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Petra Soroka	Kenshiko is not a name that is relevant on any type of multiversal radar, as a threat, ally, or even a person of interest. Despite her devilish nature, her greatest aspiration is to hassle the student body of whatever school the Dark Clan assigns her to, and defeat her heroic rival magical girl, allowing evil to finally triumph over the light of goodness. The problem is who Kenshiko's rival *is*.     Petra has been complaining about the devil girl who latched onto her CMU campus for a while now, whose ineffectual and misguided villainous efforts have mostly served to occasionally make her classes more annoying. The Magical Girl of Love visited the city to destroy her dark inverse, only to find her so pathetic that they became friends instead. And now, after Petra mocked Kenshiko once again in the radio, Love has invited the best Elites in the sector to come and train Petra's magical girl villain in order to defeat her once and for all.     The San Francisco that the Concord Media Studies University is located in is so multiversally integrated as to be essentially an extension of the metropolis of the warpgate hubs it connects to. There's no need to even leave the warpgate hub to get on the bus that takes you east across the bay, to, Oakland, for some reason, where Love has summoned her strongest warriors to aid the powers of darkness.     Underneath a cloverleaf interchange of a highway is a park with grass that's somehow both overgrown and dying. There's one rusty swingset, a couple of stained picnic tables, and a cracked concrete slab, but the 'park' just sort of trails off into the untamed grass underneath the highway, where a bunch of semi-industrial garbage is piled up. For being a bunch of flat ground right nearby a heavily trafficked road, it's conveniently private and out of the way, so this is where Kenshiko's training is situated.     Along with the blue-haired pink magical girl that greets you, there's her color-coded opposite, both of whom are vibrantly out of place in the yellowing grass. Kenshiko has bubblegum pink hair with black highlights, in an elaborate procession of curls and braids, with two stubby black horns poking through the top, a color coordination that continues down to her ruffled black dress laced with pink. Her eyes are crimson red; snaking out from under her dress is a spade-tipped tail, and also,     She is a little overweight, plastered with sweat, with tears in her eyes, trying in complete vain to drag a tire around a circuit. Behind her is a kind of pathetic-looking 'obstacle course' made of a discarded playground structure and some random logs and boxes to parkour on. Leaning up against it is a gothic-lolita umbrella with bulbous eyes that watch her with a hint of exasperation, and dripping teeth that line its underside.     After failing to budge the big truck tire even one inch, Kenshiko dramatically sighs and tries to flop into the dirt. She gets caught on the makeshift harness affixing her to the tire, chokes a bit, gets yanked backwards, and ends up smacking facefirst into the ground, twisted up in the harness. She lays there limply for a moment, then her tail and all four limbs thrash against the ground.     "Uwehhh-! How is this supposed to help my magical power at all?! Mahou shoujo, you've deceived me for the last time...!!"
Angela	The Magical Girl of Love isn't in her magical girl outfit nor is she transformed into a winged snake monster either. At some point, Love has stopped feeling the need to be 'in uniform' while training Kenshiko. ... She is still taking it seriously! For real, okay?? She isn't slacking off just because Kenshiko isn't making much progress, just she is sort of now treating it as both training a demon lord but also just having a fun day out with a friend so that calls for more casual attire. She is wearing a white Lobotomy Corp t-shirt with an asymmetrical neckline, and the logo of an L stabbing into the brain on her right side near where the neckline dips. She is wearing a pink-magenta skirt with an interchanging chessboard and striped pattern and white stockings and pink shoes. Across her shoulder is an Ita-bag that Petra bought her. Mikey has been designing little Lobotomy Corp themed trinkets for her which she adorns the bags with plushes and trinkets of Punishing Bird, Big Bird, and even a little enkephalin cube and can of Wellcheers. Inside the Itabag's window is a number of multiversal merch pins within. There's a pin of a bright pink heart with snakes coiling around it, a pin of HeyAlexa with dollar sign eyes, a pin of Pence the rat bot, a pin of the Hydrochoeria castle, a pin of Kale Hearthward doing the 'I'm A Genius!' expression just like in the meme, one of Lilian doing the Liliansmug face, a Red Mist logo pin, a heart shaped pin that just says ARCANA SLAVE, and finally a pin of Petra in a pink polka dotted swimsuit in a pink and magenta inner tube with a handcuff along one wrist and a glass of wine in the other hand with sunglasses on the top of her head. If one looks carefully they can see the bite mark outline on one shoulder. "You don't understand!" Love tells Kenshiko. "You have to work on your stamina or Petra will just run circles around you, you don't want to pass out every time you're summoning your dark powers do you? If you're not careful, Petra will shove a bunch of gophers into your bag the next time you pass out!" Petra may have done this already. "Besides, Kenshi-chan...this time... I have brought backup! You're sure to give Petra a run for her money soon!" And with that she waves excitedly to all the newcomers. "Thank you so much for agreeing to help Kenshi-chan!--um, I mean, demon lord-chan! I never trained a demon lord before, so maybe you can help...! She's really doing her best, please help her...!" Love then turns her attention OFF the newcomers to try and detangle Kenshiko from her own harness before she hurts herself anymore while Kenshiko is already thrashing around on the ground thus making the whole process pointlessly more difficult, but Love's big smile suggests she hasn't given up yet! An uneaten pair of bento box lunches are sitting on one of the park tables, guarded by the Magical Girl of Justice who is meditating in front of it, ready to carve to pieces anybody who tries to get at the Reward Lunches for if Kenshiko is able to, say, move a tire an inch. It may end up being a pity lunch too if nothing is done... The Magical Girl of Love's Magical Staff is leaning up against the boxes next to the gothic-lolita umbrella and while it doesn't have a face to express anything with, its close proximity to bulby-eyed umbrella suggests it is of a similar mind all the same.
Trudy Grimm	Who steps off the bus but Trudy Grimm! And an old geezer of a scholar-sage some might recognize as Grimnir. What stands out is that both of them have forsaken their previous habit of not dressing for the occasion. Maybe it's the San Francisco heat that finally convinced the two Norsefolk.     Grimnir looks like an 80 year old tourist; A short-sleeved white-and-blue plaid shirt, untucked and only half-buttoned over a nondescript white shirt, if one can see it past his gloriously thick beard. In place of his pointed, wide-brimmed traveler's hat he wears a big ol' woven straw hat with a flower-print bandana for a headband, and utterly inscrutable black sunglasses that do an excellent job of hiding his one-eyed-ness. Rounding out the outfit is a pair of knee-length khaki cargo shorts, utterly atrocious old man shins and calves, too-tall socks, and berkenstock sandals. He does have his usual gnarled wooden staff with the blue crystal orb trapped within it like tree roots. A positively ancient polaroid camera dangles from his neck on a thick black strap.     In short, the wild sage looks like a Grandpa On Vacation from 40 years ago.     Meanwhile Trudy has leaned even more into the goth scene; it'd be a sundress if it wasn't completely black. Ending just above the knees, there's just a bit of dark brown skin before black leggings and tall black heeled leather boots with polished steel toes. The black of the dress' top part is broken up by a little silver skull at her hip from which dangles countless cords, her usual assortment of beads and charms. Fishnets run down her arms into fingerless black gloves; and she is never without either her tattered green skull-charm hair ribbon nor the heavy grimoire hanging off her shoulder by a strap.     "Physical training isn't a bad start," the old man comments as he crosses the park's sad grass, "Train the body to train the mind. It's not just about fitness, but creating a mindset." He seats himself on the bench near the umbrella and Love's staff, resting his own staff against his shoulder, "Grimnir the Sage. Charmed, I'm sure."     "And I would be Trudy Grimm, a humble witch of the woods," Trudy pushes her own sunglasses up to rest on her forehead, "How long have you been at this? Not just today, but..." Her eyes swing towards Love.
Natsuki Nuki	Two factors contribute to this most pathetic of a losergirl demon getting the attention of multiple Partners of the Concord (and assorted!): 1) Petra is a Multiversal ''celebrity'' of some note, a Partner herself, and loudly posting about what she's doing and going about at any given time to some of the most dramatically powerful yet petty entities in all realities combined. 2) Natsuki Nuki, Concord Partner, sorta-kinda owed the Magical Girls and Angela and had been stewing about how to help out to 'pay off interest' on her debts. When there was some sort of boot camp premised for Kenshiko to power up the assigned Rival to Petra. . . Natsuki understood that Petra had actually no idea at all what 'Rival' meant and had to tell Petra what this cultural value was directly very recently. Now, this was just more cleanup of the same. It was clear now why Petra had a cavalier and negative attitude about 'rival'! Natsuki arrives as a pattern of terrible weather leaking like thick dark rainmist through the warpgate and rolling through the sky until concentrating over the little training area and pouring down in a dark column of suddenly stormy weather that continues to condense and compress until a humanoid silhouette darkens within and she steps from it purposefully. Wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket and pants with an orange shirt, big sunglasses, and thick-soled boots, Natsuki could only fit the look if she rode out of the mist on a Harley Davidson, with her long blonde-white hair in a ponytail braid behind her. Just in time to see Kenshiko utterly beef it! Wincing and pulling her sunglasses down with a finger, Natsuki looks down at the whining dramatist before over at Love. "She's at 'gym membership'? I thought you said 'magical demon rival girl', not charity case who needed a personal trainer." The Osakan woman complains, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and then looking at love and scowling lightly while putting the pack back away. With a big heave of a sigh, Natsuki returns to Kenshiko on the ground with a tight cross of the arms and a glower to her own bright red eyes. "You're giving rivals a bad name and a bad culture. So you're off to a poor start. I need you to be at a hundred percent of whatever you do. So, what do you do? Magical darkness? Blood? Curses? Sell yourself, you're being interviewed. I'm the Lady Nue, Concord Partner, so you should have an *idea* of how valuable my time is." She doesn't even give her common name. Straight to title, demanding a real answer from the limp-laying demoness. "Do you think you're a Demon Lord? I was mentored by the Demon Lord of Time and his dark vizier personally." Natsuki adds, declaring authoritatively.
Ember	Ember shows up for a variety of reasons.  Most of them involve really not liking Petra and wanting to see anyone who is in opposition to her succeed.  Simply put, fuck Petra and the horse she rode in on, and anyone who wants to make trouble for Petra gets a golden ticket to his help.  Of course, what he expected is far from the mark of what actually is... Today, the freedom fighter is waring a pair of leather pants, leather boots, and a white cotton shirt.  He has his hair tied up in a ponytail, and looks... well unimpressed at the 'Demon Lord' who is supposed to be threatening Petra.  Though he does give Natsuki a second look.   "Nice entrance," he says to her, though wondering why someone in the Concord is here to help another member of the Concord fail.  Maybe there are some currents of dissatisfaction?  That'd be good for him.   Looking towards Kenshiko, he sighs and considers his options.  Right now, the Magical Girl here, who is...helping a Demon for some reason, seems to be using encouragement.  So he tries a different tactic; he turns towards Kenshiko and stares at her.   "So is this what you have to bring to defeat your rival?  She's just going to laugh at you on the elite frequency again.  If you actually want to threaten here you're going to try, like you mean it."  He leans back and considers some options.  "I could try and light a fire under her here..."
Lilian Rook	Though Lilian has scolded Petra many times already for 'bullying' this 'poor girl', shakily premised (less shakily than Petra might like) on the fact that Kenshiko hasn't yet managed to actually do anything of villainous significance and, in fact, seems to lack the minimum ability required to do so. She has said many times, also, that she'd love to meet her, because she sounds cool as hell (in an unbelievably dorky way), and had redoubled that opinion after Petra had loudly whined about her being so popular that half the school has signed silly construction paper bats in her dorm.     But she didn't really expect to go out of her way for this. Even if Love was the one calling, and even if she does like Love, this whole affair is sort of silly. Lilian already teaches at Trídéag! She may end up with even more students before long! And this is for villain! Not heroism! And all of the things Lilian can teach are either totally normal or . . . well, uh, it's how you use them.     But then she chose to joke about getting The Surgery. And the weird contaminant dust kept coalescing, and coalescing, and like a little newly born star system, had formed the Disobedient Triangles that have hassled her for days. And then, after a couple of close calls, she had made the mistake of waxing Weird about fan perception of herself as the Demonic Temptress of women objectively more evil than herself. So . . .     It just kind of seemed like a sign, really.     One that she's misread, because she heard that it was supposed to be 'nice' in America, 'around' SanFran, and she overdressed. Not even excusably, either. She straight up used little bits and pieces of her supervillain simulation outfit! Sure, not the ostentatious JRPG villain dress layers and glittery gold accessories, but she obviously just took the general silhouette of her Team Timekeeper uniform and replaced everything that used to be a cool neutral colour with one of the stage props instead! She even found a shorter skirt! A wine red one! The uniform is supposed to be a professionally acceptable dark blue-grey! She looks like she's going to shoot a movie where her character is revealed to secretly be a vampire 90 minutes in!     The jury is out on whether this really helped the Triangles situation. Though there are tiny, irregular fragments of black-ish metal still just vaguely surrounding the top of her head, the majority are still stubbornly stuck in a configuration that 'fills in' 85% of a pair of polygonal 'horns', forward-facing and definitively influenced by fantasy brainrot, not the natural world. There is no way she rode the bus looking like that. She keeps pacing around and fidgeting with the Psychic Shrapnel Sculptures, jumping a little for truck on the overpass and glaring unpleasantly at every third.     "God it reeks. Rust, gasoline fumes, wet concrete-- how do you stand this?" she says, to Love, about a completely normal place that smells normal. "And it's so loud. Do the cars here run on rocket fuel for some reason?!" They're normal cars. "How long have you been here?! I can all but taste the--"     'Mahou shoujo, you've deceived me for the last time...!!'     Oh there she is. Oh god there are other people here? "Why?!" is thought out-loud, without any presage. "I understand Natsuki, but what's with the rest of you? This isn't the Petra Soroka haters club; this is serious business. And . . ." One look at Kenshiko thrashing around in the dirt makes her sigh. "Why in god's name are we in Oakland California? Because you found that absolutely rubbish training set here?"
Petra Soroka	"If you're not careful, Petra will shove a bunch of gophers into your bag the next time you pass out!"     "Nooooou...." Kenshiko whines from her place on the ground. It must be restated, textually, so as not to garner too much sympathy for her attitude, that Kenshiko is a college-going woman of nineteen or twenty years old, and not a stunted tweenage dork as her behavior would suggest.     "If you weren't wasting my time with *this*, then my magic power would already be a million years beyond Petra Soroka's!!! This isn't amplifying my demonic powers at all! If I were to reach my true potential, you and your puny friend would be wiped away in an-- ha-choo--!"     Kenshiko pries herself up off the ground finally after sneezing so hard that her tail kinks in random directions. There's dust all over the front of her dress and her face, smeared up with her tears and snot that she dabs at with a lacy black handkerchief (embroidered with teeth) while making a frustrated expression. She's too busy having her tantrum to notice people pulling up, until they catch her eye and--     Skeleton? Nue? Goth girl? Devil? Some guy?!     Kenshisko springs to her feet, mercifully not getting tangled up in her tire harness a second time. Her tail whips out straight like a measuring tape, hands covering her face in abrupt mortification. "--You summoned help from the *Dark Clan*?!"     Embarrassment is over! After approximately one half of a second! Kenshiko slams her hands onto her hips and takes a proud stance for everyone to admire.     "Huhuhu--! Welcome, my allies in darkness! Surely you've already heard tale of my grand march of villainy, but tremble yet anew at my glory in person! I, the humble demon before you, am Kenshiko of the Dokuga bloodline, genius prodigy of the Army of Darkness, Shadow Mistress of San Franciso, and effortless 3.0 GPA student! I have staked my dominion here in order to-- to-- ha-choo--! aaaahhhh-choo--!"     Seized by another sneezing fit, Kenshiko stumbles over to her purse beside the ridiculous umbrella, pinching her nose with her handkerchief while digging around for an inhaler. After taking a puff from it, she reestablishes her arms akimbo posture, with one hand occupied holding her nose. Blearily, she seems to have lost track of where she was in her introduction.
Petra Soroka	"She's just going to laugh at you on the elite frequency again."     Nasal, eyes bloodshot, Kenshiko looks at Ember with her big teary face like he's just told her Santa isn't real. "... Fhe hwhat?"     Guard broken, Natsuki's tirade of scolding starts to take its toll on her. Kenshiko's lively tail starts to sag, until it's lifelessly drooping on the ground, and even more sweat beads at her hairline. She sniffles, then swallows, slapping her cheeks to revitalize her spirit.     "If you must know, Lady Nue, *I* am a Demon General, which is *equivalent* to a Demon Lord, actually." Huh? What was that word written really small in the gikun of that panel? "Ever since my time terrorizing Mihaisha Middle School in Tochigi Prefecture!"     "And if you require a demonstration... er...." Kenshiko falters, briefly looking over at Love like a puppy pleading for help from its owner. "Then, er, behold, a mere pitiful fraction of my true, usual (if that darn magical girl hadn't worn me out already, you see!) power!!!"     Kenshiko swings her hand holding the inhaler out to her side dramatically and widens her stance. With her other hand covering her face, fingers spread wide, dark energy starts to swirl around her, and a pair of teeny little devil wings pop into existence on her back. Her tail coils into a spiral, and the darkness coalesces into purple-black spheres of... about nickel-size, which begin to very slowly make their way towards Natsuki. They all puff out into nothing before reaching her, except one, which wavers like a bee in the rain.     Kenshiko widens her eyes at one of them actually reaching Natsuki, and lets out a whoop of completely unearned victory. "Huhuhuhu!!!! Yes! Behold!"
Petra Soroka	"Why in god's name are we in Oakland California?"     Extremely pleased with herself, Kenshiko holds the back of her hand up under her chin. A single sharp fang pokes out from her unearned haughty smirk.     "Kukuku. All part of my scheme to dominate that woeful cesspool of naïveté across the bay. You see, and heed well my dark insight, the average rent in the Eastern Bay is nearly three hundred dollars per month lower than in San Francisco itself. These savings will be the beginning of the end for all of human civilization, as I accumulate interest as well as dark energy to eventually unleash it and defeat Petra Soroka once and for all. Her crude and impulsive spending habits could never match my calculated genius."
Angela	Love doesn't really know Trudy but she has to admit that she is definitely giving off some dark lord vibes so she's probably a good person to help out here. She's not entirely sure where to place Trudy. In theory, an outfit like that should be dark magical girl for sure, but she's acting more like a dark demon lord lieutenant? She'll have to see if Trudy summons a monster themed around a singular activity or object and then she'll know for sure. "Um...a few months?" Love asks, having kind of lost track of time through the whole thing as she's started seeing this whole training experience as a way to hang out with a friend and encourage her and she's never really imagined Kenshiko becoming a true rival or threat to Petra. Even girls who CAN move tires haven't managed that yet. Maybe that DOES explain a thing or two about how Petra sees rivals. "Wow," Love adds to Natsuki's appearance. "Natsuki-chan--" Natsuki introduces herself as the Lady Nue. "Nue-sama, she is so mature... Is that why she was able to eat my sister... Are you still in there, Greed?" She looks at Natsuki's midriff curiously before shrugging her shoulders. Eating an EGO is pretty unusual but probably not TOO abnormal. "She's doing her best." She complains, largely to Natsuki and Ember both. "Not everybody has an easy time of it! And also, she's very cute, so I can't give up!" She smiles. "This is actually a huge improvement from her first days." This probably does not speak super keenly for her 'first days'. ''Lilian's demon horns!'' "Wow, Lilian! You dressed for the job, that's for sure! You really know your stuff!" She nods towards the fantasy polygonal horns she's got on her head. "Kenshiko, I'm sure one day you'll get horns as cinematic and dramatic as Lilian's." Love's understanding of cars is that you get into them and they get driven to locations. "well it's close to San Francisco. Where Kenshiko is from! I'm a little scared if I asked her to go too far from San Francisco she might get a little lost. San Francisco has all sortsof smells! And we've already been to the San Francisco Zoo but now we can go to the Oakland Zoo after." Love loves staring at the little special rodents held in captivity. Surely none have gone mysteriously missing. ''If you weren't wasting my time with *this*--'' Love seems incapable of getting frustrated with Kenshiko and pats her on the head, gently ruffling her hair. "You just gotta keep at it! The only giving up you're allowed to do is when we shoot our finishers at you and become your best friends!" She nods, marveling at Kenshiko's mighty 3.0 GPA. The only GPA Love has is when she didn't go to that high school that one time while not pretending to be a foreign exchange student at that high school she never went to. "I bet if you put your effort into it you might even be a 4.0 GPA student. Or a 5.0 GPA student even!" ''Kenshiko's lively tail starts to sag'' "Look what you did!" Love points to the tail. "It's going to get stuck being that droopy if you keep this up!" ''Huhuhuhu!!!! Yes! Behold!'' Love claps politely! "See? That one orb is still kicking it! That's a big improvement already! You're doing great, Kenshiko-chan!" ''Her crude and impulsive spending habits could never match my calculated genius.'' "Kenshiko-chan doesn't have a Heyalexa in her life. I think everybody should have a Heyalexa in their lives."
Trudy Grimm	> "I understand Natsuki, but what's with the rest of you?"     "Eh?" Trudy pauses, tilting her head back as she glances over her shoulder, "Lilian, you made it. Oh, but didn't you and I talk about precisely this a week or so ago? Did you expect me not to show up?"     "I'm with the young witch," Grimnir explains his presence simply from his seat.     Trudy is still looking, though, eyes drifting up. After a moment, she closes her eyes and offers, "I adore your latest accessory, Lilian. You always dress to impress." > "--You summoned help from the *Dark Clan*?!"     "I couldn't begin to know who that is, nor do I care," Trudy returns her attention to the demon and Love. Her heels click a bit when she brings them together, resting one hand on her hip, the other tapping her lips in though, "'A few months'? Is this really--"     Grimnir raises both hands in the corner of her vision, waving them in a 'no don't' sort of gesture, and so the witch doesn't finish speaking that thought. She just lets out a sigh.     "You've really been failed by your instructors, haven't you?" is what she settles on. Her shadow deepens and she sinks into it. In the same instant, Kenshiko's shadow darkens and blobs out to the side; Trudy rises out of it a second later.     "Magic, dark or otherwise, is a matter of study and practice. What is it you've been studying? How often do you practice? Were you counting on some dark ritual to amplify your powers, perhaps?"     "Magic is of course an expression of our will into the physical world, but what is the will that *you* want to express when you scatter it all around like that? Here."     Trudy lifts a hand. Grimnir's shadow extends out and from it rises a simple, unarmed, ordinary bleached white skeleton. Once fully emerged, the boney boy salutes, then rattles when it shifts to an attentive neutral posture, "Focus all of that darkness into a single bolt and see if you can knock his skull off his neck."
Ember	'This isn't the Petra Soroka haters club; this is serious business.' Ember looks towards Lilian. He takes a moment to consider his answer because REGULUS keeps getting on him about people.  After letting out a sigh, he shakes his head.  "It's not a Petra fan club either; why are you here?"  Then, after a moment, "I think she lives here?" He motions towards the demon girl in question.   "Also, what's with the horns?  Well, they at least look striking," Ember says, at least complimentary. Turning back to the almost-throwing-a-tantrum Kenshiko, Ember's hand moves up to his nose and pinches the bridge of it.  This is a grown-ass woman who lives in a very privileged position, acting like a toddler.  This is becoming embarrassing, and he wonders if he can just leave right now.  This girl is about as much of a potential threat to Petra as a carbuncle is. 'This is actually a huge improvement from her first days.' "That actually makes it worse," Ember immediately responds to Love.  He's ready to bail on this girl because this actually seems hopeless.  Also, her 'dark magic' fails to impress Ember.   '--You summoned help from the *Dark Clan*?!' "Don't say that, and I am not affiliated with whatever the 'Dark Clan' is," because he's sure they'd also be embarrassed by her already.   'You've really been failed by your instructors, haven't you?' "You sure it's not the other way around?" Ember mutters, but still decides to help.  Why?  Because he's already here.  He might as well /try/ and do something to get this grown-ass adult woman into something resembling a shape.   With an expression of effort, Ember summons forth Titan and embodies the god of earth into his very body.  He uses this to create a sort of path.  Enough for only one person to enter at a time and makes it about as long as the playground.  He then gathers forth whatever he can find.  An old tire, half of a destroyed jungle gym, a large, thick wooden fence with a rope attached to the top, and other various obstacles for her to challenge. Once done, he releases Titan and summons Ifrit, the god of fire.  His own appearance changes to have a pair of horns of his own, claws, and flaming bits that hang around him.  "Alright, start here, Kenshiko.  You are going to complete this course before time runs out." He erects a wall of fire behind her and slowly has it move forward.  "Before you ask, the moving wall of fire is your timer."
Lilian Rook	'If you weren't wasting my time with *this*, then my magic power would already be a million years beyond Petra Soroka's!!!'     'Huhuhuhu!!!! Yes! Behold!'     Oh no. Lilian knew this girl was totally cooked, and the only thing she really admired from Petra's recollections of her existence was her 'fighting spirit', but this is bad. This is horrible. Enough that she wants to go completely uncredited in this final release, if not turn around and leave immediately.     She repeats "Middle school?" under her breath, looking for someone in the vicinity to double check what year that means in America, just before realizing she's probably the only one here besides Kenshiko who went to normal* school! Fuck!     So bothered is she that she completely fails to react to being assigned 'the Dark Clan'. How can she seriously feel like her moral credentials are being insulted here? She's too busy wondering about the whole 'fang' themeing right after, too.     Ohhh! But her little inhalerrrrr! Just look at herrrr! You can't do nothing, Lilian!     'You see, and heed well my dark insight, the average rent in the Eastern Bay is nearly three hundred dollars per month lower than in San Francisco itself.'     'I'm a little scared if I asked her to go too far from San Francisco she might get a little lost.'     'She's at 'gym membership'? I thought you said 'magical demon rival girl', not charity case who needed a personal trainer.'     "Alright. Well." Lilian takes a deep breath. "First off, we'll--"     'Are you still in there, Greed?'     She narrows her eyes at Love almost instantly. "--be having none of that." she says, pointing accusitorily. "Second, was anyone ever going to mention that this poor girl is out here paying rent? How is she going to beat Petra if she can't even afford the most laughably basic training gear? is this--" She slowly presses her hand to the side of her face. "No, of course. Of course that's going to be my problem, isn't it?" Lilian sighs. There are already too many things going on for her to comment on a 5.0 GPA or clan affiliation here. "If the rest of you are serious about this, you'll--"     'It's not a Petra fan club either; why are you here?'     Another accusing point is hipfired at Ember. "Suck me and choke on it" She stops to clear her throat. "You'll refrain from bombarding her with random advice that's barely more than veiled exposition of how your own abilities work. If we're going to salvage this project," The one standing right in front of her, with her droopy widdwe tail. "She should at least have proper training facilities, a proper routine, proper nutrition, proper field equipment, and proper learning materials."     Lilian lets herself dial down conversational for a moment. "Natsuki, do you happen to know anything about poisons and the like? I assume you already know plenty of curses, naturally, so I'm certain we'd all appreciate if you could draft up a design to drain all the energy from the student body that's actually within her means." She doesn't even blink at saying that anymore. It's been so many times. Christ. "But we're obviously not getting anywhere unless she can weaken Petra first, and-- she's in the Dokuga family!" she says, suddenly giving in to gesturing emphatically. "We can't have her just firing generic dark energy bullets! That's such a waste!"     Ah. She's been brainhacked into being a stage manager again.
Lilian Rook	'Kenshiko, I'm sure one day you'll get horns as cinematic and dramatic as Lilian's.'     Well, she was going to be a little coy and see if Natsuki volunteered first, but if Love is going to compliment her like that, Lilian is going to-- have to very sternly put her hands on her lips and authoritatively declare "Love. That's inappropriate. You already know what the situation is; it's not fair to compare. Plus, hers are a perfectly nice size." The tiny droplet that coalesces along edges of several converging fragments and falls like a single bead of aposematic acid-candy gore into the grass could surely mean literally anythng. "You. Kenshiko. What do you know about the Shrine of Adversity and how many days a week could you go there instead of here?" Lilian points at her while she asks. She's about to buy her a membership for the place she never goes herself.     'You've really been failed by your instructors, haven't you?'     "Be that as it may, it's not very nice to rub in." Lilian says, straining so very hard to be so very nice. "And Love, for starters, you've set her up with too much. How is she going to build strength and stamina with exercises she can't even get underway? The tire is too big. The struts are too high. The whole construction here is rickety and sloppy. And you're trying to have her fire magic right after?"     "You have to start from the bottom with these things! It's not like Petra is Herakles himself! This girl just needs to be able to scramble around a little and not get shot in the head!" Huh? "Give me her--" Lilian turns to Kenshiko instead, then immediately gets out her phone. "Give me your address. I'm sending some starter exercise gear. You're not pulling tires and getting muddy under an overpass. It's undignified."
Angela	Regulus says: If you're not careful about the words you say and how they might affect other people, Woz might say something mean to you and you'll cry! ''You've really been failed by your instructors, haven't you?'' "Hey." Love complains. "I'm doing my best." She fishes inside her Ita-bag and draws out a whistle before blowing it demonstratively. "I got a whistle!" "Besides..." Love's voice takes a slightly different tenor. "It's not as if you or Mister Ember here have defeated Petra in battle or rhetorically or anything like that, so maybe you should be a little more charitable to someone who is at least trying." Honestly she's not exactly sure she could say Lilian or Natsuki have 'defeated Petra' either but Lilian just narrowed her eyes at her and Natsuki has scary aura so she's not going to bring that up. She may have spoken in purple text there but that doesn't mean she's going crazy here. ''And-- she's in the Dokuga family!'' Love claps again. She clearly is of the belief that kicking Kenshiko down while she's already underground is only going to do so much. "Yeah that's more of a generic assault used for filler! We can go more cinematic! More dramatic! And Petra will, if nothing else, have to grudgingly go 'okay that's cool!' and that'll be the first step to her defeat!" The fact that she's saying this while wearing Petra fanmerch is maybe weakening the point here though. ''If she can't even afford the most laughably basic training gear?'' Love is a monster who doesn't need to exercise because she's forged from the collective will that she be a magical girl who always wins except during special two parter episodes. "Training gear? Do demon lords need that too?" She remembers the horns. "Well I guess you'd know better than me!" She does, at least, start placing down a bunch of logs in a row to help with BALANCE TRAINING one right after the other so Kenshiko would have to run across them to move through Ember's little obstacle course maze. "By training gear do you mean a a little dark compact mirror with magical makeup she can use to activate a super form?" Love asks Lilian. ''It's not fair to compare.'' "Aww I was just trying to encourage her..." ''And Love, for starters, you've set her up with too much.'' "Ouuu..." Love sniffs, kicking at the dirt. "I got a whistle..." Oh no, now Love's tail is starting to droop. Her twintails that is. "Do they make tinier tires...?"
Natsuki Nuki	'but what's with the rest of you?' Waving a finger around, Natsuki looks at the assembled party. Love, sure, herself, sure, Lilian-- "Nice horns. Getting in the Dark Clan mood?" The Lady Nue sotto voices at Lilain, grinning sidelong at the currently Dark Dame-General only to follow her eyes to the 19 year old demoness rolling around on the ground. "So, you're humble when you should be proud, a genius prodigy not applying herself or driven enough to get the grades and prove a casual dominance, and--" The sneeze takes Natsuki off her finger-ticking roll of judgement, having not left her 'this mentorship could have been an e-mail' tone since getting onto it with Kenshiko. The weak constitution - the *inhaler* - gobsmacks Natsuki into a dissociative stare. This was what Petra dealt with. This was what 'rival' was being benchmarked off of. "I assigned shadow ninjas to this." Natsuki breathes, feeling a headache coming on. Even the voices that whispered wickedness to her constantly became fanning and supportive - for even the greatest and most evil of rulers had to deal with the inconveniently idiotic subordinate. "It's a management opportunity." She mantras to herself, blinking a few times and looking at Kenshiko again to re-appraise. Kenshiko is powering up, meanwhile!! 'If you must know, Lady Nue, *I* am a Demon General, which is *equivalent* to a Demon Lord, actually.' Natsuki doesn't change her footing at all, but does release her arms from their cross, thumbing into her pants pockets and leaning forward just a little. "Alright, now we're getting somewhere. A *demonstration*." It's drawing, a little interesting, even if the little nickel-balls of magic don't seem too dangerous. Without flinching, the little flare-up of power buzzes right up to the Lady Nue and as it buzzes there, with a swift flick she snaps the buzzing dark power mote out of the air with pinch of thumb and index, and then closes her hand around the seized bit of power as if it was a nickel to be *pocketed*. She leaves it there for a moment, as other more pressing matters had stacked up. 'Nue-sama, she is so mature...' "Good pivot, Love." Natsuki asides, faintly chuffing with a little avian flutter at the back of her throat. "And that morsel of power became a sort of agreement - an understanding, between her and I. I wouldn't *answer* to 'Greed', but if you asked me if Greed's still inside of me," The grinning tiger-eared Osakan leans closer to Love's ear. "Well, of course? I'm absolutely overflowing with greed and all its synonyms. Avarice became me. It's why we 'get along' so well." 'This is actually a huge improvement from her first days.' Grimacing as if the exact line was 'Oh! She's the Joke Character', Natsuki's good mood takes another hit. "She needs more than a training montage, she needs a training *arc*. I don't have the patience or the ninjas to spare for this..." It's so forlorn. "You know, [Evil Girl], that Petra owns a flying villain island *and* the Concord pays for her education and housing, right? Three hundred a month isn't an advantage, you are the scrappy come-up case! Rethink your genre!!" It's almost too much. Fingers bridging over eyes with raised hand, Natsuki leans back. "You don't even know that you're in the biggest leagues and we need you to make big league effort!"
Natsuki Nuki	'Natsuki, do you happen to know anything about poisons and the like?' More business, now, a reality to grip to. Lilian's question brings Natsuki's hand down, and she lets the captured mote of darkness wriggle free from her hand as dissipating smoke. "*She* should know about poisons, but in her stead, I do. Venomous insects, poison brewing, pill-forming, the arts and not that modern needle of acid or air *human* garbage. Nobody *appreciates* a good bone eroding necrotizing toxin any more. They just want to make people die in *movies*." Natsuki laments, before looking at Kenshiko. "I'm calling for something, you just be a useful devil and get why you're even doing this figured out - because the amount of effort you're presenting doesn't match up. None of it," A single ray of (dark, evil) light remains. "Except the audacity to actually take the first shot and laugh before I fell down. You didn't even obscure me with smoke! But you actually shot something at me, so, that's the start."
Lilian Rook	'And Petra will, if nothing else, have to grudgingly go 'okay that's cool!' and that'll be the first step to her defeat!'     "No one ever remembers this." Lilian huffs. "That was my thesis from the Supervillain Readiness Simulation. Petra is at least capable of playing into the villainous 'bit', rather than thinking she's so clever and that she can just shoot a big missile at the tall tower or whatever. She's picking on this girl because she doesn't have one." 'This girl' again. For coming here to help, Lilian keeps talking about Kenshiko like a horse she's trying to get ready in time for a race.     'Well I guess you'd know better than me!'     "And everyone needs training gear. Everyone." She's being, so patient, not comparing this to what Aidan Proudpick got up to. Mostly because it's kind of too pitiful to be egotistically stupid? "So what's her type? Cursed blade? Shadow minions? Maze dimension? Students controlled by puppet strings? Surely you can tell me her sub-genre."     Pausing for breath, Lilian mutters something to herself about being 'so fucking hungry lately', and reaches into her designer fucking messenger bag for a Little Treat. A split second later, she turns and tosses it towards Kenshiko instead. "Take fifteen. Sit down, eat, and explain things properly. You're already . . ." Her nose wrinkles up a little. "You've worked up a sweat. So hydrate, too."     Her little treat is a Fruit of Abundance from Holly's World. She'd gotten kind of hooked on them lately, some time after that clinic visit. It's like a pomegranate, filled with edible seeds, if the pith was sweet instead of astringent, and if the whole thing kind of smelled and tasted a little like blood. And also it looked like a small human heart. Made of gold. Lilian has a second one, and happily bites into it where she stands.     'Before you ask, the moving wall of fire is your timer.'     "Hey! She just got done running! How is that going to help?!"
Trudy Grimm	> "Hey. I'm doing my best. I got a whistle!"     Trudy closes her eyes, making a little 'settle down' sort of gesture with her free hand, "Oh, I didn't mean you, Love. You are doing your best with what you have. I meant the people teaching her before you." > "This girl just needs to be able to scramble around a little and not get shot in the head!"     "And maybe give Petra a bloody nose in the process," The witch shrugs, eyes closing, "It's enrichment. You see how she gets without it."     One eye opens, fixing sidelong on Kenshiko, "Now focus on the skeleton's skull with all your pride and malice and knock it from his shoulders in a single shot."     > "You've worked up a sweat. So hydrate, too."     "--And stay hydrated, yes."
Petra Soroka	"I bet if you put your effort into it you might even be a 4.0 GPA student."     Kenshiko pouts when Love ruffles her fluffy hair, tossing her head like an irritated horse to show just how independent and evil she is. When it comes to praising her, though, she immediately changes her tune, snickering into her fist while her tail lashes around.     "A near impossible feat~ but one I, Dokuga Kenshiko, could achieve with a mere flick of my wrist if I devoted my attention to it! Why, in the few months since the end of my first semester, I've already nearly *doubled* my GPA from what it was!"     As Trudy and Ember clarify why they're here-- or, really, not doing that, but clarify the reason that isn't why they're here-- Kenshiko's tail loops around itself in befuddlement. "... You're not from the Dark Clan? Then-- huhu, I see!! You're enemies of Petra Soroka as well! Then yes, I will allow you to band your efforts together with mine~ so long as you do as I say, you five shall serve me well as my minions in my battle against the forces of light~" "Focus all of that darkness into a single bolt and see if you can knock his skull off his neck."     Kenshiko at least manages to put on a serious expression while Trudy lectures her about magic. Hand on her chin, she nods several times, as if she's listening to a consultant on something they're shared experts on, rather than being tutored in the basics by someone being very patient with her.     When the instruction comes out, and Trudy summons her skeleton, Kenshiko squeals in delight before the challenge sinks in. Then, hands squooshing the skeleton's (lack of) cheeks, her tail flops to the ground, and she looks at Trudy over her shoulder with pathetic teary eyes.     "Wh-what? Knock his head off? But, he's sooo~ooo cute!" "Alright, start here, Kenshiko. You are going to complete this course before time runs out."     "... Eh?"     Kenshiko isn't given the time to either muster up her magical or emotional willpower to strike Trudy's skeleton, before she's trapped at the beginning of the obstacle course Ember forms around her. She's in the midst of grimly rolling up the sleeve of her dress, presumably to... punch? the skeleton, and flails a bit trying to assess her new circumstances. "O-of course, such a measly trial is no match for the Dark General of Dokuga--!"     Until the wall of fire comes out, and she squeaks in alarm. She spends about fifteen seconds scrambling up to the top of the jungle gym obstacle, while the wall of fire considerably outpaces her, and then looks around nervously for options. She clenches her fist, abandons the course by leaping off the jungle gym over the wall and landing with a little 'oof' and a roll, then grabs her toothed umbrella.     Deploying it, she holds it out towards the approaching fire like it's her powerful demon blade. "Kibakasa! Hhha, hha, defensive, form! Activate!"     She ducks under the umbrella as it activates no sort of form at all, shielding herself from the flames as they pass over her. This works remarkably well, given that it's an umbrella-- because it's magical! Natsuki especially can tell that it's an evil bloodline artifact, as the eyes and fangs would suggest.     Now immune to the time pressure, Kenshiko returns to very slowly make her way through the obstacle course while carrying her umbrella. It takes like, ten full minutes, and she's out of breath the whole time.
Petra Soroka	"Second, was anyone ever going to mention that this poor girl is out here paying rent?"     "*I*," Kenshiko announces between pants, while inching her way up a rope over a wall in the course, "Was gifted, as part of my, assignment to this school, a lump sum of American Dollars, by the Dark Clan! However--"     'Oof', again, when she lands on the other side. "It proved insufficient. No matter! I've mastered the elusive technique of couponing! Fools! They practically give you money for *free*!" "I assigned shadow ninjas to this."     Once Kenshiko has emerges on the other side of her trial, she's somehow, despite everything, precisely as full of herself as she was before. The inhaler was swiftly retrieved as her first priority, but then she extends her umbrella and leans it on her shoulder, crimson maw of the umbrella canvas open overhead. She twirls it around, and makes a snort that turns into a cough.     "All *my* shadow minions got reclaimed by the Dark Clan after-- the event! Traitors, all of them. Hmph. ... Say, Lady Nue, where are you getting your shadow minions from?" "But we're obviously not getting anywhere unless she can weaken Petra first, and-- she's in the Dokuga family!"     "Yes! Precisely! Madam Demon, surely you're familiar!" Kenshiko's teeny little wings puff into existence again and flap, as she poses with her umbrella. "We of the Dokuga Bloodline are ~dream devourers~ you see! The thoughtless cattle of the CMU student body are all already under my thrall, uhuhuhu~"     "But Petra Soroka's dreams are shielded by the power of light, it seems! It's really unfair! Even when she's napping right in front of me...!" "You. Kenshiko. What do you know about the Shrine of Adversity and how many days a week could you go there instead of here?"     "Nothing whatsoever!" Impossible! Her aura doesn't falter even when she proudly declares that! "How far away is it!" "And Petra will, if nothing else, have to grudgingly go 'okay that's cool!' and that'll be the first step to her defeat!"     "Yes, yes, you're right! My problem is just that that girl doesn't even take me seriously! So how could I possibly unleash my true power in those conditions?"     Kenshiko transforms 'Kibakasa' into a little umbrella-and-tooth-themed plasic magic wand, then gesticulates it wildly towards Trudy's skeleton. "Express my will into the physical world! My strongest attack...!"     Dark energy shivers around her, condensing into one single glowing orb in front of her. It glows brighter with an unwholesome light, then pops, turning into a fist-sized pink heart fluttering on black wings, which bops the skeleton on the head before poofing again. "You know, Evil Girl, that Petra owns a flying villain island *and* the Concord pays for her education and housing, right?"     Wand still held out, stance completely unchanging except for the flop of her tail: "... It seems as though the resources of the Concord far outstrip those of the Dark Clan. Nevertheless!"
Petra Soroka	"I'm calling for something, you just be a useful devil and get why you're even doing this figured out - because the amount of effort you're presenting doesn't match up."     Kenshiko plants her hand on her hip, woozy and pale-looking from the exertion of her magic. Probably because of that, she starts being a lot more honest than she was in her introduction.     "I--! I... will defeat Petra Soroka, dominate this entire American region under the sway of my dark powers, and then! Re-earn the favor of the Dark Clan and return home victorious! This is my mission!"
Petra Soroka	"Take fifteen. Sit down, eat, and explain things properly."     Kenshiko is now sitting down, inhaler in her lap, and the weird golden heart fruit in her hands. Kibakasa has been transformed back into its umbrella form and wrapped closed, eyeing the fruit as she enthusiastically devours it. Fifteen minutes might not be enough time for her to get her breath back fully, but it's definitely helping.     "Well, so that's that." She exposits, between bites. "Peach-chan from Mihaisha Middle School had her fairy file a complaint from the Light Clan to the Dark Clan about my 'conduct'-- unbelievable! Ridiculous! And one thing led to another, and now I'm stuck *here*."     "That's why I have to defeat Petra Soroka, because she's the mahou shoujo of San Francisco." Fruit consumed, Kenshiko wipes her sticky fingers off on the grass.     She taps a finger against her cheek, thinking so earnestly about the possibilities of her magical subgenre. Her tail, much more active now that she has some glucose, emotes every thought that crosses her mind. "Yes, yes, with just a little more exertion of my magical power, a maze dimension would be trivial for one of the Dokuga bloodline. Once I have her imprisoned in my own domain, she would be helpless against my devilish onslaught until I've drained every drop of vitality from her body and she becomes mine forever. Kukukuku~"
Trudy Grimm	> "Wh-what? Knock his head off? But, he's sooo~ooo cute!"     When Kenshiko presents those pathetic tear-filled eyes to Trudy, the skeleton raises both his hands to V-sign. His eyesockets might be empty but one might imagine he's winking. The witch can't help but laugh at the sight of it all, letting out a breath.     "Oh, he'll be fine. Skeletons such as those who serve me come apart and go back together all the time."     The skeleton follows this with a thumbs-up. But it seems like Kenshiko has tackled Ember's challenge course first! And so-- the skeleton, Trudy, and Grimnir spend ten minutes watching her cheese the flame wall and then wriggle through the various obstacles.     Once the devil is done and finally takes her shot at the skeleton, the little bat-winged heart *puff*s against the skeleton's skull. There's several seconds of nothing happening. And then he just sort of... tilts his head to one side with a clatter, jawbone slack.     "Well, it's a *start*..."     "Good form, good thematics," Tourist Grandpa comments from the picnic table.     The witch closes her eyes, head tilting thoughtfully to the left, then the right, "...I think scrambling is still something worth perfecting, like Lilian said. Instead of strength training with a big tyre, I think cardio should be your biggest focus. Stamina, so you aren't huffing and puffing the whole time."     "And when you aren't jogging or running from bears," wait what "Practice this spell until you can knock something over with it. Bottles, a bucket, or something like that."     "That's my 'prescription' as a forest witch, anyway." Trudy raises one hand, a finger extended upwards, "Not only will this help you with Petra Soroka, but I'm sure it will help you in a lot of other ways too."
Angela	''It's why we 'get along' so well.'' "I hope you can meet the real her one day..." Love admits. "Before she got so hungy..." The missing r is intentional. "Oh! But please don't give up on Kenshiko-chan, what she lacks in power she more than makes up for in determination! She just needs help!" Natsuki Nue rides a motorcycle, she MUST secure her aid for Kenshiko at all costs!!! ''Petra is at least capable of playing into the villainous bit, rather than thinking she's so clever--'' "Well." Love admits. "It's really important you have a leadup arc into your final move otherwise no lesson is learned and you might as well just stay home. If you can't respect your villain, you deserve to lose! Also, I mean, then you don't get to grow at all and you're just sort of punching down and not really learning anything or growing as a person. And that's a very important part of being a magical girl, but also--an Elite!" ''So what's her type'' "She's basically a succubus." Love chirps merrily and doesn't clarify the part about dream magic. She eases off Trudy because she said she wasn't the one she was talking about and thus completely forgets she was talking shit at her before. Good job Love, you're so good at friendship and love. ''Why, in the few months since the end of my first semester, I've already nearly *doubled* my GPA from what it was!'' Love's eyes widen and she claps again. "Wow! You're so cool, Kenshiko-chan!" She beams happily. Doubling one's GPA sounds really hard. Even Love hasn't managed it, since she's never had a GPA! But it does sound like a lot. How far up does GPA get to? She has no idea. She might never find out the truth. She nods her head along at the idea of the skeleton being too cute to kill. It's true, this is Trudy's fault for summoning a cute skeleton. Mhm mhm mhm. Love wouldn't be able to blast a minion that cute either! ... ... Well, I mean, if she had any other choice of target anyway... ''Kenshiko escapes the wall of fire!!'' "Wow! Nice job scaring her with the fake wall of illusory flame, Ember! That gave her a lot of motivation!" Love beams. Ember surely wouldn't have used real fire! Bcause that would have been too mean! "She's mastered couponing! And that was BEFORE I met her." Love brags, uncertain about Petra being shielded by the power of light or the power of Light, but she does know that she's pretty hard to infiltrate the mind of right? "It's okay, you just need to get her obssessed with you in the real world first, then you'll enter her dreams easy peasy without her even knowing." She is pretty confident in that anyway. ''Peach-chan from Mihaisha Middle School had her fairy file a complaint--'' Love quirks her head, "Um... is the Dark Clan subserviant to the Light Clan in your world? No wonder you gotta get stronger and defeat Petra Nee-chan..." She wiggles back and forth on her feet, nodding along, not really thinking through the part about Petra getting her vitality drained forever. Right now she'd be happy if she can properly challenge Petra and thus be a proper challenge for the Magical Girl of Love too!
Ember	'Suck me and choke on it' "Not interested," Ember immediately fires back.   'It's not as if you or Mister Ember here have defeated Petra in battle or rhetorically or anything like that, so maybe you should be a little more charitable to someone who is at least trying.' "Wait, why did I get dragged into that?  Also what about Ms. Nue?" Ember looks stunned by this, because he was sure nobody heard his comment, and also why wasn't Natsuki included?  Also, he forgot about Lilian not being involved. 'How is that going to help?!' "Pressure can bring out all sorts of things in a person.  So we apply a little bit of pressure.  Also, it's more of an obstacle course, not a run." Ember says with a shrug.  "Not everyone can just bank on having a rich friend to buy them everything they need, right?" he looks back at Lilian. 'Then yes, I will allow you to band your efforts together with mine~ so long as you do as I say, you five shall serve me well as my minions in my battle against the forces of light~' "Absolutely not. You should be listening to us when doing this training.  Also, I am not here to help you conquer the world," Ember lays down destruction in but a few simple sentences.  Of course, it's unlikely this cartoon character is going to be worse than the grinding gears of capitalism. 'Kibakasa! Hhha, hha, defensive, form! Activate!' "Well.  I didn't expect her to actually have anything to counter the fire..." he could summon a tornado if he switched to Garuda, but... nah, let her have her victory.  "Quick thinking, good job." he says to the 'Dark General', and just just because he is being forced to be somewhat nice to a girl he barely knows. 'Second, was anyone ever going to mention that this poor girl is out here paying rent?' "What?  Like the rest of us having to work for a living.  How terrible," Ember says completely flat.  Never mind, he's building a fetish leather line right now because he found out that the Multiverse is full of degenerates. 'That's why I have to defeat Petra Soroka, because she's the mahou shoujo of San Francisco.' "I don't know what a mahou shoujo is, but I am almost certain Petra is anything but that," Ember says, and shakes his head.  Sure, this girl is very EAGER to beat Petra, but like... this seems like gassing up someone who is never going to cast a spell as a black mage.   'Nice job scaring her with the fake wall of illusory flame, Ember!' "It wasn't illusory.  It was just really weak." He wasn't actually going to try and seriously hurt her, but it would have singed a little.  That sort of singe you get when you burn your fingers on a bowl of soup level danger here.  Still, he sighs; this is kinda annoying.   'Peach-chan from Mihaisha Middle School had her fairy file a complaint--' "So this is why you're stuck here, trying to defeat Petra, and trying to what?  Regain your place back in your clan?" He wonders if he can just train her on how to use a knife.  That'd work really well.
Ember	Ember, deciding that this is a good idea, pulls out a knife from a hidden spot on his boot.  Walking over to Kenshiko, he offers her the knife instead of doing another obstacle course.  He is careful with the knife, of course, offering it to her handle first. "That is a knife, really good at concealing.  Hide it somewhere where you can easily grab it.  Wait for Petra to get close to you, draw it, and stab her with it.  That is a way to deal with your rival." Ember says that dealing with a rival like this would be like dealing with a merchant on the streets. "If you want, you can just use it as a matter of last resort, though.  It's light, easy to use, and won't strain your weakened stamina to use.  I can teach you more about how to be more proficient with it if you want."
Angela	"Wait!!" Love shouts. "You can't use that!!" She runs over to the knife, reaching into her Ita bag and plastering a bunch of star and moon stickers all over the handle. "It has to be dream devourer themed!" After placing a bunch of stickers all over the place, Love nods her approval. "Okay! You can now use the Dream Knife, Kenshiko-Chan!" Well of course she had to name it. She assumes Ember is kidding with the whole 'the fire was real' comment.
Natsuki Nuki	'Why, in the few months since the end of my first semester, I've already nearly *doubled* my GPA from what it was!' "You were failing, before??" Natsuki asks, stunned. There is a critical disconnect, something that makes her taken out of using her flip-phone to stare dumbfounded as her sunglasses slide down her nose. "But you're in the big city?" She asks, quieter, and closes eyes to shake out a deep-throated exhalation. It chokes something deep in her to hear those words, but the thought that Kenshiko aborted that *freefall* was at least a tiny positive. What was she doing? What was she doing??? ONE UMBRELLA-BASED ANY% NINJA WARRIOR MONTAGE LATER... Natsuki, left wanting to bully Kenshiko violently herself, had to wait the whole course, but the clever aversion to the actual challenge to get herself time to do it right is, okay, an ethic. Natsuki decides she might be able to work with that. Having phoned in a request to 'bring the most cursed thing you see on the third shelf in closet', she just had to wait and hope. 'They practically give you money for *free*!' "I can support couponing, actually. If it's worth your time, though, it's a statement of your position. And if you're aiming at Petra, you might need... a bargain for better." Dipping forward, balancing on a bend of knee, Natsuki reaches Kenshiko's level while she takes her water break. "How do you feel about financial aid? If you're going to be trying to conquer Petra Soroka, I might be able to arrange certain forms of assistance for you." Kenshiko's unusually resilient ego is a little bit endearing in an 'oh gosh, what a cute, stupid puppy!' way, and the implications that there was some scandal in the background should be alarming, Natsuki really sort of wants to fuck with Petra and has just the tool. 'Say, Lady Nue, where are you getting your shadow minions from?' "I contract dark wizards to use special artifacts from ancient times to summon an army of shadow warriors cloaked in sanguine colors. I also payroll many others who you could call that, but they're usually line item'ed as 'security specialist'." Natsui explains, still down at the sitting girl's level, leaning arms on her plateaued lap as she slouches. "No money, no minions, and you're getting by scrimping and saving. You need resources *and* personal time, and you're just not a striker at your current power level. So I'm thinking you need to think laterally while you build up. You're already in school, and you've got access to your teachers, so get into classes with applied topics and professors who review well and get in their heads." She doesn't care how. Their dreams, even. If succubus-types could advance along a knowledge track that way. She was already getting into Petra's-- As if struck by the flashback, Natsuki blinks and remembers that Petra thought it was a girl-homosexual situation to be 'rivals'. Was this why??? 'I... will defeat Petra Soroka, dominate this entire American region under the sway of my dark powers, and then! Re-earn the favor of the Dark Clan and return home victorious! This is my mission!' "O~kay." Natsuki sighs. Normal! This girl was normal. Crush her rival, own the region parenthesis-darkly, and win the approval of her family. A model (dark) daughter, except for all the little issues. Those could be refined out! "I think I've got it." Natsuki decides, hearing someone coming and looking out to the surrounds.
Natsuki Nuki	Hustling up, a gangster-looking guy with slicked-back brown hair and eyemask-rings around eyes and bridging nose in a brown suit and a grey shirt arrives from the Warpgate direction, hopping down into the area in dress shoes and jogging up to present the squatting Natsuki with a messed-up looking chipped-ceramic black stoppered jug. "Is this what you wanted, si--" Natsuki snatches it before Takeshi finishes even 'sis', not even 'sister'. Swiped in single hand, she half-kneels as she leans to offer the stoppered bottle to Kenshiko while Love and Ember offer her a ''magic'' knife. "Be careful. I expect her to use it." She asides to the pair of them, more to Ember than Love. Love, more or less, was just being herself. The jug itself seems to slosh with something that doesn't have any sort of weight for the fluid motion inhere to it. The stopper is cork and neatly fixed but with just enough give to premise an undifficult corkage. It's just... "Some loser who wanted a taste got trapped in that. Swear you'll pay me back over that umbrella of yours, and I'll let you have it -- as an advance of my generous aid package." "The challenge is, after opening you'll have to cork it before the curse of it takes effect. Think you're up for it? A little danger for a treat?"
Lilian Rook	'*She* should know about poisons, but in her stead, I do.'     "Well, should, could, and would won't help cut down Petra's ego. They tend to do the opposite, actually." says Lilian. "Poisoning her food or water is an obvious one. Setting that up in advance to gloat over her later once she starts feeling it is sort of classic. I don't know about bug bites. She's twitchy. Slowly filling a room full of poison gas is sort of movie nonsense, but it's doable, isn't it? She keeps spending so much time on Kenshiko even when she's trying to blow her off."     'Except the audacity to actually take the first shot and laugh before I fell down. You didn't even obscure me with smoke!'     Even if it's reiterating herself from days earlier, Lilian says "I admire her persistence and grandeur, if nothing else."     'And maybe give Petra a bloody nose in the process,'     "Well that's what the magic and poison is for." she says. "I'm not asking this girl to throw hands at Petra. That's suicide. Perhaps if she had a giant hammer or something? But there's no way we're getting her into that sort of shape before she graduates."     'Why, in the few months since the end of my first semester, I've already nearly *doubled* my GPA from what it was'     Lilian stares, frowns, deeply considers whether she wants to consider urging Kenshiko to either try harder or actually just drop the school bit and focus on thwarting Petra instead, and then gets caught between the two. "I thought you were mostly skipping classes to harass Petra?" she says, finally paying direct attention to Kenshiko more than passingly.     '... You're not from the Dark Clan? Then-- huhu, I see!! You're enemies of Petra Soroka as well!'     Well, Lilian wasn't really going to object, but . . .     "You're a step short." she says, lowering the gaudy ruby-gold-bloody-heart fruit from her lips, and wiping a drip from her lips only after. Finding nothing that isn't filthy to recline on, she decides to sit on a merely implicit shape, supported by a little ripple of black static through the grass below. "I'm the one who made Petra Soroka what she is. Before crossing paths with me, she was even more pitiful than you are now." says Lilian. Almost factually? Somehow?     "Everything she's gained ever since is owed to my intervention. The fact that she has no worthy rival to push her further is only because I haven't selected one. I already am above light and darkness. Chasing after my shadow is power itself, for anyone who has the will and the wits to do so; whether heroine or villainess, it makes no difference." Cool improv monologue but why did you add feminine suffixes to both of those?     'It proved insufficient. No matter! I've mastered the elusive technique of couponing! Fools! They practically give you money for *free*!'     'All *my* shadow minions got reclaimed by the Dark Clan after-- the event!'     "Oh my god she's the family fuckup." lilian murmurs, eyes wide, mouth behind her fingers, totally wasting the effect of her previously chosen words for anyone listening in. "She's the Dark Clan's designated freak. Oh this poor girl . . ." Lilian frowns behind her hand, adds "Petra you are such a bitch!" completely unnecessarily, and then performatively clears her throat to both draw attention and highlight her inside-outside thoughts switch. Because now she's starting to get really motivated.
Lilian Rook	'We of the Dokuga Bloodline are ~dream devourers~ you see!'     "I see. That's a very difficult matchup then." Lilian says, fingertip to her chin, looking very poised and thoughtful. "The dream-shielding ability is something of hers I know well. The route to enter her sleeping mind was closed off years ago, after enduring countless devastating attacks on her psyche." She just stopped having a Silver collar that put her in dream limbo, coincidentally, after getting headfucked by the only being Lilian (facetiously) calls a 'dream demon'. "However, those who take pride in one technique are most often laid low by that same ability. It's good that you've come to this obstacle now. The earlier you diversify your talents, the better equipped you'll be for future challenges."     'Nothing whatsoever! How far away is it!'     Lilian strangles down an exasperated sigh. "A training facility maintained by the same organization as this school; Petra Soroka's benefactors, the Concord. To not take advantage of it is principled, but pointless." Lilian stops to take another big bite out of her gross iron-y fruit while tapping links on her smartphone. "Do you have bluetooth?" Swipe up. Oh god, just in time to see the pitiful heart beam attack thing.     'Peach-chan from Mihaisha Middle School had her fairy file a complaint from the Light Clan to the Dark Clan about my 'conduct'-- unbelievable! Ridiculous!'     "That's so catty! What's her problem?!" Lilian says, effortlessly switching tracks. "Seriously? Complaining to your nemesis' mom about your being sort of rude? This generation of spoiled little heroines who get handed everything they want is just going to hit the adult world and be absolutely flattened by the established villains out there! That coddling participation prize attitude is only setting them up for failure!"     'That's why I have to defeat Petra Soroka, because she's the mahou shoujo of San Francisco.'     This is the funniest thing Lilian has heard anyone call Petra in a while, so she's going to memorize it.     'Yes, yes, with just a little more exertion of my magical power, a maze dimension would be trivial for...'     Staring over the dwindling remnants of her Fruit of Abundance, Lilian chews thoughtfully through the entire last sentence, swallows, and says, "Alright. Setting aside, ah, draining her and making her yours?" Unattainable. To say the least. "Petra Soroka has a particular weakness for being cast into extradimensional spaces, thrown through strange portals, and generally being sent to evil obstacle courses and such. That's a very promising start." She pauses. "After the poisoning and cursing. Wearing her down in your dark maze will make everything much more achievable."     'If you can't respect your villain, you deserve to lose! Also, I mean, then you don't get to grow at all and you're just sort of punching down and not really learning anything or growing as a person.'     Lilian rummages through her bag for her third and final froot, and tosses it to Love. "Absolutely right. Have a treat."     'She's basically a succubus.'     Lilian side-eyes Kenshiko then presses the back of her hand to her mouth to stifle a snort.
Lilian Rook	'Pressure can bring out all sorts of things in a person. So we apply a little bit of pressure. Also, it's more of an obstacle course, not a run.'     "Oh my god. You think it's so easy, don't you?" Lilian groans, rolling her eyes. "Just get thrown into a sacrificial circle and have some guy plunge a dagger into your chest to awaken phenomenal cosmic power. Just get into a little bit of a jam and find that the power was in you all along. I bet you'd get rich if you were bitten by a radioactive dollar bill." She looks at Natsuki just so she can do the 'get a load of this guy' expression.     'What? Like the rest of us having to work for a living. How terrible'     Then she ruins the whole effect by shouting "Your world doesn't even have rent! I remember because I made fun of you for it!"     'I don't know what a mahou shoujo is, but I am almost certain Petra is anything but that'     'Wait for Petra to get close to you, draw it, and stab her with it. That is a way to deal with your rival.'     "Deeply unserious individual!" Lilian scoffs, exasperated edging towards tantrum. "What's going to happen if she pulls a knife in a school corridor, hm?" For some reason, talking about pulling a knife on Petra from a blind spot makes another drop fall and fizzle.     'If you're going to be trying to conquer Petra Soroka, I might be able to arrange certain forms of assistance for you.'     "I'll literally split it fifty fifty with you." she says. Eager to invest now, the sight of the magic bottle is met immediately by "You. Kenshiko. Dokuga. I need a list of your prescriptions. I'm getting you on the good stuff." Because why not make her a bit of a guinea pig for her LSCC work too? She wants it so bad! She won't even complain about side effects!
Natsuki Nuki	> get a load of this guy Natsuki scoffs nodding with a dip of chin and raise with smirk and then a little acknowledging eyepop-and-eyebrow raise maneuver towards Lilian, rolling eyes back to the shared thought. Lateral, she had said, lateral! "The grit and gumption are charming, stabbing yourself and waiting for the power to kick in only works for the grossly destined. Instead of stabbing yourself, invest in a gym membership instead of medical bills." 'What's going to happen if she pulls a knife in a school corridor, hm?' Natsuki nods again. "Expelled or worse. Do nothing that'd get you arrested or academically suspended. That's why the Dark Lord invented shadow servants and humans invented middle managers." 'I'll literally split it fifty fifty with you.' "The high rollers come in after the first bet, once they see good money down. Never fails." Natsuki chortles softly, but doesn't get in the way of Lilian asking for Kenshiko's prescriptions. "If you want to handle the pills I'll skip the Chinese medicine to get her up to speed. It'll probably be more interesting than floating and open chakras, won't it?" She asks, curious.
Angela	''cool improv monologue'' Love is starting to think Lilian has learned a LOT from her supervillain readiness seminar, because she is sounding like a really cool archvillain there. She applauds politely. Love is doing a lot of that today, eyes sparkling joyfully. ''Because she's the mahou shoujo of San Francisco'' Love already knows Petra is a magical girl so she thinks this is normal and not funny at all. This is deadly serious! ''Absolutely right. Have a treat'' "Treat!!" Love leaps through the air to catch the froot in her mouth like a shark before hitting the floor like a shark that threw itself on land. There's a little 'ow' before Love hops back up to her feet like a snake in a can of snakes, arms shooting up into the air cheeringly. "Yum!" Love commits to memory that stabbing someone in school can get you in trouble with the school. "That's no good." Love admits. "Kenshiko-chan worked really hard to double her GPA, we can't throw that away, especially if she's gonna double it again."
Petra Soroka	"Skeletons such as those who serve me come apart and go back together all the time."     Soggy, Kenshiko takes a big swig of water and looks at the skeleton with a wide-eyed pitying expression, like he's a sort of special bug. "But wouldn't that hurt him?" "Stamina, so you aren't huffing and puffing the whole time."     Kenshiko rubs her chin, much more amenable to this type of discussion now that she's resting, rather than actually having to do any exercise. "Yes, yes, perhaps. Unfortunately, it's very difficult." The concept of cardio as a whole, apparently. "It's okay, you just need to get her obssessed with you in the real world first, then you'll enter her dreams easy peasy without her even knowing."     "What a devious technique... but is it possible...?" Now she's actually considering it, it looks like. Her tail curls around in circles, spade-tip next to her head. "Yes, yes, perhaps. Mahou shoujo, this may be a moment you look back upon in despair as the day your downfall was sealed in stone~" "Um... is the Dark Clan subserviant to the Light Clan in your world?"     "No! No, of course that. Pfft, that would be *ridiculous!" Kenshiko laughs and waves her hand dismissively at Love. Her tail thrashes with an emotion much less self-assuredly flippant than her words are.     "There's simply a very well thought out series of checks and balances. It just can't be helped! The contest between the forces of Light and Dark are simply very complicated, you see, it can't be helped." "I don't know what a mahou shoujo is, but I am almost certain Petra is anything but that,"     Kenshiko clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes dramatically. She's now also foraged a granola bar from Love's bag, which she took without asking and is now in the midst of devouring. "'Magical girl'. And she *is*. The Dark Clan assigned me to her, to drain Petra Soroka's magical powers and turn her into a thrall of darkness." "Poisoning her food or water is an obvious one."     "I see... I never considered such underhanded techniques. You truly are a high-ranking demon...." Apparently, it's only skeletons that she feels bad about hurting? She was practically in tears about shooting one! Where did that go! "I thought you were mostly skipping classes to harass Petra?"     Kenshiko blushes and turns away, and her tail shields her face. "Fufu. In my early days in this realm," San Francisco, "I underestimated the adversity the mere environment would present to me. No matter. I've already recalculated my plan for the extra time spent studying."
Petra Soroka	"I'm the one who made Petra Soroka what she is. Before crossing paths with me, she was even more pitiful than you are now."     "I seeeeeee~!!"     Kenshiko's eyes light up and her tail quirks curiously near the tip. She shuffles around to sit on her knees, leaning forwards to ogle Lilian's display. "And now she's betrayed you by supporting the forces of Light, and this is your revenge! Yes, Madam Demon, I accept your bargain-- *I* will be the vehicle of your vengeance against Petra Soroka!" There wasn't really a bargain mentioned? "Do you have bluetooth?"     "Yes!!"     Oh, she's really eager to pull out her shiny new smartphone and show off some kind of social engagement with someone. It actually looks like a practiced motion of hers too; Lilian can imagine, depending on her level of sympathy, Kenshiko being so enthused by her popularity at CMU that she learned how to use a smartphone just this past year. "I wasn't aware that I could so easily pilfer the vast resources of the Concord without their knowledge~ I will visit this Shrine of Adversity and train in the middle of the night and they will be none the wiser!" "After the poisoning and cursing. Wearing her down in your dark maze will make everything much more achievable."     Kenshiko keeps her phone out for this one. Writing down in her notes app, "... Poison, curse, figure out dark maze. Got it. Kukuku, finally, my route is clear." " Wait for Petra to get close to you, draw it, and stab her with it."     "Aha!!!! Yes! A blade!"     Kenshiko greedily grabs the knife, then smugly holds it out on her palms for Love to cover in stickers like she's doing her a favor by allowing it. She turns it over to admire the very normal knife, running the tip of her spade-tail along the edge of the blade.     "Petra Soroka, your time draws near...! My Dream Knife hungers!" "Swear you'll pay me back over that umbrella of yours, and I'll let you have it -- as an advance of my generous aid package."     Kenshiko gasps and kicks her feet excitedly like a child at Christmas when the jug is brought over. In her first voluntary expression of athleticism all day, she jumps up to her feet and scampers over to meet Natsuki halfway, knife extremely loosely held in her hand in a way that would skewer her like a pig if she tripped.     "Ahhhhhaaaaaa~~~!!! Dark powers?! And I won't even need to do chores for it?! Yes, yes, a deal, a deal, Lady Nue! Ah-- hold on, where'd he--" A moment later, she has Kibakasa in hand. "I swear!" "Think you're up for it? A little danger for a treat?"     Deadly serious, Kenshiko lets her slutty little fangs show past her lips, tail curling up behind her. "I would do anything for a treat." "You. Kenshiko. Dokuga. I need a list of your prescriptions."     "Hm?" Her tail kinks the same direction that her head tilts. She hadn't seemed to consider that there was any good stuff to be on at all! Trotting over to her purse, she pulls out-- an actual laminated allergy card, and brings it over to Lilian.     "Okay! But please just take a picture, because I need it still." After she's done that, Kenshiko holds the knife up sideways to her mouth, like this makes her mysterious and edgy despite the topic. "And the rest can be conveyed through text message later, kukuku...."