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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.

I can only sense that you have them, not what they are. Now would you like me to open up the channel?

If this wasn't so urgent, I would've shown up here first. As for what's showing up, I believe it is what you call a......Zoanthrope.

Amelie, Yamato and the others still hear this.
Oh, good, you can hear me! You don't need to speak, you just need to think. I can read your minds and I can transmit to them. Where are you? You're in the National Garden, right? All of you?

As people start wandering off into the speech or start interacting, ten otherwise completely unrelated people (Maki, Amelie and Haruko notwithstanding) suddenly experience the same thing, at the same time.

A child-like voice, echoing in their heads, a plaintive tone as they request something of the people it has contacted.
Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Please respond if you can. I need your help.

"Well, I always thought you should treat everyone like a friend you haven't made yet, y'know? The benefit of the doubt and all that."

Maki frowns as she sees how her questioning affects Taro. She quickly changes subjects.
"Oh. Uh....sorry for bombarding you with questions. I just wanted to make you feel welcome around here, y'know? Touto's pretty big, and out-of-towners like you can get lost around here. I've been living here as long as I can remember and there's still parts of the city I don't know too well."
Maki smiles again once she grabs a vanilla cone for Taro, offering it to him.

Maki takes him along, still giving him a friendly smile.
"Just Maki's fine. You okay if I call you Taro-san, then?"