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[IamanElfCollaborator]

The rumbling continues.

Mayor Hongo continues speaking as the group speaking with the entity called Lapis realises what is going on. The group of people in front of the stage remains rapt, unaware of the chaos that was about to ensue, the approaching Zoanthrope about to beset them.

At that moment, a calm befalls the Garden, a calm reminiscent of the calm before a storm out on the oceans.

Presto Festique appears from nowhere, attempting to reach the stage, as fast as she can on her skates.

Maki sprints towards the stage herself, thinking much the same thing, her hand sparking with electricity.

The moment continues, and time passes, and the calm of the moment ends.

The stage breaks apart, Mayor Hongo and the police officers being thrown aside as the massive Zoanthrope bursts through, a giant, whale-like beast with star-like red lights running through the length of its black hide, which seems a blend between leather, metal and plastic. This Zoanthrope is indeed far larger than any Zoanthrope that has yet to be encountered; most Zoanthropes stand about seven to eight feet tall at the largest, mostly standing around human height, but this Zoanthrope appears to be the size of a house. It releases a high-pitched, keening noise, unfitting of its massive size, as it stomps the ground, seemingly pained as it thrashes around in the remains of the stage it broke apart.

Yui and Maki are thrown back by the force of the blow, thrown onto the ground by the sheer force of the arrival of the Zoanthrope. The crowd is thrown into a chaos as the Zoanthrope appears, panicking as the giant beast stares them down, some citizens frozen in fear as they stare at the monster, which switches focus from the crowd to Mayor Hongo, who is struggling to get to his feet.

"Amp it UP!"

A green and blue blur swivels in front of the Zoanthrope and past it, what sounds like a chiptune song constantly playing around them. A pulse of three green orbs bursts onto the Zoanthrope, bursting upon contact and seeming to ripple upon its skin. Though it doesn't seem to do much except irritate it, the Zoanthrope is distracted anyway. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a girl their age, wearing light blue earphones, their hair hidden by a dark green ski-cap and their eyes masked by an opaque green visor, which seems to be streaming with what appear to be 8-bit rhythm game notes. Her black clothing seems to have a constant stream of light-green 8-bit Galaga fighters streaming across it, the most noticeable part of her apparatus being a light blue mechanical set of leg armor with massive skates attached and a set of speakers on their legs- the source of the music-, with what appears to be a video game controller for a rhythm game strapped in place around her stomach, which she seems to be manipulating with one hand to play the music. The other clutches what appears to be a mix between a giant stereo speaker and a gun constantly propelling bursts of noise at the Zoanthrope.

For anyone following reports of heroes in the last month, this lady was no stranger; she was the most well-known hero of Seito, Beat Fighter Sonata, popular for the legendary underground shows she would put on after vanquishing bad guys and her general attitude towards children, being nice enough to skate up trees to save cats and balloons on her way to beat the Zoanthropes that attacked Seito.

Mayor Hongo pulls himself to his feet, helped up by a pair of police officers, as they flee behind Sonata, who skates in place, casually avoiding being hit. The white-helmeted Eden Foundation officers seem to have vanished in the chaos.

The sound of a revolver also rings out, two bullets leaving gaps on the beast's hide as it roars in pain, turning towards the shooter. Another girl their age emerges from the opposite side of Sonata, donning a dusty fedora, spinning the chamber on their revolver, looking like a prop from a Western film. A red poncho overlays their brown duster coat, some of it wrapped around her face concealing everything except her fierce, steely grey eyes, her long, silky black hair hiding the rest. Her gloves and boots are equally brown, with black trousers to complete her outfit.

Just as Kamen Rider Volt and the Sun Crow were the heroes of Touto, and Beat Fighter Sonata the hero of Seito, Revolver Lady Ayra, the mysterious stranger who had shot the Zoanthrope, was the hero of Hokuto.

Sonata turns towards Presto Festique as she casually skates to avoid an impact of the Zoanthrope's foot. She grins at the fallen hero.
"Hey! I know you! Nice seeing another hero 'round here, at this time! I'm a big fan, big fan! Hey, listen, if you've got any friends with you, mind getting them to help? I'll get the people out the Garden and maybe I can see about getting an autograph from you later, huh? Man, where's Kamen Rider Volt when you need 'em, right? And his crow friend?"
"I'll help her evacuate people. Deal with this thing."
Ayra gruffly cuts off Sonata, who shrugs at her comment and skates towards the people, herding them out. Ayra fires off another pair of shots at the Zoanthrope, before helping people herd people out.
"Come on people, move it, move it! I got your backs!"
"Stay on the move."

Hayato turns towards Maki, an unreadable expression on his face. He grunts gruffly, fixing her with a stern, fatherly glare.
"Maki, get your friends out of here and get to the restaurant! It's too dangerous to stay here! Miyazono, stay close to me, we need to get anyone who can't pull their weight out of here!"
"R-right! Right behind you, Kisaragi-sensei!"
Both Hayato and Tohru run off to the crowd to help an old lady falling behind in the escape, leaving the party facing the Zoanthrope, which now has only them to focus on. The giant beast circles, as if unable to decide if it is predator or prey against you, an unknown quantity.

With the attention of the crowd away from them and only the Zoanthrope to notice them, perhaps it might be a good time to transform.

[Projeck37]

Anytime now, folks.
Presto Festique throws a finger gun at Sonata.
"Anything for a fan!"
She proceeds to crack her fingers, back pedaling on her skates, readying herself for the incoming fight.

[spümpkin]

Viv wasn't phased by the voice in her head. She'd had stranger days. And a Zoanthrope? Nothing amazing. What was probably most the astounding thing about this moment is how easy her powers came to her. She hadn't been practicing with them much, so it came as a complete surprise to her when a black and white phone booth appeared next to her, and she wandered in reflexively.

The phone booth jumps around for a minute or two, spinning in various directions and emitting various sound effects, seemingly stretching and morphing, before it reverts to its normal form, and The Vivacious Viv steps out. Her face in a wide grin, she clicks her fingers, ready for some action.

"Ooh boy ooh boy! It's time for another spectacular episode of... THE VIVACIOUS VIV! Hope all of you are ready to hustle!"

[Sl4cker]

It's happening. It's happening, it's here... Taro suddenly slams his temples with both of his hands, pressing his earphones even harder, virtually grinding them into his ears at this point. In my brain. Why in my brain. Disconnect me. Lapis, disconnect me.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Maki pulls herself to her feet, shaking her head and pushing a strand of blonde hair from her eyes. She looks around to make sure her grandfather and Tohru can't see her; Naomi has disappeared in the chaos, presumably having run away when she heard the chaos start.

She grins audaciously.
"Well. Guess it can't be helped."

She lowers her hand to around her waist, causing it to spark with electricity as the star-shaped belt of Kamen Rider Volt, the Electrider, appeared on her waist. Maki shifts to stand with her legs apart, standing firmly and yet poised to avoid any incoming blow.
"Henshin!"
A techno hit plays as electricity sparks around Maki's body, engulfing her whole body in light. As it fully engulfs her, she sweeps her hand from her waist, dispelling the electricity to reveal her red armor and black undersuit, coursing with blue lines of electricity, a pair of green eyes on her horned helmet glowing faintly in the light of day. A white scarf billows in the wind from her neck, to complete the look.

Maki, or Kamen Rider Volt, points at the Zoanthrope cockily, posing dramatically as she waits for Haruko and Amelie to back her up to draw its attention.
"Hey, beastie! Now, count up your crimes!"
I can disconnect you, but I don't think it will help very much. If you feel scared, you can join the civilians in running away, but I trust you have the power to fight this monster. As humans say, I have faith in you.

[BlitzDungeoneer]

"Powers is such a strong word for what I've got... Well, since it's here already, you can come out now."
Without any fanfare, where there was nothing in Yamato's hands before, there is now a sword, around a meter long in total with a dark grey scabbard. When he draws it, he's surrounded by a quick flash of blue light, which slowly fades away, revealing him once more, this time in a dark gray hakama and haori, and noticeably taller due to his wooden sandals. His hand falls away from his face, revealing a domino mask that distinctly doesn't fit with the rest of what he's wearing now.
"Time to fight now, partner. Since it's practically a whale, I'm thinking we can make some real nice sushi out of this one."
He can feel the sword's approval, even as he moves the blade in front of him, waiting for an opening.

[Twinwolf]

Amelie had been heading forward almost the same time as Maki, and blown back just the same. Unlike the others though, she got tossed back further - not by getting hit harder, but just by giving gravity a little nudge to shove her out of site of Maki's friends who weren't necessarily in the know. She started falling slowly to the ground, but once she was sure nobody was paying attention (or that whoever was wouldn't be able to see who she was), her gem started flashing and she stopped her descent. Owwww, that hurt! I-I'm coming guys, just g-give me a minute and I'll be right there! Amelie transmitted through the link - her tone seemed to shift mid-sentence if anyone paid attention to that sort of thing.

The transformation was quick - Amelie jumped in height a bit more than half a foot, her hair got longer and lightened in tone, her body shifted a bit in shape (and then a bit more - cat ears and tail are not a normal part of human anatomy), and her skin took a sort of blue glow as she used her power. Alrighty! Coming now~! she said, before shooting back towards the place feet-first, and a couple moments later landing next to Maki. "Hi hi~" Amelie(?) says, cheerfully waving to Maki and Haruko. "We're gonna do the thing now, right?" she asked, bouncing from foot to foot.

[Sl4cker]

Taro's thoughts go silent for a second. I'm not scared, he communicates, before another pause follows. A burst of thought suddenly comes, a streaming cascade of presumably subconscious words and images, too unintelligible to likely even be understood. A second later, Taro bursts out of the woods, arms flailing, running as fast as possible towards the Zoanthrope. He's muttering something, but in the chaos it, like his thoughts, are unintelligible.

[Jilladilla]

"Right, you can do this Agatha, this is what the folks back home have trained you for!"

With that, Agatha takes a few steps away from Sato, and once she does, she takes off and encases her glasses in a stone, throws said stone upwards, and then sand just explodes off of her, and in the moment that she was obscured by that personal sandstorm she's changed: Brown hair replaced with grey, casual clothes replaced with a stereotypical 'wizard robe' with matching staff, heavy boots seemingly made from the earth itself, and a blindfold which is quickly re-purposed as a headband. And then, she utters one sentence, resolute as the earth itself, both out loud and over the telepathic network Lapis has built.

"So, as such, we shall stand against the darkness!"
And with that, the stone with her glasses falls back down into her waiting hand, and she quickly puts them back on.

[Chevaleresse]

"Wait, does this mean I get to turn back again? Finally!" She glanced at Maki for a moment - the girl was already getting ready for the upcoming fight, so Haruko took that as a yes. She grinned, and a (rather sinister) red glow entered her eyes. She took two long strides forward toward the beast - which was good, because she was immediately engulfed in a ball of plasma. Heat radiated out from it as air began to move toward it, slow at first and moving faster and faster, the orb growing larger and brighter as the flow accelerated. Thin helices of plasma formed in the air and spun down toward the orb after a few moments, as it slowly rose to a height of about ten feet in the air.

Just as the ball became nearly impossible to look at, it burst with a wave (that thankfully didn't actually set anything - or anyone - aflame), revealing a set of dark wings wrapped around Haruko, which quickly unfurled to a broad span. A deep crimson gem that looked like some sort of eye sat in the center of her breast, and her hair had gone from a natural dark brown to a black color that progressed to a dark red near the tips. Along with the wings, a white cape whose interior seemed to be a window to some far-off cluster of stars appeared, draped over her back. "Ready to face the fire?"

[Sl4cker]

Taro just seems to be leaping at the Zoanthrope immediately. If he's transformed, he doesn't look like it; his continuously unrecognizable stream of thoughts not unlike the babbling of a frightened child don't seem to be pointing towards that conclusion either.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Maki looks over at Agatha, giving her a thumbs up.
"Good effort at a catchphrase, but you should make it a little punchier! Like mine!"
Then Taro runs at the Zoanthrope. After visibly sighing, she looks over at Haruko and Amelie.
"You two, cover me! I'll grab him out of the way!"
She starts sprinting towards Taro to tackle him out of the way, completely unaware of his actual ability to escape.

[Sl4cker]

Taro is flung out of the way, though, more likely than not, he seems to be less moved than he should have been, as if he was merely grazed by the tackle. He falls to the ground with a groan regardless, though. Maki? San you're Kamen Rider Volt?I didn'tknow. Not scared. He gets up, shaking.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"Try not to rush ahead of us, yeah?"
Maki pulls Taro up, dusting him off as she puts herself between him and the Zoanthrope.

The square is almost abandoned now, Sonata and Ayra having evacuated everyone, the civilians and the Mayor now safe. Hayato and Tohru are limping behind to help a child with a wounded leg get out of the park. The Zoanthrope stares down the party, a keening grunt emerging from its unseen mouth.

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Agatha
Status: Healthy
World Line: [3 3 1 6 5 5 6 2 4 1]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Amelie
Status: Healthy
World Line: [3 1 4 1 3 4 1 6 1 2]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Haruko
Status: Healthy
World Line: [3 1 4 4 3 3 2 1 6 4]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Juliet
Status: Healthy
World Line: [1 2 5 4 1 4 1 4 4 4]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Maki
Status: Healthy
World Line: [4 4 3 6 2 6 4 2 5 3]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Suzu
Status: Healthy
World Line: [4 2 4 3 4 4 2 2 3 5]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Taro
Status: Healthy
World Line: [4 2 4 5 1 5 5 1 5 6]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Viverra
Status: Healthy
World Line: [1 6 4 2 5 3 5 2 1 2]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Yamato
Status: Healthy
World Line: [5 1 1 5 6 1 4 2 5 3]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

Yui
Status: Healthy
World Line: [4 4 3 4 5 1 5 3 3 4]
Alterations: 3
Will: 3

[Sl4cker]

Taro stares at Maki's back. His expression shifts between sadness and irritation rapidly. Lithe fists start balling up and shaking. His thoughts shift back from stubborn cogitations of Not scared, not scared, to that incomprehensible stream of consciousness. A shift seems to occur, however, when he presses his earphones back into his head, the thoughts seemingly focusing, like an array of light centering into a single laser, until the rampant images and feelings slow, relax, and then gradually come to a stop.

Unlike the other's transformations, Taro's doesn't come with any exclamations of energy or words of honor and courage, but it does come with a sound, an atmospheric, low-fidelity sound that bursts from Taro's the boy's. Neither does it come with any exciting poses or entrances - the boy shivers, relaxes, and at once finds himself carrying between his shoulders a large CRT monitor, the origin of that atmospheric sound. Taro's hands drop from the sides of the TV, now suddenly furred and spindly, like a spider's. The old television turns on, and displayed on it is the boy's disembodied head, superimposed on a sky-blue gradient. Taro, looking directly at the Zoanthrope, presses a button on his CRT. A new song starts to play, the upper corner of the television revealing its name; the eye of truth.

H e l l o   W o r l d , he plainly says through coarse TV static, and though no other words are said, a message to the Zoanthrope is plainly clear when he starts running towards it again (phasing right through Maki, no less); come and hit me.

Worldline: [(4) 2 4 5 1 5 5 1 5 6]