2022-11-22: Enemy

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<Pose Tracker> Celebro has posed.

It's after school, again. Hass and Namiko ran off ahead, again. Whatever they're getting up to, they're sure doing the hell out of it.

This time, though, Rikka receives a VERTEX.

> Hey.
> We have some time, do you wanna meet up?
> Namiko found some tea place out by the park she wants you to see.

Arriving, it's on the second floor of a wide space - not the usual shopping plaza, but well populated with Things and People. It's quiet, though. Namiko is amusing herself with preparing a bag of tea from a recently-opened box in a thermos.

Hass is off to one side, gazing out over a railing, across the city sky.

Directly at the silently looming maintenance kaiju.
Ako Furuma teleports in.
POT: Ako Furuma is now set observer. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Her last interaction with Hass and Namiko together has been stuck in the back of Rikka's mind since that day. Things were... definitely strange. She was worried about the way her friends were acting, but there hasn't really been any time to talk with them about it, with the two of them always running off somewhere together.

Today, though... today is different. Rikka checks her phone to find a message from Hass, asking if she wants to meet up. If she has this opportunity, Rikka doesn't want to let it pass her by.

> Sure.
> I'll be right there!

Rikka follows the directions given, arriving at the tea place Hass said Namiko found. It's different than the usual... but, different is good. It's good to try out new things.

"Heyyy, you two. Thanks for the invite." Rikka greets with a wave and a smile - first to Namiko, and then toward Hass's back, where she's staring out across the city.

...At... the Venora. It takes Rikka a second to follow her presumed line of sight. ...That's... probably a coincidence, right? Or... maybe it isn't, and she knows enough to put two and two together...

...It's alright. It's fine. Don't jump to conclusions, Rikka. Whatever it is, she'll talk to you when she's ready...

...Rikka hopes, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

>looks like she's headed out with the girl that's been acting weird
>I'm gonna stick close
>you guys better have a hot drink ready when this is done
>what a pain

Borr keeps her distance, letting Rikka talk to her friends with at least a semblence of privacy. Since that dream-kaiju's gone, the kids are probably fine... But none of the Neon Genesis Junior High Students feel quite ready to let them wander on their own.

As Rikka, Namiko, and Hass make their way to the open second-floor area, Borr perches in a nearby tree. They can keep an eye on the trio of girls from here, and it'd just take a wild leap to reach them... Yeah, this is fine. Spinning a knife into their hand, Borr carves what looks like a jack-o-lantern face into a branch. 

<Pose Tracker> Celebro has posed.

Namiko looks up, grins, and swirls her tea a couple more times. "Heyyy girl!" she cheers, happy as can be. "Sorry about the other day, I'm so glad we had time again so soon!"

She squints at the thermos, nods, and sets it aside to steep, then trots up and grasps Rikka's hands happily as soon as she gets there, a big, big smile on her face. "Seemed like things were kinda crazy lately," she says, softly.

Which is when Hass turns.

It's just like before, the LOOK she positively FIRED through Leina. Piercing. Focused. Filled to the brim with malice.

She takes a step forward. It's...weird. Swaying. The next is, too. "...you see them, don't you?" Hass asks, eyes focused entirely on Rikka.

...which is about when Rikka might realize that Namiko, although still smiling at her with a soft and friendly smile, has moved to holding her WRISTS, gripped like she's not going to let go. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Seeing Namiko so cheery helps alleviate some of Rikka's concern. Her good cheer has always been a bright spot in her life.

"Hey, when you're in a hurry, you're in a hurry. I'm the last person who can complain about having to run off like that... It's just good to see you again." Rikka excuses with a shake of her head and a small laugh. Namiko approaches and takes her hands in her own.

"...Yeah. It's okay, though. I think things are finally going to calm down a little..." Rikka replies with a small smile of her own, lightly tinged with sadness. She hears movement from Hass, and Rikka looks toward her - and, suddenly, she feels like she's been stabbed right through the chest. That... piercing, focused, malice-filled look... To see her friend look upon her with eyes like that is painful. She takes a deep breath as Hass begins to approach. Her steps are... strange. And then, Hass asks a question that Rikka had been dreading.

...She told herself, long ago, that if they ever found out and asked her about it, she would tell the truth. But this - this was her nightmare, the worst case scenario. That if they found out, they'd hate her for it. And that's the only conclusion she can come to now, from the way she looks at her. Rikka swallows.

"...Yes. For a while, actually. When did you-" She starts - and, so focused has she been on Hass's reaction, that she doesn't realise what Namiko has been doing until she feels a tight grip around her wrists, like a vice. Rikka's head whirls toward Namiko, suddenly.

"Namiko, what're you-" Rikka starts... and takes in her expression. That same soft and friendly smile, at odds with her current actions. This is... She looks back toward Hass, then. "...Hass, what's - what's going on? What's this about?"

Rikka tenses. She hates it, but alarms are going off in her head. She's been in enough fights now to recognize a dangerous situation. ...She just never, not in the strangest, unexpected happenstance, thought it would come from the two people closest to her.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Momentarily distracted by her vandalism, Borr looks up again only to see Namiko gripping Rikka's wrists. In a flash, the knife is stowed away, and Borr leans forward, watching intently. One hand taps at their phone.

>things are getting weird here
>may need all hands
>get Yuta ready
>on my mark
>Borr Shared Their Location!

Borr creeps to the edge of the tree branch, crouching low. He's still out of sight, but every line in his body is alight with tension. Something feels off, here. Borr may not have Calibur's sense for danger, but even he can see it: something is wrong with those two girls. 

<Pose Tracker> Celebro has posed.

Hass steps toward Rikka another step and there's a sound like something cracking. Her eyes scan Rikka up and down with a curiosity inexplicable.

And she says, "Artificial Compoids," entirely to herself. Like Rikka's questions were barely air. "It's brilliant, really. Cognitive spirits with nearly no cognitive mass until they develop. You can stuff thousands of them into a space and it'd barely weigh a feather. Not even the Land of Light can see that."

Her eyes drill up toward Rikka's. "But I guess that's what the Hyper Agency is for."

Another lurching step. "Then you use the Poison Smoke Monsters to regulate the system. Perception control. Memory access. Maintain baselines. Pretty good set up."

She stops. And she just LOOKS at Rikka for a long few seconds. Under that penetrating gaze, the sort of look that makes one feel like an object seconds before it'll be taken apart, perhaps Rikka hears it - a strange sound that isn't reaching her ears but rather her heart, a noise like a psychic tymbal, distorted insects warbling and wailing. "Kiete karekareta," Hass breathes, a phrase in no language of Earth. Her head shifts the other way, like she were rolling it to crack. "They're real NPCs. You could build an army for a song. Shinjo's almost smart."

Then Hass says, "Hold her."

Namiko moves immediately, arms releasing Rikka's hands solely to wrap her up in a big, tight hug, sighing contentedly like she does when she hasn't seen her friends in days.

"No imagination in the regulation systems, though. Just a few pushes and they start to gain cognitive mass. Fixed that with this one, as you can see."

Namiko holds Rikka tightly, uncomfortably tightly - and totally unwilling to release. And her eyes...despite the warm, happy smile, are glassy and unfocused.

Then Hass pulls from out of sight a strange device, looking like a bladed disc with a glowing red core at the center. Like a chakram, maybe?

She looks into Rikka's eyes, a strange, slumped look. Like Hass were bored out of mind and simultaneously looking at the single most interesting thing in the universe. "You'll get me close to the Giant of Light...but first, you'll come with me. I need to know a few things about that soul you've obtained."

Namiko pulls back to look Rikka in the eye and she has the fondest, gentlest smile on her face, and absolutely no light in her eyes. "Let's spend a lot of time together from now on, OK?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

There's a horrible cracking noise that makes Rikka flinch out of disgust and concern. Hass looks her up and down. She doesn't like the way she's looking at her. And then... Hass starts talking. To herself, more than to Rikka. But, what she says.

Confusion crosses Rikka's expression at first but... it's impossible. Seeing the kaiju, that's something Hass might be able to reach on her own - but knowing that much, those words. It's impossible.

"You-" Rikka starts. And then, Hass fixes her with another horrible look. Rikka feels all too much like a specimen. She winces a little, too, as she hears - feels - that unusual sound. Hass continues then... and now, anger crosses Rikka's expression. The way she casually refers to everyone, the people of Tsutsujidai, as 'NPC's, like they're just pieces in a game...

"...You're not Hass. Hass wouldn't say that. And... don't talk about Akane that way, either." Rikka demands. She tries to take a step forward, but Hass issues an order. Rikka's hands are freed for only a brief moment - but before Rikka can act on this window, Namiko wraps her up in a hug, binding her arms to her sides.

"N-Namiko, please, let go-" Rikka starts, before looking back up to Hass. 'Fixed that with this one'... Rikka looks back at Namiko, at her happy smile, and her glassy, unfocused eyes...

...Oh, Namiko...

"...What did... what do you do to her? What did you do to Hass? Let them go!" Rikka demands. Hass pulls out a strange object, maybe a weapon, and Rikka tenses again. The simultaneously bored and interest look Hass gives her... Rikka feels ill, for a brief moment, before it's briefly replaced with defiance.

"Stop... stop hurting my friends. They have nothing to do with this." She demands, with a shake of her head. Namiko looks her in the eyes, next. That empty look. It's another stab to her heart.

"Namiko... Namiko, you have to listen to me. Hass isn't herself right now - something's using her, using you. Please let go." Rikka pleads. If she were to struggle, she might be able to free herself... but, she can't think of any way to do that where Namiko wouldn't end up getting hurt. And even now, in a situation like this, hurting Namiko - or even Hass herself - is something she can't possibly bring herself to do.

Though she puts up a strong front, inwardly, despair begins creeping into the corners of Rikka's mind. She can't... she can't think of any way out of this. Her gaze falls, her hair dropping across her face.

"...Help... Please." Rikka whispers. "Help them..."

Yuta, Akane, anyone... There has to be someone...

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

>now.

Borr leaps from the tree, a knife in each hand. "Alright kids, back up! I don't know what your deal is, girlie, but step away. Now."

Landing between Hass and Rikka, Borr brandishes both knives. They look harshly at the glowing chakram-like object. What is that? Whatever it is, it's not going anywhere near Rikka.

---

Yuta squeezes his eyes closed. He could never get used to this -- Calibur's speed. They've left Vit and Max back at the Aya to protect Junk, just in case. Hopefully, Calibur and Borr's strength would be enough. A few heartbeats later, and --

Namiko and Hass are... attacking Rikka? Namiko cluthes her far too tightly, and Hass is threatening her with some kind of weapon. Borr's doing their best to break things up, but Yuta feels his blood turn to ice. Calibur leaps into the air, descending onto the second-floor platform. Yuta's dropped to his feet as the samurai flashes through space. In a moment Rikka's been lifted into Calibur's arms, pried away from Namiko.

"Rikka!" Yuta shouts, rushing to her side. Calibur places the young lady down, stepping in front of both teens. "What's going on? Are you hurt?" He puts a hand on her shoulder, looking her over for wounds, fear in his eyes. Once he's satisfied that she's unharmed -- at least physically -- he turns an accusing gaze to Namiko and Hass. "What's wrong with you two?! You're best friends!"

Could this be -- like Akane's kaiju? Is someone controlling Rikka's friends? That hand on her shoulder comes down, Yuta freeing his hands just in case anything goes wrong.

"We're gonna talk this out like friends, yeah?" Borr says, sunlight glinting off her knife. "Who's calling the shots here?" 

<Pose Tracker> Celebro has posed.

"That look..." Hass breathes, with a predatory fascination. "That's exactly what makes you such an interesting study."

Namiko smiles almost dreamily. "Hass said she had a surprise for us, so I'm helping her out a little," she says, as if the actions of her own body had nothing to do with the thoughts in her head.

Hass draws one more step closer.

And then Borr slams down between them. A normal person - a PERSON at all - would react with shock or alarm or at least...react. Hass' face barely even changes. Her posture actually does not. Though her eyes do zero in on the knife pointed at her.

Namiko looks...lost, because Rikka's gone and she's stumbled back a few steps. Her mouth opens and her eyes clear but not...completely. Like she's thinking again but not processing reality at the right speed or the right layers. "Rikka...?" she mumbles, and her eyes look to Hass. "Hass, Rikka says something's wrong...?"

Hass doesn't even look at her. "It's fine. We'll try again later."

Namiko wobbles with a calm smile. "'kaaaay. Whatever you say, Hass." She turns, as Yuta runs up, though, and...blinks. "Yu...ta?" she mumbles. Hands empty. Doing nothing. Like an NPC with a broken script; unable to respond to the world around her, because what she was supposed to do didn't happen.

Hass burbles a chuckle...and ignores it, turning her attention on Borr's knife.

Then, on Borr.

"Hehehe. Calling the shots?" Hass says. "Who's the boss? HEE HEE HEE!" She CACKLES, a far too excited laugh. Her face is still behind that medical laugh but her cheeks tell of a far, far too wide smile.

And then she abruptly stops laughing completely, says, "Me.", and with sudden speed, slaps the chakram on the side of Borr's knife. Threads of red light race up the weapon and it suddenly DISAPPEARS, and the chakram suddenly just falls to the ground, cracking apart on impact.

THAT, in turn, is hopefully enough distraction for Hass to swing up with some kind of Space Gun - it barely looks like it does anything, there is NO obvious operational space at all - that was NOT in her hands a second ago, and fire at Borr twice with blistering blasts of red-white light.

If Hass buys herself some space, she moves back, toward the edge of the walkway. Toward the railing, and a drop. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka shudders at that predatory feeling coming from Hass. An 'interesting study'... She really is just a specimen to her, isn't she...? As for Namiko... Namiko smiles a dreamy smile.

"Namiko, would Hass really want this...?" Rikka pleads. "Think about it. Listen to what she's saying... I know you two are inseperable, but since when was she this controlling - this... unkind? Please, Namiko, you have to see that something's wrong with her...!"

Hass steps closer... and that's when Borr - wonderful, wonderful Borr - leaps into the tea shop, landing between herself and Hass. And in a flash - Rikka feels herself pulled away from Namiko. She looks up - Calibur is here, too, and she's here in his arms, and Yuta, rushing to her side. The tears she's been holding back flow freely, now. Emotions - fear, despair, anger, and now relief - all flooding loose in a confusing haze. She shakes her head at Yuta's question.

"N-no, I'm... I'm not hurt." She starts, shaking her head. She looks toward Namiko, then - standing there, frozen and confused... When Yuta releases her and then sends a look toward Hass and Namiko, it's Rikka's turn to reach up and grasp his shoulder. She shakes her head.

"Yuta, wait, it - it's not their fault. Namiko, she - she's been brainwashed, or something. And something's controlling Hass - she knows about, about kaiju, and Repli-Compoids, and Hyper Agents, and 'Giants of Light'..." Rikka says, rattling the words off quickly. She takes a moment and catches her breath. She looks up, then, toward Borr and Hass.

"Borr- Hass!!" Rikka calls out, confused, conflicted, and entirely overwhelmed.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Namiko?" Yuta replies, his eyebrows drawing together in distress. "Calibur, something's wrong! Please, get her back to the Junk Shop!

"R--right." Calibur exchanges a quick look with Borr. The smaller Hyper Agent nods. "H--hang on, miss."

Swooping the dazed young woman into his arms, Calibur vanishes in a blur of speed. Yuta breathes a little more easily knowing Namiko is safe. Rikka is crying. Yuta wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a sideways-hug. Just the sight of her tears makes his own eyes sting. "I don't know what's going on, but we can do this. We'll figure it out as a team. As an Alliance." Yuta gives Rikka a smile. It's a bit wobbly, but he's doing his best to be brave.

"I don't know what your problem is!" Yuta shouts, at "Hass", "but if you're smart, you'll cut it out, right now! Let Hass go, and we won't hurt you!" This isn't right. As much as he wants the people of Tsutsujidai to "wake up" like he has, this -- this is the worst way it could happen!

Borr keeps her eyes on Hass. "You might look like a kid, but you're not, are you?" Hass lunges forward, and Borr jumps in front of Yuta and Rikka. It's not enough -- she's not as fast as Calibur. The knife shatters into light at the touch of the chakram, and Borr snarls, staring at the broken chakram on the ground.

"That was my favorite knife! You little... You're not getting away that easily -- woah!"

If Borr dodges, that awful red-white light will hit the kids. Instead, they raise their knife, gritting their teeth as the blast hits them head on. Momentarily stunned, Borr staggers. Their suit is smoldering, burned to threads in a few places. Despite this, they grit their teeth, launching forward after Hass.

"You've really pissed me off." Borr manages, reaching out to grab Hass by the wrists. "Last chance. Talk or I'm taking you down."
You are empty-handed.
BBSYS: Post 442, '"That Hero of Yours"' has been published to Cutscenes & Logs by Ennil El.

<Pose Tracker> Celebro has posed.

Namiko's face scrunches up. "We were just gonna," she says, tracing tracks through a brain wrapped in fog. "Gonna...gonna..."

...Like escaping a logic loop by defaulting to another input: "Yuta...?" with a child's confusion. Something simmering in her thoughts, memories of Yuta's split-second switch from whimsical play to hardened defender when the Glow Cloud became unstable. Her opinion of Yuta changed that day. Her associations with that serious face Yuta makes changed.

"Did I do something wrong...?"

Calibur grabs her. She does nothing to stop it. She reaches down, past his back, whining, "Hass...Rikka...Let's hang out again later!"

Then she's gone. Hopefully, sleep can fix whatever this is...

Hass, though, is...a whole other problem. She's made her way the whole way back to the railing since Borr made the choice to block for the kids.

And she LOOKS at Borr. There's no psychic attack to it, no telekinetic force, but any normal person would find it deeply unpleasant to even be under that gaze. "Hyper Agent," she says. "...or are you? HEE HEE!" She looks like she's about to jump the railing--!!

...but she barely gets halfway over it when Borr has her wrist!! Wow that was a...DEEPLY ungainly attempt to clamber. Hass should be able to do better than that??

She looks down at it, then over at Borr, with a completely blank face.

"I answered your question," she says, and intensity slowly mounts in her voice.

"Who is calling the shots? Who is in charge? It's certainly not Akane Shinjo. Nor the Devil of the Hyper World. Smashing toys together and making explosions with their mouths. Nothing."

Her left eye bulges open. The iris is a bright, bright red.

"My game will tear your world apart."

That psychic sound again, a psychic-layer warbling that pierces past the ears. Her eye is glowing red, now. "Kiete karekareta! It'll be so much fun!"

And then she breaks out into a fiendishly deranged giggle, wiggling back and forth on the straddled railing and kicking her legs like she were thinking about the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

Which is when someone RUNS up, emerging from a periphery nobody was watching, and smashes a boot into Borr's side, breaking their grip. The person is wearing a strange white armor with a bodysuit underneath, and an all-concealing bifurcated helmet with a bright red light about where eye level would be.

Hass's giggle fit ends, and she stares across the distance at Yuta, then at Rikka. Several seconds...and then she finishes throwing herself off the railing.

There is no sound of impact. Because none happens; when anyone runs to check, she's just...gone. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka can see it. Namiko is struggling to think it over. She... has to press this further - maybe she can help Namiko break out of whatever hold 'Hass' has over her.

"Namiko... You can see it too, right? You can get through this..." Rikka urges. Namiko takes note of Yuta, then... and asks if she did something wrong. "...Oh, Namiko..."

Calibur moves to pick up Namiko, taking her into his arms. ...That much comes as a relief to Rikka. Separating her from Hass, or whatever is puppeteering her right now, is for the best. Yuta wraps her in a sideways hug and offers her a smile, and Rikka looks toward him. She manages a weak nod.

It's... it's hard to make herself believe that right now, but they have to - they have to figure it out. If anything happened to Hass...

She looks up again, then, when Hass speaks. Her 'game'... Anger and defiance crosses over Rikka's face again.

"Your 'game'... you're hurting my friends, stealing their will from them, for some 'game'? You sick...!" Rikka starts. She's interrupted, though, but that psychic sound again. With a gasp Rikka winces. What is that...? And, Hass's eye...

Something - someone? - moves in to attack Borr, allowing Hass to escape. She looks at her, Rikka looks back, and what's about to happen clicks into her head.

"Hass!" Rikka cries out. She breaks from Yuta's hug, running into to the railing despite the danger. Mounting horror building into the back of her mind, Rikka looks over and sees -

Nothing. In a way, she's relieved, even though it means Hass is gone with no idea where she went. The thought of seeing her hurt... Her legs finally giving out Rikka crumples to her knees, still staring down at the empty space Hass disappeared into. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Y--you are fine." Calibur murmurs, as he speeds away with Namiko. "Your friends will see you soon."

He's doing his best. Rikka and Yuta will be able to assure Namiko better. Calibur's duty is just to get her safe.

---

"Of course I am! What the hell?!" Borr shouts, trying to haul Hass back up over the rail. They get a growing sense of dread as Hass gets more and more intense. "Not Shinjo or Alexis-- A game?! Alright, that's it!"

Before they can yank Hass up, the psychic noise hits them. Borr brings a hand up to their ears, trying to block it out. Yuta winces, raising his hands to his ears as well. "What is that? It's horrible!"

"Y--you think that'll be enough to--" Borr starts, only to be blindsided by some person in white armor. He goes tumbling to the ground, ponytails flailing. "Ugh--!"

As Borr loses his grip, Hass is allowed to escape. Stumbling back up to his feet, Borr summons his remaining knife -- it'll take time to reform the other one. "Can't get a break today..."

"Rikka!" Yuta calls, reaching out after he as she chases after Hass. No, no -- it's too dangerous! If that thing could hurt Borr, what could it do to Rikka?! Before he can think, his body's moving on its own, charging the person in white. "Grid...punch!"

It comes out purely by habit. Yuta smashes his fist into the enemy -- probably to no avail. But he doesn't give up, throwing his momentum onto the attacker, desperation and anger making him strong. Hopefully, it'll send both of them to the ground. "You're not going to hurt my friends... You're not going to hurt my friends!

Borr takes advantage of this, swirling her knife as she runs. "Nice shot, Yuta!" She slides to her knees, raising the knife, and bringing it down squarely in the chest of the white-armored person. She strikes again, and again, rage on her face. "I'm sick--" stab, stab, "Of these assholes--" stab, stab, "In this city!"

Yuta's eyes are wide with horror, watching the knife rise and fall. Is this a person, under the armor? It's glowing, but... "Borr, stop!"

Glancing at the young man, Borr hesitates. "Yuta, what?"

<Pose Tracker> Celebro has posed.

Namiko mumbles, "Okay..." in a tired voice.

Soon, she's asleep, her scrambled brain so exhausted by what's happened that not even the stimulus of Calibur moving at full speed can keep her awake.

---

It looks like a full-grown man in a suit of armor, but when Yuta hits it, it's like punching concrete - or more to the point, a solid block of steel. A person would have more give than this. But perhaps it's hard to process that in the state he's in. He tries again, and then throws his whole weight into it, and that's enough to bowl the attacker over.

Borr finishes it, swinging in with her knives over and over, and the attacker jerks and wobbles and shakes, but never screams.

Considering Namiko's state, maybe that's not a sure sign. But Borr would know that her knives never moved like they would through flesh, and even after the thing goes still, no blood ever emerges.

A machine.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka is vaguely aware of Yuta reaching out for her as she runs, but her focus right now is on Hass. There's something controlling her, but... she still holds out hope that Hass in in there somewhere. She has to be...

She sits there collapsed and staring down at the pavement for a while longer, quiet and unresponsive, until the sound of fighting behind her reaches her ears.

...Right. This isn't over yet.

Rikka manages to force herself up to her feet with the railing for support. For a second it seems like her legs will give out again, but she manages to stay up. She drags herself over to Yuta and Borr, arriving just as the person in armor - no, the machine - collapses. Rikka stares at it for a moment longer before looking up at her two friends, looking between them for a moment.

"...Are... you two alright?" She asks, her voice a little hoarse.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

His fists hurt. More than they did when he punched Eisen. Yuta hisses in pain, shaking his hand. "Ah..."

"Yuta. This thing isn't human, okay?" Borr says, trying to reassure him. "I'm gonna keep stabbing it."

The young man's blue eyes are wide with fear, but he nods, his gaze going up to Rikka. She's safe... She's okay.

"Damn this thing." Stab, stab. Borr hisses, "If it wasn't for it, I would've grabbed that fucked up kid! Damn it!"

Footsteps can be heard behind them, startling Yuta. Borr stops, lazily turning their head. "You took your time."

"Yeah, yeah... Calibur sent me. What's going on here?" Sky Vitter approaches, casually tucking a spear into his suit jacket. "You good?"

Yuta stands, carefully disentangling himself from the dead (?) robot. Leaving Borr to explain things to Vit, he walks over to Rita. "I'm sorry. We couldn't stop her... But Namiko is safe. I'm okay, but Borr--"

Borr looks rough. Their suit is in tatters, one of their ponytails is still smoldering, and they're favoring their right leg. With animated gestures and some colorful language, they describe the scene to Vit, who favors them with a vaguely concerned look.

"...Borr will be okay. Just like Max. I think the best thing we can do go back to Aya and check on Namiko. Are you alright with that?" Yuta keeps his voice soft. Rikka is hurting about this way more than he is. Her feelings are the most important.

Should everyone choose to return to the Junk Shop, Yuta will stay by Rikka's side. One hand slides out his phone, tapping on a rarely-used contact.

>im sorry
>were in trouble again
>and im sorry to ask for more
>but i need to get stronger
>is there anyone who could teach me how to fight?
>borr got hurt protecting me
>i need to be better than this

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