00:37   Hazard  Suddenly, her face fills with cream-colored fur and an overpowering odor of fudge. There is a rush, like falling from a great height, only forward.
00:38   Trimangle   Alex is not used to this. She screams loudly, curling into a ball.
00:39   Hazard  The motion bottoms out, depositing her on a surface that is vaguely squishy.
00:39   Trimangle   Alex uncurls, her heart hammering in her chest. She rises to her feet, looking around at the environment.
00:43   Hazard  It is an alien landscape, with a pulsating sky the color of seven. The ground is a million, serene faces suspended behind a thick, transparent membrane. Floating islands made from congealed concepts last realized in the fever-addled dreams of a child who was forced to drop acid. A creature stands before her. It is cream, and has more tails than seems right.
00:45   Trimangle   Alex turns around, her brain jamming and refusing to process what's before her. Looking down, she yelps and stumbles away, reaching behind her back to draw her blade with a burst of light and a leathery rasp. ...Then she notices Vix. "Vix?!" she says sharply. "Where the hell am I?!"
00:50   Hazard  "You are in between my tails." He sits, twisting his tails around him. The ground far away tilts and rises as a sheer wall, then bends again at another right angle, sliding along the sky.
00:50   Hazard  "I will give you time to become accustomed."
00:52   Trimangle   Alex puts her sword away, slowly. "But if I'm in between your tails, how are you here?"
00:54   Hazard  "Because reality not as linear and rational as you think it to be."
00:54   Hazard  ^is
00:56   Trimangle   Alex shakes her head, her arms glowing, streamers of green energy flowing back along her skin. It's not doing anything, it's just circulating. "Christ. Jesus."
00:59   Hazard  As his tails undulate, the scenery warps and twists around itself. In the gaps between two, thrice-folded, fractal walls of girl's faces, you can see the glimmer of another world. He notices this, and one of his tails twitch. the gap slams shut.
01:00   Trimangle   "Hey--what was that?" Alex peers down below. "No, wait, show that to me again."
01:01   Hazard  "In time. What is important is that no one sees you."
01:02   Trimangle   Alex blinks, looking back up at Vix. "Sees--me? Here? What, how? Why's that important?"
01:03   Hazard  "I went to see the Hazard." He locks his tiny pinks eyes on Alex. "And thought it may be prudent to talk."
01:05   Trimangle   "You--right. Right!" Alex shakes her head. "Hazard. Yes. I've got questions for you."
01:06   Hazard  "Then I must be absolutely clear with you. What we are about to discuss cannot be repeated. Not anywhere, or anytime with anyone."
01:08   Trimangle   "Why?" Alex counters. "What've you learned?"
01:09   Hazard  "This is a matter that, if anything were to learn of it, even herself, the Hazard would become undone."
01:11   Trimangle   Alex blinks. "U-Um, d'you just mean emotionally unbalanced or..." She makes a 'poof' gesture with her hands.
01:14   Hazard  He simply gazes, silently. Behind his eyes, innumerable horrors dance the lambada.
01:15   Trimangle   "A-Answer me," Alex says, her voice hitching slightly.
01:15   Hazard  "Worse."
01:15   Trimangle   "W-Worse?" This is not the answer Alex had expected.
01:16   Hazard  "Do I have your word, Alexandra?"
01:18   Trimangle   Alex is silent a moment. "It should be taken as a sign of how important my word is when I tell you I can't promise you exactly that right now. What I can say is that I will use my greatest discretion. After I hear what you have to say...we'll revisit."
01:21   Hazard  "What we are about to discuss is the reason she cannot be placed in battle. It is why she has been 'locking up'." He curls around himself deeper, as if hiding behind his tails. "And why I can't do anything more to help her."
01:22   Hazard  "And I cannot ever play games with these truths."
01:22   Trimangle   Alex nods. "...Energy," she says. "Her bangles...they're energy conduits."
01:25   Hazard  "That is a symptom. The disease is the 'Sylph Sniper' itself, as she calls it." He looks into the distance. "It is not as it was intended."
01:25   Trimangle   "As it was intended? How do you mean?" Alex tilts her head.
01:27   Hazard  "It is not weapon. It is not a transformation accessory. It never was."
01:28   Trimangle   "Not a weapon? I've seen Hazard use it as a weapon," Alex objects.
01:30   Hazard  "It can be now. But that is not what it is. Just as one might club an opponent over the head with a chair. A chair is not a weapon, but it can be used that way if you have a mind to."
01:31   Trimangle   "...Point conceded," Alex says. "So, what have you discovered about its original purpose?"
01:32   Hazard  "I did not discover anything." He says, turning his attention to Alex once again. "I have always known."
01:33   Trimangle   Alex tilts her head. "Then what is it that you know?"
01:35   Hazard  The creature stirs. "I cannot. I must protect the Hazard, and her relic, at all costs. I must have your word before I can go further. This must be kept secret. You must help me keep this secret, Miss Ridgeway."
01:38   Trimangle   Alex shifts her weight from foot to foot, chewing on her lip. She looks down, expressions warring across her face. "You're certain that Hazard would be affected badly by the knowing? That the truth couldn't set her free?"
01:40   Hazard  "Have you seen her? The fear of what is happening is paralyzing her. If she learns the truth, it will drive her so far into a hole that no one could get her out of it." He sighs. "Maybe some day. But not today."
01:43   Trimangle   "Knowledge defeats fear, or at least allays it," Alex counters. "What is known can be accounted for, and to an extent worked around." She pauses, then sighs. "But perhaps, as you say, not now. But she needs to be told something to encourage her, to drive back the fear."
01:44   Hazard  "I wish this knowledge could do this. Perhaps you might find something positive in this. It is not in me."
01:46   Trimangle   She sighs. "Very well; you have my word. For now, until you say otherwise, I won't breathe a word to any but you." She pauses. "Not even Alstaka? Could he not be of use?"
01:47   Hazard  "Alstaka is not aware of this. I must keep them in the dark as well, for they still have standing with the other puchuu."
01:48   Trimangle   "Wait wait wait. Why does that mean you need to keep him shut out?"
01:50   Hazard  "The puchuu can not know about the Hazard's true nature. You understand me when I say this? Nobody can know. They will take her away, and she will be undone." His fur bristles. "I will not allow that."
01:50   Trimangle   Alex's hackles rise. "H-How are you so sure?"
01:53   Hazard  "I was not assigned to guard the Sylph Sniper. I was exiled. In order to return to the puchuu, I would have to pay a price. I would have to find and bring them the Sylph Sniper. They want it, but did not ever expect me to find it."
01:56   Trimangle   "So, you were sent on a goose chase... the Sylph Sniper is an item of myth?"
01:58   Hazard  "We knew it to be real, but it was well hidden from us all. From the puchuu, the spirits, the gods, the hidden things, the outsiders, the monsters, and the Beacon. None of us knew where it was hidden after its creation."
02:00   Trimangle   "Why was it hidden, then?" Alex is slightly confused. "Is it evil?"
02:02   Hazard  "No. Far from it. It is the last thing hiding in Pandora's Box. When all hope is lost, there is still this. It is the ability to start again."
02:03   Trimangle   "The...ability to start again?" Alex cocks her head. "I'm not sure I follow..."
02:05   Hazard  "Even if every world is destroyed, even if every spark of life is snuffed out, if the host of the Sylph Sniper still lives, she will become the seed for a new world, which will grow to a new universe, which will become a new multiverse."
02:07   Trimangle   "The...seed for a new world?" Alex blinks. I hope you don't mean literally."
02:10   Hazard  "Depends on your definition of literal." He flicks a tail, and one of the floating islands launches a blurring speed over the horizon. "From her and her power, life will begin again."
02:10   Trimangle   Alex nods. "Why would knowing this make the Puchuu take Hazard and....undo her?"
02:15   Hazard  "The Sylph Sniper is more than just a reset button. It is a contract. A contract between the forces of magic, and whosoever controls it, commands its power." His tiny face wrinkles in... expression. "And its host is beholden to uphold the contract's terms."
02:16   Trimangle   "A contract between the forces of magic?" Alex asks, leaning forward. "So, more powerful than the contract I have? And...what terms?"
02:19   Hazard  "It is more complicated than I can relate in your human terms. However, if applied, those terms would give any side that controlled them would have a notable advantage in their war against the other sides."
02:20   Hazard  (Wow, My grammar is down the tubes tonight. Let me retry that...)
02:21   Hazard  "It is more complicated than I can relate in your human terms. However, if applied, those terms would give any side that controlled them a notable advantage in their war against the other sides."
02:21   Trimangle   "....So Hazard accidentally picked up the booby prize. Is that about the size of it?" SHe tilts her head. "She has the power to restart life, all life, and she can possibly be incredibly powerful in some hypothetical war."
02:23   Hazard  "But is powerless to stop those very real forces from using her should they ever figure out what she is. That is why I did not turn it over to the puchuu. Why I remain in exile. It is more important that this power lay unclaimed by any side."
02:24   Trimangle   "Because she'll either be used for her power, or destroyed such that no side can use her."
02:24   Hazard  "Exactly. And in the using of her power, the forces that command her would destroy her as a person. I cannot condone that."
02:26   Trimangle   "...Neither can I," Alex agrees. "But...what's your plan for when your ruse is eventually discovered? Or, why didn't you turn it over before Hazard found it?"
02:28   Hazard  "My plan was to hide it with a magical girl. Someone who has the power to fight for herself. But I realized that if I contracted the host, I would be placing them in the possession of the puchuu. So I did something else." There is a fire in his albino eyes, glistening with pride. "I changed it."
02:29   Trimangle   Alex tilts her head. "Changed...what?"
02:30   Hazard  "I gave the Contract the ability to make contracts."
02:31   Trimangle   It's pretty clear Alex doesn't quite understand how momentous that statement is. "The...contract between the forces of magic and whoever picks up the Sylph Sniper? You gave it...the ability to decide who its host should be?"
02:34   Hazard  "Before, the Contract would take hold of its host and bind them, but give them nothing in return. Now, not only could it choose its host, but it could empower them."
02:35   Trimangle   "Kind of a raw deal if it only took them for its own purposes... So you helped it out, in a way. Gave it agency."
02:36   Hazard  "But, as you can see, while her power is versatile and very helpful, it is not very good at combat. Especially if one of the prime forces taps into the bindings... as you did."
02:37   Trimangle   "...I was wondering about that. What happened? Is that a leftover part of that 'binding' you spoke of? Anyone can direct their energy at the bindings and hold her fast?"
02:39   Hazard  "For a brief time, you took claim over the Contract. In taking hold of the Contract, you took ownership of the host. She would have done whatever you wished of her, even as her heart and mind fought."
02:41   Trimangle   Alex freezes. Like, absolutely rigid. Her irises contract, drowning her pupils in a sea of emerald green. Her breathing grows shallow as Vix's words hammer her again, and what breath there is is ragged.
02:43   Trimangle   "N-No," she whispers, her gaze slowly finding its way to Vix's. Her expression is a grim rictus, her face ashen. "I-I didn't...n-no! I didn't mean to! I-I didn't know!" She sounds shaken, and her legs give way, dropping her to her butt, her gaze held fast by the being before her.
02:44   Hazard  "But, you have relinquished your claim over her. This is why I felt I could trust you in this." He licks his paw. "You let go of her, and gave her freedom. I... Am in your debt."
02:49   Trimangle   "I-I--I didn't even know I was taking hold of her," Alex replies numbly. "H-Had I known, I n-never--you h-have to believe me," she says. Even the guilt of something done completely unknowingly and as fleetingly as the breeze threatens to consume her.
02:49   Hazard  "Alexandra Ridgeway, you and I have something in common."
02:50   Trimangle   She shakes herself free of herself, looking up at Vix. "Y-Y--what's that?"
02:52   Hazard  "We both care deeply for the Hazard." He finishes cleaning one of his paws, and moves on to another. "Do not harm yourself in undue guilt."
02:54   Trimangle   Alex nods. "R-Right. Yeah. I care for Hazard. She's ... like the little sister I never had. Even though she started out older than I did." She giggles, and the sound's less than completely hinged.
02:57   Hazard  "This is why I said she should not be in a fight. She is too vulnerable, and too valuable." He pauses in his licking. "...To me."
02:58   Trimangle   "Because she represents your new purpose in life."
03:00   Hazard  "I am no longer Puchuu. I am her guardian, whatever that may mean. I must keep her from being claimed, especially now that she's come to accept her power."
03:04   Trimangle   Alex nods. "Y-You're a good...." She looks confused. "Being," she settles on. She rises, slowly, to her feet. "...We need to find a way to break that. T-To stop anyone from being able to claim the Contract."
03:06   Hazard  "The only way to prevent a claim is to already have one made."
03:07   Trimangle   Alex cocks her head. "So if I leave a bit of my energy in her bracelets, but not enough to make her strike a pose, that will be sufficient?"
03:09   Hazard  "She will still feel you. You will still have a hold on her. A stray thought, and you might just begin controlling her again. You may even accidentally take hold of your other rights as her owner."
03:09   Trimangle   "My...other rights?" The words taste like poison in her mouth.
03:10   Hazard  "The rights to life creation."
03:11   Trimangle   Alex pauses, blinks. "Life creation," she repeats blankly. "Like...I could create a bird or something, if I were a jackass?"
03:13   Hazard  "Or as many magical girls as you pleased, if you understood the intricacies of doing so." Vix seems to have returned to his serious face. "She would mother an entire race on your command."
03:16   Trimangle   Alex blanches. "Nobody should possess this power, especially over another's life." She shudders. "Humans are fallible creatures. The puchuu are worse." She looks up. "...No offense."
03:17   Hazard  "None taken. They are no longer my people."
03:19   Trimangle   "But...okay, so what happened to make her freeze up in that portal hub? Was that...the wogni somehow taking control of the contract? Can anybody do that if there's nothing there?"
03:22   Hazard  "The W̰̻̤͓̳͓̲̘̻͢ͅͅo̸̭̯̥͔̼̞̫̻͉̤̖̥̲̯̩̲͢͟ģ̬̫̮͓̩̗͇̱̭̯͕͈̳̪͓̣͓̀̕n̷̵̼͓̘͘͜ͅį̨̛͙͎̱̱͔̲̳̬͕͡ are mindless foot soldiers, but they have a meager power available to them. They unleash it without thought or intent, and it interacted with the Contract as if they tried to own her, but they had no mind to do so."
03:23   Hazard  In the far distance, you hear the sound of something crying "W̰̻̤͓̳͓̲̘̻͢ͅͅo̸̭̯̥͔̼̞̫̻͉̤̖̥̲̯̩̲͢͟ģ̬̫̮͓̩̗͇̱̭̯͕͈̳̪͓̣͓̀̕n̷̵̼͓̘͘͜ͅį̨̛͙͎̱̱͔̲̳̬͕͡"
03:24   Trimangle   "And in the absence of ordered thought, she locked up...b-but anyone could, if they knew about the Contract, could take it, correct? O-Or even if they didn't know, as I did."
03:25   Hazard  "Yes."
03:26   Trimangle   "S-So...." Alex sounds reluctant. "The only way to stop someone else from taking it is for her to have it. But she can't do that, can she? Take her own Contract."
03:27   Hazard  The little creature freezes in place, as if someone hit the pause button on reality.
03:28   Trimangle   Alex had been looking contemplatively at her feet. When Vix doesn't respond, she raises her head to look at Vix. "Vvvvix? A-Are you ok?"
03:29   Hazard  "And that...is the something to encourage her. You could teach her to take ownership of the Contract herself."
03:30   Trimangle   "And...if she takes control of the Contract, then nobody can use her. And her suit will stop fighting her!" Alex's expression brightens. "R-Right?"
03:31   Hazard  "It's as good a plan as any."
03:33   Trimangle   "And if that doesn't work, then, um...hm. Well, we'll burn that bridge if we come to it." She nods. It seems like she doesn't want to voice what she's thinking of...
03:35   Hazard  "If that doesn't work, You will have to take her as yours, and learn the mental discipline to not use her."
03:36   Trimangle   Alex flinches. "Y-Yeah. Better me than someone else. Someone with fewer scruples." She looks down, then back up. "...You're right. Hazard can never know about this. Even if this plan works."
03:37   Hazard  "Then that is that. Any other questions?"
03:42   Trimangle   "Yes," Alex says, nodding. "About not putting her into combat...if this plan, either plan, works...you said that a chair might be employed as a weapon should nothing else come to hand. Well, nothing else is coming to hand; if we can proof her against this sort of abuse, then we can teach her to fight. Perhaps not to be a frontline combatant, but a backline support."
03:42   Hazard  "Perhaps."
03:44   Trimangle   Alex nods. "Good enough for now. No sense debating what the road looks like around this bend before we get there." She extends her hand to Vix. "I'm going to be relying on you."
03:46   Hazard  "And I you." He reaches a paw up to shake. "Take care of her. And please..."
03:47   Trimangle   Alex cocks her head. "Hmm?"
03:48   Hazard  "Don't let her become a mother at this age."
03:49   Trimangle   Alex can't help it. She dissolves into giggles, though they sound genuine, and not at all unhinged. "I-I'll try to keep my fecundity well under control," she manages to say.
04:03   Hazard  "Thank you." With a mighty FLUMPH, the creaute spins, and slaps into Alex's leg.Or... it would have, if she was still standing there. Instead, She finds herself standing just where she was when this whole thing began.
04:09   Trimangle   Thoroughly rattled, but armed with greater knowledge, Alex gets on with her night, her thoughts often turning to Hazard, locked in her house...