a linker core. At least not like a full and actual being. What Signum gets is a bunch of black wispy smoke.

The beings aren't driven out by fear of being destroyed, as Runealy descends on them! She does however, prove effective at destroying maner with red energy rays.

MEANWHILE, the vault at the back opens finally, and the squad of jerks who made it back there, aim to file in. They begin filling sacks like they were Santa Claus getting ready for Christmas.

A Gangstar says. "It's open." it's voice is growly and weird.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Lady Silver smirks at the miss, and her other hand, the one not holding the Katana, intercepts the other hand, though, not without a tool. the empty sheathe of her katana blocks the incomming uppercut, sending the lady of silver into a flip over Raging Tempest. "That sort of thrust is always a feint, you wants to much anime White-chan." She says as she is now in the bank, and she sheathes her sword. "Ja-ne!~" She says as she turns and makes a dash for the vault, leaping off with her roght foot as she moves with a quick speed, attemopting to iaijutsu strike any goon that gets in her way, moving in an almost serpentine mannor.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
    The gangsters were still shooting at her, as Storm Knight evacuated the security guards. Really, she hadn't expected much from them. Hannah was a person. These things were no better than Youma. Still, Storm Knight turned her gaze towards them, glowering at them as she lifted her device.

            <PANZERGEIST.>

With the ping of her device, a shield began to radiate over Storm Knight, who focused entirely on that magically while slowly moving to escort the security guards out. Once she was sure they were out, she turned back towards Hannah. She did, however, take note of Signum. She seemed... somehow similar to herself? Maybe? Except with a sword. Her device seemed to be somewhat similar. Hm. Interesting! Maybe she could interact with her later.

    Still, more pressing matters. Like 'Miss White' and the youma. Storm knight took a slow inhale, before shifting her Naginata up once more, shifting it back up to an aggressive stance. "Now then."

            <SCHLAG.>

    Two arrow-shaped bolts of lightning appeared in the air alongside Storm Knight, the air crackling around them. She lifts the tip of the device towards Miss White, both hands on them as she begins to step towards them.

        "It would be best if you left."

    Instead of being shot at Hannah, however, the dash towards her was a feint, as the two arrows of lightning were sent rapidly towards the minions at the safe, along with the safe itself. One attempting to strike the door and (hopefully) trigger its defenses and activate the emergency locks. The other one aims for the closest minion to the actual locking device, intent on simply eradicating it with electricity.

     Once that was out of the way, Storm Knight moved to immediately position herself between Hannah and the vault, her shield falling. "Yes. There are enough strong people, so long as they don't take advantage of those weaker than them. Like you are right now." Storm Knight replies, borderline glowering at Hannah. "Why are you even robbing this bank? Is your family having a difficult time?"

Yuko Minami has posed:
Things sure seem to have gotten busy in a hurry. Is that Junpei? Throwing random crap, no less. And those are a lot of weirdly pink explosions from... A little girl. Boost casts a blank stare at Nanoha and Princess for a short while before turning to Yuna with that same stare.

"Uh..? Oh! Hi there. Not a problem. Stick with me if you don't-" And then Yuna's off! "... Want to get shot. Ehm. Careful, then!" As she goes off to target Miss White, meanwhile, Boost's attention is next drawn by the giant fireball heading straight for the gangsters. Just a... Screaming girl on fire.

What. She just stares at the Ace of Spades as she gets right in there, not really knowing how to react to that. Well, at least there's someone else drawing fire-er. Making herself a target.

Looking over at Miss White once again, a confident grin crosses the green Precure's as she takes a few steps closer and gives those shields another loud pound against each other. "We'll just have to see what's faster, then! Your mind or my..."

Okay. So that probably wasn't the best boast, considering how freaking slow she is. She's working on it! "... If you can get past my defenses, then!" Ignoring that grammatical error, Boost begins her slow and steady advance to try and just punch Miss White with the weight of her massive shield behind her blow!

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Matsuo Junpei never stopped moving. He is not built for agility and frankly tha tstapler to the shoulder /HURT/. "Then prove it." At this point his mind had just thrown up its metaphorical hands at what his mouth was doing. "Prove you are better than some low life thug." He had no idea if he counted in the 'do not kill' order since he was still here and acting as opposed to running. Shoulder pain. Hurt. Still moving though even as he pulled out what might be confused for a pair of batons. Nope! drum sticks. Thick dense wooden drum sticks made for traditional japanese drums.

"You are the same. I don't care what high words you put on it. You sound like that freaky spider thing that tried eating a friend of mine. So either sit down and shut up, or put up." He was terrified even as he realized others were keeping her attention, or at least keeping her from doing more than throwing a random stapler back at him, or punching it back... whatever. "And you. lady. Stop giving crazy robber predator person tips please. Less ego, more getting her to stop this nonsense."

So here he was fairly open, the slowest thing in the room due to not magical. And armed only with a couple wooden sticks as he started running towards Hannah. That's right focus on the crazy guy that's now screaming. Totally crazy. Not abjectly terrified and his brain checking out to lunch just as he throws one of his bachi at Mis. White's head whil wildly swinging with the other. Zero technique. None. Just a lot of noise and motion and him praying to God and Ancestors somebody else around here keeps him from getting killed.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's open. The jerkfaced shadow goons pour in with sacks, which is fairly aggravating. There's a girl trying to keep Hannah from going into the vault, and presumably the rest of these girls will do something about the rest of it, but he'll also have lost his chance.

Tuxedo Kamen is nothing if not a little recklessly stupid at times, and this is one of those times.

He takes his hat off, darts out of the alcove, and into the vault. As he runs in -- coincidentally as Rockstar Guy is running at Hannah and making a lot of convenient noise -- he flings his hat like it's a frisbee, tilted in a specific arc, aiming for a round of smacking and distracting of goons.

As soon as the hat leaves his hand, he tucks into a somersault across the vault floor in case they reflexively shoot and bullets start wall-bouncing and says urgently, "Quickly, to Ms White! She's being attacked by the Sparkling Keytar of Star Power Ballads and requires your aid!"

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    It is only once she is past the initial line of gangster youma standing guard near the entrance of the bank that the Ace of Spades understands the full situation. OK, you're right, that's a lie. She does not understand squat here. She mostly notices there are a LOT of magical girls here, and a lot more... wispy dark smoke bad guys? And magical girls fighting each other? This went from LET'S BE HEROES YEEEEAH to WHAT IS HAPPENING AAAAAH pretty fast.

    At least she's in good company?

    "U-Um. Miss Knight, I'm not sure I really get what's going on here. I guess these dark smoke people are robbing the bank? But why are other people fighting each other?" Oh, to be that naive. Magical girls can't just fight magical girls, that's silly.

    "I'll... um... I'll deal with the smoke people. I don't want to make a mess." At least, the fire around her dies down. The cards don't tend to last very long! She'll have to give that back to Diamonds, too.

    Clutching her sword harder, the Ace of Spades goes to town. More specifically, she starts slashing and thrusting at any stray 'gangster' trying to attack Princess Runealy or Nanoha! Those two seem to be doing the most visible good she can see at a glance, helping them keep clear can only help!

Yusha Yuna (50) has posed:
    "Nope, don't have to!" Yuna declares. "The world isn't as wrong as you think it is--you'll see!" And then she's forced up and backward, flipping in the air--she's actually pretty light, but in the next motion she's rushing back in--just in time to take Hannah's right hook.

    "Ah! Gyuki!" The hit will probably feel weird to Hannah, since she impacted a magic shield in front of a bovine fairy instead of her target. It still drives Yuna off-center, but doesn't bring her down. Jaw-clenched, she rushes forward in a clearly superhuman burst of speed, her fist coming in fast enough toward Hannah's leading shoulder to break more than most masonry can take. Focusing now, after that 'technique' comment, the first punch is followed by a left toward the stomach, a hard right to the hip, and a spinning kick from low and left, each blow working around to keep her further off from Cure Boost's approach, showing some quick footwork.

    "The world needs heroes, but that doesn't mean it's hopeless. That kind of thinking--that's what I'll prove wrong."

Signum has posed:
During her spin, Signum learns two things. The first is that minion-level Youma give no magic for her completely unsuspicious use. The second is that, as she spots mid-turn, someone else on the battlefield is using Ancient Belkan technology. She files that away for later. It could be another Knight, it could be a page in training. Both are worth looking into.

"This situation would seem to be immensely complex and multi-sided," Signum notes in a calm tone, her face betraying no emotion, "You should stay close. Do not hesitate to fall back to me if you need aid or become injured," Signum reassures to the Ace of Spades before allowing her to go handle things at her own pace.

She sighs a bit, "Laevatein," Her tone is bland. Against the superior numbers, she is as cool as a cucumber even as her mind races and attempts to gauge numbers and positions. Bullets whirl around her, but her every motion is a conservation of energy and a display of perfect spacial awareness. The ones that have a chance of missing, do. The ones that she cannot avoid, gently crazy her, drawing the occasional line across her that immediately heals or pinging off her armor with loud popping noises.

Despite the single word and no other command, the sword knows exactly one to do. The surprisingly enthusiastic male voice shouts:

<Schlangeform>

With a flick of her wrist, the sword shimmers and the blade detaches, becoming multi-segmented and whip-like in motion. The knight swings her arm in a circular motion, the viper-like whip-blade now making the area around her a whirlwind of youma-dicing action.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Over the din of battle, Miss White's words still cut through. "So you think it's just some weird idea?" The Princess' response is weak, startled; not an accusation, but surprise as she tries to reconcile the events in the park that day with what is happening here. Those words are all she can say now, as the battle is too thick and too frantic for much else to be discussed; she was shouting in Miss White's general direction to even have that much of a conversation!

With some momentum established, she's able to take in more of what's happening. The Ace of Spades was quite an eye-catcher, but now she's able to get some look at what Signum is doing. The sword strikes make sense. What follows afterward, especially with its lack of any obvious effect, just confuses Runealy. It goes without comment, but she files it in her mind to ponder about later on.

Instead, she's more concerned with a sudden realization about what happened while trying to work with Nanoha. Trying to 'drive them' toward Nanoha's attacks hadn't done much; Runealy just yielded direct hits instead. "They stood their ground... were they that confident, or just unflinching no matter what?"

She meets Boost's gaze and responds: "Fighting is scary, isn't it? I'll be careful... you too, so we get through this!" Granted, the 'careful' remark seemed intended for someone else as far as the princess could tell... but it bore comment regardless. She can't follow Boost though; she's busy trying to keep things contained in the lobby and anything immediately visible outside from the front door.

She notices the Ace of Spade's help during this, raising an eye upon realizing one of the Ace's targets was aiming at her! "Ah... th... thank you?!" It's a confused show of gratitude, but Runealy will remember this... and tries to return the favor by a few shots at the ground past the Ace; just something to kick up a little debris/'smoke' to cover any movements the Ace of Spades might want to do.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah actually /grins/ as Silver leaps over using her attack! "Oh? So a block like that is...I see. Impressive!" Then she's speeding away. At least the vault's open now.

But she has more problems before she can deal with her. Such as Storm Knight and Yuna!

She punche a fairy, and actually looks pretty apologetic about it for about one second. Then she's fending off hammer-blows that could well equal her own. Hannah /laughs/ joyously.

The punch to her shoulder is intercepted by a shift in stance, taking it right on the side of her Device! The gold thing shudders, but holds, impressively durable. She instantly takes a step back, hunching her body defensively as her arm saves her stomach! A green barrier softens the blow, but Yuna can feel muscle straining underneath the blow. There's now a horrid bruise on her arm! The hard right catches her, knocking her back, and she swiftly recovers with a cough of pain. Finally, that spinning kick is met with a kick of her own, barrier and foot likely meeting fairy-shield and hero-foot!

"I wish a world exists where you'd be right." Comes Hannah sadly.

She's back in a guarding position, and those lightning bolts crash past her and towards the vault! The woman gasps, then frowns. She has the Storm Knight between herself and victory!

"No, they are fine. It is not a question of money, but..." She pauses, seems to consider, and then nods. She likes this woman's spirit.

"Strength. Real strength." It seems to be all she's going to get out of Miss White.

"Sometimes to reach our dreams we have to do terrible things like that. It makes me a bad person, perhaps, but it is the only path open to succeeding."

And then, she moves. A left jab is aimed for her Device, seeking to knock it out of her hands or simply throw off her guard! Then, shifting back and forth rapidly, she fires off a series of punches! A jab to the face, a hook to the side, and one to the stomach! Each has a burst of cutting winds as she strikes, like a dozen razor blades flowing from her fists!

Then in comes Junpei! She scowls at the man!

"Thug? Hmph. A thug fights for base things. I have a higher goal than that." Her teeth grit, and then, she's /there/.

The bachi lands on her head, and snaps. Not a moment earlier, her Barrier Jacket dissappears to leave a simple running outfit. Her Device keeps up the antirecognition spell, but the hard, wild blow cracks onto her skull and has blood dripping down one of her eyes.

"...Hmph. No technique. Useless." Then, she'll attempt to grab the man by the throat, and toss him right at the incoming Cure Boost as her barrier jacket reforms!

But this does mean Boost gets in one punch! It hits her right in the chest, and sends her flying! Right towards the vault! As she flies away, she kicks in the air, a burst of wind magic aimed for Boost and propelling her near the ceiling and towards the vault!

"I do not need to get past them to win, Cure Boost!"

Then, she activates her Device once more! "Transfer!" She'll attempt to teleport towards the vault, though there's still enough time to try to stop her! To Rune, she hmph's.

"It is a dangerous idea. People are going to die for a useless purpose. I cannot /stand/ that!"

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
The Gangsters in the Vault continue loading bags from security boxes. They're ignoring things like gold, cash and going for Gems only. There's no large pile of gems in the middle of the vault, that would be silly! Everything is being taken however.

When Tuxedo Kamen comes in, the goons look towards him. The give him a blank stare-

Yeah that didn't work, it seems, and they begin to trying to grab out at Tuxedo Kamen!-----

Then they're vaporized by the Storm Knight's lightning while the door begins to shut slowly- Tuxedo Kamen probably doesn't have too long to either get out, or stay in the vault and hopes one of the heroes comes back to let him out later. Lady Silver probably doesn't want to go running into the vault right now either, lest she be stuck in there, too!

The Ace of Spades cuts into more youma gangsters with terrible efficiency, and more dissapear. The numbers are starting to thin now.

Runealy seems to mistake being not very intelligent with standing ground confidently.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Matsuo Junpei was about to say something right up until he was lifted by his neck and thrown into Cure Boost, at which point about the only thing that came out of his mouth was a muffled grunt as he rolled to the ground. He tried to get up. Shouted at his body to move. He couldn't though. It wasn't anything permenent other than maybe bruised pride. It was more the simple fact he just got tossed like a ragdoll into something solidly heavy and not intende to be landed on. So down he stayed, tried to get his limbs to coordinate so he could Person properly. Yea. This was gonna be not fun when the bruises started tomorrow.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha is now being shot at. She is not Mysterious Little Blonde Girl, she is not excessively fast. A few of the bullets strike her, tearing into her Barrier Jacket. Her right hand comes up, a shimmering pink barrier rising to life in front of her, bullets pinging harmlessly off of it.

More chains burst from the magic circles, lashing at the goons who are not in the building, aiming to drag and hold them all in a convenient mass in the center of the road.

The girl lands, adjusting her grip on the staff, taking hold of the firing grip. "Raising Heart!"

"Standby, ready."

Massive amounts of magic begins to gether, the cannon-stick humming loudly, the area before the tip glowing pink and very bright, the glow approaching sun-like.

Uh oh.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Lady Silver blinks as she stops mid run and looks up. "Gotcha!" She says under her breath, taking note of Raging Tempest and making a leap into the air, her sheathed Katana glowing a bright silver. "Theivery doesnt protect people... time to end this!" She says as she aims her next strike right at hannah. "Silver Sonic Slice!!!" She says with an attempt to connect her Charged iaijutsu attack to Hanah, as it sends you a bright silver light when she quick draws it.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Storm knight moved as 'Miss White' began to approach to attack her. As the punch came in towards her device, Storm Knight moved with the blow, the strike to the device making it turn and strike at Miss White in return, the blade moving towards her leg. Still, those were a lot of punches, and while Storm Knight was fast enough to defend against the repeated incoming fists. It was a fast exchange, both of the knights based around speed. Like a pair of storms fighting against each other. Thunder against the gusting wind. "You attacked a bank for /strength/?! This is cowardace, not strength!" Storm Knight replies, taken somewhat aback. Just long enough to get a hook to the stomach.

    Ow. That hurt. Still. Storm Knight was used to fighting, and getting bruises and hits. She recovered quickly enough. "What are you trying to succeed in? What is your dream?" Storm Knight calls out, shifting her blade quickly.

     Hannah was attempting to teleport away though. She recognized that, even. Storm Knight stepped in immediately, bringing the device towards Hannah's chest. She slashes the blade diagonally, attempting to cut from her right shoulder to her left hip. "This purpose..." She spins the Naginata around gracefully and brings the back of her Naginata towards her, attempting to strike the center of her chest and send her off-balance. "Is not..." Knocked unbalanced or not, immediately after the strike towards the center of Hannah's chest, she brings the Naginata down to cut from left-to-right immediately afterwards, attempting to complete the 'X' and disrupt her teleportation. "Useless!"

Yusha Yuna (50) has posed:
    The fairy doesn't stop the blow this time, Yuna instead meeting Hannah kick for kick, taking the force to her leg, but giving as hard. They're probably going to have matching bruises. "That is--the world we fight for! You think it's lost, but I won't let that happen. You--"

    That said, the hit makes her a little slow on the pursuit. Hannah gets away from her before she rushes back into action. Lady Silver is keeping up, but Cure Boost seems low on mobility. Junpei she sees go down, but as with the security guards, she's prioritizing what she can do. She's quick, over distances this short, almost disappearing as she shoots forward, the floor deforming slightly beneath her feet.

    A naginata strikes from one direction. Yuna's fist strikes from the other, with the full force of her charge aiming just past Hannah's center of gravity. A coiled spring, but it might not be quick enough to catch the teleport (that she has no idea is coming).

    "--are looking down on that resolve!"

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    Thinning numbers or not, there's still too many to dodge them all! The Ace of Spades lacks her defensive options, too. She's got offensive cards, that's it. So magical bullets, thankfully not real ones, even if on-impact it'd be difficult to tell the difference, find their mark time and time again-- damaging cloth, bouncing on her sword, causing her to slow her charges.

    Eventually she can't take too much more of this!

    So she does what Signum said, she withdraws to the older Knight. If not for Princess Runealy's cover that might have been intensely more difficult, but a bit of dust and debris'll do the trick. It is a STRONG motivator to do so when she notices the intense glow coming from Nanoha's direction, too. That, that looks like JUSTICE. The kind of justice you do not want to be in front of when it goes off. So let's be over here by Signum instead.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
--yeah, 'things that didn't work' for $500. Tuxedo Kamen's face is blank, he's pure reaction now -- first backing up a bit when the goons start toward him, then ducking behind his cape as the lightning fills the vault. As soon as he sees the goons have gone up in literal smoke, he casts about quickly, running for the dropped sacks of gems--

--but the door to the vault is closing. No. No no no. His blue eyes widen behind the mask, and then he shuts them really tightly for a half second.

Is there anything in here drawing him? Anything in here wanting him to stay, pulling at the edges of his awareness? There's... something... but.

He can't know for sure, but there's nothing like that feeling in his dreams. There's something different. But there is no time to check it.

The gems are left where they lie, and Tuxedo Kamen bolts for the door. He comes crashing out just as it's about to get too small for even someone as skinny as he is to fit, and it could be an extremely dashing escape! COULD BE.

He's not at all looking to see if there's anyone in the way.

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
The goons continue to shoot up at Nanoha, even while she gathers magical energy, these things are relentlless, but maybe, just maybe, she can wipe the floor with the rest of these goons if she can get enough oomph.

The goons in the bank are nearly non-existent, but there's plenty outside now, thanks to Nanoha's efforts.

Yuko Minami has posed:
"It is! But... We will succeed!" Flashing Runealy a brief grin, Boost's attention quickly returns to the task at hand. Hannah's got quite a few people on her, and Boost almost feels bad about teaming up on her as a lone magical girl. Or... Whatever she is.

She doesn't feel bad for that long, though, when Junpei's thrown at her and gives her little choice but to drop the shields so he doesn't get splattered. What was that thing she saw on TV about the American football players? Right! She catches him somewhat clumsily, carrying him back a bit with his momentum so as to not stop him suddenly before setting him down on the ground gently.

"What are you doing here? This isn't a place for-" And then she's hit by Miss White's burst of wind magic! Without the shields to weigh her down, she can only resist so much of even while being blown right into a wall! Hitting it with a painful thud, Boost's arm pistons actually get embedded part of the way into the wall, and she wastes a bit of time just prying herself out of there.

"That didn't count as getting past them! Even though that was... What you said." Banter is hard. The green Precure grunts and smacks her palms against her face before... Crap. Everyone's so far away now! Time to hoof it back towards Miss White once more, moving just a little faster than she did without the shields this time around!

Still probably slower than everyone else, though.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha's shield winks out, the Youma's bullets shredding her Barrier Jacket. She just grits her teeth and bears the pain. At the butt of her staff, right at the firing grip, the aggressive looking head and in front of the torso sized ball of bright pink magic.

At her feet, a magic circle springs to life, rotating slowly. From behind the head of the staff, three feathery 'wings' of pink magical energy sprout, the raw power output setting her pigtailed hair and white skirt fluttering wildly in the wash.

"Raising Heart!"

"Divine Buster."

"SHOOT!"

Nanoha Pink</span>bursts from the orb in front of the staff. It races up the street, plowing into the bound Youma, raw might ripping up pavement in massive chunks of asphalt as it blares up the road in an almost cataclysmic wave.

Signum has posed:
After letting it scythe through some Youma, Signum flicks her wrist again in a practiced motion. As if of a mind of its own, the entire whip-sword retracts and clicks into place, segment by segment, becoming her original sword again. This sword is then sheathed as Etsu moves back towards her.

The Knight nods her head to Etsu sternly and then grips the sheathed Laevatein in her left hand. She looks towards Nanoha, charging up some sort of powerful attack. She may have underestimated the value-tradeoff of going after that girl's Linker Core after all, but it was too late for that now.

<Panzerhindernis>

The call from the sword erects a minimal field around Etsu and Signum. It's a pretty strong shield, but it's only there to mitigate blowback from the Divine Buster, not absorb the entire hit. Pieces of concrete and blow-back energy ping and ripple against the off-purple field that surrounds the small area where she and Etsu stand.

She makes a mental note to send Vita after that girl at some point. The pages they gained would be a huge step forward.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
A useless purpose? The Princess gasps at that thought, then... a flash of insight occurs to her, something that calms her down long enough to make a retort to Miss White: "I know someone just the opposite of you. They also talk about 'justice', but not to insult it. For them it's a tool to keep people safe! If you met them, I don't think you'd be able to talk down on how they feel!"

As the Ace of Spades fades back, Runealy tries to do likewise. The situation further down the hall near the vault looks, and sounds, rather harrowing. So she backs off, instead trying to stay fairly close to the Ace... and in theory somewhat close to Signum, but is definitely minding the sword-whip even as Signum's focus turns to defense! This serves two purposes; staying safe from Signum, and staying out of certain other blast radiuses going on right now. She asks the sword-wielder, "Will you mind if I work with you? I don't think we're each other's enemies?" The question is hesitant, as if fearing Signum's response will be flexible steel to the face.

She also calls over the din to Cure Boost, less confident, "I... I hope so!"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
To Rune, she scowls!

"Then send them to me! I will break open their 'justice' with force!"

Lady Silver's iajutsu strike hits Hannah full on at the chest! She hurks in pain at the blow, the teleport slowed, even if the energy has yet to stop building! Part of her barrier jacket is blown away, but a quick kick has her still flying/falling towards the vault! The wind tells her the vault is locking. It looks like she'll have to get rough.

Then she's faced with a duo of more magical girls! Storm Knight's initial strike hits one of her geta, taking the blow! Yuki comes from behind, and cracks her, blasting through her protective spell and sending her towards Storm!

"Ah! Do not get the wrong idea! It is your naive thinking I despise. Your resolve that gives your fists strength? /That/ is what I admire!"

Then that first strike slams into Hannah, sending her towards a wall! In comes the second strike! Hannah's wind bouys her upright, and now knowing the power of her attack?

Her barrier is useless to defend against such strength! She lifts her elbow and leg, slamming down on the base of Storm's naginata! Two small green barriers clamp down alongside iron-hard muscle, halting the pair's movement!

"All of you are good! But not enough!"

She thrusts away, spinning around, and landing on the ground. "WIND RIDER!" The door to the vault is closing, and it seems she's the last chance. She's hurt, winded, but magic gathers under her feet! Then she's racing swiftly towards the closed vault door!

And raises back her fist. Powerful winds swirl around both fists, drawing her into a blurr towards the vault! TWin tornados in her arms, the sucking winds draw her towards the vault as she dodges and moves towards it in an erratic pattern!

"VIOLENT..." She grows closer. So close!

"RAGING!!!!"

And then she aims both fists at the vault, trying to use the horrible, steel-rending drills of her fists to blow open the vault by force to take what's inside! "TEMPEST! I WILL HAVE THE STRENGTH I NEED TO SEE MY DREAMS COME TRUE!"

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
There's a tremendous burst of energy on the youma gangsters, that starts at the middle, and flares out from the middle, the giant ball of pink wipe out the Youma Gangsters in the front of the store! There's now a small smattering inside. that are still futily shooting at the magical girls inside.

These mooks are not going to last much longer.

Junpei Matsuo has posed:
Matsuo Junpei grunted weakly as he looked up from the floor. "Your dreams are worthless if you must trample others to get them." He managed to sorta sit up. Standing wasn't in the cards yet and you could forget about actually doing anything. He felt like he got hit by a truck.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    As there is a becoming a rather intense pileup going inside, Jun, who had taken up a sniper position in the nearby buildings, frowns. Etsu and the Knight were doing fine, Spades' new swordbuddy working out well, much to Jun's surprise. Well, that's... Good!

    And then Tuxedo Kamen is hemmed in at the vault inside, and Nanoha decides to start ripping off the big laserbeams. Che.

    Now she had to be the sempai. She breaks into a sprint, holstering her pistol with a flash of pink-orange magic.

    "TUX!" She shouts, as she leaps. And twirls. And then she swipes a card in front of her belt.

    /DIVE/

    Her foot erupts with power as she rider kicks on into the crowd of gun-toting goonies, getting SWEET AIR... And landing next to Tuxedo Kamen.

    Whom she immediately picks up in a princess carry with her magically enhanced strength, and, with a fierce grin, princess carries off in a flying leap from LAMESVILLE BANK, TOKYO.

    She lands on the street, letting him down.

    "Now we're even. Your phantom thief game is /weak/, Tuxedo-san."

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     Slam! The Naginata is caught by the elbow and knee combination. Storm Knight was now pretty much inches away from Hannah, right there ahead of her. "For /what/?! What is it you are trying to do?! Why do you need strength, Miss White?!" Storm Knight calls out towards Miss White, even as Tuxedo Kamen comes dashing out of the vault. Shit. He was right in the way of that attack.

            <BLITZ SCHRITT.>
            <PANZERSCHILD.>

There was a sudden flash of lightning as that attack charges. Storm Knight was right between Miss White, keeping her device and a magical shield between herself and Miss White's attack, attempting to stop her, putting all of her strength into it. "What... drives... you..?" She asks, gritting through her teeth as she strains against the drills. Her shield would, however, break. That was not a weak attack. And Hannah was more experienced than Storm Knight was. Though she moved to reduce the effects of it, Storm Knight likely took a large brunt of the attack. Gasping and breathing heavily from the sheer exertion of even trying to reduce that. That and, most likely, taking that attack dead-on.

Rurako Doji has posed:
Lady Silver lands and sheathes her katana as she watches ragin tempest get up after all that. "Damnit, you should have stayed down." She says and watches as said villaness makes am ad rush for that vault. She in turn runs as well. "Leave her to me!" She says as she moves as fast as she can, her hand moving twoards her Katana once more as she readys to hit the villaness once more, only this time she doesnt have the time to draw in energy for her special attack. "To control the masses, keep them safe in a big brother like cocoon, and be powerfull on their gacks at the same, you make me sick, people should be allowed their own mistakes, and free from control, or outside interfearence, I fight to keep monsters like you from hurting the innocent! TASTE STEEL!" She says as she makes her way, attemtping to give another strike to the vilaness, and also, to keep said villaness away from what she is after.

Yuko Minami has posed:
How the hell is Boost supposed to catch up now? With the distance between herself and Miss White growing by the second, her only hope is having the robber girl stop somehow. And stop she does! It's not that much further to get there, and the distance is just right for the green Precure to actually get a shield back out.

"Get back here, you...! If you won't listen to their reason, I'll just make you listen to this!" As the pistons in her arms start whirring to life, the sight of the Storm Knight getting right between the path of Miss White's attack and the vault gives the newbiew Precure... Her fist ethical choice!

Attack Miss White from behind, potentially securing victory immediately, or protect Storm Knight, potentially avoiding a senseless death? She doesn't have much time to think, though, and the former does seem to already have someone on it in the form of Lady Silver.

"Boost... COVERRR!" Gripping the end of the shield tightly, Boost swings it around her head once before hurling it into the air with moderate accuracy, relying on gravity and its weight to embed the tower shield in the ground right between the White and the Knight.

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    Spades is not going to complain about the barrier Signum puts up. And being completely out of that cannon blast's way. She'll spend a few moments whining about feeling sore all over from the shots, but that's quickly interrupted by the Princess wandering over.

    "O-Oh! Hi! I'm the Ace of Spades, um. I THINK we're on the same side? I'm not... sure. This is very confusing. AHA! I know, I'll test you! If you see a baby with candy, do you steal it?"

    The Etsu character test never fails.
    It cleanly discerns good from evil.

    Then her eyes kind of... wander off Runealy completely, to stare at the Ace of Diamonds... carting her dashing prince hero off? What. What is that even. WHAT.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It all happens way too fast for Tuxedo Kamen to actually process what's going on until he's gone 'oof' and been...

...picked up in a princess carry?! By someone very short...!! And is sailing through the air not of his own volition--!!

He looks at once bewildered and the step between nervous and 'close to panic' and makes himself as small as possible in the arms of the Ace of Diamonds, to avoid getting his head or legs whacked by the Wild Card's presumable lack of width awareness.

And then the comment.

The masked man is abruptly blushing fiercely. "I'm very grateful can you please put me down! I told you I'm not a thief-- ohmygod look out for-- oh god--" He shuts his eyes tight and braces, expecting some kind of impact any second.

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
The remaining few Gangster Youmas hold thier ground, no one seems to be handling them at the moment, someone outta take the rest of these jokers out, even if right now it's like a bunch of magical gnats stinging you again and again with thier weapons.

Hannah tries to plow through the vault door. It takes a lot of power, but she can leave a hannah size hold through the vault's door inside with enough strength! Does she have what it takes!? Well it seems she does, because the wall seems to give out to her assault towards it!

Someone's probably going to want to stop that.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
The Princess watches as the Aces continue to show off what they can do - the Ace of Diamonds did just do something quite surprising - but mostly stays near Spades. "I don't think we're enemies," Runealy offers. "That question... it's kind of ridiculous to contemplate that sort of thing, isn't it?" For the time being, she tries to 'bring up the rear', occasionally stepping off to the sides to fire green orbs at the remaining trenchcoated foes.

Signum has posed:
Signum looks to Runealy as she joins them inside her shield. The pink-haired swordswoman does not hit the girl in the face. Instead, the sword is placed in its scabbard and the scabbard is kept tightly in her off hand as it was before. She keeps her gaze half-lidded and then she finally concedes some words, "We are not enemies at this moment. This much I am certain of," She states evenly.

As Etsu is distracted, Signum calmly walks up behind her while Runealy moves into the rear guard position to shoot at entrenched foes. As Signum stares down at the short Ace, her hand slowly comes up and is cocked a bit, the finishing moments of the battle left disregarded. She'd even pay more attention to the other Belkan user, were this moment not very distracting for her due to Etsu being so preoccupied.

Her hand slowly curls, not closing into a fist, but definitely into a half-close. She takes a slow breath and then moves her hand forward. As it closes in on Etsu's back, it abruptly stops an inch or two away, Signum scowling. Something from her past rings out in her mind, a memory from centuries ago and countless iterations of herself prior. It gives her pause.

'If you wish to be a Belkan Knight, you will strike every opponent at their front, Signum. If I teach you nothing else, I will make sure I teach you this.'

Signum stares at her hand and then it comes forward, the palm pressing into the center of Etsu's back. Instead of an attack, it's a single encouraging pat on the back. She quietly murmurs, "You performed well, Ace of Spades. Hold your head high. I hope we will not meet again," Which is, you know, an odd way of saying good bye.

But then, just as quickly, Signum is raising up to fly off into the night and think. She'll need to explain to the others why she, of all of them, came back empty handed tonight.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Preoccupied as she is with Storm Knight, Lady Silver has a nearly open shot at her! The incoming blow can't be avoided if she wants to hit her target with Storm in the way!

"...Is that what you think? Hmph. You have no idea about my dream, I see." No, Hannah was thinking far, far grander than that.

All Hannah can do is turn her body, taking the debilitating cut as a shallow one. Thankfully her coat slides enough to be torn from her shoulders, the kimono beneath sliced at the waist. By now, she's covered in blood and bruises, her breath ragged from so much pain and magic usage. She's nearing her limit, running on adrenaline and pure desire to secure /something/ for the Professor who saved her, gave her the road to power.

She's hurt, but not out, miraculously. Boost yells, and she speaks.

"Words are useless, Cure Boost! Show me resolve and power! Strength is the only thing that matters!"

Then that shield flies in, threatening to ruin everything. In pure, reckless desperation, she uses the only thing she has left.

The brazen invincibility of youth, and Eclipse's damn good dental coverage. As that shield comes flying, Hannah opens her mouth, and chomps down hard enough to rattle her skull! Only her well-trained muscles, magic, and a small burst of wind keeps her neck from snapping as she stops the shield's advance. Then, she spits it out.

"Any of you left! Get /SOMETHING/ and run! Any of the gems!" She screams to any goons who can hear her in pure desperation. There's a hole in the vault.

What drives her? The question hits her hard. Is she truly that would-be tyrant that Lady Silver claims? Is Yuna right, could there really be hope for the current world?

Hannah's teeth grit as wind burrows into Storm. They grow stronger, conviction and anger and suffering in her sightless eyes.

"What drives me? WHAT DRIVES ME!? Who are you to ask me that!?" She cries out, less an insult, and more a confused denial. There's something desperate in her tone, a small cry for help.

But the thought of Tomoe, Boris, her parents and Ao have her strength return.

"...Become that which I must overcome, the wall which I must climb, Storm Knight. Do /that/, come at me with the strength of a god. Show me that amount of conviction and power, then I will tell you everything. A promise, on the life of those I love." Comes the solemn vow of a conflicted woman.

She only has so much strength left. She puts it all into shoving Storm aside and battering at her. It's not as powerful as it could have been, seeking to whip her up to the ceiling, but it's still powerful enough to tear through a barrier jacket. Only Mid-Childan technology and a desire to spare her opponent blunts its edge.

But it's still like being pounded by several sledgehammers simultaneously all over the body.

Hannah dives right into that hole, heedless of damage, not even defending herself. She reaches for a single dropped bag of gems from her minions. It won't be much, but she'd rather die than go home utterly empty handed. Then, she looks back at her opponents, taking their attacks with a look of guilt, respect, and yet, a crazed kind of happiness.

"...Some of you are fools, it is true. But..."

Her smile grows wide and almost warm, kind.

"Beautiful. Such resolve. I swear I will gain the strength worthy of that." She'll try to grip a single, likely now bloody bag of gems to her body as she charges up one more teleportation spell.

"...Transfer." With that, consciousness fading, she'll be gone from the scene.

Jun Kaneko has posed:
    The Ace of Diamonds is not short! TUXEDO KAMEN IS FREAKISHLY TALL! And as she sails through the air... her charge...

    Tucks himself close in? Does he feel safe?! DOES HE WANT TO BE PROTECTED BY A BIG, STRONG, INDEPENDENT MAHOU SHOJO?!?!?!?!?!?!

    Her card-empowered superjumping runs out as she lands in a crouch, softly, the magic of her limited flight making the ride amazingly smooth! It was made for flying through the air and delivering POWERED KICKS to EVIL!!!

    Extracting a PHANTOM THIEF from TROUBLE is child's play.

    Jun lets down Tuxedo Kamen as she stands up, dusting off her hands. "Hey, just be glad I didn't have my Flame card. It'd be a real trick to carry you while I'm a pyre and my hair's on fire. You're fine, see? You need to pick your chances more. What are you /looking/ for? Something valuable in the monetary sense, I bet, otherwise you'd not be risking your neck breaking into a bank."

    She sighs. "I hope Spades didn't see that..."
    SHE DID
    "... It'd make you letting her down easy be harder."

Rurako Doji has posed:
Lady Silver frowns as she sheathes her sword. 'if you want to save humanity from what comes, there are better ways of doing it, do not hide your feelings behind rage." She says as she watches the teleporting Tempest ans turns to walk off. "We will meet again, and next time... I will be stronger." She says walking past anyone who is there, and not saying anything... "Baka..."

Etsu Miyazaki has posed:
    "That's... a good answer!" Etsu answers the Princess. They are obviously allies, that much is certain. Matter resolved! Or err, well, the bank is still a mess full of magical girls and... fights slowly wrapping up. But at least now the Ace knows Runealy is on her side! One person at a time, she can get to the bottom of this!

    She doesn't catch Signum's gestures or her GREAT INTERNAL STRIFE, reacting only to the pat with a big grin. "Thanks miss Knight! You were awesome, I hope I can sword as good as you eventually, so I can save for people." Transparent, completely transparent, that's Etsu for you.

    Hannah makes a break for it; Etsu produces her VOLT card, but freezes completely when she notices that's not another youma. That's another magical girl. Escaping with loot from the bank. She can't just-- no, that's unthinkable. Magical girls shouldn't fight.

    No shot is taken. Instead the Ace just looks kind of conflicted.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi has been there, sitting back, watching the entire escapade unfold. He'd caught enough wind of Miss White to figure who it was, and is maybe a little pleased to see her escape. Looking around, he's learned a lot from just watching. He even worries.

Some of the people he's seen have made him doubt his own strength - even the amount of punishment Hannah, his partner-in-a-plot, has made him question if he possessed the same strength she did - to go on, maybe even succeed in a small way. There certainly were a lot more players in this game - it had gone from checkers to chess.

He leans over the edge, still turning plans, plots, and ideas over in his head, watching the end of the battle in the warm night air of the Tokyo summer.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
The Princess lowers her head at Signum's words. They're ones she has had in her own thoughts while helping others, and they cut deep. "...Right." It's all she can manage before Signum begins to depart.

For all the talk of cooperating with others, Runealy's heart falters as Miss White speaks, staff lowered. No words come as an answer to those forceful remarks... she just stands there, making no effort to stop anyone's escape. Even as the Ace of Spades appreciates her answer. Runealy just 'freezes up'... not out of panic, but just losing alertness and not reacting to much going on within the bank.

Suzuki Natsume has posed:
     That didn't really answer Storm Knight's question. That desperation in her town, that cry for help. That was enough for Storm Knight to know that Miss White was ... not someone who was necessarily irredeemable. That maybe, there was a small bit of her that could understand. Unfortunately, she learned this while taking the full brunt of Hannah's strongest attack.

    "...The wall... you must climb..." She had to get stronger. She had to get stronger so that she could learn more about this strange woman who seemed at times both good and bad, honorable in spite of the fact she was stealing from a vault. "...I ... Promise." Storm Knight responds, just before being flung at the ceiling. When she landed, she didn't immediately get up, with her Knight Clothing heavily damaged and torn in several places. The henshin manages to keep up for a while.

    A 'while' being roughly about another few minutes, before the barrier jacket disintegrated, leaving an exhausted and injured Suzuki Natsume laying on the ground, slipping in and out of consciousness.

Yuko Minami has posed:
Did she really just bite a shield? Cure Boost isn't even sure how to react to that, and she just... Stares. Between that heartfelt outpouring of emotion and whatever THAT was just now, she's truly at a loss for words. Sure, her job is to stop the robbery in progress, but...

Seriously. What would drive someone so much that she'd be willing to catch a freaking tower shield with her teeth? Whatever it was, it had to be important. "... N-next time, Miss White! We'll fight again, and I'll show you my resolve with my own power!"

At least she finally got one right. She doesn't bother giving chase as Hannah disappears, her attention shifting to the grounded Storm Knight. Someone's got to take care of her and Junpei, after all! Even moreso since the former's undisguised as... Someone, and the latter got himself involved in this sort of situation without any powers. Luckily for them, the green Precure is strong like an ox even without the... Boost from her transformation, and she'll be taking them somewhere safe if there's no other interruptions or resistance on their parts!

Not like she's going to stick around for an interrogation or anything.

Rocky Road (3) has posed:
----And with Runealy's (earlier) help, the last of the Panther's explode into black wispy smoke. With that, the bank seems to be free of freakishly pale gray skin toned gangsters. All that's left seems to be the sounds of alarms and not much else.... also, gem bags left half full in the vault. Evidence of a theft thwarted well! Well, except for the small bag Hannah got away with.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
... safe?

There are no words.

Gingerly, the FREAKISHLY TALL masked (but hatless) boy straightens up, making a show of checking to see he's still in one piece. "I'll know it when I see it," he says quietly, his tone not matching the brief ham of appendage inventory.

His eyes are very blue behind the mask as he looks to meet Jun's. "I don't even really think money could buy its worth. And it's not for me. If it helps, you can tell your friend I'm taken."

He glances over at the rest of what's still going on-- mostly aftermath. "Thank you for the rescue. There are still people who could very much use your help, I think..."

Trail off, and he glances back at the Ace of Diamonds. "I have to go."

And then, unceremoniously, he does. Leap, whoosh of cape, vanish into darkness.

Takashi Agera has posed:
For a moment, Takashi leans forward, seriously considering a dive into the weakened girls... maybe to acquire some sort of magical artifact from one of them for study. Maybe... but there were a lot of them. He weighs his options, and decides that 'not getting mobbed by still hyped-up magical girls' is a very strong choice, and makes it, though it weighs heavily on his pride. He turns, headed back the way he came. It's late now. He'll sleep in the lab. He's got much more calibration to do now, anyways.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Storm and Hannah, both battered, exhausted, meet eyes. Hannah can feel the stare through her Wind Divination. The words, too, hit her.

"...Lucky. Meeting an honorable soul...too lucky!" She mutters, on the cusp of unconsciousness. Those words of the grand Storm Knight fill her heart.

A strong, faithful enemy. It gives her the strength she needs to stand as she finally looks to Cure Boost and Lady Silver.

"Until next time, indeed. I look forward to it, both of you." Her smile is small, near crazed from exhaustion and suffering, and then she's gone.

~~Tomoe Labs~~

Hannah is on her feet, if barely. Mixed emotions, guilt, rage, hope, love, hate for the world, and yet a desire to change it all like a god. They all swirl in her heart, a clump of light and dark vying for control. Raging Tempest deactivates, screamed warnings ignored as the coin sits in her pocket.

She cannot see, she can barely feel from so much injury even with the protections her barrier jacket gave her. She had chosen a lab at random, and she only hopes it's the one she wanted. Tomoe-sensei's lab.

"...Are you there, Tomoe-sensei? I...forgive me. Even with your gift, even /with/ those youma...an abject failure. WEAK! I AM TOO WEAK! I bleed and I suffer and cause suffering, and it is not enough!" Comes the despair filled scream of Hannah Sharp.

Bumping into a table, stumbling, the blind woman falls to the other table. Is it the one with the many test tubes? She can only hope. Her numb fist slams down a bag of gems. Full, but small. Her head hits the counter. It's already bloody from Junpei's wound to her head.

"...But I would rather die than return to my savior empty handed. That much, I promise, Tomoe-sensei. For my dream...for the dream of Infinity and Eclipse, I WILL GROW STRONGER! I WILL DO ANYTHING! HAH! HAH HAAAAHH HAH HAH HAH HAHHHHHH!" Comes Hannah, unleashing a crazed, unhinged, villainous laugh as the last of her strength, and all of those pent up emotions leaves her. She falls to the ground, unconscious.