Outside the Guild Building

Soon after Flick's cast to remove exhaustion and the arrival of the harpy, Sayaka's eyes began to open. Her head rolled up and back for a moment as she tried to get a good view of the area around her, still obviously out of it; before her eyes caught on Ruth. She blinked, and then her eyes hardened and narrowed; she jerked her still moderately injured form backwards and away from Ruth, then stumbled up onto her feet and grabbed her spear off of the ground. Then, she noticed the Doctor next to Silvia, and her head jerked over to stare at her for a moment. A whirlwind of emotions passed across Sayaka's face, clouding over what she was thinking but for the fact that she was confused and frightened; a moment passed, before her face settled into an almost teary look of rage.

"W-Who are you people? Why is, no," she stopped shortly, before a hysteric look took over her eyes. "No! You're trying to put a chip in—I won't let you put a chip in me!" She shouted the last few words and clenched down upon her spear, hard enough that the crusted blood on her knuckles was cracked open and began to flake off of her. Then... she sagged downwards, falling almost back down to her knees.

In a ragged, quieter voice, she began to plead at the gathered group: "Where. . . where is, where's Akiko?"

((edit: added location stamp. forgot to do that in my first post of this, apologies.))

edited 4th Feb '16 10:08:38 PM by alioth

Guild's Medical Room -> Outside

Yayoi got up from the examination chair, having fully recovered thanks to Dr. Sliva's healing. " Yeah, let's going. If that horrible noise means that someone is in trouble, then we gotta help them!"

Tsubomi nodded in agreement. " Yayoi is right, we have to go see what's happening out there. Like Ali said, we can discuss things about us on the way. So let's get going for now."

As the group started to walk out of the room and towards the Guild's entrance, Chypre floated to Ali's side and spoke to her, " So Ali, what exactly is it that you wanna know about us?"

Inside the Four Loves's Studio

As Nanoha, Fate and Vivio took a seat in the designated couch, they all smiled brightly at Flora and waved at her as she went to get the rest of her group.

Nanoha had a thoughful look as she thought about Flora's comment about helping them out with their video. " Fate, I think that maybe she should help them out if we can. If anything, it would even more fun than just watching if we get to use our magic."

Fate smiled warmly and nodded her head at her partner's suggestion. " Yeah, maybe we should. " She then turned to speak to Piper. " What sort of theme are they going for, exactly? I'm pretty good with lightning magic and Nanoha can put up a pretty good lightshow and even fireworks with her magic."

Guild Lobby

Anita looked at the talking cat that had suddenly appeared on her shoulder and started to wonder what was going on. Usually, when angels showed up, they had to make this huge burst of light and yell "Fear not!" because they looked like terrifying mashups of five different animals. But she supposed this was how the holy side worked in this universe, so she started up the stairs to the next floor.

"Tienes razón, Ariel," said Anita. "These powers were a gift to one of my ancestors. They're the reason I can even say I have ancestors, actually. It's kind of a long story."

Dinner hall

Devon nodded in agreement with Samantha. She then took a moment to think about everything. "Well I guess my power is a mix of both your powers. I mean it seem anyone in my world could become magical. But it seem the army found girls seem to have a higher rate of success..."

Devon wince at the sound of thunder. She quick jumped up and looked around. "Did you hear that?"

Lobby

A blond haired 17 year girl wander into the guild hall. She has the air of a officer. By that it seem she walk with the attitude of she not to be question. She quickly checked a phone before taking a seat.

Guild Building - Medical Room -> Outside

"W-well, there was only three of them compared to.... However many of us were there," Sophie tried to explain further, "Maybe they're just unused to dealing with large numbers...?"

At that point, the doctor suddenly headed out to examine something else. She just nodded in response to everyone else saying they should go investigate as well.

"I'd...be interested in learning a little more about you too," she said, "And I'd be happy to tell you more about me, too." She briefly glanced towards Yayoi, before looking away and twiddling her fingers nervously. "...Such as I am."

Samantha rolled her eyes and sighed.

"What is with you people and codenames?" she muttered, "What, are you that afraid I'll use your real name against you or something?"

She shook her head before watching HeartBleed's demonstration. "So in other words, you're part machine." The next word out of her mouth, while still sounding polite, had a noticeably cold tone to it, "...Interesting."

"Anyway, I was just outside fighting off some creepy...things, and I very much remember it being a pleasant day," she said on the subject of the "thunder," "Unless the weather around her is spastic, I don't think it actually was thunder. If it was, I think I would've heard more of it."

She glanced towards the door. "How about we go see for ourselves? Maybe by the time we get back that steak of yours will be done. Food takes time to prepare, I hope you realize."

Ms. Torre's eyes only narrowed further. Although she stopped building up energy, she refused to dispel it completely.

"Then go on."

Shay raised an eyebrow at Ruth's obviously fake accent.

"...Well, you could ask my boss. She's normally good at this sort of thing-"

She didn't get the chance to finish before the girl she was talking to ran off to investigate the explosion. She glanced after her for a brief moment, wondering if she should follow or not. She ultimately decided against it; she wasn't good with the whole "investigate bad things" deal most magical girls were into.

Of course, there was the chance that someone might be dead.... She'd deal with that if it came to it, although she seriously hoped it wouldn't.

For the time being, she went back to tending to the garden. If Ruth returned they could resume the conversation then.

Dining Hall

Jane, or HeartBleed if you want, gave a cold look at Sam, the way she noticed her augmented nature just rubbed her in the wrong way.
"HeartBleed is my Netrunner handle, I earned it and I'm proud of it, for your information my name is Jane O'Donnell, do you also want my citizenship number?" She added sarcastically with a cocky grin.

She shrugged "Alright, if does make you feel better, let's go check it out, apparently in this universe they take their sweet ass time to operate a food synthesizer!" She get up from her seat and placed some kind of silvery chip on the table.
"There's 12 creds on that chip, enjoy your meal nicecheeks!" Said Jane with a wink and a smug grin to the waitress that was just delivering Jane's steak.

"I bet 20 that it's just a storm coming" she said to the two magical girls.

(——)

Out There

The creepy woman smiled "I appreciate your cooperation madame..." She straightened her tie and walked slowly around Torre, looking at her directly in the eyes and without fading her unnatural smile.
"You see... I'm just part of an organization... A cog inside a machine..." The rapid ticking of the man with the sunglasses echoed along the slow footsteps of the woman.
"The meaning and scope of our actions are irrelevant to our discussion... But Jane, or HeartBleed if you want, is an important tool to us..." She sigged but without losing her grin.
"I had many naysayers among my... Employers and colleagues... For them she was just a mere child with no practical use to anyone..." Her smile turned in a painful grimace. "I have since decided to don't listen to their... Advices since going against them was out... Of question..." Even if she was still smiling she almost sounded like she was going to throw up.

edited 8th Feb '16 3:26:46 AM by Damacyn

Following after the rest of the group, helmet in arm, Ali silently muses over what to ask. Looking over to Chypre, Ali lightly frowns and raises her free hand to her lips. Pulling it away and sighing, Ali sort of waves her hand over her hair as she speaks "Yeah, what's the rules and regulations to be an eligible Pretty Cure? Seems pretty weird for the transformation to add so much hair. Cause seriously, might have to do something if some misogynistic chav is in charge. Though that reminds me..."

Looking over at Cure Blossom, Ali jerks her head up a bit before calling out in her casually serious tone "Peace said your grandmother is a Pretty Cure, but can't really use her powers anymore. Why's that, and is your mother one too? I'm certainly curious if being a Pretty Cure is hereditary, yet... Can someone from a non-Pretty Cure family become one? Because I'll be honest with you all..."

Taking a deep breath and sighing, Ali eases her helmet back on as she looks forward. Her voice more serious, almost with melancholy, Ali looses her words "I can only do so much with the power I got. The more force I try to put behind my abilities, the more I have to focus. Thus why I couldn't unleash my 'full' power against the Telethia, since doing so would of left me wide open. However, this isn't exactly about the Telethia..."

Ali the Adversary Breaker's fists balling up, even with her helmet on it feels pretty clear her face is full of anger. "There's so much wrong out there, innocents being hurt and monsters roaming free. I... I can trust others to help me, but the more I've got to work with the better right? Ariel's other transformation trinkets are defective prototypes, and getting cursed for superpowers is not... The best idea. So, basically... Is there any way for me to become a Pretty Cure?"

The angelic cat Ariel nodding her head in understanding, she flashes a feline smile before standing up on Anita's shoulder to start massaging her head. "You're probably wondering about how the holy works in this world aren't ya? Well for starters, I'm a solo act. The Divines aren't exactly what I would call angels, but I guess they count as holy here. Though..."

Draping herself across Anita's head, Ariel audibly purrs before speaking once again rather lazily "There's a little something I need done, ya know? See, as an angel, I can't show off my full power here. With only Ally to run my errands, I can't get much done. So..." Stepping off Anita and lazily flying around her in circles, Ariel lets out a cattish yawn before speaking with a more whimsical tone.

"I need ya to try your powers on this 'seed' Ally brought back to me. Little black thing, reeks of negativity ya know? Pretty sure there's something beneath all that, so would you come with me to check it out? Doesn't really seem like you're doing much else after all... So?" Flashing another feline smile, Ariel doesn't stop her lazily flying.

Dr. Sliva giving the girl a confused look over, she clears her throat before gently speaking. "I'm the personal doctor for the nearby building, you can call me Doctor Sliva. Can you tell us what happened first? Akiko might have been through here, but we need details okay? You fell from a great height, so you're lightly disoriented right now." Whilst Sliva keeps her calm, Arizona turned her attention over at the outburst. Tilting her head slightly in confusion, Arizona calmly steps forward with her wings tucked in.

Stopping further away than Sliva and Ruth, Arizona gives a friendly smile before speaking politely "Hello, I'm Arizona, one of the Small Step Crusaders for this city. Its our duty to help others who are in need, so if you tell us who Akiko is I can get the others to start looking for them. Until then, you're perfectly safe with us Magical Girls around! Uh..." Looking away a bit awkwardly, Arizona coughs before asking "You know what Magical Girls are, right?"

Following shortly behind Syke is the almost-skipping, lightly humming fully clothed girl Patches, not seeming to react to the new girl's shout.

Sarah taking a seat on the same couch but keeping a respectful distance from the others, she seems more intent to take in the surroundings for now. Piper Lynx, bringing up a hand to her chin as she thinks, ends up scratching at the back of her neck as she embarrassingly admit "They always seem to be coming up with something new, though I think they were working on an angel & demon thing. The cruel lamentations of an uncaring god and all that... Their tone tends to-" Piper suddenly getting interrupted by an excited shout, Flora comes back with the other three members- Who seem a bit too similar for sisters.

The one who shouted, an undyed redhead sixteen year old, smiles cheerfully as she speaks to the other three equally excited "The Cruel Lamentations Of An Uncaring God, huh huh!? Felicity?" The oldest one there, half her body fully clothed, shrugs and replies rather calmly "Suppose I can work with it." However, the clear twin sister goes "Hmm" before speaking uncertainly "Feels like we might have to rewrite the lyrics and video idea though." The first girl slumping and pouting in disappointment, Flora lightly coughs as she pokes at her. The undyed redhead looking down at her confused, she then sets her eyes on the group.

Her own hand scratching the back of her head nervously, the oldest of the four approaches and speaks gruffly "First name's Felicity, or you can call me Love Ignis instead. So..." Gesturing with her head towards Vivio, Felicity continues "She a Magical Girl too? Wouldn't advise letting her officially join up with the city's magic entertainment industry, fans with superpowers get a bit terrifying sometimes." Pulling back and glancing towards Sarah briefly, Felicity nods towards Flora. The youngest of the four giving a brief curtsy to Felicity, Flora turns towards the group and smiles.

"So, will we need to go outside for the demonstration or do you think you can use your powers safely inside?"

Outside The Guild Building

Once the mysterious girl awoke, Ruth stepped back a little bit in order to avoid threatening her. Being scared and confused is a terrible state for one to wield a weapon, so she thought for a moment to try to subdue her and take that spear away from her, but she decided against it out of fear of accidentally hurting and scaring her even more.

When Dr. Sliva, and eventually Arizona, approached the girl in order to try to calm her, Ruth decided to stand up and step back a little bit. After all, she had her own fair share of troubles right now, and she wouldn't even know what to say to the poor girl in order to try to comfort her. She stood silent and attentive for a few moments, until Arizona mentioned the term “Magical Girls”.

Slightly annoyed by what she perceived as prank done at an inappropriate time, but still trying to maintain what little coolness she had left, she discreetly approached Dr. Sliva and whispered to her ear.

-“Excuse me, doctor, but: Should she really be making those jokes at a time like this? I admire their commitment to stay in-character, but that isn't helpful for that distressed girl. She's only going to confuse her even more.”

edited 11th Feb '16 5:11:12 PM by VPhantom

Guild's Medical Room -> Outside

Tsubomi, Yayoi and Chypre all seemed to enter into deep though upon hearing Ali's questions.

Chypre decided to chime in first. " There don't seem to be any universe rules for being a Pretty Cure. There are plenty of different Pretty Cure teams, each with their own transformation methods. For example, as you can probably tell already, Yayoi here is from a different team than us, " the fairy frowned in deeper thought, " though it generally seems to have something to do with destiny and/or certain qualities that the girl posesses."

Tsubomi nodded in agreement, " Yeah, the whole reason Chypre knew that I was supposed to be a Pretty Cure was because I had a dream about Cure Moonlight defending the Heart Tree from the Desert Apostles and Erika and Itsuki also had it. There's also the fact that this, " she said as she fished out and then held out her Heart Perfume, " apparently 'reacted with my heart' when I took the courage to fight after Erika got turned into a Desertian."

Then Yayoi added, " And while my friends and I didn't get meaningful dreams before we became Pretty Cures, i think that we were all pretty much destined to do so. You see, there's a land in another dimension called Marchënland that is populated by fairies. And there are legends there about the five Legendary Warriors, the Pretty Cure. Also, my Smile Pact, " she explained while taking said item out and showed it to Ali, " appeared before me after I decided to defend my friends Miyuki and Akane from one of our enemies, the Bad End Generals, even though I was really scared and didn't have any powers yet."

" Anyway, my grandma is indeed a Pretty Cure, but she lost most of her power after fighting Dune, the leader of the Desert Apostles. She managed to defeat him and seal him away, but her Pretty Cure Seed, which is needed along with a Heart Perfume or similar item in order to transform, got shattered in the process. Also, she is my paternal grandmother and neither of my parents know anything about us being Pretty Cures, so it probably has nothing to do with one's family. Neither Erika, Itsuki nor Yuri have anyone in their families that is a Pretty Cure, as far I know , for that matter."

" And Tsubomi's team seems to be the only one in which there are previous generations of Pretty Cures present in history, so there's that too," added Yayoi.

" So, Ali, the bottomline is that while it shouldn't be exactly impossible for you to become one, we just don't know how to go about achieving that," Chypre concluded.

At this point, Yayoi turned to speak to Sophie. " Well, I would be glad to learn more about you, Sophie. We are friends after all, right? So, what can you tell us about yourself and the world you come from? Also, I remember that you and your friend Samantha mentioned things called 'Bleaksteel'. Perhaps you could tell what those are?"

The Four Loves' Studio -> Outside

When the Four Loves entered the room and Felicity introduced herself, Nanoha, Fate and Vivio all got up again. Nanoha and Fate both bowed, while Vivio waved cheerfully at the group.

Nanoha then cheerfully said, " Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. These are partner Fate, our daughter Vivio and that girl over there is our friend Sarah."

" It's indeed nice to meet you all, " Fate added.

" Yeah, it's nice to meet you and thank you letting hear your singing and also letting my mamas help you! Seeing their magic is always fun!"

Nanoha smiled affectionately at Vivio and pulled the little girl in her embrace before continuing, " Anyway, Vivio is indeed technically a Magical Girl, but she can't really use her magic yet, so that won't be a concern."

" And I think it would be better to move outside if we are to show your magic. Mid-Childan spells tend to be pretty flashy, specially Nanoha's. At least we won't need to put up a Barrier, since magic seems to be as mundane as in Mid-Childa around here. Still, if you tell us what sort of effects you're looking for, it might be easier for us to come up with suitable spells, " said Fate.

edited 11th Feb '16 10:20:55 PM by JamesShields

Guild, Lobby(?)

Skye follows behind as the girl is brought back inside. She just watches for now.

Outside the Guild Building

"G-Go. . go with. . ." Sayaka stumbled over her words for a few moments, before her face contorted into a snarl. She tightened her stance and pulled her spear up, before jabbing it forward and towards the group around her. From the spear's point expanded a cascade of two-dimensional walls, through which Sayaka could see but those on the other side could not—instead, they would appear to those on the far side as opaque, purple and gray walls of energy.

"You don't have Akiko, a-and I won't let you get her. And, I won't let you get me, either." Her voice solidified, firmed up; the cracks and raggedy breaths that had characterized it earlier fell to the wayside. She pushed her spear outwards, and the walls would push towards the group, momentarily breaking their protective coverage to pass her by before coalescing to cover Ruth as well.

"And you won't take. . . you won't take her either. You won't take anyone! Drop your act, your fake kindness. . ." She snarled again. "You and the rest of the Daimyo's dogs will pay for all that you've done!"