2014-11-04 - Blackest Ink
| Title: Blackest Ink | |
|---|---|
| Summary: There's yet another ominous shop, yet another case of customers being sapped of energy, yet another reason to investigate. The magical girls are getting tired of this routine. So is Jadeite. | |
| Who: Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, La Sirene du Nord, Cute Wolf Tsukiko, Scarlet Rune Maiden, Utena Tenjou, Eri Shimanouchi, Lera Camry | |
| Where: Shibuya Shopping Ward | |
| OOC - IC Date: 6 April 2014 - 11/04/2014 | |
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
For all the hype in advertising online, on posters, and especially over the radio - the diary-accessory shop, Blackest Ink, is markedly easy to get around. The shop is neatly organized across two stories, with aisles specializing in dangling charms, adornments for the cover, locks, and so forth. For those browsing, it involves wandering the entirety of the store - but those seeking one specific thing can get in and out in short order.
It's busy, certainly - dozens, if not hundred of customers are present for today's sale on deluxe pens and ink. However, rather than a raging mob vying for the last vial of Glittering Crimson Passion ink, the patrons of Blackest Ink are calm, reasonable, even sedate. Benches for weary customers have the most traffic, in that the benches are absolutely packed with dozing patrons.
In short, it's the calmest big sale imaginable. The most action consists of a few diary-holders frantically writing about the day's events, but even they're getting slower over time. One could consider this suspicious...
...or one could use the opportunity to get the best deals before anyone else! Just direct all questions to the shop's manager, a woman in a conservative full-length black dress.
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Mako-chan! We're going to make it! I told you! It won't be like last time at all!"
Usagi Tsukino dashes into Blackest Ink. Improbably, the tiny girl is dragging behind her someone much taller who also actually does athletic things that build muscle and useful assets like that: Makoto Kino. Ah, wait. Usagi is holding her hand. The friendship touch. It is stronger than anything.
The blonde girl pauses once she is past the threshold, cupping a hand to her cheek and surveying the area with starry eyes. "It's so... it's so..."
In her mind's eye, Michiru Tenoh pauses to thoughtfully tap her lips with a fountain pen. She is struck by a satisfying and deep thought and finishes her sentence in a beautiful diary. Cherry blossoms fall serenely from the willow she is sitting under.
Usagi blushes and looks away. "...elegant."
She sighs with preemptive contentment. This will be her life as well once she has a fancy diary.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Lera was curious about the sale at the diary-accessory shop! She kept a journal ever since she arrived, and in the spirit of doing as the Carthaginians when in Carthage (isn't that how the saying goes?), she used an Earth journal. But hers is getting full, and a new school year seems like a good time to buy a new one. And thus, Lera Camry, brand new high schooler at Infinity Institute, is browsing. She is presently looking over the pens.
Or, at least, she is trying; she keeps looking left and right, where people are sitting there and dozing on benches. Her lips purse, before she looks away from a girl dozing off, pen threatening to slip between her fingers. Lera sighs.
"Sky," she asks, "isn't this... kinda weird?"
<We are not on speaking terms!> Soaring Sky whines from within her pants pocket. He takes, in his Standby Mode, the form of a red-cased pen that writes black. <You want to replace me with--with poor quality backwater craftsmanship!>
"Sky," she hisses, "come on. Don't be like that! I just want a pen that writes in blue sometimes and--"
<You want a pen that writes in the color of my broken heart!>
She groans and puts her hand over her face -- which is when she notices Usagi walk in. She lifts her hand and waves at her, sheepisly.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
If you have to ask why Nori Ankou has come to try and find a suitably elegant journal in which to inscribe her thoughts and dreams and hopes and glyphs and etchings - if you have to ask why Nori Ankou, known to some as la Sirene du Nord, aspirant queen of the Sea of Tears, came to a place called Blackest Ink - well, you must be a new viewer. Welcome!!
Nori Ankou is digging this place so hard that she is about to reach the Mohorovic discontinuity. She came in relatively low key attire of a suitable tone, since it's a Sunday and she isn't required to wear anything too fancy. Leggings. Denim skirt with lace (origin: moi-meme-moiete). Blouse (actually nothing special but nice and comfy). Wine-red bolero jacket (origin: mom). Clunky but comfortable hiking boots (origin: forgotten). Large shoulder bag (origin: Verone Aquarium) containing several sundries and a small-clawed otter (origin: mom otter and dad otter).
"Batiste there are locks," she says in a low voice.
Batiste's face peeks out of the flap of the bag. He is disappointed, having hoped for salmon.
He looks around even as Nori gazes with worshipful awe on a dozen different models of attachable locks. "Isn't something weird about this place?" Batiste stage-whispers.
"Busy," Nori says.
"No, cousin, come on, look."
Nori looks over her shoulder.
"Isn't it just like home?"
"It is. But we're NOT home."
Nori's lips slowly curl down into a frown as the import of this sinks in.
Or fails to. "I don't get it."
Batiste sighs and crawls back into the bag. "Go talk to the owner, maybe...?"
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Despite the general improbability of the situation, Makoto seems content to let Usagi drag her around, and follows in the bun-headed blonde's wake without any sign of complaint. She's not entirely sure what she's going to do with a diary, exactly... but Usagi's enthusiasm is, as ever, infectious, and as she stops behind Usagi near the entrance to take in the atmosphere of the shop, Mako is smiling.
"I was worried there'd be a big crush," she comments, looking around, "but I guess this place is a little too classy for that kind of thing, huh? Where do you want to start looking?" Her eyes skim thoughtfully over the neatly-arrayed shelves, bargain-shopper's instincts starting to kick into high gear. "I wonder if they have recipe books..."
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Though Utena herself isn't much of a diary kind of person, she knows plenty of people who are; as a result, she's found her way to Blackest Ink as much to consider presents for her friends as for her own sake. Just being around this many napping people, though, is making it kind of hard for Utena to retain her focus; being on break has already been such a sedate time that she kind of wants to sleep things off herself.
No, she reminds herself -- you can sleep as much as you want when you get home! First, take a look at all these diaries and diary accessories.
So, well -- that's exactly what she does, looking through the vials of ink. She really has no idea what, exactly, she's looking for here; if this store /weren't/ a Dark Kingdom front, she'd be the sort of shopper with a big flashing neon sign reading 'EASY MARK - DID NOT DO THE RESEARCH' to the sales staff.
<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Ikiko had heard of Blackest Ink -- really, who in Tokyo hadn't? -- but since she's not that much into writing, she hadn't paid much attention to it. Nothing that special about a writing shop, right?
But when the local pack of stray dogs mentions that there are countless people dozing outside of the shop (dogs have trouble counting past the first dozen or so), that is certainly something to investigate. And so she's walking up to the store, a bag in her hands (with bowls and remaining dogfood inside) and an inquisitive look on her face. "Here goes nothing," she murmurs to herself before she steps inside.
Once inside, she looks around. People decorating their diaries aren't uncommon, but the sheer quantity of stuff leaves Ikiko somewhat dazzled. At least there's a few people here that she recognizes! She waves to Utena in passing and wanders over to Lera. "Hi, Lera! I had no idea that there was so much /stuff/ that could be done with diaries!" she says, still somewhat dazed.
<Pose Tracker> Akemi Tsukiyama [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
("I don't see what's so special about these pens and diaries. It's not like your budget allows for wild sprees of buying with wild abandon.") Batiste and Soaring Sky are not the only companions complaining. Guma has once again climbed onto her lonely throne of 'tough love mother bear' in Akemi's life, making the girl ever-conscious of the ever crashing weight of her budget.
"What about this one?" Akemi says, seemingly just to herself, lifting a diary with a marbled red and orange cover. "It's so pretty... Maybe I could draw designs in it, or..." Well, isn't writing in diaries something normal teenage girls do? Maybe it's a practice she should start up... What's more, people seem to like taking little naps here! That's definitely a practice Akemi wants more businesses to adopt.
Hearing Usagi's voice, the red-haired girl lifts her head up as she sets the diary back down. "Tsukino-san!" She walks over, careful not to knock one sedate diary-writer's hand as it strays to the edge of the page. "This place seems great. They seem to let people take naps here and everything. Like at a library."
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
With nary an open bench in sight, the lone adolescent girl was forced to stand as she attempted to make a decision. Dressed in green blouse with lace accents and a long tan skirt she didn't tend to stand out amongst the other shoppers.
Held in Eri's one hand was a chain of dangling orange and pink heart charms, in the other a scarlet blooming hibiscus lock. She'd only intended to come here to purchase a gift for a friend... writing down her most personal, secret thoughts wasn't her thing.
Shouldn't it be though?
As she stared at the floral security measure longer and longer, the temptation grew within her to take it up as a hobby, nevermind the impracticality right now. She hardly had the time, and for good reason.
Shifting both objects to one hand, she counted her yen bills and coins for the third time, and came to the conclusion that she couldn't afford both, even on sale. Slowly she placed one object back in it's proper place, but which? Taking it with her, she spied the manager in the distance, and since she wasn't surrounded by other shoppers approached on impulse.
Clearing her throat softly, she tried to get her attention, "Excuse me, miss." She held up the floral lock and showed the tag, "Is this the price before or after the mark down?" If before... then maybe she could afford a nice matching cover she saw a few aisles back. She hadn't even started yet and she was already into it. This hobby was quite addictive!
COMBAT: Lera Camry has fully healed herself. COMBAT: Makoto Kino has fully healed herself. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has fully healed herself. COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama has fully healed herself. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has fully healed herself.
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
The customers, in their collective stupor, pose no obstacle to newly arrived shoppers. Were they more conscious of the comments made around them, however, they would agree about the elegance of the products on display. Certainly, much of it is relatively cheap and packaged nicely - but there are quality items on display as well, for those so inclined. There's even a selection journals with liquid-resistant pages - with some specifically 'for the aspiring chef'. How thoughtful!
The store's manager is largely aloof - watching the mob as a whole, pleased with the turnout. The livelier guests do attract her attention, and she's halfway toward a chat with Utena when Eri interrupts her. The latter gets a smile - kind, but with something sharper hidden within. "Oh, dearie, did I leave out the old tags? Tell you what, I'll give you the second item free. You're already paying us plenty..."
Nori's approach is met with that same smile - which fades as her intent and suspicion are more clear. "How lively some of you are, today. My superiors will be pleased indeed....did you have a question?"
On the second story, there's sounds of footsteps - sharp against the tile floor - and a cold voice speaks out. "There's no reason to waste time. For our queen, Scribnia." Runes flash to life on the walls in cold green light. A sudden draining sensation washes over the store as a whole, those few patrons still awake crying out briefly before slumping over - with only a handful able to resist. The only ones utterly unaffected are the manager, and that man upstairs...
COMBAT: Jadeite transforms into Youma Form Scribnia! COMBAT: Jadeite has fully healed himself. He is now ready to take on 8 opponents!
<Pose Tracker> Ikiko Hisakata [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Ikiko grits her teeth as the draining sensation washes over her, but she manages to resist. She shoots a quick glare towards the man upstairs, then ducks behind some shelving. "Lycan Locket!" she murmurs, touching the locket around her neck. A silvery glow and a quick transformation scene later, Cute Wolf Tsukiko steps out from the other end of the shelves.
"Draining people of energy... if all of the sleeping customers are because of this, then you had BETTER return their energy, or ELSE!" the wolfgirl snarls, an ominous growl sounding from deep in her throat.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Nori looks around for a proprietor and sees other people, including ~utena-sama~ and Shimanouchi. She then sees a familiar pair of blonde buns, and is reminded, with a stirring of her heart, of the oath they swore that cold winter day...
The friendship forged in fried chicken... beyond even Burgermeister's power to affect.
But, she thinks, with a surge of sorrow, she can't know - she can't know that la Sirene du Nord is really Nori Ankou...!
Nori's eyes flutter slightly. "Oh I love this place's ambiance."
She drifts down towards that managerial woman, her eyes wide. When she comes close, she tosses her hair back with one hand and says to that manager, cryptically and with her eyes half-lidded, "Do you know the court of Eve...?" As if she expects an answer for an enigmatic, rather eerie statement.
In the bag, Batiste puts both paws over his eyes.
Someone up high speaks. "Oh, Scribnia, is that your -"
INTENSE GREEN RUNIC LIGHT washes out over the area, making Nori trail off with a squeal of dismay. She ducks down low then, hands cupping her cheeks as she shudders for a moment, even as Batiste gives her encouraging nudges in the side. It may ease Eri Shimanouchi to see that Nori is staggering towards an exit, still clutching her face.
After almost smashing over a rack of ink, she crouches.
Batiste surfaces from her bag fully. "Cousin, are you alright?"
"I am not alright," Nori says.
"Are you -"
Nori keeps speaking in a low and intense tone. "This place is beautiful. It's like walking back home. I didn't even want to keep a diary; I wanted to stay here for days and buy a thousand pretty books even if I never used a single one. It made me want to START a diary. The manager is dark and elegant - she's succeeded despite everything, she's not even compromising her image or her style in order to play nicely with the expectations of the world. But it was all a lie...!"
Batiste hands over the Black Mirror. He has nothing to add here.
"Twinned in the mirror--!"
COMBAT: Ikiko Hisakata transforms into Cute Wolf Tsukiko! COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Moonlight Growl on Jadeite. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking. COMBAT: Nori Ankou transforms into La Sirene du Nord!
<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Usagi perks up at Makoto's confusion. She too glances around, and then reports back to her friend with a confused expression. "Everyone is being really classy, huh?" The blonde girl rubs her chin, considering the enthusiastic bench napping. "I like 'classy.'"
Something she saw catches up with her: with an "oh!" of acknowledgment, Usagi tries to get Lera and Nori's attention to wave back. With both hands. While jumping up and down. To make sure she can be seen.
All this waving lets Akemi sneak up on her. Usagi startles at (what is from her perspective) a teleporting girl, but flashes a sheepish smile that quickly turns affectionate. "Akemi-chan!" wait we're up to akemi-chan now what "I know, isn't it great?"
Usagi pauses, then glances to Makoto, then back to Akemi, and then looks like a bucket of Christmas KFC just landed in her lap. "You two should be sewing friends," she whispers, apparently in awe of this idea.
She opens her mouth to sing both of their praises to sweeten the deal, but she's interrupted by a familiar voice. Usagi's expression chills in a flash. Her hand strays to the weird, gaudy costume jewelry broach she wears. Her fingers curl involuntarily when the evil energy washes over her. She staggers, instinctively reaching for Makoto.
"Mako-chan," she says, anxious urgency in her voice. The blonde girl looks to Akemi, suddenly needful. "Akemi-chan, you should leave right now! This place--just, please run, okay?!"
It would be best to escort Akemi out--and Nori too--but there's so many people at stake here. The best thing Usagi can do to protect everyone is to transform as fast as she can and stop the energy drain. Or at least--drive him off? Is that the most she can hope for?
Usagi gives Akemi one more look, and then flees.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
Covering her escape is the one named Sailor Moon.
Bursting in through another entrance, the white-clad, sailor-collared magical girl slides to a stop in the center of one of the main aisles, showing remarkable balance considering her boots are heeled. She gestures in accusation of the manager, who is obviously a demon! Sailor Moon isn't that dumb okay!
"Diaries are a safe space into which a person writes their heart and soul! I won't forgive anyone who steals the energy a person meant to keep private!"
She spins with grace and then strikes a pose, her platinum blonde twintails circling around her.
"I'm the sailor-suited pretty soldier of love and justice, Sailor Moon! And, in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"
COMBAT: Usagi Tsukino transforms into Sailor Moon! COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used In The Name Of The Moon on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
When that energy-draining feeling washes over her -- distinctly familiar to Utena from more than one past experience -- Utena tenses up her muscles all at once, trying to fight it and regain her focus. It takes her a few moments to really feel stable again, but she manages it with reasonable speed.
She glances over toward Eri for a moment, then to Nori; in the end, though, she turns her gaze away from either and toward her ring intently. Her other hand slides over it, feeling the contours of the crest carefully...
... and in a flash, her uniform has grown epaulettes, and her blade is in hand. Another dark trap...? She says nothing just yet, still struggling a little to find her energy.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou transforms into Duelist!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
The wave to Usagi is returned by Lera! With energetic gusto. But she is distracted shortly:
"Oh, hi, Ikiko!" Lera says, looking up at her and smiling sheepishly. She shakes her head, looking around for a moment. This is a really big store, all things considered; she thought diaries were more of an aisle thing, at most. "I know! But it's really cool," she says. "And some of them are really pretty."
But then she feels the sudden drained feeling, and that makes her eyes widen. She sees people start slumping over out of the corner of her eyes. It interrupts her from talking to Ikiko, to turn her head quickly to look at the manager. "What's..."
She realizes, as she's asking the question. She reaches into her pocket, pulling out Soaring Sky; she twirls him between her fingers, lifting her pen into the air over the head. "You don't have any right to use people like that! Some times they need to write something down, to get things off their chest, that they can't tell anyone else--you shouldn't twist that! C'mon, Soaring Sky! Let's write a new ending! Soaring fire, burning spirit! Soaring Sky, SET UP!"
<Get set!>
Light flashes up across her; the T-shirt and jeans vanish, as Lera is left in a dark red mini-skirt, green stockings, and an ever-so-fancy green jacket with white lining. Two tails swirl behind her as she twirls, and she grins -- then winks -- as Soaring Sky flashes, then shoots into the form of a broadsword. Orange-red fire crackles up the length, forming a blade.
<Mirage Charge.>
A magical circle appears under Lera's feet, flashing upward, and glows brilliantly -- leaving her imbued with a faint orange glow for a moment. "Right behind you, Tsukiko, Sailor Moon!" she says. "I'm Magical Cheeseburger Propane-chan and I won't let you take away peoples' peace of mind!"
COMBAT: Lera Camry transforms into Barrier Jacket! COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Mirage Charge on Lera Camry. COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking. COMBAT: Lera Camry accepts Lera Camry's Mirage Charge, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Empower applied to Lera Camry!
COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Moonlight Growl, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! Diversion applied to Jadeite! COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Sailor Moon's In The Name Of The Moon, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon is Psyched! Cripple applied to Jadeite!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The confirmation that the tags were pre-sale price cause a delighted smile to appear on her expression. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" Soon she'd be able to copy down the truth of everything going on in her life... her thoughts, her fears. There would be someone, something she could voice all of them to. A glance is given towards Nori and Utena, her classmates, and she waves at them with exaggerated enthusiasm that hadn't dulled in the space of a few moments.
As the voice from on high rings up, her gaze reflexively looks up. Then all over as runes flare to life on all of the walls. To the benches as the people slump over, to the floors as people crash down. The calmest sale ever appears to be over.
It only takes her a moment to process it, having seen similar things happen on many occasions, "Nori it's not... take cover!" Get to safety! Nori's stagger towards the door gives her some amount of comfort. In the confusion that follows, she gives Utena a knowing look, before dashing into a run towards one of the nearby aisles, slumping down against it for cover. Holding out a palm, a green gem manifests. Though most of it is dulled by the umbral mist swirling within. "Always at the worst of times." She whispers to herself.
Digging into her purse, she pulls out a grief seed, a Puella Magi's real best friend and presses it against the gem. With a hissing noise, the mist within is drawn out of it, and the grief seed is placed back within the purse. A moment later, there's a flare of viridian light. The smell of rain, sap, and the crackling sound of dead leaves in autumn being stepped on.
Putting a finger behind her lacey domino mask, she takes a moment to adjust it before stepping out amongst the others. Sailor Moon is already chastising the store manager, so she sees no need to say much, instead a hand snaps, and from behind the cuffs of her gloves, vines snake out, and into her right hand with serpentine coils. "Honestly, I was just thinking of staring a new hobby, but now I think you've spoiled that for me and a lot of people."
She seems more than a touch disappointed at that. Was it the addictive influence of dark magic, or some other reason that truly had drawn her to that? Squaring her stance, she snaps the tendrils of her scourge downward. "So I think I'll help spoil your day too." The tips don't crack, instead they surge straight through the store's floor, burrowing beneath in a pause of a second or three, before they erupt all around the store manager to try to encircle about her and entrap her within lengths of thorns that carry a sharp bite.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi transforms into Puella Magi Eri! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Flowing Scourge Feint on Jadeite. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Eri Shimanouchi's Flowing Scourge Feint, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Jadeite is Quipped! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! Diversion applied to Jadeite!
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Meanwhile, as she's looking around the store Makoto's eye falls on a flash of green and brightens as she recognizes one of her friends. Raising a hand to wave, she opens her mouth to call out, only to catch herself in sudden embarrassment - this really isn't the kind of place where you can just shout across the store.
She'll catch Eri in a bit, she decides, before she's distracted by Akemi's arrival and Usagi clearly having some kind of light bulb moment. "Eh?" Mako says, brows lifting curiously as she looks toward the redhead.
Unfortunately, before she gets a chance to ask or, you know, introduce herself... all hell breaks loose.
For the first instant, even as she sways under the force of that wave of energy and has to brace both herself and Usagi, Makoto is nothing so much as exasperated. "--*Really?*" It only takes a moment for her to settle into her game face, however, mouth tightening as she glances to Usagi and nods. "Sorry," she manages to say to Akemi, "but Usagi-chan's right, you should get out of here right away--"
The last couple of words are tossed over her shoulder; she's already rushing after the blonde.
Not long after--
"You people seriously need to learn when to quit!" Sailor Jupiter declares, her posture full of righteous indignation as she takes position beside and a bit behind Sailor Moon. "In the name of Jupiter, you're going down!"
Even as she says it, there's a fragrant spring-scented breeze kicking up around her, beginning as an eddy of air swirling around her feet but building quickly into a rush of wind that ruffles paper all through the store and barrages the incredibly suspicious-looking manager in a dizzying torrent of flower petals.
COMBAT: Makoto Kino transforms into Sailor Jupiter! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Flower Hurricane on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Sailor Jupiter's Flower Hurricane, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! Blind and Stun applied to Jadeite!
<Pose Tracker> Akemi Tsukiyama [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
Sleepy patrons, idlying scribbling their thoughts as they drift softly into the golden slumber of sleep's caresses. Akemi refuses to believe it's a bad thing, or a sign of bad things to come.
Seemingly teleporting over in a ghostly fashion, Akemi appears startled at the use of her first name, then, her lips slipping into a wide closed mouth grin, Akemi rubs the back of her head. No wonder Usagi knows so many people! Her friendship skills are amazing~ Wait, no. Akemi's the older one! She should act like one! Elegant, all-knowing, mature!
... This is hard to do when the girl that Usagi is with is much taller than her. Looking up at Makoto as Usagi does, Akemi quickly attempts to make up for her shorter stature by moving her hands over the top of her head, smoothing out the wild hairs that linger there. "Ah, so you sew too?" Akemi is about to introduce herself when, quite abruptly, the air of the room changes.
Well, more specifically, the room is changing on account of the runes on the walls. Akemi takes a step back, looking around in confusion at the people crying out around her. ("Those patrons weren't just sleepy. Someone's stealing everyone's energy! Get out now!")
"T-tsukino-chan..." Akemi's already raising her hands to take ahold of both Makoto and Usagi's own. Her gold gaze hardens its resolve. "Don't worry, I'll-" Taking a look to Makoto and then Usagi, Akemi is surprised to find the latter, and then the former gone, fleeing away.
And someone else has come to cover them all. "Sailor Moon...!"
("Get out and transform so we can help her and the others here!!") Akemi, taking a final look around, rushes out the door, leaving the other patrons to their own fate. At least, that's what recognition inhibition would lead someone to believe.
"Paper that is wasted for the sake of such a dark cause is paper that has become tainted for the sake of nothing. I cannot abide by that." A thick-soled sandal foot steps into the store, followed by another. "You, who threatens the Balance between man and nature- repent now, or face the consequences of your actions at the hands of the Scarlet Rune Maiden!" Unleashing the power of the Lotus Rune tattoo on her back, the Scarlet Rune Maiden unleashes a ribbon of red energy at the youma. Akemi Tsukiyama has reconnected.
COMBAT: Akemi Tsukiyama transforms into Scarlet Rune Maiden! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Scathing Ribbon on Jadeite. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite fails to brace Scarlet Rune Maiden's Scathing Ribbon, taking 17 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
All around the shop, there's quiet thuds as those few people still standing succumb. A few - close to the doors, and alert enough to hear the warnings - manage to escape. The majority, however, are trapped within the confines of the energy-sapping store.
Nori's question breaks the manager's cool facade - confusion plain on her face, swiftly followed by irritation. "There is but one Court worthy of mention, girl - but you will never see it." And then the jade light shines on the area, and everyone seems to have become rather busy.
The man upstairs, garbed in a grey uniform trimmed with red, scoffs openly at Tsukiko's challenge. "Or else what, little girl?" He holds up one hand - over its palm, a swirling orb of life energy appears. "The energy of these fools would be put to far better use by the Dark Kingdom-"
Both he and the woman turn to regard the invading senshi, and the man's face flashes with hatred for a moment. "Sailor Moon! Interfering- Hmph." The fury turns into a smirk. "So they are. Tomes into which idiot mortals would pour their entire lives - why, the only change I made was so that all that energy would not go unused. If they wish to write out their souls, then we will gladly receive them - I see no reason to 'quit'."
With every passing moment, though, more heroes appear to challenge his monster. The blonde-haired man's brow furrows in irritation with every appearance, even as the woman's burgeoning grin widens. "The Dark Kingdom will rule over this entire world - and so it is our right to treat its citizens as we see fit. But allow me to introduce myself." Clenching his fist - and causing the orb of life energy to vanish - he leaps to stand upon the balcony railing, bowing in mock salute. "I am Jadeite of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the one granted authority over these eastern lands. Submit, and the Dark Kingdom may yet be merciful - but I suppose you are all as foolish as the rest who came to purchase self-gratifying journals today. In any event, my associate Scribnia will deal with you - won't you?"
With every word, the woman's grin broadens - even as thorned vines, flower petals, and crimson ribbons rage around her. Cloth and flesh are both apart as if they were nothing more than paper, ripped to shreds in an instant by the assembled fury-
-and in the woman's place, a horror stands. Taller, nearly skeletally slender, with leathery skin wrapped in threads of gold. Its shoulders jut out like spikes, countless sheets of paper dangling beneath like a mockery of wings. The face is horrific - a broad grin permanently fixed there, drooling pitch-black ichor - and its hands end tipped with metallic claws. Or rather, vicious-looking pen nibs. The monster's voice is high-pitched, nearly cackling. "SCRIIIII!"
Jadeite laughs. "Tear them apart, Scribnia - for the glory of the Dark Kingdom!" The youma goes on the offensive immediately - those pen-claws lashing out at everyone in reach as she closes in on the Scarlet Rune Maiden. Those just out of the youma's reach get a slightly different greeting - pitch-black ink, spat out in piercing streams that smash shelves and shatter bottles.
COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Lera Camry. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Rage In The Margins on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Rage In The Margins on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Rage In The Margins on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Player not found. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Cute Wolf Tsukiko. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Desires Writ In Red on Scarlet Rune Maiden. COMBAT: Jadeite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi fails to counter Jadeite's Rage In The Margins, taking 50 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi's counterattack, Thunderous Crack, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly dodges Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Flash ability activates! Blind applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko! COMBAT: Sailor Moon perfectly dodges Jadeite's Rage In The Margins, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Sailor Moon's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly counters Jadeite's Desires Writ In Red, taking 31 Fatigue damage! Scarlet Rune Maiden's Reverse ability activates! Scarlet Rune Maiden's Tactician ability activates! Jadeite drains 12 fatigue from Scarlet Rune Maiden! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden's counterattack, Scarlet Shield Hammer, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly dodges Jadeite's Rage In The Margins, taking 25 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly dodges Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Lera Camry's Fade ability activates! Lera Camry's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Tsukiko dives out of the direct path of the lancing ink, although her face still gets spattered with splashing ink. "Gah! I hope this washes out," she says as she rolls to her feet. Or at least doesn't stick around when I transform back, she thinks to herself.
As Scribnia charges after the others, Tsukiko dashes forward and tries to use the youma as a springboard, lashing out with both feet as the wolfgirl tries to not get separated from the rest of the magical girls. "I know I'm not fond of writing, but this is ridiculous!" she says to the others once she lands.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Overrun Bounce on Jadeite. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
Scarlet Rune Maiden has partially disconnected.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord perfectly counters Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord's counterattack, Les Mysteres, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly counters Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Overrun Bounce, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Psyched! COMBAT: Jadeite's counterattack, Pertinent Punctuation, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Jadeite!" Sailor Moon shouts as he finishes his speech. She doesn't know where she's going with this, but she has to do something. He just--he can't get away with this! The idea that he might once more do just that needles her heart. The all-consuming desire to make sure he doesn't spreads through her chest. The contrast of the two makes her feel electrified--real, somehow, more real than real.
She steps back as the manager transforms, eyes going wide and all her bravery draining from her face. Sailor Moon doesn't flee, but she is fixed to the spot by the horrifying sight and her too-fast beating heart.
It almost takes her too long to react when Scribnia makes her charge. The claws come for Sailor Moon--but, with a sudden cry, she tumbles backward and miraculously avoids having her face become a very angry journal entry. The pretty soldier tumbles head over heels and rolls to her feet, bracing herself on a nearby bench.
"Don't ruin the diaries!" she bellows, suddenly seized by how terrible that is. People wanted to buy those! Reaching out with a flourish, Sailor Moon draws her crescent moon wand from a shower of sparkles. She springs to her feet. "You're not even using--"
The pretty soldier makes a grand gesture, sending an arcing wave of shimmering, silvery magic that leaves a coating of fairy dust everywhere toward the youma.
"--GLITTER INK!"
Glitter ink is her favorite.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Literally Owns A Magical Pen on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"We're not gonna submit to anything!" Lera yells at Jadeite, but her eyes widen a bit; one of the enemy lieutenants is here, and she knows well enough that their commanders are dangerous. She remembers the time she fought Kunzite -- and it was a close-run thing, where she was lucky to be able to leave the battlefield in one piece. She swallows, then she shakes her head. "You don't get to claim these people as your own! They've got their own lives--"
She stops her shout, though when she sees Scribnia's transformation. It is monstrous and terrible, and prompts a nervous step backward when she sees the strange metallic claws She lifts her broadsword slowly, held next to her head in both hands, energy-sheathed blade pointed towards the youma.
Then the black ink comes splashing out for her and the other magical girls. Lera takes off into a run; then she jumps over the stuff, going airborne, and she does a mid-air spin, her blade coming out to her side as she turns. Red-orange light is left trailing in the air, before she comes crashing down towards Scribia from above. She slashes down with a two-handed blow, landing on the ground next to Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Strike Soar on Jadeite. COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Utena's momentary lack of aggression means she's saved from getting covered in ink or slashed with claws /immediately/, at least, which in turn buys her time to think. ... just kidding, Utena's not thinking about this one very hard -- there's an evil monster thing that's trying to hurt her friends! That's a pretty simple thing to assess.
"I don't think you know how having 'authority' over something works!" Utena shoots back at the Dark Kingdom representative, her eyes staying on the more direct threat from Scribnia. She starts with a simple straight slash with her blade -- it's the sort of no-frills offense that Utena often starts a battle with. "And on top of that -- you have to be pretty low to prey on people who just want to express themselves!"
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Straight Slash on Jadeite. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Sailor Moon's Literally Owns A Magical Pen, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Lera Camry's Strike Soar, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Lera Camry is Psyched! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's Straight Slash, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Utena Tenjou is Psyched! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
(Nori looked on Usagi with sad but gentle eyes, and didn't wave back. Still, hey, maybe she's got an illness related to waving.)
Pitch black ink washes towards where la Sirene had laid in wait - but she spins on one boot around the corner and throws up her left hand, fingers raised upwards to grant the Salute. A single stroke and a metallic chord of undulating mystery sends silver light out, liquid bright and smashing against the ink, which evaporates under the touch of Les Mysteres.
La Sirene's dark-lined eyes turn towards that revealed youma. Her expression is not a forgiving one. "I have already seen it," she says, with a hint of a sneer. "You know nothing of the true meaning of light, or what you've meddled with. I, la Sirene du Nord, will--"
She glances up. "Jadeite...?" He's kind of cute, la Sirene thinks, even as her head snaps downwards again to look at Scribnia.
To look past... Past...
"I don't want to break all this merchandise!" she wails.
Batiste is scampering through wreckage, taking the long way around. He is fairly confident that for once his cousin is having a day where the problem will not be one of encouragement. His eyes cut towards green fabric that seems to imply that what is buried beneath some of this human stuff is not a stack of books, but rather, a person!
Scampering up, he pulls some stuff aside - dust, fragments - a bottle of ink - and says as he does, "Hey, Eri, wasn't it? Come on, you have to get back up. Everyone needs your help, you know-- and there's that nature boy up there to worry about, too!"
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Carpe Aonyx on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
"You..." Guma growls at the sight of the newly introduced Jadeite. Oh, she remembers him, alright, even if this is the first time she's been able to learn his name. At the Hikawa shrine. The same smirking face, the still, barely breathing bodies of drained students all around him, his taunting voice, her own shame at not seeing through the distraction of the Orphans and that one young woman. Guma should have seen it, as she was the one there with assumedly the most experience present.
A few decades in self-imposed exile shouldn't have been enough to dull that knowledge.
Pointing to the newly transformed Scibnia, Guma proclaims, "After I'm through with this sad excuse of a youma, I'll be sure to teach a young upstart like you your place!"
("Guma, you're getting too angry...")
As the pen nib-clawed youma nears, the Scarlet Rune Maiden presses her fingers into a claw formation of her own, willing the power of the lotus rune to funnel its energy into and over the hand's form, expanding it until a shape of a bear's claw is produced. "I've got no time for you!" She strikes as the youma does, crying out--
She misses.
Gold eyes widen as the youma's attack connects with the Rune Maiden's body, sucking energy straight from her. "Ngh!!"
("Guma!")
Tearing away from the youma, Guma quickly raises a hand. "Haha.... maybe I will get a good thrill out of this just yet..." Yet, instead of attacking, Guma's hand casts three motes of red light, casting them to herself, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Jupiter. "Maybe you two have some bite to that bark of yours."
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi accepts La Sirene du Nord's Carpe Aonyx, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Withstand applied to Eri Shimanouchi! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Scarlet Rune Maiden. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Lotus Shield on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Withstand applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden! COMBAT: Sailor Moon accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Withstand applied to Sailor Moon! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter accepts Scarlet Rune Maiden's Lotus Shield, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Withstand applied to Sailor Jupiter!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The whip tears up the floor as it lashes right through it to recoil into her hands. Planting her feet, she had intended to stand her ground, as resolute as the oak. Her scourge strikes, and as the Youma shears through it with ink claws, she finds that she isn't the oak.
Instead she discovers she's but a flower petal in the wind. The force of the claw strike uproots her off her feet, knocking her through several shelves. Entire rows scatter displaced trinkets. 'Don't ruin the diaries!' She can't exactly choose where she's going to land, she doesn't even have time to shriek. Once the dust clears(Some of it very glittery), a hand moves towards where the claw strike struck, and as she moves her glove away, it's slick with a mixture of blood and a blank substance she's sure is ink.
That's when she notices the otter pulling stuff aside, off of her. Her eyes give Batiste a confused look, which changes into surprise. Her voice sounds pained, as she swallows, before responding, "Wait... You know me?" There's a pause for perhaps a second or three as she tries to place how an otter might know her, as she brushes away several sundries that lay on top of her. The helpful otter tries to encourage her, and she looks right up at 'nature boy.' "It's always the 'ites' which are the toughest." She murmurs.
First it was Zoisite, then Nephrite, and now it was Jadeite. They could add trouncing her to their list of things they had in common. Inhaling, and exhaling, she looks back at the tiny otter with a look of conviction, "I'm not out of this fight yet though." Reaching over, she rubs him on the head on impulse. "So stay safe alright? We'll handle it, I promise." A beat, "...And thanks."
Even if the damage is already starting to heal, the very effort of rising is almost too much for her, the wince of pain she gives striking, as she nearly swoons. It takes her roughly three attempts before she's standing tall upon wobbly legs. Her teeth grit together, perhaps as testament to the plenty of grit she's displaying by getting right back into this fight after taking a hit like that.
Having lost her scourge in all this ruckus, she makes another with a flash of light, it grows within an instant, and with a whoosh of air she starts spinning it into a circle overhead, before snapping her wrist. Each length moves on it's own accord, surging around the store to try to cut off the Youma. Flower petals flutter through the air, bringing the subtle scent of jasmine, before they all converge upon to lash as one with bone cracking force at the tips.
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Rosary Wheel on Jadeite. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Eri Shimanouchi's Rosary Wheel, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Eri Shimanouchi is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Sailor Jupiter fairly bristles at Jadeite's words, glaring fiercely up at him where he's perched on the railing above. "'Authority'?" she spits back, with a scowl that bares her teeth. "And you think that gives you the right to trample over people's feelings however you want? Don't make me laugh! All your Dark Kingdom rules over is a lot of big talk--"
If she were a little less busy yelling at the Dark General, Jupiter might have had more of a chance to get the hell out of the way of the youma's claws. Her angry speech breaks off in a hurry as Scribnia rampages and her attention is suddenly far more occupied with trying to throw herself out of harm's way, but it's to no avail - the youma's claws rake Sailor Jupiter's side, drawing a bitten-off sound of pain through clenched teeth, and when the green-clad Senshi recoils and clamps her hand over her torn uniform, a trickle of blood shows up bright red between the fingers of her white glove.
As the red glow Guma's cast her way settles over her, Jupiter straightens and squares her shoulders. "Thanks," she tells the Rune Maiden, and when her hand comes away from her side to clench into a fist, it flares with a sudden crackle of electricity. "I'll try not to disappoint--!"
On the last word, she springs into movement, launching herself at Scribnia in a lightning-charged punch with all her strength behind it.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Lightning Fist on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite fails to counter Sailor Jupiter's Lightning Fist, taking 32 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter is Psyched! COMBAT: Jadeite's counterattack, Pertinent Punctuation, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Sailor Jupiter!
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
A jet of ink meets the inbound Tsukiko, blasting with enough force to blunt her impact - but while looking upwards, the youma doesn't notice the inbound blade-wielders until nearly the last moment. Swift movement is the order of the day - a swift step to the left, a crash as another shelf of ink is shattered, two blades finding marks enough to score the leathery flesh but not cut it in twain.
If anything, the grin broadens.
The shining glitter, however, burns at those cuts - and the ensuing floral assault makes the youma screech in fury. A second jet of ink attempts to arrest Sailor Jupiter - to absolutely no effect, the assembled assault culminating in a solid blow.
Jadeite vanishes from sight - only to reappear on the balcony railing opposite, seated with legs crossed. "Such pathetic little lives they lead, such trivialities they express - and yet, I do think you are all the more foolish for wanting to protect them." He smirks - but Guma's comment somehow pierces home, and his eyes narrow. "Upstart? You - you /dare/ address one of the Four Heavenly Kings in such a manner? I, who witnessed the fall of-"
Jadeite cuts himself off. "Hmph. Scribnia, kill her. No - kill everyone. I have had enough of these wretched girls meddling in my plans."
Rising from a heap of scattered accessories, Scribnia howls in savage glee, then lashes out in another swift storm. This time, however, the blows seem less sharp. Instead, they are imbued with a terrible weight - any strike that lands resounding with the clap of a tome slamming shut.
COMBAT: Jadeite has used Brief Entry on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Brief Entry on Scarlet Rune Maiden. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Brief Entry on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Bound In Leather And Gold on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Bound In Leather And Gold on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Bound In Leather And Gold on Lera Camry. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Bound In Leather And Gold on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Bound In Leather And Gold on Cute Wolf Tsukiko. COMBAT: Jadeite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Sailor Moon narrowly braces Jadeite's Bound In Leather And Gold, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Sailor Moon! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly braces Jadeite's Brief Entry, taking 5 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord's Block ability activates! La Sirene du Nord's Parry ability activates! Cripple applied to La Sirene du Nord! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly braces Jadeite's Brief Entry, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Scarlet Rune Maiden's Parry ability activates! Cripple applied to Scarlet Rune Maiden! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly braces Jadeite's Bound In Leather And Gold, taking 22 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter's Block ability activates! Sailor Jupiter's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Lera Camry fails to counter Jadeite's Bound In Leather And Gold, taking 32 Fatigue damage! Stun and Trap applied to Lera Camry! COMBAT: Lera Camry's counterattack, Sentinel Cross, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly counters Jadeite's Brief Entry, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Eri Shimanouchi's Reverse ability activates! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi's counterattack, Kodama's Rebuke, partially gets through, doing 2 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly counters Jadeite's Bound In Leather And Gold, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Stun and Trap applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko! COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko's counterattack, High-Speed Kick, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly dodges Jadeite's Bound In Leather And Gold, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Fade ability activates! Utena Tenjou's Flash ability activates! Stun applied to Utena Tenjou!
<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Tsukiko lashes out with another kick as Scribnia unleashes her assault. While it looks like the strike hurt the youma a bit, the wolfgirl is clearly favoring the leg she just kicked with, off-balance and not able to put much weight on that foot. She leans against some of the shelves that are still standing, touching a finger to her bangs and murmuring a small phrase. While it's not as effective as some of the true healing magics others have, it numbs the pain a little and helps sharpen her hunting instincts again.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Wolf's Blessing on Cute Wolf Tsukiko. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko accepts Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Wolf's Blessing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Surge applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
The clash gets intense for a moment--Usagi loses track of the action after she lets loose her attack, but she can tell that the youma is showing exactly how vicious it is. She feels flush, calling out to see if people are okay.
"Jupiter-chan?--woah."
Her immediate answer is a glow of red light. Sailor Moon tries to take it all in even if it's all just light that's red, but her gaze eventually settles on the Scarlet Rune Maiden. "A-are you okay?"
The pretty soldier's attention is yanked sharply away by Jadeite's command. She glares up to the Heavenly General, shocked and angry and horrified all at once. Is this bluster or is he really ramping things up somehow? It seems so possible. She can't bear to think about it.
Scribnia seems even faster than before. Sailor Moon is beset by fury, yelping and raising her wand to conjure a sparkling defense. Fortunately, the Rune Maiden's red shield is there to help her. It flares first, giving the blonde magical girl time to raise her own ward. Still, the impact throws the lunar warrior backward, causing her to stumble foot over foot until she catches her balance--and awkwardly.
Her limbs feel--leaden? Sailor Moon moves experimentally and finds the extent to which she is weighed down. She glares up at Jadeite. "Stop repeating the same plan over and over just because we keep messing it up! I'm getting really tired of evil stores! I like shopping, you dork!"
Sailor Moon focuses on Scribnia. Jadeite may take the free time to make his escape or do other horrible things, but the youma is the one actually threatening everyone right now. She tries to keep her distance, giving herself enough room to take cover if it seems like the monster is going to charge her. Fortunately, her moon stick dispenses miracles from afar.
With a sparkling, crescent sweep of her wand, Sailor Moon lines up the shot--and then unleashes a glittering, ethereal lance that briefly illuminates the store with a dazzling light as it arcs for the youma's heart.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Aggressive Meddling on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Lera brings Soaring Sky up, to catch the claw coming down for her. She prepares to split it into Dual Mode -- but she proves sluggish, and so does Soaring Sky. That costs her dearly, as the weighted claw catches her in the torso and slas her back into the ground, skidding along the floor. She grits her teeth and pushes herself up, looking around at her allies, before she groans and stands back up.
"It--it's going to take more than that!" she yells at Jadeite and the youma, just the same. There is still a shake in her legs, as she stands back up, taking a deep breath. She swings her sword out in front of her, focusing for a moment; her voice drops down a little. "Come on, Sky," she says. "We can handle this. You're with me, right?"
He hesitates, a moment; Lera hesitates, herself, then perks up when he answers: <Of course.>
She swings her sword out behind her, and energy flares up the length of the broadsword. A crackle and surge of plasma, causing the fire to crackle on the length of the blade, while Lera goes running forward. A magical circle in the Midchildan style forms under her feet, and she leaps into the air. She performs a midair somersault, before she comes down, swinging her sword down.
<Inferno Slasher.>
Lera chops the sword down over her head as she comes down; the blaze around the sword flashes, and then bursts outward in a fiery blast centered on Scribnia; she flies back with it, landing on the ground, her heels scraping into the ground as she does. She glances sideways at Sailor Moon, watching send the sweep of sparkling light for the youma. "Don't worry, Sailor Moon!" she says. "There'll be time for shopping later, I promise!"
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Inferno Slasher on Jadeite. COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Sailor Moon's Aggressive Meddling, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Jadeite perfectly dodges Lera Camry's Inferno Slasher, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
Giving Jupiter a solid nod, Guma says, "You won't. We all will prevail together." That same sentiment is carried over to Sailor Moon and, in turn, Akemi herself. "I simply got carried away. I promise to be more level-headed now that all of that nonsense was pummeled out of me." It still stings, though, physically and mentally. Isn't she the one who gets scared of Akemi's energy being drained?
The 'ites' are definitely toughest, and Jadeite, for all his youthful looks, proves just as strong as the other one Guma's had to fight. Jadeite, who witnessed the fall of.... what? Guma's eyelashes narrow. Interesting. Maybe these 'generals' are older than they look? Or maybe, they just might not be all that human as they seem by appearance alone. "Is that how you feel about humanity? Wouldn't a king normally invest some interest in those he holds domain over? Humans have a tendency to eventually overthrow whatever obstacles impair them, especially tyrants that care little for them. After all, where do many magical men and women come from, if not from the bosom of humanity itself?"
Guma may not be human herself, but it was a human girl who tamed her rage in the beginning, and even now, she holds onto the threads of her dignity and pride all due to the descendent of that very same girl. "If you can't understand these vital elements when to comes to humans--" Leaping over a down-turned ink-stained display of journals, the Scarlet Rune Maiden whirls around and throws a scarlet glowing fist at the youma. "--you will continue to make the same mistakes!"
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Humanity's Spirit on Jadeite. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly counters Scarlet Rune Maiden's Humanity's Spirit, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Scarlet Rune Maiden is Psyched! COMBAT: Jadeite's counterattack, Pertinent Punctuation, partially gets through, doing 14 Fatigue damage to Scarlet Rune Maiden!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
The weight of those attacks catches Utena just slightly, even though for the most part a single acrobatic leap takes her out of the worst of it; her motions start to seem a little more sluggish, and she looks a tiny bit exhausted in the aftermath. It's not /insurmountable/, especially for someone whose energy is as boundless as Utena's is -- but it's not great, either.
Supporting herself on her blade for the moment, Utena frowns at Scribnia. "I won't let you and your weirdo boss even try!" she announces, taking the opportunity to be the prince who protects.
Staying in close with Scribnia, Utena comes in for a quick two-stage set of slashes -- one down and to the right, the other back up, /also/ heading rightward. Again -- simple, direct offense, coupled with flashy defenses, just like before.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used V-Cut on Jadeite. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Utena Tenjou's V-Cut, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou is Psyched! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
"I've heard of you," Batiste tells Eri encouragingly. "You work hard, don't you? I'm sorry to put a burden on you, but we have to save these people, eh?" He has a ribbon bow tie. It is super cute.
MEANWHILE, la Sirene is faced with a lashing strike from the passing creature. "Hch!" Thunder rolls, and the moon bursts, and leather and golden cases fly around. La Sirene is forced back to cross her arms in front of her face, the wind of the youma's passage whipping in her hair.
An ink bottle falls off a shelf, cracks, and spills over la Sirene's hand.
It's two colors. The red... And the black.
Sucking in a breath, la Sirene curls her fingers. Feel that light, she thinks. The clear light that never warms. She turns on her heel, watching the youma as it moves and saying to herself, "All of this... is unforgivable..."
La Sirene sweeps her hand up and the ink bubbles there, warmed (despite the words she's used in her head just now) into a pitch as it surges upwards in a sudden arc, drawing spotlessly off of la Sirene's hand and turning instead into a penetrant squirt aimed to smash into the upper shoulder of Scribina. "I'll write my displeasure onto you, before you can harm any of these innocent people! The only sorrow that will grow here -- is your own!"
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used More Like: The Golden Age of Leather on Jadeite. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces La Sirene du Nord's More Like: The Golden Age of Leather, taking 13 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
It's perhaps only Batiste's cuteness and encouragement that gives her the fortitude to withstand the next attack. This time the light slash is met with the riposte of a whip cracking near Scribnia. The pained look on her expression is unmistakeable, as one of the ink claws rips through a sleeve. 'Nature boy' as Batiste had dubbed him she gives an earful to, "Maybe we want to protect them, because we all remember when we were like that."
"Most of us used to live normal lives I think. And those experiences taught us that the lives of people who get to stay that way are anything but trivial." A beat, "I... envy them their ignorance." She makes the admission without thinking, and it surprises her most of all. She has no time to dwell upon why she might have said that though.
Shifting her stance, she rotates quickly, an overhand flick bringing the scourge downwards towards the Youma, each of the thorns tipped with something caustic and acrid smelling as the vines laden with them lash. "I don't envy your attitude though. If you keep thinking you're above everyone, then eventually someone is going to disabuse you of that by knocking you right off your pedestal."
COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Venomous Lash on Jadeite. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Eri Shimanouchi's Venomous Lash, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! Stun applied to Jadeite!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
The strengthening red aura of the Rune Maiden's magic takes the worst of the blow, but Sailor Jupiter still rocks on her feet when the fury of Scribnia's assault slams into her, and her breath chuffs out in a quiet 'oof!' at the force of the impact.
Though momentarily winded, however, she remains undaunted, and she quickly recovers her stance. "I'm fine, don't worry!" Jupiter calls back to Sailor Moon. "We've got this!"
Her confidence may be slightly premature, but seeing the other magical warriors in action, and hearing their words as they strike back at Jadeite and his youma - hearing Guma, especially, talk about kings and tyrants and what happens to people who try to rule over humanity - it makes her feel stronger and more sure.
"I heard someone say recently..." As she turns to keep the youma in her sights, Jupiter's eyes flick upwards toward Jadeite on his lofty vantage point. "...that conflict and suffering happen because the weak oppose the strong. But that's wrong."
Her hands come up before her, shivering silver threads of lightning arcing between her fingertips. "If there's conflict, it's because of people like you, who think being strong gives you the right to lord it over anyone weaker than you! And that's why, no matter what you do, we'll never stop fighting you!" The declaration is punctuated by the pointing finger she jabs toward Scribnia, sending a lance of bright energy sizzling through the air toward the youma.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Jupiter Thunderbolt on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Sailor Jupiter's Jupiter Thunderbolt, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Jadeite is Quipped!
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
The youma is relentless - and intent on destruction. For all that it was once the manager of this place, it has no qualms about wrecking merchandise and fixtures if it means a chance to attack one of its enemies. Grinning wickedly, it rolls with the lance of light, and uses a display of cute cellphone charms as cover against Lera's furious slash. Even as myriad figurines go flying, though - Guma and Utena manage to pin it down by striking from opposite sides. Ink lashes out at one, but a few blows land home - befor its own tactic is turned against it, ink spraying messily along one side. It lunges to one side as the vine-lash scores a few more scratches, and endures the lightning as best it can.
Jadeite, for his part, is resting his chin on one closed hand. "The same plan?...I suppose to your eyes, it would seem such. Very well - next time, it will be something you are not so used to opposing." The fury over shopping being ruined, along with La Sirene's declarations, do seem to bring a smile to his face - even as the battle rages on for Scribnia. Guma earns a moment's attention - "Humanity does rather well creating its own tyrants. So much the better that they submit to my Queen."
Utena calling him a weirdo finally makes that smile fade into a frown - and he directs the youma with a negligent wave of one hand, frowning at Eri and Jupiter. "You think this a mere pedestal? The Heavenly Kings stand above all save our glorious ruler. The strength she has granted us is proof of our right, not the means by which it is claimed - but I suppose this has gone on long enough. Scribnia, enough wasting time. I have granted you more than enough power, so use it."
The grinning, pen-fingered youma howls with savage glee again - and then it's on the move again. By Jadeite's command, Utena earns special attention; by the youma's own fury at the ink-assault, so does Nori.
COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Cute Wolf Tsukiko. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Scarlet Rune Maiden. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Lera Camry. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Rage In The Margins on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Rage In The Margins on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Jadeite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly braces Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi's Block ability activates! Eri Shimanouchi's Parry ability activates! Diversion applied to Eri Shimanouchi! COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly braces Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Block ability activates! Blind applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly counters Jadeite's Rage In The Margins, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord's counterattack, Les Mysteres, partially gets through, doing 23 Fatigue damage to Jadeite! Critical Counterhit! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden narrowly dodges Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 11 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter fails to brace Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Diversion applied to Sailor Jupiter! COMBAT: Sailor Moon fails to brace Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Blind applied to Sailor Moon! COMBAT: Lera Camry fails to dodge Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to Lera Camry!
<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Tsukiko brings up an arm to protect her face from the jets of ink, but yet again the collateral splattering gets in her face. "I am really starting to appreciate pencils," she mutters as she shakes the ink off of her arm.
Still, her little breather has given her foot enough recovery time to be useable again. And she puts it to good use, dashing towards Scribnia and darting around the youma's legs. If the wolfgirl can keep the erstwhile manager from moving around, then perhaps everyone can strike even harder!
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Herd the Quarry on Jadeite. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite perfectly dodges Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Herd the Quarry, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou fails to dodge Jadeite's Rage In The Margins, taking 40 Fatigue damage!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
All that space and it doesn't really matter.
When Sailor Moon sees that the youma has decided to handle her with an inky ranged attack, she attempts to go for cover. Cover is so far away. Ink is so fast. Why is ink so fast?
Maybe ink has always been fast. Usagi has never seen flying ink before. Or ink in this amount ever, really. Usually it stays inside the pen or dried out on a page.
The pretty soldier goes down flailing and squawking, tumbling into a pile of overturned merchandise. She fails to get to her feet once--twice--okay there she goes. Good job hanging on to the book shelf for balance there, Usagi. You're starting to become a real tactician.
She wipes ineffectually at her ink-assaulted eyes. "Augh! Eaauughhh! Waaugh!"
This goes on for a bit. Usagi transfers her wand to her other hand to try regaining her sight from another angle. It... kinda works?
"Do you guys--need help?! I can't see! Tell me where to shoot!"
This is like the time she tried to out-think the Sailor V machine by playing it blindfolded. It didn't work. Or did it? Usagi still isn't quite sure.
Because she was blindfolded.
The barrage of lunar beams is both intense and glamorous.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Buttonmashing on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly counters Sailor Moon's Buttonmashing, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! COMBAT: Jadeite's counterattack, Pertinent Punctuation, partially gets through, doing 17 Fatigue damage to Sailor Moon!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"Oh no!" Lera yelps, as she cleaves through a display of phone charms, instead of the youma. She winces, watching the burning wreckage -- and then she winces, before she takes some quick steps backward. The ink sprays at her again -- and this time she doesn't get away from it in time. The ink hits her, knocking her back towards the wall, though not into it.
She yanks at her feet, trying to pull them free, but some of the ink gloops onto the floor and locks her feet down there. She feels heavy, restricted, and takes a few rough steps to move out of the worst of it.
Enough clings to her to make movement sluggish, though.
"Shoot--um--listen to her, and shoot there!" Lera yells to Sailor Moon. She starts running, then, though there is some sluggish movement; her footsteps leave thick globs of black ink behind them. She lunges forward, swinging out with her sword; a line of red-orange light is left cutting through the air as she charges and slashes at Scribnia.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Strike Soar on Jadeite. COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Lera Camry's Strike Soar, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Lera Camry is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
That special attention pays off in spades; Utena stands up to it valiantly, but the sheer force of Scribnia's assault rips through her, leaving her practically laid out in one forceful attack. Nevertheless, Utena seems to subscribe to the school of thought wherein one gets knocked down seven times and stands up eight; back on her feet in short order, she takes a second to simply breathe.
Indeed, she takes /several/ seconds to just stand and take a breath, letting herself momentarily take stock of the situation. She /usually/ just runs in... but every now and then, the situation calls for taking a second to rally and reaffirm one's determination, even at a time like this.
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has used Naked Determination on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Scribnia tries to give Eri the biggest papercut of her life. Whirling around, the lengths of scourge flash through the air, coiling in serpentine motions to bat them aside with quick parries. "That's just what I'm talking about." Weaving in and out of the relentless storm of paper missiles, her whip continues it's desperate dance to intercept them. One gets through, with a wince as it shears at her flank, then another, which traces a line at her thigh. But she doesn't slow down in her movements, if she did, she'd be like to topple over from sheer exhaustion.
"You're not lying when you say you're higher than nearly everyone. You don't see the problem with that though. Do you ever wonder what will happen if you ever do fall from heaven; who's going to be there to catch you, other than the ground?" A beat, "And stop wasting paper! That probably can't even be recycled!" It's about that moment that she notices the blind lunar beam barrage from the Senshi. Her eyes may become a bit wide wide at that, "S-Sailor Moon! Careful!"
It's La Sirene however that catches her attention. "You know, La Sirene, I'll never forget that time I was trapped in that shed, taking shelter from the storm. Or in that matinee fighting that jellyfish. I suppose after all that I never thought you'd be here, fighting by our sides time and time again after that." There's an notable pause, as she wrestles with what to say, before a sheepish smile touches her expression. "I've never been so glad to be proven so wrong."
COMBAT: Utena Tenjou accepts Utena Tenjou's Naked Determination, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Accelerate and Withstand applied to Utena Tenjou! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Happily Proven Wrong on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord accepts Eri Shimanouchi's Happily Proven Wrong, taking 0 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord is Cheered!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"--whoa!" Sailor Jupiter suddenly finds herself barraged with a flurry of paper, not to mention ducking very hastily out of the way of her fellow Sailor Senshi's wild spray of moonbeams. "Sailor Moon, down and to your left!" She raches up to bat a page out of her field of vision. "--your other left!"
Really, though, Usagi seems to be managing fine, ink-blinded or not; satisfied that her friend will be okay for the moment, Sailor Jupiter focuses on Scribnia again, striding forward across a floor now splashed liberally with ink, sheets of paper still settling in the air around her.
Coming in behind Lera's fast lunge, hers is a slower approach, a gathering of power to her hands in bright hissing sparks. "Hey, Jadeite!" the Senshi of Courage calls upward, not missing a beat as she hauls back and once more drives her electrified fist at the youma. "Nobody cares!"
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Lightning Fist on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly dodges Sailor Jupiter's Lightning Fist, taking 23 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter is Psyched! Jadeite's Fade ability activates! Jadeite's Flash ability activates!
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Wait, la Sirene thinks, those are pens! Not claws!
Her eyes go wide.
Then a claw comes down - one of the nibs presses against the neck of la Sirene, and sinks just a little bit in. Ink suddenly floods into la Sirene, at least as far as she can tell; her eyes widen, even seeming to go black momentarily. But this sudden surge of blackness, /while agonizing/, is not enough to deter her - before more can happen beyond that squirt of black inscription, she throws her hand back up.
Another burst of silver presses the youma back! Ish. La Sirene herself is forced to press a hand to her neck, eyes narrowing as the exquisite agony coils through her, like ink spilling feelings of pain out on a page. (For once, this metaphor is, of course, perfect.)
Then...
New words come in.
Pouring into her like out of season pumpkin spice latte, unlooked for but welcomed, la Sirene pulls a tough face, cheeks puffing out for a moment as her eyes turn down. "Hmf... well, I realized that as a future queen, it behooves me not to lose control of myself."
She tosses her hair back, which remains inkblack. "But sometimes the storm simply gets the better of me..." She raises her hand in the air, and indeed, blackness seems to flow around herself. No, wait, it's coming through her veins, up to her fingertips where it wells up -
And then it rains down, black and tarry, onto the youma.
"What cruelty," she says then. "To send your creature this way... had you left her in peace, she would have had a beautiful place.. Jadeite."
She gives the blonde man a side-ways glare. "Do you think there is only one of your 'heavens'? You must not know very much... but I suppose a man like you couldn't see the hidden ways if they struck him on the nose. Like a newspaper to punish an unruly dog!"
(Sirens of Sorrow's Sea does not endorse mistreatment of animals.)
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Dramatic Flourish!! on Jadeite. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite fails to dodge La Sirene du Nord's Dramatic Flourish!!, taking 15 Fatigue damage! La Sirene du Nord is Psyched!
<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
Humanity does indeed create its own tyrants. Even Guma concedes a sort of defeat at this notion, but not the latter. "Who is this queen of yours, exactly?" Never, in the hundreds of years she's been active, has Guma faced such strange opponents as these generals. Then again, the same goes for a lot of opponents she's had in the past hundred years. If he even answers, at least it will allow Guma some way of knowing her opponents.
Pages rip and tear at the Scarlet Rune Maiden's kimono and sleeves, producing blood that easily blends in with the brilliant red fabric. Watching the Duelist Utena get just as brutally hit and more, yet keep going, causes Guma to bite back her own cry of pain; she needs to hold herself to the standards all the rest are holding themselves to, after all.
("Guma, are you okay...?") Akemi's voice, tiny and concerned, filters through in Guma's mind.
"Watch these girls. There may be a day when you'll have to take over, you know," Guma murmurs underneath her breath. Watch them.
Especially Sailor Moon, because she's engaging in something close to friendly fire.
"I appreciate your sentiment for this youma," Guma responds aloud now to La Sirene du Nord, "but it's too late now. She's too far gone. As such, we have a duty."
And, to prepare for that duty, Guma should make it an easier end. Pressing her hands to the ground, Guma expels a line of energy into the earth below the fine floors of the shop; where it comes back out provides a dislodging of earth, enough to maybe dislodge the youma for the final blow.
COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Hard to Bear on Jadeite. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Scarlet Rune Maiden's Hard to Bear, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Trap applied to Jadeite!
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
Scribnia's assault is cut short by a mysterious force borne of the ocean. Screeching in pain and fury, it leaps back - and high above Tsukiko's wild rush. For a moment, it has to keep on moving as Sailor Moon's light shines more or less everywhere - up until a distracting jet of ink is launched. Lera's blade lashes out - but with one clawed hand, the youma catches it. For a moment, it struggles, preparing to turn it back on its wielder-
And then Jupiter, out of the blue, punches the youma in where the gut should go. It's a forceful blow, knocking the youma free of its clash, and into the midst of La Sirene's rainstorm - which pours down hard enough that there's no evading the grasp of the earth.
From his lofty pedestal, Jadeite laughs - high and cruel. One hand opens to reveal the gathered bounty of life energy, swirling with myriad colours. "And yet, here I remain. Once you have been dealt with - how much longer can you stand? - then Scribnia will bring the remainder of these humans' lives." He glares fiercely at Nori for a moment. "Queen? You? Consider yourself fortunate that mind did not hear such arrogant words. Scribnia - write their final entries."
"SCRIIIII!" Scribnia howls in fury at its entrapment, and its shoulder-mounted wings of paper rustle in answer. Pages gather before it, bound swiftly by leather and gold and jade, names engraving themselves on the covers. Eight books in all, with titles like 'The Plant-Wielder', 'Queen of the Ocean', and 'Sailor Moon'. Pen-fingers poised to write, Scribnia flares those wings once more - and waves of paper and ink form a prelude to this finale.
COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Eri Shimanouchi. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Sailor Moon. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Sailor Jupiter. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Scarlet Rune Maiden. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on La Sirene du Nord. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Cute Wolf Tsukiko. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Black Out The Page on Lera Camry. COMBAT: Jadeite has used Pages Of Unchanging Days on Utena Tenjou. COMBAT: Jadeite has finished attacking. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly dodges Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Flash ability activates! Diversion applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko! COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly dodges Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 15 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to Eri Shimanouchi! COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden perfectly dodges Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! COMBAT: Sailor Moon narrowly dodges Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 16 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon's Flash ability activates! Diversion applied to Sailor Moon! COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter fails to dodge Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Blind applied to Sailor Jupiter! COMBAT: Utena Tenjou narrowly braces Jadeite's Pages Of Unchanging Days, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Utena Tenjou's Parry ability activates! COMBAT: Lera Camry narrowly dodges Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Lera Camry's Fade ability activates! Lera Camry's Flash ability activates! Blind and Tangle applied to Lera Camry! COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord narrowly dodges Jadeite's Black Out The Page, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind and Tangle applied to La Sirene du Nord!
<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Tsukiko is surprised by Scribnia's sudden leap, but the wolfgirl only pauses for half a moment before dashing away from the barrage of paper. She evades a decent number of the pages, but one of them embeds into her shoulder like an arrow. She yelps and loses her footing, skidding to a halt. "That hurt," Tsukiko winces, sizing up the youma.
The wolfgirl takes a deep breath, wincing slightly from the wound in her shoulder, then begins to howl at the youma. Her voice wordlessly sings of the hopes and dreams that people have poured into their diaries, and of the pride they take in their personal writings. Her song carries the beauty of the infinite styles and decorations of the diaries, of how people customize theirs to reflect themselves on the outside, even as they reflect themselves in the inside with their writings.
The howl sounds like a haunting melody to the magical girls present... but to the youma's dark ears, the howl stabs like a knife.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Soulful Howl on Jadeite. COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
It takes one quick sidestep to dodge the waves of ink and paper with that personalized touch. That motion is tiring in and of itself, having been exhausted beyond her normal limits this fight. The ink and paper turn the walls black and white but not red all over.
Seeing the Youma in flight, a plan formulates in her head, as she looks towards the Prince of her class. "Utena-sama!" She calls aloud, trying to flag down her attention. "I'm going to try to give you an opening for a straight drive to the goal! I'm counting on you to nail it!"
With one motion, she drops to her knees, and the seeking vines of her scourge burrow into the ground. There's a rumbling, before they erupt just in front of Utena, and bursts forth as a writhing, rapidly growing mass of solid foliage. It continues diagonally upwards towards Scribnia, trying to pin her against the second story balcony and crush her there. And it makes a convenient platform for one Prince to run up and try to make a critical strike.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Eri Shimanouchi has started a combo targeting Jadeite!
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
The paper and ink comes flying towards everyone. Lera's eyes shoot wide open -- and then shut tightly, as the storm of paper and ink is upon her. It blasts into her Barrier Jacket, rendering the magical garment sodden with thick black ink. A piece of paper hits her face; she grits her teeth, then pulls the paper off and throws it hard to the side. It lands in a puddle of liquid ink next to her; then she jumps into the air, and only barely manages to somersault away from the last wave of ink coming for her.
"You don't--you don't get to write peoples' final entries!" she cries out at Jadeite. "What people write in their diaries is their own! What they think is important! We won't let you do that!"
She's in a freefall. This wasn't a particularly acrobatic, careful leap -- it was a move of desperation. She turns as she falls, pointing her broadsword at him with both hands.
<Do you still want a new pen?>
She blinks. What kind of question, she wonders, is that? "Sky, um, time and place--"
<Do you?>
"Of course not!" she says. "You're--aw, why would I? You're the best pen a girl could ask for."
The Intelligent Device is quiet, but the red gem at the crossguard pulses once with life -- and then Lera smiles. She turns her sword down, pointing it towards Scribnia. Tsukiko's howl echoes in her ears; the cries and shouts of the others do, too. But, right now, the best comrade she could ask for is in her grip. The sword splits in half; lightning crackles between each prong of the blade.
<Aurora Burst!>
A beam of light, bright orange with tinges of yellow and white through it, fires from the split sword and down towards Scribnia. The recoil throws Lera backward; her feet slam into the ceiling and she bicycle kicks off it, then executes a midair backflip, and lands on the ground. The sword closes shut, with a snap.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Lera Camry has used Aurora Burst on Jadeite. COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Okay, okay, I got it--"
Sailor Moon wipes enough ink away to see again. The area around her eyes are still dark to the point that she looks goth enough to fit here and weepy enough to really fit here, but she can see!
The pretty soldier levels her wand at Scribnia, sparing a reproachful glance for Jadeite. If he's going to get serious, it's going to be soon. The youma draws herself up in her dark empowerment. The words catch Usagi's eye. Is this all planned, or is it a trick?
After the DD Girls, Usagi can't trust some of the things she sees. It's not because they might be fake, but because they might be more true than her heart can take.
The flood of pages come down the aisle where Sailor Moon is making her stand. She grits her teeth and tries to read the situation like Minako would. The guardian elects to abandon her position, darting to the side and plunging into a less dense area of the winged deluge. She brings up her forearm to help push her way through.
Inside, Usagi is already committed to what she is about to do. The sound of her decision thump-thumps in her ears. The kaleidoscopic halation already glows in dim soon-glory around her, lighting her outline through the paper.
When the attack ceases, the pages don't stop swirling around her. The ones in Sailor Moon's immediate proximity form an elegant funnel, circling in graceful enclosure around the candle of her magic. Her silhouette traces a crescent moon above her head. The light brightens.
And then the papers all snap to attention--all of them arranging themselves behind her in an unbroken background of formerly wrathful pages.
"People don't waste their energy on diaries," says Sailor Moon, her voice grave and certain. "Everything they put in there--"
The pretty soldier reaches out. The luminous circle of a traced moon waits before her. All the colors of her conjuration wait for her to speak the words of desire.
"--is something they needed to share!"
Her conviction comes rushing forth, waves of belief from unseen wings as real as Scribnia's, carrying the pages of diaries yet written in a counterflood, a rejection, a reply.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Sailor Moon has used Moon Healing Escalation on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
La Sirene faces into that storm of pages and more before she can really give Jadeite a good snap-back. But now she resolves regarding something new.
She's having trust put into her... by someone who she'd thought had laughed at her.
If nothing else, Noblesse Oblige keeps her going. Pressing against the storm, her coattails rattle back, and she stares up -- at Jadeite.
Her eyes gleam, colorless as new sea ice.
"Oh yes...? Well, if you are quite so confident - in the strength of your devil, to write the final chapter in the books of our lives, and the lives of these people whom you have deceived..."
La Sirene du Nord holds up her black mirror. Only it isn't black - it's a sort of dark green.
Something's surging through it. La Sirene grasps one jewel on it and her attention turns towards the Scribnia. "Then you won't mind if I add a little something, do I? Is your ink... waterproof?"
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Before I Leave Your Eyes on Jadeite. COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
<Pose Tracker> Utena Tenjou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Bracing herself against the screeching Scribnia's swift sketching, Utena hangs in there; it's getting a little harder, but it's still... /possible/, at least. Especially when she hears a voice calling her name.
It's still weird when /Himemiya/ calls her Utena-sama; when Eri does it, Utena seems downright incredulous for a second -- but there are more important things to worry about right now than that. When she sees what Eri's trying to do, she can't stop herself from smiling; the maneuver is clever -- and much less likely to result in a problem than the /last/ time she ran in the general direction of the Puella Magi's vines.
Going for the opening, Utena runs up along the rapidly-growing mass, doing her best to maintain her speed while not /outpacing/ it -- conveniently, it matches her just about perfectly once the pair are truly synchronized. As she gets close, she leaps forcefully forward, doing her best to play through the pain and slash Scribnia with as much force as possible.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Utena Tenjou has joined the combo started by Eri Shimanouchi! COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Eri Shimanouchi and Utena Tenjou have used Combo: Three-Point Play!, composed of Footsteps of the Kodama and Down But Not Defeated, on Jadeite. COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking. COMBAT: Utena Tenjou has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite fails to brace La Sirene du Nord's Before I Leave Your Eyes, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Jadeite is Quipped! COMBAT: Jadeite fails to brace Eri Shimanouchi and Utena Tenjou's Finisher, Combo: Three-Point Play!, taking 163 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Jadeite fails to brace Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Finisher, Soulful Howl, taking 69 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Jadeite fails to brace Lera Camry's Finisher, Aurora Burst, taking 128 Fatigue damage! COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Sailor Moon's Finisher, Moon Healing Escalation, taking 54 Fatigue damage! Jadeite is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Scarlet Rune Maiden [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
Pages fly once more, but the Scarlet Rune Maiden is prepared this time. Ducking behind a nearby case of journals, Guma hesitates for a moment.
("... Let me do this.")
".... No. I want you to watch and learn. These sorts are too powerful." Guma mumbles the words, taking care not to be heard as the battle continues onwards just feet beyond.
("I know. But I want to fight by them. I want to protect them. Usagi-chan, her friends. Everyone. I want to protect you too, Guma.")
Guma lets out a sigh. "Really. You're making this more difficult than it needs to be. But, if you want to, I can't say no."
The Scarlet Rune Maiden who emerges the other end of the bookshelf... is different, if in ways that may not be noticeable at first glance. Amber eyes gaze forward at the youma, then flick to Jadeite. "... It makes me sad to hear you talk this way." She clasps her hands to her chest. "I don't think you'll ever understand what it's like to be human, so I'll have to show you the only way I think you will understand. So..."
Squeezing her eyes shut and taking a breath, the Maiden opens them and extends a hand towards the youma. "There will always be people like you. But, at the same time, there will always be people like everyone here. And we'll put a stop to you, whereever you are, whatever you do!"
The tattoo on the Maiden's back flickers to life, wavering with the Maiden's own conviction, yet surging as she hears the cries of her colleagues' determination. "S-scarlet Lotus seal," she begins with a squeak, tracing a seal in the air that seems so natural to her as breathing, and at the same time, alien as foreign script. "... seal of ages past, I call upon your radiance." She completes the glowing circle and the lotus blossom in front of her, and applies her hand to it. "Shine your rays on those that dwell beyond redemption, and restore hope to the Balance!"
The circular beam, now complete in form and by word, surges towards the youma, scarlet tones leaving ghost afterimages in the air.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Scarlet Rune Maiden has used Scarlet Lotus Seal on Jadeite. COMBAT: Scarlet Rune Maiden has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite fails to brace Scarlet Rune Maiden's Finisher, Scarlet Lotus Seal, taking 101 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Jadeite is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Ink sprays, and thought Sailor Jupiter tries to leap out of the way, the thick black liquid splatters across her face and into her eyes, blotting out her vision at the worst possible time. Sputtering, she reaches up to scrub her hands over her face - it doesn't help much. The ink soaks the white fabric of her gloves, but though she blinks fiercely, her sight only clears to a watery blur.
...this will be a problem.
Except it isn't, really. She can hear Sailor Moon's voice, and though the powers of the other magical girls are a confusion of movement and color and light that she can't make sense of, Sailor Jupiter knows the kaleidoscope colors of Moon Healing by heart. It is bright enough that even like this, she can see it, and the path it traces toward Scribnia, the dark smudge that is the youma's silhouette in the center of it.
"Right behind you, Sailor Moon," she says, and her voice is calm and sure.
Her next words ring out much louder within the walls of the store, as the air crackles around her with a sudden charge and the slim golden antenna at the center of her tiara begins to spark. Just two words, as she gathers lightning in her hands, but they resound.
"SUPREME--" Electricity seethes around her, between her hands until it spills over and crawls up her arms and mantles her shoulders, until it's too much to hold and she releases it along the path that Sailor Moon traced for her. "--THUNDER!"
COMBAT: FINISHER! Sailor Jupiter has used Supreme Thunder on Jadeite. COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking. COMBAT: Jadeite narrowly braces Sailor Jupiter's Finisher, Supreme Thunder, taking 31 Fatigue damage! Jadeite is unable to keep fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Jadeite [Infinity Institute (S)] has posed.
For a crucial moment, Jadeite's eyes meet La Sirene's. Nothing critical, just the slightest faltering in his attention - the least weakening of the power he continues to send his youma. The moment is interrupted - a miniature garden erupting from the floorboards, slamming into Scribnia, and pinning her in place for Utena's heroic effort. Leather and gold part, and Scribnia screeches the pain of its debilitating injury.
Such is the nature of the physical. The mystic side is a song of haunting solitude. It is a light of brilliant conviction, and a storm of trust renewed. It is a binding seal of hope and determination, and it is a thunderbolt of devotion.
When the storm of purifying hope has passed - some measure of normality is restored. Shattered shelves renewed, broken bottles intact once more, blooming flowers where wrathful vines once stood. Save for the absence of its manager, the store seems to be normal once more. Where Scribnia stood, an orb of swirling light slowly dissipates, tendrils of life returning to those people from whom they were so rudely torn-
-and then one last blow is dealt to the store. Ice erupts from the ground, impaling several displays and forming a brief cordon around that stolen energy. Even with the lion's share restored to its rightful holders, some of it remains - and Jadeite lands heavily in the midst of the ice to grab it with one gloved hand. Fury burns in his eyes as he looks over those who have defied him.
"You -worms-. None of you have understood - will ever understand me. But know this - today is the last of these victories you'll wrest from -me-." Clinging to his prize, he gestures sharply - and the ice shatters to swirling snow as he vanishes in a flash of darkness.
Again, tranquility is restored to the stationary shop. Moaning, partly restored but tired all the same, the myriad victims begin to stir - it might take a few days for the worst-off, but it seems everyone should recover in time.
<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Lera frowns at Jadeite's final words, before she shakes her head. She sighs and adjusts her coat, carefully; her sword turns back into its pen form, and then she slides that into her pocket. She looks after Jadeite, where he vanished in a burst of darkness. This was a hard fight, she thinks; the Heavenly King hardly played around.
It could, she realizes, get worse. That gives her a moment's pause.
Then she looks at the other girls, and flashes a quick thumbs-up. "Good job!" she says. "I should go get cleaned up, though, I mean..." She looks at herself. "...ew." There's a wave -- and then she quickly slips out the door!
<Pose Tracker> Eri Shimanouchi [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
It was more important to her to give Utena the oppurtunity to strike her blow, than it was to have the final word. She listens to Jadeite's anger over his loss with a look of sadness over his comment. 'None of you have understood - will ever understand me.' With a wave of her fingers, she steps down one of the restored aisles as the civilians start to get up, and releases her transformation. Again she was a normal girl, living a life that Jadeite would probably consider trivial.
When she transforms back, she finds the hibiscus lock still in her hand, and she twirls it about in her fingers, before moving over to the other aisle. Fortunately with everything restored as it was, it was right where she'd left it. A chain of orange and pink heart charms to decorate a diary. Looking upon it, she stares at the lock in her hands, 'People don't waste their energy on diaries. Everything they put in there is something they needed to share.'
It's true. Maybe one day she'd have someone who understood her well enough that she could share /all/ of her thoughts and feelings with. She just wanted it to be someone who could actually speak back, rather than echo her. Knowing what she wanted was important, which is why she puts away the lock, and picks up the chain. After it was rung up and she paid for it, she left the store, with a little hitch in her step from the injuries of the fight.
