2017-08-19 - Chevaliers: The Bonds of Knighthood
| Title: Chevaliers: The Bonds of Knighthood | |
|---|---|
| Summary: After confronting a Flanmiliar, the Chevaliers eat crepes and discuss their situation. With many of their number depowered by the Wolkenritter, their grief seed supply running low, and the Outer Senshi closing in on Hotaru, things look dire for the Chevaliers. The bonds of friendship between Chevaliers have never been stronger, but time is not on their side. They must force a final confrontation in Shinjuku. | |
| Who: Endo Naoki, Garnet, Kozue Kaoru, Mami Tomoe, Nori Ankou, Sayaka Miki | |
| Where: Shibuya Shopping District | |
| OOC - IC Date: 08-19-2017 - 02-11-2015 | |
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Outside, it is a chilly day. Sunset is a ways off, but the light has paled in this late winter's afternoon. Far above the milling crowds crossing the wide pedestrian streets of Shibuya, where rent is relatively low, there is a sign for KARAOKE. A row of grey pigeons are standing atop it, purr-cooing softly to one another. One plucks at her armpit with her beak.
The O flickers with a noisy buzz, and the birds suddenly shift, glancing around nervously. It flickers again, and this time a spark hisses out of the neon tube's base, sending the pigeons to wing.
SOUNDTRACK CHANGE - IC MUSICOn the other side of the wall, Sayaka kicks the rubbery familiar again, slamming its gooey body into an electrical cabinet. It is a giant yellow flan, about as tall as Sayaka herself, sitting atop a plate. Her sword is stuck atop it like a jaunty toothpick, and these kicks don't seem to be doing anything. Drawing her foot back again, she stomps harder, and her boot goes right into the monster's body. "Ah!" Sayaka yelps, hopping back on one foot a step.
With a twist, the flan begins to spin on its plate, and after a few hops, Sayaka is dragged right off her feet and spun around with it. "AAAaaa--aaAAAaa--aaAAaa!" she cries, quieter and louder as she passes around and around. Finally, she either gets free or is released, slung like a frisbee across the karaoke parlor. Her body impacts a pane of glass separating two of the booths and smashes right through it, and she tumbles through two more booths and two more panes as she goes, finally landing awkwardly one one of the pleather couches, her cape tangled around one arm.
"Peppy," Sayaka observes wryly.
The Flanmiliar continues spinning down the aisle, steering its wildly careening form towards any magical girls in its way. It's not one of the most damaging familiars the Chevaliers have ever seen, but it may be the most resilient. It also managed to turn the music on over the PA, along with some shifting multicolored lights, so its obese wobbling bulk seems ready to party right now.
[OOC] Global: Sayaka Miki has set the Scene Pose.
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "this is amazing" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "I love you Sayaka" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "and your music" [OOC] La Sirene de Diamant says, "<3" [OOC] Sayaka Miki <3 "Incredibly fun pose to write" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Feel free to beat on this thing"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Ordinarily, Mami Tomoe doesn't get to go to karaoke. This isn't exactly the ideal way to be here, not exactly singing with friends where only riends can see, but you have to try to find the bright spots in hunting if you're going to get by.
...The bright spot such as Sayaka being fine after smashing through a bunch of booths and landing on a couch. Mami peers through the hole Sayaka left towards her partner to see her fine enough to make wry observations, and sighs. "Sayaka-chan..."
A beat, "That was a shattering performance."
Mami smiles warmly at her kohai and returns to the wobbling Flanmiliar that's gotten closer to her... But that's totally worth it. She looks around at the destruction already in play and.
"Everyone!" Mami calls, putting up both hands, "I'll pin it down for you!" And with that, she starts curling ribbons around it, twirling in place and then hopping to the side, more and more and more of them to make too many to just goop on through.
Dancing is appropriate to the music.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene de Diamant [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Strange light gleams onto the flan, highlighting its vortices and wobbles and charm points as the sea-gleam of the depths of the Sea of Tears is turned upon it, like a searchlight. Imagine something being lit by a black light - but not quite - and it's cold, too!
La Sirene de Diamant is standing on top of a drink table as she focuses this ray upon the flabby, glabrous thing.
"Sayaka - I'm sorry! But I think it's setting up!" she calls to her.
La Sirene has been more subdued lately, coming off even more ghostlike than was typically the case, but she's had a lot on her mind, between two separate murderous or semi-murderous ambushes in the last several weeks. Nevertheless, she's here, now.
Batiste sits on top of a CRT monitor that hasn't yet been replaced. "Hurrah for Mami-san!" he cheers.
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet responds to Mami's rallying cry and Sayaka's heroic resilience with a nod, and as Nori blasts the creature with a ray of black light, Garnet, recently having bounced off of it herself and standing in the doorway of the karoake room in which she had ended up, silently raises her gauntlets before her and they shine with her own light.
A transformative light that sends the fists careening off of her arms and rocket boosted to the Flanmiliar. The fists twist around Nori's beam, spiraling around it, perhaps in a bit of levity and showmanship on the part of the stoic gem, inspired by Sayaka's lightening of the mood.
They finally crash into it, in hopes of helping Nori's beam finally de-stabilize the wobbling aberration!
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
"Get it, Garnet-san!"
Endo is here to cheer. And, also, not much else. His Linker Core being drained has put him out of commission for the most part, so the best he can do is hover at the edges of the battlefield and make sure nothing else goes wrong.
"I think you've almost got it!" He's actually not sure, it looks as much like a flan as it has for the past several minutes, but maybe the encouragement is helping.
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Haha Endo" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "Yess Endo" [OOC] Endo Naoki helping! [OOC] Garnet says, "awww! Go endo Go!"
<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
"Now I've seen everything." That's a familiar voice that Sayaka hears just behind her- and suddenly there's a hand wiping glass idly off the white cape. She doesn't do anything more than that. It seems like a gesture she's only doing while she passes through. "If you were in the mood for custard Sayaka-chan, you could have just told me."
Her long legs come into view next as she steps past her, though they're covered by the leggings. It leads up to a dark miniskirt. A denim jacket that's worn unbuttoned- over an airy pink top. The strap of a tank top beneath it just showing from this angle.
As she steps up to the broken glass, she drops her school bag onto the floor, she puts one hand on the frame, and starts to vault through. As she does something shimmers into being in her hands It's only finished materializing once she gets to the other side. A chained sickle by the look of it. "I know you can more than handle this on your own..."
The rest of them have more than guaranteed it's death knells are soon to come between Mami's ribbons, La Sirene's scan, and Garnet's assault but... "... but this just looked like too much fun for me to pass up."
Seeing Sayaka's swords sticking out of it causes her to think better of slashing the thing. She loops her off-hand round and round once, twice, thrice... as she waits for Garnet to get clear and then flings the weighted end at it to try to crash into the thing's plate end rather than the custard figuring it'll find more purchase there.
[OOC] Garnet chuckles. Suggested music choice (since it just started playing in my head on reading that pose): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDDm6sP-5KY [OOC] Mami Tomoe :O [OOC] Garnet says, "Endo your +pot stats are so accurate right now." [OOC] Endo Naoki says, "ahaha, it's true!"
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka beams up at Mami. Maybe that sounded corny to someone in this room, but it wasn't Sayaka Miki. "Maybe you can bring it to Concludere," she says. She's good with foreign words when they have to do with music.
The spinning Flanmiliar wraps itself faster than Mami ever could, instantly sucking up all the ribbon it can get by virtue of its spinning. Weird blobs of it stick out between the yellow ribbons, and the whole thing trembles under the sudden pressure, like a volcano about to burst. Sayaka's sword is still stuck atop the devilish dessert.
"Setting up? For what?" Sayaka yells over the booths. "It doesn't have arms or a mouth or... or anything!"
But La Sirene seems to be right. The flan wrenches itself against the ribbons repeatedly. One snaps, then another. There are still enough to hold it, but not for too long, and it is quaking violently now. Nori's steady beam of unlight seems to be bothering it quite a bit, as its bulk tries to flee it, sucking in like a tubby belly to avoid it.
"Wha-" Sayaka startles. She'd been starting to get up when a new voice interrupted, and she flops right back down. She lets her head loll back on the couch, her pale blue hair inverting into feathers behind her forehead as she looks up. "G-guess you found us," she says. This little battle hadn't been expected; Mami detected a large familiar nearby as they were meeting down at the base of this building. "Hey, w-wait up!" she calls after Kozue fruitlessly, scrambling to get her legs beneath her.
Kozue becomes the Flanmiliar's dance partner, hacking its gooey (and tasty-looking) gelatin with her sickle. Ribbons of goop sling free around the room. Suddenly, Kozue's sickle clanks against something metallic inside. Sayaka meets eyes with her sheepishly from the other side, their weapons accidentally interlocked inside the Flan. Knowing her, she's probably about to apologize.
"Jump," she says instead. She and Garnet have a good rhythm going now, one Kozue may not be so privy to.
Garnet's spiralling fists follow La Sirene's beam down and slam right through the Flanmiliar, bursting it like a bullet through a waterballoon. As it collapses in on itself, La Sirene's unseelie beam microwaves it from the unprotected innards, and it erupts. Fortunately, it erupts upwards, primarily, Sayaka's first sword ejected with a teakettle whistle of pressure as it paints the ceiling with sugar.
Sayaka had jumped back at the moment that combo attack came to fruition, and she's currently standing atop the bar, cape over one arm and shoulder, the other side side bare. "Eheh." She scratches the back of her head. "Hey everybody. This is my friend Kozue Kaoru."
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Maybe just OST in the end of Domino Dancing..."
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mami is never corny. ...Not that she can help, anyway. This is different, it's special, it's for Sayaka. And Mami does her work as best she can. "We'll see if I can!" Mami says to Sayaka brightly, feeling good about their handling of this as a group so far despite the difficulty and property damage.
She can't laugh at 'setting up' just yet, but she does keep throwing more ribbons as the flan keeps shifting. It's... not going to Concludere.
She ends up landing beside Endo as she stops throwing ribbons for a moment, narrowing her eyes. "Looks like it's up to the others..." But she smiles at Endo, "It's easier to keep going at this with good cheering." She has been keeping a close eye on him during the fight, in case of any... difficulties, danger, and so on.
But Kozue's appearance surprises her. Kozue, who shows up and helps fight. Helps... /fight/.
Mami blinks, and forgets to sling her next ribbon until suddenly the Flanmiliar erupts entirely. For her part, Mami conjures burst of ribbon to shield herself and Endo from any stray spatters until that's done with. She pauses, at that, letting it fade.
"Kozue-chan," Mami greets, glancing to Sayaka in subtle question of what even? and then smiling formally at Kozue. "Mine as well. And these are the Chevaliers." A pause. "And... What remains of this karaoke booth."
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene de Diamant [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Endo's cheering, Garnet's fist... the Chevaliers are familiar to her, now. Friends, after a fashion, and what could be more precious? But:
La Sirene's eyes widen at the sight of the arrival of -- Kozue!
But only briefly. The flan suffers under her shrivelling radiance, like someone left an earthworm on a sidewalk. Except that earthworms are not delicious-looking. Maybe for Tsuru; la Sirene does not know.
But their crossed blades rupture the surface tension of the Flan and it E R U P T S upwards, some stray droplets landing on La Sirene's arm. The unlight around her starts to gently consume the sugar, which rises as a thin curl of smoke. (Batiste has to dodge.)
Sayaka then introduces Kozue, and la Sirene's head tilts just for a moment to the side as she looks towards the gamine girl with the kusarigama. La Sirene raises one jeweled glove to rest two fingers and her thumb on her chin, saying as she does, "Ah... the famous model... It's an honor to run into you like this, Kozue-san. Or should I simply say, KOZUE..."
"Should we sit?" La Sirene asks the room, in thought. After all, they've earned it, and it's not like the place is opening soon. Is it? They could always pay for the room if so.
[OOC] Garnet says, "oh. hahahahaha. Oh yes that's right. we have a pair of Model citizens..." [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Yes, little AoAka reunion here"
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet smiles at the results of the Chevalier's teamwork... and shoots a thumbsup to Endo and his important work!
But then her attention is taken by an unexpected arrival, a new player in town, a new member? It doesn't seem so, and yet, it's still a little strange to see someone just casually saunter into a Labyrinth.
Sayaka excitedly proclaims this girl, Kozue Kaoru as a friend of hers without reservation, but she still strikes Garnet as bit odd. Something about the way she carried herself through her entrance, coupled with La Sirene's reaction to seeing her here makes Garnet wonder.
But! Sayaka's endorsement carries a lot of weight with the Gem, and she's willing to give this somewhat mysterious newcomer the benefit of the doubt while she lets an impression of her stabilize. After all, Sayaka has been a good judge of character for everyone else here so far.
Garnet however is not one to reach out to new people immediately. Under normal circumstances an excitable little boy who loves to make friends would step up to the plate, maybe with a ukelele ballad if the newcomer was lucky, but in his absence, upon her return to the group, Garnet simply nods to Kozue and gives a small bow of greeting after Sayaka introduces her.
The gem waits for the group to make its next move.
There seem to be few familiars around, she wouldn't be opposed to taking a rest as La Sirene suggests.
<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Interlocked in that moment. Kozue has this sort of smirk on her expression as she feels the apology coming. That expression vanishes when she says something else as if it changes to uncertainty. Suddenly she leaps straight up in the air, letting go of her Element.
It dematerializes from inside the flanmiliar, rematerializing back into her hands mid-air. And then she touches down lightly on another karaoke couch.
"It's true, I've known her since she was a little kid." As if she wasn't a little kid at the time too. Anyone paying attention might realize she's actually younger than Sayaka, no matter how she acts. She cants her head to the side, addressing La Sirene first, "How's the ear La Sirene? All healed up?" She actually snorts, looking like she's going to suppress a giggle when La Sirene says she's honored. Though she's not going to say more than that aloud. Instead she steps off the couch and steps near La Sirene to whisper, "Really? Honored is what you're going with?"
She does greet Mami aloud, "Mami-chan." It's very familiar, but she offers no hint as to why, "How have you been?" Her eyes flit over to Sayaka, "You've been taking good care of your senpai right?" A beat, "Anyhow- it's so good to finally meet you all."
That was startlingly polite for anyone who actually knows her at all.
"You wouldn't mind if I stuck around for a while, would you?" She's asking the whole of the group, but perhaps she's checking the reactions of... three... in particular.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
"Thank you, Mami-san," Endo says to the Puella Magi when she drops next to him. "I wish I could do more-" And then the flan's gonna explode!
Endo is about to take cover when the familiar starts to build pressure, but Mami provides some of her own. Once he uncrouches and uncovers his ears he waves his hand in thanks to the golden Puella Magi, his eyes surveying the wreckage for a second before his attention turns to the newly arrived Kozue.
"Oh, hello." He pauses, as if he might be trying to think of more to say. This, however, seems to be sufficient. So, instead he adds, "Good work, everyone."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Sayaka takes a little hop off the bar and her clothing sparkles away in droplets, transferring seamlessly into her streeth clothes. Today, that means a high-collared denim jacket, its sleeves rolled up to her forearms, with a grey ringer tee and black jeans.
'Without reservation' might be a big overstatement, as far as Sayaka and Kozue go. Sayaka tries to busy herself examining the floor lights when Kozue greets Mami, and so she's caught flat-footed when attention turns to her. "Of c-course!" she replies, mildly outraged. No one is more loyal to their senpai!
The flan drips from the ceiling, but disappears before landing with each fallen blob. Soon it will all be gone. "That's all that's around here, I think." Sayaka looks to Mami for a nod. "I thought we should all get together and share a little, since the war... is back on. So let's see. To be honest, the grief seed situation is a little..."
Sayaka's eyes widen. "Wait! What time is it?" Fumbling for her cell, Sayaka checks it with alarm. "Darn it! The crepe place closes any second now! Go go!"
* * *
"So one strawberry cream, and one..." Sayaka holds up a finger to the crepe man, panting. Out of henshin, that was a lot of stairs. "One kiwi. Oh! Extra whipped cream on the strawberry."
The crepe stand is on a quiet corner. Across the road is a small park with a wrought iron fence, and some birds chirp from there. Spring is coming, though winter lingers grey as the sun begins to lower. There is no one on this street but the Chevaliers and the crepe man, though crowds are visible at the far end of the street, making their way between department stores and stations. One of the streetlights flickers on as Sayaka jogs back to the low stone wall that the group has taken as their new base for now.
"I'm twenty yen short," Sayaka tells Mami. She's paying for both crepes. "Could I...?"
She doesn't have to pay yet, though; the crepes are made on site after all. So she sits down on the wall for now. "Endo-kun... you order yet? I wanted to say something quick." Her lips squeeze off to one side as she peeks back to the crepe man. He isn't listening or peeking. To him, these are all just normal customers, even if Nori and Mami are especially gorgeous, and Garnet especially gaijin.
"I just wanted to say," she repeats, looking at Endo. "That you can be a Chevalier even without your powers. So... if that's something you want, it's something we want too. Right?" She looks back to the others with a smile. "If they come back, if they don't... it doesn't matter. Just this." She thumps her chest with a fist.
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Mami looks curiously between La Sirene and Kozue, but says nothing. After all, she knows the truth, but it's possible that Kozue doesn't know... Isn't it? Mami isn't going to be the one to say any of that. She's amazed that Nori can space out the letters and make KOZUE sound so dramatic, though.
She'd expect nothing less of her friend La Sirene, of course.
The question of sitting Mami leaves alone for a moment. It's good to rest, but in /here/...? Her instinct is to run far away from this place in case of any unexpected arrivals. ...Or expected arrivals. But without sirens...
Mami offers nothing to Garnet for now; instead, Kozue explains something Mami was admittedly curious about... and doesn't explain about her history with the other girl. Mami smiles back to her with a dip of her head. "I've been well," she answers politely, even if it's not entirely true. She wants to keep the morale of the group up.
When Sayaka's clothes sparkle into street clothes, Mami allows the same to happen as well, into a soft yellow dress with boots and a light charcoal jacket, a lovely gold-touched purse on her arm. Her drills remain perfect.
"Sayaka-chan takes very good care of me," Mami says pleasantly. Sayaka gets the nod she was looking for from Mami, agreeing. She lets Sayaka do the talking as she looks over each of the Chevaliers for unseen injuries, and then--ah! Crepes!
* * *
Mami enjoys the cool breeze, the layers in her outfit enough to deal with the cold for her--especially the lovely gray tights. She's there as Sayaka makes their order, and she dips her head. "Of course," she answers, opening her purse and gathering her change to hand Sayaka twenty yen. "Make sure to pay me back," Mami says in an obvious senpai voice, and allows the conversation to continues before she says anything else.
Ordinary customers.
She waits, and smiles after Sayaka's statement. "Sayaka-chan speaks for me in this as well. I'm happy that you were with us today. And.. Yes, this," she taps a hand rather than thumping it, "Is what matters to us." A glance to the others. "You're all important to us. We are together."
[OOC] La Sirene de Diamant arms the Most Teenage Pose
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene de Diamant [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Kozue slips closer to la Sirene, who steps off the table she'd been standing on. Aloud, she says, "It's well enough," and then Kozue murmurs to her.
The answer may surprise Kozue. "What did you expect me to say?" she says in a /very/ quiet but also very clear voice to Kozue. Then, as if a switch got jammed, "--Whatever." Having said this, she folds her arms loosely. With an abrupt if slight tilt of her head, she stops attending to Kozue, even as she speaks to Mami.
The details of this do not reach her face even as she goes to sit down. It troubles Batiste enough that he beelines over to get half in la Sirene's lap, and it works enough, as she puts a hand on Batiste's back and strokes his fur.
Sayaka speaks - but then, there is a real, authentic emergency. The crepes!
* * *
Nori has continued to be upset throughout the trip for crepes.
She didn't /say/ anything, and she ordered a nut-butter-and-banana-slice crepe with powdered sugar as might be expected. She even still looks fashionable in dusty red denim jeans that are flattering to the hips and a jacket woven from what looks like heavy and texture black silk. She crouches next to the wall like a delinquent, munching disconsolately.
Her mouth is full, but she does give Endo a supportive look.
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Siren of the Sea of Puberty"
[OOC] La Sirene de Diamant says, "I felt a little bad to be sort of shutting down like that but then I remembered every child ever"
[OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "I'm gonna make things worse for Nori there..."
<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
"I'm so glad." Is her only response to Sayaka's mild outrage and Mami's affirmation that she does. And simply ends with a finger on La Sirene's nose when she gets pouty and tries to turn her attention away from her. She leans in to whisper- "We should try that look at your next photo shoot."
-=-=-
"Honestly Sayaka-chan. You know I can't handle anything this sweet." Kozue says, as she orders hot fudge crepes, and doesn't look like she particularly hates them during her first few bites.
She leans off to the side of the stand while Sayaka addresses them. Her eyes half-lidded.
There's something there as Sayaka tells a boy without powers that he can become a Chevalier too. It's hard to say what. "Well if that's how it is, then someone who actually can fight... ought to join up to balance it out."
What is she suggesting?
"Maybe I'll be riding along with all of you to war after all..."
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.
Endo takes to the streets much the same as he came before, if perhaps only slightly more disheveled. He's bundled up in a dark jacket to ward off the chilly air, with hands mostly kept tucked into pockets.
Endo lingers with the rest of the group while they order, although he doesn't place one himself. A simple shake of his head indicates he's done, content with a bottle of milky white Pokari Sweat he's acquired from a nearby vending machine.. It, unlike crepes, has electrolytes.
"Really?" Endo makes an embarrassed smile at Sayaka's offer, one that's quickly turned upside-down by Kozue's observation.
"Yaa--I can fight. Just...not right now. They say I'll be back to normal soon, though. It's just," A pensive pause. "Taking time, right now, that's all. But I'll help with whatever I can, in the meantime."
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet orders a simple strawberry and creme crepe for the feeling of inclusion it brings.
She doesn't contribute much in the way of the conversation, as is her way of things generally, but she listens carefully to each interaction both before and after the madcap rush to the crepe stand before its closure (Volunteering to carry any who didn't feel up to the rush themselves.)
When Sayaka offers a place in the Chevaliers to Endo despite his current lack of firepower, Garnet smiles and offers:
"There are different kinds of strength beyond the magical. You are strong, still, in a real way. I would be honored to have you among us."
To Kozue, whom she's just met, her reaction is not quite as forthcoming. For good or ill, Garnet has not truly had a chance to see the girl demonstrate the makings of her heart, which she has with Endo. Or perhaps she has in that introduction, but not in a great enough quantity to reach a decision.
Garnet delegates the informal decision to Sayaka silently, unless or until she is called upon specifically to voice her thoughts. But so far it hasn't become a formal offer from Kozue, and that itself is another factor: this girl speaks very indirectly, in a way that Garnet is not entirely used to, counting as her usual company very honest people, even those who carry secrets don't engage in these ways of speaking.
She doesn't know what to think yet, and the way her companions interact with Kozue makes her wonder still.
Rather than be the first to answer Kozue, Garnet takes a bite of her crepes, and thinks of the Strawberry Fields that now stand where there was once a terrible battle of the Rebellion, and tries to think of the potential of the creatures of Earth to adapt, and change.
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Incertus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8iJwVq5Brc
"Hai~!" Sayaka sings to Mami as she accepts the two coins. The extra whipped cream on Mami's crepe had just barely pushed Sayaka overbudget. "Thanks, senpai. I'll pay you back tonight."
Sayaka grimaces apologetically to Kozue. "This place is supposed to be really good... Mami-senpai loves it." She knows dessert, and she knows Shibuya, so she knows all the dessert in Shibuya. "But we can go to different sorts of places next time, so everybody gets something they like." She doesn't make particular note of Kozue seeming to enjoy the crepe anyway, nor the tension between her and her fellow model.
Sayaka nods to Garnet gratefully. "Like she said! Madoka-chan's a valuable member of the team, and so are you! We'll do anything we can to help you get your powers back, but even if you don't, you'll still be one of us." She bobs her head firmly.%rBlinking with surprise, she turns to Kozue. "Um, you really want to? After all the..." She swallows.
"One kiwi and one strawberry, extra whip!" the crepe man calls.
"Hang on!" Sayaka yelps, and runs over.
When she returns, she has had a chance to gather her thoughts. She walks over to Mami's side and offers her the crepe carefully, waiting until it's fully in her hand before letting go. It's clear how dilligen she is with Mami. Taking a breath, she faces the group again. "I guess this is a good time to tell you all about the situation. Lots of you know most of this, but probably nobody here knows all of it, including me. And Kozue-chan doesn't know much at all, so she should get to hear before she makes offers like that." Sayaka takes a steadying bite of kiwi crepe, and for a moment her eyes sparkle with its deliciousness.
"Mmf. Okay." She chews, swallows. The birds across the street are still chirping, the tall buildings around lending a sense of gravity to this little meeting on the sidewalk. "...it's a happy part of town, isn't it?" Sayaka muses. "Especially nowadays. People are sad, and people suffer, for lots of reasons. But when Witches are around, they spread that suffering. Bad things happen to people... and inside people, you know? They hurt worse than they should hurt. Sometimes they do things they shouldn't do to try and fix it. You can kind of feel it, when you're in a place with a lot of them. If you're not a Puella Magi, you won't know it's Witches. But you'll know this is a sad place, or a dangerous place... you'll feel that in your gut."
Sayaka puts her hand on Mami's shoulder and squeeezes, beaming down at her with a touch of sadness. "Mami-senpai's the reason this part of the city feels so nice. She's kept it mostly clean of Witches ever since she started. Not every place is so lucky." Sayaka looks up at the others. "You all know where I'm talking about."
The road they are standing on, in fact, would go right up to the South Gate of Shinjuku if they followed it to the north.
"The capital of this city isn't like that. It's getting worse and worse. At first it was just rumors, but... we're sure now. Shimanouchi has to be doing it on purpose. Letting the Witches grow bigger, stronger. Probably she wants more grief seeds. Maybe it's for protection; make her district dangerous to us, since we're not as familiar with it as she is. Or maybe she has some plan we don't even know about. But whyever it is, the people who live in Shinjuku are suffering for it. It's... not a big obvious difference. But you can tell." Sayaka is looking down. "I can tell."
A car coasts by, disturbing the air around the loitering group. It doesn't feel right to keep talking until the sound of its engine is gone.
"Things aren't great," Sayaka admits into the silence that follows. "Mami-senpai and I are low on grief seeds. Shimanouchi and hers, they test us, make us spend them. She and her senpai have way more than we do now, I'm sure. Those Wolkenritter they seem to like so much... they keep cutting down our numbers, s'far as fighting goes. First Utena-san. Fate-chan. Now Endo-kun. Sailor Moon is down too. Best I can tell, there's more of them than ever, and less of us than there's ever been. If we keep sitting around and waiting, that'll just get worse. The Sailor Senshi will lose more. Maybe someone here will get drained too. And the Outer Senshi have the advantage, as far as Hotaru-chan goes. We'll keep having to stop them. But they only need to kill her once."
The light is starting to warm from the cool of late afternoon. The sun wavers behind the buildings, on its way down to the horizon. Sayaka's earnest young face looks mournful, but resolute. "We need to finish this. We need to take Shinjuku, and stop Shimanouchi. The first time we tried it, we weren't expecting a war. This time, we're going to be bringing one." Squeezing Mami's shoulder one more time, she lets go, toying with the cartoon knight pin on her lapel. "And we'll finish one too," she concludes.
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Tonight then," Mami answers Sayaka.
Mami likes Nori, not least because she is indeed very stylish. No, that's hardly the only reason at all, but it's one of the many qualities that draw her to her friend. And she is a friend, like all of the Chevaliers, to Mami, are her dear friends, precious beyond words in a way that even a year and a half ago would have felt impossible, the stuff only of dreams.
But now they are here. They are all in this lovely area, the very picture of youth. It's the sort of image that Mami treasures too, simple things like being out with friends. And one she didn't expect...
Mami looks thoughtfully at Kozue, when she suggests joining. It may be a surprise that Mami doesn't immediately stop to welcome her. It may not. But it is Mami Tomoe's way.
Time, Endo says, and Sayaka keeps talking. "You're already helping," Mami says to him with a smile. "Just remember that. You helped me, today."
Mami does not say how, but she says it with utter certainty, covered over in softness.
"I do," Mami chimes in about loving this stand. "I always came here when a hunt got me down... Or just because, otherwise. You can never underestimate the healing effect sweets can have on a girl's mental state." She smiles as if she's said something wise, but it has a winking quality too that prevents it being totally cloying.
The crepe is given carefully to Mami and she accepts it in both hands at first, switching to one as she listens to Sayaka. ...Sayaka starts talking, and Mami begins taking bites of her crepe. Oh, she listens carefully, but her ease with this conversation becomes something steadying, as if Mami herself in this demeanor is simply a /part/ of Shibuya, but still a more normal girl than she would fear.
Sayaka squeezes Sayaka's shoulder, and she looks sad as she looks up at Sayaka too, on the precipice of a sigh. Her free hand she rests on Sayaka's on her shoulder, choosing not to interrupt her kohai.
Mami has believed for some time that Sayaka Miki is a wonderful speaker. It tugs at her heart even now.
But talking of Eri clouds her expression, makes her stare down into nothing until the car comes and passes. Mami takes another bite, and consoles herself with sweetness, just as she said she would in so many words minues ago.
Mami watches Sayaka with an obvious fondness, but just as obvious a worry. There is something she fears, and doesn't voice, and for it to be obvious at all in the reserved girl is strange and dissonant. Regardless, as the light fades...
Sayaka squeezes Mami's shoulder, and Mami from her seat nods, dignified even in whipped cream being wiped from her face. She thinks of what this will mean. She thinks, beause she already knows.
"It is as Sayaka-chan says," Mami finally speaks up, from her seat here in Shibuya, her golden domain. "I won't say that we don't have a choice. There is always a choice, just as there was for all of you when you chose to join us. ...But we have made it. We act, or we give up. Those are our choices."
Mami rests a hand on her pin, too. "...We are Chevaliers."
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene de Diamant [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
THEN
La Sirene's lips thin to a line as Kozue comes up and boops her nose. The aura around her tingles in a slightly painful way, the tactile equivalent of a spicy sauce on the tongue. At least at this range, and at this power.
NOW
Some part of Nori is frustrated that her pouting hasn't put Kozue coming over to ask if she did anything wrong or what, and more of Nori is well aware such things are about as likely as pigs other than Tonde Buurin flying. Why did she even join us? Nori thinks.
A dark thought crosses her mind.
But no, she thinks: She knew Sayaka. Maybe when they were younger. When I was still in Hokkaido. The memory makes Nori sigh, and she munches on her crepe as Sayaka comes back and starts explaining matters. When she speaks of the pain inside of people, she thinks, of course, she knows exactly how she means.
Sayaka keeps speaking and Nori's lips purse together, the taste of sweetness in her mouth fading. She wants to rise up. She wants to hug Sayaka right there; she wants to reach out with a single dark hand and crush Shimanouchi and free this city from this peril, and take Sayaka to somewhere beautiful where she will be thanked, and all of it, of course, is because Sayaka believed in her, too.
And yet, Nori thinks bleakly, I can't, can I?
Her face tightens up then. Her eyes seem on the verge of watering. She silently wishes Kozue to teleport to uttermost Abu Dhabi, where, at least, there is air conditioning and aquatic sports in this modern day, because she thinks she is going to cry.
Her voice at least is perfect, even if her control over her face is lapsing somewhat. "I - I will do whatever I can. There's enough sorrow in this city as it is."
For if there is one thing Nori knows, it is that Batiste was thrown clear on his fat little tail by the first Witch he witnessed. He rallied, of course, but that was when Nori knew she had made the right decision; for the Witches were no thing of the Sea of Tears, and so there was no reason whatever for her not to squash them. (If she could.)
She reaches into her bag and produces her own pin, which she had not put on her lapel. A little rustling inside of the bag and a mysterious force affixes a second pin, right on the outer rim, near the zipper's seam.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed. Endo calms visibly as Sayaka gets to talking, and a bit more when Mami assures him that he's being useful. He sips from his drink, finding a place to lean as he Sayaka indicates the city around them.
His mood does falter a little as she speaks, and the gravity of the situation sets in. He hasn't been an a formal chevalier for long, nor has he come into conflict with their opposites, but he understands the gist of the problem. And not being in a position to do anything about it agitates him, regardless of the assurances that have come his way.
He has a pin now, so it seems like a good time to dig it out in solidarity. "I want to keep everyone safe, so you can count on me."
At least, he hopes so.
<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Kozue takes a bite of her fudge crepe, chews twice, swallows, before answering Sayaka, "I'm sure." She says and gives her a look. However... Sayaka says she doesn't know much at all. This is both an accurate statement and a surreal moment for her. So she doesn't say much. She simply takes another bite.
The rhythm of her bites, and chewing and swallowing stays even as Sayaka talks about Shibuya being a happy part of town. It doesn't slow at all when she says that about the capital. She keeps eating. She doesn't know all the words about Puella Magi matters and what they mean, but she's starting to at least get the gyst.
A car coasts by. She doesn't say anything.
It's only once she starts talking about Mami and her own supplies that the rhythm of her chewing starts to slow down. After a while it stops entirely and she's just silent while Mami affirms what Sayaka says.
Quietly she looks over to Sayaka and Mami. Then finally at Nori, whose expression looks tight.
When she speaks, she sounds kind of cheerful, "Listen to this. Here I am joining up because I found out there's a war going on and it sounds like you've already almost got this wrapped up. Committing to a final battle..."
She takes another bite as if remembering it's there, her next words as she swallows is softer, "...already..."
She trails off into space.
She sounded so cheerful a moment ago. Why doesn't she look so happy right now?
[OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "Aw Kozue" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Nori-chan's mental need to hug Sayaka is so sweet" [OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "It really is." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "I love Nori" [OOC] La Sirene de Diamant says, "aw" [OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "Also I thinks she wants to Nermal me." [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "I think she does too" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "And you /are/ adorable" [OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "I'm kinda the anti-Nermal." [OOC] La Sirene de Diamant says, "Nori is Upset(tm) and is afraid Kozue would laugh at her (a motivation that has destroyed empires)" [OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "Ironically." [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "I know the character Nermal, from Garfield, and yet I don't know what it means to Nermal" [OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "It means to mail her in a box to Abu Dhabi." [OOC] La Sirene de Diamant says, "Garfield wants to send Nermal to Abu Dhabi, which at the time was a funny place in the ass-end of nowhere" [OOC] La Sirene de Diamant says, "Nowadays it's a developed city in the UAE though" [OOC] Kozue Kaoru says, "But anyhow ironically Kozue would not in fact laugh at Nori right now."
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed.
Garnet is silent at Sayaka's words at first as she runs it through her mind.
So many thoughts conflict.
The tactician in her knows, that practically speaking, now is the worst possible time for an assault, that the conflict is more lopsided than it's ever been, that Shepherds infuriatingly outgun and outnumber them both, and that at this rate their forces may never recover in time. So that part of her whispers caution,
But another part of her screams NO.
that they're stronger, that they're better, and that it's beyond time to take her down for good!
It's been burning from the beginning and burns harder every day she knows that Eri's plantation of despair and human slaughter has been allowed to continue.
Garnet thinks back to the mercy she extended Eri in one of their first conflicts... and how the girl has never stopped her killing for an instant since, the part of her that's impulsive suggests for just a single second, that Garnet should have just crushed that gem in her hand while she had the chance.
They wouldn't have known then, couldn't have known then, but they could've guessed that could end it. If they had just gone with their gut feeling, and just acted without thinking too hard about it.
Garnet too for a moment wants to reach out with one large dark hand and crush Eri, and all the Shepherds, unaware of how similar that thought might be to one brewing in La Sirene's mind.
Garnet grimaces with fury just in that moment, but gasps inside, and quickly works on calming that impulse.
She made the right decision! ... she had to have. It's her place as a Crystal Gem to defend /all/ humans, and at that moment Garnet thought Eri to be human. But has that changed? Has it changed /enough/?
Might she make a different decision knowing what she does now, as opposed to what she knew then? If it happened again, would Eri now be like the Gems that fell before her in the Rebellion?
The victims Eri feeds to her monsters /are/ humans, what about them?
Is Eri's life worth more than all those humans combined?
And not only the ones that she's murdered so far, but the ones that will die to feed her tomorrow?Until she's stopped.
Garnet... doesn't know, and the uncertainty grates at her already irate passions, but she does know:
"Eri, Kyouko, all of them, /must/ be stopped." Garnet says aloud finally.
A calming song.
Garnet doesn't want to kill them... There has to be some other way. She'll find a way. /They'll/ find a way. They always find a way. Isn't that how Steven's little song goes? What /would/ Steven do... but she'd already tried that, hadn't she...?
But it needs to end. And if Sayaka thinks they can end it now, with the resources at their disposal, Garnet trusts in her.
Garnet's hands glow with transformative light, and her gauntlets sparkle upon its leaving, now covered in almost a chainmail interlock of the little Chevalier pins.
Garnet nods to Sayaka, to Mami, to Nori, to Endo, even to Kozue if she is in fact committed, and steels a small smile of solidarity, (trying to put her other thoughts at bay for now.)
"...We are Chevaliers."
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Garnet's pose is really wonderful" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Can she change her gauntlets to a jillion Chevalier pins by magic or did she affix them...? I haven't gotten far enough in the series maybe to know what trickery this is" [OOC] Garnet says, "Shapeshifting, so it's magic. Gems are polymorphic shapeshifters, their real bodies are their gems and their "forms" are holographic light they can bend and shape temporarily."
<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Miki [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Hikaru Naru https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnXkhkEvNIM
"Sen-pai," Sayaka whispers. Her eyes are a little raw from emotion as she looks down, proud of Mami's support. Proud to support Mami.
"N-nori-chan." Sayaka's eyes are outright hot, now. That second pin was unfair. Sayaka walks up to her and places her hands gently on Nori's shoulders. "You've been here since the start... and I know Mami-senpai and I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. You're real strong, especially this new you. We can't do this without you, so..."
Sayaka puts her arms around Nori and gives her a tight hug, her fist thumping Nori's shoulderblade twice. "Thanks."
Separating from Nori, Sayaka looks at the newest Chevalier. "Endo-kun's already revved up!" Sayaka says with a grin and a clench of her fist, to forestall tears. "We'll count on you for sure. I'm not sure any of us likes mixing it up as much as you, so... I bet you'll get back to it soon!"
Finally, Sayaka turns to Garnet. "You think so too, huh?" she says with a little smile. Grasping her wrist behind her back, she takes an elliptical path over towards the towering woman, facing away from her for now as she meanders to the curb. "Feels like getting a question right in class, hehe. You know a lot of stuff nobody should be able to know. I don't really get it... I don't really get /you/, not the way I'd like." She's looped around to Garnet now, and stands next to her--beneath her, rather, the way one might a tree. "But you're my friend. That's the way to say it, I guess." Making a fist, Sayaka offers it forward, to bump Garnet's. Sayaka's whole hand is the size of one of those knuckles, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable.
"Glad you're here," Sayaka says, looking up at Garnet's sunglasses.
With a golden queen on her right, a brazen warrior flanking one shoulder, a darkling beauty on the other, and her red rook off to the left, Sayaka turns to face Kozue. Smilingly lopsided, self-conscious, she seems to look for words. After a few moments, she extends a hand instead, palm up. One of her eyebrows quirks.
[OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "Slow one there, sorry... much feels transpired" [OOC] Mami Tomoe says, "I like this track Sayaka" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "It's sooo good" [OOC] Sayaka Miki says, "I didn't hold back on that OST"
<Pose Tracker> Mami Tomoe [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Nori says that she'll do what she can, and Mami watches her. Nori puts that pin on and Mami watches, appreciative of her just by her gaze. Endo says that he wants to keep everyone safe, even though he has his difficulty, and Mami watches him as well. Kozue chews, and Mami watches her, though that is different, too.
But Mami would have to admit to some pain at the way Kozue calls it a final battle and trails off. It /could/ be a final battle. She knows that better than most here, has seen more death in her work than most magical girls. ...Has caused some of it. Is that why Kozue looks so sad?
Mami takes another bite of her crepe, and lets strawberry comfort her, cream wash away some of her worries for a moment, replace them with hope like everyone here almost seems to have and give.
Still they look ordinary, normal in their serious conversations for teenagers here and... Well, and one Garnet.
Garnet speaks, and Mami watches her as well. She does not know that there is a way. But she too says that they are Chevaliers.
...And Sayaka whispers to Mami, who looks up at her with utter trust and sheer warmth. "Sayaka-chan," she murmurs back, the only support she has to.
Mami does not move for any hugs. She doesn't move for any contact with the others, keeping a little distance to look at her but none really in her heart. She is a /part/ of this picture with them, of talking of important things by a crepe stand in Shibuya, even more than she is a part of Shibuya itself.
And she's glad that all of them are here.
Sayaka extends the hand, and Mami Tomoe at her right hand looks at Kozue from her seat. "You'd be welcome," Mami adds to Kozue, and /means/ it, a sort of sincerity in her expression that if one didn't know her well might be thought as Sayaka rubbing off on her.
Either way Mami watches Kozue now in this, too.
<Pose Tracker> La Sirene de Diamant [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
Nori glances to Kozue for a moment, but her expression softens. She smiles at her. It is a heartfelt one. She would laugh, but that's almost the best she can do right now.
Then Sayaka comes and puts hands on her shoulders. She looks up at Sayaka, with guilt there, and her cheeks flush as she says, "Ah, but - I -" And then she's being hugged and she cannot say anything more. She briefly buries her face on Sayaka's shoulder as she's given thanks, and after that she slouches back, the empty wrapper of the crepe in her hand.
She looks at Kozue afterwards, her eyes wet, and she smiles again. She's not upset with her, not any more.
"I suppose we shouldn't tell, should we?" she says to Kozue -- but it is, well, a pretty rhetorical question. (Also, she's talking about Tsuru.)
[OOC] Garnet reads Sayaka's pose and melts.
<Pose Tracker> Kozue Kaoru [Ohtori Academy (8)] has posed.
Kozue's eyes are shut as she listens to all of them.
"It wouldn't be that bad, right?"
She feels her eyes watering behind her eyelids, as she takes in everything they say.
Garnet's nod is missed, but not her resolution. It feels so easy to get swept up in it. It comes in so many words.
We act or we give up. Those are our choices. We are Chevaliers.
Sen-pai.
I - I will do whatever I can. There's enough sorrow in this city as it is.
You've been here since the start... ...Thanks.
I want to keep everyone safe, so you can count on me.
Endo-kun's already revved up! We'll count on you for sure.
All of them, /must/ be stopped... We are Chevaliers.
You think so too, huh? ... Glad you're here.
But there's something else. Something that tide back. It recedes within those portals to the soul. And when she blinks her eyes open- she looks startled to see Sayaka's open palm. As if momentarily in a daze, uncertain, she looks towards Mami as she tells her she'd be welcome.
Then at Nori and her question. All Nori gets a quirked eyebrow as if to say- 'Duh.' but it seems more affectionate.
Then she looks back at that palm.
To be stupid together.
Her shoulders lift once, as she inhales, then exhales. Her lips press together and she looks down and she has an expression of a teen who's experiencing a mild case of embarrassment- yet it doesn't matter because- "Why not?"
She puts her fingertips on Sayaka's palm after a moment, her fingers curling over, where they squeeze lightly.
The words come so easily. Her eyes shift from Sayaka to Nori, "Guess I'll be putting myself in your care." Then Nori to Garnet, "I haven't done this as long as any of you so..." Then Garnet to Mami, "...maybe I'd accept a little guidance every now and then..." Then finally from Mami to rest upon Sayaka again, "... you've got a good thing going. So wouldn't want to... slow any of you down."
<Pose Tracker> Garnet [None] has posed. <SoundTracker> [[1]]
Garnet trusts in Sayaka.
The girl's hope and belief in their cause is truly inspirational, even and especially given her youth. It reminds Garnet of Her. Of what He might be someday.
The same regard is given to Mami and Nori's wise and strategic minds. She looks to them each in turn.
To Endo's unbowed heart, which persists, even though his magic is currently beyond his reach. She looks to him as well.
And when Kozue speaks. Garnet believes her, and she nods to the girl again. If Kozue needs guidance, Garnet will gladly offer it.
The gem is glad for her help. They'll need all they can get.
Garnet turns back to Sayaka, and listens to her words, smiles almost motherly at her awkward approach and warm regard.
Garnet wishes she could tell them all so much, particularly... of war... of its cost, and its effects on her, and the world.
But that was an old war, and old age. She hopes those days are behind her and will never surface again.
She thinks of a blue Gem on water wings flying into the stars... and wonders, and fears, will that always be so. Will they save them now only for...
No, those are thoughts for a day after tomorrow.
For thousands of years, the Gem now known as Garnet thought that her days of war were over. That her days as a soldier were over. But despite how hard she tried to prevent it, a new war is here and now, and she was a soldier again.
She looks to the small girl before her now, her commander, her friend, and returns her fist bump gently with her gauntleted knuckles.
How could she resist?
Tiny hands... her only weakness...