[h2]Vita[/h2]

It looked like the strange man had been incapacitated. If he was the perpetrator, this was going to be the end of it, in that case. Vita could get back to Hayate... She had to contact Nanoha first and tell her what had happened, since the mage had also been taken to wherever it is this was. But before she could, it seemed as if the white-clad girl had the same thought.

"I'm fine!" she began. She'd been just about to ask the same question of Nanoha, but to be honest she was a little indignant at being asked herself. Of course she was okay! "I'm just ticked off. I have no idea what's going on, but I think that I might have taken out one of the people behind it. There's some other mages here too."

The little redheaded girl let out a huff. Some [i]other[/i] guy had shown up and started talking about the army or something. Earth's military? Why would they be getting involved [i]here[/i]? In spite of her irritation, when she spoke to Nanoha again the concern in her voice became more clear.

"Did you have any trouble? Could you tell what happened? You're not hurt either, right?"

The moment that she finished speaking, something, some kind of fluid, was flung at her from the man she'd assumed was unconscious, striking her in the head. While the protection of her Knight's Armor deflected most of it, some of it got through---

It didn't touch her. But her hat fell softly from her head, sizzling as the acid ate away at it, burning through it.

Vita's eyes drifted down towards it, and for a scant few moments she watched it burn away. Hayate had made it for her... Hayate had...

When the redheaded girl's gaze returned to the man, her expression had become one of fury, rage burning away in her chest. He'd destroyed her hat! He'd destroyed the gift Hayate had granted her!

Eisen was swung out at to the side, the head returned to its normal size. A sharp spike erupted from the tip, as a rocket booster emerged from the rear of the mallet's head.

"[color=ed1c24]Rakatenhammer![/color]" declared the armed device.

Vita let out a scream of rage as the rocket flared to life, sending her entire body in a single rotation before her spike-tipped hammer was swung squarely down at the perpetrator!

[@Dezuel][@KoL][@PKMNB0Y]

[hr]

[h2]Konpaku Youmu[/h2]

It seemed as if her arrival had triggered something. Moments after Youmu had sliced the first of the men's weapons apart, they began firing. The other men she'd seen behind her had begun firing, too. The white-haired girl spun, blades flashing as she deflected each shot that came her way, some bullets simply sent off-course while others were sliced in half. The men seemed to be shocked and confused, trying to fire on the other shooters as well as the small katana-wielding girl. Darting in swiftly towards a particularly large man, Youmu ducked under his next shot before driving Hakuroken's hilt upwards and into his chin. Did she knock a tooth out? It looked like she had, watching as the muscular man collapsed onto his back with a groan...

The other men were fleeing, now. Some kind of vehicle, a car as she recalled, had pulled up and they'd piled in to escape the firefight. It only took a moment for Youmu to decide to pursue. What if they attacked her again, or went after anyone else? While her priority was returning to Yuyuko-sama, she couldn't ignore that possibility.

She broke into a sprint in pursuit of the van, steadily catching up to it as she went...

[@TheFake][@PKMNB0Y]