2014-08-18 - A Symphony For Unfriendly Instruments
| Title: A Symphony For Unfriendly Instruments | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Nephrite has a plan. Ail has a cardian. Magical girls object, and all hell breaks loose at the symphony hall. | |
| Who: Nephrite, Ail, Gordon, Princess Runealy, Ren Aizawa, Prism Keeper Orange, Sailor Jupiter | |
| Where: Searrs Symphony Hall, Shitamachi Low City. | |
| OOC - IC Date: 1 March 2014 - 8/18/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
If there is one thing every orchestra in the world can agree on, it's the fact that the prime audience for classical music is getting much too old. The future of every industry in the world lies with the youth -- and yet many symphony halls are hard pressed to get audience members below the age of thirty-five into their seats. Perhaps it is the elitist nature of the classical music community combined with rising ticket prices that is driving the younger demographic away?
Nonsense! It must be that they think classical music is boring! Certainly a 'hip-with-the-times' program, one night of free tickets, and heavily discounted refreshments will get those whipper-snappers through our doors!
And that is exactly what the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra is offering tonight. The program is peppered with orchestrated video game tunes and pop songs, along with some of the more well-known pieces of the Classical and Romantic periods. It is the very definition of pandering, and if you listen closely, you'll hear a few of the orchestra members grumbling -- none more so than than the conductor himself, Masato Sanjouin. But there is undeniably a much bigger crowd tonight, many of whom are younger than the typical patron, so...mission successful?
The audience is currently milling about in and around the hall itself, slowly filing into their seats with beverages, popcorn, and other treats not usually offered at an event like this. The clock is about to strike on the hour, and the lights are due to go down any minute now.
<Pose Tracker> Gordon [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Gordon is, among other things, a fan of classical music. He purchased tickets to this symphony out of curiosity, because he enjoys some video games, and thought it would be fun. The grey rabbit -- wearing a tiny suit and tie, of course -- hops down the aisle, carrying (naturally) a carrot that he bought at the concession stand. He gets to his heat and hops up into it.
His neighbor turns and looks at him, wide-eyed.
"What?" Gordon asks, his British accent thick as he speaks. "Chefs enjoy a bloody concerto every now and then! It's not that strange!"
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Ail hasn't noticed the fliers and advertisements for the Tokyo Symphony either - but what has been much harder to ignore on his scouting runs is the flare of energy being generated by someone in the building. It's been an interesting wait, but Ail knows that the best time to strike will be during the performance - if the symphony is putting in the effort to draw in the younger crowd, it'll be a great time to strike.
The security or ushers don't notice his passing, even when he's looming around the private upper seats, blending into the shadows and staying in full Space Elf regalia now, card between the fingers of one hand, flute in the other.
Besides, a bunch of teens and younger passing out during an orchestral performance won't even be that wierd. Now, to wait for the music to start and the right time to strike...
<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
Rune is among those attracted to this performance. It's not a matter of free tickets or cheap refreshments; she can cover the full price easily. The alien princess simply didn't know there was any place in Tokyo offering this kind of music! Once advertising brought it to her attention, she gladly showed up at the symphony hall.
Making a fairly smart guess that this is a high-brow venue, she's dressed in a white and black dress with puffy shoulders and various embroidery to it. Not a local style, not local materials... honestly, not even modern, but it is well made and should satisfy the dress code expectations. Eyes bright and mood eager but calmly contained (the 'royal we' must act with some decorum in a place like this, after all), Rune takes to her seat and looks around, taking in the sights... pink marble, lots of glass, red carpets... it's a very impressive place and she likes it immediately.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
The orchestra! Such a romantic backdrop!
...Except Ren isn't here on a date or anything like that. But there's no need to fret! This will still likely be a great experience. They /are/ playing video game music after all, according to the flyers. That's the huge selling point for her. Plus she's always wanted to check out the Tokyo Symphony ever since hearing her parents go on and on about how prestigious it is.
Shuffling inside she balances on a pair of heels she's starting to regret wearing. But they went so well with the beige, frilly dress she has on that it would've been a crime now to wear them. So... she'll make do for the sake of style for now.
After grabbing some refreshments she squeezes into an aisle past a few seated people, mumbling apologies along the way while trying not to step on any idle feet. Finally she takes a seat, letting out a sigh as she decompresses. Then, on a whim, she turns to look at the person seated directly next to her and sees...
"R-rune-san?!"
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Touyama [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Reiko Touyama was originally supposed to be coming with grandpa to this event, but alas, the tough old goat had a more pressing matter to attend to, and thus Reiko went alone. She didn't bother asking her parents, they were too buried in thier phones in and paperwork. This made her sigh outloud out the door as she arrived. Grandpa did, however, help her pick out an appropiate dress, that consists of a casual, light colored orange dress.
She passed on popcorn and drinks like that. She was still a little put off by needing to go alone, for sweets. Maybe during intermission--if the music improves her mood. She has her seat after staring in awe of Runealy's dress. Wow. It's so /gorgeous/... she wishes she had a dress like that. She still even is kind of almost rudely staring after she has her seat.
She manages to break a bit to look at the ocestra mulling about ahead of everyone.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The orchestra can certainly count one Makoto Kino among the members of tonight's audience who wouldn't normally think of attending a performance at the symphony hall. Not that Mako doesn't like music, but an orchestra performance is awfully high-brow fare, and not something that she would have thought of taking the time out to see had the advertising for this event not caught her attention.
It came at a good time, though. She's still a bit sore, as much as in heart as in body, and right now Makoto finds the thought of sitting still for a while and taking in a performance more appealing than she normally might.
Music is supposed to soothe the soul, isn't it?
Her decision to come to the event had nothing at all to do with the possibility of getting to see a certain celebrity conductor, if only from a distance. Absolutely nothing at all.
So she's dressed up just a little bit in a simple black dress over a pale green mock-turtleneck, and she's edging her way along to an open seat murmuring apologies to those already seated with every other step as she looms into their fields of vision one after another. "--sorry, please excuse me... pardon--" At last she reaches an empty seat and folds her excessive height into it before turning to look, still making a somewhat apologetic face, at Reiko in the next seat over. "Sorry," she says, "this seat isn't taken, is it?"
<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
"Huh!?" Rune somehow outright failed to notice Ren was right there, and is surprised (not upset, merely not expecting this) to discover her. "H--" Too loud. Rune's voice lowers. "-ey. So you're here too? Once the shock has worn off, Runealy's brighter expression returns; she's glad to see Ren! "I wish I'd heard about this place a lot sooner, I..." A pause, "...no, maybe this was the best time to find out. It sounds like they'll be playing music kind of like what we have back home."
That's a pretty random guess. How does Rune justify it? "At least, I figure they are since I've actually heard of some of the instruments they'll be using."
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
In the lobby, the clock chimes and the lights flicker slowly: the concert is about to start. The remaining stragglers make their way into the expansive concert hall, and with a hush over the crowd, the lights dim.
Anyone who's been to a symphony before knows the routine that follows. There's a few words about the 'strength of youth' and 'hope for the future' over the loudspeakers, before the musicians on stage all stand up. A tall man with long brown hair and a solemn -- almost icy -- expression enters shortly afterward, and the hall bursts into applause, which is perhaps a tad rowdier than he is used to. After all, Masato Sanjouin is not in the business of pandering. This excuse for a program is an insult to his conducting prowess, but alas, the board of trustees pulls even the conductor's strings.
Being a Dark General, though, Nephrite has a few methods of dealing with unwanted interference, even if it is strictly of the mundane kind. How very convenient that the first chair violinist was in prime condition to receive a Dark Seal in time to ruin this wretched event.
He nods for the orchestra to ready themselves, lifts up his baton -- and all hell breaks loose. Exactly according to plan.
The woman holding the violin lets out a short, strangled scream, then collapses as a demonic rune lights up on her instrument, leaking green smoke and light. There's chaos on stage as various musicians either rush to help the fallen woman or scramble away from her, seeing that there is no longer a violin, but the silhouette of a kind of human/violin hybrid rising from where their colleague used to sit.
"Viol!"
The smoke clears, and the youma Viol opens her eyes wide, brandishing her bow like a sword.
Masato Sanjouin is nowhere to be seen, but Nephrite hovers near the ceiling, surrounded by shadow -- for now.
COMBAT: Nephrite transforms into Youma Form Viol! COMBAT: Nephrite has fully healed himself. He is now ready to take on 3 opponents!
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Ail is only periphirally aware of anything going on, as just when Viol is giving her announcement, the sound is cut short by a distinct flute sound - clearly a flute, and yet distinctly not part of the performance and alien and eerie. The card which he previously launched above the seats begins to take shape as the note causes the dark energy contained within the card to pulsate and unleash itself, and the card changes form...
Rapidly twisting as it comes into form, it is the eerie visage of a massively oversized child's top, upon which floats what appears to be the upper torso of a life-size doll, bald and with a face streaked with colors, two pairs of hands crossed over her chest as the entire apparatus teeters and totters despite no direct link to the top as it spins in the air. A familiar-to-some space alien appears behind her, dramatically flourishing at the ground even as the crowd tries to escape from the room.
On wordsless command, the doll-face twists into a warped smile, and the top begins to spin rapidly, collecting surges of energy from any of the civilians and orchestra members who haven't already run away. "Spirania!" Ail commands. "Take the energy from these lowly humans."
It's only then that he notices Viol, and by extension, unwanted attention. "What are you doing here?" he asks, quickly aware that this isn't a magical girl, but something more like his own cardians. "Go away." he adds, and makes a shooing gesture, speaking with the disaffected air of a noble speaking to a peasant.
COMBAT: Ail transforms into Youma Form Spirania! COMBAT: Ail has fully healed himself. He is now ready to take on 3 opponents!
<Pose Tracker> Reiko Touyama [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Reiko Touyama looks up at the tall Makoto Kino with that look of wonder not leaving her face. She however, has the sense to not stare at Makoto. "Oh..Oh! No.. no one's sitting here." she says softly. "I'm all alone tonight." she says with a soft smile and a tone that suggests she's not happy about that. but this cannot be helped. "My name's Reiko Touyama!... who are you?" she asks as she tries to make polite pre-music conversation in a shy sort of way, or at least, what she belives is polite conversation. "I'm looking forward to this concert." she says giving Makoto a smile.
"Did you see that girl's awesome dress over there? it's really pretty, is----"
There's a shriek from the stage and she looks on in surprise. "Ah, what happened!?" at first it looks like a violinst has fainted, but instead-- some horrible being has risen from the mess. She looks down to herself, then up at the stage.
Then this...other one!? Two!? There's TWO!? and one's an utterly creepy doll thing! This is overwhelming on so many levels right now.
She looks to Makoto with wide eyes. "Uh...I have to go... dosomethingbye!" she says in a panic but not quite a scared as she should be panic. It's weird. She ducks under the seats and begins to crawl away. She gets to a safe area and looks around a bit before she makes her Chroma Crystal materialze into her hands, cupping it as it floats there, glowing bright orange. "Chroma Prism Orange! Transform!"
There's a brilliant flash of orange, the sound of fabric billowing , two magical 'pops'! as wings appear, and two koi tying a hair bow before swimming away.
She sort of floats out of the safe space and looks between the two.
"This is stupid!" she says.
She fires a beam of light at the violin flavored youma right now. She doesn't want to know what happens if she attacks the most creepiest youma she's ever seen just yet.
COMBAT: Reiko Touyama transforms into Prism Keeper Orange! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Beam on Nephrite. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite perfectly counters Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Beam, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Nephrite's counterattack, Horsehair Whip, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Prism Keeper Orange!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Ren smiles fully at Rune, leaning over to give her a small hug. "I'm glad you're here! At least we'll be able to enjoy this together, right?"
Oh Ren. You should know by now that saying stuff like this aloud only leads to trouble. And right on cue, just as the lights dim and the conductor walks on stage to begin the symphony, trouble surely does rear it's ugly head. "Oh!" The high schooler exclaims, covering her mouth as the violinist collapses and has something very much a youma arise from her instrument. Not good!
...But then things get /worse/. An eerie flute melody cuts through the air. Moments later, /another/ youma appears, and starts harvesting what is very clearly energy from the room's occupants. Really not good!
"Rune-san!" Ren calls out, turning to her companion. From there she only gives a nod before ducking down into the aisle between the seats and clasping the silver ring. "Souverain Heraut!"
The golden gem on the ring pulses and lets off a chime. <TWO ANOMALIES DETECTED. YOUMAS. COULD THEY BE WORKING TOGETHER?>
"I don't know! That's not important right now! We-"
<UNDERSTOOD. SORTIE!>
One flash of golden light produces Mage!Ren, who jumps atop the seats to survey the area. "Ah..."
<YOU SHOULD SUPPORT THE WINGED GIRL.>
"Right!" Prism Keeper Orange could use some support! Ren provides just that, brandishing her scepter to fire off little superheated gems at the violin youma.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa transforms into Barrier Jacket! COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Seeker Barrage on Nephrite. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Gordon [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Gordon sits -- well, stands, really -- up sharply when the woman drops down with a shriek, and then the silhouette of a youma rises up. His big brown eyes widen sharply when he sees it, and then he hops down to the ground, quickly, and scurries underneath the seat. He needs to find the closest magical girl; Saito isn't anywhere nearby for him to assist, but he can make due if he must.
But, then, Gordon realizes there are two youmas -- and their masters -- here. He mutters a word under his breath; before it can be heard, a fleeing man trips with a crash, covering the word up.
He sees Prism Keeper Orange appear, and then Ren -- who jumps on a seat nearby -- so he leaps up onto one, too, and nods at her. "You can do this!" he says. "Focus on helping her! They've tried mixing a bad ingredient into this mix... but we won't let them spoil it!"
COMBAT: Gordon has used Ma Cuisine on Ren Aizawa. COMBAT: Gordon has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite fails to brace Ren Aizawa's Seeker Barrage, taking 27 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Ren Aizawa accepts Gordon's Ma Cuisine, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa is Cheered!
<Pose Tracker> Runealy Waldia [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
Rune leans into the embrace, hugging back. "Yeah! I think you're going to like this, if it's even close to what I imagine it's like!"
Then the concert is about to begin, so she quiets down and gets ready to listen. This should be great! This should... ...a scream from one of the performers? Green light and smoke send a chill through her; even with the gaps in her memory, Runealy has a very good idea what could have caused that and details Mamoru gave her allow Rune to have a name to go with that sight. Eyes wide, she makes a frightened guess: "Nephrite!?" Merely a name; she doesn't know what he looks like, nor that he might be nearby.
Nonetheless, this conclusion is enough to get Rune jolting out of her seat. In all the commotion, hopefully it will be overlooked if she starts shouting what bystanders might otherwise think of as 'crazy nonsense.' "Summoning Princess' Tiara!" The silver jewelry appears in one hand. "The Line of Succession," it's passed to the other hand, and brought to her head in the same motion. "Transform!" A flash of red light replaces her attire with her magical garb, wand in hand and ready to fight the monster that just emerged.
Then a bizarre cardian appears, and a familiar voice gives it orders. A hurried look spots Ail, sending another wave of fear through Runealy. Fear, and worry as she recalls what she learned the last time they fought. Her friend's warning (and her ring's speech - is that new? Rune isn't sure) net a worried apology: "Ren... sorry, there's something I need to find out! It's important!" Then Rune breaks away to begin jumping from seat to seat.
She's taking an arcing path, trying to avoid the largest parts of the crowd while still making her way toward the stage. Toward the cardian... toward Ail, specifically. She's not heading straight for him, mindful of the power he brought to bear previously. "You!" A shout to the 'space elf', trying to get his attention. "Why are you here!? I'm asking you!"
Her attention is somewhat split however, as her wand points at Viol. Landing on the top of a seat, the Guardian Princess shouts: "Rune Blast!", launching a green energy ball at the youma. If it strikes, it will explode into sparkly mist and deploy a set of swirling white magical text... which tries to wrap around Viol's arms and weigh them down.
COMBAT: Runealy Waldia transforms into Princess Runealy! COMBAT: Princess Runealy has used Rune Blast on Nephrite. COMBAT: Princess Runealy has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite fails to dodge Princess Runealy's Rune Blast, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Princess Runealy is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
In the lull before the performance--
Makoto offers Reiko a warm, friendly smile and a hand by way of greeting. "I'm Makoto Kino," she says. "It's nice to meet you, Reiko-chan. It's too bad that you're on your own," Mako's smile takes on a certain note of sympathy as she says it, "but so am I, so at least we can enjoy the performance together?"
Reiko has more of Makoto's attention than the speech over the PA system does, but when the conductor takes the stage and it seems as though the performance is about to begin, Mako sits up a little straighter, still listening but more with one ear as Reiko mentions another girl's dress. She begins to nod--
And then the violinist screams and collapses, and everything starts to go wrong.
Now--
The symphony hall has erupted in chaos as the members of the audience who haven't already fallen unconscious from energy drain panic and flee. "Reiko-chan!" Makoto calls out in alarm as she leaps to her feet, looking for her impromptu seatmate but the younger girl has already scrambled off before Makoto can make any move to try to ensure that she gets out safely - for the best, maybe.
For a moment, just for a few seconds, Makoto stands where she is as though transfixed, taking in the youma, the cardian, the ominous figures hovering overhead, and her hands clench into trembling fists.
Then the second passes and she breaks into motion, vaulting over the row of now-empty seats and launching into a ground-covering sprint toward the nearest doorway that will take her out of sight.
"Jupiter Power - MAKE UP!"
Out comes the green transformation pen, and a surge of whirling electrical currents transform the tall but ordinary girl into the Senshi of Thunder and Courage. Her transformation is barely complete before Sailor Jupiter rushes back the way she came into the performance hall, already feeling a charge crawling over her skin. "I've had ENOUGH!" she bellows, voice ringing out with the power of her frustration. "Just for ONCE, can't anybody have a decent evening without SOMETHING showing up to ruin it? Just ONCE can't you JERKS just stay home?" Sparks snap at her fingertips; she throws out a hand toward the cardian, a thin stream of lightning leaping at it from her pointing finger as she glares upwards. "What is WRONG with you?!"
COMBAT: Makoto Kino transforms into Sailor Jupiter! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Jupiter Thunderbolt on Ail. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail narrowly braces Sailor Jupiter's Jupiter Thunderbolt, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Ail is Quipped! Ail's Block ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Much has been on Nephrite's mind of late. His defeat on the Rainbow Bridge, the impossible return of Sailor Moon after her (obviously faked) death, and that blasted illusion-memory that flooded him after laying hands on Mamoru Chiba -- all of it had been circulating in his mind nonstop, leaving him on edge, agitated by the anxiety and doubt the events of the other day brought on. But, of course, you wouldn't know by looking at him. The man floats effortlessly above the crowd, face cool and emotionless, even as the magical girls start to join the scene. The only thing that truly moves him into action is the appearance of another creation, of a species he is not familiar with. His eyes narrow, and his fingers tighten around his elbows in their crossed position. Clearly he is dealing with an interloper.
"I would ask you the same thing," the Dark General's voice booms across the hall before he teleports closer to the stage, directly behinid the green humanoid that is the youma's master. "You and your...creature are intruding upon a Dark Kingdom energy-gathering operation. The penalty for this is death -- unless you have an astonishingly good reason." Nephrite raises an eyebrow. There is honestly very little that the alien could tell him to merit his life being spared, but he is compelled to ask him anyway. All the better to learn what competition Dark Fall faces in regards to human energy.
Before he can hear an answer, though, he feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and he teleports himself away from the action in time to avoid the hail of attacks that come Viol's way. The feminine youma successfully dispatches the first, summoning a thicking whip of horsehair to cut cleanly through the blast of orange, but is not so lucky with the remainder. Superheated gems batter her feet and scorch her wooden torso, while a runic spell makes contact with her arm. With a feral yell, she shakes it off before it can enact its more disabling magic; however, the damage it has done does not go away, leaving the symbols carved into the wood of her arm.
There's thunder, too. She does not take notice of it, having not been its target. But Nephrite does.
And it makes him smile.
"Viol! Eliminate the interloper and kill the magical girls -- but leave the Senshi. I want her alive," he commands the youma, lowering himself into a box seat away from the battle proper. Viol nods, then draws her bow across the strings stretched vertically across her body. The melody is sorrowful, corrosive to the spirit of all who hear. It will not do direct damage to mind or body -- but without the will to fight on, how will the fighters resist her at all?
COMBAT: Nephrite has used Air of Sorrow on Ren Aizawa. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Air of Sorrow on Princess Runealy. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Air of Sorrow on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Nephrite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Nephrite's Air of Sorrow, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates! Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter fails to brace Nephrite's Air of Sorrow, taking 0 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Princess Runealy perfectly counters Nephrite's Air of Sorrow, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! Princess Runealy's Reverse ability activates! Princess Runealy's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Princess Runealy's counterattack, Aegis Burst, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nephrite!
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Ail floats above the fray and begins his 'discussion' with the man he considers an interloper to -his- operation. Ail shows him neither fear, nor confusion, continuing to speak with the air of royalty being intruded upon by peasantry or lower servants - something Nephrite is probably familiar with.
"Dark Kingdom... sorry to inform you, but from the moment my feet graced this earth the only relevant royal family was mine. Back off, or you will find yourself groveling at the feet of the traveling royalty of the galaxy." he adds, finding suitably threatening and overdramatic lines in his mind, likely somewhat drawn from the style of the plays he's been reading recently ever since not getting a callback.
Then he turns to Rune. "I told you why I'm here. I'm here to take the energy I need to survive. And nobody - not you, not this Dork General, nor anyone else, are going to stand between me and what I need to take to ensure the survival of myself and my people. Now, Spirania..."
And at that exact moment, a bolt of energy from Sailor Jupiter comes flying at the creature - and though it distracts her, the clay that makes up her arms is relatively non-conductive and the two sets shield her decently well. "Spirania... Eliminate all the interlopers. Start with the lightning rod... then this interloper's ally. And we'll work our way down."
For Spirania's part, all she can do is scream her name loudly before she engages, using the bottom of her top, which is remarkably top, as a weapon, spinning like a drill into Sailor Jupiter while calling her name out once again, then suddenly launching off of her and diving... at Nephrite's youma!
COMBAT: Ail has used Spin Driver on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Ail has used Driving Punch on Nephrite. COMBAT: Ail has used Spirania! on Ail. COMBAT: Ail has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail accepts Ail's Spirania!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Empower applied to Ail! COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly counters Ail's Driving Punch, taking 11 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Nephrite's counterattack, Col Legno, partially gets through, doing 22 Fatigue damage to Ail! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter fails to dodge Ail's Spin Driver, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
It's hard to keep your focus when a talking bunny hops up and address you directly. Ren falters a bit, eyes wide. "It's you..." She mutters aloud, remembering Gordon from the Valentine's Day fiasco. Isn't he the culinary instructor at Infinty? Yeah... he is! She looks around suddenly, wondering if any of the civilians noticed his presence. As if /that's/ what's important right now.
...Still, his encouraging words are appreciated. Ren nods at him, eyes set. "Yeah!" She isn't sure about the "bad ingredient" part of what he says, but everything else is on point.
Then she hears Rune questioning someone about their presence here, and she turns to lay eyes upon a certain green space elf. No! Not him again! It takes her all not to tear off through the air and smack him good with her scepter, remembering his attack on the theatre previously and his scary determination to get his hands on the pink-haired little girl with the cute red bows. WAIT. Ren takes a moment to look around frantically. She isn't here tonight, is she?! Please please please please no...
The thunderous entrance of Jupiter comes next out of nowhere, the sailor soldier's anger over the evening being ruined resonating through the hall. "Yeah!" Ren finds herself suddenly agreeing, pumping a fist into the air. "You jerks are the worst kind!" She shouts at Ail, the youmas, and the still hidden Nephrite. That should be effective!
But gasp! What's this?! Ail and Nephrite /aren't/ working together?! Ren looks between the two villains, noting Nephrite's unwillingness to play nice and have someone encroach on his territory. And the way he nonchalantly threatens to kill his competition makes Ren frown. This guy really is dangerous!
Viol is prompted into action, intent on murdering them as its master commands. And it doesn't help that Ail commands Spirania to do the same. Even if they are against one another, they can still seem to agree that eliminating the magical girls in the room is a joint priority. How nice. Ren bounds forward towards Viol... only to stop in midair to cover her ears when she begins to play a sorrowful song. "Don't listen everyone!" She shouts, refusing to let herself fall under the spell of the music. Once she's sure she's safe from the effects she continues on her previous path, getting just a few feet away from Viol to launch off a multitude of gems similar to her earlier attack. Except this time when they explode they release a cloud of suffocating golden powder that also stings and burns those enveloped in it. Probably not good for a youma made out of wood, really.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Lustrous Burning on Nephrite. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Gordon [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Gordon nods at Ren, giving her an encouraging if stern look, before he does a hop onto the seat. He sees Sailor Jupiter run in, listening to her call out. The rabbit nods at her, too, and points a paw in her direction. He actually knows this magical girl. They worked against Soular's monster together. "Sailor Jupiter!" he calls out. "Don't let their disrespect bring you down too much! We'll show them why they should never stop service!"
Then he looks back at the two youma, and comes to a realization: the youma are fighting. Gordon's eyes narrow with realization: the youma are at odds! He looks from Viol to Spirania, then his eyes widen with anger. "You both are so concerned with taking what belongs to others that you will fight each other!? This is unacceptable!"
COMBAT: Gordon has used Ma Cuisine on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Gordon has finished attacking. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter accepts Gordon's Ma Cuisine, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sailor Jupiter is Cheered!
<Pose Tracker> Princess Runealy [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
Rune freezes in place as Nephrite appears near Ail. She doesn't recognize him, and has no idea what he looks like... but this man seems to have some real presence and his words leave only a little doubt as to his identity. That doubt is just enough for her guess to be voiced as a question, though. "'Dark Kingdom'? Are you the one who has been..." All sorts of recent events rush through her mind; some she was present for, some she knows about but cannot directly remember, and others she has only heard about. It's hard for her to summarize any given one of those right now, so she goes with: "...been hurting my friends?"
Viol disrupts these conversations. The command is to kill; Runealy is pretty sure Viol could make that happen if given the chance. As low music plays, Rune recalls how some of the Bad End Kingdom's singers can wilt the terrain around them... so even something this unusual could be a real threat to her. The Guardian Princess encases herself in a sparkling red dome, a forcefield that dampens the sound and helps her feel safe within its warmth. Here, she can try to wait it out as though she were within a shelter and the music was a storm. A storm that provides a backdrop for her to listen to Ail, head lowering as he recounts his situation. How he's going to take what he needs for his people to survive.
"I know someone who said that same thing." Rune responds in a soft voice, gaze low. Ail's words hurt, bringing up a lot of recent memories. "She was willing to cross almost any line to save her home... and because of that, she almost destroyed it. I'm not going to stop you from surviving, I don't want to! Just talk to me! Tell me about the people you're here to protect, that you're willing to go this far for!"
Her attention remains split, however. Viol's music is going to become a threat again as the barrier fades, and Rune leaps straight up to aim down at her. A simple shout launches another bright green energy-orb from her wand, though this one splits apart in mid-air to become several tinier versions of itself that try to 'pepper' the youma!
COMBAT: Princess Runealy has used Scatter Orb on Nephrite. COMBAT: Princess Runealy has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Prism Keeper Orange watches as the various heroes all assemble AND..mostly gang up on the violin youma. Maybe they're all scared of the giant... baby doll horror creature like she is. What. That won't do!. She needs to girl up! She needs to get messy! SHE NEEDS TO BE A PRISM KEEPER she thinks. But, not yet. She still has an excuse not to engage that horrible nightmare!
Mainly, seeing this thing blast Jupiter with a powerful strike of some sort. This makes her eyes go wide. Not Sailor Jupiter. She still has to meet Mei and herself before anything terrible happens--- she means! She's a defender of love and justice and needs help! Well. They all do, it seems perhaps!
Prism Keeper Orange summons her Chroma Wand and holds it above her head and spins it around as a sparkling dazzling array of light appears around the other fighters, hopefully giving them a sense of vigor, also, an orange koi follows around after the spinning away of lights.
Because cute fish make you forget about HORRIBLE EVIL DOLLS.
Orange is kind of trying to not look directly at that thing, but she knows she HAS to sooner or later.
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Prism Power! on Ren Aizawa. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Prism Power! on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Prism Power! on Princess Runealy. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Prism Power!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Empower applied to Sailor Jupiter! COMBAT: Princess Runealy accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Prism Power!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Empower applied to Princess Runealy! COMBAT: Ren Aizawa accepts Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Prism Power!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower applied to Ren Aizawa! COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly braces Princess Runealy's Scatter Orb, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Nephrite's Block ability activates! Nephrite's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly counters Ren Aizawa's Lustrous Burning, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Exhausted applied to Nephrite! COMBAT: Nephrite's counterattack, On The String, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Ren Aizawa! Stagger applied to Ren Aizawa!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Viol's lament washes over Sailor Jupiter, a toxic melody that seems to touch all of the raw places in Makoto's heart. It makes her shudder - but rather than bow underneath it, the green-clad senshi glares up at Nephrite all the more fiercely. "Don't think we'll let you just do whatever you want, Nephrite!"
...unfortunately, while Jupiter's so focused on the Dark General, she's not paying nearly enough attention to Ail and his Cardian. The drill comes flying at her and she realizes it only just in time to turn before it slams into her full-force, knocking her off her feet and bowling her into the seats behind her with a breathtaking impact.
"...nnh..." Sprawled over the seats, Jupiter grimaces, sucks in a breath. That HURT. At Gordon's encouragement, though, she drags herself up again, recovering her feet in time for the Prism Keeper's light to shower over her and further invigorate her.
"--right," she says, tipping her head in a quick nod of thanks to the rabbit chef and to Prism Keeper Orange. "Thanks." A green boot plants onto one of the seats; she climbs up to stand braced with one foot in the seat and the other on its back, adding a little bit more to her already considerable height. "Let's do this, everyone!" Even as she says it, a wind is already picking up around her, swirling with sparkling orange petals that soon become a torrent, rushing toward the doll-like Cardian to engulf it in a blizzard of color and fragrance.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Flower Hurricane on Ail. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail narrowly dodges Sailor Jupiter's Flower Hurricane, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Ail's Fade ability activates! Blind, Stun, and Trap applied to Ail! <Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Who does this boy think he is, that he dares to taunt the Dark Kingdom so?
Nephrite had been expecting a respectful grovel from the alien when he admonished him -- and had that happened, he might have been inclined to let him live, though his youma and its stolen energy would still be summarily destroyed. But now -- /now/ he is truly angered. He straightens out of his semi-relaxed seated posture, not quite standing up yet, but the muscles of his hands and face tensed in restrained emotion.
"The survival of your people is irrelevant, doubly so now that you have made an enemy of the great Dark Kingdom," he all but growls, meeting Ail with a stare that could draw blood. "You are a sorry species if you are what they have to show for 'royalty.' Viol!" he calls out, looking downwards towards his youma. "Move the destruction of that pathetic creature to first priority. The magical warriors will be prove to be our ally in this cause," he looks to the small group of fighters, centering on Sailor Jupiter, and smiles a wickedly poisonous smile. "Won't you?"
Her last attack not hitting its mark with any of her targets, Viol lets out a groan of frustration and removes the bow from her strings, returning it to its purpose as a sword. Almost immediately, the Cardian comes hurtling toward her -- but she is prepared. Flipping the bow in her hand so that the wooden edge is facing outward, the youma swings it at the incoming threat, perhaps with a bit too much force. The damaged wood of her shoulders *snaps* with the effort, sending cracks like fault lines down her upper arm. But she does not fail to hit the enemy, and it goes flying away with the force of the blow.
And, once again, she is assailed by the mage and the princess, a cloud of golden dust seeping into her wooden skin and tiny green orbs eating away at her like so many termites. Pained, Viol growls and shoots a metal string towards the source of the golden cloud, aiming to hog-tie her hands and feet together; alas, the orbs vanish before she can identify who cast them. Her current state is entirely unacceptable. It's time for a little upkeep.
She conjures a waxy yellow gem-like object in her right hand, one that anyone familiar with string instruments would recognize as rosin. In its mundane form, it is used to increase friction between bow and string. Here, it is something of a panacea for the youma's injuries. Viol crushes the chunk of wax in one hand, and her wounds begin to close up, her bow-sword tightening and becoming more evidently sharpened. Woe to the person who she targets in this state.
Fortunately for the magical girls, it is not one of their own. The youma leaps towards her competition, slashing with her makeshift sword in an attempt to decapitate her. After all, there can only be one top dog in the orchestra -- and that role belongs to her.
COMBAT: Nephrite has used Caccia on Ail. COMBAT: Nephrite has used How Ironic on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Resin on Nephrite. COMBAT: Nephrite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite accepts Nephrite's Resin, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Empower applied to Nephrite! Cleanse! All of Nephrite's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter perfectly braces Nephrite's How Ironic, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Brace! Sailor Jupiter's Block ability activates! Sailor Jupiter's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Ail fails to counter Nephrite's Caccia, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Cripple applied to Ail! COMBAT: Ail's counterattack, Rapid Spin, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nephrite!
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Ail regards the Dark General and smiles. Irony was another thing he'd picked up on recently, and he makes an all-too-overstated bow to Nephrite. "Oh, my apologies." He leans up, pushing his long blue hair back where it falls perfectly behind his shoulders. "Whatever." His immaturity shines through. "Ladies, I think we can all agree on one thing - this man and his crude attitude, with his ridiculous creature, are defiling a fight we should be having amongst ourselves - lets send him packing and then..." he looks directly at Rune "we can resolve this amongst ourselves in whatever way we see fit. But he's quite a distraction now."
The youma is directly attacked during all of this, and its attempt to spin through the attack only results in the creature taking more damage from the blade - perhaps it is distracted by the flower petals zipping around it. "Lets eliminate this horrible creature and it's equally horrible master, Spirania." Another exaggerated hand motion and the creature is off, howling its name and gathering energy from the vicinity as it spins in toward one of the girls, bouncing off to strike at Nephrite's youma.
COMBAT: Ail has used Wide-Area Energy Siphon on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Ail has used Wide-Area Energy Siphon on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Ail has used Wide-Area Energy Siphon on Gordon. COMBAT: Ail has used Rapid Spin on Princess Runealy. COMBAT: Ail has used Driving Punch on Nephrite. COMBAT: Ail has finished attacking. COMBAT: Gordon narrowly dodges Ail's Wide-Area Energy Siphon, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Diversion applied to Gordon! COMBAT: Nephrite fails to brace Ail's Driving Punch, taking 17 Fatigue damage! <Pose Tracker> Gordon [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
The rabbit jumps as Spirania begins to drain energy. Gordon doesn't quite get over it in time; he still feels some energy drained away, when he lands on an armrest. He glowers at Spirania, then turns to face the Dark General.
Gordon points a paw at Nephrite. "Don't think that we will help you! We'll defeat both of you! We're opposed to both of you! And besides, look at your youma!"
He jabs a paw in its direction. "The grip on its sword is all wrong! You should hold your knife with pride, not with a waxy grip--" Yes, he just used the presence of wax to make this argument. "--like that! And the eyes, the look of that youma..."
He shakes his head. "It's without the spirit and heart that go into a true performer! This is a pale imitation of what a virtuoso can do, and even I, a chef, can see and hear that!"
COMBAT: Gordon has used Bad Oyster on Nephrite. COMBAT: Gordon has finished attacking. COMBAT: Princess Runealy narrowly braces Ail's Rapid Spin, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Princess Runealy's Block ability activates! Princess Runealy's Parry ability activates! Bind Break! All of Ail's debuffs are cleared! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly counters Ail's Wide-Area Energy Siphon, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Diversion applied to Prism Keeper Orange! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orange Crush, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Ail! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly counters Ail's Wide-Area Energy Siphon, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Diversion applied to Sailor Jupiter! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter's counterattack, Jupiter Thunderbolt, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Ail! Ail is Quipped! COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly counters Gordon's Bad Oyster, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Nephrite is Quipped! COMBAT: Nephrite's counterattack, Horsehair Whip, partially gets through, doing 2 Fatigue damage to Gordon!
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Prism Keeper Orange looks at Nephrite, who ... now seeks thier aid!? And to Ail who... ALSO now seeks thier aid!? One jerk is a handsome man with an evil violin youma. The OTHER guy is also a handsome man with an evil horrible night of a doll youma. She looks at one. The other. The other one... and. Wait. Why ... why is she even arguing this point in her head! They're both evil and both want to drain energy! One evil isn't more better than the other.
"I think you're both big huge dumb jerks!" she calls out, finally. She raises her chroma wand to try to raise a counter burst against the wave of energy drain as the horror spins on by!, but fails, in part, as something wicked washes over here. Since winces heavily, as she frowns... looking over to Jupiter. "Ah! You can do this!...I mean, everyone can!" she says as she glares at Ail's creature. Yeah. Time to start being brave and not afraid of the horrors of the magical world.
She points her wand forward, and vibrant, orange koi conjure around it and fly off after it, aiming to try to crash into it!
COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used FINale on Ail. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Ren isn't sure how Jupiter is faring against the Cardian. Until she takes a peek in that direction, anyway. Guilt washes over her immediately, causing her to turn away from Viol. "Heraut! She needs help!"
<IT SEEMS OUR ALLIES ARE ALREADY DOING SO.>
Gordon and Prism Keeper Orange lend a much needed hand to Jupiter -- with the latter also going so far as to extend her warming light onto her and Rune, too. And /then/ Jupiter jumps and and unleashes what looks like a storm of flower petals onto Spirania. Woah.
Of course Viol responds to being hit with a burning dust cloud by firing back. Ren isn't able to react before she's hit, and is flung directly back into one of the unoccupied front row seats. "Ouch ouch ouch..." She hisses under her breath, kicking off into the air to hover above the stage where the living violing is situated. She's vaguely aware of Nephrite hanging out in one of the box seats, likely sitting there with arms crossed and smiling with smug satisfaction. Jerk to the max!
"Alright. Time to switch it up..." Ren turns and flies directly for the Cardian, and flicks her scepter at it. A Midchildan circle appears beneath its feet, and pretty soon it'll find itself encased in a glittering gem prison if it's not quick enough...
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Spinel Coffin on Ail. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail fails to dodge Ren Aizawa's Spinel Coffin, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Tangle applied to Ail!
<Pose Tracker> Princess Runealy [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
Rune is taken by surprise as orange light - and a fish(!?) - swirl past her, serving as a contrast to the green light from dark seals that she has come to be very worried about. A quick look around suggests the orange-colored Prism Keeper is to credit for this, and Runealy tosses a thankful nod her way.
'Let's do this', Jupiter urges. It's probably well-meaning, and Runealy thinks well of her - Jupiter seems to be a Sailor Senshi in the same vein as Moon, V, Mars, and Mercury - but right now the Guardian Princess just isn't sure what exactly she wants to do. The man she presumes is Nephrite is here; part of her wants to try to take a shot at him. It's extremely tempting, and impossible for her to forget what he has done so far: Tampering with her collection of letters from mother, creating a monster from the energy that drained out of Rune. Worse than that, she heard of how he nearly killed Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon! Maybe there's a chance she could stop him from doing that ever again, right here and now!
Yet Viol is a huge obstacle to those urges, making it hard for Runealy to really go for Nephrite. His threats to Ail end up having an impact on her, a jolt-shudder and gasp coming as Nephrite talks down on survival. She doesn't know who Ail's people are, she knows nothing of his home... but Rune has a very personal guess about how that will come across to him; she remembers how she felt when far more well-meaning, gentler remarks that were even slightly like that were made to her mere months ago.
Yet Ail seems to take it far better than Rune ever did, with his bow and smile. Ail faces her, and her gaze widens from the eye contact. This surprises her so much that Runealy almost doesn't notice Spirania in time. Almost; a startled "huh!?" right as the cardian enters her vision is accompanied by a flash of dome-forcefield, deflecting the spinning attack. Gordon speaks (which is novel to her; rabbits talk? Since when?), and Runealy appreciates the spirit in his words. He seems very proud of skills that take a long time to develop, whether it's cooking or musical talent. Rune has nothing to say about it just yet, but it does stick in her mind.
Despite everything going on, Rune begins a series of sideways jumps meant to bring her closer to Ail. She's not aiming at him, though. Her wand remains pointed at Viol. This time, a simple thin red beam fires from it... nothing spectacular, merely an attempt to keep up the pressure while she gathers her thoughts.
COMBAT: Ail fails to brace Prism Keeper Orange's FINale, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Prism Keeper Orange is Psyched! COMBAT: Princess Runealy has used Basic Beam on Nephrite. COMBAT: Princess Runealy has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite perfectly dodges Princess Runealy's Basic Beam, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Sailor Jupiter's chin lifts when Nephrite shoots that mocking smile her way, and if she was angry before, now she's fairly alight with fury, standing tall upon the symphony hall's seats, sparks crackling between her fingers.
"Both of you SHUT UP!" She flings a hand out beside her as she shouts upwards, tracing arcs of electricity in the air; Spirania may try to drain Jupiter's energy, but all the Cardian gets from her for its trouble is a jolt of raw voltage. "We're not helping EITHER of you! We're helping THEM - the people who you're trying to hurt! And I won't give up until we've stopped you BOTH!"
She springs from her perch on the seats, and as Ren and Prism Keep Orange turn their efforts toward the Cardian, as Runealy fires on Viol, Sailor Jupiter charges the stage - gathers herself and leaps - and whirls in the air to bring down her fist on the youma in a trail of lightning like a tiny comet.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Lightning Fist on Nephrite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly counters Sailor Jupiter's Lightning Fist, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter is Psyched! COMBAT: Nephrite's counterattack, Col Legno, partially gets through, doing 25 Fatigue damage to Sailor Jupiter!
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
"Fool," Nephrite spits out under his breath, relaxing into his chair once again. None of these wastrels is showing him -- or the Dark Kingdom -- the proper respect; he expected that from the petulant magical girls, but to meet such blatant resistance from an unaffiliated party is jarring. And, of course, none of the so-called 'good' warriors on the stage below has the good sense to team up against the Cardian, so he (well, Viol) will be fighting this on their own.
No matter. As if a creature as asinine as that could pose a threat to a Dark General's youma.
Meanwhile, Viol is wrapped up in checking over her body for cracks and splinters. She has to be in prime condition, after all. If she isn't, then her tone won't be right, and she'll never be able to perform for Queen Beryl and Nephrite-sama--
Her thoughts are interrupted as the Cardian barrles into her like a cannonball, sending her flying several feet backwards. Her wooden casing groans under the weight, bits of her shoulders chipping off as she makes contact with the far wall. Shrieking at the /nerve/ of such an attack, the youma pulls out her sword-bow at stabs it towards the Cardian, the tip sharpening as she does so in order to obey her will.
Nephrite watches this passively from above, not quite moved enough to intervene -- when something among the emptied seats catches his eye. And his ears, for it is a talking rabbit that is hurling insults at him, of all things. He blinks once in pure surprise, then settles into a condescending smirk.
"As if Viol and I are swayed by the critique of vermin," he gloats, sitting back in his chair leisurely. That is, before he sees his monster strike at the rabbit out of the corner of his eye, the whip of horsehair smacking the side of his head accusingly.
...it appears Viol's ego is a little more easily hurt than Nephrite's. (And, truth be told, that is saying something.)
"I tire of this nonsensical back-and-forth," the Dark General says firmly, rising at last to his full height. "Lay waste to this pretender and the resistance. And--"
Here he interrupts himself, teleporting down to the field of battle in a flash, just in time to catch and hold Jupiter's lightning fist, holding her gaze menacingly, "--do make sure the Senshi stays alive. Nominally, at least." He pushes her backward, aiming to throw her across the hall.
"Viol!" the youma cries out in obedience, dragging its bow across the strings in an unholy screech of metal. They didn't like her music? Fine -- she will show them the pain that she can truly wreak with sound.
COMBAT: Nephrite has used Caccia on Ail. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Sawing Screech on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Sawing Screech on Princess Runealy. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Sawing Screech on Ren Aizawa. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Violin Screech on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Nephrite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly counters Nephrite's Sawing Screech, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Ren Aizawa's counterattack, Quartz Guard, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nephrite! COMBAT: Princess Runealy narrowly counters Nephrite's Sawing Screech, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Princess Runealy's Reverse ability activates! Princess Runealy's Tactician ability activates! COMBAT: Princess Runealy's counterattack, Aegis Burst, partially gets through, doing 6 Fatigue damage to Nephrite! Critical Counterhit! COMBAT: Ail narrowly counters Nephrite's Caccia, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Ail's Reverse ability activates! Cripple applied to Ail! COMBAT: Ail's counterattack, Four Arms Assault, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Nephrite! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly braces Nephrite's Sawing Screech, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter's Block ability activates! Sailor Jupiter's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange perfectly counters Nephrite's Violin Screech, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nephrite!
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
As the doll-top-cardian-creature-thing careens through the air, taking wisps of energy with it to charge its punch, it bounces firmly off one girl and into the creature's body. Then, as it bounces off from its attack, it is in no position to defend itself from Ren's crystal coffin, which slows its spinning down substantially, and prompts the creature to take a few of the orange koi to the face before it can get its arms up to shield itself the rest of the way. It stops whirling long enough to see Nephrite's youma driving into it, and begins to frantically flail its arms about, hoping to blunt the assault - though the attack itself is ineffective, the creature does succeed at slapping some of Viol's delicate frame.
"Have fun with the thundering one, Dork General." is all Ail says. "And you should know the score, girls." He adds, and seems to spend particular time addressing Rune. "If you stand against me, I will do all I can to knock you down." he continues. There's a palpable tinge of remorse in his voice though. "Stand down, and deal with the one who is truly threatening your life. I only want energy - this savage and his pet seem to want to demand far more."
As if to accentuate his point, and to firmly try to settle himself in the camp of 'less bad' at least for now, his next command to Spirania seems more reserved. "Gather energy, weaken the girls, and let us end this fight, Spirania, before it gets out of hand. This man is too dangerous, and I extend that to his pet as well." he adds with yet another flourish.
Spirania complies, whirling herself up into a frenzy, then crashing again into the Violin-youma, trailing her four hands behind her, grabbing out at the energetic Prism Keeper, trying to sap more energy to keep herself in the melee despite the continued assaults of fish, noise, lasers and lightning.
COMBAT: Ail has used Energy Drain on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Ail has used Rapid Spin on Nephrite. COMBAT: Ail has used Spirania! on Ail. COMBAT: Ail has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail accepts Ail's Spirania!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Empower applied to Ail! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange perfectly counters Ail's Energy Drain, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange's counterattack, Orangella Obfuscation, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Ail! COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly braces Ail's Rapid Spin, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Nephrite's Block ability activates! Nephrite's Parry ability activates! Bind Break! All of Ail's debuffs are cleared!
<Pose Tracker> Princess Runealy [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
Rune doesn't get much to directly go on in regard to Nephrite. No blatant admission of the things she has been wondering about, no gloating about various events on her mind. Instead, he introduces a new thing to worry about by reiterating his desire to see 'the resistance' killed... and for Sailor Jupiter to be kept alive (but not well, it seems?). Why would he want that, specifically?
She won't get to find out right now, not when Viol is causing wrenching metal noises. Noises that are sharp enough to hurt, to make her cringe and put herself behind another forcefield to try to insulate herself from any more noise. It only partially works, but Rune dismisses some of her barrier and uses what remains of it to form another thin beam; this gets sent at Viol.
Ail's reasoning actually seems to be getting through to her to some extent. Her head shakes several times, yet the Guardian Princess' response is not completely condemning. "I can't just let you keep doing this, but I'm not trying to be your enemy either! You're talking about surviving! The difference between living or dying, not just taking what you want because you think it's fun. I understand how you feel!" Her free hand tries to reach out in Ail's general direction, pleading: "But we're not 'insects' or 'batteries' or anything like that! Stop calling us that, and maybe we can find some way to focus on what really matters!"
Despite nitpicking on the details, she is to some extent on Ail's side in this by making no effort to attack Spirania. Rune's wand remains firmly aimed at Viol, cutting loose with three more red rays fired one after another!
COMBAT: Princess Runealy has used Beam Volley on Nephrite. COMBAT: Princess Runealy has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Prism Keeper Orange watches incoming attacks coming into her.... from that violin youma, in a screeching wail it lets loose, and that horrible creature most that is most certainly causing nightmares for a certain ten year old later on tonight. She raises her wand and holds it out as she summons up a wave of orange koi, circling around her in a dizzying fashion! They absorb the wail, causing some to dissapte, while the others are left behind as she floats backwards as the koi threaten to collapse inward. She leaves them to thier fishy fate, perhaps with a little sad frown. But... they're just magic. She was just THROWING them at the creature earlier. So this bit of sadness doesn't last too long.
She grits her teeth. "STOP ARGUING WHO'S WORSE! YOU'RE BOTH HORRIBLE ATTACKING A CONCERT HALL TO D-.. TO DRAIN ENERGY YOU!... YOU!..."
"DARKHEARTED DORKS!" she yells out at the top of her lungs as she throws the hand holding her wand forward in a cast motion was an orange wave rocks out, trying to weaken the utterly horribly creature of Ail's.
COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly dodges Princess Runealy's Beam Volley, taking 16 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has used Orange Diffusion on Ail. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail narrowly counters Prism Keeper Orange's Orange Diffusion, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Ail's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Ail's counterattack, Drive Tornado, partially gets through, doing 13 Fatigue damage to Prism Keeper Orange!
<Pose Tracker> Gordon [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
"I'm no vermin! Vermin are filthy creatures that dirty reputable establishments. I'm a master chef of the Blue Ribbon Society, and a certified expert in excellent service!" Gordon retorts back at Nephrite. "And this is anything but!"
Then Gordon turns, looking at Ail, and he shakes his head. "I don't think so!" the rabbit says. "You're making an excuse -- saying what you do isn't as bad, but you're still robbing energy from people. You have to be accountable for your own actions, and robbing people of their energy is never right!"
COMBAT: Gordon has used Bad Oyster on Ail. COMBAT: Gordon has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Battling two youma is still proving to be tricky. Though Ren successfully tags the Cardian with her attack, she ultimately lowers her defenses when it comes to the living instrument. Thankfully enough, Souverain Heraut is on the case, the golden gem on the scepter pulsing mightily as it senses the incoming sonic assault.
<QUARTZ GUARD.>
Ren turns towards the violin youma with widened eyes, holding out a hand instinctively. White light forms a solid barrier in front of her that takes the force of the hit. It holds well-enough -- though ultimately cracks -- then shatters, and Ren cringes as her ears are minimally assaulted with the godawful screech. There's a ringing left behind that she has to shake her head to clear, but she's alright.
...But having to hear Nephrite and Ail go on and on is starting to grate. Is this how bad guys act when they blatantly try to one-up each other? It's pretty unbearable! And she doesn't seem to be the only person who is sick of it, going by Prism Keeper Orange's outburst. Little girls sure can be violent when provoked.
"I think they're going to tire us out with their arguing before anything else..." Ren sighs.
<THEY ARE FOOLS.> Souverain Heraut states, clearly as fed-up as his master. <WE MUST BRING THIS FARCE TO A CLOSE.>
Ren chooses to show her agreement by flipping forward to bring her scepter down upon Ail's Cardian. Bam. Take that.
COMBAT: Ail narrowly braces Gordon's Bad Oyster, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Ail is Quipped! Ail's Block ability activates! COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Magical Burst on Ail. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail narrowly dodges Ren Aizawa's Magical Burst, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Ail's Fade ability activates! Stagger applied to Ail!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
"Wh--" Instead of smashing into the youma as she'd anticipated, Sailor Jupiter finds her flying punch cut abruptly short by Nephrite's grip as the Dark General is suddenly RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. Her eyes go wide with shock--
--and then she's flying through the air again, this time in an uncontrolled tumble that ends with her crashing unceremoniously to the floor in the middle of the central aisle, rolling several times before she comes to rest on her side with a groan.
At least she didn't land in the seats this time. Gritting her teeth, Jupiter braces both hands on the floor and pushes herself up again; once she's onto her knees, she lifts her head, eyes searching the field of battle to gauge the state of her allies, their enemies. Indecision flickers across her face, there and gone in the space of a heartbeat before she heaves herself back up onto her feet once more.
There are no more words from the Sailor Senshi. She's all out, and anyway the others have said everything she could have. Instead she raises her arms, holding them out to either side of her to once again call on the wind and send a swirling torrent of petals at Viol.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Flower Hurricane on Nephrite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly counters Sailor Jupiter's Flower Hurricane, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Stun and Trap applied to Nephrite! COMBAT: Nephrite's counterattack, On The String, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Sailor Jupiter! Trap applied to Sailor Jupiter!
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
"You waste your time," Nephrite calls down to Ail as he makes a plea towards the warriors to stand down against his absurd top-doll monster. "Have you truly not learned by now that these types do not listen to reason? I took you for a fool already, but you seem bent on proving that to me regardless."
Of course, 'reason' to him means 'unconditional surrender' -- the diplomacy that Rune is attempting is laughable. He chuckles dryly, perched on the railing of bow seat he sat in minutes ago. "Pathetic. What damage do you think your words do, girl? If you seek to enforce your will, prove it with force. That is the only true way to ensure obedience."
Unfortunately, he failed to see that Rune was *not* going fully diplomatic, and Viol finds herself on the receiving end of both the Cardian's spin and three rapid-fire beams of magic, each forcing her futher back on the stage, knocking down stands and crushing strewn instruments in her wake. A large crack snakes its way along her torso, parallel with the strings that allow her to play music -- and any hope of playing well again is ruined. Viol half-squawks, half-screams at its discovery, and she conjures a block of rosin in her hand to go about fixing it.
"Cease that at once!" Nephrite responds, shooting it out of her hand with a bolt of black lightning. "Your health is not our objective here. Act outside of my orders again and I will make no effort to save you from these," he glances backwards to the fighters, "*threats.*"
He doesn't like acknowledging the strength of his foes, but when it is obvious, it is unwise to ignore it.
Viol nods, nothing if not unfailingly loyal. She lifts her sword in one hand only to find herself assailed by hurricane-force winds, the petals carried along by them wedging themselves inside her and inhibiting her movement greatly. It would be easy enough to fix that, if Nephrite would allow her to patch herself up. But...if he will not...
The youma darts out as fast as her legs will carry her, aiming to hit the foreign princess and the Prism Keeper with a wide arc of her sword. Then, in a fluid motion, she flips it to the wooden side and brings it down over Jupiter's head.
That's the order, right? Nominally alive?
COMBAT: Nephrite has used Caccia on Princess Runealy. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Caccia on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Nephrite has used Col Legno on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Nephrite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Princess Runealy narrowly braces Nephrite's Caccia, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Princess Runealy's Block ability activates! Princess Runealy's Parry ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The Cardian turns rapidly, whipping up a tornado and urging it on to crash against the wave from Prism Keeper Orange - and it does more than that, dissapating the attack completly and crashing against the Prism Keeper hard. The speed of its revolution causes it to shoot off like an uncontrolled rocket when Ren's magical burst heads its way, and it rolls through aisles between the chairs for a good long while, the eyes in its doll-like head spinning.
"Oh, you're a master chef, are you?" Ail asks, only having become recently aware of what food is, and still having not experienced it himself, through cultural osmosis he has gathered the general idea of what a Chef is. "Do you cook meat? Do you feel remorse for the ingredients you eat in the food you cook to survive?" he asks, his voice growing far past indignant and directly to rage, pointed at the little creature.
Then, he turns around. "Do any of you?! You think you're so much better than me, so good, so protective. You're just lying to yourselves. You want to survive, I want to survive. But when I try to reach a comprimise that allows us both to survive for only a small donation of energy, you rise up to fight me, saying you'd rather..." he almost seems to choke up on a combination of rage and sadness. "You'd rather see me and the last of my race die for the sake of a little ENERGY THAT DOESN'T EVEN KILL YOU?!" His fists shake, though he knows he's still too weak and wounded from his last fight to engage himself, he still seems outwardly very ready.
"And YOU!" he turns to Nephrite. "Fighting in the service of some Dark kingdom like some sort of warlord without values - you're as bad as they are. Really, who goes around advertising themselves as a member of an actual 'Dark Kingdom'?" He seems to quickly go from angry to visibly exhausted. "Spirania! Mop this up. I grow weary of the hypocracy being perpetrated here by all sides. When they regain consciousness they can continue to fight amongst themselves if they so desire."
COMBAT: Ail has used Spin Driver on Prism Keeper Orange. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter fails to counter Nephrite's Col Legno, taking 41 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter is unable to keep fighting! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter's counterattack, Supreme Suplex, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Nephrite! COMBAT: Ail has used Energy Drain on Nephrite. COMBAT: Ail has used Driving Punch on Ren Aizawa. COMBAT: Ail has finished attacking. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly braces Nephrite's Caccia, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Prism Keeper Orange's Block ability activates! Prism Keeper Orange's Parry ability activates! Cripple applied to Prism Keeper Orange! COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange narrowly braces Ail's Spin Driver, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Prism Keeper Orange's Block ability activates! Prism Keeper Orange's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Ail's Driving Punch, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates! Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Nephrite narrowly braces Ail's Energy Drain, taking 2 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Nephrite's Block ability activates! Nephrite's Parry ability activates! Exhausted applied to Nephrite!
<Pose Tracker> Princess Runealy [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
"'What damage'?" Rune repeats, stunned. "I don't want my words to hurt him! And I'm not trying to beat him into being my... my... my minion!" She's definitely rejecting Nephrite's take on the situation. Doubly so when he attacks his own 'minion' for showing any interest in self-preservation; that strikes her as shockingly cruel, enough so to make her recoil a step and gasp at the realization!
That takes her somewhat off-balance as Viol rushes in, blade swinging. Runealy's wand is brought up to meet it, but Viol has the advantage of momentum and Rune's defense only serves to knock it somewhat off-course. It manages to glance her side, enough to make a noticeable cut! Her hurt cry is a clear sign she felt it, even if that's far preferable to what could have otherwise been a lethal slash.
Even as the Guardian Princess staggers back and tries to get some space, Ail's concerns tear through her heart. "I don't think I'm better than you, and this isn't about valuing some principle over lives! This is going to sound ridiculous, but what you're doing now can go far more wrong than you'd ever imagine! Just let me explain!"
Yet explanations are hard to give in the middle of a battle. While Viol's mistreatment tugs at Rune's conscience, what little she knows of seal-spawned monsters suggests there may only be so much anyone can do for it. With all this talk of a Dark Kingdom, Runealy decides it's worth trying demon-sealing magic in this case. Leaping away to get some space, her wand traces a glowing white circle in the air. "This has to stop! Wardliiight..." That chant turns the circle into a dome of bright white light, expanding until it's wide enough to potentially engulf Viol. "Epilogue!" The dome launches, attempting to catch and entrap the youma. If it does so, gold light begins to flood within the seal... expanding wider, brighter... until it fills the dome and bursts!
COMBAT: FINISHER! Princess Runealy has used Wardlight Epilogue on Nephrite. COMBAT: Princess Runealy has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nephrite fails to brace Princess Runealy's Finisher, Wardlight Epilogue, taking 120 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
As the Cardian spins around like a mad top, Ren feels the frustration start to set in. How much longer could they all keep this up? Something has to give, eventually. And she doesn't want it to be anyone on their team. The more they toy around with these youma and their masters, the more they were opening themselves up to being-
And then it happens. Jupiter is hit hard again. But this time? It's straight up lights out for the sailor soldier.
No. No. No no no no no!
"That's enough..." It's said lowly, and probably not heard by anyone. So, she repeats it, bellowing it aloud. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Her rage is directed at Ail and his Cardian. "You... you..."
Her scepter glows brightly as she swings it out in front of her. <GEMLIGHT...>
There's a pause as a Midchildan runic circle opens up right at the tip of her device, spinning madly as it glows the same bright white.
"GO!"
<...FUSILLADE!>
The entire scepter bucks back in rapid succession as a stream of golden mana-infused globules are fired off, rushing towards the Cardian. They'll explode on impact. And then /keep/ exploding until there is nothing left to explode anymore.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Ren Aizawa has used Gemlight Fusillade on Ail. COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The storm of flower petals has just begin to die out when Viol makes her charge, the sweep of the youma's sword cutting the last fluttering petals out of her path. Sailor Jupiter has only just begun to recover her stance when she sees the violin monster coming; with only a split second to make a decision, Jupiter throws herself forward to meet Viol's charge, a reckless bid to come in under that downward swing and bring the youma to the ground.
The sword comes down.
Jupiter is not quite fast enough.
Her vision whites out when the wood slams into her head, and Sailor Jupiter drops, collapsing to the floor as her legs buckle underneath her and her own momentum carries her down. She ends up sprawled on the aisle's carpet, limbs slack, stars dancing across her vision - still conscious, barely, but it's clear she won't be getting right back up from that.
COMBAT: Ail narrowly braces Ren Aizawa's Finisher, Gemlight Fusillade, taking 68 Fatigue damage! Ail's Block ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Prism Keeper Orange raises her wand and attempts to brace the sword with an vibrant burst of orange light expelling from the wand, expelling it at the attacks of the youma's besetting her. She mostly suceeds, though the sword of Nephrite's musical youma gets through something a little deeper of a cut. She frowns as she has to deal this discomfort, it's not really pleasent, but it doesn't kill her.
Of course, there's Sailor Jupiter, that Prism Keeper Orange watches in abject disbelif as she gets one hell of a hit. She looks over to Ail's stupid whining about how he's better than everyone and deserves energy... "YOU... YOU BLUE HAIRED JERK!" She calls out. "You're not better than anyone here! You deserve nothing right now! NOTHING AT ALL! THIS IS NOT HOW YOU ASK FOR THINGS!" she calls out.
Also, she is ten and knows her pleases and thanks you and 'asking before you take things firsts'.
She brings her wand over her head as she closes her eyes tightly, and calls out the name of the most powerfulest attack she can feel in her heart.
"Prism Aegis Power!... Orange Outburst!"
She then throws her arms downwards as a particularly nasty giant orange-flavored lovebeam blasting through the air towards the horror.
That's still going to give her nightmares tonight despite her bravdo.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Prism Keeper Orange has used Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst! on Ail. COMBAT: Prism Keeper Orange has finished attacking. COMBAT: Ail narrowly dodges Prism Keeper Orange's Finisher, Prism Aegis Power! Orange Outburst!, taking 29 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Ail's Fade ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
*Clunk*
The Senshi standing in front of her drops to the ground as the wooden sword makes contact with her head, and for a second, Viol can only stare. Blink a few times.
...did she just drop a Sailor Senshi?
An incredulous smile begins to light up her face. Yes! She managed to fulfill her master's orders after all! Maybe this means she can--
Her celebratory monologue is cut short before she can even remove her eyes from the fallen Jupiter, for a great dome of white light hits her back and encloses her completely within. She lets out a startled yell, which slowly turns more desperate as the glowing cage fills with yellow light, seeping inside her like acid and eroding her from within. No! No, she can't be defeated! Not like this, when she's not even ready! But alas, the golden light rises over her head and breaks the dome apart, dispelling her dark existence along with it.
For, at the end of the day, she was a creature wholly made of darkness.
Nephrite, however, does not pay attention to any of this, hardly even registers that it is happening. No, he is too busy standing over the collapsed form of Sailor Jupiter, his well-polished black boots just inches away from her face. And his lips contort into a crude, satisfied smile.
"It appears I have underestimated my youma's strength," he says, enjoying every word as he watches his enemy barely cling to consciousness. "Or overestimated yours." That is meant purely to demoralize -- he was not at all disappointed by the fight she put up against the two competing monsters. Luck played no small role in the battle tonight; but then again, that is why he made allies of the stars. "No matter. We shall see what Queen Beryl thinks of you."
The man reaches down in a quick motion and tightly grasps Jupiter's arm, pulling her up to her feet and making to teleport away.
<Pose Tracker> Ail [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
The horde of multicolored gems strikes down at the spinning Cardian, and in reaction, she spins faster, away, batting at them - and as they try to detonate, shielding herself with one pair of hands while defending her body with the other. It works decently well, though the doll-like body is cracked and peices are missing. Then, it narrowly dodges the massive blast of orange, and so narrowly does so that part of its clay and offwhite top and body are tinged a burnt orange.
Ail floats down from his too high perch to land next to his Cardian as she slowly stops spinning. "You did well." He says in a tone that is not exactly kind, though serious. He draws a flute from within his vest and the creature closes its doll-eyes, as a single soft note is playing, then shifting and reverting back to a card with a stylized visage of the cardian on the front face, which he collects from mid-air, flipping it over between his fingers a few times, and, making sure that the girls see it, pushes it into an /entire deck of such things/ he draws from nowhere with a flick of the wrist, and which vanishes just as easily.
"I think I will take my leave as well." Ail announces loudly, and suddenly, like a lash he is off, tearing through the empty concert hall, past Nephrite and Jupiter, but more specifically past Runealy, a lighting quick motion of his hand as he does so, and then he's literally shifting between dimensions - escaping, but not without saying "I'd save your friend from the true villain, ladies..." as a last remark. Then, he's just gone - shifting between dimensions as is his usual escape.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
*HISS*
Steam is vented out of the sides of the scepter as Ren comes down from the adrenaline rush. Her anger is still there, of course. Ail has not been her favorite person for awhile now. When the smoke clears, however, she's floored to see the Cardian still alive. An attack from Prism Keeper Orange isn't enough to down it, either. It's almost enough to make Ren scream.
But there are more pressing matters. Like Nephrite trying to make off with a barely concious Jupiter! "Hey! Stop!" She completely disregards the green space alien and throws caution to the wind to fly over at Nephrite. "LEAVE HER ALONE YOU CREEP!" And with that a kick is aimed at the Dark Kingdom General's head.
<Pose Tracker> Princess Runealy [Ohtori Academy (7)] has posed.
Rune sags in a mix of exhaustion and relief as Viol is wiped out. Whatever sympathy she felt for the mistreated youma is kept in check by the realization that's one less genuine monster that can prey upon people. One less manifestation of, in all likelihood, the pain and obsession a performer went through that gave rise to this creature's existence.
Whatever she might have said to anyone is cut short by several things happening almost simultaneously, though. Ail is there. She wants to talk to him, especially as the concert hall is now much more clear for that sort of thing. Any such hopes are dashed when Nephrite looms over Jupiter; he said he wanted her 'nominally alive'... and that could mean any of several awful things. None of which she'd want anyone to go through. "Stop!" Rune's voice cracks, making it more of a plea than a demand. Even as Ren makes a move on him, Runealy starts to follow her in the hopes of joining in on the effort to interrupt Nephrite's efforts to leave with Jupiter.
Yet Ail manages to stop her all of a stumbling step into that sprint, brushing past her and pressing something to her free hand. A startled "Uh?" follows, a critical moment's distraction that others might have to make up the slack on when it comes to stopping Nephrite.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Sailor Jupiter is still blinking, trying to drag her jangled thoughts into some kind of order and clear the lingering ghosts from her vision when Nephrite seizes her arm and drags her up. She can't seem to make her limbs work as they should; her feet drag uselessly along the carpet, but somehow she musters the effort to move, and with a shaking hand she reaches up to grip Nephrite's forearm, digging her fingers into his sleeve just above the wrist as though she means to pry his hand away.
A breath hisses out of her, sounding almost like a word, and though her eyes are half-focused and watery with pain she glares up at him with a defiant grimace. "I won't--"
(--Jupiter's symbol glowing on her forehead, brighter than a brand--)
Electricity sparks along her fingers, hissing and snapping, voltage crawling through her hand where she's grabbed onto him and her arm where he's got her. She can't begin to direct the charge in the state she's in, and she's not immune to her own lightning; tiny threads of smoke begin to curl up from her gloves, but even so--
(The breath that she hissed through her teeth sounded like 'traitor'.)
<Pose Tracker> Prism Keeper Orange [Juuban Public School (4)] has posed.
Prism Keeper Orange watches as Ail bolts- not catching his neat sleight of hand motion, passing something secretive over to Runealy. She frowns and looks angry, but then that frown and angry look turns into one of fright and alarm as she looks over to what that man is doing to Sailor Jupiter.
"HEY!.... OTHER--- DORK!...." she yells out, casting her wand forward as she sends a wave of koi out.
"P-put her down!" is all she can fish up after that stark namecall as her fish dip and swim through the air, aiming to intersect on Nephrite....and all bump into him repearedly like they were hitting the wall of a fistank repeatedly with thier noses.
This hopefully hurts more than it looks, she secretly thinks.
<Pose Tracker> Nephrite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Nephrite chuckles low in his throat as he sees the Sailor Senshi struggle to find her footing. It's entirely too amusing to have such a powerful warrior at his mercy -- and he has many, many plans for her and her place in the Dark Kingdom, now that he has his hands on her. To kill a soldier is one thing. To /break/ one...that is something else entirely. And he is looking forward to every second.
His internal gloating abruptly stops as she digs her fingernails into his arm and sends a shock that permeates even the armor of his uniform.
He can't stop the cry of pained surprise that escapes him, feeling the flesh underneath the fabric begin to burn. Blue eyes dart to the green ones that abhor him so. This power clearly is clearly not harmless for her, if that expression is any indication. Yet she puts herself through this pain just to spite him?
"You'll regret that, dog," he spits, bringing his other gloved hand to wrest hers away.
(--"I'm sorry, Jupiter," the armored man says as he withdraws his sword, "I gave you your chance."
His eyes are not his own.)
/The damn illusions again--/
Nephrite's innate danger sense sparks, and he looks over his shoulder to see a hail of attacks coming his way from the remaining warriors of the battle. Briefly looking back at Jupiter -- and still being electrified by her -- he curses and disappears totally.
No taunts. No threats. Nothing but the silence of the near-empty concert hall.
It seems the Dark General has, for once, been left speechless.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
One minute that smug jerk is there, about to whisk Jupiter away to no doubt do terrible, jerky things to her.
And then the next minute, he's gone.
Ren stops short, righting herself in midair as she blinks. "Oh." Is all she says before floating back down to the ground, landing near Jupiter. She then rushes over to lay hands on the hurt senshi.
"Are you alright? He didn't do anything to you before he left, did he? I tried to get over here as fast as I could..."
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (8)] has posed.
Freed, Jupiter sinks down onto her knees and just kind of... sits there for a bit. A last spark fizzles and dies at her fingertips as she looks up at Ren, blinking a few more times to try to bring her eyes into focus.
"...I'm all right," she says, after a slow and careful breath. A hand comes up gingerly to her head where the youma smacked her. "--ugh." Yep, still hurts. "Thanks, everyone." One by one, her eyes seek out the other magical warriors, a look full of shame and gratitude.
