Fuka: the Final Chapter (Haruka)

[Corwin]

<--->

[19:02] It's hard to get the words out, but Orihime seems to understand anyway. Haruka retreats further, while her Child wraps Yukino in its arms and follows Haruka to the caverns.
[19:02] Miyu's gunarm whirrs, bullets no longer coming out of it. She glances down at it with what might have been irritation in a person, and the hand flows into a deadly sword.
[19:06] Haruka pauses at the entrance to the cavern, letting Yukino get past her to safety. If Miyu can be held off at all, the impromptu doorway might be the place to do it. "Miyu! If your mission is to destroy Hime, you should know that one's getting ready to destroy this entire island. How can you finish your mission when you're scrap metal?"
[19:09] Haruka's heart pinches again, and so does her throat. The latter feels raw as she tries to speak, not to mention raise her voice.
[19:09] "Eliminating with extreme prejudice," Miyu whispers, the sound carrying in the sudden silence of the underground chambers. Haruka dimly realizes someone must have stopped the blaring alarm.
[19:15] Haruka could use Orihime's help here if Yukino's safe. The way things are going, she's not sure how long she'll be able to hold Miyu off on her own. She readies her mace, but still tries talking the enemy down (as best she can in her present condition, at least). "Miyu," she croaks, "you were a student here for how long? Don't tell me nothing got through those tangled wires in your head."
[19:19] Miyu answers by rushing Haruka, her feet tapping a staccato against the rocky ground. Orihime flows across the cavern to meet her halfway, though Haruka can see that her Child hadn't reacted to her wishes instantly this time. Orihime's left blade-arm defends against Miyu's attack, its upper third getting sliced off.
[19:19] Showing no signs of discomfort, Orihime sends its hair to stab into Miyu, and the Searrs robot is forced to leap back, but not before its front is riddled with half a dozen tiny holes.
[19:24] Haruka follows along behind Orihime. She's got the Child in between herself and Miyu for protection, but she's ready to bat away any attempts the android makes to attack Orihime from the side. "Miyu, stand down. We WILL disinter you if we have to, and that doesn't help anyone."
[19:29] Haruka's vision goes grey, and her lungs burn as if on fire. Orihime holds its position, only shifting to present its right side to Miyu, instead. When Haruka's sight returns, she sees that Orihime's left arm isn't regenerating.
[19:29] Vines shoot out of the ground at Miyu, who dodges sideways. They are chopped up, but Haruka sees that it was a diversion, as Miyu had moved away from their makeshift doorway, where a mass of vines strikes straight up at the ceiling. The cavern shakes.
[19:31] Cave-in, huh? Good idea. Now if Orihime can just get her back to Yukino and (hopefully) safety before the ceiling collapses...
[19:39] As Orihime moves closer to Haruka, the blonde can see the deadbolt on the door to the laboratory unlock. Black-clad men rush inside, and pause upon seeing the bandage-clad Miyu. A familiar spiky-haired boy steps into the chamber after them, gesturing at Miyu. "Take her down!" That is all the men need to open fire at the Searrs robot, which dodges expertly.
[19:39] The last thing Haruka sees before Orihime had taken her out of the laboratory is Miyu's sword lodged in the throat of one of the gunmen.
[19:42] Well. As dangerous as Miyu is, she's more important than Nagi and his goons. Haruka can only hope the robot can take them (granted, it seems unlikely that she wouldn't be able to). First things first: get away from the lab and make sure Yukino's not totally catatonic.
[19:44] Yukino seems exhausted, but coherent. In fact, her focus scares Haruka; she has never seen Yukino this way before. "Diana!" her friend calls out, and vines slam into the ceiling once more. It is enough to seal the hole they made into Mashiro Kazahana's underground complex, though Haruka realizes that it wouldn't serve as a serious obstacle for a Hime.
[19:48] Haruka leans against a nearby wall to catch her breath. "Right, mission failure, proboscis negative. Nagi and some goons in black were attacking Miyu, last thing I saw. Yukino, if she really is our only way to stop the satellite, we've got problems. We have to get through to her somehow."
[19:51] Yukino marches over to Haruka, and slaps her. The blonde's cheek stings, but she has more pressing concerns as her worldview tilts suddenly.
[19:51] She must have blacked out, because the next thing Haruka is aware of, she is cradled in Yukino's arms. "We talked about this, remember?" Yukino asks, and her voice is strangely gentle. "We'll try dialogue, but only while we have that option. If you face Miyu without deadly force, you will die."
[19:52] "I didn't say we weren't going to kick her ass first," Haruka manages. "But we came here for nothing if we have to destroy her."
[19:54] Yukino scowls. "I hoped that slap knocked some sense into you. Haruka, how exactly are you going to get a Searrs robot attack a Searrs Hime by talking or by attacking it?"
[19:55] Haruka climbs to her feet. "Well, if there's a plan C, let me know already!"
[19:56] "Let's win the festival together! The winner get the power to remake the world. Nagi told me that, and I don't think he was lying. I think... Haruka-chan, I think we could do it, together. Give birth to a new world without conflict or pain. Even if Fuka is destroyed, even if we have to retreat here, it wouldn't matter because we'll undo all that!"
[19:59] "We're not doing that, Yukino. And Nagi can't be trusted. Even if what he told you was true, he did it for his own reasons. There's a catch somewhere. I haven't talked to him much, but it was enough to be sure that Nagi getting what he wants isn't good for anyone but Nagi. We're not going to play by the rules, and we're not killing Mai, Mikoto and the others. Understand?"
[20:01] Yukino laughs bitterly. "What I understand is that Yuuki poisoned your mind against me, that Mai-san and Mikoto-chan are each monsters, and that's without the support each has. All we need is seven more, and we could claim the prize. Even if they die, they can still return. Fujino-san can return, not as that fake thing, but the real her!"
[20:05] "Yukino, this is getting out of control. I'm with you here now, aren't I? What needs to happen to remind you that you're my friend?" Then, more sternly: "And you don't know what you're asking for. 'All we need is seven more.' Yukino, have you ever killed *one* person?"
[20:07] Yukino's face grows cold. "You can't judge me. Not after Higurashi-san."
[20:10] "I think I can. It's an easy thing to talk about, but do you think you're really ready to kill people, Yukino? Do you think you could live with it afterwards?"
[20:15] Yukino trembles. "You... you never understand me, Haruka-chan! No matter what, I--" She clenches her fist. "It's okay," Yukino speaks again, and her voice is dead. "Even though my feelings can't get through, I still can't live in a world that doesn't have you. I've kept on saying this, I know, but this would be the last time. If nothing else, please understand just that. Only that, Haruka-chan. I have the courage to make a difference, now." Yukino's mirrors surround her, and they begin to swirl, faster and faster, until she disappears from view along with them, leaving Haruka alone in the underground cavern.
[20:33] Haruka glances around the cavern, not a little bit confused about Yukino's actions. It's good to finally see her being self-assertive, but if only her actions made *sense*. In any event, it looks like her only option is to leave the caverns by the way she came in, assuming Orihime can climb up and carry her at the same time. And hopefully the school nurse is still on the grounds...

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

[20:34] "This looks pretty bad," a familiar voice -- her own -- tells Haruka.
[20:36] "It does," Haruka agrees, making her way back to the cavern entrance. She doesn't seem too disturbed about hearing her own voice. Hey, it wouldn't be the first time.
[20:37] Her likeness is walking by her side, like a twisted reflection of Haruka on the cavern walls. "I'm dying. I hate it when that happens."
[20:40] Haruka just nods at this. Really, who wouldn't hate dying? "It's not over yet," she syas, marching along with grim determination despite her injuries. "I'm more worried about Yukino making it her own than myself."
[20:41] It doesn't hurt to breathe anymore, and the mirror image seems to have picked up on that. "Yep, sure sign of imminent death!" it says cheerfully. "Yukino? Well, normally I'd say that as long as I'm alive she must be doing well enough for herself, but... you know. The imminent death thing."
[20:43] Haruka turns to her other self. "Do you know this for sure? Do you know where she went?"
[20:44] "That I'm her whole world? Duh! You had doubt?"
[20:47] Haruka brushes this off. "It was more the eminent death thing I was getting at. I've seen some of the other Hime at work, and if Yukino tries to fight them..."
[20:47] "Hey, give her some credit! She's not stupid. If she didn't think she could hack it, would she have run off on her little crusade?"
[20:49] "I'm not sure. Have you been watching her lately? She yells at anyone who just looks at me."
[20:50] "She was under a lot of pressure. Being in a game of life and death does that to a person." The reflection sounds chiding. "I don't think being ignorant of what she was trying to tell me helped, all things considered."
[20:52] Haruka stops. "What do you mean, 'trying to tell me'? Did see tell you something without telling me, or--" Haruka just falters there, unsure of how to articulate the idea of her friend talking to another version of Haruka without Haruka herself knowing.
[20:54] "I think I have other concerns, since I'm dying and all," the other Haruka says with a roll of her eyes. "So. Here's the big question. Since dying is inevitable, what comes after?"
[20:56] "I haven't really thought about it," Haruka says, resuming her walk. "I thought you said we died once already, though. Shouldn't you know?
[20:59] "Well, every death is different," the reflection muses thoughtfully. "Sometimes there's life after death. Until I run out of steam, anyway." She turns to face Haruka, stopping fully. "Here's the deal, Blondie. The previous revival? A freebie, and not really on my account. Thank or curse someone for it, but it ain't me. This one, though? It'll cost me. Cost us."
[21:03] "Well, do you have any suggestions for making sure that doesn't happen? Because I'm out of other allies right now, unless I can find Nao."
[21:04] "That what doesn't happen?"
[21:06] "The whole dying thing."
[21:07] "That's just a silly question from a dead person."
[21:08] Haruka shrugs. "Say what you like, but it sure feels like I'm still alive. Being dead should hurt less."
[21:09] "So there'a any pain?" the other Haruka asks curiously.
[21:10] "Well. There *was*. Unless I died in the last few minutes and didn't notice somehow, I'm pretty confident that it didn't happen."
[21:12] "Maybe I'm in the inbetween?" the other Haruka muses curiously. "I think I heard something like that. But where's my white light, my pearly gates?"
[21:15] Haruka shrugs again. "I don't know. But the last angel I heard about turned out to be a monster, so right now I'm not going to worry much about what convertible wisdom says."
[21:16] "I suppose," the reflection agrees, rather readily. "Now, I don't want to rush anything, but I'm pretty sure I don't have much time no matter how much I cheat this time."
[21:20] Haruka nods. "It doesn't sound like there's much time left for anyone. And right now I don't have much of a plan beyond finding that First District man and beating him into submission, so if you've got any words of wisdom to impart then I'd say now's the time."
[21:23] "It's hard to do that while being dead, and it's harder still to live past that," Haruka's likeness says, shrugging. "The contract is a devil's bargain, but this is really the time it
becomes apparent. Sometimes, it's just easier to let go."
[21:24] "Well, I'll do my best to wrap this up before you have to go, then. It would be a shame if you didn't get to see how everything turned out. I know I'd hate that, and you're me, so there you go."
[21:29] The other Haruka blinks. She laughs then, full of equal parts mirth and hysteria. "Yeah, sure. Let's do that." She wavers, and the laughter stops. "A hint for the road. Embrace Orihime if you're ready for that next big step, my other me."
[21:29] Haruka feels a gust of wind, and she finds herself alone in the cave with Orihime. The pain does not return, but her body feels suddenly sluggish, prohibitively so.
[21:30] Haruka glances around the empty cavern for a moment, then does as instructed (hoping that Orihime doesn't take the opportunity to nibble on her this time). "Okay, Orihime. Climb back out the way we came in. We've got a job to do."
[21:34] It isn't a particularly easy task for a Child such as Orihime, especially carrying Haruka along, but it slowly climbs back up, burying sharpened extensions of its body into the cliffside to rise until Haruka is deposited on the undamaged floor of the warehouse.
[21:35] Haruka takes a moment to step away from her Child once they're back at the surface, to examine Orihime for damage. It looked like she was getting cut up pretty bad while fighting Miyu.
[21:37] Orihime seems noticeably shorter than before, although its body no longer shows the signs of damage that it did before in the caverns.
[21:41] Well, it'll have to do. There'll be trouble if Orihime keeps shrinking, though. Haruka tries to come up with an inspiring speech before setting out but doesn't seem to have it in her after recent events. Without any clearer options, she decides to head for Sakomizu's classroom, assuming Orihime will follow as always.
[21:43] When it takes Haruka the better part of five minutes to reach the warehouse's exit, she realizes that heading for the eccentric teacher's classroom would take a considerable amount of time.
[21:46] Haruka pauses to lean against the wall and catch her breath for a moment. Why is she so tired all of a sudden? Argh. Orihime will just have to carry Haruka while she recovers (again).
[21:56] "Alright, Orihime. You're going to have to carry me around again...and no harassment this time! Just take me where I need to go, understand? Alright...let's try the auditorium first."
[21:58] Orihime envelops Haruka at the blonde's command, further dulling her senses. The Child leaves the warehouse, and heads straight for the Fuka Academy auditorium. The light of dawn falls upon Orihime, giving it a truly majestic visage.
[21:59] Haruka isn't really in the frame of mind to appreciate aesthetics at a time like this. She'll be sure to comment on it later, if she's still alive, and if there's anyone around to listen. She's not sure Orihime would notice compliments anyway.
[22:01] As Orihime flows across the courtyard, it invites first surprised -- terrified? -- shouts, before they are replaced with gunfire. Bullets bounce off bronze outer shell, the sound muffled when it reaches Haruka.
[22:02] Haruka glances around to see who's shooting at her *this* time.
[22:04] It is difficult to do so while enveloped in Orihime's protective bubble, but Haruka catches a man in fatigues doing the shooting, then another. By the impacts against Orihime, looking much like circles spreading through still water once a stone was cast inside, there are at least five gunmen. Orihime is unimpeded by the conventional assault.
[22:07] It's a testament to the strangeness of the past few days that Haruka herself is unperturbed by cruising around inside a liquid metal Shizuru. "Orihime," she growls, "get rid of them. I don't care how. We don't have time to worry about being nice to the people shooting at us."
[22:11] There is a pause, as Haruka's command achieves something the soldiers couldn't. Orihime's hands extend suddenly sideways, and gurgled screams sound. The gunfire becomes more frantic, while Orihime proceeds along its predetermined course. There is something different about the Child, Haruka knows instinctively, but at the same time finds herself unable to put her finger on it.
[22:11] More screams greet her, and then the gunfire stops abruptly. Orihime is almost by the auditorium.
[22:13] Are there any windows in the auditorium? Haruka wants to know if anyone's inside--and, if so, who--before barging in.
[22:15] There is no possible way she would enjoy any element of surprise, but there are windows into the auditorium. They are placed on what would normally amount to the second floor, so Orihime would be in for a climb.
[22:19] Climbing even more doesn't sound like a good use of time just to see who's home. If there's an entrance directly to the backstage area, that's probably the best option right now.
[22:24] There wasn't one, but Orihime interprets Haruka's desires for an entrance by creating one, cutting it out of the wall separating Orihime and its passanger from the backstage area. Fuka students, from junior high level to college, seem to be gathered inside.
[22:24] They're naked, and shiver as they cling to one another, whether for warmth or reassurance. Their heads are shaved clean, from the closer ones Haruka can see. The elementary grade Fuka students are conspiciously absent, but in their place are several dozen men in fatigues, holding automatic weapons.
[22:24] Two of them were on the backstage, and the one farther back grabs a hostage from the crowd, a young girl who couldn't possibly be older than thirteen.
[22:29] Well. So much for the element of surprise, indeed. Not that Haruka would be in any mood to be sneaky after seeing this disgusting display. "What's going on here?" she demands of the soldiers, using her most authoritarian voice.
[22:32] It comes off as distorted, but the intimidation part certainly works. The soldier closest to her opens fire, and others soon join him -- those who haven't gone for insurance policies of their own. The air is filled with the terrified screams of Haruka's classmates.
[22:32] An unlucky bullet ricochets off Orihime, lodging itself in a junior high aged boy's shoulder. He goes down gasping. The girl beside him doesn't get the luxury, dead before she even hits the floor with another bullet through her forehead.
[22:36] "Oh hell. I was going to try to talk you out of killing yourselves," Haruka barks at the soldiers. "Orihime: kill the soldiers as quickly as possible without hitting the students. Target the ones with hostages first, before they can shoot if possible. Spear them through the head. Spare any man that drops his weapon but show no mercy to anyone still attacking."
[22:38] At another time, she might have had second thoughts about commanding a mass slaughter. But there isn't any time for contemplation right now. And besides, these creeps deserve it.
[22:42] Bullets continue to fly as Haruka commands her Child. Orihime responds, and the nearest soldier is silenced forever. His finger twitches on the trigger of his weapon, and several of the shots go into the crowd. Orihime advances on the next one, but its speed is slower than Haruka remembers.
[22:42] Once the soldier realizes this, he tosses the girl hostage at Orihime, opening fire. Haruka's vision is sprayed with red, but then Orihime is upon the man, and his head parts from his shoulders.
[22:43] The soldiers, and there are female ones amongst them, Haruka belatedly notices, concentrate their fire on Orihime as they retreat. It is anything but precise, and as Orihime steps into the mass of teens occupying the building to get to the soldiers, some of the students begin to get hit.
[22:46] Haruka swears. "Orihime, stay away from the kids. Collateral damage is *not* acceptable! Leap behind the line of soldiers if you can."
[22:48] Orihime holds still, neither retreating nor launching into the air. All those who could get out of the way on their own, even if it meant pushing others, have done so. The hail of bullets continues to assault Orihime, as the Child is apparently locked in an impasse.
[22:51] Haruka grits her teeth. "Okay, you could've just told me that wouldn't work. We'll have to wade through the crowd. Try to sweep them to the ground in passing--they're less likely to get hit there. Try not to injure them."
[22:55] There is... not indecision or hesitation, but a pause nonetheless, and then Orihime proceeds on its course. Its lower body becomes more fluid, almost as if the Child were wearing a flowing gown, and tendrils shoot out of it, tripping teens left and right. A few that fall on their hands and knees or try to get up are picked up and tossed aside, instead, and the path is cleared once more.
[22:55] At this veritable force of nature, inevitability given form, the ranks of the soldiers crumble, as more than half deserts their posts and flees, some dragging crying and resisting girls along.
[22:59] "Orihime, kill anyone trying to take the children away. Just lance them through the head." She raises her voice to try and make herself heard to the remaining soldiers: "If you haven't noticed yet, I'm BULLETPROOF. I don't want to kill anyone needlessly, but this will be your only chance to surrender. Drop your weapons and let the kids go now, or you WILL die."
[23:03] "Slight change of plans: Orihime, we can't let anyone get out of the auditorium. If any soldier's running for the door, get after them as quickly as possible. Single someone out and make an example of him."
[23:05] Orihime is finally within range of the front line of those either brave or foolish enough to remain.
[23:05] Even though the trio of soldiers have their shivering human shields, long since having soiled themselves, Orihime's arms become watery tendrils that snake around the hostages, a pair of boys this time, and emerge from the other side of each soldier's head, proceeding to meet in the head of the remaining man. His expression is one of shock and terror.
[23:09] With a tearing sound, Orihime breaks the guns in the vanguard's hands, and proceeds to throw the shards at the escaping soldiers. Most of the jagged metal fragments seem to be directed at a woman dragging a hostage she couldn't have been more than a decade older than. Both go down under the onslaught, neither rising again.
[23:09] The act only increases the desertion, as some abandon the attempt to take Haruka and Orihime down, instead firing into the crowd far away from the bronze Child indiscriminately.
[23:13] "Are you all suicidal?!" Haruka hollers at the remaining soldiers. What drives someone to be this bent on carrying out their orders in the face of certain annihilation? "Orihime, kill
anyone still shooting at the children. Find something sharp and throw it at them. Tear up the floor for stakes if you have to. Aim for the head."
[23:19] Crying mixes with screams, with curses, with gunfire, with the gasps of the dying. Orihime's tendrils smash against the floor, fragmenting it, then again to smash it into its components.
[23:19] A third slam against the ground gets the small stones briefly airborne, while a sweep of the Child's extensions sends the vertical wall of jagged death in the direction of the remaining soldiers. Anything in its path is obliterated, and the auditorium is finally under Haruka's control.
[23:21] Suzushiro will pay for the damages later, assuredly. If there is a later. Not that that'll bring back any of the kids. God, what a mess. How many of the children are actually still alive? And it's a safe bet that no one'll be coherent enough to tell Haruka what's been happening, much as she needs an update.
[23:25] There is little chance of that, as chaos reigns supreme in the auditorium. Bodies are everywhere, some surely belonging to those who got trampled rather than shot. Haruka is certain things look worse than they are, but the downside is that they look pretty glum.
[23:33] Right. This is probably time for the Executive Committee to step in and give people something to look at other than the murderous Hime...but where do you even start. An auditorium full of naked, terrified kids, corpses everywhere...could *anything* actually bring order to this situation? Well, trying is better than contemplating the fact that Haruka just ordered the deaths of more people than she could probably count.
[23:38] Haruka banishes Orihime, first. Having a metal Shizuru around isn't going to help matters at all.
[23:39] Without Orihime to support her, Haruka finds it difficult to keep upright.
[23:42] Haruka does her best to struggle on anyway. If she can make it to the podium, she can lean on that!
[23:44] Haruka falls on her face after a few sluggish steps. The pain still doesn't come, but her sluggishness becomes practically lethargic.
[23:47] Hell. Well, if leaning on Orihime the whole time is the only way she's going to get through this crisis, then that's all there is to it. She summons the Child again--to carry her in its arms this time instead of as armor, as the latter option wouldn't ease anyone's mind in the slightest--then does her best to get the students' attention.
[23:49] And hey, mecha-Shizuru will help draw attention, at least. "Students of Fuka!" Haruka announces when she's upright again. "Uh..." Okay, so she has no idea where to go with a situation like this. But hopefully at least one person will look coherent?
[23:53] Orihime's resurgence sends a fresh wave of fear through the crowd, Haruka able to almost taste the emotion.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

[17:09] Gunfire coming from outside the auditorium interrupts Haruka's speech, although it may account for the gathered students not leaving the premises, terrified though they might be.
[17:12] Hell. Time for the Shizuru-suit to haul Haruka around again. To the students, if they're up to listening: "Stay here. Take care of the wounded as best as you can. I'll stop the soldiers." She can only hope *someone* in here is capable of taking charge as she marches out the back way (where she came in). She'll circle around the building hopefully without alerting whoever's shooting now.
[17:14] Orihime's movements are slow, degraded from the Child's previous performance. Exiting the building through the hole she had made in its wall, Haruka has her Child circle over to the main entrance. Someone in fatigues with an automatic weapon is running towards the auditorium. Others are following behind.
[17:15] How many others? Haruka isn't about to let these kids fall into the hands of soldiers *again*.
[17:17] It's hard to see even without the distorting effect of Orihime's protective envelop. She estimates perhaps half a dozen.
[17:18] She's already killed anywhere from twenty to thirty. Surely she can take a few more. "Orihime? Stop them. Any means necessary."
[17:21] The only way Orihime had been able to do that is by using its tendrils to toss fragments of metal, wood and stone at opponents beyond its reach. The frontliner expires without even knowing what killed her, but the others are too far, and scatter. The trees in the distance lining the path to the auditorium might not serve as a suitable shield from Orihime's attacks, but Haruka loses sight of them.
[17:24] Argh. Decisions, decisions. Might they come after her if she just leaves? Maybe, but she doesn't want to risk them heading into the auditorium and doing...more of whatever the hell it was that they were doing. Time to wade into the treeline and see if they're still there. Worst case scenario, she can herd them away.
[17:26] As Orihime follows, Haruka can see the fatigue-clad troops fall back, trying to stay out of range, but not outright fleeing.
[17:28] Well, that's a start. "Orihime, kill anyone who gets within throwing range. Otherwise, we'll try and push them away from the auditorium."
[17:31] There is another fatality before Haruka's opponents learn of Orihime's maximum effective range. They don't try to charge her, and if she didn't know any better, seem to actually be drawing her away from the auditorium.
[17:32] May as well follow them for now. It keeps the other kids safe and it's not like Haruka has any other ideas about where to go. Let's see what kind of trap this is!
[17:34] Nao awakens to find someone shaking her shoulder roughly. It's not the damaged one, her mind notes with relief.
[17:35] Nao gurgles a little and opens her eyes, twisting her head to see her attacker!
[17:38] It's one of the Executive Committee girls, she can tell that much. She never really bothered to learn their names. "We need your help," she whispers upon noticing that she has Nao's attention. "There's a monster that we can't stop. If it gets in, everyone will die!"
[17:38] As her senses slowly return, Nao realizes that she is in some kind of cave. Many students, male and female alike, are huddling there under blankets.
[17:39] "I can't use my Child," grimaces Nao, dazedly pushing herself to her feet and glancing at her shoulder.
[17:40] "We'll help!" the girl promises, looking distraught. "And you still have your... your wires, right? This is our last stand! We have nowhere to retreat! Please!"
[17:41] "I- I'll go. I'll go. I promised, after all," replies Nao, putting her good hand on the girl's shoulder. "I need.. morphine. Or PCP."
[17:42] "I-- we don't--" Shaking her head, the girl produces a syringe. "It's a painkiller. We don't know which kind. The soldiers had it."
[17:43] "Do it," insists Nao, staggering to her feet and preparing for the injection.
[17:46] "It's past the last defensive perimeter, Sayuri!" someone yells. The girl by Nao's side shivers, and uncaps the syringe, plunging it into Nao's healthy arm. There is pain, but then a sense of detachment comes over Nao. Thinking becomes easier, as if her pain were wrapped up in cotton. Sayuri supports her, helping Nao to the exit from the cave.
[17:47] "I'm fine. I can move, now," replies Nao, shrugging off the girl after a moment and allowing her ebony claws to materialize on her good arm and approaching the exit. "Back off. Guns won't help against this thing, whatever it is," she adds.
[17:50] "We know!" she cries in frustration. "But what else can we do? We have a responsibility to protect everyone! It's what Suzushiro-san would do if she were here! We can't disappoint her expectations!"
[17:50] As Nao makes her way to the opening outside, she spots a pair of Executive Committee members with handguns, a boy and a girl. She hadn't bothered learning their names, either. They nod at her grimly, and gesture ahead. Light shines on a glorious bronze statue gliding slowly towards them, as if it were death itself. Nao's eyes water.
[17:53] Nao does well to stand upright at the sight, barely able to hold her lone claw up in the defence. "You're kidding. Right?" she asks, in a pained voice. "That isn't really you, is it?"
[17:54] Haruka stops in her tracks. "...Nao? Is that you?"
[17:55] "I can't believe it," replies Nao, taking a step forward, her arms still raised. "You were lying all this time?"
[17:57] Haruka banishes enough of Orihime so that her she can see a little better and her voice doesn't come out muffled. "Huh? What are you talking about? I've been wondering where the hell you were, Nao! Miyu broke loose and Yukino left and--argh, what the hell are you talking about?"
[17:59] The boy to Nao's left takes aim at Haruka's exposed head, gritting his teeth. He seems to be struggling not to cry, and losing the battle.
[17:59] "Don't fuck with me, Suzushiro!" snarls Nao, crouching. "You think you can just kill everyone, waltz in here and pretend to be a clueless idiot? Huh?"
[17:59] "I thought Kikukawa might do something like this, but never you!"
[18:00] "I've been killing soldiers! They had a group of students in the auditorium! They were all naked for some reason! I don't know *what* they were doing, but tell me why I'm the bad guy for trying to stop them."
[18:01] "Killing soldiers? Take a look at the soldiers you've been killing!" shrieks Nao. "Then tell me who has been saved and who has died, Haruka! Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now!"
[18:01] There is a gunshot. The bullet glances off Orihime's chest.
[18:02] "Dammit!" the boy curses, wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his ill-fitting fatigues.
[18:04] "Put that gun down! This is the executive committee talking!" Haruka insists. She silently tells Orihime to be ready to block bullets if the boy moves again. "Look, I came here to help! I don't have ANY idea what you're talking about, Nao, so slow down and tell me what's going on!"
[18:05] "The execution committee, is it? Mispronouncing words again?"
[18:06] More guns fire at Haruka's words, but Orihime's tendrils slice through them effortlessly.
[18:06] "You've been killing students from Fuka! I won't let you touch another one. Take one step closer and we'll see if your Child is stronger than my claws."
[18:07] Haruka manages to not flinch at the bullets. "Nao, this is crazy! Go to the auditorium and see! There are dead soldiers everywhere. They shot Orihime so much that she has trouble moving now, see?"
[18:08] Orihime's shape looks different to Nao, somehow, though she can't see the specifics due to the glare of the sun.
[18:09] "Did you see their faces?" Strings coil from Nao's hand, wisping around the younger girl. "Well, did you?"
[18:11] "I was too busy trying not to get killed! Nao, I'm not the villain here. We've worked together before, right? Would me killing students make any sense at all?"
[18:12] "Nothing makes sense anymore, Suzushiro," replies Nao, curling her fist. "I'm going to count to five. Then I'm coming for you. One."
[18:12] The guns held by the students finally run out of ammo, one after the other, and a hush settles over the area as smoke trails from their barrels. They're horrified, frozen in their places. No one changes clips; perhaps they have run out.
[18:13] "Two."
[18:14] "Nao! This is STUPID. We came here for Miyu and we're wasting time." She turns back to look at the way she came from.
[18:14] Nothing of note is within Haruka's field of vision.
[18:14] "Three."
[18:16] Silently, to Orihime: hit her if she comes close, but don't kill her. Watch out for the claws. To Nao: "I'm not going anywhere, and we're not going to fight! The Hime should be working together! Are you okay with killing someone who refuses to fight back?""
[18:17] That seems to get through to Nao. A little. "True. It isn't me you've attacked," she rasps. "There should be no reason for me to care. Don't you understand, yet? Fuka students stole uniforms from the soldiers. You never even checked your targets. You didn't wait to be attacked before attacking. *So why should I?*"
[18:19] "Whoa, wait, slow down! Students? So...why were students guarding other students in the auditorium? And *those* people shot at me first!"
[18:21] Every word out of Haruka's mouth seems to inspire Nao to greater levels of barely-contained fury. "Kikukawa, are you watching?" she asks, dazedly. "This is your most important person. A murderer who doesn't even know what she's done. You said people didn't need to stay dead. Is that the excuse?"
[18:23] A flower blooms in the air between Haruka and Nao. Unlike those Nao had seen Yukino use before, this one ends with a mirror. Its surface glows, and an image of Yukino is projected above it as a three-dimensional hologram. "The dead people can come back to life, if that is your question, Nao," the image says.
[18:24] "Like Haruka."
[18:24] "Dammit, Nao, this is easy to sort out! We go back to the auditorium. There are a lot of kids inside it still that need help. They're naked and scared and the soldiers shot some of before I could stop them. Let's go, alright? Bring your guns if you need to, I know what happ--Yukino?!"
[18:24] "Like Haruka-chan," Yukino confirms.
[18:24] She seems to be ignoring Haruka.
[18:24] "Yukino, where are you?!" Haruka demands.
[18:24] "So you know someone has tried this before."
[18:25] "That is correct. My hypothesis has been largely proven right."
[18:25] "But do you realise that the process may have been flawed?"
[18:25] "HEY. Stop ignoring me, you two. I'm still here!"
[18:26] "That sounds likely. However, our second chance is unique. With the power of two rather than one, it would be possible to overcome Fate." The last word is capitalized, Nao can tell. Yukino deigns to glance at Haruka, then. "In a matter of fashion, Haruka-chan."
[18:27] "What exactly has to happen?"
[18:28] "We have to win together, and take hold of the system of reincarnation. By creating our ideal world, everything unsatisfactory will be undone by our collective will."
[18:28] "So we have to defeat the Obisidan Lord as well as the other Hime."
[18:29] Yukino is silent as she contemplates her answer. "That is not strictly correct. Eleven Hime must be defeated for the doorway to open. Defeating the Obsidian Lord is not strictly mandated if we manage to take him by surprise."
[18:33] "I understand. This will work. But I predict one of us is going to have to trust the other more than anyone should need to ask." Nao narrows her eyes. "With the way things are set up, I think that's the case. For now we need to defeat Arika. Any luck finding Mai?"
[18:35] "I care not for Kuga or Fujino. You feel the same for Haruka-chan. As long as we don't interfere in those areas, and cooperate on our common goals, I see no conflict," Yukino states. "I did discover Tokiha-san's location. She is together with Minagi Mikoto, Okuzaki Akira and Kanzaki Reito."
[18:36] "Tell me where to go."
[18:36] "US," Haruka corrects.
[18:37] "You're leaving?" Sayuri asks, speaking for the first time. Her voice trembles.
[18:41] "I have no choice," replies Nao, shaking her head. "What is happening on this island has put the entire world at stake. I can't stay here and protect you. But at this point, I doubt anyone is going to come after you." She glances at Haruka and snorts. "Friend or foe alike."
[18:42] Her voice picks up. "Give me more of those painkillers. I'll need them."
[18:44] "We can't come along," the boy speaks, sounding ashamed. He clenches his fist. "Someone has to help the others. Many of the students are wounded--" His face distorts with rage. Sayuri collects five more syringes, boundling them for Nao with a torn piece of a blanket.
[18:44] "I can do better than tell you," Yukino tells Nao. "I can show you."
[18:46] "Show US," Haruka corrects. Her management instincts kick in and she attempts to order the other students: "Check the auditorium. There ar emore there."
[18:46] Nao ties them to her belt. "Do the best you can," she says to the boy. "It'll all be over within twenty-four hours. One way or the other- Haruka, do you not understand? You aren't giving orders anymore! You have no right to say anything! Just shut up, for once in your life, and do as I say!"
[18:47] "There's no one left back but the dead and dying!" the unnamed girl next to Nao yells angrily.
[18:48] Haruka scowls, still not acknowledging that she did anything wrong. "Let's just get going, Nao. We've wasted enough time bickering."
[18:50] "Lead the way, Kikukawa. The First District woman was right after all," she says, shuddering. "Convinced of our own righteousness, we cut a bloody swathe through all we see. I can see why I lost my memories this time around."
[18:51] An image of a clearing replaces Yukino's image. Her voice still emanates from the mirror. "They're hiding out in the forests two kilometers to the east. It's not a straight line, but you'll find it." Other images replace the first one, going through a sequence. Each contains a recognizable landmark. "Don't forget our regroup condition. I'll assist however I can."
[18:51] The flower becomes motes of light, fading away.
[18:52] Nao wordlessly stalks off the follow the path, not even looking at Haruka as she passes by.
[18:53] Orihime's tendrils react as Nao's claws are within striking distance, moving restlessly, but don't attack.
[18:54] Haruka follows along as best she can--or, rather, Orihime drags her along. Haruka silently tells her Child to just ignore now, coming to realize on some level that whatever punishment the other girl might choose to hand out is probably deserved.
[18:59] From a hill overlooking the Academy campus, Nao can see smoke trailing from where the church used to be. The absense of the bell tower feels strange to her. Curiously, Mashiro's mansion also seems to be going up in flames.
[19:03] "The fires won't go out until all the Hime are done..." murmurs Nao, striding ahead.
[19:04] "Do we have a plan here?" Haruka asks as she starts down the hill.
[19:06] "We're meeting the others. Mai will kill Arika's child. Then the real contest begins."
[19:06] Nao and Haruka are almost all the way to their destination, as indicated by Yukino, when a bright beam of sunlight impacts somewhere on campus. The beam begins to move, fire and smoke rising into the air.
[19:09] Nao can't stare at it without going blind. She only remains aware of it at the edges of her senses. One step, two steps, eventually she'll reach the others. Did Yukino tell them the plan as well? If Nao was Yukino, she'd make sure everyone knew- it's easy when you can do it remotely.
[19:10] "That looks like our cue to hurry," Haruka says. "Or would be, if we could. Orihime can't get around very well now."
[19:12] Instead of picking up the pace, this declaration seems to cause Nao to slow down. Her left arm dangles uselessly by her side, and the shoulder is bandaged heavily; she seems badly wounded and exceptionally tired, but still inexorably presses on. "I need to save my strength," she mutters.
[19:12] The first thing Nao becomes aware of when she reaches the clearing is that Mai is indeed there, as Yukino told her. The second thing is a curved dagger pressed to her throat. "How did you find us?" Akira hisses, holding it close enough to draw blood if Nao were to move.
[19:12] Mikoto growls at Haruka, gripping her sword tightly.
[19:13] "Spider sense. Let's wait on killing each other until Arika is dealt with," replies Nao, closing her eyes. "Or just do it now and finish it. I'm tired, so it's win-win."
[19:15] Haruka sighs. "Look, we're not much of a threat to you two by this point. Save us for distractions. That's best for everybody. I think."
[19:15] Mai places a hand on Mikoto's shoulder. "Nao's right. We shouldn't fight," she says quietly.
[19:16] The dagger leaves Nao's throat, and Akira's presence fades away a moment later.
[19:18] "Mai, you're the only one who can save us. That is what I believe," states Nao, collapsing to her knees. "Kagutsuchi might be the only thing that can blow up Apollo. Please, please, please do it."
[19:20] "Apollo?" Mai asks cautiously. "What's that?"
[19:20] Akira reappears by Mai's other side, dagger in hand. Nao and Haruka are not intimately familiar with such weapons, but it looks like one used by a Hime. Reito is standing off behind the three silently.
[19:21] "Arika's child. A satellite. In space. It blasted the island-" Nao coughs, placing one hand on the ground. "Arika- can come back to life when killed. She has- spare bodies. But they only work as long as she's a Hime. If you kill her Child, she can't threaten the island. She can't threaten us. We win."
[19:21] "The thing that's about to destroy Fuka," Haruka states flatly. "It's like a satellite. None of us can reach it."
[19:23] "But if I move, if I call for Kagutsuchi--" Mai's voice breaks, and she glances back at Reito helplessly. "Searrs will destroy Fuka! I-- and space? I can't go there! I don't-- it's ridiculous, isn't it?" She looks at Akira for support; the ninja averts her eyes.
[19:25] "Searrs will destroy Fuka anyway. They just need time for that monster to get into position, and then they'll blast the whole island."
[19:25] "Did they tell you that? Or is that conjecture?" asks Nao, helplessly. "They'll destroy Fuka anyway. Or at least us."
[19:27] "It is quite true, I'm afraid," Reito speaks, approaching Mai and patting her shoulder. "I managed to escape as First District troops were seizing control of the Academy, and I heard that boy commanding them. Nagi, I think his name was. Blue hair, kind of spiky? If Kagutsuchi were to appear, the Searrs orders are to eliminate all of Fuka systematically."
[19:27] Mai looks despondent, wringing her hands.
[19:28] "Searrs is already doing that! And I've met Nagi--nothing he says can be trusted to be completely true."
[19:29] "Then why wasn't the island levelled already?" Reito asks calmly, looking down at Haruka.
[19:29] "We must think of the bigger picture, here."
[19:30] Akira's fist tightens around her dagger.
[19:30] "As I said, their satellite isn't in position yet. It will fire as soon as they can actually hit Fuka. And the longer we stand here arguing, the more likely that is to happen!"
[19:31] "I'm not sure it's the satellite that isn't ready," replies Nao, frowning. "What if it's the one who fires it who isn't here yet?"
[19:31] "Either way, I don't know what else to do. Did Nagi say anything else?"
[19:33] "I'm afraid not," Reito responds, although his apologetic tone rings false to Nao and Haruka's ears. "I'm not privy to their decision-making, after all."
[19:33] "Then do you have *anything* helpful to say, or should we just all curl up and die? Because I'm not hearing anything helpful from you at all."
[19:35] "I'll do it," Mai states, her chin raising. Akira grabs at her wrist, and a meaningful look passes between the two. "I'll return. Don't worry," Mai promises, her voice gentle. She looks like she's about to cry.
[19:36] "The rest of us can't do a thing," mutters Nao, pulling herself up against a tree and staring at her hands. "This festival is so rigged."
[19:37] "Thanks, Mai," Haruka says with relief. "You're doing the right thing."
[19:37] Akira makes her way to Nao's side, examining her shoulder. She winces.
[19:37] Rings of fire surround Mai's limbs, as she floats a foot above ground.
[19:37] "How bad is it? My arm won't move. I think it's poison."
[19:38] "Poison?" Haruka repeats unhelpfully. "What happened?"
[19:38] "Yukariko shot me."
[19:39] Haruka frowns. "I was afraid she'd be a problem. What happened to her?"
[19:39] "She's dead."
[19:40] Haruka just nods at this. There probably wasn't any way around it. "Okay."
[19:40] "It's really not."
[19:41] "Was there anything else you could've done to prevent it?"
[19:41] "KAGUTSUCHI!"
[19:41] A ring of hot air rushes outwards from Mai's body, as a larger image of it overlays it. A dragon emerges, a sword stuck through its jaws. Once again, Nao stares into the face of death. With a leap, Mai moves to stand on its head.
[19:42] "I could've killed her last week and spared myself some pain?" Nao laughs, bitterly. "Good luck, Mai! If I could, I'd go with you. I always wanted to go into space."
[19:43] Haruka just stares at the dragon, not reacting otherwise. Hey, she's seen it before, and there it is again. Her capacity to be inspired with awe is presently quite low, given the circumstances.
[19:43] The dragon blasts off horizontally, Nao and Haruka soon losing sight of it. Whatever response Mai might have had is lost in the noise.
[19:43] "It looks bad, but not fatal," Akira says in a businesslike tone, examining the wound. "I don't have an antidote, but I think you'll be fine within a day."
[19:45] "A day. Right now, that's a long time," replies Nao, staring at Kagutsuchi. "Maybe we should move. I don't think anywhere is safe right now."
[19:45] "Move where, Nao?I don't knwo if we can do anything but wait and see."
[19:46] "I could do something about the arm's functionality," Akira states bluntly. "You'll be able to move it. And feel it, which is the drawback. Another is a high chance of permanent damage to the limb once the technique wears off."
[19:46] "Ah, so it holds off fucking me up just long enough to be of use to you?" asks Nao, tiredly. "I'm a Hime. Would that help at all?"
[19:49] "That's why it's a chance and not a certainty."
[19:49] "How long does it last?"
[19:51] "Two days, perhaps. No more." Akira shrugs. "It may not even work. Up to you."
[19:53] "Can you apply it in an instant, or does it take time?"
[19:54] "I have all the ingredients with me. They just need to be mixed together and applied. Five minutes, give or take." Akira glances at Haruka. "Are you wounded as well? You don't look too well."
[19:56] "Not that I know of. But I don't think I've ever been more tired in my life," she admits. "I can't really move right now without Orihime."
[19:56] Akira looks dubious, but returns her attention to Nao, whose shoulder is now being professionally bandaged.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

The constant bursts of light from the direction of campus don't let Haruka and Nao forget that a battle of some sort is in progress. Mikoto seems to pay attention to it, her head moving back and forth, as if she were able to see it.

Akira checks over her field dressing, nodding to herself in satisfaction. "This will hold," she tells Nao. "Try not to move the limb much when you get the feeling back, though, or you might damage it when the bone doesn't heal properly."

There is a sound much like an explosion, and a column of fire begins rising to the sky on an almost vertical approach, trailing massive columns of smoke. It is coming from the direction Kagutsuchi flew off to.

Haruka peers at the explosion off in the distance. "Let's hope that wasn't Mai spontaneously combursting."

"If it's in a sling, that'd be best," replies Nao, staying propped up against a tree for the moment. "If we stick together, then I won't need my full strength, so I'll pass on your special treatment for now. I can still fight, just..."

She shakes her head. "Speaking of. Who's killing each other at the campus?"

"Don't worry about that," Yukino's voice says, making Akira jump and look around. Wherever it is emanating, the ninja girl can't seem to spot it. Mikoto tenses up, but doesn't react beyond that.

The column of fire has almost penetrated the clouds. It looks much like a rocket taking off, Haruka thinks, though details of any kind are impossible to make out.

"Don't worry about people killing each other?" Haruka says incredulously, in response to Yukino.

"I'm worried. I'm worried one of them will live and decide to come after us next. What's the deal, Kikukawa?"

Nao's arm is in a sling, the shoulder bandaged. It looks like it would hold through a fight. Haruka, on the other hand, seems worse. Her skin is pale beyond the point of unhealthy, and something just feels alien about her to Nao, the more she spends in close quarters with her.

"The First District were brutal as they sought out results, but they miscalculated." Off to the side, Reito seems to perk up at that. "They had an ace after all, bu-- It comes!" Yukino's voice raises suddenly near the end, and there's an audible click, much like with a hastily-disconnected phone line.

A sickly green lance strikes out from beyond the sky. It lashes at the fire, and then repeats the process again and again. The beam disperses the clouds-- no, it does more than that. The sky itself tears. Something emerges from that rift, held aloft on iridescent wings.

Haruka shades her eyes against the sun and the glare from this far-off battle in the sky. "GOOO MAI!" she shouts on recognizing that dragon, though even this kind of exertion takes a fair bit of effort at this point.

"And here it is. Either it kills Mai, or she beats through it." Nao slams a fist into the ground, and then stares up at the sky. "Haruka, calm down. You look like you're dead for real, not just in theory."

"How can I be calm at a time like this? This is a life or death struggle between good and evil! You know, Fuka and everybody else. And Mai's about to smash that thing that shot down our satellite. GO MAI!"

Nao doesn't have any words for that.

A fourth blast. A fifth. The column of fire stalls, before something drops out of it back down, trailing smoke. Its trail is slightly different, which saves it from being lanced by the sixth blast, which only grazes it.

Akira gasps.

The glowing figure begins its descent, the skies righting themselves in its passing.

"Was it Kagutsuchi they were waiting for, then? Our best weapon, huh." She pulls up her knees. "I wonder if things would've been different if I'd got to Miyu..."

Haruka can only strain her eyes watching and hope that someone with less compromised vision fills in the blanks for her.

The figure descends, its wings beautiful to behold. They seem to shine with an inner light, inviting and warm.

Akira shakes her head. "It wasn't supposed to be like this," she says.

"Don't worry. We were outmatched from the start," comments Nao, suddenly seeming to regain her usual tone. She withdraws another painkiller and stabs it into her bicep, before shakily standing up. "We're up against god and fate. I don't care if we lose, as long as we make that bitch feel worse than I am now. I guess it's too late for that medicine, huh?"

"You're right," Haruka says. "None of this should've happened. Kids shouldn't have to live in fear with soldiers watching over them. But it did happen and we can only try to make the best of it." She watches the figure descend, deciding with a surge of optimism that this is a good start.

Nao's question snaps Akira out of her state. She eyes the skies, before shaking her head briefly. "Not unless Mikoto can buy us time, and that time will be better-spent fighting together. We can't afford to take a chance and end up being defeated in detail."

The figure floats down, seeming to have no trouble finding the clearing occupied by the group. It is feminine, the body incased fully in armor. The face plates retreat soundlessly, and Arika's face stares down at the group of Hime and Reito from a height of twenty feet.

"You didn't run," Arika speaks, sounding surprised. Her voice is as tinny as Nao and Haruka had heard it back on the boat they used to approach Fuka. "You must have been anticipating this as much as I was!"

Haruka's heart drops. That's not who she was expecting to see come down from that firefight.

"Oh, I would never run from a chance to play with you," replies Nao. "Besides, I'm confident that this time, you won't be getting back up again." She licks the edge of her claw, slightly. "Does it hurt? Coming back to life?"

Arika's face clouds. "I endured it so that we could meet again."

Mikoto growls, tensing up, but before she could lunge at Arika, Reito places a hand on her shoulder, stilling the girl. "You don't really think you killed Mai, do you?" he asks calmly.

"Oh, hello there!" Arika greets Reito, as if only seeing him just then. "I'm supposed to kill you next. Can you please wait your turn?"

"What makes you think we're going to take turns?" Haruka growls. To the others: "If we kill her, she might come back. Just lop off all her limbs and she'll be harmless."

Akira throws Haruka a wary look.

"An excellent plan, Suzushiro. I'm afraid it will be superseded by practicality, however," replies Nao, glancing at Reito for a moment before twisting back to Arika.

"You just don't get it, do you? You're just being used, and sooner or later, you'll be thrown away. Aren't you here to purge away what shouldn't be in this world? Someone who died and came back to life is probably the most unnatural thing there is."

That seems to give Arika pause. "I'm different," she states, shaking her head emphatically. "Daddy said so!"

Haruka rolls her eyes. "Everyone's daddy says that. You're not special. All I see is an omnicidal maniac."

"Different? From who? Alyssa-chan?" asks Nao, raising an eyebrow. "You're someone who'll be thrown away when a better model comes along. Just like an old doll nobody wants anymore."

"I'm not like that failed Valkyrie!" Arika protests. Her wings flutter, and a sword hilt pops out of a previously-hidden section of her thigh armor. "Daddy made sure I could adapt!"

"Can you adapt to being a quadrophenic?" Haruka asks. To everyone else: "If we have to fight her, we work together. Killing her just makes more work in the end."

"Which number are you? A hundred and something? Over a hundred other Valkyries have been praised by your father. And then tossed out."

Nao narrows her eyes. "To a man like that, feelings are nothing but toys to be played with. How can you be comfortable serving someone like that?"

"Two hundred and forty-nine," Arika responds, as if reciting a fact. "Even though we haven't met since I was two hundred and forty three, let's keep on being great friends, Nao!"

She grasps the hilt of the weapon, pulling it entirely out of its sheath. The compartment retreats seemlessly, while Arika observes the short sword.

And then, she moves. It's only a flick of her wrist, but that causes the sword to separate with an odd clanking sound, becoming a metal whip which she sends at Haruka's head!

Haruka commands Orihime to dodge and protect herself as best as she's able. She knows she's not in good fighting form at the moment. At the very least, she can keep Arika busy while someone else takes her down.

Orihime flows across the clearing to cleanly avoid the strike with several feet to spare. It also doges the follow up, as Arika causes the serrated metal whip to change directions mid-attack. Haruka experiences a mildly uncomfortable burning sensations in her arms, the first sensation she's had after the pain went away, taking with it all feeling.

Nao's strings lash out towards- the whip, tearings it further down to earth! "So you've died five more times since I killed you? I haven't even died once, so I guess you can't really be too good at this Hime thing, can you? Should I ask your dad for a job?"

"So much for #two-forty-nine," Haruka taunts. "Maybe the next Arika will be able to catch me!" She might be burning out here, but damned if she isn't going to do her best to give her friends a fighting chance.

It becomes a test of strength, and one Arika is slowly but surely winning. While Nao was able to use the armored girl's surprise to pull her ten more feet towards the ground, the distance is being increased once more.

"I'm coming closer to perfection every time, while you're stale and old!" Arika protests, scowling at Nao.

"Gennai!" Akira yells from behind Nao, forming a seal with her hands as her dagger floats before her. An massive Child with a frog motif materializes in the forest just past the clearing, tearing apart trees, and she backflips to land on its head.

"I'm fifteen. You're two hundred and fourty nine. Who is old, again?" snarls Nao, snaking one of her strings further up the sword, towards Arika's wrist.

"Orihime," Haruka commands her Child while watching Nao tangle with Arika, "shred one of the trees for spears if you have a chance. Otherwise, keep dodging."

"Just throw an entire tree!" snarls Nao. "Knock her out the sky!"

"Or do that," Haruka adds, though she doubts Orihime can manage that by this point.

Orihime executes Haruka's commands, moving towards the edge of the clearing. Its speed slows yet more, and Haruka's legs begin to feel the same tolerable but unpleasant heat. Its tendrils ensnare a young tree, and the Child strips it of the branches before tossing it at the floating Searrs girl.

Arika aims her free hand at the tree, not even looking in its direction, and her hand disappears, replaced by a large barrel that fires a beam of emerald light. The tree is decimated, and Orihime is forced to dodge again.

A cloud of grey gas is released from behind Nao, and Arika dives below it, ending up a mere three feet above the forest floor.

"Hell," Haruka grunts. "Use smaller objects. Things she can't shoot down. Tear something up for stakes, or use rocks."

Can't summon Arach. Can't use her other hand. As long as Nao keeps disrupting the movement of that Shizuru-like sword, Mikoto might get a chance to strike! Now is the time!

Orihime leaps clear of a second laser beam, Haruka's legs tingling from the strain of the jump. The Child dances out of the way of another attack, and ensnares a pair of larger trees. It turns in a circle, building up centrifugal force, and then tosses the objects at Arika. One falls to the beam, but another impacts against Arika's left knee with a crunching sound.

A side glance at Mikoto reveals that the girl's eyes are blank. Something is glowing beneath her shirt, and Nao gets a bad feeling about that ominous purple light.

"Alright, Orihime! Keep going while she's wounded! Bring her down!" She doesn't seem to notice Mikoto at this moment.

"Mikoto!" screams Nao, uncertain if her voice alone can snap the girl out of it. Dammit, there's no time! Abandoning her control over the sword, most of the strings leap towards Arika's leg in an attempt to yank it out from under her!

"Nao!" Mikoto exclaims, but Reito's hand on her shoulder keeps her rooted to her spot.

"Now, now," Reito speaks. "The Hime are dancing so beautifully before us, Mikoto. We shouldn't intervene." A similar purple glow is coming from him as well.

Nao's strings wrap around Arika's ankle. There is a terrible rending sound as the armor gives ground to them, but in the end, it holds, even if the leg beneath it must be crushed beyond recovery. Arika's eyes mist up, a teary smile coming on her lips. "You're fighting seriously again, Nao...."

The chainlink sword lashes out at Nao's throat, but an enormous mace impacts against it with a metallic clang, forcing the weapon off course. On a second look, it is a spiked ball, a wire connecting it to Gennai, Akira's Child. The wire begins retracting, the process painfully slow.

Alright, two out of four limbs pinned! "Orihime, go for Arika's free arm! Trap it, cut it off, I don't care, just make sure she can't use it to fight back any more!"

"You bastard!" snarls Nao, unable to look away from Arika. "Mikoto, we promised!" The strings dance away from Arika's ruined leg, this time yanking her gunarm out of place! Nao starts to run- it doesn't matter where, it's harder to hit a moving target, even with that kind of ridiculous weapon-!

Fire! It becomes Haruka's world, searing her consciousness. She is Orihime, and Orihime is Haruka. That is the way it is, and the way it had always been. The bronze Child seems to embrace the blonde, burning away her imperfections as it merges with its master at the most basic level.

Transformed, Haruka finds herself in control over her body as it is mid-leap towards Arika. Her arm twitches, and information comes unbidden to Haruka. It seems to sing out to her, requesting, begging, demanding to become a blade to smite their enemy!

"Brother!" Mikoto protests, turning to look at Reito as her eyes clear. "I made a promise with Nao!"

"Is it stronger than your promise to Mai?" Reito asks. "Stronger than your devotion to me?"

Mikoto lowers her eyes.

The beam of green energy fires wildly, jolted by Nao's strings. Nao dodges the attacks easily, noting that none target Gennai as Arika seems focused on her.

Haruka is quick to agree with her new form's desires. Arm-sword, go! Cut down Arika! Haruka (if she still is Haruka) isn't asking questions right now. She has what she needs to strike down the enemies of Fuka and that's all that matters as long as her comrades are in danger.

"Who's side are you on, Kanzaki? You want us all to get killed?" growls Nao, breaking eye contact with Arika to stare at the man.

Arika moves in time. Just before Haruka's transformed arm would have separated her hand from her body, she positions it impossibly fast, and fires. Haruka's arm is destroyed beyond any recovery, and the pain is flavored with fire. Her leap takes her past Arika, and as she lands, Haruka already finds her arm regenerating. It is a matter of moments before she'll have functionality in the limb again.

The look in Reito's eyes is menacing. "Me? Killed?" He manages to exude a sense of casual arrogance, and his words drip with disbelief. "By a fake Searrs Hime?"

Haruka stumbles to the ground, barely on her feet, prepared to scream in pain at the loss of her arm, but--it's back suddenly. What. Well, never one to second-guess anything that helps her out, she quickly decides to worry about that later. If she has armor much like Arika's maybe she can have a gun-arm too? She focuses on her good arm and tries to will some manner of firearm into existence.

Her lone claw wrenched out of place by the sudden firing, Nao grits her teeth and forces herself to concentrate. Her most trusted ally is of no help- typical, she thinks with some detachment- and instead of attempting to tie Arika down in a single limb, she instead attempts to restrict movement across her entire body, cords whipping around both arms and her torso!

Haruka's arm bubbles like hot chocolate, sending hungry tendrils to a distance of several meters. No sophisticated weapons form, however.

As Nao's wires wrap all around Arika's body, her wings begin to glow. "Why won't you bring out your Child to play, Nao?" she calls out to her, sounding disappointed. "I don't want this to end so soon."

"I got a better toy," replies Nao, suddenly smirking and glancing behind Arika. "She's just arrived. Miyu! Fairytale!"

Well, that's a start. She circles around Arika and leaps at her from behind. Let's clip those wings! Or at least tangle them up to stop whatever Arika has planned.

Arika whirls around, the sudden force sending Nao tumbling as she can't possibly match it.

She ends up facing Haruka as the bronze-covered blonde leaps at her, and the wings now emit such glow that Nao's eyes hurt beyond what she had ever experienced, nearing their limit.

Haruka suddenly remembers her mace and decides that it would be really convenient for it to materialize right now and smack Arika for a home run. Given Haruka's forward momentum, all she really needs is to have the weapon in front of her as she barrels into Arika.

Nao stumbles back, shielding her eyes from the blow. Her strings wisp into the sections of armour ruined by her earlier attacks, attempting to shred anything left of Arika from the inside out!

Nao's strings attempt to gouge out what they can through the tears in Arika's leg armor.

Haruka's mace caves in Arika's chest just as the wings release a bright wave of energy several meters in width. Haruka feels herself erode, bit by bit, layer by layer.

Arika screams in agony.

"Jigoku Gama!"

Gennai's spiked ball smashes into Arika's unguarded back.

Nao actually closes her eyes for a few seconds, hoping not to become even more blind this time around.

This seems like a really good time to roll AWAY from Arika. Assuming Haruka presently has enough control over her momentum to do that. Assuming she's not about to be totally disintegrated. If Arika's not dead after a collision like that, she'll be close to it when she lands.

What is left of Haruka crashes heavily on the ground in two parts. Unlike the previous time, the recovery process doesn't seem to be kicking in overtly, although the fact that Haruka is still alive and self-aware surely means something.

The light is gone, and in its absence, the sun feels dimmer than ever.

Arika glides down on wings that no longer glow. As soon as her feet make contact with the ground, there is a grinding sound, and one of them collapses under her weight, leaving the Searrs Valkyrie unsteady on her remaining foot.

What it means is that Haruka is presently in horrible pain. Hopefully she's coherent enough to recognize which bits of herself are no longer attached to her body. In any event, it looks like it's someone else's turn to take on Arika right now.

"Akira, now!" When she sees this, Nao's strings aim to put Arika off her feet, and the girl herself pounces from side to side to draw level with her fake friend, intent on putting her claw to work finishing the job on the rest of her limbs.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

Arika's gun arm levels on Nao, energy gathering at the tip.

Nao doesn't stop. She's fast and unpredictable in her hops, and her strings are close enough to switch limbs, it's nothing to disrupt and evade the oncoming blast!

The red strings connect Arika and Nao, and a tug on them diverts the greenish beam into the sky.

Arika's sword comes to meet Nao's claws, blocking the strike on her.

Haruka focuses her efforts on reassembling herself. Hey, it's not like she can get much else done when she's in two pieces. Frankly, it's pretty amazing to her that she's not dead right now, but she can puzzle that mystery out later.

Nao's claws grasp the sword and start to try and tug it out her hand. The redhead isn't as well-armed as her foe, but she does have another pair of weapons- when she unbalances the smaller girl, her foot whips out to kick her over!

Nao's kick lands in Arika's knee, and the Searrs girl crumbles to the ground, taking Nao down with her, the redhead landing on top.

A spotlight shines on the clearing, its brightness enough to make Nao's life agonizing. She hears a whistling sound, while Haruka can see its source -- a kunai thrown at Arika's shadow.

"Now, Nao!" Akira calls out. "Take her out!"

Nao's claws curl into a blunt fist, and smash into Arika's face with all the strength the girl can muster.

Nao is rewarded with something wet splattering against her fist.

She can't see, she can't see and brightness equates to fear. Grabbing the body by the neck, she leaps away, seeking out cover, any kind of cover.

The body refuses to yield, Nao's arms tingling as she strains them to the limit--

The bright light disappears, replaced by the soft glow of green fireflies. An entire column of them rises up.

Haruka begins regenerating slowly.

A burst of noise catches the Hime off guard. Yukino's voice follows it loudly. "If she's dead, send out a flare." It sounds as if she's using the PA system.

If she's talking about Arika, Nao can tell that soon enough once her eyes start working again.

It takes some time. Nao can see well enough. Haruka has regained the use of her arms, and is no longer a misshapen lump, although the lower extremities of her body still don't listen to her.

Reito is clapping. "Bravo!"

Well, Haruka's not going anywhere or fighting anyone until her whole body is in working order again. It would just be futile. She's well enough to glare at Reito, though.

Once her eyes clear, Nao starts trying to take stock of her current situation. After surveying the scene, however, her eyes settle on Reito with unmistakable hostility.

Arika's face is a mess, and her neck is turned at a bad angle. Her current incarnation is a mere transparent, green outline right now, as more and more motes of green light leave her body and rise up to the sky.

Reito looks amused.

"Oh crap," Haruka croaks. "We weren't supposed to kill her, Nao. We don't have much time to do what we need to do before she comes back."

"You're right. I hit her too hard," replies Nao, not sounding terribly sorry. "Well, Kanzaki. Which side are you on?"

"On my own, of course," he responds. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"I don't like the way you speak. Mikoto, this guy is sick. You can tell, because he's enjoying this." Rising to her feet, she stares past him at the younger girl. "You'd really break a promise for him?"

Mikoto can't meet Nao's eyes.

Haruka props herself up on her elbows. "Mikoto! He's laughing while other people die! This isn't someone who cares about you. What's going on?"

"Just because he's your brother? Can't you see he's using you?" shouts Nao, her voice rising. "How long have you two been at this school together? He must've known much earlier!"

"Nao, I--"

The purple glow centered on Mikoto's chest intensifies, and she clams up.

Akira remains silent, Nao and Haruka can see, but while she makes no threatening moves, neither has Gennai been banished.

"What the hell are you doing to her, you bastard?!" growls Nao, wanting to surge forward and kill the boy with every fibre of her body. But Mikoto's right there, and- even if she had the will to fight, could she hope to win? She knows nothing about the girl's ability, and what's more, her body isn't up to scratch.

Nao's not the only one with physical impediments to fighting by this point. Can Haruka even stand up yet?

"Isn't it a sister's job to serve her loving brother?" Reito asks with a smirk, as Mikoto remains silent.

Haruka has the distinct feeling that her spine had yet to heal.

"'Loving brother?' Maybe when she gets one, sure! Mikoto, HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOU. And what else is family really about?"

"Shouldn't you focus on not dying?" Reito asks Haruka, looking down at her as if she were a bug.

"I get it. I see. Sometimes, people make contradictory promises," agrees Nao, sounding concilatory. "So, Mikoto. If you promised Mai not to fight, that's fine. You keep that promise. Or you fight together with me. You can pick that one, too." She narrows her eyes. "With me or not at all. Don't you dare break both for this guy."

Haruka can only scowl back at Reito. It's not like there's a good comeback for an accurate observation, and she's obviously not up to kicking his ass yet.

If it were possible for Mikoto to look more shamed, she would be.

"My, my," a very familiar voice says. Mashiro Kazahana makes an entrance, her ever-present maid pushing her wheelchair. The terrain is rough, but it doesn't seem to be an issue for Fumi, who makes the job seem effortless. "Fighting amongst ourselves is bad, isn't it?"

Finally, someone who agrees with Haruka! But wait a minute: "Aren't you dead?"

"No more than you, Suzushiro-san," Mashiro responds patiently.

Haruka's not sure that this is reassuring.

"Wonderful. Another person with no sense of setting."

Nao glances back at Akira. "Yukino wanted a flare. Arika's dead for the time being. If you've got one, use it."

Guardedly, she creeps back towards Haruka so that the two of them might present a united front. "I don't have anything to say to anyone else. If you want something, spit it out. If you don't, we're busy."

A flare is sent into the sky moments later, as Akira apparently decides to continue cooperating with Nao.

"I wish I didn't have to come out in person, but Searrs didn't really leave me much choice, did they?" Mashiro asks Nao. "And we have the Obsidian Prince misbehaving, on top of everything. Someone is clearly needed to mediate."

"So what's in it for me?"

"Obsidian Prince? That's HIM?"

Mashiro loses a tiny bit of her composure as she gives Haruka an incredulous look, but she quickly schools her features into a pleasant smile. "Well, it certainly is not Minagi-san."

Haruka is flabbergasted. "He was in the student council the whole time. I can't believe--Reito, you traitor! I am going to rip you to pieces as soon as I can get up and walk!"

"Good luck with that," Reito says with fake sincerity, sounding bored.

"Don't do it, Haruka," warns Nao, glancing past him. "We don't know what Mikoto will do, and I can't back you up." She snorts. "As far as I'm concerned, none of you are trustworthy in the slightest. Give me one reason to listen to you."

Given that Haruka presently lacks the ability to move her legs, she's not likely to actually follow through. But she'd dearly like to.

"I helped you," Mashiro points out. "With what little I could. I pulled you out of that flytrap you walked into."

Fumi continues to push Mashiro's wheelchair into the clearing, the battle damage in her path not impeding the maid in the slightest.

"I was wondering if you were the same one," murmurs Nao. "Fine."

She looks expectant.

Haruka doesn't have the slightest clue what Nao and Mashiro are talking about and can only look from one to the other in confusion. She doesn't look terribly patient about this whole standoff thing.

Reito and Akira seem content to let things play out, while Mikoto twitches every once in a while, as the purple glow pulsates, originating from below her shirt.

"So you survived," Yukino's voice comments, this time from her preferred method of communication. "And Arika Searrs didn't."

"She's dead. For now. Disappointed?"

"Hardly," Yukino responds, as Mashiro looks on with interest. "Fill me in. Who around you is an enemy?"

"Reito," Haruka says. "And only Reito, as far as I can tell."

"I have a strong dislike for Kanzaki," Nao agrees. "He's controlling Minagi. It is a problem. Luckily, however, you're just in time for negotiations. Sooner or later, someone will put something on the table." She frowns. "It isn't going to be me, I think."

"Hmph. Can you handle Mikoto? Even true talent can be overwhelmed with numbers."

"We can't wait forever. Arika will come back evidently. And we're not in shape to start another battle. At least, I'M not. If anyone has a way to reach Mikoto without a fight, I want to hear it."

"I can make sure she won't return," Yukino states. "But it's either that or assist you now. Killing Searrs is not worth it for me if I lose my partner," Yukino states matter-of-factly, as if she were discussing the student council itinerary and not plans for murder.

"Deal with Arika," replies Nao, instantly.

"Keep Arika out of here," Haruka decides quickly. "Stopping her last time was hard enough."

"You wish is my command," Yukiko says sardonically.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Reito asks, appearing mildly curious.

"You have a very nice lair," Yukino responds, sounding smug. "Would be a shame if someone squatted there, wouldn't it? Hypothetically speaking."

Reito's face distorts in anger.

Haruka shivers a little at Yukino's tone. That's NOT the girl she used to know. She always thought Yukino needed to get some backbone, but this is a little creepy. Still, at least she's cooperating. "What's up, Reito?" she chimes in. "Something not going as planned?"

Nao clenches her fist. With a face like that, this could turn bad at any time... and it'd come down to who Mashiro decides to help. That should settle it, but there is still some unease.

"The problem with taking hostages," Yukino continues, gloating, "is that emotional little octopus heads would still execute orders perfectly even if, say, the one issuing them happened to change."

Reito clenches his fists.

"Isn't that right?" Yukino asks, and it doesn't sound like she's talking to anyone in the clearing. "Now go and destroy the Searrs sattelite for me, or else it's all over for your dear Oniichan, you whiny brat!"

Akira looks unsettled.

Fumi stops pushing Mashiro's wheelchair; they now form an almost perfect triangle with Haruka and Nao, and Reito and Mikoto.

Haruka has absolutely no idea what Yukino's talking about, but breaking the stalemate isn't her move to make while she's still recouperating.

Something rises into the air, back from the direction of campus. It leaves behind a column of smoke as it climbs higher and higher.

"I don't know what she's doing," Haruka mutters to Nao, "but let's just be glad she's on our side."

"Indeed. Give up Mikoto, Reito," states Nao, crossing her arms. "On your life."

Reito laughs incredulously. "My life?" he repeats, disbelieving. "You're going to take it, then? You and what army?"

"An army? Since when did they do anyone any good around here?" queries Nao, raising an eyebrow.

"True enough," Reito agrees. He stretches out exaggeratedly. "So that's how it's going to be?"

"On the contrary," Mashiro interjects. "It doesn't have to be that way."

The column of smoke is now going all the way to the clouds and beyond, already beginning to disperse near the ground.

"So you say," replies Nao. "And yet, I find myself struggling to imagine an alternative that has this man alive and me satisfied."

Haruka shades her eyes against the sun, watching the column of smoke. Does everyone but us have rocket Children? she wonders.

There is no outwards sign of it, but Haruka realizes that her spine has finally regenerated. She can't move at top efficiency just yet, but she is back in the game.

Maybe she doesn't need to let everyone else know that just yet. She'll focus on rebuilding herself for as long as she can before circumstances force her into action again.

Mashiro gestures at Reito, and Fumi nods. The pink-haired woman steps past Mashiro's wheelchair, and reaches forward, a scytche coming into being.

"Even you are betraying me?" Reito asks, his voice suddenly ugly with hate.

Mashiro inclines her head. "So it seems."

"You speak as though people wouldn't want to."

Mashiro covers her mouth with her hand, giggling.

"Mikoto," Reito speaks, gritting his teeth. "Cut off her tongue." He points at Nao.

Crap. Well, time to stand up and put on as good a show as she can in her present state. Haruka climbs to her feet, making it look as natural and casual as she possibly can. Sure, she's totally ready to fight if she has to! She'd rather not, of course, but she can, really! "Mikoto, it sounds like your brother only came to you when he needed you. Do you want to become a murderer for a man like that?

"Mikoto, I-" Nao's cocky demeanour vanishes in an instant. "I don't want to fight you. Do you really want to fight me?"

Mikoto shakes her head, looking sad.

"Useless!" Reito spits, backhanding the small girl. She flies several feet, crashing on the ground heavily. "No matter," he mutters. "There is still Mai."

"You think I'll let you get to her?" demands Nao, stepping forward. "Pathetic. You really are powerless on your own, aren't you?"

"What the hell kind of brother are you?" Haruka bellows at Reito. "And you're supposed to be a 'Prince?' Don't make me laugh! Mikoto, if you can get up, we're with you."

"I'm tired of this farce!" yells Nao, flicking her wrist and sending five red lines coiling towards the arrogant 'prince'!

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

The strings impact against a barrier that appears before Reito. Fumi takes this as her sign to strike, and Reito materializes am ornamental black sword, blocking her scythe with it.

"Pathetic," he says, as Fumi leaps back. Gesturing at the gathered Hime, Reito invites them to attack him in earnest!

Haruka decides to hang back and observe for the moment, taking as much time as possible to regenerate before dedicating herself to combat. "Yukino," she mutters, "if you can hear me, anything you might observe about what he can do would be helpful."

Is it a shield that can be beaten down? If so, Nao will discover this eventually, and her strings rear up to descend upon his protective field from all points, as if it were a sphere she can constrict.

No response comes from Yukino, though that in itself may not mean much. Devoting herself fully to regeneration, Haruka feels her recovery process speed up. Luckily for her, Reito seems content to defend himself rather than come after the Hime himself.

Reito's shield protects him from the strings coming from the front, while his sword deflects the others with a prowess that transcends human ability. He steps back, as Fumi's scythe embeds itself in the ground where he had just been standing, and kicks at the pink-haired Hime. She flies through the clearing, turning in mid-air so that she would impact against a tree with her feet and not her back, leaping back into the action.

A hail of ninja stars announces Akira's entry, but Reito deals with them all with his shield alone, looking at the girl mockingly. "Did you really think you would be allowed to win? Someone like you, stand besides my Mai? I think not!"

Nao stands side-on to Reito, obscuring her broken hand from view. She lashes out again and and again until her strings seem to form a red wave that bashes continuously against his defences.

Gritting her teeth, she tries to summon her claws on her other hand.

Uneven green claws of energy appear on that hand, as Nao's poisoned arm awakens! Even a momentary loss of her focus, Nao realizes, would make her lose what control she has over the limb!

Rather than defend against Nao's strings, Reito redirects them towards Fumi, forcing her to abort her attack.

Haruka tests her legs, stomping the ground to make sure everything's back in working order. It looks like this is going to take everyone's efforts to bring Reito down, so she doesn't have much more time to waste on healing.

Nao winces, struggling to concentrate on her own. She leaps back a few paces, putting slightly more distance between her and Reito. "Haruka, I'm relying on you," she mutters, before all ten strings whisk out, some plunging under the ground, only to re-emerge directly below Reito! Red and green mingle in a sickening array of tiny, scything lights.

Haruka's legs hold her weight. She feels reasonably confident about engaging in battle, but she hasn't recovered fully yet. Losing even a limb, like she had in an earlier attack on Arika, might well be fatal in this state as it would tax her regenerative abilities past their limits.

The red splashes harmlessly against Reito's shield, while the green tendrils controlled by Nao's awakened arm punch through it almost casually. Reito's eyes widen for a brief instant, and he leaps back, impossibly fast. Even a Hime's eyes find it difficult to follow his motions.

The green strings rampage in Reito's wake, shredding Akira's thrown daggers.

Nao clutches her shoulder with her good arm, her solid claws vanishing as she winces in pain- breathing heavily, and feigning more discomfort than she feels (which is saying something), she lets up on her attack for the moment, assuming others will pick up her slack. Fumi's weapon seems strong enough to punch through the shield- not to mention the sheer weight of Haruka's awful weapon.

Well, it's good to know that the shield isn't impenetrable, at least. Haruka considers engaging Reito directly, but it seems unwise when her allies are busy pelting him with projectiles. Plus, there's that sword he's got zipping around. With Nao falling back, though...Haruka summons her mace and steps forward to test Reito's defenses. She goes for an exploratory attack more than an all-out assault.

Reito sees it fit to block the mace on his sword, allowing the weapon to slide down to the guard, before twisting his sword aside and punching at Haruka.

More thrown weapons, kunai this time, impact harmlessly against his shield, and Akira curses.

Haruka's covered in malleable armor, right? She shifts to one side to avoid Reito's fist directly impacting her and commands the bronze field surrounding her to reach out and grab him by the arm!

Reito's strike creates a hole in Haruka's body, one that it quickly becomes apparent was caused by her as she flows and reforms around it, securing the arm with one of her own. He gives her a look of annoyance, and pushes back at the mace with overwhelming strength, before bringing his sword to bear on Haruka's bronze limb!

Fumi speeds up, to a point where she seems to be flashing from spot to spot. She is circling around Reito.

Nao plunges her green hand into the earth, and sends all five strings- can they be called strings, with this one?- snaking through the ground, leaving rumbling dirt in their passing. There's no pretense of using them to grapple- instead spears of verdant energy shoot forth to impale the dark swordsman, one at a time so not to overwhelm her arm or accidentally stab her allies.

Haruka releases Reito in order to dart back and evade the sword's strike! She readies herself for another attack, making a show of gripping her mace with both hands, while commanding one of her morphable legs to snake out and trip Reito up while he's focused on defending himself from the more obvious attack./

Reito does not intend to pursue Haruka, apparently more concerned with the green spears striking at him. His sword knocks the first four, but Haruka's malleable leg snakes out to entrap his, and the last spear pierces through both.

The agony is similar to what Haruka experienced with Arika's final attack, as cells cease to be upon coming in contact with the sickly green energy.

Haruka convulses in pain, but does everything she can to keep ahold of Reito (assuming Nao's attack didn't completely vaporize the pseudopod, that is), as he's more vulnerable to her allies' attacks if he can't move freely. If Haruka has to take a hit in order to bring him down, so be it. Reito must fall!

"Fumi, attack!" calls Nao, withdrawing the spike that's hitting Haruka, apparently not quite so confident in the bronze woman's ability to withstand the damage. He could deflect the red strings- but in pain as he is, perhaps a single, awesome attack might break him!

Even without those words, Fumi has already committed herself to the attack! Her scythe slices through spear and flesh alike, sinking deep within Reito's side! He grabs onto it, and lashes out with his sword, causing the maid to somersault to safety, leaving her weapon behind.

"Nuisances, all of you," Reito calls, tearing the scythe out of his body and turning on Haruka, both weapons in hand. "Are you that eager to die at my hand?"

Through the tear in his clothing, a purple gem could be seen, pulsing with a purple light, much like a heartbeat.

Mikoto, where's Mikoto?!

Mikoto hasn't risen from the spot Reito had backhanded her to. That same purple light is coming from her as well. She looks pale.

"Akira, smoke!" yells Nao, crouching and ready to rush to the girl's side.

Haruka disengages, sensing that Nao has something in mind. She'd love to nab that gem and destroy it, but dual-wielding Reito is a little too intimidating for her to just dive in headlong. "I'm willing to pay whatever cost is necessary to keep Fuka safe!" she announces to Reito, gripping her mace and adopting a defensive posture to buy time for whatever Nao has in mind.

Smoke bombs impact against Reito's shield, except this time, it works against him. A nearly-perfect sphere appears where Reito was, vision of what is inside entirely obscured!

Fumi retreats to Mashiro's side.

Haruka backs up by several steps, allowing herself space to react in case Reito should burst out of the cloud at her.

Nao dances to Mikoto's prone body. Her green claws are ready to deflect any blow, though perhaps at the cost of her plan. Her red claws soon stop being claws at all, as she attempts to reach through the girl's shirt and yank off the amulet she wears.

Haruka retreats, able to see the cloud of smoke around Reito collapse on itself suddenly, as Reito emerges from it, lunging for Mikoto and Nao.

The amulet, for that is what Nao's hand closes around, feels uncomfortable in her hand, as if it were a living, alien thing. She finds herself unable to merely yank it off Mikoto.

If she can't pick up the amulet, then- she can attack Reito and retreat with Mikoto in tow! Her arm throbs, and she struggles to maintain control of the five lashes that put themselves between her and him. They extend strangely, growing longer as Nao retreats, but not accelerating forward at great pace.

Maybe if she just has time to slice it open without harming the girl-!

Crap! Haruka darts after Reito with her mace held ready. Maybe she can strike him in the back as he's distracted, but her intention is mostly to force him to redirect his attention so that Nao can do whatever it is she's trying to do.

Reito bats away the red strings contemptuosly with the borrowed scythe, before interposing his sword between his back and Haruka's mace. He pivots on his good leg, and launches a solid kick into Haruka's ribs that lifts her off the ground, while Nao gets away from his immediate attack range.

"Mashiro! Can I destroy this thing?" she yells, wondering if she could even if she wanted to. Her green claws definately could manage it, she suspects, but... could she avoid hurting Mikoto? She doesn't know.

Ow, ow, OW. Haruka staggers back wheezing, hopefully buying a little time should Reito follow up on that kick. She definitely needs to get that scythe away from Reito if possible--they're effectively down one Hime while Fumi doesn't have her own weapon.

If Haruka's composition were any different, her insides would be powder now.

"I can do it," Mashiro's reply carries over, as Reito looks panicked for the first time. "No, that's--"

His eyes widen in shock. "Was that your plan?!" Reito exclaims, and as both pendants glow brighter still, calls out, "Appear, Miroku!"

Haruka has a bad feeling about this.

An earthquake is the advent of what is to come, as the ground splits in two. An enormous mace rises from the deep chasm.

Haruka suddenly feels terribly inadequate.

Nao has a worse feeling about this. There's a distance between her and Mashiro. She has to make it, and take Mikoto with her.

Her problem suddenly seems insurmountable. Not for the first time over the past couple of days, she thinks about how much easier this would be if she was the one with Kagutsuchi.

A hand reaches after the mace, something pulling itself with visible effort, as if clawing out of the depth of hell itself!

Whatever Nao's planning to do, now's the time to do it, before this monstrosity makes it completely out of the ground. Haruka staggers over to Mashiro--if it's important to get her and Mikoto in the same place, she can carry Mashiro to Nao if necessary.

If she's going to act, she realises, she has to act now. In all the movies, the big things are slow, right? Nao is fast! Was fast.

Subtle tricks fly from her mind, and she attempts to turn this into a contest of speed by rushing almost directly towards the wheelchair-bound girl, leaping over any obstacles along the way!

A monster climbs up, easily dwarfing Reito with its bulk. It floats, its body covered with nasty spikes. Two massive hands extend from the deformed body to grip a mace as large as Haruka herself, and Miroku doesn't waste time slamming it against the bronze-covered blonde. Through it all, the Child glows an eerie dark red.

Despite losing her balance at Miroku's appearance, Nao continues on her path towards Mashiro, whose wheelchair is guarded zealously by a weaponless Fumi.

"Crush them all, Miroku!" Reito commands, a sense of urgency in his voice. "Stop the witch at once!"

Haruka focuses all of her effort on raw agility now--she even banishes her mace to keep it from slowing her down, as there's no way she can fight this monster head-on anyhow. Assuming she's not instantly crushed by Miroku's opening assault, maybe she can dodge long enough for Mashiro to do whatever it is she needs to do.

Why call it a festival when it's so plainly a war, Nao wonders. Where are the stalls? The games? The free food?

She doesn't have time to think about that. Instead she concentrates on not tripping over as she practically flies towards Mashiro.

Bright light from Jennai's direction seems to stop the monster in its tracks, even as a lone curved dagger follows its path, embedding itself in Miroku's shadow. "All I can get is a few seconds!" Akira calls over from atop the enormous frog Child, holding her arms together as she forms a seal.

"You fools!" Reito cries out, even as Miroku struggles to complete its strike. Cursing, he begins to run towards Mashiro himself. "Do you know what you're doing?!"

Nao reaches the wheelchair-bound girl. Fumi moves ahead past the redhead to block Reito, quite likely with her own body.

"You can take your platitudes to the grave!" snarls Nao, dropping to her knees and holding Mikoto up for Mashiro, as if in offering.

"No," Haruka shouts, "but feel free to explain why anything that upsets you isn't in our best interest!" With Miroku pinned, she takes the opportunity to try and intercept Reito. With her and Fumi in the way, maybe they can hold him off long enough. She summons her mace again, intending to take the brunt of the attack--she's armed, after, all, and Fumi isn't.

Mashiro leans over to embrace the unresisting Mikoto almost gently, wrapping her arms around the girl.

Haruka's mace blocks the scythe, while Reito's sword plunges into her stomach. Yet, despite what should be an agonizing wound, there is no pain.

Akira cries out, "Jigoku Gama!" just as Miroku breaks through its entrapment, Gennai's attack sending its mace off course, as a new crater is born.

"You'll doom us all!" Reito rages.

"You're going to kill us all anyway. Taking you with us is a bargain!" Haruka growls right into Reito's face. She wraps Reito's sword arm in the bronze material at her midsection to keep it immobilized, pulling him in close so that he can't maneuver or even have the space to swing that scythe effectively.

Unease settles in Nao's mind, but she can't back out now, or she'll be crushed. She banishes her worried thoughts. She wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for Mashiro.

But she wishes she could ask Shizuru, just to make sure she isn't wrong.

"You imbecile! I should have crushed you from the start!" Reito hisses at Haruka, beyond angry.

"Brother," Mikoto whispers quietly, barely audible to Nao.

Mashiro rubs Mikoto's back soothingly, before moving to meet her hands behind Mikoto's head as she holds the other girl close. "Brother," she repeats after her, looking past Nao and Fumi at the deadlocked Reito. "It has been a while since I called you that, hasn't it?"

Mashiro's grip tightens suddenly, blades springing out of her hands and sinking into Mikoto's unguarded neck. Mikoto gasps.

Haruka isn't in a position to see what's happening with Mashiro. She's more than glad to see Reito flipping out, though. "This is what you get for understimulating the Suzushiros!"

With a feat of strength surpassing even his previous efforts, Reito tears himself out of Haruka's grasp, shoving her aside roughly and moving towards Mashiro again. He only makes it several steps, however, stopping as he catches sight of Mikoto.

Reito is treated to watching one of his prior enemies coming to agree with him, as Nao's face twists in shock and hurt.

Mashiro isn't the only one with blades for hands, and Nao demonstrates that nor is she the only one who can sink them into the necks of others.

Nao's claws tear the wheelchair to ribbons, but the lavender-haired girl is no longer occupying it when she strikes. A glance finds her several feet away, casually leaning against a tree.

"My, my," she tells Nao. "What a thank you, and after I brought down the Obsidian Lord. Truly, no good deed goes unpunished."

Blood pools around Mikoto.

Haruka takes a moment to regain her footing, and the next thing she knows, Mikoto lies bleeding and Mashiro is...standing up on her own? "What the--you little faker!"

Mashiro giggles at Haruka's outburst. "Please call it a strategic deception if you must."

Nao clutches her arm, and it seems to pulse. The green claws expand and contract in a strange rhythm, and she utters a wordless scream, shoving past Reito and striking at Mashiro with power beyond anything she's used before.

Mashiro's smile is wiped out by Nao's attacks, and a shield of fire interposes itself before them. In its center, a very familiar sign is swirling furiously, the same one Nao had always assosiated with Mai.

"Now, this wasn't called for," Mashiro says, gritting her teeth. The shield begins to give way to Nao's unrelenting onslaught.

Haruka is still trying to process what the hell just happened. She wanders over to Mikoto. Is the girl dead? Is this having any noticeable effect on Reito?

"ARACH!" screeches Nao, beyond anything resembling rational thought and having only one desire- to obliterate the enemy in front of her. More power surges through her arm- she barely notices the presence of the shield, only that Mashiro remains standing.

Mikoto seems to still cling to life, though she isn't breathing, and her time must be limited barring a miracle.

Arach is summoned, and some part of Nao notices that it is easily Gennai's size, now. Its front legs reform before Nao's eyes, and it slams them at and through the shield.

Bracelets of fire appear on Mashiro's hands and feet, and she tumbles through the air to escape Arach and Nao's attacks. "We're leaving, Fumi!" she calls over to her maid while suspended upside-down at the apex of her leap.

It's hard to even distinguish the green light emitting from Nao's hand as a claw, now. For all the world, it is as if she's firing a continuous, powerful beam at her opponent, as opposed to the nails of the past minute.

What's Reito doing through all this? Haruka's still rather dumbfounded by Mashiro and Nao's actions, but the Prince should still bear watching. Especially with that monster at his beck and call.

Mashiro scowls, and avoids the beam, swooping down suddenly. Fumi gives a forlorn look at her scythe, still held by Reito, but catches Mashiro's hand when the fire-user passes next to her. Mashiro changes directions rapidly at that, flying straight up towards the sun, continuing her evasive maneuvers.

Reito seems to be in shock. His hands are lowered, still clutching to his weapons, and he is shaking his head slowly. Miroku stands still by his side.

Akira appears next to Haruka, looking down at Mikoto gravely.

Mikoto's body shudders, going still.

Nao can't fly. But with Arach's help, she can manage the next best thing.

Mashiro's actions and Reito's clear emotional disarray don't make the Prince suddenly not be an enemy. Haruka remains wary of the man, but she's not about to attack him with Nao and Fumi heading elsewhere. She kneels down next to Mikoto, checking on her (and checking for that gem, because even at a time like this she has practical concerns).

Nao meets Arach in mid-air, as the Child lunges after Mashiro. Her hand blasts crackling green lightning everywhere, but even though she forces her eyes past what they can safely handle, she can't see a sign of Mashiro and Fumi, or tell if any of her strikes were accurate.

Reito drops to his knees, his weapons cluttering to the ground as he clutches at his chest. Miroku is outlined in green.

The purple gems on both Reito and Mikoto still glow ominously, even though the latter is now dead.

Nao eventually drops back to the ground, clutching her wrist as if in sudden pain. The green lightning sparkles and flickers; with Mashiro out of sight, some rational part still left within her takes over, and she squeezes her arm as if to stem the flow.

Haruka reaches for Mikoto's gem. Can it be removed easily now?

Nao's arm twists wildly. The green energy is reduced to four inch-long claws, but those refuse to disappear, twitching of their own accord.

"Destroy it!" Reito gasps, noticing Haruka's actions. "Save me!"

Haruka had every intention of destroying it, but she changes her mind after this outburst. "Why would I want to do anything that helps you?" she sneers.

Reito pitches forward, clawing at the ground ineffectually. He seems to be in a great deal of pain, but when he opens his mouth to scream, no sound comes out.

"Do it, Haruka!" snarls Nao. "He'll help us kill that bitch!"

Haruka doesn't move. "And then who'll kill him? He's still our enemy, Nao, and we could barely stop him with all of us together." She takes Mikoto's gem, if it's possible to remove it now.

Miroku becomes green sparkles, fading away. Reito soon follows, leaving his amulet behind.

Both of them grow cold, no longer filled with light.

Nao freezes, locked in sudden indecision. It's all she can do to watch as the man and his monster vanish from sight.

She drops to her knees, placing her hands on the ground. Her still-fiery claw slips through the earth, causing her to drop the rest of the way. She starts to shudder, whimpering.

Akira kneels by Mikoto, and gently closes the girl's eyes.

Haruka watches Nao for a moment, letting the other girl cry herself out. She's kind of at a loss as to what to do right now. She'd pretty much assumed doing away with the Prince would shut down the Festival altogether, but she doesn't have any way of verifying that this is true right now. She peers at the sky. Any sign that Apollo was shut down?

Nao can't see straight. She pounds her fist against the ground, choking back stuttering wails only for a few moments.

Haruka's content to wait and let Nao work out her rage right now (at a safe distance, just in case). Truth be told, she has her own internal crises to work through in light of all the people she's helped kill recently, but that's not the kind of thing she expresses out in the open.

It takes quite some time for Nao's wails to stop, and it doesn't seem as though the girl is quite done yet. After a few minutes, she huddles in a crouch next to Mikoto, staring at the dead girl, with eyes that seem to be looking somewhere far different.

"Nao?" Haruka asks carefully (unusually so, for her). If the redhead's going to be catatonic for a while, she'll turn to Akira instead.

"Suzushiro..." murmurs Nao. "What do we do now?"

"Well," she starts tonelessly, "if the satellite doesn't kill us today, we find Mashiro, ask her what the hell just happened, and...I guess after that it depends on her response." She glances at the late Minagi. "Burying Mikoto might be what we do right now," she adds, this seeming like a reassuringly -human- activity.

"She's... why did I trust her?" murmurs Nao, staring at her glowing fist. "Ah. I forgot. I can't trust anyone unless I know why..."

Her gaze rotates, and squints at Akira, as if seeing her for the first time.

Haruka checks herself for permanent injuries (remembering for the first time that she had a sword plunge right through her) and pauses a moment to regenerate the wound in her foot. Then she makes a more utilitarian use of her malleable form and goes to work on the ground with a shovel arm.

"And you? When did you plan to betray us?" asks Nao, coldly.

"Well, it occludes to me that I didn't really make any plans," Haruka says, still digging.

"Not you."

Akira startles. "What do you mean?"

"You know as much about the festival as much as we do. You even hid your gender! You must've seen all this coming from the very beginning," growls Nao. "Is it coincidence that you happen to be bestest friends with the most important person of the most powerful Hime? Really?"

Haruka pauses in her digging. "Slow down, Nao. We've lost enough people already. This isn't the time to turn against the few of us that are left. And--" Something seems to occur to her for the first time. "Wait a minute, Akira's a girl?"

"That was my father's call!" Akira protests. "See this coming?!" She laughs hysterically. "I don't even know what's going on anymore. Mai-- Takumi--"

Nao stares blanky at Akira for a moment, before shaking her head. "Maybe I should've just played to win from the start," she mutters. Her claws elongate and carve out a suitable section of dirt for a grave in a flash. "Mikoto..."

Haruka leaves things to Nao, if she can do it that much faster. She seems to have known Mikoto better anyway. "I thought getting rid of the Prince would stop the Festival. If it didn't...well, the only person we can reach who might have an answer is Mashiro. She did run the school, after all. I say we go after her when we're done here."

Nao can't seem to bring herself to put Mikoto in the grave, which might have something to do with the way anything her left hand touches will be vaporised instantly.

"The Prince? No, he's not necessary for the festival, but he drives it onwards," she replies, staring at the sky, herself.

Haruka nods. "Someone, somewhere, must have an answer. We'll find them and beat it out of them. We didn't start this disaster and we shouldn't have to pay for it." She kneels down by Mikoto, picking her up and preparing to place her in the grave. She looks around. "Does anyone want to say something?"

"I had a lot of things I wanted to say to her," replies Nao, quietly. "They'll have to wait."

Another nod, and Haruka sets the girl in the grave, stepping back to let Nao finish up. She doesn't have anything more to say herself.

"Did you take the amulet?" murmurs Nao. "I'd like to keep it."

Haruka hands it over, not having any real use for it or knowledge of what it does. "Reito's is still on the ground somewhere."

"He vanished," replies Nao, pushing in dirt from the edges of the grave onto Mikoto's still form. "That's the fate of people whom the Hime associate with. Death." Once she's done, she stands up.

"I've mourned enough. Kikukawa, are you there?"

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

No answer comes as Nao waits.

A scythe and an obsidian sword lay on the ground, forgotten, next to a dull amulet like the one Nao is holding.

Nao picks up the opposing amulet, as well, before reaching down to grasp the sword. "They didn't vanish," she comments, rather needlessly. "What do you make of this, Akira-kun?" The honorific sounds sarcastic when she says it.

Haruka walks over to the scythe and prods it with her foot, experimentally. Well hey, if they have to fight Fumi, at least the maid won't have her weapon.

The scythe is easily pushed back; though its weight is considerable, Haruka finds, it is nothing before her strength.

"Reito-san did something," Akira responds, rather than snap back at Nao. "That must be it." Her dagger disappears with a sparkle. "I never had my weapon taken from me. I didn't even think it could be."

Haruka picks up the scythe and takes a couple swings through the air (away from the other two Hime, of course!)

It weighs more than her mace. The wind sings as Haruka puts the scythe to work.

"Reito doesn't matter now," Haruka cuts in. "I thought it'd all be over when we killed the big bad Prince, but it looks like we're not done yet. If anyone knows what'll happen now, it's Mashiro."

"Ditto, obviously," replies Nao, wishing she had somewhere to put the sword. "We're probably better off with our natural weapons, so to speak." She squints on the horizon. "I'm surprised. It doesn't seem as though the ships have fired on us yet..."

At that, Nao snorts. "Mashiro. What do you think she's going to try and do now? Kill us all! I think she's the winner of the last festival... no, I'm sure of it."

"That would mean she's immortal," Akira says quietly. "And the most ruthless of all Hime."

"Maybe so," Haruka says in response to the first statement, "but there's something to making sure Fumi doesn't get THIS weapon back." A nod, to both girls. "I'd be glad to test HOW immortal she is. But we need to find her first."

"Yeah, it may surprise you, but I'm not keen to do that right this instant. She uses the same weapons as Mai. I'm not fighting that. No way." Nao shudders, before her face pales. "Mai..."

"Do you... think she's alive?" Akira asks hesitantly. "Reito-san seemed very certain...."

"Wouldn't you be able to tell instantly if something happened?"

"If she is, I have to wonder what happened to her. ...Yukino sent someone else after that satellite, which she wouldn't need to do if Mai had done the job."

"After all, you and Mai ostensibly have something in common," she adds. "Let's go and check it out. I don't mind saying that an alliance is in all our best interests for now."

Haruka just nods. That's always been her opinion anyways.

Akira appears very guarded at Nao's words. To the side of the clearing, Gennai shifts.

"Are you implying anything?" the ninja asks, eyes narrowing.

Haruka rolls her eyes. "Enough with implications and hints and aberrations. If anyone knows anything, they should put all their cards on the table. This isn't time to play games."

"So you were just playing before?"

Akira looks like she wants to take those words back.

"That was to you two," Haruka corrects. "I've SAID everything I know."

Nao grits her teeth, and turns to stare at Akira. "Yeah. This festival? You and I both know the deal there. I don't plan on attacking anyone before they make the first move, but don't expect me not to watch my back. Especially around a ninja. You'd be stupid not to think the same thing about me."

She frowns. "I'm not trusting just anyone anymore. But no matter what your goal is, you're better served working with me for now. It's that simple."

"I don't trust you either," Akira responds, though she's looking at both Haruka and Nao as she says that. "But you're not my enemy."

Gennai disappears.

A sigh. "That'll have to be good enough for now, I guess. And we seem to agree on the need to find Mashiro, so that's our next move. If Yukino won't respond...any ideas on where our steamed headmistress wnet?"

Akira frowns. "I don't recall agreeing to that."

"No, and I'd rather find Mai first. Fight fire with fire. That's the proper way to do things." Nao shrugs, and points the way with her sword. "And if we run into any soldiers along the way, I have a few words I'd like to have with them, too. Any better ideas?"

"Then suggest something other than standing here and staring at us suspiciously!" Haruka responds to Akira. She doesn't seem to object to Nao's plan, though.

Akira merely nods. "Yes. That's what we have to do. If Mai is alright-- she might be hurt. We have to find and help her!"

"Alright. Arach!" Nao leaps to the head of her monstrosity and points the way. "Let's go!"

Akira's presence disappears from Haruka and Nao's senses, as she melts away into the shadows.

Haruka will have to hitch a ride on Arach if she can't keep up, but for now...let's see what kind of speed her new body can put out!

Arach travels towards the coast, trampling over trees. Compared to its bulk, Haruka is tiny, but she is barely able to keep up, following along the cleared path. Her limbs don't get tired even as she pushes them past their previous limits.

Along the way, Nao strains her ears for any loud noises coming from elsewhere on the island.

The crackling of large-scale fires. Distant screams. Sporadic gunfire. Fuka Academy campus seems the most afflicted, though there's gunfire audible from the direction of town as well.

Arach's course takes Nao and Haruka away from either.

Haruka hates to leave all these (potential) innocents behind and in danger, but Mashiro needs to be stopped, and if finding Mai will help accomplish that then that's top priority. (Couldn't Mai have crashlanded somewhere more convenient, though? Really.)

Nao curses silently. "Akira! You keep looking for Mai. I'm going to deal with the forces at the school. Rendezvous there," she shouts, wheeling her monstrosity around and stampeding back towards the campus.

"One hour," drifts back to Nao.

Haruka decides to accompany Akira for now. Her last attempt at helping people didn't work out too well, and she doesn't look any more normal now than she did then.

"Wait, where're you going?" complains Nao, pausing. "Can you, um, change your apperance? Look less like Suzushiro Haruka, more like someone else? At least ditch the bronze?"

"Um, I'm not sure I can. It's kind of...me, at this point." Haruka concentrates, trying to experiment with her form and she if she can shape it to look like someone else (or at least not be a walking eyesore).

Doing so would require for the liquid metal to cover Haruka's face, she instinctively realizes, the only part of her original self still remaining unaltered.

Ew. Well...it's all for the greater good, right? Trying to suppress the notion that she's being suffocated, Haruka wills the metal to cover her totally and reshape her into someone anonymous (though charismatic and attractive, of course!)

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

Haruka sheds the last remnants of her humanity! Her mind fractures, recomibining almost immediately afterwards, and she finds herself cured of the desire to breathe or eat. Even her gender remains but a sentimental throwback to Haruka's old self.

An attractive, generously endowed female with a pigtail appears before Nao's eyes. She's made of shining bronze which hurts Nao's eyes when she looks at it directly.

Nao can't look directly at Haruka, recoiling from the woman. "The coat of paint remains a problem," she mutters, deciding to focus on where she's going instead.

"Yeah, well, the next time you die and get rebuilt, let's see what color you turn out." Haruka marches after Nao. "Weird" wouldn't be quite enough to describe how she presently feels.

"At least you won't have trouble getting dressed in the morning," mutters Nao, shaking her still-glowing hand.

"Well, you know what? We'll count how many people run in terror from each one of us when we get to town. If you scare off more of them, you win!"

"You really like the sucker bets, don't you?"

The edge of the forest lies ahead! Smoke rises towards the skies. From atop Arach, Nao can see it coming from where the church used to be, as well as Mashiro's mansion, which is hardly new. What is recent is the collapsed building of the library.

"The library's been destroyed," mutters Nao. "Why would someone destroy the library?"

"Well. I think we know what happened at Mashiro's. Let's head for the library and find out."

"You never told me what happened there, you know," mutters Nao, nonetheless agreeing with Haruka's plan and directing Arach to charge in that direction.

Nao spots people run away from Arach. No one shoots at it.

What sort of people?

Nao can't tell from the distance. Adult-sized, perhaps.

Haruka follows along. "There was a box. I opened it. Then Nagi showed up and things got messy." Okay, so that's the abridged version.

"Nagi. Nagi. I wonder if he's out of a job, now that Reito is dead?" Nao is happy to have Arach continue to close the distance to the school as-is, keeping an eye out in the courtyard for either of those armoured cars she was told were around.

No armored cars in sight-- wait. There are two smoldering wrecks. They look as if something impossibly sharp and hot cut through them angrily.

"I hope so," Haruka replies, savoring the image of Nagi waiting in line for unemployment checks.

Arika's work? Someone elses? Whoever they are, they might still be around. "Keep an eye out! If you see any soldiers, give me a yell. I'll tie them up," she promises, continuing to her destination.

What used to be a two-story building housing the Fuka Academy library has been reduced to rubble. It looks as if someone collapsed the foundation of the building.

Nao and Haruka can't find any obvious signs as to how this might have happened.

"No scorch marks... no fires..." mutters Nao, hopping off Arach and staring at the wreckage. "Someone bashed it down from the inside, perhaps?"

"Looks like a demobilization team tore the place down," Haruka says, picking through the wreckage. "Maybe," she replies, "but who?"

The wreckage doesn't feel warm to the touch for Haruka.

"Who'd destroy it?" asks Nao. "There must have been something here, but..." She shakes her head.

"Let's check out the main building," decides Nao, heading over to the doors. "The PA system in the executive office was still working, and with Arika gone, we might be able to use something else.. unless it's all fried completely, like the phones."

Haruka accompanies Nao to the main building, looking mournfully at the ruins of HER POOR FUKA ACADEMY as she walks through the mess that used to be the campus.

The halls are silent as Haruka and Nao steps inside the main building. The floor is littered with shell casings; someone certainly discharged a lot of weaponry indoors. From appearances, it was a running battle.

As the two Hime come towards the staircase, they spot blood on the steps. Another stain is further up.

"Well, something happened here, that's for sure," Haruka says, automatically taking the stairs to find out just what it was with no thought for any potential danger!

Nao doesn't need to worry about danger, as long as Haruka is there to take the bullets for her! She says as much as she follows the blonde, giggling to herself.

"I'm glad to know you depreciate my help," she responds, with a touch of sarcasm.

"Appreciate, Haruka-chan~"

"Thanks, Yukino," she says in the same tone.

The trail leads two flights of stairs up. If Haruka and Nao didn't know any better, they would think that someone were scaling the stairs at a run, jumping across several at once. The amount of blood pooling at each stop, however, is considerable.

Finally getting to the third floor, the two continue to follow the trail. Haruka realizes that it leads to the student council room.

Indignation! Someone's bleeding all over the floor in HER Executive Committee's headquarters? Unthinkable! Haruka charges ahead to find out who this inconsiderate wounded person is!

Nao can't seem to stop her inexplicable good mood fading away despite the scene, but it's unclear exactly why she's in it. Nonetheless, she trails after Haruka, glancing down the corridors in either direction before following.

The corridors are empty. It doesn't look like a gun battle took place on this floor.

Haruka flings the door open! A spiky-haired boy is sitting in the president's chair, currently turned away from the door.

Nagi doesn't react to Haruka's presence.

"Nagi!" Haruka crows. "What do you have to say for yourself now that all your plans have been abolished, huh?" She marches around to face the boy.

Nao leans against the doorframe, unwilling to take part in mocking Nagi just yet. It's not that she doesn't want to, though.

Haruka faces Nagi. His left side is torn up, as if a chainsaw cut through his body. His arm on that side is missing entirely.

His eyes open tiredly, and focus on Haruka. "Well, that's a new look on you," he rasps.

"Ditto."

"Bite me."

"Who did you piss off badly enough for that?" questions Nao, holding the katana over her shoulder.

"Miyu, right?"

"Ah." He groans, swiveling in his chair to face Nao, while ignoring Haruka rather blatantly. "Nao Hime. A sight for sore eyes."

"I know I missed you," deadpans Nao, grimacing at his injury despite herself. "What happened to the robot?"

"It was going well-enough, but then the little girl just up and left." Nagi looks upset. "I think it's not right to just run off in the middle of a fight. There is a code and everything."

"Sure, the same code that lets you stand by and laugh while schoolgirls fight each other to the death. I have to say, Nagi, it's nice to see you finally getting your own hands dirty."

Nagi lurches in his chair, bleeding over Haruka in the process.

Fortunately (?), Haruka no longer has to worry about actually washing her clothes clean!

"Keh. Searrs must have recalled her," mutters Nao, glancing at Haruka. "The moralizing is nice, Haruka, but let's save it for the afterparty. Nagi, I need information. What do you need?"

Aside from her field of vision tinted red, there is hardly a problem.

"You're... going to help me?" He cracks a pained smile.

Haruka wipes it off. Actually, given the malleability of her new body, couldn't she just...expel it, or something?

Haruka's form shimmers, and what used to be the head melts down to the floor, as a new head grows out of the center mass. When Haruka had reformed, the bloody parts of her body have become her feet.

"If you want medical attention, I don't know how," replies Nao, dryly. "Unless a mercy shot would make you stronger, like Haruka here. Every time she dies, she powers up."

"...Whoa. That was weird."

"If you're serious--" Nagi grimaces. "--just protecting me for a while should do, until the boss shows up."

"The boss?"

"Yeah. Lord, Obsidian, The."

Nao promptly flings a deadly gaze at Haruka, before returning her look to Nagi. "Uh-huh. How long do you think he'll be?"

"Hey--what?!" Haruka is obviously annoyed, but stops talking.

"No idea." Nagi attempts to shrug and grits his teeth as his face twists in an expression of pain. Some more of his blood splatters around. "He likes Mai for some reason. Told him you would be the one, but he didn't listen. But I like you."

"Uh-huh. Well, let's start at the top. You know the obituary you gave me for Mashiro? She wasn't around when I went to follow it up. What was up with her?"

Haruka remains silent, but it's really, really hard to not go "Lucky you, Nao, Nagi likes you!" She has to settle for thinking it and maybe saying it later.

"First District meeting," Nagi responds. "Mashiro-chan isn't back yet? Are you sure?"

"I've been away, too," replies Nao. "Why did you tip me off on her?"

The answer that comes is simple. "I like you. Don't like her."

"Do you know what Searrs are trying to accomplish here?" comes the second question, as Nao lets the earlier topic drop.

"Searrs...." Nagi seems to struggle, looking angry. "Impudent fools!"

He slumps back in the chair.

"Impudent or not, as far as I know, they still have destroyers surrounding the island," replies

Nao, clenching her fist.

"Fools," Nagi repeats weakly. "The Obsidian Lord will strike them down."

"Why do you serve the Obsidian Lord?"

"Can't help it."

"Why's that?"

"That's how the festival works." This time, Nagi stops himself well before he tries to shrug. "Do you have someone important, Nao Hime?" he asks suddenly. "Someone you would cry over?"

"Yeah, but she died."

The statement is short and casual, as if Nao isn't bothered in the slightest.

"Shame, that."

"I was pretty upset," agrees Nao. "I still have things to do, though, so I'll be using Arach a bit longer."

"Those tears... he would accept them. I know he would."

"After I win the festival, what do I do?"

Haruka rolls her eyes. When can they stop coddling this brat and and tell him how his master is dead and is life is a total failure?

"Rule with the Obsidian Lord, by his side. I think I'll... like you more...."

Nagi's speech is becoming slurred. He looks worse than he did when Haruka and Nao reached the student council chambers, if at all possible.

A distant roaring is coming from outside, barely perceptible.

"He's dead."

Nao doesn't get an answer.

Nao is silent for a moment.

"Mashiro killed him, and my person. I'm off to get revenge. Goodbye, Nagi," she replies, almost needlessly, before turning to the window and sticking out her head, staring at the sky.

The sky is burning. Angry trails of burgundy criss-cross it, trailing copious amounts of smoke.

Nao squints after the trailing smoke, trying to identify a source.

Merely looking at the display fills Nao and Haruka with a sense of urgency!

Does Nagi have anything important with him? Phone, access card or something? It's worth looking.

Then she stops looking! "Oi, Haruka, we're leaving!" she yells. "The caves aren't far, get ready to run!"

Haruka runs!

Nao and Haruka leap out of the window! A three-story drop is nothing for a Hime, and Nao summons Arach to cushion the fall. The spider-Child leaps away as soon as its passengers are on its back, Nao directing it to the cave she had awakened in.

The sky is an unnatural black, red lines crossing it like pulsating veins. The roaring is joined with a sharp, piercing sound that hurts Nao and Haruka's ears.

That is when the first strike takes place. The area just before the main building is entirely annihilated, as something rockets from the sky to detonate agains the ground! The building shakes, but remains standing. It takes a second strike, this time directly at its roof, to tax its structural integrity past the limits.

All around them, it is as if burning pieces of the sky are crashing.

"Run, Arach!" cries Nao, staring at the sky, staring at what lies beyond the parts that crack and fall. Is this the work of the star? Or was Smith's warning meant to prevent this? There's no time for regrets, though...

Haruka can only hang onto Arach for dear life right now. What good are her crazy morphing powers when the sky is falling?

Arach reaches the cave entrance amid the chaos. There are no students on the lookout, this time around.

Not surprising. They've probably all gone below. And that sounds like a good idea to Nao, as well. If Arach is too big to fit, she dismisses him, and begins to run on foot!

Arach is thus dismissed, as Nao dives inside the cave!

Haruka follows...though if anyone's still in here, they probably won't be glad to see her again.

As Nao and Haruka make their way inside, the cave shakes around them. That one certainly felt like a direct hit above.

Aside from what amounts to pebbles raining down on their heads, the two Hime are alright. They can also hear the panicked cries of what have to be the hiding students further in.

With the light Haruka sheds, Nao should have no problem navigating the darkened cave to wear the students are. Indeed, though, she does wonder if she needs even that.

Haruka doesn't have low-light vision! Again, she'll have to trail after Nao in the assumption that the redhead knows where she's going. And, of course, she'll be glad that she thought to change her appearance beforehand (though the bronze is still a dead giveaway).

Using the light from her hand, Nao guides the duo onwards!

Students. Lots and lots of students. They huddle in groups, sharing blankets between them.

Nao's appearance, heralded by her glowing claw, causes much startlement.

Haruka, illuminated by that flickering light, turns it into panic!

Haruka decides (much to her dismay) that she should probably wait in the passageway to forestall mass hysteria amongst her fellow students.

Nao puts her hand up in what must be a futile attempt to quell the panic, but she shortly accompanies it with her voice. "Everyone, listen to me! You're all going to be fine," she shouts, not used to speaking to large groups at once.

This really should be Haruka's job. Sigh. Things'll never be the same again.

Whether it is Nao's attempts at diplomacy, the immediate cause for the panic leaving, or no one willing to argue with a girl whose hand is for all intents and purposes on fire, the crowd quietens.

Haruka waits just out of sight while Nao calms everyone down, reflecting sullenly that, even if she is somehow able to return to her normal body, there likely won't be any place for her at Fuka when all of this is over.

Nao lowers her hand, but when her immediate goal is achieved, she's not too certain of how to proceed (not to mention what to do with Haruka.)

"Orihime is under my control," she states, firmly. "She won't be hurting anyone anymore, and I need her strength in the future. Who's in charge?"

"I... I think it would be me," a familiar voice says, as a boy rises to his feet, stepping towards Nao.

"Everyone kind of listens to me because the ninja do, Nao-san," Takumi says, smiling hesitantly.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

Haruka can't help but die a little inside at this announcement, but realizes it's necessary for people to not run away from her screaming.

"Ah. You made it alright. I was worried," replies Nao, unable to smile back. "For many reasons... um. What's the situation?"

"We're just... waiting. For Oneechan." Takumi sounds uncertain. "For you. For someone to help us all get away."

"We need to wait for the.. that.. that rain to stop," replies Nao, dismally. "Akira was looking for Mai the last time I saw her, and I'm sure they're both alright. Until then, I don't think there's much I can do. This is probably the safest place for the time being..."

"Her," Takumi repeats pensively, so quietly only someone with particularly sharp ears might pick up on it.

"Yes, it should be very safe. There is... something almost conforting about these catacombs, don't you think?"

If anything, being in the underground cave network makes Nao's skin itch.

Haruka doesn't find anything comforting about being underground given how her last spelunking expedition turned out, but hey, this isn't about her comfort.

"I prefer the forest," mutters Nao, guessing that it's probably going to be gone if she ever gets to go to land again.

"Anyway. Hopefully we won't be stuck here so long that we need to worry about food or anything. Um. Apart from the obvious, has anything weird happened?"

The look Takumi gives Nao tells her what he thinks about such a question, but he shakes his head. "Weird, was it? Nothing weirder than glowing claws, walking statues and death from the skies."

Nao nods slightly to Takumi's words. "Well. When it stops, I'll go outside and make sure it's safe to come out. Then we'll see about getting you all off this bloody island and making sure nobody comes back. Maybe we can kill some time exploring these caves or something."

Or not, she thinks immediately afterwards, uncomfortable at the notion. She starts heading back to Haruka at that.

Takumi accompanies her, she notices, and she spots movement out of the corner of her eye.

"To explore them we would need to cut through the walls, and while it seems like either of you could do that, we might destabilize the cave we're in too much. This sounds like a bad time for attempts like these."

Nao squints at the moment, assuming it's one of the ninja wandering after the boy.

"Then I guess we just sit around for a while," she responds. "I'm not that worried about missing out on getting stones stuck in my shoes."

"Brilliant plan," Haruka mumbles to herself.

Nao can't see anything when she tries to follow the movements directly, which only confirms her suspicions.

Nao drops on her behind and lies on her back, twisting her head to stare at Haruka.

"Sorry," she states, and it doesn't sound sarcastic, but who knows, with Nao?

Haruka sits down as well. Not that she really has to to be comfortable because, hey, she's liquid metal, but doing something human is comforting right now. "Normally I'd get everyone together and make a pep talk at a time like this," she says, sounds more wistful about the notion than anything else.

"Normally I'd sit in a corner and get guys to give me drinks," remarks Nao. "I think. I got some of my memories back... so I almost can say I know myself again."

She snorts. "You know, I've been wondering. Why did you care about Fuka so much, anyway? Shizuru mentioned you, you know."

Haruka looks at Nao. "What'd she say?" This seems to take precedence over answering Nao's question.

"It was when she was telling me about being a Hime," replies Nao, sighing. "She was wondering what you would've done, given the choice."

"Well...mess everything up, transparently."

"I think that trait in particular is ingrained within all Hime," mutters Nao, pulling up her knees.

"I really wish she hadn't died. She.. knew what was going on to start, but I could only trust her posthumously. I keep thinking, you know, that maybe if I'd become a Hime sooner, I could've stopped Arika, but I was scared."

"Well, she should've told more people what was going on," Haruka says, automatically taking the opportunity to question Shizuru's judgement as always, though her spirit's not really in it by this point.

"Yeah. I think she regretted not doing that," murmurs Nao.

"Hey, Haruka, who's important to you?"

"Huh? Well, I guess it'd be my dad. He built the family company and still runs it himself, so I like to think I've learned a lot about leadership from him. Right now, I'm not so sure."

"Ah, I see. That's good," replies Nao, unable to keep herself from smirking. "You're not allowed to like me. I forbid it."

Haruka turns and fashions a curious gaze on Nao. "What, are you worried that I'll get myself killed and take you with me?"

"It's been gnawing at me. I kind of want to be hated right now, so please let me know if you think I'm a nice person."

"I've seen worse," Haruka says. "A lot worse. Like Nagi, that slimy little--" She seems to remember that Nagi's actually dead now, and moves on. "Well, I can't really help you on that whole hating thing. You've been perfectly nice and conscious since I've been working with you."

"I don't think I hate you," Takumi interjects, himself having chosen to stand off to the side thus far.

"It's fine if you're not a Hime," replies Nao. "That's just how it is." She frowns. "Doesn't matter. I can make you hate me for real anytime, so save us both some grief and think really hard about someone else for an hour or so. If I have to die, I want it to be fucking impressive, not this fading away."

"You think so?" Haruka says, curious now. "How would you do it? Make me hate you, I mean."

"If I told you, you'd hate me on the spot, and that would be so very inconvenient."

This at least provokes a smirk, which is more humor than Haruka's shown in a while. "Well, you don't need to worry about me getting too attached anyway. Friends are one thing, family's another."

"I'm not the only one who would be relieved to hear that, I think," muses Nao, trying to shake the fire off her hand for the umpteenth time, leaving ethereal sparkles in her wake.

"Hm?" Haruka mumbles obliviously.

"Oh, nothing. Takumi, do we have any water?"

"We have a bit," the boy responds. "Would you like some?"

Haruka, no doubt, isn't thirsty at all. Hey, does liquid metal need to drink?

"Yeah, thanks. Oh, do those ninja have any of those smoke bombs? You know the ones, like in anime and movies and stuff. I could really use them."

Nao seems to be half-joking, rolling her eyes. "Ninja. That's still the weirdest thing, believe me."

"THAT'S the weirdest thing? Are you sure about that?" Haruka raises one hand and morphs into a variety of blunt and stabby implements by way of demonstration.

"Well, yeah," replies Nao, flippantly. "Magical powers and shadowy corporations are one thing, but ninja? Black masks, shuriken? Doesn't it just seem so delightfully surreal?"

Takumi glares. "What she said. It?" He shakes his head. "I'll see if I can find some for you." He retreats further into the cave.

Haruka doesn't really know what that word means, and just shrugs.

The water Nao gets is a bit stale and warm, but certainly drinkable. She also becomes the proud owner of a genuine ninja smoke bomb.

Takumi doesn't linger around the Hime much after delivering those to her, citing the need to help the other students.

The impacts outside cease.

Nao gives it a minute. Then another. Then another five, before standing up. "Let's go."

"Yeah," Haruka says, following suit, "maybe the people outside have all killed each other."

The ground outside is cratered. Smoke rises from the rubble, obscuring view. The campus looks much differently to Haruka and Nao, what little of it remains standing.

Nao is, strangely, more interested in the sky than in the school itself.

The sky is black. Thick clouds of smoke blanket it.

"The ships probably got destroyed," murmurs Nao. "Along with the town."

"Well," Haruka says tonelessly, "so much for Fuka."

"We still have some things we can do," replies Nao, after a long moment. "I was planning to meet with the others at the school. I guess they might not come..."

Peering about, she tries to gauge how widespread the destruction is.

"No," Haruka agrees, "it's hard to meet at the school when it's not there anymore. But we may as well see if anyone's still alive out here."

The flickering of Nao's fiery claw causes shadows to dance all around the two Hime. As they explore their surroundings, Nao and Haruka discover that no building was left untouched on campus. The library in particular was hardest hit; they can spot no less than a dozen impact craters, most of them rather direct hits. The way they burn reminds Nao of the fires consuming their vessel after it was attacked en route to Fuka.

"I might have been mistaken. These look like missile strikes," mutters Nao. "Damn, the ships must still be out there!"

"Well, don't ask me to look for them," Haruka says, master of the obvious as always. "If they used the ships to bomb the island, maybe that means they lost that satellite."

"Maybe. It looks like they focused their attention on the library," replies Nao, still working on it but getting closer to Haruka's level. "Even after it was already knocked down. Either they didn't know, or they really, really hated books."

"Or there was something important there," Haruka says, picking her way over to where the library used to be.

"Yeah, well, it's a smoking crater now," mutters Nao, using her claw to clear away some debris. "You can't, like, ooze down there and see if there's something underneath?"

"Um." On reflection, Haruka probably can. But it's going to feel really, really weird. "I can, as long as you don't defer to me as ooze ever again."

"It sounded nicer than 'slime'..."

"Keep working on that, okay? I'll go see what I can find." If possible, Haruka will now exploit her malleable body to slip down through the piles of debris and see what, if anything, may have been hidden beneath the library.

It is quite disconcerting, even for Nao, to see Haruka's features suddenly lose their definition and melt away, as the bronze-colored woman becomes a puddle that sinks through the cracks in the burning rubble.

Perception in her liquid state is unlike anything Haruka had experienced before, but her mind has no trouble cataloguing the information. What used to be a fairly solid collapsed building before had been shaken up by the Searrs weapons, and she can, with some difficulty, get past the obstacles.

The floor of the library is cracked, and nothing makes it more obvious than the large clock, proudly remaining in what used to be the center of the library.

Alright then, back up to Nao!

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

Haruka returns, reforming into a faceless, vaguely humanoid form before Nao's eyes.

"Anything down there?" questions Nao, still unsettled by Haruka's bland features.

"Something's down there, below the floor. We'll have to dig to it."

"Alright. This claw disintegrates stuff, I think. We'll see if it makes a decent shovel," decides Nao, heading over to the rubble to start clearing a path underneath it.

Haruka obligingly gets out of the way and watches Nao go to work.

The rubble parts before Nao's fiery claw, as the redhead carves deep into it again and again. Even as she succeeds in clearing it up, Nao realizes that this would be quite a chore. It might take half an hour at present speed just to get to the ground floor.

Nao decides to speed it up! "Arach, clear some of this away," she orders, taking bigger and bigger sweeps to open up the ground!

The spider Child is not as enormous when Nao summons it this time, but it brushes the debries aside in record time!

Upon reaching the surface, Arach tries to dig further, its front limbs slamming against the clock--

And the clock does not yield. Instead, Arach makes a keening whine, retracting its legs.

Nao glances at the clock. "Alright, I'll make the hole big enough to fit, and we'll go down and check it out. Good job, Arach," she adds, patting the monster on the leg, before she frowns. "I liked it when you were bigger, though," she murmurs. "I guess digging isn't very exciting."

"Hey, at least you didn't morph with your Child," Haruka says. "That would look even scarier than I do right now."

Nao shudders. "I do prefer two legs to eight," she admits, dismissing Arach and crouching near the crack, intent on pulling the floor of the library apart.

"Look, uh, maybe I could...be a drill, or something?"

"Yeah, that might be nice. What about a spaceship? Can you be that?"

"...Probably. As long as you don't want me to fly anywhere."

Nao and Haruka dig their way down! The ground soon changes from cracked cinder to the same type of stone that makes the cave network underneath the school.

A little bit more effort, and they are finally through. Nao is the first to descend into what seems to be a tunnel. As she makes way for Haruka, she notices that faint, flickering light is coming from further down it. Straining her ears, she also hears... crying? That's certainly what it sounds like, many voices mixing into each other.

Nao heads towards the light, but for her own part, she stays in the shadows until she can see what's behind. Perhaps the rest of the students managed to hide themselves here- she'll soon find out.

"Lead the way," Haruka says tiredly. "Everyone's scared of me."

"I'm not."

"Well, maybe a little," mumbles Nao, at that.

The light is coming from a set of large flatscreen monitors mounted on the walls near the center of the cave the tunnel leads to. As Nao's eyes adjust to the lighting, she realizes that this must be where the grade schoolers were being kept.

Yukino is seated on a rather comfortable-looking chair below the monitors, observing them.

"I never did thank you, so I'm glad I can do so in person," remarks Nao, revealing herself and walking towards Yukino. She glances from side to side, wondering if there's an immediate reason the children are crying.

"Yukino? Yukino!" Haruka runs over to her friend's side. "We've been wondering what happened to you since you went silent during the fight. Is everything okay?" Okay being a rather relative term in present circumstances, of course.

Nao snorts.

Yukino recoils at the sight of a faceless, bronze Haruka and Nao with her eerily-glowing claw!

"Watcha watching?" enquires Nao, enjoying Yukino's reaction and turning her attention to the screens across the cave.

Oops! "No, Yukino, it's me! Haruka!" She turns away for a moment to spare Yukino the sight of her freakish shapeshifting and goes back to her real face. "It's alright, see?"

The gathered kids cry ever harder as Nao and Haruka appear, which might explain the reason for their terror.

Yukino looks faint, and Haruka's words don't seem to be helping.

Haruka grimaces and retreats back to the tunnel. It pains her to hide every time they have to talk to other students, but if that's what it takes for Yukino and the others to calm down...

Haruka notices that as she retreats from sight, the crying does not seem to lessen. As she listens, a reoccuring theme of being killed by demons seems to be the source of the children's worries.

Most of the screens ahead show static. A few still work, and present images of Fuka. The Academy is ruined, the forest is burning, the city is--

What used to be the mall collapses before Nao's eyes, no doubt due to direct hit from a shell.

Reminders of what's going on do wonders to kill Nao's jaunty demeanour, but she knows she'll rebound soon enough.

The children will be reassured if Nao arranges for the remaining members of the executive committee to show up, so she filters out their crying for now. "Let me know when you've got it together. Anytime is good," she mutters, for Kikukawa's benefit, and spends a moment glancing aroudn the caves to see if there's anything apart from the kids and the screens.

"Are you here to betray me?" Yukino asks. Her skin is unnaturally white, but her voice is surprisingly steady.

Haruka listens from the tunnel, since by this point she's skeptical of her presence accomplishing anything at all. Yukino doesn't sound like she's in good headspace anyway, though.

"You're far too useful to throw away," responds Nao. "And that would upset Haruka-chan ever so much. I'm here to keep our agreement. Two can win, at least. Maybe even three. Who knows?"

"It's impossible with three," Yukino responds, shaking her head. "Maintaining the balance would prove too difficult."

"Details. Now."

"Or what?"

That's it, Haruka's just going to join in whether she freaks people out or not. "Come on, Yukino, we don't have time to mess around. Hime need to work together. Share whatever you know, alright?"

Yukino sighs, rubbing her forehead. "Work together. Alright, Haruka-chan. Let's work together." She sounds defeated.

"Okay. Thanks, Yukino. Now, the Prince is dead. We need to find Mashiro to find out if they's any way to stop this without all of us killing each other. Because I'm NOT going to let that happen. Anything you could tell us that we don't already know, or if you know where Mashiro is--just anything would be very much depreciated right now."

"Never mind that," interjects Nao. "Tell me how your plan works. Believe you me, I want it to work."

"The Prince... is dead?" Yukino does not seem to comprehend.

"Are you sure?"

Nao narrows her eyes. "He was Kanzaki Reito. Or, more appropriate, Minagi Reito. Mikoto's brother. She died. And then he died. And I was very sad."

Nao taps the katana she carries against the ground. "This was his. Now it's mine."

Yukino chokes.

Haruka kneels by her friend's side, resting a hand on her shoulder. Hopefully this does more to calm her down than it does frighten her. "Mashiro did it. She killed Mikoto to get at Reito."

"But... we can't remake the world without the Obsidian Lord," Yukino says haltingly. "How would it work without someone to focus the power?"

"The Obsidian Lord may not be necessary. I learned this from Ishigami before we left," clarifies Nao. "It's possible for someone to substitute in his place, or so he thought."

Yukino leans back in her chair, appearing deep in thought. "We would need a symbol of his power." She eyes the katana speculatively. "That was his sword, you said? Perhaps it would hold just enough to fool the star."

"The katana. I have some bangles, as well," remarks Nao. "It's necessary for us to focus the power, correct? So the other Hime must be defeated for this to work. Of course, Mashiro and those battleships remain our obvious obstacles. That rain just now, is the sattelite out of commission?"

Yukino smirks as the subject switches to the sattelite. "You bet it is. Munakata was good for something, at least. But I'd say Searrs weren't expecting for a few little surprises in between the fragments."

"About that...what was it that you sent after the satellite, Yukino?"

"Shiho Munakata. Red-haired octopus girl. Part-time shrine maiden or something. Had a crush on some guy." Nao frowns. "She hated me for some reason. I got tired of that."

"Wasn't she just so whiny and annoying?" Yukino agrees, smiling. It is a touch eerie. "But even nasty girls like her have their use in the end."

Haruka processes this silently, then: "Okay." Everyone on the island would be dead if the satellite hadn't been stopped, so she can't really questioning the methods used to stop it.

"I think I took out half the fleet before those idiots realized, but I was already prepared," Yukino brags. "It shouldn't be too hard to dispose of them now. The question is, really, what you two are doing here instead of fighting Searrs like good little girl scouts."

Wow. When Yukino turn into such a pompous windbag? "Point us in the right direction, Yukino," Haruka says sternly, not liking Yukino's attitude at all, "and we will. You're the one with eyes everywhere, remember?"

"Not anymore. Sorry. Someone kept on destroying them so I'm pretty much out."

"Then I guess you'd better come with us," remarks Nao. "Half the fleet, right? Take one boat. Use it to fire at the others. You can do that."

"...Oh. Sorry." There's not much else she can say to that!

"Half the fleet before they noticed something was up." Yukino looks incredibly smug. "But noticing the problem doesn't really take care of it, does it?"

"The blockade's gone entirely?" questions Nao, snorting. "Then what's left to fight?"

"A few stragglers. Those idiots tried to take me with them, but all they took out was some of the monitors." Yukino shrugs. "I think the First District forces -- those that survived, anyway -- felt emboldened and struck back. I've been wondering who would win for the past twenty minutes or so."

"We want the First Distrct to win. And then we want to subordinate the First District," remarks Nao. "Their local forces, anyway. They have some rather troublesome devices, or so I've been told, and they've studied the obsidian lord- and his mechanics."

"Sounds agreeable," Yukino muses. "I suppose you'd want me to come along in person?"

"You'd be safer here if you can do everything without going outside and putting yourself in danger."

"But I'd be safer if you were next to me at all times."

"Well, if that's how you want it," Yukino says to Haruka, ignoring Nao. "I wouldn't dream of disobeying you, Haruka-chan."

Nao looks pointedly disgusted. "Haven't you ever heard of keeping your friends close, Suzushiro?"

"I will be sure to protect the children from harm while I'm here," Yukino adds, smiling at Nao.

Haruka doesn't seem to know what Nao's getting at. "What's the problem? She can do the job without getting shot at here, right? How is this not better?"

"She can do the job without getting shot if you hug her whilst we go out," simpers Nao. "Then everyone is happy, no?"

"Except for the gang of grade-schoolers here, sure."

Yukino looks smug again at Haruka's response.

"How did you put up with this?" asks Nao, glaring at Yukino.

Yukino shrugs. "We're childhood friends. In any case, I simply must insist on you making it back for the meeting time we'll establish now. I can't keep on tracking you with that abominable arm." She glances at Nao's burning claw. "That leaves us in the hands of punctuality."

"Put up with what?" Haruka says obliviously.

"This arm, for your information, is quite possibly the only thing in this room that can stand up to Kagutsuchi," retorts Nao. "Call it nicer things."

Yukino looks surprised. "So you've chosen tha-- never mind." She smiles. "In light of that, I think I will. Still, back to our business, should three hours be sufficient time for you to handle your loose ends and return here?"

Haruka shrugs. "That depends on how close they are."

"On where they are," corrects Nao. "We can't just swim around and hope to run into a ship. Where are the respective forces positioned?"

Yukino gestures, before pausing herself midway. "Can you turn it off?"

"I can go away. Tell Haruka."

"I see."

"Oh, one thing," adds Nao, glancing at Yukino before she departs. "What's the favourable end result, when it's all said?"

Yukino considers her answer. "We'll have to make fresh plans. But if what you said is true, then... then three people might be able to win after all, and make the new world."

"I don't have any big dreams for some new world, just some little things. What about you?"

"Just what we previously discussed." Yukino glances at Haruka, before returning her eyes to Nao. "I could've had the rest even without super powers."

"I couldn't. I guess you could call me lucky, then."

Nao shrugs, and heads out. "Haruka, I'll be up top."

Haruka nods and awaits Yukino's briefing, wondering to herself when her awkward little friend became such a schemer.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

While Nao moves out of sight, retreating far enough that her claw doesn't bother Diana, Yukino projects a map of the island and its surroundings for Haruka's benefit. A legend next to it shows the disposition of First District and Searrs forces.

There appear to be five Searrs cruisers which survived. Four of them are concentrated together on the far side of the island, a close distance to the city. The remaining vessel appears trapped before the island and the mainland, and a heavy contingent of First District forces is concentrated from both sides. As Haruka watches, the icon representing the ship blinks and fades away piteously.

Yukino snorts. She gestures, and the First District troops are illuminated briefly to point out their locations. None are near the school, though the town has several groups. There also appear to be areas of the map which are tattered, for lack of a better description. Nothing is shown on those parts.

Haruka frowns. "What's up with the blank areas, Yukino?"

"No reception from those, too much interference," Yukino says, not looking too bothered by that fact.

"Alright. I'll take it under consideration when formaldehyding a battle plan." She dutifully memorizes the location of the various enemy forces shown, at least.

"It is unfortunate," Yukino says, her sincerity cast in doubt, "but I would not be able to remain in contact with you after you leave. Try not to die to these weaklings, Haruka-chan."

Haruka snorts. "It'll take more than a few battleships to stop me. Alright, thanks Yukino." She prepares to leave, unless Yukino has more to say.

Yukino takes out a handkerchief and waves to Haruka with it, smiling.

Haruka nods and exits, reuniting with Nao and sharing with her the location of the various hostile forces on the island.

"So what do you think we should do?" muses Nao, upon receiving the information. "Crush the boats first, or the troops on the ground, as it were?"

"The troops are small fry. If we try to take them on first, the boats can still bombard us from out on the water. And enough of the town's been wrecked already. I'd love to shut them down if we have any way of doing it."

"We do, in the form of you."

"Well. I can do a lot now, but I'm not sure I can turn into a guided missile, Nao."

"No, but you can swim, and by the looks of things-" Nao raps her fingers against Haruka's forehead- "You don't have much to fear from conventional armaments, unlike me."

Haruka shrugs. "I guess you're right. What will you be doing this whole time? Cheering me on?"

"Dealing with the First District troops. I can drop you off at the ocean, at least." Nao pauses, and frowns as she starts heading for the surface again. "It's most convenient for us if they wipe each other out, really. I figure that you can commandeer any of those ships once you're on board with some simple threats. 'specially if you make an example of one first."

Haruka nods and follows along. She's well past the point of being able to say things like "I want to avoid killing people if possible," after all.

"Arach," calls Nao, once the top is reached, before she turns to Haruka again. "Look, I suspect Mashrio could be working with the First District guys. I'm going to try and pump them for as much information as possible, since they're still in the game.

"But with Arika's satellite down, I don't think the same can be said for Searrs. Since we can't be sure, make sure to interrogate them first. I think I've got things mostly sorted out, but, well, unexpected variables- shit, and watch out for Miyu."

Another nod. "Sure," Haruka says, "I'll try and get as much information out of them as I can before they open fire on me."

"You could... you know. Tell them to surrender," offers Nao, dubiously. "Even I'd consider doing that if you asked."

"I'll TRY, yes. I just don't expect it to work any better than it did with the last batch."

"Live in hope?" offers Nao, jumping to Arach's head.

"Oh, and when you're there, use their comms stuff to get in touch with your dad. The people on the island need to... not be on the island. See if he can arrange that," calls Nao from her perch. "Let's give Akira ten minutes to show up, and take off after that if she doesn't. Wouldn't surprise me, really."

Another nod. Haruka seems quite resigned to the ensuing violence.

"This is horrible," Akira's voice drifts to Nao and Haruka, moments before the ninja appears standing on Arach's body, far enough from either Hime so as to not invade their personal space. "You survived, at least."

"We're hard to kill," replies Nao. "No luck with Mai?"

"There was no body."

"And we couldn't see the sky," admits Nao, shrugging. "Anyway. What do you say to cleaning up the remnants of both Searrs and the First District?"

"The sooner they're gone," Akira responds, clenching her fists, "the quicker I can get back to my search."

"Suits me. I'm dropping Haruka off at the ocean, and she should handle the boats themselves. We'll go to the town and coerce the rest off the island."

She pauses. "While you're at it, teach me your vanishing trick," she adds, sounding rather jealous.

"Family secret," Akira responds curtly. She pretends to think briefly. "I do have a cousin...."

"Nice family," complains Nao, before shrugging. "Anyway. Haruka, we're heading to town! You can run to shore on your own, right? You WILL be alright by yourself? Kill them or force them to switch sides or do whatever you want, as long as they're no longer a threat."

Haruka nods, mumbles, "Infirmative," and sets off on her own at the fastest pace she can manage. The sooner she gets this whole ordeal done with, the better for everyone involved.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

Haruka submerges in the water, headed towards the nearest Searrs vessel! Water parts before her, and the bronze-skinned girl has the distinct feeling that some of it is passing through her to reduce resistance.

She is halfway to her target when she detects a splash of some sort from it. It takes merely a split second to realize they have launched a torpedo at her!

Exactly how agile is this body in water? Let's find out! If this sucker's a homing torpedo, then simply moving out of its path won't be good enough. Haruka will have to wait 'til it's nearby, zip to one side at the last moment, and try to reach out and slash off the end with the propeller as it passes by!

The torpedo explodes before Haruka could even complete her plan! The upper half of her left arm is blown off entirely, and her face and chest begins to melt. The shockwave sends her tumbling towards the bottom of the sea, burying her feet in the sand.

As Haruka's hand struggles to reform, she recognizes a second torpedo headed her way, while the ship is reversing course, attempting to open up the distance between them.

Haruka is suddenly very thankful that she doesn't feel pain in this body! Still, this is a bad situation. First priority is getting away from those damned torpedoes. How well can they home in something that's at the bottom of the sea? It's time to find out. She'll bound along through the sand towards the ship, trying to veer away from the torpedo's course if possible.

Maybe they won't be able to detect her as well down here?

This torpedo explodes a good ten feet away from Haruka, sending her careening even deeper into the sands covering the surface. Her face, recently restored, melts once more, but that is the extent of her damages.

Well, that's something resembling progress. If they can't hit her as effectively down there, maybe she can sort of flow across the sand as a flat sheet of Harukaness to minimize her profile? Setting aside how intrinsically horrifying this concept is, she decides to try it!

Assuming a shape vaguely reminiscent of a manta ray, Haruka flows along the surface. The next four torpedos don't manage to deal the same amount of damage to her body, but Haruka notices that their shockwaves hinder her more considerably in her new state. That is enough to make the difference, allowing the fleeing Searrs ship to keep its distance from Haruka, nullifying the bronze girl's progress.

Grrr! They're not getting away from her that easily! Seabed sand should be pretty easy to move through...maybe she turn into something good for rapidly burrowing through it and move towards her target that way? They'd have to be damn good shots to impede her progress that way.

The sheet composing Haruka's body rolls itself into a cigar shape, burrowing into the sands! Nothing impedes Haruka as she burrows blindly in the last direction the Searrs ship was fleeing!

Success! She zips through the seabed long enough to be in the vicinity of the ship's last known position before poking her head up again (or whatever passes for her sensory apparatus right now). Hopefully they didn't catch on to what she was doing and she'll be close enough to swim up to it now.

There is no head to speak of in this form, but a pair of tentacles grow out of the front of Haruka's new body, becoming eyestalks once they pierce through the surface. The ship has changed course, but the distance has closed considerably. Another short burst of burrowing, Haruka thinks, and she can be close enough to launch a surprise attack!

Haruka makes it so, heading under the sand for a moment to get closer before shooting straight up for the ship's hull. They won't be able to shoot at her once she's right up close, and piercing the metal with spear-hands should keep them from shaking her off. With these, she'll climb to the upper decks. Nothing can stop the implacable Haruka!

Haruka latches onto the ship, climbing its side! Water rushes through the holes her spear-hands make as she climbs up, but hardly enough to do more than make the vessel list slightly.

Once she's gotten to the deck, a grenade explodes in Haruka's face before she can even fully get onboard!

Good thing Haruka's not concerned about appearances anymore! How did they even know which side of the deck she'd be coming from? Do they have Hime radar or something? ...Well, the punctured hull may have tipped them off. Does she have a chance to see how many men are waiting for her before she gets blown off the side of the ship?

Only half a dozen men that Haruka could see, and only two had anything remotely resembling a grenade launcher.

Face? Who needs a face when you've got sword-arms and there's clobberin' to do? Haruka plows ahead in spite of being maimed by the explosion. Whichever of the men is armed with the heavy artillery has to go first. The Haruka-1000 is a blinding whir of blades and blunt instruments as she barrels into the melee!

Whether it is the sight of Haruka mauling two of their comrades while lacking a head, or said mauling of two unlucky grenade-wielding soldiers, the rest of the Searrs men flee!

Haruka secures the deck before her head had even finished reforming.

Not so long ago, lacking facial features would probably be horribly traumatic! Truly these are interesting times. Anyway, she could batter goons all day and accomplish little; she needs to take the command crew. To the bridge! Or whatever direction seems likely to have the bridge! Probably it's on one of the upper decks.

The crew is bolting for the lifeboats as Haruka moves about the ship. The bridge is soon discovered; only the captain and a few others occupy it.

Well, this is easier than it could've been (past the whole face-getting-blown-off thing). Hopefully the captain is sufficiently demoralized by the desertion of his crew to submit to some basic intimidation. Haruka menaces the officers with a frightful array of blade-arms and announces: "Sunder or die!"

The captain gapes at Haruka. "What?" he asks uncertainly.

"You heard me! Your ship is mine now. Nobody has any problems with that, right? And if anyone DOES, let me just point out that the last person tried to stop me with a grenade and it didn't go over so well. Now, first, I need to use your communications gear."

"We are prepared to go down with the ship," the Searrs captain states as bravely as a man can when faced with an unstoppable, walking bronze statue. "Leave at once!"

"You can do that later," Haruka says dismissively. "Look, I'll have to start hitting people soon if you don't cooperate, and that won't be very fun for anyone. I'm sure your bosses will be very immersed to know how brave you were in the face of a liquid metal menace, but there's only one way this can turn out." She presents the captain with his own face in bronze, and repeats: "SURRENDER."

His bravado reveals itself for what it is, as the man stumbles back against what looks like the radar station.

There is a strange whistling sound coming from the outside.

Haruka has a bad feeling about this! Of course, if the ships start firing on each other whenever she gets on board, they're kind of doing her work for her, right? Nevertheless, backing away from any windows suddenly seems like a very good idea. She'll be ready to bolt back the way she came from if the ship is under attack from outside.

The ship rocks at an impact at the stern, and a flash so bright it would have burnt away Haruka's retinas if she had any swiftly follows!

Haruka turns and runs! SHE'S not going down with the ship, that's for sure. If she can get a glimpse of what direction the nearest ship is in, that'd be great, but she's not going to waste much time before diving back into the water.

The vessel lists ever-so-dangerously as another explosion impacts its bow. Haruka's feet grow claws to keep her steady, but she loses precious seconds to regain her balance. Blinding light blossoms from the point of impact, rendering Haruka temporarily blind. She stumbles onwards, and has barely managed to cross the deck when the third explosion tosses her overboard, her back on fire!

Fortunately, that fire will be doused shortly by her falling into the sea! She can't afford to tangle with torpedoes while she's blinded, so she'll sink to the bottom and lay low for a bit while she recovers.

Sight returns quickly enough as Haruka sinks to the surface, and disappears just as quickly as missiles hit the damaged ship she had fled. After half a dozen more hit, Haruka finds herself able to see without further interruptions.

Her back is on fire, however, a strange acid green fire which water isn't putting out. It's not at the point where the damage is more than her regenerative system can handle, but Haruka can tell that she is unable to completely control it, either. It is as if her abilities are needlessly taxed by what should by all rights be a minor wound to her.

Maybe what can't be doused can be smothered? Haruka adopts a burrowing form again and slips beneath the sands, fully immersing herself belowground. Can that fire still burn when she's completely entombed?

Even smothering the flames doesn't put them out, Haruka discovers.

Well, if there's no other way to get rid of the fire...much as being a flaming bronze statue would not doubt strike fear in the hearts of the enemy, walking around like that can't be good for her. If possible, Haruka will have to contort her body such that the burning portion is at the end of a thin appendage--and then disconnect it.

Haruka's form ripples, as the girl becomes a human-sized snake, which then proceeds to shed its skin. Haruka emerges from the cloud of burning metal, lessened somehow but unharmed!

Ugh. Now there is less Haruka in the world, and that is truly a crime! Alright, no more Ms. Nice Goo-girl, these ships are going down and to hell with the people manning them. From where she is in the water, can Haruka she the hulls of any ships?

It is dark. What illumination penetrates the waters all the way to Haruka's depth comes from the burning wreck of the sunk Searrs ship, which does more to cause blind spots to appear in Haruka's field of vision than help her see into the distance.

Alright. She adopts the most efficient swimming body she can manage and zips away from the sinking ship, meaning to be well clear of it before poking her head up above the surface to scan for the others.

Haruka spots what looks like a ship in the distance. It's doing its best to retreat from the island.

Well, she's not going to let it! Haruka barrels full speed ahead towards the ship. When she gets close enough for torpedoes to be a worry again, she'll do what she did last time: go into burrowing mode to approach safely.

The ship begins to lower lifeboats as soon as Haruka gets close.

Wow. She can't be that terrifying all on her own, can she? Is there something else going on? Haruka decides to poke her head up above the surface to find out. Granted, she's likely to sink the ship anyway, just to make sure no one climbs back aboard and causes more trouble.

No one is there to fight Haruka off when she boards the vessel.

Actually, she doesn't plan to board this one, given how that worked out last time! Swimming under it and slashing a long groove through the hull should insure that Searrs gets no further use from it.

The Searrs ship groans as Haruka slices through its hull! Her arms tear through the metal, regardless of the resistance it puts up! The vessel begins taking in water, and Haruka only has to wait before it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

No need to wait, as she knows it's going down. There were two more of these, right? Time to look for them, then.

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

[19:24] A small whirlpool is created by the sinking of the ship, but Haruka fights against its pull, emerging from the waters to take a look. The two remaining Searrs ships Yukino was talking about are fleeing, just as this one had been. The problem is that it was the middlemost ship of the three, and the other two vessels are breaking left and right, respectively.
[19:24] Haruka could reasonably expect to catch up to one of them, but the other might make good on its escape in that time.
[19:26] Well, three out of four does a lot to neutralize the threat, at least, but it'd be better to hit both ships. Haruka makes for the one on the right at top speed, zipping through the water as if born to it! If they fire any more torpedoes at her, she'll try something new: leaping over the explosion like a dolphin when the missile gets close!
[19:28] The inevitable explosion kicks Haruka up, boosting her already-impressive leap. Out of the water, she finds herself pelted by heavy ship-based weaponry!
[19:30] Ooookay, so that was a bad idea. She adopts a dense and compact form while in midair (the better to repel bullets) and decides to finish her approach with the tried and true safe method of burrowing through the seabed. It might not give her the time to tackle both ships, but she's no good to anyone if she gets shot to bits.
[19:32] Some things work so well they don't need to be fixed. Such is the case for Haruka's tried and true approach. By altering its course seemingly at random as soon as Haruka submerges, the beseiged ship managed to delay the inetivable, but the distance between it and Haruka keeps on shortening. Soon, Haruka is within striking range!
[19:33] The same strategy continues, then: approach the hull from below, tear a horrible gash across the bottom of the ship, then get the hell away from it.
[19:36] And a third ship joins its comrades at the bottom of the ocean. Of the fourth, there is no sign, although Haruka could always try to pursue its last known course.
[19:40] Haruka lets the fourth ship go on its way. Letting it come back and cause more destruction might be a risk, but it's probably unlikely to do so without the rest of the fleet for support. Haruka heads for land once again to meet up with her friends.
[19:43] Haruka adopts the best form for swimming back, making good time on her journey. Lifeboats litter the waters some distance off to her right, easily within reach should she wish to go that way.
[19:46] They'd probably just shoot at her if she tried to do pass by them...but she can't very well let another group of heavily armed goons land, can she? Actually, how prepared for combat are these men? Did they leave their ships with weapons, or did they just panic and run?
[19:48] Haruka can't catch a glimpse of the heavier weaponry she had been shot at in any of the closer lifeboats. Discerning whether any of the men have handguns would require coming much closer. At present, they seem to be rowing away from her, neither in the direction of the island or the last known location of the remaining ship.
[19:49] Small arms fire isn't much threat to her by this point. She decides to pass by one of the rafts to try and gauge the attitude of the remaining soldiers: still committed to their mission or fleeing for their lives? We'll find out!
[19:50] The men aboard it abandon their lifeboat as Haruka comes dangerously close to it!
[19:51] Haruka takes this to mean that their spirit is thoroughly broken, and decides to leave them alone for now. Landward ho!

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

[17:34] Haruka makes landfall, regaining her true form. She proceeds to the prearranged meeting spot unopposed. The island is quiet, now, the only sounds being that of crackling fire. She is the first to arrive, having to wait a bit until Akira and Nao join her there, the latter being helped along.
[17:34] Nao's eyes, while better after having been given the time to rest, are still agitated enough that she can't discern much detail in the blurry shapes she perceives.
[17:36] Haruka's eyes widen in surprise (an archaicly human reaction, considering her present state). "Nao? What happened?"
[17:38] "Bright lights don't agree with me."
[17:39] "Well, maybe it'll be some consultation that the enemy's down three out of four battleships. The fourth one chickened out and I didn't have time to chase it before meeting you.
[17:41] "Yeah. The First District guys ran off after we went through enough of them," murmurs Nao. "It didn't look like there were many survivors from the town itself. We looked around a bit..." Nao looks rather pained, and she glances briefly at Akira. "Akira thinks she has a method to set things right."
[17:43] "If you think about it, there is no reason it won't work," Akira speaks, as the spotlight is turned to her. "Knowing something can be done gets you most of the way towards accomplishing it, and we have very good reason to believe that a reset was already applied. Therefore, we just have to do it to get it right."
[17:43] Haruka nods. "Okay, I'm listening." Hearing of the wholesale slaughter in town makes her want to head back out to the sea and trash that last ship, even if they weren't directly responsible for the carnage.
[17:45] "There... really isn't much to add," Akira says, frowning. "We clearly can't do it on our own, right now. Therefore, we need allies or information, preferably both."
[17:46] "Allies? Who else is left by this point?"
[17:47] "I can think of at least three," replies Nao, curtly. "Go see if Yukino can put you in contact with your dad, for one."
[17:48] "Right. What'll you guys be doing in the meantime?"
[17:53] "Akira probably wants to go see her boyfriend," replies Nao, flippantly. "I'll go and check on them, and then come back and check on you. See if your dad can get people off this island, and then see what he's found out or what he can find out about the First District." Nao shrugs. "Research centers of theirs, their HQ, those kind of places need investigation. Hell, what the rest of the world looks like in general would be nice. I have no idea how this will be covered up."
[17:54] "It won't be, if I have anything to say about it. Alright, I'll check in with Yukino. Where do I find you two afterwards?"
[17:55] "In the other cave. But, Suzushiro, I will surely be the one doing the finding."
[17:55] "What makes you say that?"
[17:55] "Intuition."
[17:56] Akira reddens. "It's not that!" she protests. "Takumi just happens to be where one of our safehouses is, and they would have all the means of communications and accessing information we could possibly want."
[17:57] "Noooo, he, uh, came with us."
[17:58] "He what?"
[17:58] "He can tell you all about why he decided he wanted to when you go see him."
[17:59] "We're going now!" Akira declares, grabbing Nao by the non-glowing arm. "Where to?"
[17:59] Haruka just shrugs, the romantic affairs of others generally being something beyond her ken (though, as Executive Committee representative, she'll surely have to see that Akira and Takumi get separated once this is all over. Boys and girls cohabiting on campus? Unthinkable!)
[18:01] "Oh, sure, not your boyfriend. Look, you can tell me. I'm *very* familiar with this sort of thing," replies Nao, starting to lug Akira towards the hiding spot. "You know, is it an acknowledgment thing? Because I bet you clean up pretty good- hey, have you ever actually worn a skirt?"
[18:02] Haruka heads for Yukino's cave, leaving the other two for now.
[18:02] The way she person-shaped blur is twitching she must be terribly embarrassed. "Not everything is about skirts!"
[18:03] "I, Yuuki Nao, will *help you shop*, you poor deluded fool."

<--->

[Corwin]

<--->

[18:07] Haruka finds that not much had changed since her visit -- but as it's only been a matter of hours, there were hardly any expectations to.
[18:07] "You were very inspirational, Haruka-chan," Yukino says, her voice sounding strangely mocking to Haruka briefly. "I enjoyed watching your battles."
[18:09] "Thanks," Haruka says, either not noticing or not acknowledging Yukino's tone. "Yukino, can you get me in touch with anyone off the island? Like my dad?"
[18:11] "This system is incredible," Yukino says, admiration coming off clear. "Even in such a state-- why yes, that means I can. Whatever shall we chat about?"
[18:13] "All sorts of things. Get him on the horn and you'll hear."
[18:14] "Mmm, I suppose. Is your beloved Yuuki-san in on this part of the plan?"
[18:17] Haruka looks irritated. "She's not my 'beloved,' we're just working together. And everyone's in on the plan, okay?"
[18:19] "If you say so," Yukino tells her with an insufferable smile, and gestures. There are more blind spots in her coverage, now, Haruka notes, but Yukino herself does not comment on those. "We have to use a landline. Cells and sattelite phones are right out."
[18:21] "Whatever you can get me, Yukino, it's fine just as long as there's a connection."
[18:24] Another gesture, and then a brief wait.
[18:24] "Yes," Haruka's father speaks, his voice echoing in the cavern. "Who is this?"
[18:28] "It's me, dad. I'm pretty much still alive here. A lot of other people aren't. Searrs had battleships shelling the island. Now they don't." She sighs. "What's the situation outside the island? Has anyone caught on to what's happening here?"
[18:37] "There is something going on in America," Hiro says, taking the news in stride. "But before that... it's really good to hear from you, Haruka. Are you sure you're alright? You sound.... Well, as long as you're alright." It is his turn to sigh. "There is panic on the streets. The sky... I look at it, and I still can't believe it."
[18:42] "I'm...well, different. I'm not sure 'alright' is the best word. It's good to talk to you too, father. Things have been crazy out here. I'm alive and uninjured, but you're in for a shock next time you see me. Anyway...what's the noise in America about? Something to do with Searrs? And, uh, I have to conflate that I haven't looked up at the sky recently..."
[18:46] "There is a media blackout, and not just because many of the sattelites stopped broadcasting earlier. With the holes in the coverage, we've been set back years--" Hiro cuts himself off. "There are veins in the sky, Haruka. I've never seen anything like it. They spread, like cracks, almost seeming to pulse when you stare at them for too long. I fear it might be the end of the world."
[18:52] "Is there any way you can find out what might be going on with Searrs? They took some pretty heavy losses here; they might be out of the picture for a while if their satellite is down. First District, too--at least, the man they were working for here is dead. Who knows what they're up to at this point."
[18:54] "And, uh...I'll do what I can to stop that whole end-of-the-world thing. We've got a plan...sort of...and there's still someone on the island who should know exactly what's going on. And we have to find her anyway..."
[18:58] "I'm sure they'll die with the rest of us when the world ends," Yukino comments sarcastically.
[18:58] "Is that Yukino?" Hiro asks. "Good, you're still together. I should have known. What must we do to stop this catastrophy, Haruka? Our resources, such as they are right now, are at your disposal."
[19:05] "I'd like confirmation on what's happening with Searrs, if possible. Whatever the fuss is in America is probably them. Now, there are still some civilian survivors here on Fuka. Getting them off the island would be great, if that's possible, because I don't think we're done putting this place through the wringer just yet."
[19:06] "Now, we tore up all the military forces we could find, but it might not be all of them, so sending men here might not be a reasonable risk if we don't have the resources to spare on scouting things out first. Recognizance is our friend here."
[19:10] "If you girls handle security on your end, I'll send a relief force," Hiro agrees readily. "It will take some time. How many people will we be evacuating?"
[19:11] Haruka turns to Yukino. "Yukino, give me an estimate?"
[19:14] "Several hundred," Yukino voices. "Under a thousand, however you look at it."
[19:14] "I see," Hiro responds gravely. "I will arrange for supplies as well. As for Searrs, Haruka... without means of communication there's nothing I can do."
[19:17] Haruka nods. "Alright. Do what you can for the survivors, then. I'll call you if I leanr anything else on my end. Yukino, anything I'm forgetting here?"

<--->