Oh dear. I come back from having been enabling SV's crippling hug addiction for just a week, and I find that we have decided to literally weaponise cuteness in this thread. If you're going to bother, just turn her into a memetic weapon, where no one can even consider fighting when the alternative is giving Yuma All The Headpats. It'd work on me.
Her Onee-chan was only worried about her safety, Yuma knew. Yuma knew a lot of things people didn't expect her to know, since she was so young; things like: what size socks she wore, how to find the calorie count on a bag of snacks, or how to properly pluck a pigeon. Yuma also knew more abstract things though, like how to tell when one of your elders was telling you not to do something because they were worried about you, or when they were only telling you not to do something for their sake. And Yuma knew her Onee-chan, Kyouko, was only worried about Yuma's safety.
Yuma was also quite certain that her Onee-chan, who was super-duper smart, really nice (under a lot of prickles, like a cactus), and beyond ultra-cool, would 'have a cow' if she knew where Yuma and Sabrina were going.
But she wasn't going to tell. As long as Yuma was with Sabrina-nee, she was quite sure she wouldn't get hurt... And she could fix any boo-boos that did happen, before Kyouko ever saw them, which was basically the same thing except hurt a bit more.
"You strapped in, Yuma?" Sabrina said from the front of the airplane (which was really more like a flying saucer, but since it didn't have weird lights, aliens, or a tractor beam, it couldn't be a flying saucer, and was thus an airplane. Q.E.B.). "We're getting ready to land."
"Yuma's good!" Yuma also knew to wear a seatbelt, from before she could survive being tossed from the front windshield of a car. Which she only found out last time Sabrina-nee took her on a 'shopping trip' and there were 'minor complications'. Fortunately, Yuma also found out she could regrow teeth - faster than kids were meant to, even!
The Flyingairsaucerplane settled down in an alleyway just across the street from a seedy-looking ramen shop that made Yuma hungry, and then dissolved underneath her into a lot of weird purple marbles. On a whim, Yuma grabbed two of them to play with while the rest whizzed into the sky. Looking curiously at the orbs, Yuma clacked the two together, where they merged and stuck like clay, despite feeling like smoothed stones. Even as she absently followed Sabrina out of the alley, she pushed and pulled the two spheres, watching them mush together weirdly.
Up until the pair of spheres pulled themselves out from Yuma's hands and whisked away to the rooftop, liquidly un-mushing and becoming two perfectly round balls once again. Sabrina was talking with Miss Homura, who Yuma had only met a couple of times; once or twice on the flyingairsaucerplane, and again when Sabrina and Miss Mami had gathered all the magical girls in the area to sign a paper, which was very important and serious and had quite honestly bored Yuma to tears, even though she had tried her best to pay attention and deserve the respect she knew she was afforded by being there. She had had some fun when she was the first to step forward and sign the paper, and the party afterward had been very nice, with lots of different girls she didn't remember the names of coming up to her and shaking her hand, calling her very brave (The paper had been a very important one and everyone was very nervous to sign it before Yuma had cut in line).
Homura was, Yuma had noted when she met her and thought again now, a very dark person, although not in a bad way. Apparently, Homura had had a lot of Bad Things happen to her a long time ago, and to people she loved, which Yuma understood. She wasn't very huggable though - when Yuma had tried, Homura had nearly knocked her over, although Yuma knew how Bad Things worked and didn't blame her as much as Onee-chan did. In any case, Homura was quite possibly almost as cool as her Onee-chan, which was saying something (something very very big, in fact), and had the ability to stop time, which was wicked.
Homura suddenly was wrapping a string around Yuma's wrist, because she had stopped time. It was very jarring, because suddenly everything looked like an old film before colors were invented for movies, but Yuma was pretty used to it by that point. She raised her wrist to make it easier for Homura, who muttered something Yuma assumed was a very quiet, mega-cool 'thank you'.
(Yuma had, internally, ranked measurements of 'cool', in this order: hip, Sayaka-chan, uncool, not very cool, kinda cool, cool, definitely cool, mega-cool, super-cool, wicked, ultra-cool, and Onee-chan-cool.)
Tying the string tight, Homura stood back up to her full height, which Yuma felt seemed a bit shorter than she remembered. Yuma waited as Homura finished tying the knot around Sabrina's wrist, who thanked Homura properly, prompting Yuma to remember her manners.
"Thank you Miss Homura!" She said, smiling.
Homura looked back at her, blushing slightly. "You're welcome." She said softly.
The trio headed into the ramen shop, immediately heading to the backroom, although Yuma wanted to get some ramen from the counter. Sabrina told her they would get ramen on the way out though, so Yuma only took one bowl when neither of the older girls was looking.
Yuma chewed on the ramen as Homura and Sabrina went about 'shopping'. Every once in a while they would turn and check on her, which meant she had to hide the bowl of ramen behind her back and look like she was very interested in lockers with big guns in them, even though she already had a big stick to hit witches with. Eventually, after the older girls had filled two duffel bags full of guns, talking to each other warmly (or in Homura's case, lukewarmly), and shoved them into Homura's shield, the older pair turned to leave. Yuma, having since finished her first bowl of ramen, looked for somewhere to set it down.
A scarred, tattooed old guy, maybe in his early thirties, or maybe sixties (he wasn't ninety, because he didn't have wrinkles yet. But that only meant he was between 16 and 65 in old people years), had taken a gun apart. Which confused Yuma, because then the gun couldn't shoot, but it looked like he was cleaning it. He had a washcloth in his hand, and there was a weird yellowy soap nearby on the counter (though he had spilled it all over his washcloth), so he was definitely cleaning something.
Yuma put the bowl on the counter in front of Scary Janitor and followed Sabrina and Homura out of the armory.
Unfortunately, she bumped into Sabrina's back as she left. Sabrina had stopped in the middle of the hall, and the way she scrabbled at Yuma suddenly had Yuma on guard. Yuma, brave as ever, peered around her adopted secondary older sister.
"I trained for months... No, for me, it was years... Just to meet you..." growled a great beast of a man, this one definitely ninety or older because he had grey hair (old people grey, rather than Sabrina's nice clean white). He stood ten feet tall, and had as much muscle as three bears, and looked as angry as Onee-chan did the first time she had dropped her ice-cream on the sidewalk. "And now... Here you are. I CHALLENGE YOU, GODDESSES, TO HOLY COMBAT!"
It was at that point that the old guy smacked the handle of his mop into the floor in challenge, which made Yuma double over in laughter.
Boss, are you sure it's... cool, to use that thing? I mean a katana is one thing, but..."
"Moron!" Barked the thick yakuza standing in the ring, beating on a training dummy. "This staff was a gift from the gods! How else do you explain it replacing my katana while I was in the room? They took the gangs money too, so I'm going to put this thing to work!"
"Sure boss." came the reply as a thick thwack echoed through the room. "Except... that's a mop."
The mop sang the song of its people. It sang a song of war, a song about cleaning the scum from the earth, sweeping away the filth that covered it. Few mops if any got to sing such a song. The mop sang of war, and lusted for blood. Ketsueki shīkumoppu sang as it struck the dummy, preparing for it's time to shine. And the four Janitors of the apocleanypse would ride behind it, sweeping away the scraps left in it's passing.
The Apocleanypse Comes!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Boss! Boss! What happened?"
The Boss coughed up a lungful of blood and asbestos, looking into the eyes of his bro even as the building continued its slow collapse around them, shattered masonry crumbling to dust in the aftermath of the battle between two forces of the Apocleanypse.
"I... lost..." The Boss finally admitted, a lone tear cleaning his cheek in blessing, even as he mourned the loss of his hideout.
The Boss pouted GLARED IN RIGHTOUS FURY as the little green girl giggled at him and Ketsueki shīkumoppu.
"What?"
This only made the little girl laugh harder. "Haha!~ You have a *gasp* a MOP! Hahaha! You look so silly standing there with a mop! Why's it so shiny!? Hahahah!"
"You should know, Goddess! For were not you three the ones who replaced the demonic Orokana Ken with this, my glorious Ketsueki shīkumoppu?"
"Dude." Said the white goddess. "Are you speaking in italics?"
"This tool... deserves respect."
The violet one nodded sagely, obviously the leader of the group, and the only one capable of catching a cold. "Respecting your tools is a good way to live life." She said quietly.
"And from that respect," The Boss said, again clacking Ketsueki shīkumoppu against the ground, "I must challenge you to a duel! I must know if my janitorial style martial arts are strong enough to be worthy of this weapon!"
"That's a mop." Said the white one, clearly brain damaged.
The violet goddess scowled, crossing her thin arms. "We cannot. We lack time."
"With my Stand, Mr. Clean, I can stop time, just as you may! We have all the time we require!"
Now the white one started laughing at him, driving The Boss into a deeper rage. "His stand is Mr. Clean?!"
"Stop laughing at me!"
"Can my stand be Dove Soaps and Bodywash?" Guffawed the white idiot. Thankfully, the violet goddess smacked her and her green companion in the back of their heads, regaining control over their tomfoolery.
It took them a few moments to realize he was serious, at which point the white and green ones began laughing again, and even the violet goddess betrayed him by smirking slightly.
"Fine! If you will not abide by the rules of the challenge, then I-!"
His first strike, Ketsueki shīkumoppu singing with bloodlust in the wind flowing between its yarn, was stopped by a suddenly very serious looking green goddess, and the staff she had manifested in moments.
Struck dumb, The Boss made the mistake of standing still, while not paying attention to the other two...
Food for thought: How proactive have we been lately? How reactive have we been lately? How can we go about being more proactive without trampling over other people (Wulfenbaching)? How often should we be trampling over other people for their own good? We desperately need to delegate more, but at the same time, trust implies letting people taking things out of our hands and then reacting to the consequences of that.
For instance: I am super uncomfortable with the Niko situation right now, but I don't know how much we can or should do about that right now. Everybody knowing about Hijiri is good, and they don't seem to be under the impression that she's an enemy, but Niko going to track her down herself is about the last thing we wanted to happen, due to potential doppelganger shenanigans. Alternately, if the switcheroo's already happened (which we haven't found a way to verify for certain), then Mirai is at significant risk of getting ganked before Hijiri goes underground-- even if she survives it, her psyche and Soul Gem might not.
Shadowruns are the enemy, but when, where, and to what extent are they justified?
Edit: Since Niko herself pointed out that she and Hijiri are literally the same person (plus or minus a few things), we should hammer out with her a way to ensure we can always tell the two apart, for OpSec reasons.
Easy way to solve this problem: use Griefhax to create a lie detector construct. Use carefully worded and redundant/slightly varied questions to be sure that she is Niko and not Hijiri impersonating Niko.
"Uhh," you say, leaning against Mami. She bumps her shoulder against you, content despite the corded tension humming in her muscles. "Two things. First, Niko, where do you have in mind? And second, how far is the industrial district from here? I was thinking we should have the fliers to spread out and search the furthest regions?"
"Ooh, good thinking," Kazumi says with a nod. "OK, in that case... Uh."
"If you and Sayaka both copy my flying platform, that makes both of you two fliers as well," you point out with a grin.
"Ah!" Kazumi brightens. "And there's Saki, of course, and Niko."
Saki pushes her glasses-monocle up her nose. "Granted, but I can only bring myself."
You purse your lips. Saki has some variety of lightning power, as you recall. Perhaps some kind of ride-the-lightning.
"We do need to stick together, so use that in emergencies," Kazumi says, nodding thoughtfully.
"To answer your question, Sabrina, the industrial district is a reasonable area to hide," she says. "There are plenty of less patrolled areas there. The western side of the city, too."
"OK," Kazumi says. "Sabrina and Mami, you'll head northwest to the industrial district and sweep west? Mirai and Niko, you'll fly out to check on Kanna. Saki, Sayaka, you'll go out north to the ports district, to sweep east?"
You glance at Mami, and she nods at you, so you return your attention to Kazumi with a sharp nod. "Fine by us."
"Uh, I'm OK with it?" Sayaka says.
"Oriko, Kirika, where would you like to search?" you ask.
"We do not have any especial facility for flying," Oriko says calmly. "Can we have a region nearby?"
"We could always taxi you out, if we're copying Sabrina's flying platform!" Kazumi proposes.
"That said, there are quite a few shopping districts here that might be worth checking, if our thief decided to hide in the crowds," Saki notes.
"Ooh," Kirika says, immediately turning the biggest, most innocent puppy-dog eyes on Oriko.
"We're here to search for a potentially dangerous intruder, dear," Oriko says.
"I know!" Kirika says, maintaining the look.
Oriko's resistance crumbles, and she raises an eyebrow at Kazumi. "Then by your leave?"
"Works for me!" Kazumi says.
"Make sure you're actually searching," Sayaka growls. You regard her for a second, considering her... relative calm. It's not like you haven't noticed the anger simmering in the looks she sends Oriko, but she's been keeping quiet about it, too.
Mostly.
"Uh," Kazumi says. "Is that everyone? No, wait. Kaoru and I will check the CBD, uh... Satomi, Umika, you head south-east. Lots of parks there."
Umika nods sharply in acknowledgement.
"Any last concerns?" Kazumi asks, looking around at her group, and then to your friends.
Nobody has anything to raise, so it falls to you to add just one last point. "Yeah, uh, just in case - Sayaka, Kazumi, you could copy this privacy device?" you say, gesturing at the little circlet on its pedestal. "It could be useful if any planning needs to be kept secret."
"Umm, sure," Kazumi says, beckoning for it. You toss it lightly to her, the world around you hazing and warping like a distorted lens rolling across the room as the focus of your interdiction field shifts. Kazumi catches it and squints, making a face at the greasy sensation of Witch right in her face, but copies it and slides it across to Sayaka.
"I think it can be used as a last ditch defense against mind effects too," you note as Sayaka pulls up her copy of Kazumi's powers and copies the device. Heh, recursive copying. "It's supposed to stop everything, after all."
"We can still see outside, though," Niko points out.
"It's magic, I ain't gotta explain shit?" you hazard, holding your hands out, palm up as you shrug.
Kirika and Umika of all people are attacked by an abrupt onset of severe giggles.
"... yeah, makes enough sense," Niko concedes, hopping to her feet and pulling Mirai up with her. "Let's go. We've got a thief to hunt down."
You drop the interdiction barrier, letting the device melt away into Grief as you stand and stretch. "Ah, yeah," you say. "Three things. First, let's stay in touch by telepathy. If something happens, like mind-affecting magic or the stolen device, we'd be able to catch it quickly. Second, let me cleanse everyone's Soul Gem?"
"Good thinking, Sabrina!" Kazumi says, flashing you a thumbs up.
You're presented with a dazzling array of Soul Gems, and you put a little theatrical flair into it: a grand gesture with your arm as you strip away the Grief.
"Oh, right, third thing - uh, we should probably regroup, if we do find the thief?" you say. "I mean, it's one person, sure, but it's better to have everyone together if we need to fight, and I'd like to try talking to them before we do."
"Sure, Sabrina," Kazumi says. "Got it, everyone?"
It occurs to you that you didn't mention the Soujos. That's fine, really - them showing up is a long shot. They shouldn't show up, save by chance, because that's how they happened to be passing through Asunaro that once upon a never. Happenstance that you'd be... hard-pressed to credit if they showed up now.
If they did, well. You can think of one particular entity who might be interested in directing them at you.
Well, two, maybe, but Nadia would surely warn you first if she did that. She seems nice, anyway. She wouldn't do that.
Mami stretches too before clapping her hands together, smiling. "Let's go, then."
Mami's clap seems to have galvanized everyone into action, moving with purpose. Quiet chatter, as each search party discusses specifics, and you have to raise your voice as you watch Sayaka march across the circle to Saki, sticking her hand out. Saki blinks, once more pushing her half-glasses-monocle up, and shakes Sayaka's hand.
"Uh, Sayaka, Saki, Kazumi, Kaoru - rooftop?" you say. "Since you'll want to copy the flying platform, right?"
"Yup!" Sayaka says, grinning at you.
"Hey, protection first!" Umika says, conjuring her book and waving it meaningfully. "One at a time."
The Pleiades all form a queue in front of her. Mami tugs you over, so you just... join in the back, Sayaka and Oriko and Kirika falling in behind you - enough people that the line actually has to bend around one of the many shelves littered all over Niko's lab. Umika scribbles in her book, tapping two glowing fingers to everyone's forehead as they shuffle up to the front of the queue.
You nudge Sayaka. "Power copying?"
"Ah, yeah!" Kazumi says. Seems like she overheard. "Everyone, Miss Miki's a power copier, let her copy your magic too?"
"I probably won't use them for this fight," Sayaka says, looking startled before rallying and raising her voice to address everyone. "Ah... I gain copies of your powers, but I won't have any expertise with them. But I would be grateful."
"Ooh, sure," Satomi says, turning in the queue and leaning around you to peer at Sayaka. "I can, uh. Talk to animals. You can probably use that to help search. Be careful of squirrels, though, they're ornery."
"... noted?" Sayaka says, sounding quizzical.
"Uh..." Mirai says, tugging on her lip. "What... what happens to my bears if you copy my magic?"
"Uhmm. I have no idea," Sayaka admits. "Those are all your bears upstairs, right?"
"Yeah," Mirai says. "I can summon new ones, but those are mine."
Sayaka shrugs helplessly. It takes a bit of shuffling around, but eventually Umika slaps the mind-protection on all of you, and Sayaka gets her copy of everyone's powers. Nearly everyone, anyway. Mirai waves off - and so does Oriko. Sayaka lets it go without comment, and to her credit, she only hesitates for a second before taking Kirika's hand when the girl bounces up in front of her, wide grin on her face.
You watch for a second, mildly concerned that she'd also get Kirika's Oriko fixation. Kirika did Wish to be what Oriko needed, after all. To your relief, Sayaka just snorts and drops Kirika's hand before stalking back over to Saki, scowl firmly in place.
Before everyone leaves, you take a moment to center yourself and breathe, reaching with your Grief senses. Witch names. Not the most pleasant thing, but a means of differentiating an evil clone and the original.
Laverna, Hippolyta, Nelle, Alice, Teresa, Cybele, and Hecate.
Michiru, Kaoru, Umika, Mirai, Saki, Satomi, and Niko, respectively. You swallow a sigh.
You all split up - some are leaving by the front door, some to the roof. You'd offer rides, but they don't seem to be that interested - you just build your flying platform out of Grief. Kirika grins and twiddles her fingers at you in a lazy wave, and Oriko deigns to give you a nod of acknowledgement as they bound off.
"I call this the Mobile Oppression Fortress," you note as Sayaka and Kazumi examine it with their powers. "Also, say, uh- you guys can sense the Grief fog I have, right? You could try copying that too?"
"Really?" Sayaka says, rolling her eyes. "Why not call it a Blackstone Fortress or something?"
"Is that a Warhammer reference?" Umika's nose wrinkles.
"Yup!" Sayaka says. "You play?"
You half-listen to that conversation - turns out that Mirai, of all people, plays. Wouldn't have expected that of Miss Teddy Bear, but oh well. Speaking of teddy bears, you can still sense them patrolling the museum even as you watch Niko gather Mirai up in her arms and take to the skies on the hang glider unfolding from Niko's backpack.
... and speaking of Niko flying off...
"By the way," you project. "Who was that following Niko that first time we came to Asunaro?"
"Was it yoooou Mirai?" Kaoru asks cheerfully.
"Uh, it wasn't," Mirai says. "Someone was following Niko?"
"... oh," Kaoru says. "Shit. Uh. Was it anyone else?"
Silence.
"Damn," Kazumi hisses. The way she stiffens, back arching, is warning enough. "That's how she knew when to hit us. She must have been watching us."
And there's anger in her voice, hot and furious. You can feel it thrumming, and the vestiges echoing from the rest of the Saints. Their life that was invaded.
Kazumi straightens. "I've got your fortress copied, Sabrina," she says stiffly, crimson eyes lighting on you. "The Grief fog... I don't think I can copy that. I can copy individual things in it, but I can't copy the fog. We should go now."
You sway back from the almost physical force of her anger, a little startled. A theft, an attack on Niko... and an invasion of their privacy. She'd been tamping down on her anger so far that she could even joke around, you suppose, but here it is, heavy and scorching.
Once upon a never, she hid the fact that she was Grief spiralling from her friends. And she hid it so successfully that no one noticed until she Witched out.
Kazumi gestures jerkily, empty blackness surging out of nothing to melt into a perfect replica of your Mobile Oppression Fortress. Seven seats - you're not sure Kazumi can actually modify a copied effect, so you made one that she could definitely seat all her friends in.
"Come on, Kaoru," she says, stepping up. The orange-haired girl follows, giving you a nod before Kazumi's fortress lifts off.
"I suppose that's my cue," Sayaka says, glancing quizzically at Saki.
"Please," Saki says, nodding.
You step up to your own flying platform, dissolving a good half of it to trim it down to two-person size. It's just you and Mami, after all. You offer her a hand, beaming.
After one last check to make sure that Sayaka's got the copied flying fortress down, you lift off into the sky, heading north-west. Mami sighs quietly, nestling into your side.
You soar past Asunaro's CBD - Kazumi sends a terse update, that she's arrived and started to search the area. Oriko chooses that moment to chime in, dryly noting that they're currently searching a shopping center. Satomi speaks up a few minutes later, as you leave the CBD behind you. Apparently, she's started questioning the animals.
You can see the port in the distance. The sun's barely begun to peek above the horizon, visible from this high up, but more than enough to cast dappled glitter over the ocean. Blinking lights and dark shadows outline cargo ships, and lining the shoreline are the spindly, cantilevered structures of gantry cranes.
Roads streak from the ports, ant-sized trucks making their ways to and fro even this early in the morning. You adjust your course to veer a little more to the west - you're not going for the ports, you're going for the churning factories that belch pillars of steam and flue gas high into the air.
Asunaro isn't Mitakihara. The industry here is well and truly alive, bright spots of light splashed over dozens of stamp-sized courtyards and warehouses and processing plants. A fight here would be messy.
You take a moment to check in via telepathy. Sayaka's reached the ports, too.
"It's... a strange feeling," Mami muses quietly.
"What is?" you ask, smiling at her.
"All this," Mami says, waving her hand in a gesture that encapsulates the entirety of Asunaro. "I... I got Kazumi back. She doesn't... she doesn't think less of me. And her friend got attacked, so we're here. It's not our fight, but we're here because we should be, for our... friends?"
"Yeah," you say, tightening your hug round her. You lean over, pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of Mami's head. "Here we are."
"Here we are," Mami agrees, tilting her head back to smile at you.
You can't go too low. But with the sky-coloured camouflage, you feel safe enough dipping down near enough to the ground that you'd notice anything you pass over. Mami leans over the side, eyes sharp as she scans the ground beneath you.
Straight in towards the center, and then a spiral outwards would be best, you reckon.
You keep your arm around Mami, of course, shifting so that you're comfortable. And that's why you notice when Mami stiffens and-
"Dive!"
Panic screams through you. The platform drops, snatching at your stomach.
Just in time.
A crimson beam scorches above your head. And where it passes, you can't feel your Grief fog. Numb, not gone.
Antimagic of some kind.
No-one within your range, but-
"There!" Mami calls, pointing. You can make the figure out, leaping away over the factory roofs.
Voting opens
[] Yell for the Pleiades
[] Get to the ground
[] Stay airborne
[] Chase
[] Corral them
- [] Where?
[] Plan of attack?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
"Ooh, sure," Satomi says, turning in the queue and leaning around you to peer at Sayaka. "I can, uh. Talk to animals. You can probably use that to help search. Be careful of squirrels, though, they're ornery."
Sayaka shrugs helplessly. It takes a bit of shuffling around, but eventually Umika slaps the mind-protection on all of you, and Sayaka gets her copy of everyone's powers. Nearly everyone, anyway. Mirai waves off - and so does Oriko. Sayaka lets it go without comment, and to her credit, she only hesitates for a second before taking Kirika's hand when the girl bounces up in front of her, wide grin on her face.
"Damn," Kazumi hisses. The way she stiffens, back arching, is warning enough. "That's how she knew when to hit us. She must have been watching us."
And there's anger in her voice, hot and furious. You can feel it thrumming, and the vestiges echoing from the rest of the Saints. Their life that was invaded.
Kazumi straightens. "I've got your fortress copied, Sabrina," she says stiffly, crimson eyes lighting on you. "The Grief fog... I don't think I can copy that. I can copy individual things in it, but I can't copy the fog. We should go now."
You sway back from the almost [hysical force of her anger, a little startled.
Well, well, well, Niko was right. Who would have though.
[] Go fight on your own without calling anyone.
[ ] Call for the Pleiades.
[ ] Stay airborne, concentrate on dodging while Mami takes potshots.
-[ ] If you can spare the concentration, upgrade one of Mami's muskets.
-[ ] Corral them towards anywhere without people and not in the open; if she hides inside buildings, close in. You can sense through walls.
[ ] Warn the Pleiades of whichever powers you've seen from the meguca so far.
Staying in flight is a bad idea against a ranged anti-magic that sticks for a while. A good hit could disable the MOF and crash Sabrina and Mami into the ground. At minimum, Sabrina and Mami should be operating their own wings so that it's harder for one beam to get both.
This seems like a possible answer to how Niko was knocked out, too. If the anti-magic suppresses body control, a direct hit on a magical girl or her soul gem might cause her to go unresponsive.
This is clearly a job for Super-Kirika. (Or Bat-Sayaka.) Anti-magic the daylights out of each other to turn it into a slap fight, and numbers should handle the rest.
Staying in flight is a bad idea against a ranged anti-magic that sticks for a while. A good hit could disable the MOF and crash Sabrina and Mami into the ground. At minimum, Sabrina and Mami should be operating their own wings so that it's harder for one beam to get both.
This seems like a possible answer to how Niko was knocked out, too. If the anti-magic suppresses body control, a direct hit on a magical girl or her soul gem might cause her to go unresponsive.
This is clearly a job for Super-Kirika. (Or Bat-Sayaka.) Anti-magic the daylights out of each other to turn it into a slap fight, and numbers should handle the rest.
I guess it depends on how fast and wide the beam is.
[ ] Call for the Pleiades.
-[ ] Don't have everyone come right now. This might not be the thief.
[ ] Go low. Try to chase while taking cover. On foot, if necessary.
-[ ] Get within sensing range, but keep your distance.
[ ] Corral them.
-[ ] Anywhere without people and with plenty of visual obstructions.
[ ] Warn the Pleiades of whichever powers you've seen from the meguca so far.
Mmm... Are we assuming this AM beam can't ignore physical objects?
[ ] Chase and corral.
-[ ] While taking cover. On foot if necessary.
-[ ] Get within sensing range, but keep your distance.
[ ] Call the Pleiades.
-[ ] Describe your attacker's capabilities so far.
-[ ] In case this is not the thief, the search must continue. Get some support, and someone to keep searching around this area.
[ ] Corral them towards somewhere without people, and without clear line of sight.
I recall that there are some independents in Asunaro, and antimagic beams don't track with our current suspects. Maybe confirm with the Plieades that this isn't just an overzealous local shooting at a "witch" before actually fighting back? (Evasive maneuvers and getting down should happen anyway.)
Well that was fast. Ranged anti magic seems pretty bullshit and it seems to have a fairly good range, if it's outside of Sabrina's grief control range. That said it's a visible beam instead of Kirika's area of effect thing, so it should be dodgeable.
Could getting hit by that beam also be the cause of Niko falling "asleep"? Due to interference with the soul gem-body-connection?
Maybe Mami could harass her, to slow her down and avoid giving her a chance for another of those beams? Although that could lead to collateral, so it might not be the best idea.
?
