Excuse
you, Mirai. Anri was
already subdued, because Mami's awesome like that.
"
Gas in the building," you call over telepathy, deciding to attend to more important matters because you're magnanimous like that. "
Knockout gas or something. We need to get the civilians clear, but be careful!"
"
Gas-" Kazumi cuts herself off. When he speaks again, her voice is shaking with rage. "
From Anri?"
"
What?" Sayaka exclaims. "
But- the whole building?"
"
That's how she got me," Niko says, realising.
You take a sniff. Odourless, or at least, you can't smell anything. And colourless, too. Gas, gas! Quick, girls...
Nasty, in a word. And perfectly executed, for another, barring the simple failure of knowledge that a magical girl doesn't need to breathe. If you had to guess, this might have been something Hijiri contributed; if she's any shade of Niko's, then she's a genius in her own right.
Elsewhen, if not elsewhere, she created the Evil Nuts - or rather, Asunaro Almonds. All by herself, synthesizing the Pleiades' power. Niko turned the Saints' power to transforming a Witch back into a girl, while Hijiri forced people to become Witches.
"
I've got Anri," Mirai snaps, her gigantic bear practically slavering as it hefts Anri in those gigantic paws. A hubbub of chatter fills the telepathic channel from the other Pleiades, nearly as loud as the fire alarm wailing away still.
You eye the bear warily, watching as it shoulders through the wall. Clawed feet drive like pitons into brick and cement, talons drawn tight around Anri's limp form as it forces the hole wider and clambers into the stairwell. You'll say something in a moment, but for now, you crook your finger and draw forth a stream, then a river, and then a flood of Grief from Anri's Soul Gem. She has the Clear Seed, too, but it feels unused.
Idiot girl.
But you'll reclaim that Clear Seed, too. As much as you hate it, your reputation with
this goes so much beyond just one Seed. This will have repercussions with
everyone who hears of you and your doings, and it's true that you
can't give the appearance of wavering on misuse of your Clear Seeds.
Another crooked finger, and the Clear Seed flies to you. You pocket it, sighing.
"
We need to get people out of the building," Mami says, cool and calm as she cuts effortlessly through the noise. You can feel her approaching, trotting up the corridor. "
Sayaka, can you bring in some clones? Mirai, how many bears can you make?"
"
We can help too," Oriko states calmly. "
We are almost there."
"
Uh, OK, good. The fire department will be coming," you say. You check the hostage again - unconscious, but breathing. You shift his unconscious body, leaning him against the wall in as comfortable a position as you can before turning to give Mami a warm smile and a hug. "
I hit the alarm. Mirai, uh, mind Anri? We don't want to rough her up."
You bury your face against Mami's hair, and murmur into her ear. "Mami, we have a lot of things to handle right now, but when I get a moment I am going to
squee about how awesome you are. That was incredible."
You smile as Mami's face heats up beneath her arms.
"
Speak for yourself," Mirai snarls. "
She hurt my Niko."
"
Mirai," Kazumi reproves, though her voice isn't much steadier. "
We'll decide what to do with her when we have all the facts, right, Mami?"
"
Yes, Kazumi," Mirai says sulkily.
"
Right," Mami says, clear and firm. You can feel her rolling her shoulders, her eyes steady and fixed on Anri. "
Rescue duties, everyone, we should try and be away from here before the fire department arrives."
"
I think I can do something about the gas," you add, already suiting action to word. You have Grief in nanoparticles fine enough to fade away into imperceptibility and mingle with
gas. And as a simple corollary, you have Grief fine enough to
filter gas. "
And, uh, one more thing. Hijiri has your entire
powerset, including lightning bolt teleportation."
"
And?" Niko challenges, though the edge in her voice suggests she knows already.
"
She used it, and she got away," you say simply - and you have to raise your mental voice to be heard over the exclamations. "
I couldn't stop her without using excessive force. I'd have hurt
her badly if I tried, and I didn't think you would have wanted that, Niko."
"
I- no, but- how could you let her go?" Niko asks, an odd tremor in her voice.
"
WHAT?!" Mirai bellows. You can't help but notice the way her bear's eyes fix on you, baleful glare boring into your skull. It's an unnerving sight, what with all the teeth and the talons. "
After all that trouble?!"
"
I couldn't hold on to her without hurting her badly
," you repeat. Grief to sweep the air... You don't know which of the molecules you're encountering might be the knock out gas, but it's easy enough to filter out everything larger than triatomic at most. "
Hell, I didn't know for sure she could do it until she did. Why she didn't use it earlier, I don't know. I... Look, there are people in danger now
. We have Anri, unconscious, and I've got the Clear Seed she took. Can we discuss it later, or while handling rescue work?"
"
We're here," Oriko says. You can feel them, too, dopplering in near the edges of your detection range. Roofhopping.
"
Later is good," Kazumi agrees. "
But we will
talk about this."
"
We will," you say, and shift smoothly to a private channel to Kazumi and Niko. "
I... I have some thoughts I would like to run by the two of you, if you'd care to hear them. I understand if you have doubts."
And you respond to Oriko and Kirika at the same time. "
Right, so you know what's happening, right? Gas, need to check the civilians."
Kazumi sighs, sounding a lot wearier than she usually does, all trace of her usual bubbly humour gone. "
I believe in you, and Mami vouches for you. And... we are friends. I'll hear you out."
"
Yep!" Kirika confirms cheerfully. You can feel them darting for the stairs.
"Mami, I need to move," you say. Your Grief cloud can't sweep the entire building, not from here.
She nods, and glances at the bear. "Mirai, can you hear me?"
The bear nods with a head the size of your
torso.
"We need to sweep the building," Mami says, glancing at you for confirmation. You nod. "Follow us? Can you bring in more bears, and start checking on people? The very young and the elderly in particular. Oriko and Kirika have, uh, the top few levels."
The bear nods again. You beam at Mami, and you start hauling yourself up the stairs, the Bear -and it deserves the capital letter- thudding up the stairs behind you with Anri in paw. The lower floors are close enough for you to reach already, so you need to head up.
You spread your Grief cloud wide, sweeping gas ahead of you. Maxwell's demon incarnate, though perhaps an analogy to a simple filter would work better. You shove everything much larger than a nanometre or two aside, out of windows and vents and doors to dissipate harmlessly in the air outside.
The building shudders, and you cast a look back to see more bears swarming in through the hole. Smaller ones, this time, about chest-high, but their eyes glow just as bright. Cuddlier ones, with less emphasis on claws and raggedy, teeth-filled grins. But no less strong, if the way they're slamming into the side of the building from a distance none the worse for the wear is any indication.
Huh.
"Mami?" you ask, checking on her. "Are you alright?"
She nods, smiling at you. "I'm managing," she says, and frowns. "Kazumi apologised to me."
"Oh," you say. You have your hand skating up the railing, hauling you up to help you leap four steps at a time. "What for?"
"Doubting you," she says, following you with flawless grace.
"
I'm here!" Sayaka calls.
"
Above, right? Mind the gas, and don't push yourself harder than you can - help me start checking the apartments? Make sure the people are alright? I'm clearing the gas," you say, and almost immediately, you can sense Sayaka, or her clone, dropping to the roof somewhere above you. "
Oriko and Kirika have the top few levels, Mirai has the lower ones."
"
On it!" Sayaka says.
"Can't say I haven't made my mistakes," you say with a sigh. "And I can't... I guess I deserve some doubt. I don't know if letting Hijiri go was the right thing to do. I was worried that stopping her there and then would prove
everything she feared, and there would
be no allowance for me to talk to her after that."
Mami shakes her head, smiling. "I think you did the best thing you could have with what you knew," she says, and reaches out to touch your hand. "You're
you, Sabrina. You had to try. And... I think you should tell them that."
"That's a fair point," you agree. "... why did Kazumi apologise to you, anyway?"
"Um, well," Mami says, blushing faintly. "Ah..."
"Hey!" Sayaka's voice calls from above. You hear footsteps rushing down the stairs, and you can feel at least two more Sayakas splitting off to the other floors.
"
Almost there," Kazumi says to you. "
I've got Niko."
"
Building's more or less clear," you respond. "
Of gas, anyway. Uh... do you know how long the fire department response time is?"
You give Sayaka a worried look. "Can you handle this many clones?"
"I've got a headache," Sayaka says, grinning cheerfully. "Well, uh, my real body does."
"
They're almost there," Kazumi responds. "
I see them."
"But are you sure you can handle this?" you ask. It's been barely a few minutes... heh, efficiency.
"Yep," Sayaka says, brushing past you and hauling the stairwell door open to charge into the corridor.
"Emergency services are almost here," you call after her, before switching to telepathy. "
We need to be out of here before then. Mirai's got the lower floors covered."
You reach the roof just as Kazumi does. Looking up, you spot two Mobile Oppression Fortresses hovering close by, one of them with a rather pale Sayaka seated cross-legged, giving you a grin. The other has Kazumi, Kaoru, Saki, Mirai, and Niko.
Saki and Kazumi both look very carefully impassive, and Niko looking nearly on the verge of tears. Kaoru and Mirai... Kaoru looks quietly incensed, her hands clenching spasmodically. And if looks could kill, Anri would be a smouldering crater right now from the look Mirai's giving her.
... given magical girls, it's entirely possible that looks
can kill. There's probably some magical girl's power.
Kazumi stands, and murmurs a few words to Sayaka, who manages a nod, and her friends - Saki, Mirai, and Kaoru, hop over to Sayaka's platform. Niko remains. Kazumi's drifts down to the roof, and the Bear strides onto it. Kazumi waves to you.
"You wanted to talk?" Kazumi asks, regarding you carefully.
"Yeah," you agree with a nod, and step onto her platform. Mami follows, and the four of you -five, if you include the Bear- are lifted into the sky, levitating away from the building. Sayaka flashes you a thumbsup, holding station.
You check her Soul Gem, as a matter of course. Filling up, but not enough for her to feel much strain on
that front. The rest of the Pleiades... good enough for now, though Niko does worry you.
"Mirai?" Kazumi asks. The Bear nods, and pointedly turns away, ears folding down and seeming to sew themselves shut. It doesn't let go of Anri.
"Alright," you say, seating yourself and closing your eyes for a second. "Niko, Kazumi, I know things. Some of it from Oriko, some of it from... other sources. I know things I shouldn't." You put a hand on either knee, blowing out a breath and opening your eyes.
"Cleansing, first?" you offer, raising a hand. Kazumi proffers her Gem wordlessly, nudging Niko to do the same. Mami, seated beside you, just tilts her head, and you cleanse everyone. "OK. So. Niko, suppose... suppose Hijiri had only been made aware that she was a clone created by your Wish, and that you watched her sometimes. And I'm sorry to broach this, but she's missing... a certain incident. Yes?"
Niko pales.
Kazumi covers her hand with her own. "Go on?" she asks, crimson eyes steady on yours.
"And she knows you're powerful, as a group and personally," you say. "Suppose then, that it's
implied to her that Niko was up to whatever... whatever bad things might come as a natural extension."
Kazumi's eyebrows contract above the bridge of her nose, a near mirror of Mami's thoughtful look.
Niko looks down at her lap, down at Kazumi's hand.
"And?" Kazumi asks, a dangerous look on her face.
"I don't pretend to know you, Niko, or Hijiri. But both of you are intelligent. From what I gather, she thinks that she's an experiment of some kind," you say. "I think she was misled into that conclusion, given that she had no way to actually
know anything about Niko. And she had to make a very specific Wish that would have given her access to your powers. She knew just enough to make the wrong decisions, and not enough to mitigate anything."
Silence, for a long, long moment.
"It's possible," Niko whispers.
"And who would do something like that?" Kazumi asks, expression giving nothing away.
Voting opens [time]2017-22-03T03:00:00+8:00[/time]
[] Kazumi and Niko
- [] How do you answer?
[] Hijiri
- [] Telepathy?
- [] Try searching for her?
[] Sayaka, Oriko, Kazumi
- [] Check-in?
[X] Squee over Mami at an opportune time
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
Here we are, finally. Apologies for how late this is - an overnight flight isn't the best place to get sleep.
)
