⇨ INVASION!

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone! But especially HARBINGERS!
When: S2:D16-22
Where: All over Wismuth!
What: As the Harbingers reveal themselves, those among the carnival that Creation has chosen will start to discover new powers within themselves. It's because they're magical girls, yo.
Warnings: Harbingers being assholes.

HARBINGERS OF VOID↴ On Day 16, the Harbingers begin revealing their new selves... in the form of wreaking havoc on the city! CY-Ren isn't looking for mass panic or serious structural damage - instead she wants constant annoyances and distractions, of the sort that will keep those that might be on her tail distracted from her true plans. However, when Creation is faced with the threat of twelve new Harbingers, it will have to fight in kind... ► HARBINGERS: Your job is to use your powers to create messes for other people to clean up! CY-Ren gives no specific instructions outside of a general framework... flex your powers! See what you can do. Don't destroy the city or anything, but give Creation a run for its money. She needs these civilians alive for her later plans. ► STAR GUARDIANS: Twelve members of the carnival have been chosen by Creation to fight in its name, even if they don't realize it yet. When confronted by the Harbinger's chaos, their Sparks will make themselves known in whatever form is appropriate to the character - and they will be asked if they are willing to use the power of their soul to fight the darkness. How this scene plays out can be flexible, but essentially they will find themselves faced with the question: are they willing to fight for the preservation of life? If they say yes, their Spark will emerge, and they will be able to trigger a magical girl transformation, as you do. ► CHARITY CONCERT: While everyone else is busy with the sudden rise of the Harbingers, CY-Ren's PR team is releasing a statement -- they will say that new information has revealed that there had been bomb threats made against the canceled concert, which are now being blamed for the damages. CY-Ren will make a personal statement, saying that in order to apologize for the failure of her previous performances, a new free to attend event is being planned for the near future - people who had tickets to the previous event and had to go home early get top priority!

Comments

[anti_nonsense]

Remember something nice...? That's an unusual power. Forgetting, too... The idea makes Rita uncomfortable. Even though she generally trusts Cole, the thought that someone could simply erase something from her mind, no matter what it is... it's chilling.

Memories are what make a person who they are. To make someone forget is to erase a part of them, however small.

And yet, she feels some disgust for herself as she wonders, "Could they forget what turned them to the Void in the first place...?"

[hurtcomfort]

Now that's something Cole's never thought of before. He frowns slightly, thinking it over. The Void hurt their coworkers. And the Void made them hurt other people. It's easier to make people forget the hurts than other things.

Unlike Rita, Cole doesn't feel any sort of disgust or shame at her proposal. It makes sense. Besides, people need to forget things to move on anyway.

"I don't know," he answers. "But I can try."

[anti_nonsense]

"I'm only asking so we can use it as a last resort," Rita clarifies quickly. "If possible, I'd rather they come back... you know. Whole."

She can't help but think of the hunt, when she was turned into a beast. Rita's memories of that time are nothing but painful and confusing... but given the choice, she wouldn't want to lose them. If she forgot, she wouldn't understand what Yuya and 9S went through in trying to bring her back.

Which brings another question to mind...

"If it comes down to it... can you fight?"

[hurtcomfort]

"Yes," Cole answers, downright surprised that Rita would ask that question in the first place. Perhaps it's because of the compassion thing? Or, though Cole's not putting this part together, is it because he's a twiggy little spirit who looks like he could snap in half easily.

"They are our friends but they're hurting people. I won't let them do that."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's definitely thinking about the compassion thing, but it's also true that she can't quite imagine him as an effective fighter. So it's a bit of both.

"So a spirit of compassion can hurt someone if it's to prevent greater harm... is that it?" she supposes.

Lavellan said before that one way that spirits become demons is if they're forced to act against their nature. Cole isn't being forced, and he's supposedly protected against that sort of thing anyway... but having heard that, she had to wonder if he was capable of harm, and what his limitations might be.

[hurtcomfort]

"Sometimes the best way to help is to hurt." It's just said in a matter of fact tone of voice, while Cole tries not to look Rita in the eyes. "I don't like doing it. And you need to stop me if it goes wrong. But I can't look the other way."

If there is someone here, someone like the Harbingers, whose purpose is so vile, so awful that multiple people would get hurt if he didn't do anything, then Cole has to hurt them himself. That's how it was back home, that's how it is here.

[anti_nonsense]

She needs to stop him if it goes wrong...? If it goes wrong how?

No... whatever it is, she'll handle it. It can't be that hard to keep Cole in check, can it?

"Got it," she agrees. Rita still doesn't know how much use Cole will be in a fight... but it looks like he's willing to do his part, at least.

"Let's go, then. We'll find those bozos, beat them up, and drag them back to the Carnival." A pause, and then she gives him a questioning look. "Can you tell if any are nearby? Or... I don't know, something out of place?" Rita would guess that the 'hurts' of people facing disasters or bizarre phenomena would be different than those of people struggling in their everyday lives. Maybe Cole can tell.

[hurtcomfort]

"He's a spirit, not a bloodhound," Nigella chirps, with a little hmmph. Cole, who has no idea what a bloodhound is, just ignores his petty nug for now.

"I can tell if people are hurting. But so many different things cause confusion." So no, he can't pinpoint directly where Harbingers are, but he can vaguely sort of pinpoint their aftereffects. Good for clean-up, not so much in a crisis.

"I can try, though."

[anti_nonsense]

"Try it, then," Rita urges him, ignoring the squeaky-voiced pink thing. "Any lead is better than nothing. Can you tell if there are a lot of people hurting in one place? Or if someone who was fine a minute ago is suddenly distressed?" Those could indicate a Harbinger's plot, or something similarly disastrous... she thinks.

[hurtcomfort]

Cole closes his eyes, pausing for a moment as he thinks, reaching out. A couple of seconds later, he opens his eyes.

"This way." And he starts wandering down the street, towards a more populated area of the city.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita nods, then follows at a brisk pace, eager to see what they’ll find.

Francis does the same, his tiny feet pattering against the pavement as he runs alongside Rita’s feet. Though he doesn't look or act any different than usual, he's just as anxious as the rest of them to find a Harbinger and right some of the Void's wrongs.

[hurtcomfort]

They have found........a hospital.

No Harbingers, no scenes of mass chaos and destruction, just a hospital. Which of course this makes sense: there'd be a lot of hurt in a place designed for healing. Cole even seems proud of himself as he looks at the front of the hospital, watching people go in and out.

In comparison, Nigella is giving Rita a look which plainly states 'I told you so.'

[anti_nonsense]

Rita stops, looks over the signs, the few patients and visitors loitering by the entrance, the ambulance stopped nearby... and turns to Cole with a flat, unimpressed look. Her Litten, too, glowers at him.

"Cole... this is a hospital," she says slowly, tension creeping into her expression. "Don't you think it's kind of normal to find a lot of hurting people here?"

[hurtcomfort]

"You said to find a place where there was a lot of hurting," he stubbornly responds. Cole's looking at the hospital with a little frown, like he's mulling over whether or not he should go inside and start the helping process there.

While he does that, Nigella turns towards Rita and starts to scold in that high-pitched voice of hers. "Like I said, he's not a bloodhound. I haven't been with him that long but it seems he's just drawn to any kind of pain, no matter if it's the Harbingers or not."

[anti_nonsense]

Damn it! Why does she have to get scolded by this flying rat!?

"I know that!" Rita hisses at the nug, shooting the occasional glance at Cole, just to make sure he doesn't wander off. "But I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!"

[hurtcomfort]

"I don't need ideas," he grumbles, "I just need to help."

Cole is a spirit of compassion, not a spirit of long-term planning. He goes where he can feel the hurts and he tries to make them better. What sort of better ideas did he need? This worked out fine for him so far!

[anti_nonsense]

Rita groans.

"We have to find people to help before you can do that, you know," she reminds him. And before he gets the idea of going into that hospital: "People in that building are already being helped. We should find people who don't have anyone helping them. Got it?"

[hurtcomfort]

"I can't tell if they're being helped or not," Cole clarifies. He still looks like he wants to just bust up in that hospital and start helping out in some way or another. He's amazingly antsy, looking from the door to Rita and back again. "I just tell if they hurt."

[anti_nonsense]

It's like talking to a small child with this guy...

Rita grabs his arm and yanks it to try and turn him around to face away from the hospital. "Then we'll find somebody else, and we'll know what they need when we see them," she explains, forcefully.

[hurtcomfort]

Literally 75% of his canon cr is people dad-ing Cole. Congrats, Rita. You might end up joining those ranks.

He just goes along as Rita forcibly yanks him away from the hospital. Alright, find somebody else, he can do that, they've got this. Cole frowns for a moment, trying to sense the hurt and the suffering before,

"Straight ahead," he says. "A few blocks north."

[anti_nonsense]

"North... got it," Rita confirms, then starts walking decisively ahead of him, leading the way even though Cole's the one figuring out where to go.

She's not about to leave Cole in the dust, though, and she glances over to ask, "What can you tell me, Cole? Is it one person, multiple people? What kind of hurt?" He can tell those kinds of things, can't he?

[hurtcomfort]

He can sort of tell those things. "It's dark and dangerous. Stuck and staring, trapped and can't move. They can't be cut."

Which isn't very helpful to Rita but seems to be good enough of an answer for Cole.

When they reach the scene of the chaos, it's apparent what it is. Carly's been here. Inky black strings of something go from building to building, tying up cars, trapping people inside buildings, preventing people from going somewhere. One unfortunate person's caught up in the strings himself, dangling in the air with the strings wrapped around his feet.

"Daggers," Cole mutters. Nigella floats off of his hat, briefly turns into green light, then turns into two daggers which Cole catches as they fall.

[anti_nonsense]

Okay, so somebody's trapped in some way. That sounds like a problem they can do something about.

Nothing could prepare Rita for what they actually end up seeing, however. She stares, wide-eyed and incredulous, at the strings that fill the street. "Definitely looks like a Harbinger's work," she mutters.

...Which means that fixing it is a Guardian's job. Time to transform.

Rita touches her hand to her chest, which emits a soft glow briefly before her Spark manifests in the form of an orange-jeweled amulet. She holds the amulet up, and a whirlwind of paper kicks up around her. Under its cover, her clothes disintegrate, then reform into her Star Guardian uniform. The flying pages then collect against the amulet, and with a flash of light, bind into the form of her weapon: a large, floating book with an orange gem embedded in the cover.

Despite the flashy transformation, she doesn't strike a pose or give a speech or even really acknowledge what just happened. She just shoots Cole a casual glance. "We better get started. Think you can cut those strings?" With his... familiar? Yeah, it's pretty weird that his companion turned into a weapon.

[hurtcomfort]

Cole's transformation is a bit more simple. He closes his eyes and brings one hand up to his chest as well, touching right above his heart. There's a flash of green light and Cole's clothing briefly glows green as well. Moments later, a twinkling sound happens, the glowing stops, and Cole's outfit and hat have turned into his magical boy form.

He does strike a pose at the end of it, though it's obvious he barely knows what he's doing. He also does a speech: "The thought of those dear to you: Guardian Memory!"

"There we go!" Nigella chirps. It's a bit odd as the sound comes from the daggers (which don't have mouths) but yep, she can still talk. "You're actually sounding like a proper Guardian now!"

Cole can't help but smile a little. Aw yeah, his familiar thinks he's cool, this is great and oh wait Rita's talking. "I can try?" And so, he reaches over towards the strings, attempts to slice one with the dagger...and it works! "Can you use your magic?" Cole asks, as he starts slicing through some more of the strings.

[anti_nonsense]

"You call that proper?" Rita comments dryly at the lame display. Nigella might be impressed, but she sure isn't.

Whatever. They've got work to do. "Yeah. I should be able to burn them, but..." Her gaze drifts upward, to a car tangled in strings against a wall, suspended high over the pavement. "I can't do this carelessly..." Simply burning away all the string at once would cause the car to come crashing down dangerously. Maybe there's a way to slow or cushion its fall...

Rita holds a hand over her book and wills the pages to flip themselves to search for an appropriate spell, occasionally shooting a glance back up at the strings to study their placement.