Frills of Justice - protectors of Nagashima (IC)

[The_Admiral]

As the creature partially dodged the ray of light shot out by Hikari, Kagiko decides to follow in that creature's footsteps and moves the lorry out of the beam's path.

She spins the wheel to the right, passing the beam on her left as she then rapidly turned left sliding the lorry through the corner, easily keeping pace with the creature.

Spoiler

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So take 10 on this check too?

[jamieth]

The Void being, avoiding the glowing beam, apparently decides trying to escape would be pointless... as long as it can 'decide' something, that is. Abruptly stopping, it turns around and launches the thunderstrike at the asphalt right in front of the truck, giving Kagiko little room to meneuver as the ground bursts right in front of her dashboard... maybe keeping too close wasn't the smartest option.

Spoiler: Kagiko

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Vehicles check, no taking 10, DC 21;
Then, Toughness save, with truck's Toughness of +10, DC 20 on passed driving check, 26 on a failure; Failure of Toughness by 3 degrees gives a bruise to you, in additon to staggered truck.

Spoiler: Lira

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You sure you don't want to reroll that Overheal attack?

Also, since I completely forget, roll an Insight, please:

Spoiler: DC 15

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That girl, Mataoka - for some reason, you can't shake off a feeling she seems somehow familiar.

Spoiler: DC 20

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In fact... her face, her voice, the way she moves, you can't help but remembering Nirumi-san, you sensei in aikido and sociology teacher at Mirayama.

After all the saves are rolled, Himeko's up!

[The_Admiral]

Kagiko spins the wheel, attempting to dodge the blast, but there was too little room to manoeuvre, no time to initiate a slide out of the path, to no avail the beam hit the truck, ripping through it and damaging the suspension, she grunted as her attempts to dodge the beam throws her at the steering wheel, injuring her.

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DAMMIT, Rolls are bad.

(1d20+7)[14]

[jamieth]

The truck's swerve comes too late, unfortunately, and the blastwave hits the vehicle, already unbalanced by the hard turn, and throwes to to the side. After rolling over the roof completely, the lorry falls back on all fous wheels, though - and, miraculously, is even able to move further, barely.

In the cabin, Kagiko gets thrown around by the acceleration and the changing gravity for a while, but the seatbelts hold, and the girl gets away with some bruises and scratches.

Mataoka, meanwhile, naturally gets thrown off the roof, hits the ground and rolls for several dozen feet, but flips to her feet at the end, seemingly unharmed.

Himeko's up!

[Princess K]

As the creature drew back to strike, Velvet Mask dipped away, only to find that the attack wasn't aimed at her. The thunderbolt was aimed at the truck trailing behind, which was thrown to the side. "Damned beast!" she hissed, turning to survey the damage. The Mataoka girl didn't seem injured, but who knew about the girl in the truck. She was just an innocent! "I won't let you flee!"

The Magical Girl snapped her fingers and whirled about, vanishing in a flourish of her cape. She reappeared on the ground beneath the creature as her wings melted back into her velvet cape. "Kraken! Strike it down and drag it to the deep!" The lashing tentacles whipped forth at the creature from below, seeking to slash and coil.

Spoiler: Combat

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Feint = Halved Parry and Dodge

Move Action: Teleport to ground.
Standard Action: Tentacles
Accuracy: (1d20+10)[24]
DC 23 Toughness, Multiattack

Extra Effort!

Standard Action: Grab w/ Tentacles
Accuracy: (1d20+10)[18]
DC 18 Strength or Dodge (4 Strength + 4 Extra Limbs)

[jamieth]

The thundercloud creature gets hit by the tentacles, and torn again - but it's lack of solid structure prevent the tentacles from getting a proper hold.

Mataoka glides towards the truck, positioning herself between it and the enemy; "Are you OK, Kurenai-san?"

Having confirmed Kagiko's - relative - lack of harm, she dashes forward, calling a command, "Gladius System, activate!" Armor plates on her left arm shift, and from whem, a wrist-mounted blade made of pure energy bursts forth, which she swings at the Void creature.

Spoiler

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Attack roll: (1d20+8)[26]

The sword, however, goes right through the creature without doing it any apparent harm...

Liras's up!

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lira was eyeing Mataoka curiously as she flew (and in fact, was rather distracted by the familiarity the girl shared with her sensei and teacher, which certainly didn't help her when she tried to lay hands on a storm cloud). The Void creature's attack on the truck brought her back to the battle, though. She gasped when the truck flipped, concern for the driver and anger at the monster beating curiosity back into the depths of her mind.

She didn't hesitate a moment, the light around her building once more. "Vibrant light of all the living..." she intoned, staring the monster down, crossing her arms in an X before her chest. "Blaze forth in your wrath!" she screamed, hurling her arms out wide. A rippling wave of brilliant white power exploded from her in utter silence, shining over the field. Her allies would be visited with soothing, healing warmth bringing with it a brief feeling of euphoria as their senses were momentarily intensified by the rush of positive energy through their systems.

The Void creature, on the other hand...

Spoiler

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Move Action: If necessary, reposition to include as many as possible in the area.

Standard Action: Blaze of Life! Void creatures in 60' roll Toughness DC 24 vs. Damage, with Dodge DC 19 to reduce the DC by 5. Non-Void creatures in 60' receive Healing at (1d20+5)[24]. Next round, they will receive the Healing again.

[The_Admiral]

"I-i'm fine, I-i'm so sorry," she stammered out as Mataoka checked up on her. She nearly got Mataoka killed she thought as Mataoka flew off to fight the creature. As she stared at the battle, a healing light washed over her, she wiped the blood off her mouth as she saw Hikari bathing the entire area with a healing light.

She cowered, as she again heard the melodic chiming.

[jamieth]

The monster brings its arms to its chest, as if trying to cover itself... the next moment, its arms raise to the sky, and a number of lighning bolts spray from it in every direction!

Spoiler

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Multiattack against 4 targets, -4 to hit. All attacks are vs. passive Dodge, and the save is Toughness DC 24 (electricity).
vs. Himeko:
(1d20+9)[23]
vs. Lira:
(1d20+9)[23]
vs. Fuuko:
(1d20+9)[28]
vs. truck:
(1d20+9)[21]

Mataoka, being closest to the monster, takes the first hit - and immediately darts back towards the truck, standing between it and the monster. "Don't worry, Kurenai-san!" she shouts, just as the second strike hits her.

[Princess K]

Velvet Mask took a deep breath as the striking tendrils retreated back into the folds of her cape. Such rapid commands were tiring, and they'd been ineffectual as well. There wasn't anything solid to grasp within that cloud, it seemed. Yet there was no time to rest, as the Void abomination began to discharge bolts of lightning in every direction. In the face of the onslaught, Velvet Mask simply laughed.

"Is that all you can muster?" the magical girl cried, standing firm before the burning light with arms widespread. She hardly felt the electricity touch her, the mask on her face diverting the energy effortlessly away, even as it appeared to crackle across her skin. A little bit of stage magic, to make the heroine seem suitably mighty. Although unscathed, the magical girl still frowned, eyeing Mataoka and the civilian girl. They hadn't been so lucky, and neither would any other regular people. "For now, it seems brute force will have to do. Kraken, once more!"

Spoiler: Combat

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Standard Action: Tentacles
Accuracy: (1d20+10)[21]
DC 23 Toughness, Multiattack, Secondary Effect

[jamieth]

As the tentacle start tearing the cloud again, Mataoka nods to herself and whispers quickly, "Manual limiter override, Artemis system - Annihilation mode!"
This time, her cannon doesn't take that long to charge - nor to aim, it being almost at point blank...

Spoiler

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Attack:
(1d20+6)[20]

Dodge if needed: (1d20+8)[11]

Toughness (DC depends on the previous rolls): (1d20+9)[29]

Let's hope it suvives...

OK, I wasn't hoping for that. It's a direct hit, and that's a DC 27 on toughness check - but then, that's a nat 20 on said check! I guess I'll fluff it as the cloud getting really lucky, rather than being that sturdy.

The beam from Mataoka's arm-cannon hits the creature straight on, but, compared to the previous shot, it definitely looks thinner... and less bright. The next moment, a cannon on the girl's arm starts giving out sparks - and then the rest of her combat suit does. And then, with a small explosion, it vanishes, leaving the girl on the ground - back in her school uniform - and, apparently, unconscious.

Lira's up!
After that, it's Kagiko's turn - and you can have a free Extra Effort on your first turn as the Life Energy surges through Kagiko's body for the first time.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lira's armor withstood most of the lightning bolt's force. What got through was instantly healed by the powerful flow of life energy contained by the suit practically before she felt the shock. "Oooh, impressive! You managed to make my hair stand up on end!" she taunted.

Although when Mataoka collapsed, her amusement swiftly vanished, replaced by concern. Even then, though, the blazing aura of life force faded, the last remnants of its energy flowing into the humans in the area. Hopefully it would be enough.

Lira swooped once more at the creature, her hand again glowing with radiant energy. Purely for effect, this time, she poured the overflowing power out so it formed a sort of blade of white light, which she eagerly if somewhat wildly slashed at the creature on the pass.

Spoiler

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Secondary Effect of Blaze of Life's Healing triggers. Non-Void creatures in 60' receive another dose of Healing at (1d20+5)[24].

Move Action: Fly-by.

Standard Action: Overheal at (1d20+9)[24]. On a hit, Toughness DC 24 vs. Damage, Fortitude DC 24 vs. Impaired/Disabled/Unaware Affliction, Will DC 24 vs. Weaken Damage.

EDIT: That's an awful lotta 24's...

[The_Admiral]

Kagiko runs out of the cab, as she sees Mataoka fall unconscious attacking the creature. She fell protecting her. Various emotions ran through her face from worry, to guilt finally ending up at anger. She heard the melodic sound again as that 'keychain' she found flew out of her pocket, glowing a gentle blue.

The thing circles her, a belt of blue energy forming around her waist. Snatching it out of the air, she stares at it. Her arm moves on its own as the lock is placed on the belt, as her lips moves spitting out a phrase, without a hint of a stutter "Soul Charge! HENSHIN!". The belt solidifies, four other locks forming on its sides. Chains extend from the belt, wrapping over her body, they then fly off revealing Kagiko in a heavy looking blue greatcoat.

Snatching a seemingly random lock from her belt, she pulls it open, a portal opens behind the Void creature and hundreds of energy blasts fly out of the rip at said creature. Slamming the lock shut, she rapidly repeats the process, another portal appearing, blasting the creature from a completely different angle.

Spoiler

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Extra effort attack twice.
Multiattack blast on the creature, attempt to attack it from a direction it won't see coming, like a sneak attack.
My 2 To hits, both have a DC 24 save and don't forget the Multiattack bonus, +2 for 2 degrees of success, +5 for 3.
(1d20+9)[26]
(1d20+9)[27]

[jamieth]

Pierced by the beams of light from every direction and still teared by the Velvet Mask's tentacles, the cloud is now reduced to barely half of its original size, and all it can muster in response is the proportionally smaller version of the same explosive thunderbolt it used before.

Spoiler

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Dodge save at DC 18;
Toughness save at DC 23/19 at fail/pass.

[The_Admiral]

Snapping the lock in her hand closed, Kagiko opens another lock at her belt. Her body is immediately surrounded with a luminescent blue shield that absorbs the damage. She stares at the creature defiantly as the lightning strobes the shield futilely.

Spoiler

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Okay using the 1 change per round to activate the Shield lock, doing the ability roulette that heroes who have just appeared always do in shows like this for some reason. Impervious 18 nopes a damage of 9

[Princess K]

The magical girl hisses as the lightning strikes, not entirely averted by her defenses. "Nice shot," she says, glaring up at the creature. Velvet Mask turns to make sure no one else is injured. Her eyebrow rises at the sight of a new player, a girl in a blue greatcoat with an aura of power that only magical girls had. "For this next trick, a volunteer from the audience..." she murmurs, amused.

"The monster's dying!" she cries. "All together now, let's strike it down!"

Blade-tipped tendrils slide sinuously from the magical girl's cape, coiling about her body. "1... 2... 3!"

Spoiler: Combat

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Delaying Initiative for Team Attack

Tentacles
Accuracy: (1d20+10)[25]
DC 23, Multiattack, Secondary Effect

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lira smirked beneath her helm as the lightning bolt bounced harmlessly off her armor. Golden light blazed around her hands as Velvet Mask called the countdown, and when her tentacles lashed out, they were followed by a flurry of beams of pure positive energy and a whooping scream.

Spoiler

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Delaying for Team Attack.

Standard: Energy Beams. All Out Attack for 5, Power Attack for 5. (1d20+9)[10]. Damage DC 29+Multiattack or boost the Team Attack.

EDIT: Or...or I'll put on a nice fireworks show for while my allies blow the guy up. That works too.

[The_Admiral]

Nodding silently, Kagiko closes up the open lock at her belt, pulling the one in her hand open. A portal opens up, and a stream of blasts fly out of it at the creature. Joining the assault on the creature.

Spoiler

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To Hit
(1d20+9)[23]

DC 24 With multiattack bonuses

[jamieth]

The tentacles manage to hold the cloud in place, if not for long, still long enough for Kagiko's torrent of beams to hit it dead center, tearing it to pieces - the next moment, another thunderstrike booms and, with an almost blinding flash, the cloud is no more there, only the torn power lines and the holes in the asphalt indications of a fight that raged here moments before.

For several seconds, the place seems completely still and quiet; then, you all hear a low propeller sound, a heavy transport helicopter approaching from the east, prepering to land next to the half-wrecked truck.

[The_Admiral]

As the creature fell, she snapped the lock shut, closing the portal. Running towards Mataoka's unconscious form, her costume dissolved, leaving her in her school uniform. Kneeling next to Mataoka, she shook her body saying worriedly, "Mataoka-san, are you okay?"

[jamieth]

There is no response from Mataoka, but she seem to be breathing, and her pulse - assuming Kagiko checks - is weak but steady.

Meanwhile, the 'copter lands nearby, and its rear ramp opens. From its spacious hull, two people step out; the engines' sound make it impossible to discernt their words, but it seems they're arguing.

One of those two is an impressive sight indeed, over two meters tall, with a wrestler's build, and completely bald. He's wearing a formal suit and sunglasses. Next to him, barely reaching to the man's chest but looking positively fierce, walks Ishikawa Ayumi-sensei, Mirayama's current Headmistress.

As they get closer, you start to discern individual words. "...this operation of yours, Colonel, led to one of my students getting injured!" Headmistress shouts, looking like only the society norms keep her from getting physical. You're pretty sure none of you ever saw her that angry.

"Leutenant Mataoka was aware of the risks when she accepted this mission. Besides, she only became your student because of the mission..."

"Fuuko-chan", Ishikawa-sensei interrupts, stressing the name, "only became my student because I signed her transfer form, and would remain my student until she either graduates or transfers away! I'm not blind, Colonel. Do you really think that I could, even for a moment, not recognize the girl for who she is? We'll talk later", she stops herself, finally noticing they have company.

Colonel approaches the unconscious girl and gently lifts her, the girl looking particularly tiny agains his chest. "Please don't worry", he says with the surprising care and softness in his voice, "Leutenant Mataoka would get the best medical care available..."

"I sure hope so!" Headmistress turns away from the Colonel and towards the three Magical Girls. "The lessons are cancelled for today", she says with her usual polite smile, "but if you have any questions, we can talk in my office. I'm sure common courtesy would require that Colonel provide us a ride? By the way, Halcyon-san, you'll probably like to hear that all three of Colonel's subordinates are fine, thanks to you, though I can't guarantee their health after he gets to them."

Spoiler: ooc

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Feel free to interrupt at any point, by the way.

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lira just kinda watched, a bit dumbstruck as her brain filed away the information that the Headmistress was, apparently, some sort of high-ranking member of some sort of secret military organization that had some sort of connection to the Lifestones, and basically turned off conscious thought for a few minutes while it tried to reevaluate pretty much everything she knew based on this fact and locate the appropriate response.

In computers class, she believed they called this a 404 error.

"Oh. That's good to know," she answered somewhat numbly.

[The_Admiral]

"Sh-she'll get better right?" Kagiko asks, as the Colonel lifts Mataoka up.

"What's going on?" Kagiko asks confused as the headmistress talked to them, she was still processing what she had just done as her fingers subconsciously brushes over her transformation device.

[Princess K]

Himeko was well acquainted with the headmistress. Of course, normally they met after she'd fought another student, not a horrific creature from the void.

Also, she didn't usually arrive by helicopter.

Velvet Mask took a small, almost involuntary step backward. The headmistress knew too much; she was involved. Would she recognize Himeko? No, that was impossible. The mask wasn't all there was to it; the transformation changed more than her clothes. Velvet Mask was an entirely different character from Himeko Kiyotaka.

Yet it was better to be safe than sorry. The magical girl took an exaggerated, flourishing bow. "Thank you!" she said. "But my heart lies yonder." With that, she turned on her heel, simultaneously snapping her fingers and vanishing from sight. Invisible, Velvet Mask spread silent wings. She'd follow them back and listen in. While she wanted to avoid hanging around the headmistress, she had to know what was going on.

[jamieth]

"She'll be fine, most likely..." Headmistress says, concernedly, "The Life Stone overload itself is draining on the wielder's body, but rarely causes harm that can't be fixed with several days of full rest. As far as I know, at least... Colonel's organization is far ahead when it comes to scientific research of the Stones and their properties, I have to admit. Ah, that's our ride", she nods as the black SUV rolls out of the heli. "I'm afraid I can't endorse underage driving, though, so get on the back seats, you two - by the way, I fully understand if you would prefer to keep anonimity... but I have some hinches about who you are anyway, and I'm sure cross-referencing the list of students who came to school in the morning with the list of those who were absent from the gym after the alarm would confirm some of my suspicions..."

***
During the short ride, Headmistress would either keep silence or chat about nothing of importance; of course, any of you are free to leave at any time...
***

A bit later, in Headmistress's office

"I think there are two main questions that bother you..." Ishikawa-sensei says, "First, who were those people, and second, how am I involved in this. Well... I first met Colonel about three months ago, and I can't say it was a particularly friendly meeting. Basically, he requested that I gave him a certain item that is currently held here, in this school... I refused, of course, since the item in question doesn't belong to me in the first place. The original goal of today's events was, I assume, to create a distraction so that Fuuko-chan could steal the item... but something went terriblt wrong. I may disagree with much of Colonel's methods, but he certainly wouldn't go as far as to involve the actual Void being.

Now, about the item itself, and how it is connected with my family... this story started almost fifty years ago, when my mother - this school's founder - was your age." she opens the drawer and takes out an old photograph, placing it on the table for you to see.

It is an old school photograph, showing a class of boys and girls in the sixties' uniforms, and Nishikawa-sensei points at two girls sitting next to each other in the front row. One of them, with the refined looks of the the girl from a high-class family, does have some family traits of Nishikawa; the other - well, hairstyle is wildly different, and the expression is much more energetic, but sitting next to the Mirayama's founder in the half a century old photo is Mataoka's striking copy.

The annotations on the other side of the photo read,

Spoiler

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No. 16, Nishikawa Natsumi
No. 17, Nirumi Asuka

[The_Admiral]

" W-why does the other girl look like Mataoka-san? W-what happened fifty years ago?" Kagiko stutters out, very confused.

[Quellian-dyrae]

"That's...Nirumi-sensei," Lira said, again sounding just slightly dazed. She had used the car ride to recover from the shock, was all gearing up to ask the smart questions, to get answers. And then she took another shocking revelation right to the coherent thought. She had thought she noticed something during the battle but..."Mataoka's...what, her granddaughter, I guess?"

[jamieth]

"Perhaps", Headmistress says, unsure, "though as far as I know auntie Asuka... erm... I mean, Nirumi-sensei never got married... Anyway, I have arranged the DNA test using Fuuko's blood sample from the regular medical check-up... I don't want to theorize further until I get the results.

Anyway... fifty years ago - you might have heard of it, as some form of urbal legend - entity known as Void - just like the one you destroyed today - first appeared on our planet. Seeking to destroy every single sprout of life in the Universe, it was stopped - or at least pushed back - by young heroes wielding the power of Life itself. And, believe it or not, Nirumi Asuka was one of those heroes. Indeed, she protected Nagashima on her own - though admittedly the town was somewhat smaller those days", she smiles, "And after the battle ended, and her powers waned, she entrusted the weapon she used in this fight - her Life stone - to her best friend - my mother - as a symbol of their shared dream - dream that resulted in this very school's foundation.

It was that Stone that Colonel wanted... you do understand why I couldn't part with it, do you? Though if Fuuko-chan is really Nirumi-sensei's relative, that makes her a rightful heir to the Stone..."

[Quellian-dyrae]

Lira nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around it all. She knew there was more to the Lifestone thing than just shooting lasers at monsters, at least in the general sense. But she had never thought that people she actually knew might be involved. Least of all the person who had been teaching her Aikido for the past three years.

She felt a flash of anger at that, but quickly forced it aside. After it, it wasn't as if she had asked her sensei about such a thing. Or told her of her own Lifestone, for that matter. Some secrets just had to be kept.

"So what does this Colonel want with Mrs. Nirumi's Lifestone? I mean...we're all on the same side, right? And where does the Void creature fit in in all this? Was it just like...taking advantage of an opportunity, maybe?" She speculated. She hadn't been there for the start of the battle.

[The_Admiral]

"B-but why would he want it? It can't be used right? W-what's a lifestone? This?" she asks, showing her Lifestone to the headmistress.