Scene #6825: That Stings!

Owner	Pose
Nanoha Takamachi	Administrated World #32, Runiria. It's night time in the city of Sirie. A very dark one. It seems this world doesn't have a moon and the stars are mostly hidden behind a layer of cloud cover. However, the city's residents make up for this fact with a bustling nightlife. Colourful lights adorn the main streets, while numerous stalls and other venues of interest are spread out across them. It seems like there is some kind of festival in full swing. Bands play music, people dance and laugh, smells of yummy foods waft through the air. However... Off to the side of the main events, on a more quiet and darkened street, there's something peculiar currently going down. Two men. One dressed in a suit, the other in a black hood and cloak. The suited man takes a small box from the hooden one, slowly opening it. A light begins to emit from within. The suited man asks, "This... This is really it?" The hooden man replies, "Yes... Just take hold of it to activate it." The suited man slowly takes a few steps back as he admires the box's contents, "I see... Well then. I guess that's all we need." He suddenly snaps the box shut and looks up at the hooded man. However as he speaks, it's clear he's not addressing him, "Captain?" Nanoha steps from around a corner, her staff in hand. The hooded man quickly goes stiff. Nanoha stares him down, "You are under arrest for the theft and illegal sale of restricted Lost Logia. If you come peacefully, your cooperation will be taken into consideration during your trial." The silence is pretty intense as the hooded man stares back at Nanoha. Then he simply says, "No." Nanoha reacts quickly, her hand snapping up, "Ring Bind!" Several rings of pink appear around the hooded man. However, he too raises his hand towards Nanoha. The air in front of him ripples and suddenly Nanoha is looking at a reflection of herself. The magic rings around the hooded man disappear. They quickly reappear around both Nanoha and the suited man. In a flash they constrict, binding the the two. Nanoha gasps in surprise as she finds herself unable to move, "What!?" The hooded man grabs the box from the now subdued suited one, before turning and dashing off, his cloak billowing out behind him. Nanoha struggles against her own binds sent back at her. But they're proving difficult to break. With the situation quickly deteriorating, she sends out a call for assistance.
Mairead Sandilands	On a relaxing day, Mairead has decided to see somethign of the Multiverse and came to Administrated World #32, Runiria and to a festival. She is enjoying this as she looks at everything and is having a blast. She is wearing a simple sundress that is lavender in color and reaches to her knees. Abstant from her normal attire is the green leggings and the sgian dubh. Additionally, she is wearing simple shoes and no markings of her Clan or where she is from. additionally, her hair is not tied back in a ponytail and is lose. The only jewelry you see besindes the armlet on her left bicept, is a pair of simple green stud earrings. As she looks at the stalls, she blinks as she hears something and looks. Putting the items down, she says she will beback and steps back as she runs off and jumps into he air. As she jumps, she thinks and is covered by armor as she flies for the signal sorce. "On my way," she says simply as she lands near Nanoha and blinks. "I heard ye needed a hand?" she adds as she looks around.
Theurgus	Stepping out of the local warpgate, a blue-haired woman in a white coatdress with a pointed 'witch hat' with a couple of gears merged into it flicks her hair and brings up a holographic screen. "That call went out from about here... I should take to the air to spot the target... we might be able to use this." she muses to herself, summoning a small crystal that shimmers irridescently. She presses this against her chest, and as it's absorbed, she speaks a single word. "Access." A pillar of light erupts around her, and after it fades, the blue-haired woman is gone, replaced by one with a shimmering head of hair. Irridescent on the outside, but gleaming with a rainbow on the inside. A tight bodysuit addorns her frame, and anchors various bits of clockwork-like constructs that wrap around her lower legs, hips, shoulders and hands, as well as forming a kind of halo above her head. Each piece as a gemstone set into it, which gleams a pearly white. The structures on her back extend into wings, and she launches skywards, taking a birdseye view, trying to spot the fleeing man. She radios her intentions, only to her allies in the Concord, but she's pretty easy to spot, and being incommunicado to those chasing the man, it's pretty obvious what she's doing.
Staren	Staren arrives soon after Theurgus. Taking stock of the situation he decides to lie low for the moment, seeking out a dark alley to wait in while drones -- both obvious quadrotors and tiny fly-sized spy drones -- spread out to monitor the chase.
Note	Random chance had Note stopping by this place some time ago and partaking in the local culture. As it so happens, she's in this very city. And today, she's actually dressed in a more 'civilized' style than normal. A pink shirt, light blue jean shorts, black thigh-high stockings, and yellow leather boots, with her hair bound up in a ponytail by a simple yellow hairband. The only oddity is, of course, the fact that this shrimpy teenager had to rip a tiny hole in her shorts so her FUZZY BROWN MONKEY TAIL can get through. Nothing about this outfit screams ready for action. Or even 'martial artist.' And yet... "Huh...?" The youth freezes on the sidewalk, attention drawn away from the dancing and music and the meat-on-a-stick she was nibbling. She blinks a few times as an unfamiliar energy signature tingles on the back of her senses... and she slowly turns about. What feels like a power revving up and then stayying revved, not far from where she is. "...." After twisting her lips about in uncertainty... Note quickly sticks the remaining meat in her mouth and tosses the stick away. White energy bursts from her skin and stays wreathing about her as she rockets into the air and swiftly zooms across the city's skyline. Of course, the only fellow flier she can see from here is Theurgus, who she's never really talked to much and barely recognizes. But Note swoops down from the skies anyways, following her senses... which results in her hovering down to about ten feet away from Nanoha, the rough aura vanishing with a crack as she cuts her energy output. Her tail swishes around freely as a smile begins to appear on her face. Here's someone she can help! "So you're behind the energy I was feeling... What happened HERE?! Do you need help breaking those? ... or does the running guy matter more?" A tailed girl who's flying without any sort of obvious magical device, who's easily half Nanoha's height and unmistakably a kid... is offering to help break those binds somehow. This is probably not the strangest thing she's seen in the Multiverse so far, right?
Gaonoir	Sometimes Gaonoir is lucky to have someone else to monitor comms and other outlets of information for him. Almost as soon as the emergency call went out Erika was on top of it, got the corresponding location... and was already concocting some more conspiracy theory on the Lost Logia being black marketed like magical WMDs by the time the duo were arriving in Runiria. An electric moped is far from the most dramatic of arrivals, but Erika had insisted on driving so Gaonoir could conserve his strength for the real action. That doesn't take long. Almost as soon as the vehicle putters up Gaonoir jumps off and scampers ahead a bit before hunching down to put his nose to the ground as one would expect a dog to do to try and pick up a trail. While the Gaomon is sniffing Erika dismounts, and takes a moment to smooth out her skirt. "You were looking for some help? Does the suspect have any of the contraband with hi--" She stops and swings her attention the other way as Gaonoir growls. "--What?" "He's not going to get far." The digi-canine snarls and sprints off to give chase. "Gaonoir wait a mom--uuugh." The girl groans. "He's so impulsive, sorry. You know how dogs are about chasing things." She shrugs a little and flicks out her digivice, bringing up the app that gives her a POV of what her digimon partner's senses are detecting.
Nanoha Takamachi	As the elite responders begin to arrive, the two TSAB members are still struggling against their binds. But within a few moments, those surrounding Nanoha shatter into sparkles of light. Nanoha takes in a deep breath, before responding to Mairead, "Yes, please." She looks at the flying Note, a little impressed that someone that young is flying so comfortably. Though it's not unheard of. Nanoha smiles at her, saying, "Thank you, but I can handle it." Nanoha turns towards the suited man, raising her staff towards him and saying, "Bind Break." The bindings around the man break, allowing him to move once more. He stretches, saying, "Thank you, Captain. That could have gone better." Nanoha nods, "I can take it from here, Agent." A light washes over the Agent, changing his appearance and replacing his suit with a black uniform, "Yes. You are probably more suited to this type of thing. After all..." Another light washes over him, this time turning him into an old man. He leans over a little and moves a hand to hold his back, saying with an older tone, "I'm not as young as I used to be. Hohoho!" He slowly walks off with a jolly laugh. Nanoha smiles before turning to those that have arrived to help. To Erika she shakes her head, "It's fine. That tracking may be helpful." Nanoha waves her hand in the air, producing a holoscreen with an image of the hooded man. There's not a lot of detail. Nanoha explains, "This is the perpetrator. He appears to be a Mage, so consider him dangerous." Responding to Erika's earlier question, Nanoha says, "He is carrying a Lost Logia. Possibly more. So highly destructive attacks against him could result in something disasterous. So, we need to capture him with as minimal fuss as possible." Gaonoir's tracking takes him down several alleys until the trail stops in a dead end. However, a little more searching at that point and Gaonoir can pick up the trail once more, this time restarting on the roof of the building above. Heading up there, the Digimon will be able to see a hooded figure running and jumping across rooftops some distance away. Considering he's on foot, he's managed to make quite a bit of distance. From their positions, Theurgus and Staren are able to observe the beginnings of the chase fairly easily. And so far no one appears to have spotted them. They are also able to see that the perpetrator is carrying a box in his hand.
Mairead Sandilands	Currently, Mairead is in a suit of armor that covers aspects of her body. This suit is lavender as a base color, with violet and gray. Her legs being covered from her feet to just above her knees, with armor plating coming to a point of her upper legs/thighs with armor that is the same as the suit, gray in color with the color of lavender and violet. Her arms are protected in the same armor as her legs, reaching form her hands to her shoulders. This armor looks more sleak than her legs, with black hands and elbows, while the same gray, lavender and violet covers the forearm and bicept area. There are armor extensions on her shoulders that go about two to three feet, while behind here are four pods that float. She looks around, "What is ......" and than Note arrives and someone else with a ... dog that runs off and she blinks "..." before looking. "What's going on?" she asks with her Scottish accent as she looks at Nanoha and the two others here. Looking at the holoimage Mairead blinks, "What's a Lost Logia? she asks as she has never heard of them and listens to Nanoha. "So this guy has a weapon that can do a lot of damage?" she asks/states. Looking at the others, she hovers, "Can this Lost Logia be tracked?" she asks as she waits for a response.
Note	And Nanoha manages to break those bindings! Note's eyes go a little bit wide at this. After all... that takes power. She can sense that much. With a light little squeak of satisfaction, Note flashes a peace sign Nanoha's way. "Not bad... you've got some power!" Her eyes do linger on that unusual staff-scepter of hers, but Note soon turns towards business here... and getting an eyeful of MAN becoming OLD MAN. This is worth a BOGGLE from the girl who was otherwise about to get chasing. "B-buah?!" Oh... well. She nods in half-understanding at Nanoha, who, for some reason, Note seems to have identified as someone worth listening to. Call it martial artist's intuition, maybe. Just as she's swinging about to rocket off again... she recognizes the armor that Mairead's wearing and blinks her way. "You can count on me!" She announces in a burst of childish zeal and determination... and cranks up her power again. White energy flares around her with a storming crack and whoosh of wind... and ZOOOOM! Off she goes, transitioning quickly to horizontal flight and quickly spotting the Digimon on the trail they're after! It won't take much effort to catch up to him....
Gaonoir	Gaonoir skids to a stop as he comes to the dead end, but almost immeadiately is looking for an alternate route. Then he catchs just the faintest of a whiff and cranes his neck back to look up. "Of course." The digimon clenches his gloved fists and takes a running start, then seems to dive into the shadows in the alley. Traversing the gap inbetween space makes travelling up a lot faster and Gaonoir bursts out of the tele-maneuver onto the rooftop and into a brief roll to get himself reoriented upright. Almost immeadiately he locks back onto the track and spots the hooded figure parkour across the roofs. "Heh. He's clever at least." This won't be too easy of a challenge then. Gaonoir sprints off, leaping at the edge of his own rooftop, just to voidstep from midair to land on another rooftop without breaking his run. With the chain combination of running, jumping and flashsteps he's got good speed of his own to try and catch up to the culprit. Erika is watching all this through her divice. "He's on the rooftops. Gaonoir's hot on his heels though. Uh.. They're magical weapons of mass destruction, kinda?" she offers to Mairead, before hurrying off to follow the chase going on overhead.
Staren	Heroes pile in. All the kind to go along with the law. Staren sighs. "Ugh. Do none of these people think about using the Lost Logia for /good/?" Staren can't just sit and watch, though it'd be nice if coming to blows could be avoided. Staren takes flight, flying through alleys to try and stay out of sight. A drone near the man tightbeams him, <"We can help you. The Lost Logia have far better uses than to be locked up. What do you say?">
Theurgus	Theurgus has a clear view of the chase as it's ongoing. As the man crests up onto the rooftops, and is followed by Gaonoir, the Mad Magician 'wings over', and dips down from her high altitude position, and attempts to keep pace with the hooded figure. She speaks normally, projecting out to the figure using some Wind-aspected magic. "You wish to escape. I wish to do business. We can come to an arrangement that suits both of us." she says, by way of an offer, reinforcing Staren's own. She glances back at Gaonoir, who is likely starting to gain, and is conscious of at least two fliers, one being Note, and the other Nanoha herself that might join the chase any second.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha looks at Mairead as she asks a couple of questions, "Sorry, a Lost Logia is a magical artifact. They are usually quite dangerous, yes. This man has been selling them illegally, which has resulted in a couple of incidents where people were injured and property was damaged. We managed to organise a meeting under the pretense of buying from him. Unfortunately we underestimated him." To the energetic Note, Nanoha smiles, "Thanks." She watches Note rush off to begin chasing. Thankfully they have a location now due to Gaonoir. Nanoha also watches Erika run off to follow. Nanoha would proceed herself, but another of Mairead's questions does spark an idea in the Mage. "Yes, we should be able to track the Lost Logia. They have unique energy signatures." Nanoha waves her hand in the air once more, the holoscreen switching to show a basic overhead map of their location. Quickly enough, a blip shows up, moving away. Helpful! Nanoha begins to transmit the location information to those who are helping. The hooden man dashes quickly across the roof. Hitting another edge he leaps, soaring over to the next with practiced ease. However, the two Concordians quietly get in touch with him, he skids to a halt. He turns a little, looking over his shoulder. It's easy to see Gaonoir beginning to catch up, with Note hot on his tail. He appears to be considering the offers, absently fingering the box he's holding. Finally he says, "I'm not finished yet... I can't afford to be captured here. Very well. Help me escape and I will give you one of the Lost Logia." A deal is struck. Gaonoir and Note soon arrive on/above the rooftop opposite of the hooded man. He doesn't immediately move to run. Nor does he attack. He seems to be waiting for something as he looks at the two from beneath his hood.
Staren	Staren flies out of cover to land where the man has stopped to Theurgus. He should put a face to an offer like this if he can. He glances at the pursuit forces catching up. "You will sell to us and no other. The Concord will find a way to put lost logia to good use... but if you continue to sell to careless fools who make messes and destroy lives, after we save you, that will reflect poorly on us. The Concord does not stand for being made fools of. So do we have an arrangement, or do we have to find... someone else?"
Mairead Sandilands	Looking at the map, Mairead studies it. "Can we link this to my sensors?" she asks Nanoha. "If so, I can track it and give ye a lift," she asys as she offers a hand. "It will be fast if necessary, but than looks, "He ha stopped," she states. If Nanoha accepts, MAiread will lift them up and they will fly to the man's location.... (OOC more ot come after Nanoha poses)
Gaonoir	Between her own readout from Gaonoir's link and Nanoha's helpful map transmissions Erika is able to keep track of the chase from the street level, and would eventually find her way to the base of the building everyone appears to be conveining atop. She looks up and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Of course they'd be up on top." Being a normal ordinary human is a bummer sometimes, she's got to either wait here and take the long way up. A flash of black and purple deposits Gaonoir on the surface of the roof, his pursuit already tunnel-visioning on the man in the hood that's fleeing with the magic weapons. He rocks from one foot to the other, keeping his legs ready to move in the sort of 'idle' movement one would expect of a boxer, his gloved paws clenched and ready. "You should just give up now and come back quietly." Though clearly he doesn't expect the hooded man to do so. They never do.
Note	Note is VERY surprised to see that a person she considers a reliable ally isn't doing the thing she's there to do! Why is Staren just standing there talking...? She grinds her teeth as she comes to a halt hovering over the situation. "Hey, Staren! This guy's up to no good! Are you gonna help us catch him or just stand there?" In the air, about thirty feet over the rooftop, Note draws in a solid breath and raises her crossed arms just above her head... then brings both of them DOWN to her waist in a decisive motion, shouting a forceful kiai! At that very moment golden light surges from her flesh, briefly enveloping her then bursting outwards like raging flames. As part of this powerful eruption, her hair swings violently upwards and splits into an array of separated spiky strands, turning golden itself as it glows from within. Her eyes now shine a light shade of green, but are narrowed with an intense ferocity that seems rather odd for how calm she was just moments ago. She's just... glaring down at Staren with that forceful, demanding, unflinching gaze.
Theurgus	Diamond Soul picks up her altitude again, letting Staren strike the deal while she summons her staff. If the guy agrees, she'll intervene. If he doesn't agree, then he's on his own.
Nanoha Takamachi	The hooded man doesn't respond to Gaonoir. Instead he turns his head to look at the arriving Staren. At the added conditions, the man simply replies, "No more sales. No more fools. No one else." There's no hint of deception in his voice or behaviour. He does appear to be agreeing. The hooded man watches as Note essentially bursts into flames as a means of powering up. He doesn't seem intimidated. Instead he waves his hand. The air behind him shimmers, a hole forming. The world beyond it looks similar to the real one, though far more distorted. He quickly backs into it, the hole vanishing shortly afterwards. From their position, those who were chasing can't seem to find where he ended up. Nanoha nods in response to Mairead, "Sure." But before Nanoha can pass the information on to her, several dozen more blips appear on the map. Nanoha looks concerned. Her staff chimes, <The signatures are identical.> Nanoha doesn't wait for Mairead's assistance, she suddenly blasts up into the air, quickly turning and flying in the direction of the other persuers. At her position on street level, Erika will quickly notice footsteps echoing from nearby. Turning to look, she'll catch a brief glimpse of the hooded man rushing between a couple of buildings away from the rooftop standoff. It seems her Digimon is not the only one who can teleport short distances.
Mairead Sandilands	Blinking, She see snanoha take flight and smiles, "Cool," she says as she sees the sensors and tracks those here and rockets straight up about a quarter of a mile and looks around. She plots Nanoha and Note as well as Gaonoir, Staren and Theurgus and than the other blinmps, "The hell," she says. Looking at the closest blip, she flies towards that one, "So, I take it this is fae and that one of these blimps is the hooded man?" she asks over the radio as she arrives near one of the hooded men. "Oy, stop and do not move," she says simply to the figure.
Nanoha Takamachi	Mairead flies up to the closest blip and... There's no one there. Nor any obvious sign that anyone had been there.
Mairead Sandilands	Looking, Mairead blinks as no one is there, "... Where the hell is.... Oy, no one is at my position. I think we have dummy targets. Be on the look out."
Staren	The man makes a deal. And then... disappears? Did he even NEED help to escape? Gaonoir and Note are here and are mad. Staren wonders if talking at them will work. "We've worked together before. Do you really think I've turned some 180, that I want to blow up towns and unleash monsters like some cackling cartoon villain? Think about it. These artifacts contain great power. Because they've been misused, the TSAB wants to lock them all up! Even though they have the resources to study them properly. Maybe doing so themselves would be seen as endorsing reckless experiments, to braindead subjects." Staren turns and holds out a hand. "But I don't let a few idiots hold back progress. The Concord has the resources to study Lost Logia with care," Staren points a thumb at himself. "And my track record is public. Despite my interests, I've survived over a decade without unleashing terrible monsters or accidentally blowing up anyone I don't want blown up. Who better than me?" Staren looks between Note and Gaonoir. "You're not beholden to the TSAB's rules, you're not its citizens or police. You can decide for yourself, whether you have really any moral obligation to hold back progress. What do you say?" He holds out his hands in a sort of shrug gesture and smiles. And if they argue back then they're not chasing the Concord's new friend.
Theurgus	Diamond Soul listens to the man's reply, then to Staren's impassioned speech at Note and Gaonoir. She casually floats away, heading towards the warpgate, and the man's supposed destination. The normally talkative Mad Magician is ominously silent, this TSAB, sounds a lot like The Organization, after all, suppressing progress, stifling development! She keeps an eye on the punchdog and the supermonkey, just in case Staren needs backup, but otherwise she's largely being passive.
Gaonoir	"Hey get back here!" Gaonoir almost lunges when the portal appears, but the hooded figure is through it before he can do so. "Never realized how annoying being on the other side of that trick is." Staren and Theurgus were being pretty much ignored, up until Staren actually says something that makes his ears lay back. "That's what every scientist says... Before the first time kicks in." It's followed by a dour bark of a laugh. "Right, we're not. Outside intervention is what it takes sometimes.. Or you wouldn't be here yourselves, after all." Erika is still staring at the roof above and debating if she should find a way inside when something catchs the corner of her eye. "uh?" She turns her head just quick enough to catch the the flutter of dark clothing as the figure darts off between the buildings. << He's down on the streets again! >> She turns to give chase, now thankful she didn't try to take the stairs up or some such. There's not a lot she can do, other than tail the guy like a good conspiracy chaser, and hope someone else can catch up to her soon. "But we don't have time to sit here debating over it." Gaonoir turns on his heels and sprints for the edge of the roof, clearly intending to resume the chase. Of course, if the Concords decide to be obstacles...
Note	Wait, what? The robed man can just VANISH?! "That's cheating..." she muurmurs frustratedly, reaching out with her senses to try and identify any new location for him... and the results are WEIRD AS CAN BE. They make her glance about, baffled, breaking her gaze with Staren for a moment... Well. Note's confused. Her expression screws up and twists every which way out of pure bombafflement. Did.. she somehow insinuate that Staren was such a terrible person...? She blanches at this realization. A deep breath is sucked in and she relaxes a tidbit. It takes effort, because this form has her blood pumping with adrenaline and emotions raging intensely. She wants to HIT things and her whole body's crying out for violence and pain. Hers, others', it doesn't matter. But she clamps down on that for the moment. "I know you're pretty smart. And I know you're not a terrible person! I guess it's not really my business who gets their hands ohn these things as long as it's not causing a huge mess for people... but as long as that guy's in this city, that could happen!" Well. Note going all out would be a danger to this city, too. So, thankfully she seems fully self-aware of this fact and hasn't just started attacking anyone. Instead, though... she gathers her power and rockets off, an obvious meteor of pure golden light to anyone trying to track her. She's headed straight for one of the weird spots where she can sense the robed man's odd presence....
Mairead Sandilands	Looking at the empty space, Mairead heads up and flies for another spot on the map, "I'm going to go to antoher spot. Any ideas on how to find this guy?" she asks over the radio as she goes and thinks as there are others here. Thinking, she heads to the warp gate, "I am going to the warp gate. I have a hunch he might be heading that way," she says as she lands outside of it and waits.
Staren	Gaonoir runs off, Note actually stops to talk to him. And THEN flies off. Staren takes off after her. "He's getting out of the city as fast as he can! You think he's actually carrying Lost Logia ON him?!" Staren gives chase, stylized orange wings buzzing like an insect's. He pulls what looks like a large-bore rifle from his bag and inserts a wide magazine. Small missiles launch, flying in front of Note and detonating. Basically concussion grenades. He could accidentally kill a human by setting one of these off too close, but he's pretty sure it won't hurt Note. It might distract her and slow her down reflexively trying to avoid them, though!
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha soon catches up to where the stand-off is occurring, floating to a stop near Note and Gaonoir. She looks around for signs of the perpetrator, but instead finds Staren there. She looks surprised. But as she catches the tail end of his speech, the surprise turns to concern. Nanoha replies to him, "I'm not asking them to enforce the TSAB's laws. I'm asking for their help in stopping someone who has been responsible for people getting hurt. And not just those who were caught in the destruction created by the Lost Logia. Those he sold to are also his victims, their lives forever affected by his actions. Do none of them deserve justice? Should we go to them and say, 'Sorry. The person ultimately responsible for what happened to you is going to go free because someone wanted to make scientific discoveries.'?" As Staren moves to follow after Note, Nanoha quickly follows too. However, she doesn't immediately fire on Staren, not wanting to escalate this battle if she can help it. The hooded man runs down an alley. Glancing over his shoulder, he catches sight of Mairead flying overhead. He quickly ducks beneath an awning, likely going unnoticed as she flies over him and lands near the warpgate some distance ahead. That's going to cause some problems... He holds his position for the moment, considering his options for getting past Mairead. It seems he hasn't noticed Erika's presence following him yet. Perhaps her normal ordinary human nature is giving her an advantage in that regard. As he's stopped, it only takes a short time for Gaonoir to catch up.
Gaonoir	It's not that Gaonoir doesn't believe Staren's good intentions... He just doesn't have the patience for that sort of discussion. He also has plenty of experience in even the best of purposes going horribly wrong outside of someone's intent. It would be better for all if this man and his magic weapons was under the watch of the people with the knowledge and training to deal with it. He's just the hunter here to make that happen. He leaps over the edge of the roof, avoiding the fall by digivolving up a stage and using his claws to slide down the side of the building to keep his momentum under control, then kicking off with more powerful legs to launch himself in the right direction and at an angle that he won't hit dangerous speeds descending. As Gaogamon he won't have much trouble catching up to his quarry. Especially since he can also home in on his link with the digivice his Tamer carries. Speaking of whom, Erika is still trailing the hooded figure, being careful to put what Gaonoir has taught her about stealth to use. Keeping a safe distance for observation and avoiding making any sudden sounds or movements. Gaonoir said something about teleporting, but he hasn't done it again. Maybe it has a time or use limit on it? Idly musing, she's just keeping it in mind in case he tries it again. Granted stealth kind of goes out the window when the giant bear-sized dog lands at the alley. Rather than try to keep cover with his bulkier form Gaonoir goes for not giving the criminal an option to resume running, lashing out with both of the clawed ends of his 'scarf' like whips to try and grab the man!
Note	Note can only splutter out a surprised gasp as Staren goes HOSTILE on her. Seeing the missiles flying in, she ponders her course of action. She could try to shoot them down, but if she missed... the city below would suffer for it. Seeing this, she grits her teeth, curls up into a fetal position and shields herself with her arms-- The air's filled with explosions as the missiles slam into a well-prepared Note. Metal shrapnel and the burning gases do their work, but... when the smoke clears, Note hardly looks scratched. Sure, there's a few errant cuts on her arms and legs that are bleeding slowly... but no, it's her OUTFIT that's taken the brunt of it. Scorched, singed, chunks of it shredded, but still enough of it there for modesty... however... "Grrrrrr! What's your PROBLEM?! You're attacking me now?!" Oh... OH dear, she's pissed. She's very pissed. She swings around in the air to glare once again at Staren, and yet this time... this time, that intense Super Saiyan stare of rage seems to have been stoked properly, and is truly targeted at him. Mixed with the rage is the clear torn grimace of the betrayal she's feeling... Buit right about then, here comes Nanoha to the rescue with words. Words that cut through the anger and force Note to pay attention and think again, even if that wasn't quite Nanoha's intention. It's helping with counterarguments to this situation that young Note's finding very confusing. These arguments make a lot of sense. "... Oh. Ohhhhh... yeah. Staren wants his STUFF, not the guy..." Truth be told, a lot of this is going way over her head. The concept of complicated justice systems is pretty foreign to her. "You're lucky we're in a city, Staren, or I'd be pounding you into the ground in return for that!" She finally shouts, venting out her frustration. Some of the childish betrayal and hurt's dwindled away, but it's pretty clear she WILL get him back for that some day. On principle.
Theurgus	Theurgus turns off, and follows after Gaonoir. She watches Mairead flying off toward the Gate. That's a problem. Gaonoir getting close to the man is more immediate of a problem though. She twirls her staff, and points towards the alleyway between the man and Gaonoir. A wall of white light appears, blocking the path and illuminating the entire alleyway, burning away shadows.
Mairead Sandilands	Waiting at the Warp Gate, Mairead knows she placed a target on her, but she is not worried... too much. She has never gone against magic before, physical and projectile attacks yes. However, magic, That is a whole different ballgame. She is concerned, but is not goign to let something of Nanoha's get past her and it is no matter who has it. If this item is dangerous, it needs ot be stopped and she will do that. For now, she stands in front of the warp gate, arms crossed over her chest and she looks around with her eyes as she sees a sensor in her vision only she can see.
Staren	Nanoha's words reach Staren as well. He looks away. "...I will make sure the future is made better for this. It goes both ways -- what about the people whose lives go unsaved because lost logia aren't properly studied and used to help them?" He's briefly surprised and instinctively worried at Note's rage, but he presses on. "I'm slowing you down. We both know those weapons can't really hurt you and I have weapons that /could/." She's... actually stopping to talk again? Okay. He'll stay and talk too since it slows the pursuit all the same. "On the bright side, at least you realized your vulnerability in cities against someone who doesn't really want to hurt you. Now you can find techniques safe for city use and be prepared when you really need it!" He smiles earnestly.
Nanoha Takamachi	The hooded man suddenly turns as Gaonoir lands in the alleyway with him. He stands his ground, waiting for the Digimon to attack. He does so! The hooded man raises his hand. A wall of light appears between the two, blocking the claw tipped scarf-whips. The hooded man takes a step back, a little confused. He didn't do that! But he's not going to let the opportunity go to waste. He quickly turns once more running for the warpgate. With Gaonoir distracted by Theurgus, it doesn't take long for the hooded man to reach the large device in the center of the intersection. Unfortunately, there's still the matter of Mairead who's standing there. The man takes a few steps forward, saying, "Stand aside." The sudden wall of light in the distance doesn't go unnoticed by Nanoha. Especially as it's in the direction of the warpgate. Nanoha glances at Note and then Staren, before turning and blasting off. She quickly rockets towards that light and the gate, trying to catch up before the perpetrator can escape.
Mairead Sandilands	Looking at the hooded man, she shakes her head, "Sorry lad, not moving," she says as she gets ready and looks, "So how about this, ye stop and hand over the box, than leave. I won't have to fight you and we do not want to hurt people," she says as she gestures and the for pods behind her move to flank her and face the guy. "Trust me, I do not want to fight, but I will and you are not going to leave." Waiting for a reply, Mairead knows what she can do in a pinch and has already targetted the guy with her eyes and so she is not too worried about missing, unless he uses magic.
Gaonoir	There's an audible pair of WACKs as Gaonoir's scarf-whips smack into the abrupt barrier. That's a minor annoyance in itself, but the fact that the spell is also illuminating the alleyway with such brightness is a bigger problem with its dispelling of shadows. Gaonoir doesn't require existing darkness for his abilities, but having it present in the environment is less of a draw energy-wise, so trying to voidstep out of the alley would take too much time and energy to bypass. So, to the shock of no one the Dark Digimon opts for the other direct route, growling deeply as he takes a step back. "GAOGO POUND!" Only to leap, hurtling his entire exceptionally powerful form at the barrier to ram into and hopefully through it. Not to mention the force of impact, breaking through or not, is going to send noticable shockwaves along the walls of the nearby buildings. Which is less of a concern to him right now than it should be thanks to his focus being on the chase itself.
Note	A rational person who's very familiar with him might realize the intentions behind what Staren just said. Note, however... isn't yet such a person. Already paying close attention to the scientist in power armor, his words cause something that most sane people would never want to see happening. Note's expression darkens. Her forehead begins to twitch. Her halfway-confident smirk cracks and turns into a disturbing sort of lopsided, forced smile. It's a look that Staren may well have seen many times in the past. It's the look of a girl who's found something deeply infuriating about something he said. "Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaren. Are you saying... I'm not up to the task...?!"
Theurgus	The Digimon's contained, for a moment or two. That should be enough time, even as he starts to pound at the barrier. Little spiderweb cracks begin forming in the pristine white of the energy barrier with each smack against it, but it holds up for a few precious moments. Diamond Soul turns, and powers away toward the Warpgate, and brings her staff around to hammer it down atop Mairead, trying to knock her off-balance, and give the hooded man a chance to get through the gate. She then hops back, and lobs a volley of mixed elemental bolts at the IS user.
Staren	Staren's seen people angry at his word but the 'mad (insane) smile' bit is new. He's not entirely sure what's wrong with her, but she's delaying her attack and she's broken off pursuit, so this is going well so far. He states, calmly, as he alights atop a nearby building, probably the worst possible words; An innocently honest answer to a direct question: "No. You did." He looks puzzled. He can't match any known social interaction pattern to someone stating something plainly about themselves and then asking someone ELSE if they said it.
Mairead Sandilands	Looking at the new arrival and the staff, Mairead looks and blocks the staff with a beam sword that just materlized in her hand. "Ye think to catch me ...." and she looks and is not moving. As the volley of mixed elemental bolts comes towards her, she raises her right hand and thinks, concentrating on the volley and slows them down to the point that they appear to be stopped in time and says nothing as she stands there between the gate and the Two. . o 0 (Crap....) she thinks as she stands there. She is in a pickle. What Mairead just did, is what is called the Active Inertia Canceller or AIC. It effectively slows or reduces the speed of an object to appear as if it is stopped, yet it is still moving. Drawback, is that this requires all concentration and in doing so, she must focus on this one task. This leaves her open for any attacks and if she drops the AIC, she can do something, but if not, she is fair game. If she drops it, the focus she had is back to normal and will continue as it was originally intended. Bascially, a rock and a hard place. 1 attack directed at her that is stopped with the AIC. Two opponents to do what they want.
Note	"Grrrrrrrrrr!" Now this is just insulting. For a few moments Note's fixated on Staren. Her arms raising with readiness, whole body tensing up ready to launch at him. Her breathing's gotten awfully angry at him, awfully quickly but..... But she clenches her teeth and grinds away at them. She just... simply... isn't leaping over that last hump. Instead... Well, this is probably a serious amount of anger management being practiced all at once. Without warning she straightens out in the air and relaxes. Just like that the golden light's extinguished - and with the aura vanishing, her hair drops back down to normal and the raging energies seem to dwindle away. All that tension and rage in her expression drains away too. Deep breaths. Because, apparently, she's too principled to go after him no matter how angry she is. But she does raise a hand and point accusingly at him, utterly irritated now! "Yououuuuu.... YOOOOU... how are you so DANG TERRIBLE at being nice to people but you keep talking about making people's lives better...?! I don't get it..."
Nanoha Takamachi	The hooded man certainly doesn't seem to be complying with Mairead's request. Those pods of hers do draw brief looks from him. He's not sure what they are, but suspects they are dangerous. They can probably attack pretty quickly. Can he get the spell he's planning off in time? Theurgus comes flying in, distracting Mairead with an attempted whack from a staff and elemental bolts. The hooded man takes the opportunity provided. His hand snaps up, a cyan spell circle appearing on the ground beneath him, "Mirror Cage." The air around Mairead shimmers, forming reflections of herself and her surroundings. As if she was looking into mirrors. These mirrors quickly surround Mairead, until the last one appears directly above her to seal her in. Except for the street below, Mairead is completely surrounded by reflections of herself. The outside of the mirror cage is also reflective. The hooded man steps up to one of those mirror panes, but then stops. He turns to look at Theurgus, saying, "Thank you." He throws the box in his hand up to her, "What we agreed upon." Inside the container is a small object that glows with its own light. Theurgus will definitely be able to feel the magic power emanating from it. Nanoha flies up to where Gaonoir is beating against the barrier of light. She's not entirely confident she can stop the perp on her own. So she raises her staff, magic gathering at the tip before firing a beam at it to help finish it off, "Come on, he's almost there!" She bursts forward again, seeing the events playing out at the warpgate.
Theurgus	The barrier, weakened from Gaonoir's thrashing, shatters into motes of light as Nanoha blasts it. Diamond Soul catches the box, then sequesters it into her Inventory. "Remember our deal... contact us once this is over." she says. "Go, I will deal with these two." she adds, turning away from the man and brandishing her staff towards Nanoha and Gaonoir. "High charity, upon thy heavenly throne of gold. Sweeping torrent and looming pillar. Stab and sunder. Rake and Rend. Strike upon this sinful world, and unleash thine divine fury." she intones, a large diamond pattern appearing under her feet. "Judgement!" She aims her staff at Nanoha, and a plume of pearly white light, much akin to the barrier. It splits in two, one half aiming for Gaonoir, the other aiming for Nanoha.
Mairead Sandilands	Looking, Mairead she her own reflection and lowers her arm ... As she was focused on the volley she is not now and they are flying to her, "What in the bloody....." and she looks around as she starts to bang on the mirrors, "Oy, let me out of here," she says as she summons one of her Bean-Nighe, one of her two double barrel beam gatling guns. She points up as she is on the ground and pulls the trigger, firing the beam shots into the mirror above her head. She has no idea if this will get her out or cause the shots to shot back at her due to the magic if there are any within the mirrors. Hoping this works, she fires and thinking the four pods open up and unload all of the missiles within them at the same target. Lets just say things are going to get loud in the mirror cage. Oh, about that elemental volley Diamond Soul launched at her.. that slams into the outside of the mirror cage. No idea what will happen when that hits....
Staren	Staren is talking to Note but also keeping her from going after the Concord's new friend. Is this what it feels like to be one of those people who have Clever Plans you don't realize until after? The conversation turns increasingly earnest, though. He relaxes a bit more. "I don't know, but it seems there's no relation. You can be a racecar driver without being a good automotive engineer; You can be an innovative weaponsmith but a poor swordsman. I wish I were better at people stuff and I'm working on it but..." He shrugs. "How many people are charismatic and good at fighting but don't know how to really make a change in the world? It's just the way people are, and we have to work with it." Staren rubs the chin of his helmet. "Although, that does sound like the sort of thing I always rail against, doesn't it? But changing people... If everyone DID have the perfect mix of talents for what they wanted to do, would they still be /people/? Or would the difference in experience alienate them from us?"
Gaonoir	Once the hooded figure had run off Erika ran into the alley herself to catch up with her partner, only to find him trying to smash through a barrier with little other concern. Not really a surprise when she wasn't present to keep him steered in a more effective effort. "Gaonoir, stop!" She grabs some of his fur to give a tug and stop him, then climbs onto his back. "You can't just thrash at it repeatedly." She leans forward to point at where the light barrier is cracking. "Aim for where it's already failing." Then Nanoha stops and blasts it apart with her own magic. "That works too. Thanks!" Erika manages to get out before Gaonoir leaps back into action as soon as the obstruction is out of his way. And in course of that charges towards the warpgate only to come barreling headlong into more opposition. He puts on the brakes by digging his claws into the pavement. That's gonna leave some sizable ruts some poor city maintenance working has to fix later. He inhales briefly, followed by howling "DARK SPIRAL!" and unleashing a twisting combination of dark and wind elements from his mouth directly into the beam. It's literally Dark vs Light as he plays Beam-O-War with Diamond Soul's attack spell. While Erika yelps and ducks down huddled in his thick fur for extra protection on his back.
Nanoha Takamachi	As the elemental volley speeds up again, it his the outside of the newly formed caged. The bolts are reflected away, hitting the street, surrounding buildings and firing off into the air. Unfortunately for Mairead, something similar happens on the inside. As she suspects, these mirrors are not ordinary. The beam shots bounce back cleaning, thankfully just slamming into the street around Mairead. The missiles react similarly, flying into the mirrors they suddenly fly right back out. They rain down around Mairead, unleashing numerous explosions against the street. In the enclosed space, it's likely not a pleasant experience. But on the bright side, it seems the mirrors can't handle explosions nearly as well as the previous attacks. A number of them begin to visibly crack under the assault. Nanoha brings her hand up as the beam of white streaks towards her. A spell circle appears beyond her palm as she forms a shield. The beam hits, flowing over the edges of the shield and streaking around Nanoha. The very edges of her clothes a scorched by the magic as she holds up against it. "I will." After his response to Theurgus, the hooded man looks back to see Nanoha and Gaonoir endure her magical assault. He doubts that she can keep it up for long, so it's clearly time for him to get out of here. Even as the mirrors of his cage begin to crack due to the explosions within, the hooded man steps into one of them. Several identical versions of him step out of the other mirrors. They all quickly make their way into the warpgate, disappearing as they take separate routes, making further tracking quite difficult. The attack from Theurgus fades just in time for Nanoha to see the perpetrator escape. She looks quite concerned. The mirror cage around Mairead finally shatters into sparkles of magic, no longer sustained by the man. Thus she is freed, if singed a little bit.
Mairead Sandilands	Mairead Sandilands looks up and blinks, "Oh sh...." and than the shots impat her and the ground as the beam shots head towards her. Than the 40 missiles do the same and she drops to her knees, doing the old duck and cover as all 40 impact on and around her. In the inclosed space, she is rocked by the explosiona nd it shakes and vibrates the area and the ground, causing a small crater to form below her. As the cage and mirrors break and disappear the explson is no longer enclosed and expands outwards. afte the dust and smoke clears, she is ont he ground head covered and covers in nicks, cuts and bruises. she lays there after getting bombarded by the missiles and he effect o fit did rattle her. She slowly gets up as the armor fades from view and he winces as she looks around, "Ow...." she says as she sits there and looks and sighs. She got the wrong end of that attack and is not wanting to have that again.....
Nanoha Takamachi	Seeing the results of the explosion around Mairead, Nanoha quickly floats down to the crater. She kneels down next to Mairead, asking with concern, "Are you alright?" Mairead definitely looks worse for wear... But given all the various abilities to resist and endure damage that Nanoha has encountered, it's hard to tell for sure.
Gaonoir	Gaonoir manages to fend off Diamond Soul's attack, but having to do so delayed them long enough for their quarry to pull more illusion tricks and slip off into the warpgate. "Frag it!" He's all ready to just jump through himself to continue the pursuit, but Erika grabs the ends of his scarf and yanks them just firm enough to get his attention like their were reigns. "Gao, no. We have no way of telling which one is the real one. We'd just be wasting our time chasing shadows." Gaonoir growls and clenches his teeth, then finally just slams a forepaw into the ground in frustration, because the girl is right. Another snarl follows, but after that he's vented most of his annoyance and gone back to his usual casually dour demeanor. "So now what?" "We wait for him to do something to reveal his new location." Erika let go of the scarfs and gave his head a reassuring pat. "The hunt isn't lost, it's just going to be a little delayed."
Mairead Sandilands	Looking up, Mairead smiles and winces, "Aye, it only hurts when I smiles," and she slowly stands as she looks at herself, "Note to self, get better at fidghting people who use magic." she says as she holds her side and sighs but winces. "I'll be sore for a bit, but it is ok. Part of the job." she mentions. "Sorry that guy got away," she adds. Looking at Gao, "And it means to get get ready for when he does return," she adds.
Nanoha Takamachi	Nanoha smiles with some relief as Mairead is able to stand. Even if it does appear to be a little painful. She shakes her head at Mairead's apology, "It's not your fault. He was more powerful than we expected. And there were other factors." Nanoha stands once more as well, nodding in agreement with Erika, "Unfortunately all we can do at this point is watch and wait. We don't have enough information on his identity to track him down. And I doubt he'll fall for the fake buy again." Nanoha frowns a little, "But I doubt this is over. He doesn't seem like the normal smuggling type. And other facts about this case suggest that something else is going on."
Mairead Sandilands	Nodding, Mairead looks, "I will stay and keep eye on the warp gate and patrol the area. I can be anywhere in a matter of seconds at full speed," she comments with a nod, than winces, "After I take a hot batha nd a good nights sleep. My bruises have bruises," she says ass he thinks and her outfit changes to her IS Fuku that she doe snot need to wear in a matter of seconds as the outfit shimmers over her. "At least I am not going to be looked at as much with the bruises and all I have," she states. "I think I am going have to learn something new after this," she muses to herself.