Villamvihar

Kurai Majokko

Ember blinked at Roche's explanation. The food fiasco yesterday had certainly upset her along with Slyvia, but it should be no reason for someone to stop talking to either Suki or Roche. After all, weird things happened in Hibusa Town all the time. A dish coming alive was no different than the usual branch of strangeness their dark kin could see lurking within shadows, if perhaps a little less spooky. That one of their cooking could actually result in that... well... there were relevations even Ember found too unsettling to consider. This one, she would not touch with a fifty-foot pole unless it stared her in the eyes before demanding to be taken seriously.

"There are far too many solutions to the problem," she spoke after a moment's consideration, ignoring Nyxia's noises from down the hallway in favour of picking apart Roche's body language. She seemed anxious and on guard, so this was likely important and a private matter to her, which meant either a dear friend or someone whom she fancied. Tailoring her advice to that would not be difficult to Ember. "Write a letter if and leave it in a place where they could find it would be my first suggestion. Don't use the first draft in any case, think it through before you do something you regret." She dialed down her voice as she spoke, angling herself so that only Roche could hear her.

"You could also use me as an intermediary if I know them, or text them if you have their number," she suggested. "We could discuss the more complicated options too, but I am sure that this is not the best place and time for it, unless you want me to make a time and place for it?" She gave Roche a confident smile as she looked around from the corner of her eyes. Luckily, this particular hallway seemed abandoned and so they would have at least a couple of minutes until someone spotted them. However, the time for the Detention Club to assemble was also fast approaching. Ember did not mind being late to the party, so to speak, as it meant helping out Roche, so it depended on whether the other girl was willing to risk being tardy as well.

Knowing the Rulekeeper, she probably would not. If she did, that was a sign of itself.

@Lonewolf685

Kurai Majokko

Ember continued to front and as such, today would be dedicated to the Shogi Club.

An assortment of eclectic individuals many would derisively call 'nerds', she found her true calling here in Hibusa and while she could have felt guilty for trouncing children with her smarts, these were tough opponents. Some had many times her experience, which meant intense showdowns between two members, such as the one she concentrated on right now. It was not that her position could not be won from, but she was at a severe disadvantage, not to mention that her time ran low. Her opponent, a boy named Sunohora, was one of the Shogi Club's best and while he could have challenged someone more of his size, there was a reason why he chose Ember.

She moved. Sunohara responded within seconds while Ember took another half a minute to think through her strategy, seemingly whittling away at her time for no reason. The advantage clearly belonged to Sunohara as the match continued, with the board shifting more and more within his favour. Time eventually ran out for Ember and she lost with a graceful smile.

"Excellent match," she told him with a formal bow. It hurt her pride a little, however, she only had so much to practice as opposed to Sunohara and she knew she did an admirable job of holding on. "You fixed the issue with your right flank, but there's still room for improvement. For example, at the start of the match..." And from there on, Ember launched into a detailed breakdown of their match move by move without as much as looking at the moves sheet. Indeed, while she could not best the Shogi Club's talents, her ability to analyze a match was nearly without equal. After all, having two others pay attention to what she did, even if not as interested as her in the actual game, proved very useful indeed.

A lively discussion followed, with Ember assuming a leading role as she pointed out various moves, going over the game move by move. By the end, every member of the Shogi Club understood the match thoroughly, Ember had drunk two tall glasses of water and she felt a bit of a haze descend on her mind. It did not exhaust her nearly as much as yesterday, but thinking along so many lines had her wishing for a bit of fresh air... Not to mention that there were her unofficial club duties to consider, as a member of the Detention Club. She would likely be late.

Thanking the Shogi Club for a stimulating conversation - not quite a lie, yet also not quite the truth - she left with the promise that they would help her out in return. Business as usual.

Stretching her limbs, she headed towards the usual room of her true kin, however...

"Roche?" she asked as she spotted the tanned girl, whose head seemed to be on a metaphorical swivel. "May I help with whatever... or whoever you are looking for?" Having missed the party last night in favour of ensuring Kiyo's well-being and eating out, she had no knowledge of the previous day's incident with Suki.

@Lonewolf685

Kurai Majokko

Ember let out a light laugh as Kiyo took a picture. Her eyes tracked the other Majokko's fingers while she typed the message, making sure to put on quite the shit-eating grin and look like a cat which caught a most delicious canary. It was the start of their little revenge, certainly, but not nearly done yet if Ember had her way. Even as her companion lifted her from her spot, her thoughts filled with questions on how to prank the others. Sylvia frowned at her for that, especially as the woman's thoughts turned towards more risque methods, but she remained silent. After all, it was Ember's turn to drive their body.

"Let me know if it is too much, Kiyo-chan," she said out loud to her teammate. "The night's still young; we can walk." Kiyo, however, seemed insisted on flying and indeed, they made it to Shuuko's apartment within a couple of minutes. There, Ember switched to her preferred Oss - one with long, red hair, striking, blue eyes and more mature features, still wearing the same smile as before.

"I figured it out," she said. "I'll need a day or two to do it, but I know the best way to give everyone a heart-attack. They won't even know what hit 'em." Ember laughed again as she rolled the idea over in her head. Yes, it was just so absurd, but hilarious. She would need Kiyo's help to pull it off completely and it would likely fall apart within a couple of minutes, but the baffled expressions were all that she needed to see in order to be satisfied. "But... well, until then, let's show them a good time. Did you find them, Kiyo?"

@Emeth

Kurai Majokko

Shatterscape's throat squeezed ever tighter as she rampaged through the city. Caring not about pedestrians, cars, buildings or anything else that came between her and her partner, she turned them aside with her massive gauntlets, ripping through the obstacles as one might rip apart a piece of paper. Screams rung through the night, hushed whispers talking about an evil spirit with baleful, red eyes that wanted naught but to wreck havoc upon the living until daylight eventually banished with; idle talk that most other towns would dismiss. However, in this cursed town of Hibusa, they gained very real substance.

Then Shatterscape came within reach of her body, giving rise to a new urban legend where a young woman hurried through the night to find her lover, only to collapse as she could no longer take the strain. But the dark magical girl discarded that too. She gave no spare glance to the medics who tried to stabilise her body; in fact, the glare she gave them would have shredded their wills had they not been controlled by Kiyo. She all but ripped herself out of her restraints, the IV, the bandages in process of being put on her, opening up her wounds. They bled red pain that pounded through her whole being, serrated knives digging into her flesh. And yet, this body - it could be replaced in twelve days. But Evil Eye could never be.

Hotaru emerged from Shatterscape, embracing her partner.

"You are all right..." Moments before, her gauntlets endangered countless lives. Now, they held between them someone precious and dear, squeezing Kiyo while her body worked on fixing itself. Now that her magic was actually housed directly in it, wounds became lesser by the moment and the medics could cease their work to return tending to the townsfolk. Not that Hotaru cared. For now, she relished the feeling of a warm body in her arms, the presence of her trusted partner, mixed with the ashen feeling of failure on her lips. She had not protected Kiyo well enough.

"You are all right." The gauntlets squeezed tighter. They were probably a little painful for Evil Eye now, but Hotaru had to hug her - she had to remind herself that she was still there. The light girls have not taken away Kiyo from her.

@Emeth

Kurai Majokko

Shatterscape saw Mercurial throw her hat from the corner of her eye, aiming at catching Kaeru in a three-pronged attack that not even the frog girl could escape. Indeed, Shatterscape could handle the large frog by herself while the other two barraged her opponent at a distance, slowly wearing away at her before boxing her in - or at least such was the plan until Willow appeared out of nowhere near her opponent. Both a distraction and an unwelcome change of events, Shatterscape had only a split second to alter her angle of approach, which then resulted in disaster.

For not only did the shield deflect the majority of her blow, Kaeru proved quite resourceful in making use of unexpected opportunities. The light girl took the opportunity to perform a series of acrobatics that would not be out of place in a circus, right before the large frog took the opportunity to deal a shielded blow to Shatterscape. The blunt force all but reverberated through her, causing her to slide back, her heels digging into the pavement below. Unpleasant crackling filled the air, but more importantly, this allowed Kaeru exactly enough space to loosen the sure vice she had intended to close around the light girl.

"What are you doing, Willow?" Shatterscape spoke in an even, but heavy tone as she lunged forward. Her left hand remained by her body while her right reached towards the frog in an obvious attack. And then the damn thing croaked lough enough to crack windows... along with Shatterscape's eardrums. Unfortunately for it, if there was one thing that Shatterscape had learned, if there was one thing that all but carved itself into her body, nay her very existence, then it was pushing through pain.

It hurt. It hurt like hell. Her head felt as though there were thousands upon thousands of soldiers marching inside, all pounding on the inside of her ears. It was as though her brain had been set on fire, then molten right before being poured out from her ear canals. Through these metaphorical, infernal flames, a strangely clear thought observed she could not hear anymore, but it did not matter as her gauntlets tore into the frog. It did not prevent their escape, especially as the world seemed to shrink before Shatterscape for a moment due to the agony she endured, yet it was enough for her.

In fact, it was maybe a little too much. As she staggered, she barely noticed Mogall, screeching and waving at her like it was going insane and it took her several seconds to come to terms with what it meant: Evil Eye was in danger.

She reached out for her network of bodies and found it wanting.

The body she left behind on Evil Eye's motorcycle was no longer close enough for her to chain to, nor was there a convenient one to jump to nearby. As such, still reeling from the blow dealt by Kaeru, she stumbled around for a moment before shooting a downright unpleasant look at Willow, followed by abandoning this body as though it were a puppet. It needed healing and fixing anyways.

So would Evil Eye, if she did not hurry. As such, even though her mind could barely think, she pushed herself to the limit, leaving behind city block after city block in what seemed like a blur to her, but was likely painfully slow when compared to the danger her partner was in. In her state, she could barely follow the guidance of Mogalls in the air, but she pushed on regardless hoping that by the time she got there, most of the pain would be gone. And Evil Eye would still be in one piece.

Kurai Majokko

@ERode So if I understand this correctly, Nonsuch is holding Evil Eye afloat three hundred metres in the air? Because if so, that is going to be one hell of a situation.

@FroggRFlowR I am waiting on your post to see how badly Shatterscape screwed up and if she can disengage at all.

Kurai Majokko

Shatterscape is going to be... shattered after that. She screwed up her priorities something bad.

Kurai Majokko

Well then, operation box in and boil the frog is on!

Kurai Majokko

What use were words in the face of light magical girls? Apparently none as Kaeru went on about the city being her home along with the city decaying under the rule of Shatterscape's comrades. Or rather, her friends. Those who welcomed her with open arms when there were none, those who hugged her without intending to hurt her in the first time of her life, those, who despite being "twisted" were more human than the servants of light ever could be. And yet, she had still tried to talk with them, to have them open their eyes to the truth. Even if it always ended up in misunderstanding. Even if it always ended up with one of her sisters interfering.

The beam of darkness bit into where Kaeru used to be, digging a malicious chasm into the rooftop. It all but radiated the darkness of Miseria and with it, the cease-fire shattered into a thousand pieces.

Kaeru went for Himea. Nonsuch went for Acid Drop. Shatterscape hesitated for a moment before she braced her legs, then jumped with a crack of metal against concrete. Trusting in the ability of her friends to protect themselves and wishing to be rid of these intruders so they may leave them alone as they very well should, she fell towards the frog girl as there were simply more of them there. Boxing her in would be the order of the day.

Landing a second or two after Kaeru, Shatterscape swept her massive gauntlets from the side, intent on coralling the light girl away from Himea so the latter would have more space for her chess plays. Then Shatterscape's metallic hands would clash against whatever defence Kaeru put up, the savage force of heavy steel smashing into her opponent with almost unstoppable momentum.

@LuckyBlackCat@KoL@FroggRFlowR

Kurai Majokko

Apologies for the delay in postage; I will try to pull a Shatterscape today.