Scene #6454: Deadline

Owner	Pose
Homura Akemi	MITAKIHARA TOWN/CITY, JAPAN This time Homura had sent the invitation out, however reluctantly. Text, not voice, predictably, and not just to those who had been there before (though primarily to them), but to a few adventurer boards too for good measure. This was only her fourth time doing this, and she'd botched the first two pretty bad. Best take precautions. The meeting place is a cafe, although a torn down and half-flooded one in the shitty part of town. Presumably it was to avoid notice, and to have some privacy too. She put juice boxes and store-"bought" cookies on the tables, trying to be nice and polite to avoid any kind of... well, awkwardness. When people arrive, they find her sitting on the broken counter, already dressed in her magical girl clothes and nervously fiddling with her shield. The Grief Seed from the Mortsafe Witch is on the counter next to her, balanced on its thorn with a blatant disregard for gravity, upright and straight. Unlike last time you have the luxury of taking things at your own pace and not being thrust directly into a bad situation, so that should be nice.
Sanary Rondel	Learning about new magic, abilities, technology, and other such ways in which to fight things has rarely failed to grab Sanary's attention. Her ability to actually do research on such things has been equally rare, but this is one of those days where she's actually found an opportunity to do so that isn't stopped by things like 'paying bills' or 'doing important missions'. The hard part is actually finding the place. She's dressed somewhat sensibly, at least, wearing her usual white coat, and her axes are hidden away in a backpack that isn't quite tall enough to hide the handles sticking out of it nor wide enough to hide the shape of the blades digging into the sides. Between the coat and the eyepatch, though, she might just blend in enough to look like a cosplayer that's wandered into the shittier part of town what with the cafe a little... ... Very ass. Still, a lesson is a lesson, and so the healer arrives! Spotting Homura there, she raises her hand in a light wave before approaching with a plastic bag clutched in one hand. "Hey there. You're here for the thing, too?" Sanary hasn't quite put it all together yet, but she's still willing to offer the contents of the bag regardless while leaning against the counter. It's got chunks of fried chicken meat in there. Meanwhile, she snags a cookie for herself to munch on. "Ain't you a little young to be out here, though? Could be dangerous, but I'll keep ya covered if it is." She smirks confidently, blissfully unaware of... Everything.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur was practically already here. Arthur was the one who insisted on the meeting, after all! He probably has already spent some time harassing Homura; there's no doubt that earlier, he got here, insisting on breaking into some snacks and foisting hand motions on her that no socially introverted person should ever be forced to experience. He also insists on greeting people. "YOOOOO SAN!" He shouts, assaulting Sanary's own un-cookie-occupied hand with his handshakes and /simultaneously/ snatching up food as he does. "HOMU-SLICE knows what she's doing FOR SURE, no worries. You should keep her COVERED anyway, though, GREAT COMPANY." He does note what she said. "Seriously, though, this TOWN went to HELL, even if it still looks REALLY PRETTY. What is that about? Christ. Looks like the entire fucking PACIFIC OCEAN took a big DUMP on DOWNTOWN." He laughs a bit, before taking another bite and heading back to take a "seat" by drifting weightlessly and waiting eagerly for Homura to show what she has to show.
Android 17	The door opens and in comes Android Seventeen, in his typical garb, the long-sleeved shirt, and genes, with an orange armband. He's apparently marked as some sort of park ranger. Slightly shorter than shoulder length hair hangs from his head while piercing blue eyes take careful measure of the area around them. "Yo," he says simply, pulling out what looks like a small case. In it comes a small capsule, with what looks like a button on top. Pressing it, he tosses it towards the ground. With a poof and a strange sound, a small fridge appears, which he moves towards one of the tables. It seems to run on its own internal power source. "I brought some drinks, I figured I should," he comments, before pulling out a HETAP and takes a drink after popping the top. "Anyone want one?" he asks, looking towards Homura, Sanary, then Arther, then anyone else. "Yeah, looks like a Hurricane came through...or I guess a Typhoon?" He asks, he can never remember which one is which.
Tanya Degurechaff	Speaking of being a little young to be out in the reconstruction zone, a twelve year old girl just wandered into the cafe. Homura will recognize Tanya von Degurechaff, in the same neat civilian attire and backpack she had worn on her previous visit. Metal boot and all. From the doorway, she announces herself by greeting their host in a brief, businesslike tone, "Akemi." Her gaze shifts seamlessly to Sanary, noting the woman's presence, but not voicing it. Just an acknowledgement. Pointedly, she ignores the cookies and juiceboxes. An overturned chair is righted and she seats herself on this, producing an insulated thermos from her backpack. It's quickly revealed to be filled with coffee when she pours it out into the lid as a cup, "The damage coincides with a storm surge, and on this side of the world it would be a typhoon. But that's not why we're here," Her eyes fixate on Homura again, "Is it?"
Staren	Staren comes in for a landing in view of the cafe. He's wearing his normal clothes -- if 'a bulletproof labcoat' really counts as normal clothes -- and is riding a broom, which he dismounts and stows in his messenger bag that's clearly too small for it like he's Mary Poppins or something. Staren looks at the cafe, and Homura, with a facial expression that kind of says... 'I know I fucked up, but I'm not going to run away.' The conclusion that she was a Homura just starting her time travel journey had seemed so obvious at the time. He just didn't want to keep her in the dark, because Mysteriously Knowing Things And Not Telling Why is kind of an asshole move. But instead all he ended up doing was telling her that if she'd made a different choice, she'd have ended up awesome. Technically, that doesn't mean that her current choice won't end up with an awesome Homura, but one of those social lessons Staren's learned over the past decade or so is that 'technically' pretty much never determines how people think. He may as well have told her she's the lame version of herself. He's not sure what he can do to make that better. Hopefully a chance will come up if he keeps tabs on the situation. Staren walks into the cafe. He quirks an eyebrow as Sanary appears to be ignorant that Homura was the one that called them here, but he hesitates to open his mouth. He looks at Homura, then at the refreshments. He takes a cookie and a juice box to be polite. Nibble. Ssssip. He looks at Homura again. Fudge, what can he say? Oh hey, Arthur and Android 17. And Tanya. He nods to them, and lets them do the talking for now.
Runa	Runa carefully steps into the half broken cafe, glancing around with some concern as places like this tend to be a magnet for lost souls. Torn from the world in a catastrophic event they linger behind, clinging to what can never be again. It's an unfortunate situation. For the moment though, it seems like there are none here. Not counting those who are here to meet, perhaps. Seeing others already here, Runa walks over to join them, "Ah, Miss Homura. I pray you are feeling better after the events that occured last." The Priestess gives her a friendly smile. Runa nods along with the others' observations about the city, saying soberly, "It would seem there was a great tragedy. I would not be surprised if there are still remnants of those who were caught in it lingering. It is unfortunately common with such events." However, as it is pointed out it is likely not the reason they are here. So Runa focuses on Homura, waiting to see what the magical girl plans for today.
Homura Akemi	Homura is about to answer Sanary when Arthur bursts in with his unmuted energy levels and answers her for her. The question of 'what' makes her provide a short, meek answer, without any context to it. "T-There was a... a really powerful Witch, Walpurgisnacht, and it... did this..." It also did other things. Way more important things, as far as she's concerned. The city getting wrecked was small potatoes. She looks at 17's sudden deployment of capsules with wide eyes, finally able to stop being uncomfortable on her countertop at the sight of something truly out of this world. Magical powers? Commonplace. Capsule technology? That's new. Though she snaps back to attention at Tanya's arrival, stiffening up like a soldier being asked to salute. "M-Ma'am!" she manages. Staren gets a nod, but then she awkwardly avoids his eyes much like she does with Arthur. Runa's arrival saves her, in that a priest is familiar territory for her. She did grow up in that kind of environment. "Y-Yeah, sorry if you were worried," she says, though at the matter of ghosts she pales a bit. "D-Do you think so? Witches are bad enough, we can't... we can't afford ghosts too..." She'd never... looked. That'd be awful. But then again, how do you look for ghosts? She's not equipped for that. "A-Anyway, ah, we'll... we'll begin shortly, um... b-basically, I'm going to... use the Grief Seed to..." Had she told them? She hadn't. She told Touta, not the rest. That's awkward. "Project... the moment that created the Witch, and... we have to fix it. It won't undo it, b-but it'll let her soul rest, s-so, that's still really good." Why is she stuttering so much? It's almost like she's dancing around saying things straight. Which she is. "Touta said he felt she fell because she was too busy hunting and missed a close person's death, so... there should be... a few ways we can do this." "I-Is everyone ready?"
Android 17	Seventeen listens to Homura as she explains exactly what they were doing. There is a long pause, as he tries to parse exactly what she was doing, and then slowly speaks, trying to understand just what exactly she was suggesting. "So...you are saying...that we're going to go back in time to the moment everything went wrong and change it? However, it won't actually change anything, instead, it will just bring the soul of the witch peace?" He sucks in a breath, trying to get a feel on the situation. "Interesting power, I guess. Yeah, I'm in," Android Seventeen says.
Sanary Rondel	Hearing that familiar voice, Sanary breaks into a wider grin as she catches Arthur's for BIG HANDSHAKES. "Hey, Arthur! How's it going? Homu... Wait. She's gonna be showin' us around this place?" Her gaze shifts from Arthur to Homura quickly, giving the latter a blank stare as she comes to a realization. The youngsters. They're going to be powerful here, too. She straightens up a bit, trying to look slightly more refined than she had seconds ago despite the sweatpants. "Huh... Ah, yeah, offer still stands. I might not know much about this place, but I've got enough power in me to fight an army and keep you fighting as long as you need!" There. That should inspire some level of confidence in her, right? RIGHT?! She really hopes so. "Typhoons're from the ocean, I thought." Sanary rpelies to 17 as she raises her hand to signal for a HETAP, blinking slowly as someone even younger-looking than Homura comes in. Said youngster then proceeds to explain why it's probably a typhoon. The knowledge being laid out by Tanya draws a blank stare from the axe-wielder, and Runa's apparent familiarity with the situation also has Sanary wavering just a bit. Just play it cool. Staren doesn't drop any more bombs on her, at least, and the axe-healer gives him a quick nod in greeting before turning to Homura once more. She listens closely to the explanation of what they're doing here today, stroking her chin after a moment as a few things start clicking into place. "Fix the sad ghost. er. Witch. Sounds straightforward enough." It's not straightforward in the slightest, but Sanary can't back down and show uncertainty now! "I've done some work with ghosts before, so it should work out. I'm ready when you are, and remember." Homura and Tanya both get a grin. "If it gets bad, just stick behind me, got it?"
Tanya Degurechaff	"It doesn't appear to be time travel," Tanya clarifies for 17, stroking her chin with one hand. She finishes her drink with the other, then re-caps her thermos, "It sounds more like what a spirit medium is supposed to do, confronting spirits and helping them move on." A glance towards Homura, then Runa, "That's what causes vengeful ghosts, right?" Her enemy is God, of course she'd look up at least the basics of any random paranormal garbage Being X might try to field against her. Attention returns to Homura, "So your intention is probably to give this person some time with this person they lost. To say goodbye." Her brow furrows. This is pointless, as far as she's concerned. Emotional matters never really struck much of a chord with the tiny Major. She's distracted from her evaluation of how worthwhile this is for her time by Sanary's off-the-cuff remark. The healer is given a flat-eyed stare. Without removing her eyes from Sanary, Tanya grabs the edge of her jacket and pulls it open, showing the fully loaded Luger pistol nestled in its holster under her arm, "I can handle myself." The young Major then drops off her seat, eyes closing, "Fine. Let's get this over with."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur doesn't fuck around with Tanya's hands while she's holding coffee. He may be kind of an obnoxious nerd, but at least he isn't gonna knock hot coffee out of anyone's hands. "What's good, Luftwaif? A storm? Shit, dawg. Isn't Japan all 'bout that DISASTER READINESS? Must have been one hell of a... OH." The explanation about the Witch gets him nodding. "SURE STUFF, I getcha." He doesn't get it at all, but he nods wisely regardless. Staren, of course, he knows well. Well enough to try for a Coolkid Handshake that only a robot can do first, just in case, and then swap fast to a normal one. Always a good idea to double-check with Staren. He makes hand-waving gestures at Homura. "Ain't no GHOSTS around here." He says, completely ignorant and stupid about the concept but quite confident regardless. "Those WITCHES clearly got some shit they want out of people. If they could just get it outta GHOSTS, they would, right? BAM. No ghosts." His logic has several gaps in it, but he just pushes forward. "Alright, so we're... Huh." He squints, his brow furrowing. "So we're doing some TIME SHIT. I'mma give you some KEY HOT TIPS, Homu-slice. I'm HELLA VETERAN about TIME SHIT, but I still got ZERO KNOW-HOW about DEALING WITH IT." He makes an unpleasant "bleh" sort of grimmacing face, then un-drifts, stepping onto the ground and forward to wordlessly assure Homura of his readiness to dive in. "I know JUST ENOUGH about ALTERNATE TIMELINES to get kinda the MEANINGFULNESS about this SOULWISE, so hell yeah, I'mma help EASE SOME SOULPAIN up in this motherfucker."
Runa	Are there ghosts? Probably not. "It is not something we should worry on right now. Most will pass of their own accord, if they have not already done so." At the questioning look from Tanya, Runa nods back in response, continuing, "It is only the most troubled which will manifest. Some can be eased through prayer. Which I'm sure many have done in the wake of such loss. Otherwise it falls to those in tune with the spirits, or holy priests such as I, to help cleanse them of their woes so that they may ascend." Well. Others can too, through force. Just not as efficiently, or elegantly. As the goal of putting the the Witch's soul to rest, Runa smiles, "I am happy to know that you seek to put her soul at ease. It is always unfortunate when such souls are left without salvation." At the question of being ready, Runa reaches back to take hold of the tome held there at her waist. She moves to grip the book against her chest, nodding in response.
Staren	Better to let Homura explain. Staren's reasonably sure ghosts won't be a problem if they weren't before, but not /completely/ sure, so he doesn't speak on that either. Arthur's attempt at a coolkid handshake briefly confuses him, but then he gets it and follows along with the human-speed one. His brow furrows as Arthur puts forward his theories on ghosts. When Homura starts to talk about what they're going to do, though, his ears perk up and turn towards her, and he sets down his cookie and juice box. Why IS she dancing around it? Walpurgisnacht wasn't created from Madoka or anything... Staren tilts his head. How'd Touta know? "I suppose." He straightens up. "You say we 'travel to the moment' it happened, but that changing it won't undo it. How much danger are we in?" Once that's answered though, he assents. And picks up the cookie and juice box so he can finish them wherever/whenever they're going.
Homura Akemi	"Yeah, basically," Homura nods to 17. "T-Think of it like... if you died with a big regret, but at least you had to chance to... fix it, before you have to move on, wouldn't you want that? Even if it's just fixed for you, um..." She's not sure where she was going with that. A nod to Sanary, then. "I'm not very good at combat yet s-so... thanks." Plus, having to use less magic on this, also a bonus. As Tanya corrects the small details, Homura nods again. "I guess, I haven't... had to explain this to anyone before, so I'm not sure... how to put it. It'll be easier if I show you. B-But... yeah, if we can... but we have to convince her to do that. T-That's usually the hard part." AKA it's BEEN the hard part. Can you imagine Homura stuttering trying to explain to someone they're dead and really need to do something different to find peace? That went awful last times. Arthur uses logic to argue the non-existence of ghosts. Homura isn't sure if that holds up but he looks so sure of himself she feels compelled to agree. She backtracks to answer Tanya. "It might not be emotional, it could just... if she was hunting, maybe if we solve all the problems, she'll go back home and... it'll work out?" That's probably a solution. Then Staren asks about danger. "N-Not a lot, but if you get hurt a lot you might feel sore after. W-We have miss Runa though s-so..." So really, they should be fine. Right then. Homura picks up the Grief Seed, clenching it in one hand. She raises her other hand, the one with the shield and Soul Gem. The shield clicks open, revealing gears and a hourglass. The gears start turning incredibly fast, and a purple magical circle more akin to a complex, runed clock (not unlike a Witch's runes, even!) appears underneath the cafe. Everyone gets sucked into another time!
Homura Akemi	MITAKIHARA, JAPAN, TWO WEEKS AGO The temporally sensitive, or people with eyes to spot billboards and newspapers showing the date, can immediately get a feel for being "two weeks ago". Ish. It's a projection, not actual time travel. Kind of. Rather than the cafe, the group is now in a hallway, at night. There's some ruckus further along, two homeless men screaming like they're being murdered. Which, upon further inspection, isn't far from the truth. Moving along towards the voices causes the scenery to shift; buildings become scribbles, the sky is a sea of broken glass floating in the air, and everyone has a thick black outline around their features, like they're in a comic book. At least, at first. This effect quickly stops applying to you if you so much as try to impose yourself on the world. But this Barrier seems a lot flimsier than the last. Or maybe not as developed would be the right words. The two homeless men are on the ground, and there's a Familiar by them. A single one, in the whole Barrier. A large centipede, its body a rainbow (literally, its body is a rainbow, not an awful bug exoskeleton) with a variety of slicing tools for limbs. Scalpels, broken bottles, knives, shards of various things (glass, rock, crystal...). It has a recycling bin for a head, filled with cartoony human limbs. It's about to eat the men. Presumably. It doesn't... have a mouth, but it's certainly leaning over regardless.
Staren	Huh, Japan. And the date's pretty recent. Walpurgisnacht was so strong at its creation? Staren figured it had been a roaming disaster for a long time or something, that finally reached Mitakihara when... everything happened. People are screaming. Energy wings appear behind Staren's back, orange, translucent, and stylized, and buzz like an insect's as he flies towards the sound. Monsters attacking people. Staren doesn't even need to think. He lands and his cell shading abruptly goes away as he smoothly draws his double-barreled laser pistol and fires on the rainbow-centipede.
Android 17	The Cyborg turns to Arthur with a thoughtful expression. "Unless they can't see ghosts either, or can't do anything with them, unlike people? Then they'd just ignore them I imagine. I mean, I'm no expert but it just seems like that is what would happen based on what we know so far." He says, admitting it was a shot in the dark. Seventeen nods towards Tanya, "I'll take your explanation for it, magic isn't my expertise," he comments, and then pulls out a Hetap for Sanary and tosses it to her before they start. "Drink up fast cuz I think we're about to start." Then the world changes, they are in a hallway, and the screaming gets his attention immediately. Charging down the hall, he notices the change. The world shifting and causing him to frown. He dives in, aiming to appear in front of the two men and attempts to protect them with the Android Barrier, by literally interposing himself between the monster and the men. "I'll hold it back, can someone get them out of here?" he asks, putting his focus on the shield to hold the thing back.
Sanary Rondel	Kid's got a gun. Specific makes and calibers and the like are lost on Sanary, but the display is still enough to draw an impressed half-whistle half-sputter noise from her. "Good to know. I'll be countin' on you two to pick out whatever weak points might need hitting, then. Or... You know. All that emotional stuff." Sanary laughs freely, and it may just be apparent that she's not exactly the smartest knife in the glass house here. It's fine as long as she's strong. She just has to keep telling herself that and hoping Homura and Tanya believe it. As more details come in, though, Sanary steadily becomes less stupid about the situation and realizes that smashing things to bits might not be the ideal solution! It still sounds simple enough, at least. Watching that time shield doohickey opening up while chugging that HETAP hastily, the axe-wielder gawks at the time magic on display, and she barely even recoils when everyone's sucked into that time portal thing. Not that she realizes it's time magic, of course, but she'll sort it out eventually. Spotting the fallen bodies and the centipede, Sanary springs into action with a resounding... "Hey there! You're the ghost? Er. Witch? We're here to help." She stares straight at it with a wide grin brimming with confidence, one hand braced on her hip and the other held out towards it while she tries not to look back at Staren shooting lasers at it from the outset. "We can do this the easy way, or we can talk it out. Whaddayasay?" She also doesn't seem to realize this may not be their target.
Runa	Having already experienced a jaunt through an oil painting, Runa isn't as surprised as they are suddenly projected in to what she can guess is the past. Judging by various comments. At the sudden screams, Runa starts off into a run, following behind the faster of their group. Coming into sight off the two men being attacked by a rainbow, Runa pauses. She's honestly a little confused by exactly what this world is. Is it reality? Is it just an illusion? Will their actions change things? Or only help to ease the suffering of the one who they're here to save? Regardless of the other answers, the last question is enough to get Runa to act. She raises her hand, "Heal. Heal." The two men are briefly engulfed in the life-giving light as Runa tries to keep them from dieing while the others deal with the familiar.
Arthur Lowell	"Course WITCHES can see GHOSTS." Arthur says, as if that's the most obvious thing in the world. "How else is HALLOWEEN gonna work, LOGISTICALLY?" The logic still has gaps, but there's no time -- or in fact, less than no time -- to explain. They're in the past, now, or at least /a/ past. Arthur's thick black outline is aliased instead of anti-aliased the way a proper comic outline ought to be. What's the meaning of that? Well, some questions don't need that kind of answering tonight. Arthur technically knows the men are already dead and the issue a matter of resolution for an entirely different soul, but heroism is a compulsion that never dies, and he rushes forward, bringing out his broom and immediately opening fire with starlight bolts. Oh no! What's going on here? They need to find the Witch, which is where they'll find the Magical Girl. "HEY!" He shouts, tauntingly. "Hey, you fucking TRASHCAN GHOST! You ready to RUN BACK TO MOMMA?! You better get ROLLING on a HUNDRED of those GROSS-ASS LEGS 'fore I turn your ass in for the GARBAGE MAN!" He also is trying to look around for signs of where the main Witch is, most specifically; they've gotta track down that Witch to find the Magical Girl, and they've gotta track the girl if they're going to save her soul!
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya says little else until the world shifts around her. She closes her eyes to avoid any unnecessary dizziness, only opening them when it feels like the projection has stabilized and people are making noises like moving around-- and the yelling, of course. She takes in a breath, releasing it as she examines her surroundings. 17 and Staren move in on the monster. Sanary's shouting at it. With that already being engaged, she turns in place to check what the area has to offer by way of information. A bank sign's date is noted, compared interally. Eyes narrow in thought. The creature was destroyed a week ago, so this is some time before that... With a sigh, Tanya's eyes close. She turns back to the building fight, opting not to engage it herself-- As Homura said, it's small potatos, just a familiar. What interests her more is the nature of this ability. Blue lights flicker on at the top of her metal boot, carrying the small girl aloft to get a better view. It's not like Tanya can even properly experience her own emotions, she has no emotional investment like the others present do. This is entirely a practical expedition, as far as she's concerned.
Homura Akemi	The centipede is shot immediatly by Staren, bleeding paint that melts the scribbles acting as a floor. Underneath the fake floor is another sea of broken glass, and one could guess falling in would be a bad idea. Its various limbs slam against 17's barrier, unable to pierce it with those slashing implements. Its limbs slash in a weird beat, almost musical, or maybe like a school bell? Runa heals the two men, who for the most part had just suffered a lot of cuts. They'll be fine! They likely won't remember any of this, but it's a mercy. Arthur's bolts force the Familiar to leave 17 alone, mostly because several of its limbs get blown right off. Something replaces them! Lines. Crayon lines. Dozens of thin, colorful lines that seem to have no volume, they're just scribbled in the air. And yet they slice with a threatening sound all the same. Homura stays back with Tanya and Sanary, shifting uncomfortably. Did she get the moment wrong? The girl should-- "HEY! Who's shouting about Halloween?!" A scythe gleams in the night, and from a scribbled rooftop falls to finish the Familiar off, the magical girl it belongs to landing by it a moment later. "Magical Karin enters the scene! Don't worry, I'm bringing trick and treat magic to this party!" Shouldn't it be 'or'? Violet hair and eyes, with an... ironically witchy outfit, comprised of striped thighhighs, an oversized witch hat with a gleaming yellow gem in the shape of two stars, and a big black cape to go with that. As the Barrier fades out of existence, she picks her weapon back up, slinging it over a shoulder. "Huh? Geez, that's a lot of you to hunt one Familiar. Are you guys good to get those two to a hospital or something, there's another one nearby I've gotta hit up." Homura's discomfort spikes to a ten as she says to her allies, "I-I think that's her."
Android 17	The barrier holds, Seventeen easily able to handle an attack like that. However, thanks to the quick work of others, the thing is dead, and this allows Seventeen to drop the barrier, and look over the two men. Hm...wounds look good, but taking them to a hospital is probably a good idea. Lifting one in each arm, he looks towards the new girl...and hearing Homura gives her a nod. "Tell us where it is and we can handle it ourselves. As you said, there are a lot of us here, and unlike you, we don't have to worry about it being a waste of energy." Seventeen says, with a shrug, "Name is Android Seventeen by the way. No I'm not actually a robot, it's a long story," he comments.
Homura Akemi	"What, and abandon my duty to the people?" Karin says, squinting at 17. "As if! I've gotta go bump in the night so other things can't! And there's criminals to catch, robberies to stop, one time I even helped the cops end a pursuit!" She seems proud of herself. "Come on now, you wouldn't ask the great Phantom Thief Kirin to stop roaming the night, so don't ask Magical Karin to either!"
Arthur Lowell	"Nah, nah! You heard me, chattin' that SPOOKIN'! Ain't here for FAMILIARS, here for YOU, dawg! The HALLOWEEN GIRL is what I wanna GET SOME WORDS ON." Arthur calls out, approaching her. "KARIN! What's good! Name's ARTHUR LOWELL." He approaches, immediately liking her positive tone, her theatrical outfit, and her friendly-seeming nature. "You trackin' that TRASH WITCH gettin' up in this biz?" He goes for the Coolkid Handshake with her too! "Were hopin' we could RUN INTO YOU!" "We're here on account of TOP BRASS heard you're DIPPIN' TOES up in that WORK-LIFE BALANCE DEEP END, homie. Like, the dudes keepin' EYES on that? The PRO HEROISM kinda guys, you know?" He makes a gesture in an ambiguous direction. "Yo, shit's FUCKED. Only able to track you down on account of you gettin' HELLA OVERHUNTING, dawg. I mean, MAD RESPECT, /MAD/ RESPECT," Arthur offers another bro-pound. "You got that JUSTICE HUNGER, homie, sweet stuff. But like," He gestures broadly. "You're gonna BREAK YOURSELF doin' this. You got a DUTY to DO GOOD, for real. But, like, also kinda DUTY to keep it SUSTAINABLE, right? For that LONG TERM RADNESS, dawg." Maybe a little bit /too much/ social confidence to counterweight Homura's lack of it. Jeez.
Sanary Rondel	"Uhhhhh, that's not the witch in question." "T-That's just a Familiar, um, it must be one of the things she was hunting that night. It's... it's not good to hunt stray Familiars, they don't drop Grief Seeds for us so it's... a w-waste." "If it doesn't need to live, than kill it." ... Well, shit. How's Sanary supposed to recover from that? There's a brief pause as her bravado falters, and then she laughs again. "J-just a test!" Sure it was. Either way, the centipede gets obliterated by the combined might of multiple Elites and someone calling herself Magical Karin, so Sanary doesn't quite get a chance to show off her stuff! That kinda sucks, but she'll make up for it later. What fortune, then, for Homura to reveal that Magical Karin may very well be their target! "I think... Uh." She turns to Runa and gestures at her, mouthing something incoherently. She never did get her name, did she? "The holy lady's got the recovery taken care of, so they should be fine." She gives Runa a thumbs up while avoiding the topic of names, then turns back to Karin once again. "So you're a Phantom Thief, or you're a Magical? And what's all this about another one? Is it strong?" Sanary grins slightly as she pats her axe handles, each one still poking out from the top of her backpack. "Becaue we know our way around strong opponents. Doesn't mean we can't work togther to take it down and make things safer for these fine people, right?"
Tanya Degurechaff	The floating Tanya keeps her distance, observing. Observing the monster's demise. Observing the magical girl's arrival. Observing the apparent obsession with halloween iconography and terms. Eyes narrow in an exasperated way. What an eccentric person. Had she not died, how much difficulty would she have had in the workforce? Lots, if Tanya's suspicions are correct. Arthur hits on some points she's familiar with: Work-Life Balance and Overwork. Things she's often disregarded. Things she's fired other people over not disregarding. That's life in Japanese corporations. Although the military has been somewhat different. Her arms fold, eyes narrowed in thought. Unintentionally, the small blonde looks like she's just JUDGING Karin silently while waiting for her response to Arthur's enthusiasm.
Homura Akemi	"Huh? No, no! See, Phantom Thief Magical Girl Kirin is this manga I really like and..." Karin trails off at Sanary, before shaking her head. "Well my name's Karin, so I'm Magical Karin, see? And I became a magical girl on Halloween so, trick and treat magic!" It's not really halloween magic at all, but she can call it whatever she damn well pleases. "I don't mind working together, but you guys might get in my way. And if a Grief Seed drops, I'm calling dibs!" Better get that detail squared in advance. Then Arthur. She raises a brow, but she keeps up with his COOL KID HANDSHAKE, sharing his grin. "You're gonna make me blush! You'll ruin my style, 'dawg'!" She's catching on. "No but seriously, if I take it easy people might die. I didn't become a magical girl to sit around and rest while there's people in trouble!" Most of them don't, at first. "Have you guys been following me? That's kind of creepy, you know. Look, every minute we're wasting talking is another minute someone might run afoul of something nasty, so can we cut it short, or maybe start moving and talk on the way?" A glance at Tanya, whose glare is starting to make Karin uncomfortable. "Ugh, you even brought other magical girls with you, didn't you?" Runa, Tanya, Homura... easy mistake to make. "So you want me to what, go sleep while they get all the drops? What's your plan here?" Homura disappears behind Tanya. It's nicer there.
Android 17	"Only the nervous one is one, and she has a grief seed already she just got off another witch," Seventeen says, mildly, "If you want the seed, you can have it, but you probably don't have time to be wasting it on other things." "Also," he says, looking towards her, "Speaking as someone who's lost someone before, and not getting the chance to say goodbye...the city won't explode overnight. Taking one day to remember what you're fighting for does more for you than fighting without it." "Cherish the time you have with them," he says, looking away, "Because if you don't that regret will always be there." He motions towards Arthur, "He has the right of it." he also leans over, "Don't worry about the glaring one...she's just always like that."
Staren	Staren wonders what determines the resolution of Arthur's aliased pixels. But he doesn't wonder _too hard_. That way lies madness. The centipede bleeds a hole in the floor. A hole in the world. "Well, that's concerning..." And then the guest of honor shows up and finishes it off. "You like Halloween too? Nice..." he gestures vaguely at her, "style you've got there." It's an earnest compliment. Does his entire family just think that's how mages should dress...? "Wait, the barrier went away? Did you kill the witch?" As people discuss making sure she visits her loved one, Staren feels an impulse to save her, but... there are at least two reasons he can't, right now. He looks away, ears splayed and tail drooping for a moment. He holsters his laser pistol, and then takes a step towards her. "Look. We're heroes of a different sort, from far away. Not competing magical girls. And we're here to tell you that... for your own... well-being, you need to take a break once in awhile. If... if not for yourself, then for people you love." Staren takes another step forward and looks her in the eyes. "I've thought about it. About giving up being a person, so that my will, the things I want to accomplish, can spread across the multiverse unencumbered." He looks away and his ears splay again. "But... my friends said not to. They said they'd miss me. And... if everyone in the world matters, or whatever the reason you're trying to save people is..." He looks back at Karin, but not directly. "You matter, too. Take a day to be Karin. You deserve it. And your family and friends deserve you, too."
Tanya Degurechaff	Attention is drawn to Tanya's expression and she snaps her eyes open fully when it happens, "Hm?" A hand is raised, "My magic does not require grief seeds to function. This is not some juvenile attempt to trick you out of something that's only of use to you." She floats closer, then descends to sidewalk level-- and becomes much less ideal to hide behind for Homura, being the shorter of the two. "The concern is that you're putting in too much overtime," Out of habit, she folds her arms behind her back, expression painfully neutral, "The law requires that I inform you that excessive overtime leads to stress and nervous breakdown. Therefore," She nods towards 17 and Staren, "Time off is approved."
Sanary Rondel	"Oh, the day with the costumes and candy! Yeah, I getcha..." Sanary nods slowly as Karin goes over her backstory (sort of), then shrugs when the topic of Grief Seeds comes up. "Go right ahead. I don't know what those things are even good for besides..." She slows down, then makes a vaguely circular wiggly shape with her hands. "Those... Things. Anyway. You seem like a good kid, so I'll pitch in. They're right, though." Sanary gestures at the rest of the group. "They know way better than me about staying healthy. Er. Mentally, anyway. I mean, I can give you all sorts of tips to get strong and the like, but takin' a day off or a vacation or a leave of absence to just... Not fight in an army every day is great no matter how important it is." She smiles fondly for a moment, then coughs and looks off to the side. "A-anyway. You're still young, so you've got plenty of time to make dumb mistakes like me. No need to rush into 'em like me, too. Otherwise..." Sanary taps on her eyepatch, then on her existing eye. Not near it, but directly tapping on it without even flinching. "... You get stuck with sh-uh. Crap like this happening to you. But if you really wanna take down that one, just point us at what needs bashin' or healin' or whatever, and we'll take care of it for ya. We'll even get you that Grief Beef at the end of all of it."
Arthur Lowell	Arthur puts a hand to his chin, clasping it. "Well, I mean, I was kinda hoping to stock up GRIEF GRIST, but you called 'DIBS', so, like," He gestures, broadly. "I'd get my shit TORN UP in COURT, on account of you got UNASSAILABLE FIRST RIGHTS to the GRIEF SEED." In, ah, many ways. "So, got my PROMISE, we run into any GRIEF SEEDS around here, they're YOURS." She really, really doesn't know how accurate it is when he says that. Neither does Arthur, for that matter. He much recalls being in the same state of mind she was. When he was grinding 20-hour days to get strong enough to deal with Sburb. When he was pushing himself to the limit and passing out to deal with grief insomnia. It softens his approach here. "Look, I really love the kinda work you're doing. So," He gestures out. "You wanna run while we talk? Promise we can keep up with you. I'm not here to fuck up your groove. You wanna be on patrol, let's be on patrol here! But we really do gotta talk, okay? So let's walk-and-talk." He hops astride his broom, which whooshes with the light and force of thrusters keeping it up. If she wants to get to work, he'll let her, but he won't stop talking. "Look, I'm being serious. The way you're scheduling what you're scheduling, there's a chance it's got some bad outcomes. For everyone. For you, a lot, too. And, the pros in the Heroism Biz -- we're some'a those -- we seen it a dozen times. Hurts to think that way, fucks up your brain a little. It's called 'cognitive dissonance'. But, stats don't lie. Math is math and it says there's good reasons." He tries to give a softer smile and speak with more understanding tones. "Trust me here. I did what you're doing for a while, mostly around the times my dad started getting close to his dying." He actually has /graphs/ for it -- a series of menus, displaying "daily run" score charts of Grist and Experience, spiking up and crashing down hard, like the KDR of a pro gamer in the middle of a messy breakup. "I regret it a lot. Caused some real stupid shit. Take it from someone who did what you're doin' around the time you're doing it, if you can't take it from these crusty-ass old-timers." He winks to the others, as if to subtly acknowledge how dumb that faux-disrespect is. For a variety of reasons. "You got good attention for the good stuff you're doin'. But you gotta keep that heroism engine in shape if you want it to keep goin'."
Homura Akemi	"That so?" Karin looks from 17 to Homura, who largely fails her concealment check because Tanya's not bulky enough. She meekly nods in response. "Alright, alright, chill, I believe you," she says to Tanya, before she looks between every speaker one by one, whose points are all hitting home. She starts by answering Staren: "Huh? What Witch? Familiars can make Barriers too, when they get big enough. Heck, Familiars can turn into Witches if you let them feed. Pretty shitty thing to do if you ask me, but some magical girls aren't above it. Means there's more Grief Seeds on the market." Homura confirms by nodding. There turns out to be no need for moving along, because word after word seem to root Karin in place as she thinks, or maybe finally gets the lesson through her thick skull. "Well, I guess grandma's in the hospital, I was gonna visit but then these Familiars popped up, figured I could just do that tomorrow instead." Between Staren, Sanary and Arthur's stories, 17's selflessness and Tanya being so business-like about it, Karin lets out a deep sigh and laughs. "Alright, I'll take the night off, whatever. Looks like the town's safe enough for the night. I don't know why I'm even worried about it, I'm not even from here. Lots of Witches though! Can't complain." Her scythe disappears. "Fine then! Magical Karin, out! If I hurry up I can make it before visit hours are over. You guys better not make me regret this!" She leaps back onto the rooftops and heads off. Homura sits there, having no idea what to do or say next. The alley sure is... an alley. It's got... dumpsters and stuff. "U-Um... I don't know... how to tell if it worked or not, it's the first time it... ends well." Well enough, anyway.
Android 17	Seventeen lets out a small smile towards the Magical girl. "Off you go then, We'll take care of things tonight," he continues on. "Remember, make the time count. Regrets are a terrible thing to have to hold onto. They're poison." When she finally leaves, he looks towards Homura. "How...many times have you done this before?" he asks, before looking to the others. "Good work, everyone was on point. Though I guess the next part of what happens next is there. I guess we could just move on to the next familar and witch if we're stuck here?" He asks, not sure himself. He tosses a concerned look towards Homura herself. "What about you? How do you feel?"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur regards the leaping egress, and smiles positively. "Man." He says. "What I wouldn't give to be a goddamn Seer of Time right about now. Or, like, any Time aspect like you are. Shit, even a Seer of Heart would do it. I'd see, I bet, like..." He makes a broad, wide gesture. "All the things that changed, all the ways this led up into some better outcome, or a better peaceful end for the same soul, or somethin'. An innocent, normal dying from gettin' hit by a car or something, instead of a shitty whatever thing happened to make her a Witch. God, that shit would be so good. Where's Touta? Fuck, never mind, he'd have to eat the Grief Seed or something. And Homu-slice gotta do that, right?" He then turns to look to Homura, and seems briefly to be judging her. "...Huh. You tried this a lot before, haven'tcha?" He tilts his head, giving her consideration and thought. "Little too social for ya, huh? I can see why." He puts a hand on her shoulder. "Alright! I've decided what we're gonna do! We're gonna get you enough friends and rip through enough of that anxiety to make this work properly a little more for you!" He waves a hand, as if showing Homura a great, vast vista, of this one little junky hallway. "Stick with me here, Homie. I'mma get you from mouse-voice wallflower to cool and confident fast-talking shit-fixer. Like me!" He puts a hand to his chin. "But less of a dumbass than I am. You weren't stupid like I am when I met ya before. The rest of the stuff though!" His voice goes slightly low and he points the finger of his free hand at Homura. "Also, your power turned out to be hella rad and I'm super jelly, so I'm gonna hang out around it and see if I can finally figure out what time shit means or how it works. 'Cause god /damn/, third of my life is full of nothing but alternate-timeline ghosts already, I need that shit figured for real."
Staren	Staren smiles a bit as Karin runs off, and then there's an awkward pause. He's not sure what he expected. A great big MISSION COMPLETE banner? His ears turn towards Homura. "How many times?" He asks, a bit coldly. He really does wonder how many times this Homura has tried to do this -- what she seems to see as her calling, if she spends grief seeds on it -- and failed. That has to have been rough.
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya's eyes narrow as Karin weighs the options. But when the girl excuses herself and takes off, the miniature Major's eyes close. After a moment, her eyes open once more and she glances towards the slumping Homura, "If it's different from previous, and the previous times ended badly, than this is probably a good result." She turns, then, eyes closing once more, "You can probably end the projection now."
Sanary Rondel	"Atta girl. And make sure to get paid for this!" Sanary calls out to Karin as she leaps off, chuckling contently before turning back to Homura. "Really? Ah... We'll find out sooner or later, probably. Now we just gotta wait for whatever's supposed to happen, right?" A beat. "... Wait. Does this mean we're stuck in the past until then?" A scary thought, but there's some potential to fix some mistakes there. Turning to 17, she holds up her hand to give him a big ol' zero! "First time for everythin', and I think it went just right." Time will tell. Arthur's plan draws a confident thumbs up from the healer, and she moves over to give Homura a reassuring pat on the back for the double-team. "If you're worried about bein' too puny for it, don't worry. Arthur'll take care of the social beefin' up, and I'll get you bigger and stronger than you ever thought you could be! I got plenty of recipes from home for all sorts o' pig dishes that'll get you fired up for all sorts of self-improvement and bulking up. You'll be the envy of everyone back home!"
Homura Akemi	"Three times," she answers simply. Evidently, not to great success. But she's kept trying anyway, evidently. "The first two, I just got in the way or couldn't even... figure out what I needed to do. The third I tried being a bit more direct a-and..." She doesn't verbalize the outcome. Instead she looks back at 17 to nods. "I'm fine. Thanks for helping," she also adds, directed at everyone. Eventually, it seems her shield just decided to snap shut. The gears stop ticking, the hourglass stops flowing, and the world returns to that awful coffee shop, answering Sanary's question at the same time. Sanary's offer mostly makes the magical girl uncomfortable, because that's three training regiments she's apparently socially bound to follow now. Plus a social one. Four. That's starting to be terrifying. But before she can say anything about it, she notices - probably after others do - that she isn't holding onto just a Grief Seed anymore, but also a battle-scarred scythe. Karin's, apparently. "T-That didn't happen last times." So that's... good? Maybe? She's still trying to puzzle out what Arthur said, to be honest. "A-And I don't know if I can be useful to you with this, I haven't... I haven't used it for anything except this so far."
Staren	Staren nods. After the world returns to normal, he adds, "I'm glad we could help. Only then does he realize that he dropped his juice box and cookie in the past when he saw the centipede. Oh well. A third of Arthur's life is spent with crazy alternate selves? What? Oh right, his dreamself died so he goes to the afterlife when he sleeps. Staren nods when Homura says she's not sure if she can be useful. "It's worth trying, isn't it? Otherwise you'll never know." Staren scratches his chin. "Look. I'm sorry if telling you about your other self was a downer, I didn't mean it that way. But she, and all of us experienced heroes... It's not like we've never made mistakes. Never messed up. And those losses weigh heavily on our consciences sometimes.." Staren points at Homura. "You keep trying. You have the courage to keep trying," he lowers his arm, "even though you're clearly uncomfortable with all this. How many people don't manage even that much?" He looks away. "Just... remember that." He takes another juicebox. Sssssip.
Arthur Lowell	"Course ya don't know!" Arthur says, clapping Homura on the back as a slightly more enthusiastic sort of version of Sanary's pat. "But I do! That's why I'm gonna be teachin' you about how you can. Let's look at this motherfucker, for a good example." He flicks the blade of the scythe. "What I'm lookin' at here looks like a Paradox Imprint without any of the atomic fuckery that messes them up when you appearify them. Had an old friend, Vruasa, used to bring these kinda things around. Usually gotta trade a life for a couple of them, though, on account of timeline-dooming." He taps his chin, then says, "But we can't be on a doomed-timeline loop, 'cause there's too damn many of us." The taps grow more frequent and then very suddenly stop. "Shit, you're yankin' stuff clean out of the past with zero Appearification or Dooming effects." He blinks and stares at the scythe, like it might explode. "God damn." He whispers very softly, taking things, for a moment, a lot more seriously. His mind is racing. If she puts the souls at ease, it means she can spin off doomed timelines, and then merge the soul back into the main timeline the way pre-doomed souls merge back when doomed timelines end. And that'd mean... well, Arthur only knows enough Time aspect knowledge to understand that the ramifications are huge, not what all of them are. But he decides he has more than just one reason to keep an eye on Homura.
Tanya Degurechaff	Reality asserts itself. Tanya glances down at the filth-ridden cafe floor beneath her feet, her expression pensive. After a moment, she turns to face Homura once more, lifting her gaze. Whatever she was going to say, however, derails when the magical girl displays the weapon she acquired. The Major lets out a thoughtful noise, folding her arms behind her back. "So there you have it," No, she didn't know this would happen, but her demeanor gives the illusion that she did, "Doing this correctly benefits you directly. I am not the best person to assist with interpersonal relations, though. Whatever I contributed was quite overshadowed by other contributions present." A hand lifts into what she attempts to make a casual point, "However you do appear to have a motivation to overcome your personal challenges. And these people present have the experience to guide you towards that goal."
Android 17	"Come on now, let's not overwhelm her," Seventeen says, noting the weapon. "I think we did good, yes. Looks like she wants you to have it." He says, pulling out another Hetap, offering it to Homura. "Celebrate the victories you can get. Take what you can get, and work ever closer to where you wana be," he says, calmly. If she doesn't take it, he pops it open and takes a drink. If she does, he grabs his own and takes a drink, also snagging some of that fried chicken. "So I have a question.." "It seems like most other Magical Girls don't do what you do for the witches. Why do you do this?" He asks and makes a motion with his can of soda towards Tanya. "While I am a Park Ranger during the daytime, I like to moonlight as a martial artist. It's why I offered help," he says to Homura to build on Tanya's point.
Homura Akemi	If she wasn't questioning the scythe too much beforehand, Arthur implying it might be DOOMING sure makes Homura look down at it like she's holding a bomb. ... which is a feeling she's quite familiar with. And no she's not used to that yet either. Instead she's distracted by Staren, and she nods slowly to him. "Y-Yeah, I guess. Sorry, it's been... it's been a rough last couple of months, I'll, I'll try to be less of a burden on you all." She turns towards Tanya and stiffens up again, nodding. "I don't know about... benefit, I can't... I can't swing this," she says, actually deciding she's had quite enough of that weapon and making it disappear into her shield. "I-It's probably better than a golf club though." Probably! "U-Um... about that... gun training, are you... are you still offering, ma'am?" Then to 17 and Sanary: "Y-You too, I should... I should really try, I can't just keep hiding behind you and... I have to be able to help back, so it's fair." That's absolutely the reason.
Staren	Staren rolls his eyes. "Geeze, you're not a /burden/. You /knew/ you needed help and called us here to fight the mortsafe witch. Your actions that day saved lives. And today you saved a soul, allegedly, but whatever exactly happened today we never could have done it without you." Staren holds out his hands. "See, even now you're recognizing weaknesses and seeking out ways to overcome them. Seeking out training. A /burden/ wouldn't do that."
Homura Akemi	And to 17, Homura - does in fact kind of hesitate answering, and eventually settles on: "I-It's... it's my wish, I made a promise to someone and... it's just... something I have to do." It's a better answer than going into the nitty gritty of how every magical girl gets different powers and this is hers, but maybe not a totally honest one given the missing details.
Android 17	Seventeen seems to accept this answer, giving her a nod after a moment. Sitting back down on a chair he takes another long drink. He gives Staren a sideways look. "Chill, she's going to get there but you gotta know when to push and when to let them settle. A lot of things just happened, and this is her first victory. So lets celebrate."
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya lets out a thoughtful noise when the subject of firearms is brought up. There's no hesitation, though: "Yes. I've been informed that you seem to have an affinity for firearms, but appear to have no idea what you were doing when given them in the previous battle." Her eyes close, the major's posture straightening slightly, "If you intend to use guns, than you'd be best served learning how to do it without killing yourself." Hey, if she can teach a minotaur to use an anti-tank rifle, how hard can this be? There's a gentle sensation around her after she has that thought. As if something 3 dimensions removed had itself a chuckle. Tanya glances up, her expression severe, but says nothing.
Staren	Staren suddenly straightens and his ears perk up. "Oh!" He reaches into his bag and pulls out an ecto, currently collapsed into smartphone shape. He demonstrates how to stretch it into a tablet, collapse it again, and bend it into a bracelet. He offers it to Homura. "Here. If you're gonna start heroing, there's a whole community of folks out there to help. Maybe you'll feel less isolated if you reach out and talk to us some more?"
Homura Akemi	Homura takes the ecto, inspecting it and then deducing (because Staren demonstrates) it's a smartphone+1. Which is good, because she could have used an upgrade. "Thank you," she manages, without stuttering - not just to Staren, but to Tanya, 17 and Arthur as well, making sure to leave no one out of that. "I'll have to be careful not to spend too much magic, but... i-if I'm careful, and you help kill Witches, I should be alright." It was a huge boon, really, being able to collect Grief Seeds you didn't need to fully invest in.
Staren	Staren will have to bring her a charging pad compatible with Japanese outlets later -- it's good for 100 hours of streaming and games on one charge, though, so it should last awhile. "Speaking of that." Staren reaches into his bag again and fiddles with something inside. There's a click, then another, and he hands over two magazines -- one for an SMG, and one weird one with really long ammo. "You can keep the guns, just be careful."
Android 17	"You're welcome. Just remember you aren't alone out here." Seventeen continues. "Well, come on. There are snacks and chicken here. Lets eat up."